Clouds of Witness
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Seeking More Highly-Literate yet somewhat-Cozy mysteries
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Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series.,
Earl wrote: "MaryJo wrote: "Margaret Maron, Deborah Knott series? these are new to me. how many has she written? are they more recent, or written in decades past?"Series is current and began with 'The Boot..."
Margaret Maron also wrote a series about a NYC Detective named Sigrid Harald. I preferred those to the Deborah Knott series - just my opinion.
Merle
Try anything by Josephine Tey. Her Inspector Grant books are very good, especially "The Daughter of Time" (voted best mystery of the 20th Century once upon a time).
Curtiss wrote: "Try anything by Josephine Tey. Her Inspector Grant books are very good, especially "The Daughter of Time" (voted best mystery of the 20th Century once upon a time)."I agree. The Daughter of Time is so clever that it really does stand alone.
Merle
Try Rebbecca Tope, Lesley Cookman, and if you would like to try historical murder try Pricilla Royal, C J Sansom, Michael Jecks, Lindsey Davis all do murder but without the gory bits. These are in no particular order and I recommend everyone. Good luck.
Kathryn wrote: "Seeking mysteries with a minimum of the bloody and gruesome--better yet if they aren't even murder mysteries--but still with very detailed characters and intricate plots. I'm not going for so much..."With the "Golden Age" (for example Sayers) you should try Margery Allingham and Naigo Marsh. I'd recommend my own, which are set in Cornwall, but they're not out yet! But Soon! Watch the Will North, Author Facebook page...
Kathryn, I want to second the Allingham and Marsh recommendations, and if you enjoy good character development, also Dorothy Sayers.I Can also recommend my own, the Sally Nimitz mysteries, 3 of them, and they sound like your thing.
Kathryn, I have several other favorites because I, like you, am not interested in gore. I suggest Ian Rankin, whose inspector Rebus series is set in Edinburgh, and also Peter Lovesey whose inspector Diamond is based in Bath. These are clever, honest, thoughtful, captivating books and great characters. If you're desperate, I can email you the first in the Davies/West mystery series, set in Cornwall...it won't be out for several weeks.
Sarah wrote: "Two current but cozy mystery writers I recommend are Susan Elia McNeal and Rhys Bowen. MacNeal's heroine, Maggie Hope, starts her career as Mr. Churchill's Secretary which is the name of the first..."thank you for those recommends, Sarah. after finishing Josephine Tey's books, I now have Rhys Bowen on my list since she has come up a few times.
I will keep McNeal in mind, too, altho it will take a while to get to her, quite a few books in line for 2014 now.
For "literary," you might consider Elizabeth George. Her books feature Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers of New Scotland Yard. They're not quick reads, but they are good.
Don't know why this ends in 2013. I'm here 3 years later with a couple of suggestions. One author I discovered on Goodreads was AD Scott, she of the half dozen books about a small town newspaper in the Scottish Highlands: cozy, smart, evocative. I am also a big fan of Benjamin Black and the Quirke series. Thanks to the other entries; now I have several more years of reading ahead.
David, when this conversation began, some years ago, I hadn't yet begun my own "literate" mysteries, the Davies & West series, set in Cornwall, England. You might find they meet the criteria. See www.willnorthonline.com or check out Amazon customer reviews for the first two in the series: "Harm None" and "Too Clever By Half." Will.
David wrote: "Don't know why this ends in 2013. I'm here 3 years later with a couple of suggestions. One author I discovered on Goodreads was AD Scott, she of the half dozen books about a small town newspaper in..."Is this an earlier post by me? Sounds like it because I enjoyed all of Scott's books and am a big Benjamin Black fan. Let me add two other favorite authors: Kate Atkinson and John Lawton. They are both w/out peers. Also, enjoyed "Gone Girl," by Gillian Flynn, an assured writer but w/out characters for whom I cared very much.
The first 3-4 books of Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayles series are very good. They start to go downhill after that, imo, but definitely worth a try.
Carly wrote: "I second Sharon's recommendation of Ngaio Marsh. Along with Sayers, Christie, and Allingham, Marsh is considered one of the golden age detective fiction "queens of crime". Her writing style is very..."Dave wrote: "Martha Grimes' Richard Jury mysteries are great. Like Ngaio Marsh's Rory and Troy, Grimes' characters carry the story; no blood and guts is really necessary."
^ wrote: "Nan wrote: "I was also going to recommend Sarah Caudwell. While there are only 4 of them, each one is a total delight.
I would also suggest Edmond Crispin. His Moving Toyshop was a favorite."
Yes..."
Stay away from Mrs. Pollifax. The original poster said she wants something more literate - and Mrs. Pollifax is nowhere near being "more literate" and is almost entirely "fluff". To say nothing of being extremely dated (and by that I don't mean "historical".
I know this is an old thread, but it was my question also. I took notes from this discussion and it looks like you can’t go wrong with the Agatha Award winners.
Since previous postings I've read some of Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma mysteries, and these could fit under this category very well, especially for lovers of celtic history.
Try my book, Fallen Angel, it's a cozy to be sure, but as a lover of words, I've aimed for well crafted prose...though it's still all about the mystery/story and characters!http://amazon.com/author/joycepyka
This is where my own murder mysteries fall. They are too intricate to be considered true cozies.:> Maggie Foster
www.lochlonach.com
May I suggest Daphne DuMaurier's "Rebecca", "My Cousin Rachel", and "Jamaica Inn"? All excellent reads/mysteries which although more intellectual in nature, still fall under the heading of "cozy".
This is a thread that is standing the test of time. I am looking for a new author/book series for my wife.
What does she like? ...In a nutshell... Louise Penny! The imperfect and familiar (you-could-be-one-of-them) character development. The warm cozy feel. The lack of gore. The comfortable style of writing.
I may try some of the suggestions listed in the beginnings of this thread, but if anyone has suggestions that they feel are close to Louise Penny-esque please let me know . Thank you in advance!
At the risk of sounding gauche, the Loch Lonach Mystery Series has been compared to Louise Penny, though I'm not sure I agree. The Scottishness of the setting and the witty banter between the characters make it a lighter read. There are four in the series so far. https://books2read.com/ap/xdKwaJ/Magg... Merry Christmas!
I know this is an old post, but I really enjoy almost everything I have listened to by Charlotte MacLeod. She has 3 different series. Also, I personally enjoyed the Mrs. Polifax series by Dorothy Gilman, but if they are too fluffy for your taste, I have really liked her other books. Not many of them are available on audio, which is all that I currently do as far as reading, but Thale's Folly, Caravan, A Nun in the Closet, Uncertain Voyage, The Tightrope Walker, and The Clairvoyant Countess are ones that I enjoyed.I appreciate this post, especially as I get older and am more picky!
Kathryn wrote: "Seeking mysteries with a minimum of the bloody and gruesome--better yet if they aren't even murder mysteries--but still with very detailed characters and intricate plots. I'm not going for so much ..."I would suggest the Half Moon Bay Murder series by L.C. Winters. The first is Murder at an Irish Wedding and the next is Murder at the Selkie Festival.
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Series is current and began with 'The Bootleggers Daughter' (1992) and the most recent is 'The Buzzards Table' (2012). In all there are 18 books in this series.