Cozy Mysteries discussion
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Maybe you should be looking for soft-boiled mysteries versus cozies--not all the "icky stuff" of noir/hard-boiled mysteries, but edgier than cozies. Some western/outdoor-oriented mystery authors with well-developed characters that I would recommend in this subgenre include: William Kent Krueger, Margaret Coel, Craig Johnson, Dana Stabenow. And, I would like to include my own two series in the list, with my RM Outdoor Adventures series being a little edgier than my gift basket designer series.

Maybe you should be looking for soft-boiled mysteries versus cozies--not all the "icky stuff" of noir/hard-boiled mysteries, but edgier than cozies. Some western/outdoor-oriented mystery au..."
That does sound like a fairly good description of what I'm looking for but didn't realize there was actually a defined "sub-genre" there.
Craig Johnson is right at the top of my 'favorites' list, probably because he writes about the people, country and culture I spent the majority of my 70 years living with and definitely gets everything right. I've read several books by the others you've mentioned as well and sounds like your RM Outdoor Adventure series might work well for me.


I think I've read most of this series. Enjoyed them but they didn't end up in my top 'five' to keep to re-read. That is more or less the type of thing I'm looking for though.
Some of the Barbara Michaels and Victoria Holt books were a bit on the 'cozy mystery' side as well as being 'gothic' romance. I found some of those a bit reminiscent of the Amelia Peabody books in a way. They had elements of both mystery and 'gothic' I thought. I still have several of the Barbara Michaels books in my personal library that I re-read.
Keep the suggestions coming ... my 'to read' list is getting much more interesting.


I think I've read most of this series. Enjoyed them but they didn't end up in my top ..."
Hi Sharon. Don't know if you're aware or not but Barbara Mertz writes under the names of Barbara Michaels and Elizabeth Peters. I've only read the Elizabeth Peters books, shame on me!

Actually, no, I didn't realize that. I actually think of some of the Barbara Michaels books as kind of a combined gothic romance/paranormal mystery. If you've never read any of the Michaels books, I'd suggest starting with Ammie, Come Home Some of her books are classic gothics, set in the 1800s but most are contemporary with when they were written, from the late 1950s on through the early 90s. There are three in her "Georgetown" series which start with Ammie, Come Home ... not about the same person/people but the same family. My personal favorites include those three, plus Witch, Prince of Darkness and The Dark on the Other Side.



I do remember those (from the library) years ago. Will have to see if the local library has them. I imagine they may be available through one of the used book services as well, probably pretty reasonably. I do remember I liked them at the time I read them and it would be interesting to re-read.




Also, I'd recommend the Bennie Harper series by Earlene Fowler. These books have much more depth to them than the standard cozy fare as well.


I'm not very 'domestic' myself ... my outside interests are pretty much books, animals, artwork, geology, archaeology, paleontology ...
Have you tried Aaron Elkin? You might like his Gideon Oliver series.
Have you tried Aaron Elkin? You might like his Gideon Oliver series.

I definitely second the Benni Harper books! Probably my favorite of all the cozy series I read. I was happy to see some others here, Jennifer being one, get into this series after Earlene was an AOM last year.



One of my favorite series!


That is actually one of my favorites too. The first in the series is one I own and re-read often and pick up the others from the library to re-read occasionally as well.
Great suggestions, thanks so much to everyone. Some I've read before and the author has kind of slipped off my radar somehow (probably my library stopped getting the new ones) and quite a few that are new to me. I now have substantial library list for my next trip to the library and have several on my library eBook reserve list as well.


I agree, the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne books are excellent reads. I wouldn't classify them as cozies though. Maybe "soft boiled".

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However, I seem to be overly selective in the *wrong* direction in my cozy reading and have trouble finding something I can read and enjoy.
My favorites in this sub-genre are cozy but the characters are always well defined. Little or no serial killer/ splashy crime scenes but mature, sensible characters.
The cozy series that have held up well for me and I own to re-read are the Miss Seeton series by Heron Carvic, the Hunt Club/ Sister Jane series by Rita Mae Brown, the Judge Knott series by Margaret Maron and both series and standalones by Dorothy Gilman.
The biggest problem I find with most of the cozies I try are with the characters. I can only describe most of the characters as "fluffy", they just don't seem to have a lot of depth and substance. Light and not much blood/ serial killer is good but so many of the cozies seem to have such a wide strain of "fluff" to them that I tend to gag, somewhat like an overdose of marshmallow creme, if that makes sense!
I'm not very 'domestic' myself ... my outside interests are pretty much books, animals, artwork, geology, archaeology, paleontology ... not cooking, knitting, sewing, etc. ... so many of the cozies don't interest me much on that level as well.
Any suggestions for other series/authors similar to the ones I've mentioned? Something that might be a bit borderline between cozy and more traditional maybe?