Hi, Cozy Readers! May ended and June began with quite a few storms here in Dallas. I thought I’d be prepared for them.
After all, I grew up in hurricane country and have lived in tornado alley for over twenty years now. And I’m drafting a cozy series featuring a main character whose brother is concerned with weather-related disaster preparedness. So I’m a little embarrassed to say that while I was fairly well prepared, there were some important things I missed.
Our power was out for several days, and while we had plenty of the essentials, such as food, water, and a well-stocked e-reader with battery backup, I didn’t have a good way to get to my files for my June 1st newsletter once we did relocate. So my apologies for missing you last time!
That’s remedied now, and everything on my PC is backed up!
I hope you’re all well, and I’m keeping those of you in disasters of any kind in my thoughts.
Since this is a cozy newsletter, I’d like to leave y’all on a comforting note. One reason I love to read is that books provide me with a mini vacation (see also: my love of British mysteries and a good cup of tea!). Below are stories for you to explore, and if you have recommendations, I’d love to hear them!
Sending you cozy wishes for great reads,
Tammy D. Walker
Here are more stories to discover:
“The Early Adventures of the Lollipop Club” by Jinny Alexander
Jess, now seven years old, is doing her bit for Neighbourhood Watch. She’s already rescued Mr Jenkins’s cat but now Mr Jenkins has a suspicious visitor. Who is the woman and why is she in Mr Jenkins’s house for exactly seven minutes? Why is Jess’s brother Eric in a tree, and can Watson help the young siblings to solve the mystery before the bus arrives to take the mystery visitor away?
This story introduces Jess and Eric’s childhood love of sleuthing and the origins of the Lollipop Club they resurrect as adults when Jess, throughout the main series, stumbles on murder and mayhem far more often than any small Irish village should expect.
The Only Way is Larceny by Lou Collins
A jealous understudy. A backstage prankster. Will a missing prop steal the show?
Though it’s summer, Chloe Essex is rehearsing the theatre company’s birthday spectacular—The Nutcracker! But when the Sugar Plum Fairy’s priceless tiara vanishes, she only has hours to find it before the play opens.
With temperatures and tensions rising, the cast and crew discover the spotlight reveals more than anyone bargained for. Chloe must navigate a hotbed of rivalries and mishaps to unravel the mystery and save her last performance.
Can she solve the crime or will the curtain on Chloe’s career and history’s most unconventional Nutcracker fall forever?
Dive into this laugh-out-loud contemporary British cozy mystery full of twists, turns, and surprises that are sure to keep you guessing until the final act!
Tempting Fête (Men Who Stitch Mysteries 1): A Diverse Cozy Mystery by Kate Silvers
Obadiah (Di) Goode has several problems. As the only African-American member of the Prospector’s Rest, North Carolina Sheriff’s Department, he’s already generally overlooked and ignored. But if news of his secret gets out, he’ll never hear the end of it.
Still, keeping the fact that he’s far faster with a knitting (or crochet or embroidery or, well, any kind of) needle than a gun is his usual concern. But when this sleepy mountain town which is home to more crafts shops than people opens its Sixth Annual Crafts Fête with its unbeloved mayor dropping dead out of nowhere, Di suddenly has much bigger concerns.
Roped into secretly investigating the case by MacBeth (Mac) Welles, the beautiful woman Di’s had a crush on since they were both in the playpen, Di gives in, and they and the department’s resident Boston terrier mascot, Sgt. Peewee–along with occasional insights from his online Men Who Stitch friends–discover any number of viable suspects. Was it the craft store owner the mayor broke off an affair with, who’s a bit too handy with her knitting needles? The local vacation home billionaire whose son may have gone too far this time? The local baker whose new recipe for hemp brownies has run afoul of the law? Or is it someone even closer to home?
Despite a complete lack of experience of anything besides tempting black bears out of town and breaking up tiffs between crafters, Di needs to figure it out. Because when a second person mysteriously collapses, it becomes obvious that the killer is getting a taste for death, and only Di and Mac can stop them before it’s too late.
A funny, romantic, and diverse cozy mystery filled with quirky characters you’ll want to make friends with and a town so warm and crazy that you’ll want to move in, Tempting Fête will leave you in stitches and begging for another mystery.