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I need something to get in the mood for the season--but i think I've read everything from Anne Perry's christmas books to Leslie Meier's to the cat on jingle bell rock. Anybody have a suggestion?

A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg. Great read for the holidays, real feel good book.
Diane

I love Fannie Flagg's books. I so enjoyed Redbird Christmas (I read that last Christmas). If you like audiobooks, try hers (she reads them too).

Right now I am slogging through Maisie Dobbs. I want to like it! I find the spelled-out cockney accent to be distracting & is causing this to be a slow read for me.

I love the holiday stories written by Truman Capote (A Christmas Memory & The Thanksgiving Visitor). The Thanksgiving Visitor is one my all-time favorite holiday stories. I listen to it when I'm doing my holiday baking. It always makes me cry. Truman Capote is one of the best writers of the 20th century.

I will start reading Mail-Order-Murder (also known as Mistletoe Murder) by Leslie Meier. I know this will not help you with your decision what to read....
But how did you like this one?

I'll have give some of these a try. Thanks for the ideas!

Have you tried, "Nutty as a Fruitcake" by Mary Daheim? It's full of holiday spirit even with a hatchet murder.

I read my first Leslie Meier book this past weekend. "Christmas Cookie Murder." I loved it and want to read more. Her party scene was a delight.

Best Aloha,

Rob

I like all of the Leslie Meier books. They are light so you can think about the holiday themes and really get into the season. I've read the Mary Daheim but will definitely look into the Fannie Flagg book. Thanks!

I definately need to start reading some Christmas books! So far I'm in grinch mode :) Thanks for the suggestions!

WHO KILLED the Queen of Clubs is set during Thanksgiving and going into Christmas. It's very cozy and the author is Patrica Sprinkle.
Pamela

Ooh, I forgot about her! I read a couple of hers a few years back and liked her. I am going to have to find this one. Thanks, Pamela.

It's defintely worth finding. I am trying to find a new cozy series to read that I can get in on from book one. I have a lot of cozies I've read over the past twenty years and I want to read a fresh voice in this genre. I don't want cozy chick lit but a real cozy mystery.
Pamela

For fun Holiday reading try 'Candy Cane Murder' an anthology with authors Laura Levine, Joanne Fluke and Leslie Meier. I really enjoyed this book and it introduced me to Laura Levine and Leslie Meier, I already was addicited to Joanne Fluke's series.

Hi Pamela,
I'm a little confused by the term chick lit. Tell me what you think of when you use that term? For me, it has meant a heroine who is into clothes (lots of talk of trendy Italian shoes), and sex. I like cozy mysteries where the characters seem real and trendy Italian shoes aren't a part of my world so I love books from authors like Margaret Maron and Sarah Graves.

Thanks Shawna, I'm putting that one on hold at the library. Between that and the Fannie Flagg and the Patricia Sprinkle books, I should be getting in the spirit soon, I hope. My head just is still in November for some reason--it seems like it was just Halloween.

My newest book: A Ghost of a Chance, Book 1 in the Shannon Delaney paranormal mystery series (a true 'cozy' in every sense of the word), is now out in paperback and I've been so busy working with my editor on Book 2 in this series (In order to release it as an e-book by January 1)that I have not had time to read for pleasure. Add to the hectic holiday schedule (that we all have!) I just finsished being a judge for the Eppies and then in the wee hours of the mornings I re-designed my web site... so please if you can spare precious minute or two, stop by my web site and say "Hello.":
Sincerely,
E.E-C.

Oh, I do want to read that! When I'm buying I never seem to remember all the ones I want. And my list is so long I don't have time to look at them all. This sounds like one I should be looking for, thanks for the heads up! And Congratulations!

When I read a chick lit cozy. It means to me shopping, shoes and a lot heroines who are younger and energetic. What am wanting to read at the moment are the classic cozy authors like Patricia Sprinkle, Katherine Hall Page, and Karen MacInery. The kind of cozy I don't feel like I have to rush through, I'm tired these days so a nice steady pace is what I am wanting to read. I will get back to the chick lit cozies in the spring. LOL

Thank you, Betty;


For more info on my cozy mystery series, I posted the Chapter One excerpt from "A Ghost of a Chance" on my web site, also the reviews of it (on my web site) may give you a better idea of the story line and if it is your type of "cup of tea" cozy ;-)
Sincerely,
E. E-C.

Your books sound interesting, Elizabeth. I am excited this week because I just got the news that the second book in my mystery series, Safe House, will be out in print in March/april. (I knew it was coming out sometime next year but not when.) The reason I asked the question, Pamela, is because one reviewer called the book chick lit (the e-book version has been out since May) but there is NO shopping, sex or shoes in the book and my heroine is a forty-year-old mom. I'm thinking that maybe the term is coming to be used for any mystery that deals with women's issues. My heroine is also a counselor in a battered women's shelter.

The heroine in my paranormal mystery series is a young woman, Shannon Delaney is in her mid-20s. As the author of this series, I wouldn't categorize my series as chic lit, though Shannon is most certainly the lead sleuth and the series revolves around her.

I'm a bit mystified by the term "chic lit".

I know of a large reading group called the Chic Lits and when I asked them if the genre they choose to read is actually limited to 'chic lit' they said "no." In fact, when I asked them to define what chic lit is, not a single member could agree. LOL!

When I first shopped for a publisher I had 'issues' with using 'paranormal' to describe my series, which to me is really an old-fashioned ghost story/cozy mystery that continues with each book in the series. I have done numerous radio spots and many of the radio hosts muse about the description 'paranormal' which is the new buzz word for what most of us think of as 'supernatural'

I wonder if 'chic lit' is this kind of buzz word, if so, what would chic lit have been called a decade ago? Any ponderings?

Christine, How would you like for me to send you an email interview so we can get the word out about your book/s? Let me know and this offer goes for any romance or mystery author on the list.
Hugs,
Pamela

Pamela,

Hi Pamela,
I'm not Christine, but I am a traditional author of cozy mystery and I would love to do an e-mail interview. If you go to my web site () you'll see under Author's Appearances that I have done several interviews on many of them were posted to blogs and e-mail sites. Some of these interviews were as long as 2 hours and invloved in-depth Q&As ...so I am game for how ever many questions you would like ;-)

There's also some reviews posted on my web site as well as a bio... it might give you a better idea for an interview.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth Eagan-Cox

Hi Pamela, Yes, I'd love to do an interview. Thank you! My email is [email protected] My website is

Hi Elizabeth, sorry for delay in responding but my satellite kept going down with the snowstorm. I'm going back to your website again and have a look, thanks a lot. I'm sure I'll love your series.

Elizabeth wrote: "Thank you, Betty;
For more info on my cozy mystery series, I posted the Chapter One excerpt from "A Ghost of a Chance" on my web site, also the reviews of it (on my web site) may give you a be..."

I've been to the site, read the excerpt, and I am sure I'm going to enjoy the book; thanks again for bringing it to my attention Elizabeth!

I also do book reviews for the website so if anyone would like for me to review their books contact me offlist at [email protected]
I have openings for 2009.
My website is
Right now there is a Sharon Sala interview up and some others.
Pamela

I have been following your discussion with interest, because my Bad Hair Day series could be considered chick lit mysteries. Here are some definitions I use when giving a talk on blending romance and mystery. I think the key word regarding chick lit or women's fiction is Relationships:

Traditional or "Cozy" Mystery
According to Malice Domestic, an annual convention held in Arlington VA, traditional mysteries contain no explicit sex or violence; usually feature an amateur detective in a confined setting with characters who know one another. Visit for more info.

Romantic Suspense and Romantic Intrigue
According to RWA, these are romance novels containing mystery and intrigue. Romance genre conventions apply, meaning the focus is on the relationship between hero and heroine. The romantic resolution follows the solving of the mystery plot.

Romantic Mystery
These can be a romance novel with a whodunit OR a mystery novel with a strong element of romance, where the mystery is the focus and the romance serves as a subplot. So this can be defined either way, depending on the genre.

Chick Lit Mystery
A mystery novel with elements of the chick lit genre: a sassy, independent heroine, often in an urban setting, with a witty voice, designer shoes, an upscale career, and relationships with friends, family, and colleagues.
Nancy Cohen

Hi to:
1st; Betty
2nd; Nancy

Betty : We are expecting our first major snow storm of the season. We had smaller ones in Ocotber and November, but the one coming in tonight will be a doozey. We lose power, phone, and cable when severe weather hits. Stay warm, Betty!

and Nancy;

I agree with the 'cozy mystery' descritption you posted. I would also say that this genre is more character driven than some other types of mystery genre. And because of this factor, authors of cozies more often than not write a series, that way once a reader becomes familiar with the major cast of characters, it's like opening the book up and saying 'hello' to an old friend.

E E-C

Elizabeth, I will think of you every time the North Wind Doth Blow. We know we need a generator, but can't afford it. When the power goes off we can't use the toilet so have to keep a big bucket of water handy all the time. We do have a wood heater which I can actually cook on when necessary and lots of oil lamps so it's not so bad. Kind of cozy. I agree with your note to Nancy, it really is like saying 'hello' to an old friend. I guess that's why I like to get the whole series!

Nancy, thanks for the links and the definitions; I've often wondered how they determine what makes a cozy. There are so many that don't fit other genres, and I guess a lot of it depends on the reader as well.

Cozies are definitely about the characters. You want the reader to feel the sleuth and her associates are friends and the reader to get personally involved in what happens to them. But other genres have the same feature. Many sci fi series I follow have a female heroine who grows and changes through the course of the series. I don't like a character who remains static. That goes for mysteries too. People change through life, and if the sleuth stays the same from mystery to mystery, the series quickly loses its appeal for me. This is why I liked Judy Bolton books better than Nancy Drew.

Hi Betty;

Believe it or not, but because I live in the mountains of So-Calif, I can relate to your situation. We got an inch of snow from the lead of the storm that came in over night and another 18 inches is on the way tonight and two more storms have stacked up to come in this week.

We lose power not only because of severe winter weather but also when an earthquake hits. I live directly on top of the infamous San Andreas fault, it is what created our mountains!

We heat our 3-story home entirely with wood, no propane and natural gas is not up here. And when we lose electricity, we lose hot water and our stove/range/oven. We do have a generator, but they are so noisy that we only use it if we absolutley have to. We can bury perishable food in the snow to keep them from rotting. I spent a good part of yesterday bringing in wood. We have two air-tight wood stoves, one downstairs in our master suite and one in the street-level great room (My writing loft is the 3rd story it is is over the great room). The one down stairs is a flat top and I have had to cook on it many times when we are without power.

I live at an elevation a little over 6,000 feet. Down coats, Yak Trax and 4 x 4 Jeeps are as common here in winter as there are in New England and the Great Lakes area.

Stay warm and dry and pull out the baord games and playing cards;-)

Sincerely,
E E-C

Nancy, thanks so much for the definitons--they are pretty much what I expected. My mystery series is a cozy, but you know, I started to wonder after that review! I've got to do more with my website, I've got the 1st chapter of the first book Safe Beginnings, up there,() but not the first chapter of Safe House, the 2nd book out.
I should go post that and then take a poll. Would you call this book, traditional cozy or chick lit mystery, LOL.

Christine, I don't know that I'd call yours a chick lit mystery. Traditional, yes. Chick lits have a sassier voice and more upscale setting. Think Sex & The City or The Devil Wears Prada. But hey, you can call your book anything you want. Since chick lit fiction is in a downswing, though, I'd hesitate to use that label. Best to stick with traditional mystery.

I would love that. I just returned from a weekend of book-signings and am pleased with the response to my Mystery Series. Here's an email I just got from a reader: "
Hello, I met you in Bellows Falls, Vt. and purchased a Mrs. Bundle Book and have been hooked ever since. I have purchased all three and lucky for me the first was signed by you when I was spoke to you and the other two just by chance have also been signed. I am waiting for your next book and I am certain it will be as exciting as the last three. Mrs. Bundle and Cracker are quite the pair and certainly keep yor interest. I am hoping your next book comes out soon. Thanks so much for good, heartwarming reading.
Reader
Langdon, NH. 03602

Allison, congratulations on the great response to your series! That's something to keep you warm in the winter!

Elizabeth wrote: "Hi Betty;

Believe it or not, but because I live in the mountains of So-Calif, I can relate to your situation. We got an inch of snow from the lead of the storm that came in over night and anothe..."
Elizabeth, I can truly believe everything you say. Back in 1961 we (my parents, 4 brothers & myself- I was almost 20, my youngest brother was 3) were tenting in the California mountains in August(!) and woke up to frost on our tent. On this same trip coming through Yosemite there was smoke from forest fires.

Actually, now I think of it, in 1978-79 I drove from Yarrow, BC (a small town about 40 miles from Vancouver that is situated on the edge of Sumas Prairie, we lived about 3 miles away out on the Prairie). We actually had a windchill of -52 one time when I was driving not realizing why the engine kept trying to stall everytime I turned into the wind. I was too busy trying to see the edges of the road, my son was with me so if he saw bullrushes on his side I turned the other way and if I saw bullrushes on my side back I went. Sorry, I got off my original story.

Anyway, on Boxing Day (day after Christmas) I started out for Disneyland with my 3 kids, 15, 13, and 10, in a blizzard; down through all the mountains in fog, ice, and snow, so I've been through some of those mountains in California then, too. I'll tell you, I was never so happy to reach Fresno, which at least was warm! My husband, because we couldn't leave the farm very long, flew down and met us at Disneyland. It was a wonderful trip, but then I had to drive back and boy! was the weather much worse up toward home. But, I still think winter is my favorite season. Maybe I'm nuts! That same year I drove my grandmother up to Alaska in June.

I always lived until now on the edge of the San Andreas fault and when I was five I remember waiting for a tram Vancouver when everything looked like it turned to licorice, especially the tracks; in that one the bottom of the ocean dropped 50 ft.
Betty

Speaking of snow...well it came in over night and is still drifting down, 2 feet and counting. And no sign of a snow plow or grater!

Driving in California in snow and ice weather is treacherous because California State, due to its environmental laws, has never salted the roads! Instead, a grater comes by and spreads a shallow layer of cinder gravel... which, in all honesty is off the surface of the road and on the side in the snow banks after the first two or three cars drive over it! Up here in the mountains (I'm a little aboive 6,000 ft elevation) driving a 4 x4 with snow tires is a must-do. Once I was driving home on a very snow afternoon and the Calif. Hy Patrol had an officer on the highway checking I.D. (only residents were being allowed through on the mountain highway) and I drove up to him, rolled down my window and showed my Dr. Lic... he took one look and said... "A woman in a Jeep, only up here is it not a trendy statement." This was a compliment... at that time 4x4 Jeeps were very trendy in Los Angeles, Palm Springs and elsehwere, though I doubt if many of them ever saw the off road!
A GHOST OF A CHANCE...
it's a mystery...
by

HI Nancy,
Thanks for the feedback. I was aiming for traditional or cozy. But when a reviewer says these kinds of things, you start to question.

Christine
Christine, I don't know that I'd call yours a chick lit mystery. Traditional, yes. Chick lits have a sassier voice and more upscale setting. Think Sex & The City or The Devil Wears Prada. But hey, you can call your book anything you want. Since chick lit fiction is in a downswing, though, I'd hesitate to use that label. Best to stick with traditional mystery.

Elizabeth wrote: "Speaking of snow...well it came in over night and is still drifting down, 2 feet and counting. And no sign of a snow plow or grater!

Driving in California in snow and ice weather is treacherous ..."

Unfortunately, and much to my chagrin, we don't have a 4x4, I really hoped we'd be able to at least for me to go around in, although my little Mercury Mystique (or Mistake as everyone calls it) is good in snow, the only problem is, it's out in Saskatchewan right now. Dennis had to break down though when he got stuck and although we just bought all-weather tires in the fall, we had to put on 4 snow-tires. I should have been with him when he got the other ones. The fellow at the shop got caught out on that too, he bought the same and had to change them, so he only charged us for the tires themselves and nothing on top. MUCH better! You are actually at a higher elevation than we are. We're in the Bulkley River Valley and I guess it funnels through. Of course we're at a much higher latitude. I love it, the snow in the "Lower Mainland" (Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, etc.) gets sloppy slushy snow. I grew up driving in it, but this is actually easier because it's dry. Right now it's slick ice. They don't salt here, either, but the worst corner is usually well graveled. My daughter in a blizzard went off the highway backwards down an embankment a few years ago on the Coquihalla Hwy (much higher) in the night. She was driving a forestry truck at the time. Fortunately the snow plow saw her headlights going backward down the hill, but by the time he got to her she had scrambled as fast as she could back to the highway, she was scared the truck would burn! Just goes to show you, when it comes to "black" or gray ice, nothing's really going to help! But it is so absolutely beautiful. The first year she lived up here I got a cute message from her early in the morning. She said they had moose tracks in their front yard. Then said it would have been even more exciting if the moose had be in them at the time!

Hi Betty;

It's nice to share snow stories with someone. My little mountain community is so small that sometimes the only live person I get to talk to is our poastmistress. We have an official population of 1,102 souls... A few years ago when the U.S. Census takers came through I walked around with them so they would not get lost. Many of us believe that people counted their 4-legged family members in the census!

Although, I have spent nearly all my life in So-Calif... I was born in Flint, Michigan, we moved out to Cali when I was in first grade. In Michigan we used to go across the 'lake' to Canadoa to an amusement park/island called Bobolo (not sure about the spelling). Last year, here in my little village, I met a lady from Canada and her parents worked at Bobolo in the summer months!

In the early 1990s I read that the famous carousel animals from the huge merry-go-round at Bobolo were auctioned off... that was a sad day for me.

We do not have moose. We have cougars, mule deer, coyotes, raccoon, timber rattle snakes and the largest population of balckbear in So-Calif. I have numerous blackbear stories, including one huge fellow who slept on my front porch during a summer one year. I had to call our local forest ranger to come and shoo him off.

The bears never truly hibernate here. During rough weather they go to sleep for a week or two, but come right back out as soon as the snow stops and the sun breaks through.

Getting back to the topic of this board, which I recall is Christmas Reading... If I have the chance and some free time, I go back a re-read some Agatha Christie favorites. I also love the "All Creatures"... vet Doctor stories, of course these are not mysteries, but sometimes the stories were about winter.

We got a little over 2 feet of snow and today is the break until tonight when another storm comes in. I will be busy today digging out in order to go to the post office. And bringing in more firewood. Do you know the old saying, the firewood you cut and stack, warms you twice? That is what it is like here. We have two airtight woodstooves as our only means of heating our home. I am not complaining, propane is so expensive here. We took out our propane tank after a 7.0 mag. earthquake in 1992, for safety reasons... many people lost their tanks during that earthqauke, the tanks quite literally were shaken loose and tumbled down hills. After that we purchased and installed two airtight wood stoves, one downstairs and another upstairs. It works really well.

Take care, stay warm..