Cozy Mystery List is a labor of love from one cozy mystery reader to whoever else finds her. Particularly useful to the Readers’ Advisory librarian is the Cozy Mysteries by Theme page.

Though not as comprehensive as Stop You’re Killing Me, these lists are cozy-specific and include themes like Hobbies:Antiquing, Beading, Candle Making, Soap Making, & Gourd Craft , Card Making, Decoupage, & Scrapbooking, Crossword Puzzle & Bunco Mysteries, Dollhouse Miniatures, Doll Making, Teddy Bear Cozy Mysteries, etc.

Other lists include: Real People as Characters, Mysteries with (Previously) Famous Fictional Characters, Rich Sleuths, I’ve Run Out of Agatha Christie Mysteries, What Do I Do Now?, and No Profanity and/or Faith-Based Mystery Books.

I’ve been thinking about this letter to the LJ editors from author Virginia DeBerry  ever since I read it last month.  (Scroll down, it’s the last one.)  As a reviewer and lover of women’s fiction, I think it really got to me because I am guilty as charged – I pass over books marketed to the African American market, because I don’t think they’ll interest me.  And honestly, I miss most of them because they are not marketed to "me".  DeBerry makes a strong case that what she writes has appeal across racial lines – as do many other writers.  Here’s a brief list.

In Connie Briscoe’s soapy P.G. County, Barbara reigns supreme over a group of affluent neighbors including the sexy Jolene, hippie Candice, and hairdresser Pearl. When a runaway teenager, looking for her unknown father, enters the scene, drama ensues. Followed by Can’t Get Enough.

Singing in the Comeback Choir by Bebe Moore Campbell is the story of Maxine, a successful TV talk show producer with a stressful life. Her Hollywood career ebbs and flows with the ratings, her husband has cheated on her, and she worries about her grandmother, who refuses to leave her dangerous Philadelphia neighborhood.

In Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant’s Far from the Tree, disparate sisters Celeste and Ronnie discover that their late father has left them a house.  Their mother, Della, has nothing but bad memories of the place, and tries to keep the sisters from even visiting the place.  Family secrets unfold.

In Bettye Griffn’s Nothing But Trouble, three friends find their relationships tested when one of their sisters
enters the picture. When Cecile’s sexy younger sister Micheline moves to town and starts hitting on her friends’ men, Cecile needs to decide between her sister and her friends.

Sugar vs. Spice by Joanne Skerrett gives us Tari,  newspaper journalist by day and aspiring jazz singer by night.  Her older sister Melinda, a wife, mother, and career woman, would like to see Tari follow in her more sensible footsteps, but Tari enjoys her carefree life. When Tari discovers she has breast cancer, she decides to conceal her illness from her coworkers and fellow musicians, but luckily her family is there to rally around her.

In Tia Williams’ The Accidental Diva, an uptown girl meets a downtown boy. Billie, beauty editor of a leading national magazine, loves her glamorous, upscale New York life  and is on the brink of a promotion when she meets Jay, a performance artist with a shady past. Can their worlds ever combine, or are they just too different to make it work? A fun insider look at the beauty industry as well as a serious look at how your past can make you or break you.

Playing James is a delightful slice of British chick lit. Holly Colshannon takes her new job as crime report for the Bristol Gazette very seriously. Her first assignment is to do a series on no-nonsense detective sergeant James Sabine. So, this is going to shock you, but it turns out that the hyper-effective detective isn’t made of stone. He’s actually charmed by Holly’s clueless good humor and comic antics. I know, it’s like in some weird fictional universe with pink covers and high heels opposites attract. This one’s a cut above, though. Cute, charming, fun.

Lee Child’s 14th Jack Reacher thriller, 61 Hours, came out to rave reviews and massive waiting lists last week. Stranded in Bolton, South Dakota, after a tour bus breaks down, Reacher befriends a little old lady who finally challenges him on his overly ascetic lifestyle, while Reacher insists on helping the local cops solve a drug case.  Unlike other series heros who weary of their lone wolf ways (I’m talking to you, Lucas Davenport), Reacher is refreshingly constant in his solitary path.

Fans of this hero-driven, fast-paced series may also enjoy:

The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd
Fired for refusing to comprise his ethics, the FBI brings back disgraced agent Steve Vail when the stakes are raised by a dangerous group blackmailing the agency.

The Black Echo by Michael Connelly
In this Edgar Award-winning first novel, journalist Connelly introduces L.A. police detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch. Setting out to prove that a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat" didn’t die of a drug overdose, Bosch butts heads with the FBI, who have their own reaons for investigating the victim.

Rain Fall by Barry Eisler
Freelance assassin John Rain is as comfortable in his mother’s America as he is in the Japan of his father. Specializing in "death by natural causes" in Tokyo, Rain is suspicious when a routine hit brings him back in contact with an old friend and a dangerous enemy.

Volk’s Game by Brent Ghelfi
Alekei "Volk" Volkovoy lost more than a foot in Russia’s war against Chechnya. He returned to Moscow a  hardened man living by his own set of rules. Which explains how he can reconcile being a powerful gangster in the city’s underground black market and a covert military operative.

Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter
Called "a thinking man’s Rambo," former Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger is recruited by a retired colonel to predict which side of the stands a shooter will pick to attempt a presidential assassination. When Swagger himself is shot, he is suspected of aiding the shooter.

Flood by Andrew Vachss
Starring in 18 books, New York private investigator Burke is another avenging angel who won’t let anything or anyone get in his way. In the series opener, Burke is hired to find the man who murdered a little girl and to make him pay.

This mega-mystery site has put every mystery book properly in place  – you can search by author, title, character name, character profession, place,  time period, the list goes on.

Created by Bonny Brown and maintained by Lucinda Surber and Stan Ulrich, this is a site that we just can’t get enough of.  About the only thing missing is a searchable index by color of the front cover.  (Come on, guys, get on that, will you??)

So when your patron comes to the desk looking for a mystery they read 10 years ago, featuring an Episcopal vicar from New Jersey, it will take you no time at all to point them to the Mother Lavinia Grey series by Kate Gallison.  And you will look BRILLIANT.  (Seriously.  For some reasons, patrons seem to think that you’ve come up with this yourself.  I love it.)

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/

Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue is gutsy historical fiction.  It’s the story of a young English girl in the 1760s who falls into a life of prostitution and lies – reminded me quite a bit of Moll Flanders.  Based on a true crime, this book is very engrossing and entertaining.  Although different in time period and scope, this would be a great readalike for Michael Faber’s Crimson Petal and the White (set in Victorian times and more of an epic saga, but shares similar themes).

In the May 15, 2010 issue of LJ, there is a Q&A with David Morrell regarding the book Thrillers: 100 Must Reads.  At the end of the interview, he suggests that "libraries have a display in which (the book) is flanked by 10 books each month, chosen from our project’s contents".  I love this idea!  So much that I want to steal it for an upcoming post, so I need your help:  dear Readers, tell me some of your favorite RA reference books that you think would lend themselves well to such a display project.   (oh, and feel free to mention one of my titles… ahem.)  Thanks!

Things Invisible to See by Nancy Willard. Magical realism–you either love it or hate it. In this quirky, domestic novel Ben Harkissian and Clare Bishop are bound together when Ben’s errant baseball paralyzes Clare. Inspired by Clare’s determination, Ben falls in love with her, only to be drafted in to World War II. When the two are confronted by Death (Literally. The Reaper wears a three piece suit.) they challenge him to a baseball game. Ben, Clare, their friends, and even their mothers, join them on the field for a high stakes, surreal battle on the ball field. Think Kaye Gibbons meets Field of Dreams.

Sebastian Junger’s latest nonficiton splash, War, is one of the most talked about books of the spring. Widely reviewed and a darling of the TV talk show circuit, Junger recounts the 14 months he spent with a platoon of the 173rd Airborne brigade in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley.

Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose

The Good Soldiers by David Finkel

Dispatches by Michael Herr

Where men win glory: the odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer

Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific by Robert Leckie

Jarhead: A Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles by Anthony Swofford

Ernie Pyle’s War: America’s Eyewitness to World War II by James E. Tobin

Salon.com’s Books Section (or, as I like to call it, The Laura Miller Show) is a smart, slightly snarky collection of book news and reviews. Recent articles include "Bad Writing: What is it good for?" and "Why Men Don’t Read Books." As they say themselves, "Salon, the award-winning online news and entertainment Web site, combines original investigative stories, breaking news, provocative personal essays and highly respected criticism along with popular staff-written blogs about politics, technology and culture." (It’s true, it’s where I first read that Tyra Banks is writing a fantasy series. OMG! I can’t W8!)