With August winding down and September nipping at our tan-lined or not so tan lined bottoms, many Americans are looking to get in their summer must-reads, as they rush to the beach, lake, mountain, shore or any cool climate to beat the blistering heat.
As an avid reader with a passion for cozy mysteries, I’d like to list my top 9 cozy must reads for summer:
1, All the Pretty Hearses – Mary Daheim (Bed and Breakfast)
First allow me to introduce myself, my name is Diane and I’m a cover tart – there, that was easy. The Harper Collins art department out did themselves with this sensational cover. Daheim’s All the Pretty Hearses is one of my all-time favorite cozy covers and the best Bed and Breakfast cover in the series’ 26th (so far) history of murderous capers.
Judith and the gang are back and Judith donates an overnight stay at Hillside Manor for the parish school’s annual auction. Gertrude is up to her usual hilarious hijinks, so readers will be holding their sides from the ache Daheim delivers effortlessly. I have two words for Renie’s madcap adventures – Shrimp Dump. Just be careful when ingesting anything while reading it.
2. Pampered to Death – Laura Levine (A Jaine Austen Mystery)
Levine can write “La La Di Da Le” or some gibberish and I’d be the first to read it, even if she wrote “Diane you’re cocoa nuts” on a roll of Charmin, I’d be one of the first to grab it because Levine is just that good. Comedic writing is what she knows best and it flows without a hiccup from her brilliant brain to the page. In Jaine’s 10th outing , Lance, the series’ breakout star – excluding Prozac – treats Jaine to a uber lush spa on the California coast and from there it is nothing but rollicking laughs, tears spilling of the soul tickles and moments you wonder if you should drink another glass of anything for fear of losing control. Pampered to Death has now knocked off my all-time favorite Levine novel, Killer Blonde as my favorite Jaine Austen book.
Article comments
1 - Pj Schott
Great list.