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Advent of Mystery, Day 4: The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay
So far, many of the the stories this week have been Christmas-adjacent. (Somehow, even having Christmas in the title is not enough to guarantee a Christmas-centric timeline.) That ends today. From here on out, it is straight manor house closed-circle mysteries that take place on Christmas. Some poor unfortunate soul invites a bunch of friends…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 3: Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie
The holidays are a busy time for everyone, and it can be tricky to find the time to read a full-length novel. Luckily, we have short stories to fill that gap – bite-sized wintry puzzles that can fulfill your mystery fix. Recently, the folks at William Morrow have pulled together a new collection of Agatha…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 2: Death Comes at Christmas by Gladys Mitchell
One of my goals for this series is to read new Golden-Age mystery authors, and Death Comes at Christmas is my first attempt to do so. Gladys Mitchell wrote 66 books about Mrs. Bradley, who’s also a doctor and an established psychoanalyst. (You’ll notice the same “human expertise” vibes as Poirot and Miss Marple, but…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 1: The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers
Welcome to the first day of Advent of Mystery! I was first introduced to Dorothy Sayers as “kind of like Agatha Christie, but more literary.” My first Sayers read was Gaudy Night, and I feel in love with her writing style and with Lord Peter Wimsey’s understated wit. Reading the series always feels like returning…
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Introducing the Advent of Mystery: a week of Golden-Age murder mysteries for your winter celebrations
It’s the most wonderful time of the year… Here at The Cozy Owlet, we’re huge fans snuggling up with a great book when it’s cold (and windy) outdoors. It’s a great time of year to appreciate the comforts of a warm home and a supportive community. Of course, there’s no better way to throw that…
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A November tradition (and confession): reading more Native voices
November is Native American Heritage Month, and I want to share one of my favorite annual traditions with you to celebrate. A few years ago, I helped run a local diversity-themed book club, and we hit the month of November. Various other members suggested a variety of reads – some wanted to read the new…
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Relax, it’s only magic: a list of witchy reading for Hallowe’en
It’s Hallowe’en! I wanted to step away from Miss Marple for one more week (we’ll be back next week with The Body in the Library!) to get in the spooky spirit. So I put together a Hallowe’en reading list with an investigative twist. Our theme today is mysteries that feature witches of one kind or…
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The hidden potential of airport bookstores (and my favorite one!)
I spend a reasonable amount of time in Major Metropolitan Airports, so I like to think I’m familiar with airport bookstores. When I passed through Charlotte’s airport recently, many of the usual bestsellers were prominently displayed on the newsstand shelves. The bookstores in CLT also had a similar volume of books as others I’ve seen…