Cozy Mysteries discussion

I was just wondering what everyone's first cozy was and why they chose to read it.

Mine was , and I brought it because I'd never seen a fiction book with recipes in before. I hadn't even heard of cozy mysteries before I brought it. I loved it, and it started me off on cozies.

So what was your first cozy?

Mine was . It's an omnibus of the first three Chocoholic mysteries. A friend gave it to me. After that, I finished that series and she started telling me about all the other ones she read. I'm still working my way through her list!

It may sound a bit cliché, but the first cozy mystery I ever read was The Clocks by Agatha Christie, which I read when I was in high school, and have thought about rereading, since I don't recall much about it. That was followed by And Then There Were None, The ABC Murders, Hercule Poirot's Christmas (Although I read it as A Holiday for Murder) and Death on the Nile. Sadly, the only two I really remember are Death on the Nile and And Then There Were None.

I've read mysteries off and on for years, but I'm new to cozy-mysteries and my first cozy was "Wiped Out" (A Charlotte Larue Mystery) by Barbara Colley. I really enjoy the cozies and I look forward to many, many more!

By the way, I love the reading challenges! Since I am new to the cozies, this gives me the opportunity (or challenges me) to read several different authors and experience their different writing styles instead of reading a complete series at a time.

I started reading mysteries in high school with Sherlock Holmes. Since I'm 40 years out of college, much less high school, I really don't remember the first cozy I read; but I'm sure it was one of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple books. It might have been Murder at the Vicarage.

Probably MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, the only Agatha Christie book I ever finished. I must have been about 12.

My first cozy I found at the library the front cover and title caught my eye.. . I enjoyed it but didnt love it, but now I read lots of cozies, the next I read were from the 'Agatha Raisin' series by M.C Beaton

I'm pretty sure mine was one of the "Cat Who" books by Lillian Jackson Braun. I just can't remember which one I started with.

Mine was Murder on the Orient Express, too. I saw the movie and loved it and my mom told me to read the book. I was hooked, read every single Agatha Christie title and then moved on to other authors.

One of the Agatha Christie books when I was younger, otherwise the Stephanie Plum novels were my first cozies when I was an "adult" :)

I was a romance and romantic suspense reader until I ran upon either the Bubbles series or Jennifer Apodaca's series. I loved the continuity of a series and I enjoyed the mystery(more than I thought I would). Once I put women's mystery series into the search on amazon I was hooked. That was back around 2001 and I only occasionally go back to a romance..lol
If you go all the way back I did read lots of Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Bobsey Twins, and Trixie Belden books as a kid.

A little side note...I have a used book store that I go to and one day I was in and the owner introduced me to a local author...Tim Myers. As I only read romances I surely had never heard of him but I bought one of his books and he signed it for me. I never did read that book. Years later I think maybe if I'd read that book then my addiction to cozies might have started a bit sooner!

I don't know, perhaps Agatha Christie's books when I was veeery, very young (I think that perhaps at seven or eight), but I can't remember which one.

I forgot about Nancy Drew. I was addicted to those as a kid :)

I'm new to the group & am glad I joined after just reading some of the posts. I'm guessing Nancy Drew ... wasn't the first one "The Secret of the Old Clock" or something like that.

I don't remember any of the Nancy Drew titles - just that my faves were one set in Hawaii and one with a phantom plane.

Also, hi Martha! Welcome :)

Thanks, Nairabell!

I don't remember my very first but as I've said elsewhere I read Trixie Belden (don't forget we are starting a thread to reread/read for the first time and discuss Trixie starting this month), Bobbsey Twins, Donna Parker when I was a kid. Don't remember in what order...much to long ago.

What got me started seriously as an adult was when I went into a bookstore and was looking at a bookcase the dealer had labeled "Books about books". I love to read books about books and he had a Carolyn Hart Death on Demand book on the shelf. I bought it and was introduced to bibliomysteries. Afterr I ran through every bibliomystery I could find I started on culinary mysteries and from there whatever grabs my fancy.

I'm seeing so many new ideas for books to read. I don't think I've ever read a Trixie Belden book so I'll have to find the first one to read with the group.

Loved the Bobbsey Twins. Also, a cute little book called "The Pink Motel", by Carol Ryrie Brink. A few years ago I found a copy that was just like the one I had had as a child. It was like I found an old friend!

Martha wrote: "I'm seeing so many new ideas for books to read. I don't think I've ever read a Trixie Belden book so I'll have to find the first one to read with the group.

Loved the Bobbsey Twins. Also, a cut..."

Martha: Will enjoy having you in our Trixie Belden Buddy Read. I just got the first one in from the library so am excited to get started (although I have a couple books that I need to get through this weekend from the library that I can't renew and they are due back within the next week).

After we read Trixie we might tackle the Bobbsey Twins. I've never heard of The Pink Motel. What was it about?

Denise wrote: "Martha wrote: "I'm seeing so many new ideas for books to read. I don't think I've ever read a Trixie Belden book so I'll have to find the first one to read with the group.

Loved the Bobbsey Twi..."

I never liked the Bobbsey Twins and wasn't nuts about the Hardy Boys. I thought this question referred to adult cozies which is why I mentioned MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS. But if we're considering kids books, too, then it was probably a Nancy Drew book when I was about 7 or 8. I can't remember the title but I remember a riverboat being on the cover.

As a child, my first cozy was a Nancy Drew, and most likely it would have been the first one in the series. I have stated already that I like to read series in order, and I know that started with the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Books from my childhood. There were numbers on the spines for a reason people! :)

As an adult I am sure my first cozy would have been an Agatha Christie, but no idea which one. I've read them all as well as all of the Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe) and most of the Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason). Those are the books that I cut my mystery reading teeth on. I've been reading cozies for over 20 years and I really got into other authors when I started working at a library back in 1989 (and yes, I was a just a child then ;) and the first one I found was a Barbara Michaels book. I devoured all of those and then found out she wrote as Elizabeth Peters as well and went through all of those as well (except for the Amelia Peabody books, never could get into those!). I know they are not classified as cozies, but I loved them. I then moved onto M. M. Kaye and read her Death in...books.

From then on, no cozy was safe from my hands! Happy Reading!

Thanks, Denise! A woman inherits a pink motel in Florida and the guests are eccentric & some even mysterious!! Such fun adventures for the children!!

I, too, read Agatha Christie as a young adult & am going to be re-reading them, especially the Miss Marples.

Kelley, you worked in a library!! I'm jealous. I love Rex Stout books. So many books, so little time.

This appears to be a very fun group. I'm going to enjoy. Happy 4th to you all.

Up until 9/11 I really didn't read a lot of cozies. I read mostly hardboiled & thrillers and maybe a very occasional cozy type book. After 9/11 my reading tastes changed quite a bit. Now I read more cozy type mysteries than hardboiled and only a rare thriller. I also tend to read a lot of UF and a lot of that is YA. I think it's because I know the UF isn't real and it's a good way to disappear for awhile into a world where all the crappy stuff in the real world doesn't intrude.

I read a lot of Perry Mason books when I was a kid because my mom read them and if there was a book in the house I read it too. I guess I didn't think of those as mysteries.

Mine was Thyme of Death . My MIL let me borrow her copy and I loved every minute of it. Shortly after that we found Laura Child's Teashop series and I've been hooked on cozies ever since.

I just joined Cozy Mysteries, so I am currently reading Death by Darjeeling.

I read a lot of Agatha Christie mysteries as a teen because mom had them all. I also read many of the series like Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden and Bobsey Twins when I was a kid. The first Nancy Drew I read was Password to Larkspur Lane. I used to choose them by the pictures on the cover.

My first cozy was . After I read this book, I was instantly hooked. Now I can't get enough of cozys and always checking on new books. Watch out July 6th. That's when new releases come out and I already have 6 books to go on my kindle that morning.

Barb D

Hmmm, a great question! I devoured all the Nancy Drew books as a child. I guess my first "adult" cozy must have a "Cat Who." Earlier cozy reads included Diane Mott Davidson, Carolyn Hart, and Susan Wittig Albert.

I am not sure if Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series counts, if so, it was One for the Money. If not, it would be Krista Davis' The Diva takes the Thyme.

Well, if Nancy Drew counts, then that was it. I ended up reading 70 of them! I was really hooked. Then I started reading Agatha Christie, but it was kind of forced upon me by my mom. Still enjoyed it though!

The first one that I picked out all on my own was This Pen For Hire. I've been hooked on her series ever since. AND the cozy genre.

I never read a lot of Nancy Drew. I started with Sherlock Holmes in high school and quickly branched out into Agatha Christie since my mother enjoyed mysteries. The first mystery I remember discovering and buying on my own was The New Shoe. I was about 16 or 17 and soon had my mother hooked on Napoleon Bonapart, too.

I read and collected Trixie Belden mysteries as a kid. Does that count? lol Hated Nancy Drew and only liked the Hardy Boys if I was watching them on TV. (What can I say, way back in the day I had a 5th grade crush on Shaun Cassidy! lol Embarassing now but back then we all did.)

More recently, I'd probably have to say Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity series was the first actual cozy I can remember, although I did read some Murder, She Wrote books too.

My first cozy was Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. And quickly discovered Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. I think I read one Trixie Belden.

I started with the (The Bobbsey Twins in Tulip Land, my favorite in the series & then Nancy Drew where I was fascinated by The Clue of the Leaning Chimney, followed by The Hidden Staircase &The Secret of the Old Clock
Then it was on to as much Trixie Belden as I could get (only a couple of years older than me AND lived in New York, not so far from me). And all of Cherry Ames.
By the time I was 13 or 14 I discovered Agatha Christie & Sherlock Holmes. I read Ngaio March with my mom at 15.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

The cozy that I believe started my hunting of some mysteries to read was Murder With Peacocks . My mysteries span from YA, cozy, and, I guess, darker mysteries which I have to be in the mood for.

my 1st cozy was by Laura Childs...........i have found many more cozies to read, so i have many many many MANY more to catch up!!!!! can't wait!!!!

I have no idea. I'm way too old to remember it. :)

LOL Karendenice! I'm with you - that was too many years and too many books ago.

Teresa wrote: "I just joined Cozy Mysteries, so I am currently reading Death by Darjeeling."

I just bought Death by Darjeeling this week..( planning on reading it soon with a friend )..how did you like it?

The first cozy that I read was by Monica Ferris ~ I dont remember which title it was..but I have read several of her books since then, and have really enjoyed them!

I also remember reading some Nancy Drew when I was younger. =)

I don't remember what my first cozy was but I distinctly remember telling my mother that I was getting tired of Nancy Drew and she told me to try reading Agatha Christie. I read a Miss Marple book I think, but I have read And Then There Were None so many times that now I can't remember and maybe it was that one. *LOL*

Besides Nancy Drew as a child I would have to say it was the Cat Who mysteries by Lillian Jackson Braun. That series got me hooked on cozies all together. I had read Christie (but mostly Poirot to be honest.)

When I was a teenager, my mom discovered Ngaio Marsh and shared them with me. I loved that book-and sharing them with my mom. Reading cozies always makes me feel that connection with her (which is nice since she died when I was in my early 20s). So I enjoy cozies for themselves and for their happy association as well.

I'm very new to cozy mysteries. My first was either or . I don't remember which one I read first - it was probably the Charlaine Harris book.

I guess my first cozies were the Nancy Drew books, followed quickly by the Hardy Boys, Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.

I liked Nancy Drew as well, then matured into Phyllis Whitney and Mary Stewart books, liked the Hardy boy television series.

My first was . I read it because someone mentioned it on a cruise board as something they were bringing with them on their next vacation. After that, I went searching for more cozies, found Joanne Fluke, and was hooked!

The Nancy Drew Mysteries I can remember reading the books and watching the TV series in the 70's

Mine was just last week (well not really..I read a lot of Mary Higgins Clark back in the day--is she a cozy mystery writer?). But last week I read and I really enjoyed it. I also tried to read last year and could not really get into it. I might try again.