836: Tea, Blankets, and Murder

Once a subcategory for mysteries, “cozy” feels like the latest craze in publishing with every genre getting in on the act. Is it really a new thing? Are authors able to take sci-fi or horror and turn it into something to be read while cuddled into a warm blanket with a cup of tea at one’s elbow? Our panel discusses what makes a piece of media cozy, drafts a few books (sometimes with media tie-ins), and then throws it open to anything that gives us that cozy feeling. David includes tea pairings with his choices and Antony tells us how he ended up writing a cozy mystery series.

Cozy Draft

Host Shannon Sudderth with Antony Johnston, Annette Wierstra, Shelly Brisbin, David J. Loehr, and James Thomson.

Show Notes & Links

• Annette: “A Council of War” cozy mysteries inspired by Elizabeth Peters (series with Amelia Peabody and Vicky Bliss), Veronica Speedwell mysteries by Deanna Raubourne, Jaya Jones mysteries by Gigi Pandian

• David: the Gervase Fen series by Edmund Crispin

• Antony: the Miss Marple books by Agatha Christie

• James: The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne by Summer N. England

• Shelly: the Night Soldiers series by Alan Furst

• Shannon: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

• Annette: A Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

• David: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

• Antony: the Wayfarers books by Becky Chambers

• James: Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

• Shelly: the Bridgerton novels by Julia Quinn

• Shannon: the Cat Who… mysteries by Lilian Jackson Braun

• Annette: outdoor lights on my patio

• David: the Jeeves and Wooster series by P.G. Wodehouse

• Antony: Journey (videogame) by Thatgamecompany

• James: Fallout 4 (videogame) by Bethesda Game Studios

• Shelly: my cozy reading nook with my Incomparable blanket, Mom’s cozy furniture, various cats, and “Murder, She Wrote” playing in the background

• Shannon: revisiting children’s books/media: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Colin Thompson picture books, Disney fairy tales

Antony’s rec list of fellow cozy authors:

• Poppy Denby mysteries by Fiona Veitch Smith

• Cressida Fawcett mysteries by Fliss Chester

• The Dales Detective Agency series by Julia Chapman

• The Inspector Chopra mysteries and the Malabar House series, both by Vaseem Khan

• The Bloody Christmas mysteries by Jo Middleton

• Various books by Janice Hallett

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