In Memoriam - Jim Lavene

In Memoriam 

Jim Lavene

The mystery world had a great shock yesterday. Author Jim Lavene died. It's been just over 6 months that his wife and writing partner suddenly died, and now his death, again sudden and completely unexpected.

I hope his family can find solace and we can all find joy in the works Jim left behind. On a purely selfish note I will miss the books that never made it to light; the continuation of so many series I loved, characters and places trapped in amber. The Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade Mystery series, the new Christmas Tree Valley Mystery series, The Taxi for the Dead Paranormal Mystery series, and the Peggy Lee Gardening Mystery series, just to mention a few of my favorites, not only of their mysteries, but of all mysteries.

The world has lost an incredible team, an unparalleled partnership. One can only hope that Jim and Joyce are together again, writing on another plane of existence, happily reunited.

I hope you'll leave a comment sharing any memories you have of Jim, or your favorite book or series that he penned. 

In Memoriam - Joyce Lavene

In Memoriam

Joyce Lavene

The world lost a gifted writer and a wonderful woman with the sudden death of Joyce Lavene.

Joyce was no stranger to Cozy Up With Kathy having visited numerous times with gust posts and interviews. In fact, just the other day I sent her some questions for her upcoming visit to promote A Dickens of a Murder, a brand new series for the Lavenes. Although I never met her in person, I know she was thoughtful and generous, helping fellow writers and spending time with readers. A massive influence online, Joyce welcomed readers to her Facebook pages and threw wonderful parties.

Joyce has left us with an amazing number of wonderful books, written with her husband, Jim. I was first introduced to their writing years ago when I read Pretty Poison, the first book in the Peggy Lee Gardening Mystery series. I loved that series and was thrilled when they recently brought Peggy back. One of my favorite series of all time is their Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade Mystery series, written as J.J. Cook. I also adore their darker series The Taxi for the Dead Paranormal Mysteries. Such gifted writers with amazing ideas, they just kept coming up with great new series-I was thrilled when they announced two new series: the Canterville Book Shop Mystery series (come on, a book shop where the owners are visited by literary ghosts? How marvelous is that?) and the Christmas Tree Valley Mystery series, a spin off from my favorite Sweet Briar Fire Brigade series. These are just some of the wonderful series penned by this amazing couple, whether they wrote as Joyce and Jim Lavene, J.J. Cook, or Ellie Grant.

Joyce may be gone and her absence certainly felt, but we can easily see her again for she lives on in the words she wrote and the books she created. While I will miss her interviews and chatting with her during her online parties, I can still visit with her. All I need do is open up one of the many books she gave us and read her work. She will be right there with me again.

I hope you'll leave a comment sharing any memories you have of Joyce, or your favorite book or series that she penned.