Male Protagonists in Cozy Mysteries

I saw a post the other day on one of the cozy mystery pages I follow. It was from a male cozy reader who was wondering about male protagonists in cozy mysteries. The majority of cozy mysteries are written by women and feature female protagonists. However, some female authors have male protagonists, and there are male cozy authors who have both male and female protagonists.

So who are some of these male leads?

One of my favorite series is The King Harald Mystery series by Richard Audry. King Harald is actually a dog (male at that) and the human protagonist is Andy Skyberg. Andy is a laid back, ordinary guy whose lovable dog keeps finding trouble in Minnesota. Grab some Biberschwanz Pilsners and settle in for a fun time.

Jeffrey Cohen writes a few mystery series using a few names. I first was introduced to him via his Double Feature Mystery series. Elliot Freed owns the Comedy Tonight cinema in New Jersey where he only shows comedy films. I loved this laugh out loud series, which sadly, is only comprised of three books. Some of his other series feature female protagonists, but he has another male protagonist in his current Asberger's Mystery series.

Tim Myers is another prolific mystery writer. Writing under the names Time Myers, Elizabeth Bright, Melissa Glazer, Casey Mayes, Jessica Beck, and Chris Cavender, Tim features both male and female protagonists. The Lighthouse Inn Mystery series (Tim Myers) first introduced me to this author. I really enjoyed Alex Winston. I also liked both his Candlemaking series with Harrison Black, and Soapmaking Mystery series with Benjamin Perkins.

I love John J. Lamb's Bear Collector's Mystery series. It features retired homicide detective Brad Lyon who now makes collectable teddy bears with his wife.

Miranda James in actually Dean James who pens a few mysteries. As Miranda James he features librarian Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat, Diesel, in the Cat in the Stacks Mystery series while as Dean James he has the Simon-Kirby Jones Mystery series set in England.

Terry Ambrose writes a few series including the Seaside Cove Bed and Breakfast Mystery series. These feature single dad Rick Atwood and his precocious 10 year old daughter. Jeffrey Allen writes the Stay at Home Dad Mystery series set in Texas with Deuce Winters. Tim Cockey's protagonist is undertaker Hitch Sewell, featured in the Hitch Sewell Mystery series while Stephen Kaminski has Damon Lassard in his Damon Lassard Dabbling Detective series.

There are several female authors who chose male protagonists for their series. Of course, we have our founding traditional mysteries which include Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael. Lilian Jackson Braun features Jim Qwilleran, a journalist, in her long running Cat Who Mystery series. The Barnabas Tew Mystery series features a male Victorian private investigator who investigates in the Egyptian Underworld in his first outing by female author Columbkill Noonan. Nupur Tustin features Kapellmeister Joseph Haydn in her historical mystery series while Sheri Cobb South features bow street runner John Pickett in her Regency Mystery series.

I haven't really touched on the traditional mysteries, many with well known male protagonists such as Father Brown and Hamish Macbeth, and I'm sure I've left out many other male cozy protagonists. Have you read any of these mysteries? Do any of these men rank as a favorite protagonist for you? Feel free to share your favorites in the comments below.

A Feliz Navidead Interview & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Ann Myers to the blog today. Ann pens the Santa Fe Café Mystery series. Feliz Navidead is the third book in the series.

Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?
AM: I knew I wanted to set a book in Santa Fe. My husband and I visit there a lot for his work, and I love the history, culture, architecture, and, of course, food. But what really sparked the series was pan de muerto, the namesake of Bread of the Dead. What a great name for bread! And perfect for a culinary mystery. I put a Day of the Dead bread-baking contest in the background, and a heroine popped to mind: a woman a little younger than me (at the time) but a lot braver, both to work in food service and to solve crimes.

Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?

AM: I have a soft spot for Flori. She’s not exactly a sidekick. Octogenarian instigator is probably a better description. Flori owns Tres Amigas Café, where my protagonist, Rita, works as a chef. Flori teaches Rita about New Mexican cuisine and spices up the story with hobbies such as deadly tai chi and rogue knitting. Flori is also a renowned amateur sleuth, a bold flirt, and a pincher of handsome men’s behinds. One of these things was inspired by my grandmother, but I won’t reveal which.


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

AM: I finally finished a novel! I’d started several manuscripts over the years, but they petered out. Then I finally finished one and merrily sent out queries, calling the book a cozy. I got bites. And rejections. Lots of rejections, including the most inspiring and devastating, a long list detailing all the ways the book was not cozy or sellable. I ditched the non-cozy and set out to write another—hopefully better and truly cozy—mystery. That became Bread of the Dead.


Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?

AM: I know it’s good to mix up your dinner guests, but I’m going to choose all mystery icons.

· Agatha Christie. Of course!

· Ann Cleeves. I adore her Shetland series and would be secretly hoping for an invitation to the islands.

· Diane Mott Davidson, who first got me hooked on culinary cozies.

· Tony Hillerman, the master of Southwest mysteries.

Now what would I serve?


Kathy: What are you currently reading?

AM: I realized I hadn’t read some of the early books in Martha Grime’s Richard Jury series. I’m reading book one, The Man with a Load of Mischief. It’s wonderful to see characters I know from later books appearing for the first time.


Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?

AM: I’m a crafts dabbler. I guess I haven’t found “The One” craft yet, but it’s been fun trying. I’ve dabbled in pottery (my household has many heavy ceramic items), screen printing and block printing (lots of fun), cyanotypes (magic), sewing (mostly disastrous), knitting (a total failure), embroidery (better), paper-cutting (I could be okay at this), metalsmithing jewelry (I have a torch phobia that hinders production), and am currently blacksmithing. Make that trying to blacksmith. It’s a lot harder than it looks.


Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.

AM: 1. Cheese!

2. Miso. I don’t cook with miso a lot, but it lasts forever. I somehow have three containers.

3. Flour. I get panicky if baking supplies run low.

4. Frozen green chiles. Freshly roasted chiles are too tempting. I’ll buy a bunch in the fall, stash them in the freezer, and then forget how many I have until next season.


Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?

AM: I’d love to write more Santa Fe Café Mysteries and have ideas for plots. While waiting to hear how the first three books do, I’m working on a mystery/thriller set in a fictional Colorado town. The heroine is inspired by a friend, a social worker who helps kids. Crimes are already underway…a missing foster child, a murdered social worker, and soon another killing.


Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?

AM: When readers say they love a character. That’s truly heartwarming and means characters I love managed to escape my head and come to life.

*****************************************************************************

Feliz Navidead, Ann Myers (release date: Oct. 25, 2016)

Holly, jolly, and downright deadly—the third Santa Fe Café mystery unwraps surprises both naughty and nice…

It’s the most picturesque time of the year in Santa Fe, and Chef Rita Lafitte of Tres Amigas Café hopes the twinkling lights and tasty holiday treats will charm her visiting mom. Rita is also planning fun activities, such as watching her teenage daughter, Celia, perform in an outdoor Christmas play. What she doesn’t plan for is murder.

Rita discovers a dead actor during the premier performance but vows to keep clear of the case. Sleuthing would upset her mom. Besides, there’s already a prime suspect, caught red-handed in his bloodied Santa suit. However, when the accused Santa’s wife begs for assistance—and points out that Celia and other performers could be in danger—Rita can’t say no. With the help of her elderly boss, Flori, and her coterie of rogue knitters, Rita strives to salvage her mother’s vacation, unmask a murderer, and stop this festive season from turning even more fatal.

Bio:

Ann Myers writes the Santa Fe Café Mysteries. The first book in the series, Bread of the Dead (2015), introduced café chef and reluctant amateur sleuth, Rita Lafitte. Rita and her friends stir up more trouble in Cinco de Mayhem (March 2016) and Feliz Navidead (October 25, 2016). Ann lives with her husband and extra-large house cat in southern Colorado, where she enjoys cooking, crafts, and cozy mysteries.

Contact Info:

You can find Ann online on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AnnMyers.writer/ and her website http://www.annmyersbooks.com/

The Santa Fe Café Mysteries are available through

HarperCollins https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062382313/feliz-navidead

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Ann-Myers/e/B00V5307T0

Barnes & Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Feliz+Navidead?_requestid=687360

Or your favorite local bookstore or library.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Who-Dun-It?

            Reading is a passion of mine. Delving into a book opens up a new and exciting world for me. While I read all sorts of books, fiction and nonfiction alike, my favorite genre is the mystery.

            The detective story, the who-dun-it?, the mystery has been a popular genre since the mid 1800s. People were fascinated as they read about C. Auguste Dupin who solved The Murders in the Rue Morgue written by Edgar Allen Poe in 1841. In 1868 Wilkie Collins published The Moonstone, whose detective was based on a member of Scotland Yard. The love of a good mystery has never died and those first stories are just as fascinating today as they were over a century ago.

            When it comes to the mystery there are several genres and even subgenres. At times, these subgenres even cross. The basic genres of the mystery novel are the hard boiled, the police procedural, and the cozy.

            The police procedural novel is self descriptive. The novel follows a police officer, or entire department, as he or she follow police procedure to solve the crime.

            The hard boiled mystery is the “tough guy” mystery. This genre was actually developed in the United States in the 1920s when pulp magazines were all the rage. A lot of times the protagonists are tough talking private investigators such as Sam Spade. In general, these books often depict graphic violence and don’t shy away from gore or sex. The hard boiled mystery shows us a gritty, dark, earthy world.

            The cozy mystery is a more gentle mystery. The hero or heroine is often an amateur detective, a regular person who stumbles onto a murder. She could be a soccer mom, a chef, a glassblower. She then gets involved in solving the murder, sometimes to save herself. Even when the hero is a professional, a private investigator or police officer, the cozy mystery has softer edges. It’s more of a puzzle, more cerebral, and oftentimes, more humorous.

            The cozy mystery has a multitude of subgenres. There are culinary mysteries, animal mysteries, craft mysteries, historical mysteries, gardening mysteries, paranormal mysteries, and more. There’s something for everyone. If you don’t believe me, try the Simon Kirby-Jones Mysteries by Dean Jones. The hero is a Southern gentleman who moves to the English countryside. He’s a writer who happens to be gay and a vampire. This series alone gives us 5 diverse subgenres: paranormal, Southern US, English Village, gay/lesbian, and writers!

I’ve noticed a recent trend in mystery novels. If you read several new mystery series you’ll discover a lot of them are what I call “How-To Mysteries”. No, they don’t tell you how to commit crimes or give tips on murdering people, but they will give information and how-to advice on almost any project or hobby you may have.

The How-To Mystery is still a mystery novel with plot, protagonists, victims, criminals, and such. Usually it will fall into the category of cozy mystery and the protagonist will generally be a professional or enthusiast of a certain hobby. It is this hobby about which the reader will learn. Are you in the mood to try a new hobby, but not sure if you really want to get involved? Perhaps you’d like some new techniques for a hobby you already pursue. If so, reading a mystery novel may be your answer.

How these tips are given differs. Usually readers will learn things in the storyline itself as the characters talk about and describe their hobby or work. The real How-To Mystery, however, will also set this information aside from the story. Sometimes the information is contained as one feature and placed at the end of the book, like an addendum. Other times the information is divided into smaller chunks and interspersed throughout the book. A lot of times these pieces will be placed between chapters, sometimes it’s right in the midst of the story itself.

The information available out there is as varied as the mysteries themselves. You can get gardening tips from many series including a Peggy Lee Gardening Mystery by Joyce and Jim Lavene. Need a new knitting or embroidery pattern?  Try a Needlecraft Mystery by Monica Ferris. The Soap Making Series by Tim Myers will give you information on soap making and The Bear Collector’s Mysteries by John J. Lamb will take you into the world of teddy bears and the artisans who create them.

So go ahead and try reading a How-To Mystery. You’ll not only enjoy the story, but learn some tricks of the trade as well. If TV shows like Law and Order or CSI are more your style, try a police procedural. Interested in the nitty gritty of crime? Go for that hard boiled story. Whatever your preference, whatever your interests, I’m sure there’s a mystery for you out there-just go find it!

This article was originally published by The Spartan Opinion as Anatomy of the Mystery Novel.