American/Cozy Mysteries

Essays: § Cozies: An Especially American Art Form § When is a Cozy not a Cozy?
Kenneth Abel § Cold Steel Rain	Alina Adams § Murder on Ice	Donna Andrews § The Penguin Who Knew Too Much	Nevada Barr § High Country
Larry Beinhart § The Librarian	Claudia Bishop and Don Bruns (editors) § A Merry Band of Murderers	Meredith Blevins § The Hummingbird Wizard	Lawrence Block § The Burglar in the Rye
Jan Brogan § A Confidential Source	Judy Clemens § The Day Will Come	Joan Coggin § Who Killed the Curate?	Jeffrey Cohen § As Dog is My Witness § Some Like it Hot-Buttered
Thomas Cook § Into the Web	Gordon Cotler § Artist’s Proof	Casey Daniels § Don of the Dead	Diane Mott Davidson § Dark Tort § Double Shot
Aaron Elkins § Good Blood	Sharon Fiffer § Buried Stuff	Kate Flora § Stalking Death	Christine Goff § A Rant of Ravens
Denise Hamilton § Last Lullaby § Savage Garden § Sugar Skull	David Handler § The Cold Blue Blood	Charlaine Harris § Grave Sight § Grave Surprise § Shakespeare’s Counselor	Rosemary Harris § Pushing Up Daisies
Ellen Hart § An Intimate Ghost § The Iron Girl § Night Vision	Libby Fischer Hellmann § An Image of Death § A Picture of Guilt § A Shot to Die For	Martha C. Lawrence § Ashes of Aries	Marc Lecard § Vinnie's Head
Laura Lippman § To the Power of Three	Mary Logue § Maiden Rock	Margaret Maron § Last Lessons of Summer	Sujata Massey § Girl in a Box
Alexander McCall-Smith § The #1 Ladies Detective Agency	Deborah Morgan § The Marriage Casket § The Weedless Widow	Marcia Muller § Cyanide Wells	Kem Nunn § Tijuana Straits
Nancy Pickard § The Virgin of Small Plains	David Skibbins § Eight of Swords	Jessica Speart § Blue Twilight	Julia Spencer-Fleming § All Mortal Flesh § A Fountain Filled With Blood § I Shall Not Want § In the Bleak Midwinter § Out of the Deep I Cry § To Darkness and to Death
Denise Swanson § Murder of a Sleeping Beauty § Murder of a Barbie and Ken § Murder of a Snake in the Grass	Sarah Stewart Taylor § Judgment of the Grave § Mansions of the Dead § O’ Artful Death § Still as Death	Elaine Viets § Dying to Call You § Just Murdered § Murder with Reservations § Murder Unleashed § Shop Till You Drop

The Marriage Casket, Deborah Morgan, Berkley Prime Crime, $5.99

Another way to view antiques picking is portrayed in Deborah Morgan's snappy Jeff Talbot series - the antiques in this book are a little more highbrow, like Jeff himself, who lives in a Victorian mansion with a butler and his agoraphobic wife. In the second novel, Jeff's wife, Sheila, was kidnaped and taken out of the house. In this novel, she's recovering from the ordeal - she's given up cooking and, as the book begins, won't leave her bedroom (to the frustration of her husband). Morgan adds a new twist to the mix by introducing Sheila's sister, Karen, a raucous photographer who lives out of a suitcase as she travels all over the world. The bracing Karen is like a breath of fresh air for Sheila, and for the reader as well, as the relationship between the sisters is an interesting one. I hope this is a character Morgan plans to keep around.

The mystery is a dandy too - Jeff has bought the contents of an old woman's house from a struggling neighbor for a flat fee - it's up to him to go in the house and excavate the treasure. The old woman, an apparent pack rat who never met a dust rag, is the stuff of an antique picker's dream (she even has some old books, which made me salivate). As Jeff goes through her living room he decides the rug is a valuable one, but as he rolls it up, he finds a blood stain. Formerly an FBI agent, this isn't something he can let slide, and the old woman's previously "normal" death is reexamined and found to be murder. Jeff has to give up the stuff he's taken out as evidence, but one thing he keeps back is a marriage casket (box to you) that's filled with letters from WWII - letters from a dead son to his mother; his mother being the owner of the house Jeff is excavating. Morgan makes this all look easy as she juggles a relationship for Karen, Sheila's excursions downstairs, a cooking mishap, a (somehow) believable butler, and the resentment of another local picker towards Jeff. As the novel draws to its skillful denouement, Morgan has more than laid the groundwork for her surprise ending, and she left me looking forward to her next novel, Four on the Floor, to find out what happens next.

To browse more reviews, use the navigation links at the top of the page.