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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

Murder on Ice, Alina Adams, Berkley Prime Crime, $5.99.

I think one of the reasons I enjoy Figure Skating so much is that the centerpiece event of any championship - National, International or Olympic - is not the men's final but the ladies final. Women rule in figure skating, and in Alina Adams' first figure skating mystery, she naturally focuses her attention on the penultimate event, the Ladies Final at Worlds. In real life, of course, Michelle Kwan has dominated figure skating for over a decade - in Adam's novel, a fresh faced American dukes it out with a more cynical Russian, and the final result ends up being a scandal - did the American or the Russian deserve to win? That's really the central question of the novel, and the judge who gets bumped off is kind of a bonus. If you are a skating fan at all, the whole set up will remind you of the pairs uproar at the last Olympics, where the Canadians were eventually allowed to share a gold medal with the Russian pair.

Adam's central character, "Bex" Levy, has the job Adams held in real life - she was a researcher for ABC sports, covering Nationals, Worlds and Europeans. A researcher apparently has the task of putting together a giant notebook of facts about each skater - what jumps they have scheduled,where they found their costumes, what their music is, who their choreographer is, etc. - for the on air talent to refer to when calling the event live. Adams shows some real skills as a humorist when she portrays the two hosts of the figure skating broadcasts as a married pair of former champions who bicker endlessly off the air. Their off air dissection of each skater before the event is hilarious - and to a skating fan, utterly delicious.

In fact, the book is filled with lots of sly humor, enough so that I didn't really care that I figured out who the killer was before the end of the book. Adams still managed to include some plot surprises, and she was skillful at portraying several of the characters with some depth, enough to make you wonder which way they might have actually behaved. All in all, this is a light enjoyable read - probably only for the serious skating fan - and it should whet your appetite for the upcoming World Championships in March. Go, Michelle!

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