The New Neighbor - It's a Cozy Spy Thriller?

The New Neighbor - Karen Cleveland

If, like me, you read a lot of mystery and thriller novels; you’re well aware of the subgenre of “cozy” mysteries: a protagonist, usually female, stumbles over dead bodies (always free of gore) in the everyday course of business. Cooking is a favorite profession, so are crafting and bookselling. It’s a classic case of willing suspension of disbelief – after all, Crabapple Cove, Maine, is unlikely to have a higher murder rate than Chicago, Bogotá, or Mogadishu. Even with that in mind, though, today’s book is a new subgenre for me; something I call the "cozy spy thriller." Meet Beth Bradford, heroine of Karen Cleveland‘s fourth novel, The New Neighbor.

When Organization Fails

Careful What You Wish For - Hallie Ephron

Like the Bushes and the Kennedys in politics and the Barrymores in theater, there are dynasties in fiction. Some are more successful than others: think Steven King and his son, Joe Hill (ignore Tabitha, though…) in the world of horror; or James Lee Burke and daughter Alafair if your taste runs to mysteries. And then there are the Ephron sisters… everyone knows Nora for such films as “Sleepless in Seattle” or “Silkwood,” but did you know that her sister Hallie Ephron is also a writer? Neither did I, at least before I picked up a copy of Careful What You Wish For… and I’m still not sure.

Meet Emily Harlow, erstwhile third-grade teacher turned Marie Kondo clone; right down to that whole “spark joy” bushwa. She and a buddy operate Freeze-Frame Clutter Kickers, one of those “organizer” services that help hoarders and near-hoarders clean out their closets. Yeah, as if… Truth be told, Emily should be helping her husband, Frank, clean up all his junk.

Another Cozy Mystery that Won't Tax Your Brain

The Murder Pit - Jeff Shelby

Daisy Savage has her hands full: besides keeping husband number two, Jake, satisfied; the full-time homeschooling Mom to three of the blended-family kids, she’s also busy with keeping the family’s hundred-year-old house from collapsing into itself. When exploring a frozen pipe turns up a body hidden in a coal chute they didn't even know they had, Daisy finds herself “forced” to investigate on her own. Because she dated the victim, albeit briefly, between husbands, the whole town of Moose River, Minnesota, is convinced she offed poor Olaf Stunderson.

That includes Olaf’s sister, Olga, and his ex-wife Helen; or so it seems. Whether the Susan Powter lookalike cop has cleared her is questionable. But all this suspicion and enmity mean that Daisy’s comfy life – and worse, the lives of her kids – is a mess, so she’s gonna do what she’s gotta do: find the killer. Naturally, the killer will find her first…