Where do you go?

Random Thursday thoughts...

Where do you go for murder mystery novel reviews? I like to read reviews of books before I buy them, but there do not seem to me to be as many reliable book review sites and blogs for murder mysteries as there are for romances. Not sure why.

So, when I want to check out a review I go to Amazon.com, though I find the reader reviews shaky, at best. Too often the 'reviewers' (to be kind and call them that) allow personal grievances to color their review. Now, I (better than many) understand that a review is a personal opinion, but I want to know WHY the reviewer feels the way they do, not just 'this book was crap'.

My other source, right now, is The Mystery Reader: http://www.themysteryreader.com/

Their reviews are not bad, but they don't do them enough, and they often don't review the books I really want to know about.


So... where do YOU go for murder mystery novel reviews? Or do you even bother reading reviews? Inquiring minds want to know!

Other stuff: I am still on the hunt for reviewers, as well as point-of-view pieces of murder mystery novels, 'Why I Write Mysteries', 'Why I Read Mysteries', or anything else of interest pertaining to writing or reading mysteries!

Also... tomorrow we have a treat. Elspeth Antonelli, blogger, game creator and writer, will give us her insight into the difference between creating/writing a story for a mystery game and writing a murder mystery novel.

Check it out!

A Corpse for Yew review

I thought I would share with you a great review of our friends Jim and Joyce Lavene's new Peggy Lee Gardening mystery.

Have a look! Click on the book cover to go to the review!


Sounds great, and I can't wait to check it out!

Click on the linked graphic above to get to Sharon's Garden of Book Reviews
and enter to win during cozy Mystery Week!

Calling All Reviewers...

I plan to host cozy murder mystery reviews here at CMM, but I really don't want to represent only my own tastes and my own reading habits. The genre is so large I could never cover all the great murder mystery novels and series out there.

So... do you read Cozy Murder Mysteries? I have to assume you do or you wouldn't be reading this. Have you ever written a review, or wished you could?

Well, here's an opportunity to tell everyone what you think of the books you read and love... or hate.

My stipulations for reviewers:

1 - Reviews of cozy or near-cozy murder mysteries only.
2 - Reviews cannot use other reviewers' words.
3 - You can use the cover blurbs as a description, but the review should be substantially your own reaction to it. IOW, I don't want just to hear that you liked it or didn't, I want to know why, what worked, what didn't, how it could have been better, how it succeeded.
4 - No slasher reviews... witty for the sake of being witty, but no pandering either. I want the truth. Sometimes the truth is grim, sometimes it's all sunlight and roses. Tell us about it.
5 - I don't want a rehash of reviews published elsewhere.
6 - Be willing and prepared to be edited both for content and spelling, grammar, etc.
7 - You can't be a published murder mystery novelist! (Nothing says you can't be an aspiring one, though!)

So... first email me at: donna at donnaleasimpson dot com... you know what to do to make that a real email address!

Let me know what you'd like to review, and we can talk! If you like, send me a sample review! Questions? Drop me a note.

Also... what else I'm looking for: in future weeks I will be looking for the following... reviews about murder mystery websites or blogs, personal opinion pieces on the murder mystery genre, profiles of murder mystery writers, personal accounts of your first reading experiences, and other interesting things having to do with murder mystery publishing and cozy murder mystery books in particular, past and present.

If you have a blog and write for me, I'll certainly provide a plug and a link back. If you are a published murder mystery writer, even self-pubbed or small pubbed, I'd love to host a blog entry for you... talk about what brought you to writing etcetera.

Talk to me!