cozy

The Keeper of Magical Things

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The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong

The second cozy fantasy by the author of The Teller of Small Fortunes is not a sequel, but is set in the same world. Certainty Bulrush has been living in the city of Margrave for six years, as a novice in the Guild of Mages. Her only magical talent is to communicate with objects, especially magical objects such as a talking teapot. If she becomes a mage, her family, who have a pear orchard, can afford an apprenticeship for her brother.

Certainty is sent on an assignment with Mage Aurelia Mirella, a farspeaker. Their task is to take two wagons of minor magical artifacts to a remote and unmagical village. Their housing and storage for the artifacts have been pre-arranged, supposedly. The pair are to inventory, organize, store, and ward the collection. Too many magical items at the Guild have created an overflow of magic, leading to some humorous magical incidents. Aurelia has a reputation for being standoffish, and is from a wealthy family in the city. She also has a big secret, which is soon revealed to Certainty. Aurelia has high standards, and neither their housing, storage, or meals meet her approval. Cert has to show by example how to fit in to the village. With assistance from some of the minor magical items, they help the village’s apple orchards, water supply, and help create very tasty pasta. There’s also some romance, and a small catdragon.

When their assignment ends badly, Cert is unfairly blamed and goes home in disgrace to her family, where she is shown … kindness and love. Back to the city she goes, to explain her motives and actions. An enjoyable read, though different in setting and tone from her first book.

Brenda

The Healing Season of Pottery

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The Healing Season of Pottery by Yeon Somin

In the past few years, quite a few charming novels have been translated into English from Korean and Japanese. Some are cozy fantasies, others are comfort reads, still others bridge the gap with magical realism. This Korean novel is a comfort read, taking place over the course of a year at a pottery studio not too far from Seoul, South Korea.

Jungmin, 30, has turned into a hermit after she left her stressful broadcast writing job. She just happens upon the studio, and is encouraged to learn to hand-build ceramics, and later to use the pottery wheel. Johee is the ceramic artist who teaches beginners of all ages and mentors Gisik, an advanced student who dreams of opening his own pottery studio by the sea. There is, of course, a cat, who needs a foster home.

Others include Jura, Jungmin’s childhood friend. They are both stuck on some issues from their past, and each seeks forgiveness. There are several other regular characters, and many scenes set in cafés, ice cream shops, and coffee shops, with many untranslated Korean words for food and drink. Other than wishing for a glossary of Korean words and phrases, I thoroughly enjoyed this heartwarming story, with the ceramics studio making for an appealing setting, and including life lessons of patience, perseverance, and building community.

Some of the many readalikes include: The Rainfall Market by You Yeong-Gwang, The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki, We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida, and The Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee.

Brenda

How to Solve Your Own Murder

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How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting with her Great Aunt Frances in the English village of Castle Knoll. Frances is found dead when Annie arrives for the meeting in her home, Gravesdown Hall. Annie suspects murder. Because of a fortuneteller’s prediction when she was a teen, Frances has always feared being a murder victim, and has prepared files on many of the villagers of Castle Knoll. The will gives her stepson and Annie one week to solve her murder before the police in order to inherit her fortune, Gravesdown Hall, a nearby farm, and the house in Chelsea where Annie lives with her mother Laura, an artist. Otherwise, everything goes to the Crown and a developer gets to build on the land.

Alternate chapters feature Frances’ diary from 1965, when Frances, Emily, and Rose are best friends with secrets, especially mean girl Emily. Frances’ diary and journals help Annie, a mystery writer, to try solving the case, which may be very dangerous. I liked the contemporary mystery better than the timeline set in 1965.

Annie is clever and appealing, as is Detective Crane. Frances isn’t as likable a character as Annie. I didn’t love this book, especially as some of the secrets are rather dark for a cozy, but I did find this mystery to be hard to put down. A sequel is expected next March, How to Seal Your Own Fate.

Brenda

The Kamogawa Food Detectives

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The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood

I enjoyed this short, engaging novel of six connected stories, a bestseller in Japan. The stories are set in Kyoto, which is fondly described, with mentions of notable tourist sites such as the Higashi Hongangi Buddhist Temple. Weather and seasons are highlighted, including cold winter breezes from the surrounding mountains, many rainy days, and the stunning beauty of the spring Cherry Blossom Festival. But the focus of the novel is the Kamogawa Diner, and the small detective agency, both run by retired police officer Nagare Kamogawa and his daughter Koishi, in her 30s. The diner, with four tables and 5 seats at the counter, is hard to find, but always smells enticing.

Other than some regular customers, most diners are clients seeking a nostalgic dish from long ago. Koishi interviews them, then Nagare travels throughout Japan to source ingredients, search for chefs or customers of closed restaurants, and finds long-lost relatives and friends in search of the desired recipe and ambience. Two weeks later, the clients return for their requested meal, and a story, along with greetings from friendly cat Drowsy. The food is lovingly detailed, and isn’t all traditionally Japanese. Among the requests are Napolitan Spaghetti with frankfurters, eaten by a 5-year-old girl on a trip with her grandfather, a widower looking for his wife’s secret recipe, and a favorite meal for a loved one who is ill. This charming novel is a very good rainy-day comfort read. In Japan, the book has seven sequels. The first sequel, The Restaurant of Lost Recipes, will be published here in October. Enjoy!

Brenda

The Mimicking of Known Successes

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The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

I am amazed by Malka Older’s remarkable world-building with memorable main characters in just 166 pages. Mossa is an Investigator, looking into a missing person report from a tiny frontier train stop. A pub owner nearby grows and cooks excellent green beans, but there seems to be no other reason for a stranger to visit. Did the man fall of the train platform, jump, or was he pushed, and why?

Tracing the unnamed man to the university city of Valdegeld, Mossa reconnects with Pleiti, her former college sweetheart. Pleiti is a Classics scholar, with her own small suite of rooms. When the missing person is identified as a fellow scholar Pleiti dislikes, she provides introductions to various scholars for Mossa, before the pair tour a zoo. At the zoo, Mossa is attacked by a caracal, a wild feline. As Pleiti continues to help Mossa with the case, they slowly reconnect. The exciting investigation, including some train journeys, culminates at a spaceport. Besides the spaceport, what makes this novella science fiction? It’s set on artificial rings around Jupiter, known as Giant, and the classics Pleiti studies are old Earth books. The goal of the Classics scholars is to recreate Earth’s ecosystem, with authentic plants and animals, on the currently desolate home planet.

Summarized by the publisher as a Gaslamp mystery, this book could be described as a late Victorian style community in an alien setting, with atmospheric storms and chilly winds which make tea shops, hot soup, and gas fireplaces very inviting. I’d love to see drawings of life on Giant, especially the atmoscarfs worn outdoors. A sequel, The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, has just been published, and is high on my pile of books to read. Readalikes include The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal, and books by Becky Chambers.

Brenda

Tea and Empathy

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Tea and Empathy: Tales of Rydding Village, Book 1 by Shanna Swendson

Author Shanna Swendson set out to right a cozy fantasy in a traditional setting, a welcome recent trend. She is best known for her contemporary fantasy series, Enchanted, Inc., mostly set in New York City.

While the story starts with Elwyn at a very low point, wondering if she’ll survive, it ends with her and the village of Rydding starting to thrive. Elwyn is on the run, hungry and weak. She leaves the main road for a lane leading into a forest, where she immediately feels safer, then crosses a stone bridge over a bridge to find a quiet village in the valley. Elwyn finds refuge in a vacant stone cottage with a large overgrown cottage, reminding her of a cottage she once lived in. This cottage turns out to be something magical. Elwyn, who now calls herself Wyn, meets Mair, who trades her goat milk and cheese. Soon Wyn opens a tea chop in the front room of the cottage, and later, reluctantly, does a little healing. A wounded and unconscious man appears in the village, who remembers nothing of his past when he wakes up, but is happy to help Wyn with blending herbs and tea.

Will Wyn be able to stay in the village, or will serious troubles from her recent past find her if she stays in Rydding? A very pleasant read, and I look forward to more cozy fantasy novels in this series.

The Dark Lord’s Daughter

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The Dark Lord’s Daughter by Patricia Wrede

This book is perfect for readers who enjoy cozy or lighthearted fantasy. Marketed for middle school readers, yet appealing for all ages. Kayla Jones, 14, visits the Minnesota State Fair, an annual tradition, with her adoptive mom Riki and her younger brother, Del. Suddenly they are transported to a stone circle in Zaradwin, where Kayla is called Xavrielina, the new Dark Lady.

Kayla’s tablet computer becomes her talking familiar, the castle has dragon skulls that speak, and Kayla’s aunts may not have her best interests at heart. On the positive side, her cousin and potential rival wants to be a musician while another relative loves to cook.

Kayla, aided by her familiar, her practical and protective mother, her lively younger brother, and the castle librarian, learns what her options are as a Provisional Dark Lady. Exploring the castle, learning a little magic, trying to get back home to Minnesota, and discovering if a Dark Lady really must curse or exile her rivals make for very enjoyable reading. Patricia Wrede co-authored Sorcery & Cecelia: Or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot and other teen fantasy novels as well as the very popular Dealing with Dragons and other Enchanted Forest books. I’m happy to hear that a sequel to The Dark Lord’s Daughter is planned.

Brenda

Bookshops & Bonedust

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Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

Have you read Legends & Lattes yet? Then you’re in for a treat, and you don’t need to be a coffee drinker to enjoy it. This new novel, due out November 7, is a prequel.

Viv, an orc, is at the beginner of her career as a mercenary here. Recovering from a severe injury, Viv is stuck in the seaside village of Murk until Rackham’s Ravens return. While occasionally following the doctor’s orders, Viv is bored. So very bored. Constant questions from Gallina, a young gnome who wants to join the Ravens, doesn’t help. But Fern and her shabby bookshop do. One book, suggested by savvy readers advisor Fern, leads to others. Viv, with the help of Pitts, a poetry loving orc who hauls things, help make the bookshop more welcoming. Then there’s Maylee, a dwarf who runs the local bakery. Baldree writes so lovingly of scones and pastries in both books that you’ll want to make a quick trip to a local bakery or bake some scones, cookies, or muffins yourself.

Many cozy mysteries are set in bookstores or bakeries. I start quite a few, finish some, and am delighted by only a few. Baldree’s cozy fantasy books featuring Viv, though, are awesome. Besides an injured orc and a bookshop that needs spiffing up, there’s also a gryphet, a reclusive romance author, some sweet kisses, and a greatsword belonging to an evil necromancer. Also, a gray man, smelling of ice and death, has Viv and the local guard on high alert. What could possibly go wrong before the Ravens return? This is a charming read, well worth savoring. These books can be read in either order. More, please!

Brenda