It's Cozy (Mystery) Season

It’s that time of year again when all we want is to stay inside and curl up with a good book. This season, we’re leveling up our cozy with equally cozy mysteries from the library. Cozy mysteries are typically lighthearted, include a quirky cast of characters, feature an amateur sleuth, and leave out the disturbing details that make you want to sleep with the lights on. Best of all, they come in several sub-genres, making it easier to find the right mystery for you. Whether you’re a classic “whodunit” enthusiast (think Agatha Christie), an animal lover, a culinary connoisseur, a history buff, hobbies nerd, or home renovation obsessed, there are plenty of mysteries out there to keep you cozy this winter.

Classic Whodunits

• Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson, sequel: Everyone on This Train is a Suspect (also available on Hoopla)
  • When Ernie Cunningham, a self-published author who writes books about writing books, is confronted with a real-life murder mystery at his family’s ski resort reunion, he does his best to follow his own rules while relaying the story to readers. Matters are further complicated by the fact that everyone in Ernie’s family has killed before and secrets to hide—including Ernie.

You might also enjoy:

• How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin
• Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, from the Miss Marple series (also available on Hoopla)
• The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, a Thursday Murder Club mystery

Pet/Animal

• Mimi Lee Gets a Clue by Jennifer J. Chow, A Sassy Cat Mystery (also available on Hoopla)
  • A loud argument with a local breeder accused of mistreating Chihuahuas lands Los Angeles pet store owner Mimi Lee on the suspect list after the breeder is found dead the following day. Mimi and her talking cat, Marshmallow, will have to use their sass and sleuthing skills to solve the crime and secure Mimi’s freedom and future.

Plus, give these a try:

• Canter with a Killer by Amber Camp, A Horse Rescue Mystery (also available on Hoopla)
• Cat Me if You Can by Miranda James, a Cat in the Stacks Mystery
• To Fetch a Felon by Jennifer Hawkins, A Chatty Corgi Mystery

Culinary

• A Killer Sundae by Abby Collette, an Ice Cream Parlor Mystery
  • A fun summer kick-off turns into Bronwyn Crewse’s worst nightmare when a former Blossom Time Queen is poisoned at the Memorial Day festival and Bronwyn’s ice cream truck is implicated. She’ll have to do some investigating of her own to clear her name and save her business.

Find more food mystery fun in these series:

• Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala, a Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery
• The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
• Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns, a Baker Street Mystery (also available on Hoopla)

Home Renovations

• Renovated to Death by Frank Anthony Polito, a Domestic Partners in Crime Mystery (also available on Hoopla)
  • Actor JP Broadway and his mystery writing husband, PJ Penwell, have launched Domestic Partners, a successful home renovation show that documents their work fixing up old houses in Detroit. But when a dead body shows up on the stairs of their latest project and strange smells start emerging from the basement, their new season may be more than they bargained for.

Be sure to also check out:

• A High-End Finish by Kate Carlisle, a Fixer-Upper Mystery
• Dead as a Door Knocker by Diane Kelly, a House-Flipper Mystery
• If Walls Could Talk by Juliet Blackwell, a Haunted Home Renovation Mystery

Historical

• A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales
  • Beatrice Steele is not your typical Swampshire lady. She’d rather read and solve true crimes from the newspaper than work on her needlepoint. However, for the sake of her etiquette-obsessed family, Beatrice agrees to put the hobby behind her so her sister has a chance at capturing the attention of Edmund Croaksworth at the autumnal ball. But when Edmund falls dead on the ballroom floor, Beatrice must set etiquette aside and pursue her sleuthing instincts to prevent another murder.

Take a trip back in time with these other historical cozies:

• A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver, an Electra McDonnell novel
• Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer, a Jane Wunderly Mystery (also available on Hoopla)
• Murder Knocks Twice by Susanna Calkins, a Speakeasy Murder novel (also available on Hoopla)

Hobbies

• Puzzle Me A Murder by Rosalind Noonan (also available on Hoopla)
  • Life has gotten off track for small-town puzzle enthusiast Alice Pepper. After a divorce and retirement delay, Alice is just grateful to have friends she can lean on for good conversation, coffee, and jigsaws. But when murder strikes her Oregon community, Alice will have to use her problem-solving skills to stop the killer and remove her good friend from the suspect list.

And if puzzles aren’t your thing, try these hobby-themed mysteries:

• Board to Death by CJ Connor (also available on Hoopla)
• Mum’s the Word by Kate Collins, A Flower Shop Mystery
• Twisted Threads by Lee Wait, a Mainely Needlepoint novel (also available on Hoopla)