Cozy Mysteries

[Morana]

I am new to this genre and I can’t get enough of it! Please recommend your favourite series.

So far I’ve enjoyed H.Y. Hanna’s books and just started on Nancy Warren’s Vampire Knitting Club.

Patricia Fisher - Steve Higgs

• loves this series.

The Agatha Raisin series is great.

I love Rita Mae Brown's Mrs Murphy series. Yes, it's about a talking cat but give it a go - it's all done with Brown's great sense of humour. Coziest mysteries I know.

Thank you, I’ll be sure to check out each suggestion. Who wouldn’t enjoy a book with a talking cat? I love the childlike escapism of these stories.

Following for recs!

I read a lot of cozy mysteries - what sort of "themes" are you looking for? Any cities/locations in particular? Do you prefer characters in a certain age range? Contemporary only or is historical OK?

The Aurora Teagarden ones are quite good for light entertainment.

I prefer a rural setting but the one I’m reading now is set in Oxford which the author manages to make feel quite intimate.

Historical could be interesting if it has a gently informative kind of feel. All I’ve read so far seem to be set in the present day, I do particularly like this because it creates a sort of parallel universe that contrasts nicely with reality.

I think I’d probably prefer characters more in my perimenopausal age range, rather than the young protagonists I’ve come across so far.

Forgot to ask...UK based only or are American settings OK?

My grandmother was British so I have a soft spot for those settings. One of the best parts about the books I’ve read so far is the protagonists have had dual UK/US heritage like me. I am fully bilingual 😀 and would definitely read a cozy mystery set in the States, especially if it was historical.

These are all cozy series but I'm just listing the first book.

UK Setting:

-Murder at Mallowan Hall (Colleen Cambridge)
(40ish protagonist, Agatha Christie's housekeeper and confidant)
-The Windsor Knot (SJ Bennett)
(Private Secretary to the Queen, circa 2016)
-Her Royal Spyness (Rhys Bowen)
(Cousin to the King, pre-WWII)
-Mr. Churchill's Secretary (Susan Macneil)
(British/American math genius becomes secret agent)
-Murder in an English Village (Jessica Ellicott)
(40-ish friends, post WWI, small village)
-The Marlowe Murder Club (Robert Thorogood)
(Small town, 3 friends, humorous. Second book is better!)

Honorable mention to Agatha Raisin and Martha Grimes "Richard Jury" mysteries.

Continnied...

Aurora Teargarden

Cozy with a paranormal twist:

-Dead Until Dark (Charlaine Harris)
(aka the True Blood series. A little humor, A little romance...very evocative small town Louisiana setting)

-The Ghost and Mrs. McClure (Cleo Coyle)
(Single mom, widow, takes over family bookstore and is able to hear the voice of a 1940's PI. Small town Rhode Island)

American settings:

-On What Grounds (Cleo Coyle)
(Divorced 40 something, single mom, runs coffee shop in NYC. Great NYC setting)
-Statue of Limitations (Kate Collins)
(Divorced, single mom. Moves back in with large Greek/American family. Reminded me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Fun).
-Assault and Pepper (Leslie Budewitz)
(40ish, divorced - and happy!- starting over. Terrific setting in Seattle's iconic Public Market)
-Here Comes the Body (Maria DiRicio)
(Divorced, returns to Queens, NY, to work for her ex-mobster father. Humorous, Italian-American family)

All these available on Kindle:

The Dotsy Lamb Travel Mysteries by Maria Hudgins. Dotsy is an American college lecturer who gets mixed up in crime while holidaying in various European countries.

The Dorothy Martin Mysteries by Jeanne M. Dams. Dorothy is a retired American schoolteacher who has settled in an English cathedral city where she keeps falling over bodies.

Not American: the Rina Martin Mysteries by Jane Adams. Rina is a widow, an actress who had a successful tv series where she played a Jessica Fletcher type character, and now investigates crime for real.

I love the TE Kinsey - Lady Hardcastle mysteries. Light hearted and fun stories set in the early 1900s. The first is A Quiet Life in the Country.

If you haven't already, search on Amazon for a book you've enjoyed, and see what similar books are recommended.

Thanks so much for all these recommendations everyone, I am looking forward to loading my kindle for the summer and maybe ordering some paperbacks too.

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Donna Andrews' Meg Langslow mysteries are my comfort reads - small town and rural Virginia setting, extended family and friends, the murder victim is always a rotter and you don't break your heart when you find whodunnit.

And for me, the bonus feature of finding out about exotic American foods and customs.