Queens of Cozy Mysteries

Queens of Cozy Mysteries

Queens of Cozy Mysteries

A curated booklist by your favorite SPL librarians!


January 2023


A Deadly Inside Scoop A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collette

In the first book of the new Ice Cream Parlor Mystery series, recent MBA grad Win takes over her family’s ice cream shop. Shop renovations run into winter, and the reopening coincides with the first snowfall. However, when a family rival is found dead in the snow, her father is accused of murder. Can Win solve the case while keeping her business afloat?

Arsenic and Adobo Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

In this cozy series debut, newly single Lila is trying to rebuild her life in her Illinois hometown, but as soon as she’s settled into her new routine, former high school flame and local food critic, Derek, drops dead at her family’s Filipino restaurant. Now it's up to Lila to revamp her love life, save the restaurant, prove her innocence, and try not to have a mental breakdown in the process.

 Buried in a Good Book Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry

This charming new mystery series by bestselling author, Tamara Berry, finds Tess and her teenage daughter Gertie moving to a rustic cabin in the woods. However, their arrival coincides with an explosion, a murder, and possible Bigfoot sightings. As a crime writer, Tess puts her sleuthing skills to the test helping the local sheriff solve the crime before anyone else gets hurt.

Dead Dead Girls Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia

In 1926 Harlem, young Black women are being murdered, but Louise Lloyd is trying to lead a normal life. After escaping kidnappers as a teen, she now works in a cafe during the day, living it up in a speakeasy at night. When an altercation with police gets her arrested, she can either help solve the case or go to jail - will she be able to find the killer and reconcile her own trauma?

Dead in the Water Dead in the Water by Denise Swanson

The first cozy in the Welcome Back to Scumble River Mystery series starts with a tornado ripping through town. Police chief Wally Boyd finds the body of a town councilman in the rubble. As his investigation points to what may be foul play, he goes missing, leaving his very pregnant wife Skye to do some investigating of her own.

Death by Dumpling Death by Dumpling by Vivian Chien

Lana didn’t plan to help run her family’s Ho-Lee Noodle House, but after her job and relationship fall apart, it’s the best move forward. However, when shrimp dumplings kill the restaurant property owner due to a deadly allergy, the whole staff is under suspicion. Lana works to uncover the killer (and maybe a new love interest) in this first book in the Noodle Shop Mystery series.

Dial A for Aunties Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

The Chan family business has three generations of Chinese-Indonesians planning weddings together, with Meddy as the photographer. One disastrous work weekend, Meddy accidentally kills her date and bumps into her old college boyfriend. Hilarity, antics, and rekindled romance ensue as her meddling mom and aunties pull off a high stakes wedding while disposing of a dead body.

Grave Reservations Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest

Struggling travel agent and part-time performer Leda Foley also happens to be psychic. When sensed trouble has her reschedule Detective Grady Merritt’s flight, he asks for her insights on a cold case. Secretly working through the unsolved murder of her fiancé, she agrees, only to discover the two cases may have more in common than originally suspected.

Her Royal Spyness Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen

Her Royal Spyness kicks off a series following Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, aka Georgie, 34th in line to the throne, trying to make it on her own in 1932 London. However, when a dead man is found in her brother's bathtub, she must clear their names, all while being asked to spy for Her Majesty the Queen.

Louisiana Longshot Louisiana Longshot by Jana DeLeon

In the first book of the bestselling Miss Fortune Mysteries series, CIA assassin Fortune Redding goes off-grid in Sinful, Louisiana to avoid a deadly arms dealer. Expecting to be bored to tears, Fortune instead finds herself knee-deep in a murder investigation alongside two sweet-but-lethal senior citizens, all to the dismay of the local (and very hot) deputy sheriff.

Mimi Lee Gets a Clue Mimi Lee Gets a Clue by Jennifer J. Chow

Malaysian-American Mimi didn't expect her new cat would be able to talk. She also didn’t expect to be a murder suspect. But after grooming mistreated chihuahuas at her Los Angeles shop, Hollywoof, she confronts the breeder; the next day, he’s found dead. Can her dreamy lawyer and neighbor Josh help her clear her name?

One for the Money One for the Money by Janet Evanovitch

Stephanie Plum is out of work and out of money, but rent is still due, so she lands a job as a bounty hunter. Her target is disgraced former cop Joe Morelli, with whom she has a past and is currently wanted for murder. Seeking the big money, Stephanie dives into this case, the first of over two dozen bestselling others.

Pint of No Return Pint of No Return by Dana Mentink

Newly divorced Trindad Jones is ready for a fresh start, beginning with opening her dream business, the Shimmy and Shake Shop in Upper Sprocket, Oregon. Things are churning out smoothly, until the owner of her neighboring business, The Popcorn King, is found dead in a giant popcorn kettle. Can Trinidad pop open the case before her fresh start melts into mayhem?

Poisoned Primrose Poisoned Primrose by Dahlia Donovan

The first title in the Motts Cold Case Mystery series features lovably awkward Motts, an asexual, autistic woman in her late thirties living alone for the first time. Set in a quaint British seaside town, Motts stumbles upon a dead body in her garden, and as she and her friends investigate the case, it’s clear someone in the village wants to put a stop to their snooping.

Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns

Upon the death of her Great-Aunt Octavia, California-based social media wiz Maddy Montgomery inherits a lake-side home, an English mastiff, and a bakery in small-town Michigan, plus a local conspiracy that Miss Octavia was on the brink of solving. To run the bakery and solve the mystery, Maddy will need all the help she can get, but who can she trust?

Return to Top