Grab Your Pumpkin Spice Latte! Here’s A List Of Cozy Mysteries For Fall
Curl Up With These Light, Easy Reads For Autumn
Welcome to the latest edition of Only Murders In The Inbox. If you’re a regular reader, thanks for being here; if you’re new, we’re excited to have you! Every week, OMITI covers murder mysteries in literature and entertainment. We delve into the ways the Mystery genre is significant in pop culture, with curated selections and lists, and in-depth looks at the way the history of Mystery literature influences crime fiction today. New subscribers, start here:
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Image Courtesy of Flouring Kitchen
Of all the seasons, there’s something about this time of year that resonates the most with mystery readers. With the leaves changing colors, weather cooling down and celebrations centered around both the spooky and macabre, autumn becomes the perfect backdrop for the Mystery genre (and its sister genre, Horror, see below).
Amy Schumer: “You guys just made it feel so…cozy. You know? Just cozy murder.”
Fall is the perfect season when it comes to a popular subgenre in crime lit, The Cozy Mystery. What defines a mystery as cozy? A cozy mystery is a lighthearted crime novel with an amateur detective as the main protagonist, solving cases of happenstance, without graphic sex or violence, usually in a small town or community (or building, like the Arconia!). Cozies are usually formulaic, sprinkled with comedy, romance, with love interests or pets as sidekicks, with a happy ending. Cozies are on the sweeter, demure side of the Mystery subgenre spectrum, with hardboiled detectives and grisly thrillers at the opposite end. These softer mysteries earned the accurate nickname of cozy because they’re both comforting and predictable, but still have the whodunit factor for readers who enjoy solving murders themselves.
Cozy mystery readers are a dedicated, ravenous bunch! There are many cozy fans who devour these light, easy mysteries in one sitting; to meet the demand, the majority of cozy mystery writers crank out multiple novels in a series. Readers are often hooked on one particular set of amateur investigators and themes, and, as with any Mystery subgenre, there are common tropes and settings. Popular cozy themes are numerous: baking, gardening, antiquing, the holidays, even sleuthing with pets. Cozies may range from hilarious Cotswolds capers (M.C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin series) to paranormal mysteries with ghosts (Karen White’s Tradd Street Series) and everything in between. If you’re looking for a paperback to curl up with by the fire as the weather grows chillier and a cozy mystery sounds good to you, try these books:
October Fest by Jess Lourey During Battle Lake’s fall festival, Mira James, a reporter for the Battle Lake Recall, is covering a congressional debate. The two candidates go head to head: by-the-book Arnold Swydecker, and the tricky incumbent, Sarah Glokkmann. During the festival, a blogger is found dead. To prevent her ninety year-old best friend Mrs. Berns from getting roped into the murder investigation, Mira decides to solve the case herself. This is book six of twelve in the Murder By The Month Romcom series. If you love the rollercoaster ride of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum mysteries, you’ll love these books.
Of Potions and Portents, A Sister Witches of Raven Falls Cozy Mystery Series by Nyx Halliwell In Raven Falls, there are four sisters — Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter — who run a metaphysical shop together called Conjure and solve mysteries. In this four book series, each story is told by a different sister from their point of view, which keeps the series fresh and engaging. The stories are best read in order, and my favorite is the first one, so start there. Nyx Halliwell is a pseudonym for USA Today bestselling author Misty Evans, who has several series available: Confessions Of A Closet Medium Cozy Mystery Series, Witchy Candy Shop Mysteries and the Sister Witches of Story Cove Fairytale Retellings. In addition to Misty Evans being a gifted cozy mystery author, she’s also an Only Murders In The Inbox reader! (Hi, Misty! We love your books!) You can learn more about her cozy mysteries on her website.
A Halloween Homicide by Tonya Kappes Holiday Junction is a quaint, tight-knit community that goes all out for celebrations, especially their Halloweenie Festival. Violet Rhinehammer is a reporter assigned to reporting on the festivities for the Junction Journal. While attending the ghost walk, Violet discovers the body in the fake casket is a real one. She’s determined to solve the case before an innocent bystander catches the blame. This is book three of twelve in the Holiday Cozy Mystery series.
Death Of A Pumpkin Carver, A Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery by Lee Hollis Hayley Powell is a food and cocktails columnist for Bar Harbor’s Island Times who’s juggling her job, two kids and her irresponsible, free-spending ex-husband Danny who has suddenly returned to town. The tension between them, however, becomes a whole lot less important when Danny’s moonshiner uncle is found lying dead next to a tombstone in a cemetery, and Danny becomes the main suspect. Hayley has to prove Danny’s innocence before it’s too late. This is book eight of seventeen in the Hayley Powell series. The name Lee Hollis is a pseudonym for television screenwriter Rick Copp and his sister, recipe creator Holly Simason. The siblings collaborated and created this cozy mystery series together. If these mysteries seem exceptionally funny, that’s because Copp got his start in television on the now-classic series, The Golden Girls. You can learn more about the sibling team and their cozies here.
Knit of the Living Dead, A Knit & Nibble Mystery by Peggy Ehrhart Pamela, her best friend Bettinia and their knitting group, the Knit and Nibblers, are thrown headfirst into a murder investigation when, during a Halloween parade, they discover the body of Little Bo Peep. Readers return to this series because of the friendships within the group, and especially the two best friends. This is book six in the twelve book series.
Pumpkin Spice Sacrifice by Addison Moore This is the third installment of fifty-two mystery novels, I kid you not. This popular supernatural mystery series follows Lottie Lemon, a baker in Honey Hallow who sees dead people (again, I kid you not). Lottie possesses the ability to see ghosts who warn her about the living that they follow (a la The Hitchhiking Ghosts) to warn them of impending death/doom/murder so she can help them. She just opened a new bakery, and is busy selling yummy baked goods and juggling a love triangle involving guys named Noah Fox (official boyfriend) and Everett (friend or “friend”?). The premise of these books alone makes them worth checking out!
Pumpkin Chiffon Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke This is part of the Hannah Swensen series by in-demand author Joanne Fluke, (known as The Queen of the Culinary Mystery). It has a release date for next year, so go ahead and preorder it or add it to your Libby list now. In this mystery, Hannah is following leads on an arsonist and a body found in a burned-down farmhouse of her new roommate, Norman Rhodes. Until its release, try The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, The Caramel Pecan Roll Murder, and The Apple Turnover Murder. If you love the recipes Fluke includes in every book, she also has a cookbook available, Joanne Fluke’s Lake Eden Cookbook.
Murder, She Wrote: Trick Or Treachery by Donald Bain How many times have you watched old episodes of Murder, She Wrote? If the answer is more than twice, it’s time to fall into (see what I did there?) the sixty MSW books available now, written by Donald Bain (and Jessica Fletcher, obviously). In this Cabot Cove Halloween-themed mystery, the corpse of a self-proclaimed witch is discovered in a graveyard and Jessica, Seth and Mort are on the case. The MSW audiobooks are fun, too, and are a great way to continue enjoying the characters long after the show.
Swamp Spook by Jana DeLeon It’s another Miss Fortune Mystery! Fortune Redding is a former CIA assassin living out of her element in the South with a love interest named Carter and two elderly ladies as sidekicks, Ida Belle and Gertie. In this mystery, the town of Sinful, Louisiana is celebrating Halloween with parties, festivities and a spooky corn maze. Fortune has the job of executioner in the corn maze and, when she realizes the body in her scene isn’t a prop but, in fact, an actual dead person, she realizes the Swamp Team Three have a new case. My sister loves this series! This is another fun option for fans of Janet Evanovich. If you love this one, there are twenty-seven other novels available.
Leyla’s Super Easy Iced Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte
My best friend has the most delicious and incredibly easy iced pumpkin spice chai latte recipe, so I thought I’d share!
Ingredients
One cup of Bolthouse Farms Vanilla Chai
One half cup of Califia Farms Pumpkin Spice Creamer
Lucerne Seasonal Whipped Cream topping
Simply Organic Pumpkin Spice
*optional: I add in a cup of Trader Joe’s Oatmilk to stretch the recipe and make it a little less sweet
Over ice, pour in oatmilk, then Bolthouse Farms Vanilla Chai, and top off with the pumpkin spice creamer. Stir. Add whipped topping and a sprinkle of Simply Organic Pumpkin Spice. Makes two servings! Enjoy.
This edition originally ran in October 2024.
Song of the Day: “The Words That Maketh Murder” by PJ Harvey
Thank you for featuring Of Potions and Portents! This is a great roundup and now I have two to add to my TBR.
Your capture of “the perfect backdrop for the Mystery genre” beautifully brings the essence of autumn to life. Your writing effortlessly invites me into the cosy embrace of these stories while you always offer a wealth of knowledge about the genre. The thoroughness of your list makes my choice tricky. :)