Want To Feel Better? Your Comprehensive Guide To Cozy Books, TV & Movies When You Need A Break

Turn Off The News And Kick Back With These Fun Murder Mysteries

Welcome to a brand new edition of Only Murders In The Inbox! We’re happy you’re here. Every week, OMITI covers murder mysteries in literature and entertainment. We delve into the ways the Mystery genre is significant in pop culture. There are also curated suggestions and updates on the latest murder mysteries in television and film (usually with trailers!). If you’d like to support my writing, please sign up for a paid monthly or yearly subscription. You can also join for a lifetime by becoming a patron sleuth! A monthly paid membership includes access to over 118 archived editions of Only Murders In The Inbox, as well as special exclusive editions like this one! Click this button to upgrade to a paid subscription:

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After our first-ever readers survey last week, this edition of Only Murders In The Inbox was a no-brainer — everyone wants some cozy mysteries! Soon I’ll release the results in an upcoming OMITI edition. I feel as though I know many of you better through this survey, and I’m so grateful for your feedback and for being a reader. Thank you!

I understand the desire for comforting entertainment right now. With many external factors in the world beyond our control, the need for escapism and the overwhelming desire for justice and resolution feels more and more like a necessity and less like a mere afternoon preoccupation. I write these editions for myself as much as anyone else. Only Murders In The Inbox serves as an escape for me to stop thinking about my illness, Long Covid, which you can read about here; I hope that OMITI will serve as an escape for you, too, when you just want to unwind and enjoy some mysteries in entertainment, whether it’s a brand new detective show you’ve recently discovered or a book you love you’re reading for the third time. I want OMITI to be your go-to guide for what’s out there, with curated selections you can easily find to enjoy, depending on the mood you’re in and what you love.

This extensive collection of cozy mysteries has something for everyone. So how did I decide what deserved a place on the list? What makes for a cozy mystery, anyway?

In a cozy novel, film or television series, the storyline is focused on deduction and the puzzle itself rather than gritty descriptives with open-ended questions or loose ends. A cozy mystery usually involves a closed circle of suspects, and finishes with the assembly of said suspects at the end of the story with a clear and easy explanation of who the killer is, their motive, and how they did it. A cozy mystery offers closure from a definitive resolution. The satisfaction of a murderer brought to justice is rewarding, especially if it’s accompanied by a twist in an absorbing plot with captivating characters along the way!

So, keeping those parameters in mind, here is my go-to list for comforting books, shows and movies when my mental bandwidth is short, I’m having trouble turning off my thoughts and I need an easy escape. So peruse this menu, make a selection and then sit back and relax. The world can wait; we’ve got stuff to solve!

© August 2025. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any form without written permission. No part of this Only Murders In The Inbox newsletter may be used for AI purposes. Do not scrape.

Image Courtesy of MGM Studios

Old-Fashioned Classic Whodunits

I love dozens of subgenres with the Mystery category, but this is my favorite. I like standard fare — a group of suspects assembled like Clue characters on the board, each with a motive, in a locked room mystery with so many twists and turns your head spins. Going back and revisiting the classics can be enjoyable, too. Here are some tried and true classics you’ll love.

Knives Out - Prime Video

If you haven’t seen this movie yet and you’re here looking for a solid whodunit, a classic mystery, this is my favorite. Go ahead and watch this and come back to this list later! Writer and director Rian Johnson crafted a clever traditional murder mystery with a talented ensemble, lead by Daniel Craig as the Kentucky-fried private eye with a disarming manner. Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, LaKeith Stanfield, Toni Collette, Chris Evans and more. I have a ton of respect for Rian Johnson for helping reignite audiences’ love for Mystery’s classic whodunit with this film and all he’s done in succession (Glass Onion, Poker Face and the upcoming film Wake Up Dead Man).

Image Courtesy of the BBC

Poirot - Britbox

(Thirteen seasons, 60-90 minutes each, 70 episodes total) David Suchet embodies Poirot much the way Angela Lansbury does Jessica Fletcher; the Belgian detective is an ideal introduction to Agatha Christie’s television adaptations, and one of the kinds of shows you can watch with your grandparents (or kids!) much like Murder, She Wrote. For more about the lead David Suchet, check out this OMITI edition.

Image Courtesy of PBS

Marple - Britbox

I love the character of Miss Marple dearly, and have devoted several OMITI editions to her. For a comprehensive look at her and her best mysteries in entertainment, check out this edition below:

Agatha Christie’s Redoubtable Miss Marple

Image Courtesy of CBS

Murder, She Wrote - Peacock

The Murder, She Wrote television series, movies and the novels by Donald Bain, Jon Land and Terrie Farley are extremely cozy! Jessica Fletcher is a retired-teacher-turned-famous-author who lives in the small town of Cabot Cove, Maine and solves mysteries in her free time. This Angela Lansbury series with made-for-TV movies are classics, and I know many readers who love the books, too! Start with the first one, Murder, She Wrote: Gin and Daggers, and don’t forget MSW: Murder Backstage and MSW: The Murder of Twelve. Check out this earlier OMITI edition of favorite episodes!

Need An Escape? Here Are A Dozen Murder, She Wrote Cozy TV Mysteries

Image Courtesy of TriStar Pictures

Clue - Prime Video

I’d be remiss if I didn’t include this classic slapstick comedy based on the murder mystery deduction game, Cluedo (Clue here in the States). A group of guests, all blackmail victims, are invited to the gothic mansion Hill House for a dinner party. When the lights go out and the host bites the dust, the butler Wadsworth and the maid Yvette work with the guests to try to solve the murder before one of them becomes the next victim. The all-star cast features Tim Curry, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, Eileen Brennan, Michael McKean and Christopher Lloyd. Sony Pictures landed the rights to the remake in 2024, and coming off the wild success of Barbie for Hasbro, the budget for this one is looking good! Expect another all-star cast and lots of laughs. They’d be smart to lock in Rian Johnson to direct (we’ll see what happens).

Image Courtesy Of PBS

The Marlow Murder Club - PBS

(Two seasons, 50 minutes each, 12 episodes total) In the quaint town of Marlow, a retired archaeologist, Judith Potts, believes that a brutal murder has occurred; when the police refuse to listen her, she decides to investigate with her two new, unlikely friends. This brand new mystery series is based on the Robert Thoroughgood novel (a 2023 Edgar Award nominee). Thoroughgood is best known in television as the creator of the hit mystery franchise Death In Paradise. If you’re in the U.K., The Marlow Murder Club is on UK TVPlay; all episodes of the second season are now on PBS through PBS Passport here in the U.S.

Image Courtesy of BBC

Jonathan Creek - Plex and Netflix

If you enjoy locked room mysteries similar to the ones in Death In Paradise, step back to 1997 and meet magician Jonathan Creek. This show ran for five seasons, ending with a feature-length finale in 2016. This series has some of the best methods for murder of anything on TV.

More To Watch: Glass Onion; Murder In Provence; Recipes For Love and Murder; 7 Women And A Murder; Enola Holmes and Enola Holmes 2; Murder On The Orient Express; Death On The Nile; The Lady Vanishes (1938); The Cat And The Canary (1939); Murder, She Said (1961); My Life Is Murder; Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders; Matlock (the original); Matlock (2024); Ludwig; Sherlock Holmes (2009); Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (2011); Sherlock (the television series); Death On The Nile; Murder In A Small Town; Inspector Morse; Inspector Lewis

More To Read: The Crooked Hinge by John Dickson Carr in the Dr. Fell series; The Lord Peter Wimsey Series by Dorothy Sayers; Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe series; Murder Is Easy By Agatha Christie; Agatha Christie’s A Murder Is Announced (and any Miss Marple novels); Death On The Nile (and especially Poirot short stories); The Mirror Crack’d (1980); the Charlotte Holmes series by Brittany Cavallaro; the A Murder Is Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens; Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series; the Enola Holmes series By Nancy Springer; The Agathas By Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson; the Nancy Drew Series by Carolyn Keene; The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie by Alan Bradley (the first novel in the Flavia de Luce series)

Image Courtesy of Britbox

Comfort Period Pieces

Sister Boniface - Britbox

(Two seasons, 47 minutes each, 32 episodes total) This series is really silly but in the best possible way. The spin-off to Father Brown centers around a nun with a penchant for forensic science and morbid curiosity who uses her intellect to help the local police solve murders in her small village. The character of Sister Boniface was first introduced during the first season of Father Brown in the 2013 episode, “The Bride of Christ.” The series is set in the 1960s, a decade or so after the time period of Father Brown which makes for some fun wardrobe and set design in the show. Four seasons are currently available on Britbox. My favorite episode is “The Star Of The Orient.”

Father Brown - Britbox

(12 seasons, 49 minute episodes, 130 episodes total) The Cotswolds amateur detective Father Brown (Mark Williams) has a ragtag crew of sleuths to help him solve cozy crimes, including a debonair socialite, jewelry thief and some observant tagalongs. It’s a feel-good mystery series that pairs well with its spin-off, Sister Boniface. The Season 13 premiere premieres in Europe on BBC One and BBC Player in January 2026, followed by a Britbox release here in the States.

Image Courtesy of PBS

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries and the movie Miss Fisher And The Crypt Of Tears - Acorn TV

(3 Seasons, 34 episodes total, 57 minutes each) Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries is considered by many to be a cult classic in the Mystery genre. Phryne Fisher is a glamorous private detective in 1920s Melbourne; her adventures are based on author Kerry Greenwood's historical mystery novels, with the television series credited to Deb Cox, who also acted as head writer. The show was so popular that Acorn TV later brought Miss Fisher back in a 2020 feature film, Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears. Watch it after you’ve binged the series. There’s also a spin-off, Miss Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, but I prefer the OG series.

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