What Cozy Mystery Are You Reading Right Now?

I'm not sure if Anne Perry always qualifies as cozy, but her Christmas novellas tend to lean that direction. If that counts, I'm reading A Christmas Garland.

I set aside Death of Riley by Rhys Bowen in favor of more seasonal reading, but will be picking that up again soon as well.

(Edited after several chapters) I was working on The Queen's Accomplice, a Maggie Hope mystery; the series centers around Special Ops in WWII London, and while the subplots were fascinating, the Ripper-like murders taking place were just too much for my inner censor to filter. Regretfully had to put it down.

I have just finished readingThe Cheltenham Square Murder by John Bude which is from the British Library Crime Classics series. I love these books and this one was very enjoyable. It has that classic enclosed community, in this case residents in a very select neighbourhood of that elegant Regency town of Cheltenham. There is a rather bizarre murder to be investigated and the process is very detailed as the Detectives work their way through a diverse list of suspects;

Just started a vintage cozy: The Window at the White Cat by Mary Roberts Rinehart, circa 1910. The jacket blurb calls the author "an American Agatha Christie." A little early for me to decide whether I agree or not, but there have already been some chuckle-worthy passages just two chapters in.

I'm about to start another Mrs. Jeffries mystery: Mrs. Jeffries Takes the Stage. These are quick, light reading, Victorian mysteries.

Just started (and am loving) Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton. The series was recommended to me years ago by a dear and widely-read friend...I should have started much sooner!

Just finished The Bullet that Missed, 3rd in the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman.
So amusing and fresh with wonderful zany characters!

Lavender Blue Murders is another installment in the Tea Shop series by Laura Childs; I'm less in love with them than I was at the outset years ago, but still good summer escape reading.

>16 Barbs2017: I hope you like the series...it's been years since I read the first few, but at the time, the tea shop angle made this tea-ophile grin all the way through them.

I am reading Murder on the Lusitania by Edward Marston which concerns
criminal activity aboard the ocean liner's maiden voyage. This is one of a series of ocean going crime novels written by Marston a few years ago and now reprinted. It looks promising; the descriptions of the lavish First Class decks testify to some deep research and some promisingly interesting characters are emerging in the early chapters.

I also posted this on the regular Crime/Thriller/Mystery "whatcha readin'" list, but it's a better fit here:
The Mysterious Benedict Society is actually a YA novel, but at the urging of one of my favorite middle schoolers, I gave it a go. Very well written and appealing, whether you're 12 or not. (Disclaimer: I can't vouch for what Disney+ did with it as a series.)

Still riding the cozy train (it's crazy season at my work, so this is my coping mechanism) with The Cat Who Tailed a Thief, a later entry in the Cat Who Series. The common thought is that at some point, the series took a tailspin, but this one isn't bad. I think I figured out the mystery before Koko did, and I'm one of those readers who doesn't feel compelled to puzzle out the plot--I'm just along for the ride.

Which brings up another cozy question--which is the best of the Cat Who series?

Now on the nightstand (reserved for only the coziest of the cozies): Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon.

I just came across this thread and I'm looking forward to getting (and giving) a few good recommendations! I'm not sure where everyone draws the line on what makes a mystery book a cozy, so I apologize ahead of time if I drift away..

I've been making my way through Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce series (love these!). The first is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

I've started a few others series as well, pretty much all with book/library/bookstore themes. Here are the first in each series: Murder Past Due, A Killer Read, The Cracked Spine, On What Grounds and Plaid and Plagiarism. I didn't love all of them, but they served their purpose (a cozy escape from reality and more serious reads).

I have large stacks that need to be read (including the Aunt Dimity and Thursday Murder Club series, as well as other cozy series), but I welcome recommendations. I can always add to the piles! Lol

"Yopp! We Are Here!" yelled the Who's....

I've been on a Barker and Llewellyn binge (Will Thomas) and I've never quite been sure whether they classify as cozies. Some are a little edgier than others, but Lethal Pursuit hit the mark for me. Lots of chuckle moments, but the reader might need to be familiar with the major players for the story to hit the funny bone just right.

The aforementioned binge caused me to set aside Precious and Grace for a bit, but that'll be the next one up.

I recently read The Readaholics and the Gothic Gala, a fun book club cozy. I'll have to look for more in this series. I had no trouble jumping in even though it was book 3. I also just finished the 4th Thursday Murder Club book, The Last Devil to Die, which I loved, best one of the series yet.

I was introduced to DCI John Shadow in A Long Shadow by HL Marsay which is set in the historic city of York and tells of murders amongst the homeless community. I think that it deserves its 'cozy' status by not giving gruesome descriptions of the deaths and by its attractive, slightly meandering style and eccentric characters.
With thanks to my e book provider who offered it as a freebie. I will be seeking out others in the series.

>34 Barbs2017: I am behind by a couple of Barkers, but it's fun to find other fans out there. I've been passing them along to a coworker, who reads them aloud to her husband so they can enjoy simultaneously. I'm guessing you've already read Fierce Poison? That's where I need to pick up.

I thought that cozy lovers might be interested in this piece in 'The Guardian' newspaper. The Crime Writers Association here in the UK sre spreading their wings and the'Dagger' awards as they are known will include two new categories one of which is this critically underappreciated genre.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/03/dagger-awards-adds-categories-for-...

Revisiting a Holmes spin-off that features The Woman, Irene Adler: Good Night, Mr. Holmes by Carole Nelson Douglas. Very different from her other series set in Vegas featuring tomcat Midnight Louie. I read the first one, Catnap, years ago. The books in that series have since been retitled.

Recently finished Fierce Poison by Will Thomas...I'm a fan of the whole series, but I'm thinking this will be one of my favorites. (Oh, pooh. I'll have to reread them!)

Also about a third of the way through Death of a Schoolgirl, which calls upon none other than Jane Eyre Rochester to investigate a murder at the school of her former charge Adele. For a spinoff, it's quite good!

Found a used copy of Plum Tea Crazy, another Tea Shop Mystery from Laura Childs. It'll make an easy, pleasant lunch break read over the next couple weeks.

>2 gmathis: I don't know those particular mystery books but I am now reading one of the Murdoch Mysteries by Maureen Jennings. I enjoy reading the Vineyard Mysteries by Philipp Craig which were made into movies by Hallmark. Murdoch Mysteries is on the Ovation Channel. Reading the book I note so many different details than the way the TV mystery is. For one thing in the books Maureen Jennings wrote, Murdoch was not married and he lived with a couple that belonged to the same Catholic Church he did and the priest set it up for him to live with this couple. In the TV series he is married and his wife is a doctor and for a detective in the early 1900's in Toronto, he lives rather well. In the book it's supposed to be 1895 and Murdoch is far from having lots of money.

Celine

>43 celinerm29: I think I've seen (and liked) a Murdoch or two. Don't believe I've encountered any of the books.

The Spies of Shilling Lane isn't marketed as a cozy mystery, but it still fits, I think...overbearing mama discovers that her daughter has disappeared in Blitz-era London; daughter is an MI-5 agent and mama finding her endangers them both.

I have recently discovered E.C.R Lorac and am enjoying Murder by Matchlightset in London in 1945. The murder takes place in the blackout during the last months of World War Two. I very much like the author's humane detective, Inspector Macdonald.