A is for Agatha (except she's under "C.") These are the cozy mystery book authors whose last names begin with "A." I have added a few authors who write nonfiction, and also a few authors who write "non-cozy" books. 

You might be surprised to see Steve Allen included on this list. Yes, he's THE STEVE ALLEN who hosted the Tonight Show before Jay Leno, and even before Johnny Carson! He is probably better known for his non-mystery books, and who can forget his piano playing, song-writing (off the cuff) routines? 

Avery Aames   (aka Daryl Wood Gerber)   Aames writes the Cheese Shop Mystery Series which features the co-owner of the "Fromagerie Bessette" or, as the people living in her small Ohio town call it, the Cheese Shop. As Gerber, she writes the Cookbook Nook Mystery Series which takes place in Coastal California, and features Jenna Hart, a cookbook store owner.

Sparkle Abbey  Abbey is a co-authorship between Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter. As Abbey, they write the Pampered Pets Mystery Series. (Sparkle is the name of Mary Lee's cat and Abbey is the name of Anita's dog.) The Pampered Pets Mystery Series features two sleuths: an ex-psychologist turned pet therapist and an ex-beauty queen, turned Bow Wow Boutique owner.

Jeff Abbott    Mystery Suspense... Has MA from Rice

Victoria Abbott (Writing duo Mary Jane Maffini & daughter Victoria Maffini)   As Abbott, both mom and daughter Maffini write the Book Collector's Mystery Series. This series features Jordan Kelly as the sleuth. Jordan is a researcher for a rare mystery book collector in New York. Mary Jane Maffini, a librarian by trade, also (co-)owned a mystery book shop before becoming a full-time cozy author. She has three series featuring unusual sleuths... one is a failed romance writer and another is a professional organizer.

Lynn Abercrombie (aka Ruth Birmingham & Walter Sorrells) Sorrells is an Edgar Award winning author who writes suspense novels for both adults and young adults. He is an expert in the martial arts and is a bladesmith of modern swords.

Pearl Abraham   Although she is not a mystery author, I loved one of her books....

Peter Abrahams   (aka Spencer Quinn) Not Cozy... I absolutely love to find authors (especially mystery authors!) who are really successful authors, and who then decide to write mysteries for children and/or young adults. Abrahams is one of those authors. As Spencer Quinn he writes the Chet and Bernie Mystery Series, which is told from Chet's point of view. Chet is the loyal dog of Bernie Little...

Peter E. Abresch     Abresch writes a mystery series that is set on the shores of New Jersey. It features a senior citizen, ex-physical therapist who takes a class at an Elderhostel and while there, embarks on a new life full of sleuthing.

Suzanne Adair   Good news for history-mystery lovers! Adair is a new author who writes a series set  during the American Revolution.

Alina Adams  Figure Skating Cozy... Adams was a researcher for ice skating television shows before becoming a mystery author.

Deborah Adams   The Jesus Creek series

Ellery Adams (aka J. B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington)   With a Master's in English Literature, it is no wonder that Adams/Stanley decided to write novels. Adams writes the Books by the Bay Mystery Series which features a group of mystery writers who solve crimes on the North Carolina coast. Adams also writes the Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Series. As J. B. Stanley, she writes the Collectible Mystery Series which features a reporter who solves mysteries in and out of antique shows, and the Supper Club Mystery Series which features a "retired" English Literature Professor who, together with the "Flab Five," solves crimes while supping. Stanley also writes the Hope Street Church Mystery Series as Jennifer Stanley. As 1/2 of Lucy Arlington (co written with Sylvia May) she writes the A Novel Idea Mystery Series.

Riley Adams  (aka Elizabeth Spann Craig & Elizabeth Craig)    As Adams, she writes the Memphis Barbeque Mystery Series, which features the owner of a barbeque restaurant. As Craig, she writes the Myrtle Clover Mystery Series which features a retired octogenarian sleuth in North Carolina. Elizabeth Craig writes the Southern Quilting Mystery Series, which is set in North Carolina.

Lydia Adamson   Three series: a cat-sitter, a librarian, & a veterinarian

Gregory Ahlgren   My husband enjoyed Ahlgren's (and Stephen Monier's) Crime of the Century: The Lindberg Kidnapping Hoax so much that he recommended it to me.  Ahlgren has also written a time-traveling, sci-fi mystery novel about the Kennedy assassination as well as an international thriller...

Catherine Aird   English Cozy featuring the department head of the CID.

Susan Wittig Albert   Albert writes three series on her own. The first features an herbalist (China Bayles Mystery Series), the second is the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Mystery Series, and Albert's third series is the Darling Dahlias Mystery Series which features a group of garden club ladies during the Depression. Albert and her husband write the Kate Ardleigh Sheridan & Sir Charles Sheridan Victorian Mystery Series using the pseudonym "Robin Paige."

Laura Alden    Alden's first PTA Mystery book was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel. She writes the PTA Mystery Series, which features a newly single mother of two who owns a children's bookstore.

P. J. Alderman    Alderman writes the Port Chatham Mystery Series which has a paranormal theme (ghosts). The series is set
in the Pacific Northwest, and follows Jordon Marsh, a sleuth who gets help from all sorts of people, both living and dead.

Peter Alding  (aka Roderic Jeffries & Jeffrey Ashford) (Not Cozy) The C. I. D. Room Mystery Series with Constable Kerr...

Bruce Alexander     aka Bruce Cook……Alexander wrote a series of historical mysteries that feature an 18^th century blind magistrate in London.

Hannah Alexander     Alexander, a Christy award-winning author, is "made up" by Cheryl & Mel Hodde, who happen to be a husband and wife writing duo. A reader recommended Hannah Alexander's books as being Christian mysteries with a little medical suspense and romance. (The husband part of the writing duo is a physician, so obviously he has first-hand knowledge of the medical...)

Tasha Alexander   Alexander has a Notre Dame B.A. in English/Medieval Studies, which come in handy as she writes the Lady Emily Mystery Series. Lady Emily, the sleuth, is the young widow of a viscount in Victorian London.

Barbara Allan   Allan is the husband/wife writing team comprised of Barbara and Max Allan Collins. Together, they write the Trash n' Treasures Mystery Series.

Conrad Allen    aka Edward Marston and Keith Miles... If you are a Conrad Allen fan, then you are in a for a huge treat! He writes several series...set mostly in England.

Garrison Allen  (aka Gary Amo)   Allen writes the Big Mike Mystery Series which features the owner of a mystery bookstore, along with Big Mike... a huge Abyssinian cat who happens to love lima beans...(Allen was recommended by a site reader... I have not read any of his books yet.)

Jeffrey Allen    Allen writes the Stay at Home Dad Mystery Series which features Deuce Winters. Deuce coaches his daughter's
soccer team, as well as solves mysteries in his Texas town.

Michael Derek Allen    I liked the first in the Spence Series a lot. Haven't read the others....yet. 

Robin Allen   Allen, with a Bachelor's degree in English, writes the Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop Mystery Series. Poppy is a public health inspector in Austin (Texas) who not only finds kitchen/restaurant offenses, but also finds crimes of other types. Allen's website describes her Cozy Mystery series as "clean, humorous"...

Sarah Addison Allen    Allen, a New York Times bestselling author, has her degree in Literature. She writes novels that feature magical happenings... not necessarily mysteries.

Steve Allen   Based on Steve Allen, the comedian, and his wife, actress Jayne Meadows...as crime solvers!

Margery Allingham    Cozy from England...  Albert Campion series, which features a very upper-crust sleuth. (On the Crime Writers' Association Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time)

Madelyn Alt    Alt’s series is set in Stony Mill, Indiana, and involves both an antique shop and a witch!

Sheryl J. Anderson    Anderson has worked as a screenwriter, a television producer and writer, and is now teaching screenwriting, as well as writing the Molly Forrester Mystery Series which features an advice columnist (sort of like a Dear Abby type of writer) who also solves mysteries.

Donna Andrews    One of her series involves a blacksmith theme (the Meg Lanslow series)...

Lori Andrews   Andrews is a professor of law in Chicago and an expert in genetics. She writes the Dr. Alexandra Blake Mystery Series, and has published ten nonfiction books... Not Cozy

Mary Kay Andrews   aka Kathy Hogan Trocheck... I haven't tried her Weezie & BeBe series, but now that I am aware of it, I am going to!  I love Trochek's Callahan Garrity series.

Sarah Andrews  Andrews, being a geologist herself, has two mystery series which both feature geologists/sleuths...

Annie's Attic Mystery Series  A site reader (who prefers her mysteries without profanity) told me about this series of mysteries. Each book in the series is written by a different author. This mystery series follows a woman who is cleaning out her grandmother's attic in her old family home in coastal Maine. As she is going through the items in her grandmother's attic, she discovers baffling things - which then lead her to the different mysteries she solves.

Jennifer Apodaca    Apodaca's books are mysteries with a whole lot of romance! She calls them "dangerously romantic"....

Connie Archer    Archer writes the Soup Lover's Mystery Series, which takes place in a small Vermont skiing town called
Snowflake. Lucky Jamieson inherits her parents' soup shop, which is exactly the sort of place cold skiers are looking for. (And, for
all you Cozy culinary fans, recipes are included.)

Jeffrey Archer   Not cozy... His personal life would make a great novel!

A. K. Arenz     Arenz writes the Bouncing Grandma Mystery Series. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers.

Lucy Arlington (co-written by Jennifer Stanley & Sylvia May) Arlington writes the A Novel Idea Mystery Series, which takes place in North Carolina. The sleuth is a middle-aged woman who has been fired at her journalism job, who then goes on to intern at a literary agency. Stanley has her Master's degree in English Literature, and writes the Hope Street Church Mystery Series as Jennifer Stanley. As J. B. Stanley, she writes both the Supper Club Mystery Series and the Collectible Mystery Series. As Ellery Adams, she writes the Books by the Bay Mystery Series and the Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Series.

Margot Arnold   British Cozy that features an anthropologist and an archaeologist in Cambridge.

Suzanne Arruda    Arruda wanted to use her Master's degree (that emphasizes ecology) and her enjoyment for both animals and the outdoors (she managed to work as a zoo keeper while in college!) when writing her mystery series. What better setting than Africa for her main character Jade del Cameron... a very adventurous sleuth!

Joani Ascher   Ascher is a part-time children's room librarian who writes the Wally Morris Mystery Series. This series is set in New Jersey and features a nursery school teacher who solves mysteries when not working on her lesson plans...

Maureen Ash   Ash writes the Templar Knight Mystery Series which features Bascot de Marin, wounded in the Crusades, who returns to England after being imprisoned/enslaved for eight years in the Holy Land...

Jeffrey Ashford   (aka Roderic Jeffries & Peter Alding) (Not Cozy) As Ashford he has stand-alones...

Isaac Asimov   Asimov's family owned candy shops while he was growing up, which sold science fiction magazines, which is where he developed his love for all things science fiction. But, he also wrote mysteries... along with many.... and I mean "many" other accomplishments in his life.

Libi Astaire    Astaire, a journalist living in Jerusalem, writes the Ezra Melamed Mystery Series which is a Regency England mystery series...

Nancy Atherton    When her "Aunt"  Dimity leaves her a Cotswold cottage, little does Lori know that the cottage includes her aunt's presence...

Sarah Atwell   (aka Sheila Connolly) Degrees in Art History and Fine Arts paved the way for Atwell to eventually write the Glassblowing Mystery Series. She not only enjoys the beauty of blown glass but apparently also has "mastered" the art. As Sheila Connolly, she writes the Orchard Mystery Series which takes place in beautiful Massachusetts... on an apple orchard.

Margaret Atwood   I've read a couple of her books, and find them quirky, very different....

Lori Avocato   Who better than a registered nurse (and Sister's in Crime member) to write a mystery series about an ex-registered nurse who invetigates medical fraud?

"B" Authors