April is almost over, so it’s time to discuss our favorite Cozies that we read this month!
If you read a Cozy mystery this month and want to recommend it to the rest of us, be sure to post it here! For this month, I read the first entry of Susan Wittig Albert’s China Bayles Mysterey Series. For the reasons I want to recommend it, be sure to check out the blog entry!
So, what have you been reading that you can recommend in April? Please be sure to tell us why you liked these Cozies so much. I know we’re all always on the lookout for more particularly good Cozy Mystery authors! (If you have a lot of Cozies you think are great, please post the ones you like the most at the top of the list.)
As always, please do not tell us about the Cozy Mysteries you did not like.
What really good Cozy Mystery did you read April 2023 that you want the rest of us to know about, and why did you enjoy it?
Susan Wittig Albert: China Bayles Mystery Series
V.M. Burns: Mystery Bookshop Mystery Series
Ellen Byron (aka Maria DiRico): Cajun Country Mystery Series
Lynn Cahoon: Kitchen Witch Mystery Series
Deborah Crombie: Kincaid & James Mystery Series
Emmeline Duncan: Ground Rules Mystery Series (first entry Fresh Brewed Murder)
Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen Mystery Series
Dianne Freeman: Countess Harleigh Mystery Series (first entry A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder)
Daryl Wood Gerber (aka Avery Aames): Cookbook Nook Mystery Series
Stephanie Graves: Olive Bright Mystery Series (first entry Olive Bright, Pigeoneer)
Margaret Mayhew: Village Mysteries (first entry Old Soldiers Never Die)
Richard Osman: Thursday Murder Club Mystery Series (first entry The Thursday Murder Club)
Peter Robinson: Inspector Banks Mystery Series
Eryn Scott: Whiskers and Words Mystery Series (first entry Littered with Trouble)
Paige Shelton: Scottish Bookshop Mystery Series
Victoria Thompson: Gaslight Mystery Series
Diana Xarissa: Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Series (first entry Aunt Bessie Assumes)
I will list the authors and series that have been recommended, but I urge you to read the comments below so you can see the reasons other Cozy Mystery readers thought these were their best reads of the month.
♦To access more Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations, click on this link♦
P.S. I usually don’t comment on your recommendations since they speak for themselves.
Barbara says
I read the two most recent books in Paige Shelton’s Scottish Bookshop mysteries. I thoroughly enjoy this series and I feel like I am in Scotland as I read. Both books had lots of twist and turns before the murderer was revealed. I highly recommend this series.
ESTHER CATHERINE says
I read the first five and I love the characters. Everyone is unique and fun.
Steve K says
Just started Four Charming Spells by Lynn Cahoon. Her added element of ghosts appearing and disappearing with messages is a nice twist. I always appreciate her characters family interactions. Mia and Christina are good partners in their catering business and now their possible mother in law, Abigal is making a nice addition to the story line.
Marianne says
I’ve been reading Diana Xarissa’s “Aunt Bessie” series about an octagenarian who just happens to find dead bodies on the Isle of Man. Every month, one book in the series is free on Kindle, so I’ve been reading the books in sequence. They are delightful and it’s interesting to read about a somewhat isolated part of the UK.
Regina Williams says
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman was such a great book! This is my first time reading a mystery with multiple points of views and I really loved how active and crafty these senior sleuths are.
Julie B says
Could not agree more! I love this series. I’ve loved the first 3 and can’t wait to read the next installment
Sadie says
Just finished the first 2. Starting the third. Great series!
Jacqueline R Johnston says
Just finished reading Murder on Bedford St. I couldn’t put it down. Can’t wait for the next book in the series by Victoria Thompson.
Fortney, Sally says
I thought Ellen Byron’s first series about Maggie in Louisiana was wonderful. Four Parties and a Funeral using her Maria DiRico name was just as good. I loved the reality show about the Mafia having real gangsters in it. Of course, Mia’s family is trying to go straight.
Caramel Pecan Roll Murder by Joanne Fluke had Hannah and her crew solve a murder with great recipes. I’m anxious to see what is up with Mike, though.
A Killing of Innocents by Deborah Crombie and Standing in the Shadows by Peter Robinson are police procedurals that have wonderful supporting characters and sense of place. I imagine this is the last of Peter’s as the author is dead. Sorry to see that world go.
Carol says
I read an arc of Poaching is Puzzling by Daryl Wood Gerber. Its excellent book and another good one by this author.
Brooke says
The Olive Bright, Pigeoneer series by Stephanie Graves is excellent! It’s about a young woman, Olive Bright, who lives in an English Village during World War II. She and her father raised racing pigeons before the war and she is determined to do her part for the war effort. She approaches the commander of a local military base and offers her pigeons to carry secret messages for the Allies. When a local busybody is murdered its up to Olive to determine if there is a traitor in the village or at the base.
I flew through the first three books in the series and they are excellent! They all have nice cozy mysteries and Olive is a great fiesty heroine. It was also really interesting to learn about the role if pigeons in World War II
Esther Catherine Strauch says
I read the fourth in the Lynn Cahoon “Kitchen Witch Series” and I loved and enjoyed every page. One of the best of my and my family’s cozy mystery series and we read about 30 of them.
Please check it out, you will enjoy.
MendoGirl says
I read the second book in the Ground Rules Mystery series Double Shot of Death by Emmeline Duncan.
Sage Caplin, co-owner of Ground Rules coffee has been lucky enough to secure a spot at Campathon, an annual eco-friendly music festival. She has this spot because of her boyfriend Bax, who is friendly with one of the musicians playing the festival.
With feuding musicians and a couple of food cart owners who would prefer Sage go away, is it any wonder that when Sage stumbles across a dead body clutching one of her coffee mugs she begins asking questions?
I really enjoyed this book. The writing made me feel like I had been transported to a music festival in the middle of Summer. The characters were well written and the mystery took some good twists and turns.
I look forward to the next installment.
Emily says
I started the Whiskers and Words series by Eryn Scott on kindle unlimited and I’ve read up to book four so far! It’s set in a sweet small town and each books dives further into its residences. The main character opens up a bookstore and it also is the home of sweet foster cats to adopt. The writing can be cheesy at times but I’m hooked with every book and am excited to continue the series and try her other ones! This series has really made good use of my kindle
I also read The Plot is Murder by V.M Burns and I think it had an interesting premise with the main story and the story The main character was writing. It was short and sweet and I’d like to continue this series too.
Hanna says
I liked Dianne Freeman’s “A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder.” Frances, a rich young American married a British aristocrat who needs the money. Yes, shades of Downton Abbey except that here the husband continues with his partying and Frances soon finds herself a young widow. No great loss to Frances who then moves to London where she finds her next door neighbor George Hazelton, is an old friend. Meanwhile her mother sends the young sister to be introduced in the upcoming season with the hope of finding her own aristocrats. But are the eager suitors trustworthy? There are four more books in the series and I enjoyed all. Frances and Hazelton join forces in the next books, all easy read with nice background of London society at the turn of the 20th Century.
B. West says
I really enjoyed “Old Soldiers Never Die” by Margaret Mayhew. which is a British village series and has a charming retired colonel who has newly retired to this little hamlet. Still grieving his late wife, he has found help with gardening and cooking in his spelling-impaired neighbor Naomi among others in the village. There’s quite a varied cast and the humor is gentle and dry. This is the first book in a 6-book series and I plan to read them all.
ginger says
I read 5 books during April.
1. Six Feet Deep Dish by Mindy Quigley. The first in the series Deep Dish. I love it and cannot wait for the 2nd one .
2. Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry. The first in the Series By the Book. I loved it and surprised by who the killer was. Cannot wait unitl i get 2nd one and understand the 3rd is comes out.
3. Murder by Plum Pudding by Les Strauss. The 11th one in the Ginger Gold series. It is a histroical and cannot wait to read more in the series.
4. Be My Ghost by CarolJ. Perry. The 1st in the Haunted House Series. I enjoyed this one but i figured it out half way through the book. Looking forward to more in the series.
5. Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns. The 1st in the BAker Street series. This one was so fun and enjoyed it, Cannot wait until 2nd one comes out.
LORI RADAVICH says
Yes I really enjoyed the Valerie Burns book and can’t wait for Book 2!
Patti S. says
I read Paper Cuts by Ellery Adams and Lemon Curd Killer by Laura Childs. Both of these series are excellent!