August is over (once again, by quite a bit), 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 the first time in a very long while, I don’t have a new blog post to put forward here – I tried to read no fewer than three books for last month’s book entry, but for various reasons none of them worked out, and I’ve been holding off on this post for so long now that I decided to just skip August’s book instead of continuing to delay this further. (Frankly I’m not happy about that and I’m thinking about how I’m going to adjust some of how I run the site going forward as a result but that is a discussion for later.) For now, I’ve decided to recommend Agatha Christie‘s Miss Marple Mysteries once again, as it is still one of my favorites of all time.
So, what have you been reading that you can recommend in August? 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 August 2025 that you want the rest of us to know about, and why did you enjoy it?
CJ Archer: Cleopatra Fox Mystery Series (first entry Murder at the Mayfair Hotel)
Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib): Key West Food Critic Mystery Series
Amanda Chapman: Mrs. Christie Mystery Series (first entry Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library)
Vivien Chien: Noodle Shop Mystery Series
Agatha Christie: Miss Marple Mystery Series
Fiona Davis: The Stolen Queen
Victoria Gilbert: Hunter and Clewe Mystery Series
Cora Harrison: Reverend Mother Mystery Series (first entry A Shameful Murder)
Laurie R. King: Mary Russell Mystery Series
Meg Macy: Teddy Bear Mystery Series
A A Milne: The Red House Mystery
Melinda Mullet: A Ghostwriter’s Guide to Murder
Catie Murphey: Dublin Driver Mystery Series (first entry Dead in Dublin)
Sarah Osborne: Ditie Brown Mystery Series (first entry Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot)
Patricia Wentworth: Miss Maud Silver Mystery Series
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.
Merrilee says
In August 2025, I read two books by Patricia Wentworth, “Grey Mask,” first published in 1928, and “The Chinese Shawl,” published in 1943. I borrowed them from my county library, and loved them. I have already returned them to the library, and yesterday put in a request to borrow three more Patricia Wentworth books (which my county library will have to borrow from other in-state libraries as they are not in stock here, but they will, and that is a lovely benefit). I had read books by Wentworth in previous years, and knew I wanted to read more.
Georgia says
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis: I couldn’t put the book down and read it in one fell swoop. It is a time-jumping mystery, with plotting in 1936 Egypt and 1978 New York City, unified by one of the protagonists, Charlotte Cross. And it meshes the MET Gala (fashion) with a love of museums with emotional regret and heartbreak. I don’t want to give too much away because seeing how Davis brings all the plot lines together is one of the best things about reading the book.
Also, A Shameful Murder by Cora Harrison, the first of the Reverend Mother Mysteries set in Cork Ireland, 1923. Reverend Mother Aquinas is a wonderful woman, erudite, compassionate, and truth seeker. I’ll be reading the rest of the series for sure, and I’ll also explore Harrison’s other series.
One more: A Ghostwriter’s Guide to Murder by Melinda Mullet. Ghostwriter Maeve (who lives on a London house boat) writes murder mysteries for a living but falls into her own case when her ex-boyfriend turns up dead floating near her houseboat. She becomes a prime suspect (a plot line notebook doesn’t help her case) and she and her friends (interesting characters as well) investigate. Clever, charming, and engaging.
Stella says
Her Burren mystery series is amazing, and one of my all-time favorites. It is also set in Ireland, but in the time of Henry VIII.
Elaine B. says
Read ALL Vivien Chien”s Noodle Shop Mysteries. Loved them all! Hope she keeps it up.
Rob Jarrad says
Dear Danna: I think you do a wonderful job. My recommends echo yours in the sense of Dame Agatha doing her masterful best as both Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. Loved Murder at the Vicarage and a lot of the other books i’ve read by both detectives! I’ve also read a cozy series by Elizabeth Spahn Craig in the Southern Quilting mysteries. Patch of Trouble, Fit to be Tied and Pressed for time. Others in that same series named Shear Trouble, Quilt Trip and Quilt or Innocence to name a few and Elizabeth has written several-all delightful as her cast of characters have proven to be. I don’t particularly like cats or even quilting. But I read them because the series is so delightfully written. That tells you how good it is.
Carolyn Cook says
I too, enjoy Elizabeth Spann Craig mysteries, primarily her library series. They’re as well-written as her Southern Quilting series. I think you might enjoy them too.
Fortney, Sally says
I read The Mango Murders by Lucy Burdette. I didn’t like the Hayley Snow character in the first book of the series but she has evolved by getting married, making peace with both parents and their spouses, and befriending Miss Gloria.
I enjoyed Murder Most Southern by Sarah Osborne and Death of an Irish Druid by Catie Murphy. Great atmosphere in both books.
Mrs. Christie and the Mystery Guild Library by Amanda Chapman. The author did a lot of research on Agatha Christie, and it was great that others could see and talk to her. Hope there will be more in this series.
Vonnie says
Agatha Christie…..unbeatable!
MendoGirl says
For August I read “The Lantern’s Dance” by Laurie R. King. This is another book in her Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. This one takes on Sherlock’s family. Turns out he has a son he has only known about for a few years and he may be in danger from an unknown person from Holmes’ past. While Holmes tries to keep his son and his family safe, Mary keeps herself busy decoding a journal written by a young woman with an amazing life. When the stories finally collide it is quite the shock for Holmes.
I really enjoy King’s writing, and her re- imagining of the Sherlock Holmes canon.
The second book was definitely a surprise to me – “The Red House Mystery” by A. A. Milne.
It was first published in 1922. It’s a country house party, with the murder taking place in a locked room. Our amateur sleuth is Anthony Gillingham who just so happens to come along in time to witness a man trying to get into a locked room where a shot has just rung out. With his best friend Bill playing Watson to his Holmes, they are determined to get to the bottom of the murder.
And if you’re trying to place the name A. A. Milne – silly old bear – he wrote “Winnie the Pooh”!
Jody P says
I read and loved the Cleopatra Fox mysteries 1 and 2
Hanna says
Meg Macy’s Bearly Departed is an interesting book. A family owned factory creating stuffed bears, We get an interesting descriptions of the steps involved, the colors selected and then, the top sales person informs them that he plans to transfer the production to China and to let many employees go. The next day he is found dead on the floor. It was hard to get going since so many characters were introduced in the small village but the conclusion was a surprise.
I also enjoyed Victoria Gilbert’s A killer Clue, the second in the series of Jane Hunter, a retired librarian hired to catalog the enormous collections of books of wealthy Cameron Clewe. An owner of a store specializing in locating rare books is asking the pair to prove that her mother, now deceased, did not kill her father for which she spent years in jail. And now, the detective who investigated the original crime is found dead at the same bookstore, pointing to the young daughter. The story moves into different directions with a surprise conclusion. When I first summarized the first book in the series – A Cryptic Clue – I wished that the identity of a mysterious woman whose photo was found would be revealed. It is here, at the very end, a happy one.
Judithen says
All of these cozies are Kindle Unlimited books:
Verity Bright: Lady Eleanor Swift – British 1920s well traveled orphan inherits Title, Estate, butler, and dog
Helena Dixon: Kitty Underhay – British 1930s Hotel Owner turned investigator
Helena Dixon: Miss Jane Treen – British 1940s Whitehall investigators
T.E. Kinsey: Lady Hardcastle and Florence – British pre-WW1 spies and investigators
Karen Baugh Menuhin: Major Heathcliff Lennox – British 1920s nice guy solves murders with his butler, his dog, his small cat, and his friend CI Swift
Karen Baugh Menuhin: Miss Busby – British 1920s Cotswolds senior citizen investigator
Alex Wagner: Athos (Malamute dog) and Pearl (white fluff kitten sized cat) – Austrian present day (translated from the German)