January 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 Diane Kelly’s House-Flipper Mystery 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 January? 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 January 2025 that you want the rest of us to know about, and why did you enjoy it?
Avery Aames (aka Daryl Wood Gerber): Cheese Shop Mystery Series
Ellery Adams (aka J. B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Book Retreat Mystery Series
Ellie Alexander (aka Kate Dyer-Seeley): Secret Bookcase Mystery Series
Barbara Allan: Trash ‘n’ Treasures Mystery Series
Leslie Budewitz: Seattle Spice Shop Mystery Series
Paula Charles: Hometown Hardware Mystery Series (first entry Hammers and Homicide)
Ian and Will Ferguson: Miranda Abbott Mystery Series (first entry I Only Read Murder)
Katie Gayle: Julie Bird Mystery Series (first entry An English Garden Murder)
Daryl Wood Gerber (aka Avery Aames): Literary Dining Mystery Series
Victoria Hamilton (aka Amanda Cooper): Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series
Veronica Heley: Ellie Quicke Mystery Series
Diane Kelly: House-Flipper Mystery Series
Ian Moore: Follet Valley Mystery Series (first entry Death and Croissants)
Korina Moss: Cheese Shop Mystery Series (first entry Cheddar Off Dead)
Elliott Roosevelt: Elanor Roosevelt Mystery Series
Benjamin Stevenson: Ernest Cunningham Mystery Series (first entry Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone)
Cathy Wiley: Fatal Food Festival Mystery Series (first entry Claws of Death)
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.
Fortney, Sally says
Antiques Foe by Barbara Allan had the unique humor of this series. Pretty Lentil Liars by Cathy Wiley, Fondue or Die by Korina Moss, Murder on the Page by Daryl Wood Gerber feature food.
I love how Death at a Scottish Christmas shows how the town supports their doctor.
Rob Jarrad says
Dear Danna et all: I really don’t have a favorite per se but have a few that I really consistently enjoy:
Ellery Adams: The Storybook Hall mysteries with Murder in the Paperback Suite
Leslie Budewicz: the Seattle Spiceshop Mysteries> Chai Another Day, Peppermint Bark murder, Assault and Battery, Among a Wok and a Hard Place, etc
Avery Aames Cheeseshop mysteries, Lost and Fondue, Clobbered By Camembert, etc.
All of those are great and I read them over again as well.
Leslie Budewitz says
Thanks, Rob! Watch for Lavender Lies Bleeding, coming July 15!
MJ says
Leslie,
THANKS for the heads-up about the new book. I really enjoy this series. You are a creative and talented author ! 🙂
Regina Williams says
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson was such a great book! I loved the narrative of the book and that it was set in Australia
Leslie Z says
That book is great. I just finished the next one, Everyone on this train is a Suspect. Also, very good.
Jane says
I just finished Ellie Alexander’s “A Holiday Homicide” in the Secret Bookcase mystery series. This is a great series and I have on order “A Victim at Valentine’s”. When I finish that one, I will have read the whole series.
Claudia says
I just finished reading “Murder at Hobcaw Barony, the sixth book I’ve read in the Eleanor Roosevelt mystery series written by her son Elliott Roosevelt. In each book, Eleanor solves a murder, aided sometimes by famous real people who appear in all the books. This book has the aura of the movie business as it takes place at the Barony in rural South Carolina and is owned by financier Bernard Buruch. His guests include Humphrey Bogart, Tallulah Bankhead and Joan Crawford.
I like the books so much because they are set in the 30s and 40s (40s are my favorite decade even though I wasn’t yet born) and each book includes famous people from those times. The mysteries are also quite good and I usually don’t have a clue who the murderer is until Eleanor explains it to us.
If you like history and mysteries, this series would be a good one for you.
Vlong says
I read all the vintage kitchen cozy books
B. West says
I love British village mysteries and would love to recommend the Julia Bird series by Katie Gayle starting with “An English Gardern Murder.” Julia Bird is a middle aged lady whose husbund has left her (for the gardener, no less) and shie is left to start over and make a new life for herself which she does very well. Charming setting some quirky characters and a leading lady you have to admire for her spunk and innate kindness as well.
I also love the Ellie Quicke series by Veronica Heley. Ellie is a recent widow with a nightmare daughter and lots of other troubles. First book is “murder at the Altar” and the books just get better as the series goes on. Best of all: there are 22 of them!
MendoGirl says
For January I would like to recommend Anything by Ian Moore, I just finished Death at the Chateau and it did not disappoint. I love how Richard and Valerie’s relationship is evolving(first book Death and Croissants).
Also I was thrilled to find the second book in the Miranda Abbott mystery series, Mystery in the Title, by brothers Ian and Will Ferguson.
After I read I Only Read Murder, I was hoping to check back in with Miranda and the rest of Happy Rock – so much fun!
I would also like to thank everyone who recommended the Secret Bookcase series. I read The Body in the Bookstore, and I am hooked.
Leslie Budewitz says
What fun to see my Spice Shop mysteries included on this list! Watch for Lavender Lies Bleeding, coming July 15.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
I’m looking forward to it, and I’m sure many of my readers are as well, Leslie!
MJ says
I hadn’t taken the time to write up the books I read and wanted to recommend in January, thus this list is ‘short’ (and late). BUT, I will mention this one book, mainly because it’s a new author —- Paula Charles, titled Hammers and Homicide. I believe this is her first book.
The ‘setting’ is a hardware store in a small OR community. Dawna Carpenter is the lead character. Her husband died a few years ago and she now manages this hardware store. Her daughter (April) recently moved back to town.
A developer is murdered in the bathroom of this store. He had many fraud accusations against him. A second murder also occurs. A friend of Dawna’s is accused of the murder and is in jail. Dawna and April decide to seek the answer to these murders.
Charles has created an enjoyable story that is well paced and plotted. The characters are varied, and developed with depth.
And, I always enjoy a story with added humor. 🙂
There is no way you’ll figure out who did it — a complete surprise!!
I’m looking forward to the second book, “Axe Me No Questions”, which was released a week ago.
Roni Vollmer says
Thank you so much for providing these lists. I use them to help order books at the local library, and to keep up on my favorite authors. I find that I am not the only one in the community that reads cozy mysteries!! WE appreciate your efforts!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Roni, you’re welcome – I’m glad that these posts are helpful! I know I certainly use them as well to gather my own reading suggestions.
Jessie Trotter says
I’ve really been enjoying the Armstrong and Oscar series by T A Williams set in sunny Italy. First book is Murder in Tuscany. Armstrong is a recently divorced retired detective from Scotland Yard and Oscar is his black lab.