May 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 Julia Buckley’s Hungarian Tea House 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 May? 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 May 2023 that you want the rest of us to know about, and why did you enjoy it?
Victoria Abbott (Writing duo Mary Jane Maffini & daughter Victoria Maffini): Book Collectors Mystery Series
Lorna Barrett (aka L. L. Bartlett & Lorraine Bartlett): Booktown Mystery Series
Julia Buckley: Hungarian Tea House Mystery Series
Lynn Cahoon: Tourist Trap Mystery Series
Colleen Cambridge: American in Paris Mystery Series (first entry Mastering the Art of French Murder)
Maria DiRico (aka Ellen Byron): Catering Hall Mystery Series
Jessica Ellicott (aka Jessie Crockett & Jessica Estevao): WPC Billie Harkness Mystery Series
Angie Fox: Southern Ghost Hunter Mystery Series (first entry Southern Spirits)
Betty Hechtman: Crochet Mystery Series
Sofie Kelly (aka Sofie Ryan & Darlene Ryan for Young Adult): Magical Cats Mystery Series
Leslie Meier: Lucy Stone Mystery Series
Elaine Viets: Francesca Vierling Mystery Series
Livia J. Washburn: Fresh-Baked 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.
Teresa Mikelczuk says
I started Angie Fox’s ghost hunter series with Southern Spirits-and it’s wonderful! Veriday Long is a southern girl who traps a ghost on her property-a former 1920’s gangster and he helps her solve murders along with her new love interest Ellis Wydell, her former fiancé’s brother. It’s funny, it had great emotion and overall a joy to read. I actually listen to the audiobooks and I find I’m laughing out loud or hanging in my car because I want to know what’s next!
Karen S says
After reading this cozy recommendation, I was able to find the audio version on our library’s hoopla app. I have to say I truly enjoyed this cozy and am now beginning book 2. The characters are so warm and their relationship close. The teashop environment is quite different from the normal cozy set up and the personalities are strong, yet understanding. Highly recommend.
Brooke says
Four Parties and a Funeral by Maria DiRico (aka Ellen Byron)! I’ve been waiting on this release for ages amd it did not disappoint! I love the New York setting and the concept of an event center operated by a family with ties to the mafia.
Fortney, Sally says
I read Never Trifle with Murder by Livia J. Washburn. I like how the sleuths are older people and how food is always in there.
Mother of the Bride Murder by Leslie Meier was set in France where Lucy’s daughter was getting married. I like how her family is not picture perfect and has faults as real people do. Still they all work together and love each other.
Murder on the Home Front by Jessica Ellicott is a historical mystery set in World War II England as is Playing It Safe by Ashley Weaver. Jessica’s sleuth is a policewoman but Ashley’s is a former criminal who is helping the war effort. Both are great.
Ellen Koenig says
I read Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge. Julia Childs is one of the main characters in the book and she is so much fun. The mystery is engaging and the ending is quite surprising. It is one of those books that will stay with me.
Jayne G says
I’m reading “The Booktown Mystery” series by Lorna Barrett. Reading the whole series at one time gave me a perspective of the character’s development. Tricia owns Haven’t got a Clue Bookstore and sells primarily vintage mysteries. Tricia is considered the town jinx because she almost always finds the murder victims. As a retired librarian, I love series with books and cats.
I’ve been listening to Lynn Cahoon’s “The Tourist Trap Mysteries”. Another bookstore series in a small California seaside community. I have almost finished this series. In this series Jill has a stable relationship. Her curiosity to solve the latest murder doesn’t cause the grief that Tricia gets and Jill doesn’t always finds the murder victims.
Miriam L says
I am enjoying The CrochetMystery series by Betty Hechtman. The characters are realistic. I like the setting and the stories. They are always satisfying.
MendoGirl says
For May I would like to recommend The Sayers Swindle by Victoria Abbott. It’s the second book in the Book Collector Mystery series.
Jordan Bingham tracks down rare and valuable mystery novels for her boss Vera Van Alst, the most prickly woman in Harrison Falls, New York.
Vera’s prized collection of Dorothy Sayers mysteries has gone missing and Jordan must track them down.
Eventually Jordan does track them down and offers a valuable Hemingway in trade, but the man’s family believes they can get more. Then the entire family disappears and a dead body shows up – it’s up to Jordan to find the killer before she disappears.
This was a really fun read with great characters and lots of action. It’s also very funny. It had lots of references to Dorothy Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey; so much so that I really want to read at least one of her books. So when I came across one at my favorite thrift store, I grabbed it and it’s now in the TBR pile.
If you do read the Book Collector Series I would strongly suggest reading them in order, the first is The Christie Curse.
PamB says
The ‘Book Collector Mystery’ books is one of my favorite series and I just finished rereading all five books. I read them when first published and remembered very few details so I enjoyed them as much when first read.
Patti S says
I love this series, too! I wish the author would continue with this series! So good!
Anne says
I am reading one of Elaine Viet’s books, The Pink Flamingo Murder. It is an older book which takes place on St. Louis, Mo. Elaine was a former newspaper columnist in St.Louis, MO and she moved to Florida to write books. She also wrote the Dead End Job Series and the Mystery Shopper
Series which had me laughing so hard. These books are older, but they are worth reading.
Sadiepoo says
I just want to say Thank You for this blog! I read for relaxation and enjoyment. Sometimes I read books people recommend to me and while I love a good mystery they are just too violent and graphic. Hardly relaxing at bedtime! Cozy Mysteries are more my style! I really appreciate this blog and your recommendations!
Thank you again!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Sadiepoo, you’re very welcome! I’m always glad to hear from people who are enjoying the blog and the books that they can find through it!
Julie says
Sophie Kelly’s magical cat series is one of my favorites. Southern spirits sounds a little like Cleo Coyle’s Ghost books that are wonderful too.
Leslie Z says
The Cleo Coyle Haunted Bookshop mysteries are great. Penny and her 1940s detective ghost solve all kinds of mysteries in her small town. She has several quirky friends and family that help out. So fun.
Regina Williams says
*Murder at Brightwell (Amory Ames Mystery) by Ashley Weaver is an historical cozy mystery that I really enjoyed. It was a great read and I can’t wait to read the rest of the books in this series
*Pancakes and Corpses (Peridale Cafe Mystery) & Black Cherry Betrayal (Claire’s Candles) by Agatha Frost
*Artifact (Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery) by Gigi Pandian if you love Indiana Jones you will love this series.
Hanna says
I enjoyed Tracy Gardner’s Ruby Red Herring. Shortly after Avery Ayers joined her family business of evaluating and authenticating art and jewelry items her parents were killed in a car accidents and she is now in charge. The current item is a ruby which may be a missing “eye” of an earlier mask. Too many are interested in the gem kept under lock and key in the museum. An interesting world of art appraisal and of the unsavory characters associated with this world.
egb says
I have just started reading Cozy Mysteries. I am so eager to read some of the ones mentioned here. I am reading Elaine Viets’s Cozy “Dead End Job” series. I love Helen, on the run from the law, who works dead-end jobs for cash, under the table). With each dead-end job comes a murder for Helen to solve. Each story makes me laugh a lot, increase my heartbeat, and cheer for Helen Hawthorne, an amateur sleuth, on the lamb.