The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

Mystery Books that Take Place in Michigan:

Here are some Fun Michigan Facts:
Michigan gets its name from the Indian word “Michigana” (great lake).
Lansing is the state capital.
State Motto: “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.”
State Flower: Apple Blossom.
Michigan is sometimes referred to as the “Great Lakes State.” (It was once called the Wolverine State, although there are no longer any wolverines in that state.)
If you love lighthouses, Michigan is the state for you! It has (+/-) 110 of them.

Authors who are found on the Cozy Mystery Site and who feature Michigan locations in their books:

Deb Baker: Yooper Mystery Series

Lilian Jackson Braun: The Cat Who *** Mystery Series (There is some speculation that Moose County actually is situated in Upper Michigan.)

V.M. Burns: Samantha Washington Bookshop Mystery Series– Samantha is an aspiring Cozy Mystery author who owns a book store on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli (aka Elizabeth Lee): Emily Kincaid Mystery Series

JoAnna Carl (aka Eve K. Sandstrom): Chocoholic Mystery Series

Laurie Cass: Bookmobile Cat Mystery Series

Peg Cochran (aka Meg London): Cranberry Cove Mystery Series

Nancy Coco (aka Nancy J. Parra): Candy-Coated Mystery Series

Jo Dereske: Ruby Crane Mystery Series

Dawn Eastman: Family Fortune Mystery Series

Sharon Farrow: Berry Basket Mystery Series

Debra H. Goldstein: Denney Silber Mystery Series

Paula Gosling: Blackwater Bay Mystery Series AND Stryker & Trevorne Mystery Series

Victoria Hamilton: Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series

Susan Holtzer: Anneke Haagen Mystery Series

Madison Johns: Agnes Barton Senior Sleuth Mystery Series

William X. Kienzle: Father Koesler Mystery Series

Victoria Laurie: Psychic Eye Mystery Series

Meg Macy (aka 1/2 of D.E. Ireland): Teddy Bear Mystery Series – sleuth Sasha Silvermanis the manager of a teddy bear shop and factory.

Nina Wright: Whiskey Mattimoe Mystery Series

Please feel free to contact me if you see an author from the Cozy Mystery Site who belongs on this list, or if you have any comments.

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦

Comments

  4. I don’t see any mysteries using coffeehouses as a setting. I know of one series: author Cleo Coyle. Are there any others?

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  6. I picked up a book at the Reed City library back in 2002 or 2003. It was a mystery about a man who moved his family to a small college town in Michigan from another state. It was set in winter. He worked at the college as a janitor I think. They had little money. He became acquainted with a mysterious man who I think was in a hospital or institution. Does anyone know this book. I cannot remember the title or the author. Sorry. Thanks for any help.

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    • there’s a book that is similar to your description only it took place in Omaha, Nebraska and it’s called The Mover of Bones by Robert Vivian.

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  7. I haven’t seen a book by Susan Holtzer since 2001. Does anyone know if she has written anything since, or does anyone have any current information?

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  8. There is another mystery series set in a coffeehouse – Sandra Balzo’s Maggie Thorsen series.

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  9. Thank you, Caroline, for reminding me about the Maggie Thorsen Mystery Series (Wisconsin Coffee Shop). I just updated the culinary page. Sometimes, when I add a new mystery author after I have a theme up, I forget to amend the page on which the author belongs.

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  11. Hi There,

    I just stumbled upon Jerry Prescott, who writes Michigan (Ann Arbor/University of Michigan) mysteries (perhaps that is who Vicki was referring to?)

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  12. Can I ask a question instead? I read a mystery in the late seventies or early eighties set at that time in the south at Christmas time at a university. The sleuth was a single woman going home to the south and either the head of the university or some higher professor was the rapist. In spite of the serious crime it was quite humorous in the beginning when the narrator was explaining southern convention. The author was a female and I never could remember her name to find another book by her. It was a cozy mystery – Does anybody know what the title was and who wrote it? I think it had something about Christmas in the title and I’m sorry but I don’t remember which southern state was the setting………I’d love to read it again and any other books by the same author.

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    • You’re right about the seriouseness of the crime. Hmmm… This book doensn’t ring a bell for me.

      Reply

      • It has been a while since I read it, but one of Charlaine Harris’ early books (Secret Rage) involved a rapist who I think had some connection to a college and was set in the South – this is not a cozy.

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        • Thank you, Judith. I see that Charlaine Harris is reissuing Secret Rage (originally from the early 1980s) on July 1.

          Reply

  13. I read several books about a guy (local policeman?) who was from “The Soo/Sault” Michigan. His closest friend was a Native Indian who had moved off the local Reserve. His father had left him several cabins in the woods – one of which he lived in and the others he rented to hunters/ATVers. I can’t remember this author’s name, but know I enjoyed several of his books. I think he sometimes went over the border into Canada – and liked the beer there. Anyone know who I’m talking about?

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    • No, but it sounds similar to the books I read that brought me to this site, looking for that author. The cop dates a Native American woman and there’s a great elder character too. Ring any bells to anyone?

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    • Is the author William Kent Krueger? The Cork O’Connor series? That’s the author I’ve been trying to remember.

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  15. James R. Nelson also has written recent mystery books regarding the UP. He is actually a UP native. His books are on the Amazon and Barnes and Noble web pages.

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  16. My ONLY problem with reading books that are set in Michigan is that I am an Ohio State Buckeye fan and some of us Buckeye fans don’t give a darn for the whole state of Michigan!!
    Just teasing!! I think!!!

    Reply

  17. I have three mystery novels, all of which are set in Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula.

    The Butterfly Conspiracy – set in Grand Marais, Mi
    The Maze At Four Chimneys – set in Garden, Mi
    The Peacock Prophecy – set in Mackinac Island, Mi

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  18. Mysteries with a Michigan theme should include Steve Hamilton’s Alex McKnight series that takes place in and around Paradise Michigan in the upper peninsula. Alex is an ex-Detroit cop with a bullet still in him who has “retired” to Paradise to run a group of vacation rental cabins but ends up getting involved in solving local murders.

    Reply

    • Thank you, John C, for telling us about Steve Hamilton’s Alex McKnight series.

      Reply

  19. I don’t know how anyone can doubt “The Cat Who” books are set in Upper Michigan. Maybe I’m biased because I WANT them to be in Michigan but come on what other state has people who move from “Down Below”?
    I suppose it could be the southern/northern areas of any Great Lakes State, but I want them to be here, so they are!!

    Reply

  20. Aaron Strander has great mysteries that take place in Michigan. read
    Color Tour and Deer Season. I am reading the rest of his.

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    • Strander’s books are brilliant. I’ve read them all and they are always gripping, and always surprising. I highly recommend that you read the rest of them.

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  21. I’m surprised that no one has mentioned Joseph Haywood. A pure Michigan outdoors mystery writer. Known best for his Wood Cop Mystery series, chronicling the adventures of Grady Service, a Conservation Officer in the UP. He has also introduced the start of a new series called Red Jacket, going back in time to the first CO in Michigan, with a fictional character by the name of Lute Bapcat, a former Rough Rider called into service as a CO by Teddy Roosevelt.
    Also a great read is Snow Fly. (I think it was his best!…but I’m a fly fishing fanatic so that may have something to do with it.) Recently re-released in paperback and eBook.

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    • Deb, thanks for telling us about Joseph Haywood’s Michigan-based mystery series.

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  23. I”m looking for the author of books with a librarian who solves mysteries in Michigan and the stories involve a strong Scandinavian culture and history influence.

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    • Kathleen Hills wrote that series, featuring John McIntire. I love that series! The first one is called “Past Imperfect.” Takes place in the UP in the 1950s.

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  24. This summer while I was recouping from surgery a friend loaned me a paperback (cozy). It was sited on Mackinac Island, the heroine was a little ditsy (loved her), and the center of the story was a shop that rented bicycles. Does anyone know the author or the title?? I must have been a little ‘ditsy’ myself…loved the story but didn’t note them!

    Reply

  25. I once read a mystery written by a Michigan native, and it was about Marina Murders. Can’t recall the name of the book nor the name of the author. Any help would be appreciated. and Thank You.

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  26. Hi – I have a series set on the Keweenaw Peninsula – in the Finnish-American community.
    A STITCH IN CRIME, a Hatti Lehtinen mystery is already out.
    NORTHERN LIGHTS OUT, a Hatti Lehtinen mystery should be out soon.

    I would love for you to include them if possible.
    Thanks for making the list!

    Reply

  27. I notice that Janet Bolin author of the Threadville mysteries is missing from the list of authors with PA settings.

    Thank you for all you do. You provide a valuable service to all of cozy mystery addicts, I mean lovers. 🙂

    Reply

  28. I’m trying to locate a book series I read long ago. The books were purchased from a Christian bookstore. It was written by a man who was a medical doctor and the books were based in Michigan cities, mostly in the Upper Peninsula.

    Reply

  30. Farm to Table Mysteries by Amanda Flower are based in Michigan.
    Farm to Trouble, Put out to Pasture, and soon to be released In Farm’s Way. Great books!

    Reply

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