The Cozy Mystery List Blog

As I mentioned in my last entry, this is a great time of the year for Cozy Mystery lovers since there are so many holiday-themed Cozy Mysteries coming out! Here are six Christmas themed books/stories that will be released:

First up will be Donna Andrews‘s The Two Deadly Doves, part of the Meg Langslow Mystery Series. This is going to be a Christmas omnibus containing both book #10 (Six Geese A- Slaying) and book #16 (Duck the Halls), two Christmas-themed mysteries in this series. In the first story, Meg Langslow is hosting a Twelve Days of Christmas party when the hired Santa turns up dead. In the second, a series of what seem to be disruptive but not dangerous pranks escalates quickly to the death of a local cranky old man. In both, Meg will need to solve the case before the holidays are ruined! Donna Andrews also writes the Turing Hopper Mystery Series, a sci-fi themed mystery series starring an artificial intelligence as the sleuth.

The second Christmas-themed mystery coming up is Laurien Berenson‘s A Christmas Howl, a Chistmas story in the Melanie Travis Mystery Series. In this prequel to the main Melanie Travis series, Melanie and her Aunt Peg haven’t yet gotten particularly close, and the two will be meeting for the first time in years when Peg and her husband Max are invited to Christmas by Max’s estranged brother Michael, Melanie’s father. But black-sheep and supposedly penniless Michael is throwing quite an elaborate party, and Peg thinks something seems suspicious >>> a mystery she’s determined to get to the bottom of before the end of the holidays.

The third of our upcoming Christmas themed books is Dashing Through the Snow: A Christmas Novel by Debbie Macomber, a stand-alone Christmas novel. (Though this Christmas novel is not a mystery novel, I’m listing it because Debbie Macomber was recommended as an author who belongs on this site. She may not write mysteries, but her books certainly are Cozy!) The book follows graduate student Ashley and former intelligence officer Dashiell, each eager to reach their homes in time for the holidays, as they are forced to share a rental car when all the flights are booked. This unlikely connection spins into a series of interesting events, leading the two closer and closer together as they continue their journeys home.

Next up will be Jingle Bones, a story in the Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery Series by Carolyn Haines. In this short story, Sarah is trying to have the perfect holiday season despite the end of her engagement. Still, she isn’t too absorbed in her holiday plans to stop working, and when a former classmate asks her to look into the ruining of a previous Christmas pageant – and to stop it from happening again – she’s more than willing to help out. Haines also writes the Dixon Sinclair series, as well as stand alone novels.

Kathi Daley‘s The Conspiracy is the 4th in the Seacliff High Mystery Series for young adults. Strange things are happening at the annual Christmas Carnival, and it might have something to do with the dead body discovered in the cemetery less than a month ago. When Alyson becomes involved in a potentially dangerous accident, she and her friends will need to hunt down the source of the accidents, and the origin of the corpse in the cemetery.

Finally will be Carla Neggers‘s A Knights Bridge Christmas, the 5th in the Swift River Valley Series. Though this series is romance and not mystery, I’m still including it in this list since I know we have some Carla Neggers mystery fans here. In this entry to the series, young mother Clare Morgan is moving to Knights Bridge, where she will have a chance to start over when she meets Logan Farrell, a Boston doctor in town to help out his grandmother settle into her retirement community. Neggers also writes the Sharpe & Donovan Mystery Series, the Ireland Mystery Series, the Black Falls Mystery Series, the U. S. Marshals Mystery Series, and the Texas Rangers Mystery Series.

You can find these (and a whole lot more!! Christmas mystery novels on the this page on my site:

Christmas Themed Mysteries

(There are so many Christmas themed mysteries that I divided them into six pages!)

One of the things I always look forward to later in the year are the holiday themed Cozy Mystery releases. This upcoming October we’re going to have a really great crop – too many to cover in one post! So today I’ll just be discussing the five Halloween and other “fall harvest” themed mysteries that will be coming out in October.

First will be the next entry in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series. The Ghost and Mrs. Fletcher, written by Donald Bain, Renée Paley-Bain, & “Jessica Fletcher”, will be the 45th in the series, and once again will star the famous television detective/murder mystery author, Jessica Fletcher. When a crusty old local carpenter dies after a premonition that his time is near, Jessica will need to use her now-long years of mystery writing and detecting to put a so-called spirit to rest >>> or determine the specter’s true nature. Donald Bain also writes the Margaret Truman Capital Crimes Mystery Series.

Next up will be Ghost of a Potion, the third entry in Heather Blake‘s Magic Potion Mystery Series. When local architect Haywood Dodd dies before making a big announcement at a costume party, his ghost goes to local magic potion seller and medium, Carly Bell Hartwell, for help. She’ll need to discover his true killer, not only for Dodd and her own peace of mind, but also to clear the current suspect >>> her boyfriend’s mother. Blake also writes the Wishcraft Mystery Series, starring a wish-granting witch, as well as the Lucy Valentine Mystery Series (starring a matchmaker with the ability to find lost objects) and the Nina Quinn Mystery Series (starring a Landscaper) under the pseudonym Heather Webber.

The next Cozy is Sheila Connolly‘s A Gala Event, the 9th book in her Orchard Mystery Series, a Fall Harvest themed mystery. Orchard owner Meg Corey is looking forward to the end of the harvesting season more than ever since it will let her focus more on planning her upcoming wedding, but when former convict Aaron Eastman returns to town, he manages to talk her into helping clear his name by investigating a now 25 years old case of arson. Connolly also writes the Museum Mystery Series, starring a museum fundraiser, the County Cork Mystery Series, starring a Bostonian living in Ireland, the Relatively Dead Mystery Series, starring a woman who sees ghosts, and finally (as Sarah Atwell) the Glassblowing Mystery Series.

What Halloween would be complete without a resident skeleton? The Skeleton Haunts a House is the third book in Leigh Perry‘s Family Skeleton Mystery Series. This series stars Georgia Thackery and her live-in, skeleton-possessing ghost friend, Sid. Sid enjoys Halloween as an opportunity to get out of the house without freaking people out, so he doesn’t mind disguising himself as a dog to attend a local Halloween party. But when a (second) corpse turns up, he and Georgia will need to solve the murder quickly to avoid Sid’s own existence becoming known! Leigh Perry has also written extensively under the name Toni L.P. Kelner, and under that name is the author of the Where Are They Now? Mystery Series, the Laura Fleming Mystery Series, and she is also the editor to multiple mystery anthologies.

The last of our Halloween themed Cozies is Kathi Daley‘s Ghostly Graveyard, the 17th in her Zoe Donovan Mystery Series. In this entry, Zoe will discover a body across the grave of a local legend, one who began a hundred year old tale that is still told in the area today. Kathi Daley also writes the TJ Jensen Paradise Lake Mystery Series, starring a high school teacher and coach, the Whales and Tails Mystery Series, starring the owner of a bar/bookstore/cat themed lounge area, and the young adult Seacliff High Mystery Series.

As always, you can see these Halloween themed mystery books (and many, many more!) on the Halloween page on my site:

Halloween Holiday Mysteries