The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Cozy Mystery Book Recommendations – May 2022

We’re just about at the end of May, so it’s time to discuss our favorite Cozies that we’ve 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 Anna Gerard’s Georgia B&B 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 during May 2022 that you want the rest of us to know about, and why did you enjoy it?

Bree Baker (aka Jacqueline Frost, Julie Chase, & Julie Anne Lindsey): Seaside Cafe Mystery Series

M. C. Beaton (aka Marion Chesney): Agatha Raisin Mystery Series AND Hamish Macbeth Mystery Series

C. C. Benison (aka Doug Whiteway): Father Christmas Mystery Series

Ginger Bolton: Deputy Donut Mystery Series

Ellen Byron (aka Maria DiRico): Vintage Cookbook Mystery Series

Lorenzo Carcaterra: Nonna Maria and the Case of the Missing Bride

Kate Carlisle: Bibliophile Mystery Series

Laura Childs (aka Gerry Schmitt): Tea Shop Mystery Series

Ellen Crosby: Wine Country Mystery Series

J.C. Eaton: Sophie Kimball Mystery Series

Peggy Ehrhart: Knit & Nibble Mystery Series

Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen Mystery Series

Agatha Frost: Peridale Cafe Mystery Series

Anna Gerard (aka Diane A.S. Stuckart and Ali Brandon): Georgia B&B Mystery Series

Daryl Wood Gerber (aka Avery Aames): Cookbook Nook Mystery Series 

Claudia Gray: The Murder of Mr. Wickham

Barbara Hamilton: Abigail Adams Mystery Series

A.L. Herbert: Mahalia Watkins Soul Food Mystery Series

Tara Lush: Coffee Lover’s Mystery Series (first entry Grounds For Murder)

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Cupcake Bakery Mystery Series

Barbara Neely: Blanche White Mystery Series

Robin Paige (aka Susan Wittig Albert & husband Bill Albert): Victorian Mystery Series

Amanda Quick: Burning Cove, California Mystery Series (first entry The Girl Who Knew Too Much)

Karen Rose Smith: Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery Series

Jesse Q. Sutanto: Aunties Mystery Series (first entry Dial A For Aunties)

Eliza Watson: Mags and Biddy Genealogy Mystery Series (first entry How to Fake an Irish Wake)

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.

May 30 to June 5, 2022

Here is the list of new releases for May 30 to June 5!

Krista Davis: The Diva Says Cheesecake! (This will be the 15th in the Domestic Diva Mystery Series.)

G. A. McKevett: Murder Most Grave (This will be the 4th in the Granny Reid Mystery Series.)

Joyce Carol Oates (aka Lauren Kelly & Rosamond Smith): Extenuating Circumstances (This will be a short story collection.)

Kirsten Weiss: Big Shot (This will be the 1st in the NEW Big Murder Mystery Series.)

British Television Mystery Series: McDonald & Dodds

First, let me start off by saying I love this ITV British television crime series. McDonald & Dodds takes place in Bath, a beautiful English city which is about 100 miles from London.

Detective Chief Inspector McDonald (Tala Gouveia) is transferred from London to Bath – where she is ready to take on the world. She wants to move up the police ladder. Unfortunately for her, she is forced to partner with Detective Sergeant Dodds (Jason Watkins). The Chief Superintendent (James Murray) wants to force Dodds to retire since Dodds still works in a very deliberate and outdated mode. Dodds doesn’t use a computer for research since he much prefers going to the library to gather his facts. He also is a paper and pen note taker, etc. All of this irritates McDonald – but the Chief Superintendent is so determined to put an end to Dodds’ career that he refuses to let McDonald off the “make-him-retire” hook. Needless to say, Dodds is quite quirky…

McDonald is quite different than Dodds. She’s a very modern detective and is quite good at heading her small group of investigators. She is very ambitious and expects a lot from her officers.

All of the actors do great jobs portraying their unique characters. The writing is smart, the plots are interesting, and the setting is absolutely beautiful. I very much recommend McDonald & Dodd. It is currently aired on BritBox.

Spoiler alert: The show doesn’t force the two main characters to remain locked into their quirky vs. exasperated personalities. The two main characters actually evolve.

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