Reading Recommendations: Cozy Up With a Mystery
A new month means another batch of reading recommendations! This month’s theme is Cozy Mysteries! I used to read cozies a long time ago and now I’ve been reading them more than ever. Here are just some of the series/books I want to recommend to you. To see more recommendations, check out my previous list here.
The Kamogawa Food Detectives
Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner serves up deliciously extravagant meals. But that’s not the main reason customers stop by . . .
The father-daughter duo are ‘food detectives’. Through ingenious investigations, they are able to recreate dishes from a person’s treasured memories – dishes that may well hold the keys to their forgotten past and future happiness. The restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to vanished moments, creating a present full of possibility.
An amateur sleuth, an unsuspecting victim, a quirky supporting cast, and trail of clues are the main ingredients of a cozy mystery. Except for in the The Kamogawa Food Detectives the cozy mystery revolves around a mysterious restaurant, delicious recipes, and piecing together clues from the customers past. It has a cozy setting and overall light-hearted feel as each chapter delves into a special food item the Kamogawa’s are asked to replicate per their request.
Spector Inspectors
True believer Noa, her cynical little sibling Gus, credulous cameraman Ko, and skeptical Astrid head to one of the most haunted towns in America to prove that ghosts exist, for all the social media likes!
The investigations of hauntings uncover something more devilish than just a couple of ghosts, something that will put Noa and Astrid’s relationship to the test… and reveal the centuries-old sinister secrets of the town itself.
I love a good Scooby-Doo-style story of a gang of friends trying to investigate a mystery. And Spector Inspectors delivers that. In Issue One, we spend most of the time setting up the characters and their relationships as they investigate a supposed “haunted” location. But they end up more than they bargained for. It’s fact-packed, spooky, and light-hearted (it’s aimed at a younger audience
Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village
A weekend roaming narrow old lanes, touring the faded glories of a country manor, and quaffing pints in the pub. How charming. That is, unless you have the misfortune of finding yourself in an English Murder Village, where danger lurks around each picturesque cobblestone corner and every sip of tea may be your last. If you insist on your travels, do yourself a favor and bring a copy of this little book. It may just keep you alive.
Brought to life with dozens of Gorey-esque drawings by illustrator Jay Cooper and peppered with allusions to classic crime series and unmistakably British murder lore, Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village gives you the tools you need to avoid the same fate, should you find yourself in a suspiciously cozy English village (or simply dream of going). Good luck, and whatever you do, avoid the vicar.
This is a little illustrated book that is perfect for any fan of cozy mysteries! Set in a small village, like a lot of cozies are, the book advises amateur sleuths to be wary of danger in their new surroundings. It’s a quick read with tongue in cheek humor that you will recognize as common mystery novel tropes. It made me giggle out loud while reading and I love how the illustrations make this guide such a fun read!
Body and Soul Food
When Koby Hill and Keaton Rutledge were orphaned at age two, they were separated, but their unbreakable connection lingered. Year later, they reunite and decide to make up for lost time and capitalize on their shared interests by opening up a well-stocked bookstore and cozy soul-food café in the quaint Pacific Northwest town of Timber Lake. But this new chapter of their lives could end on a cliffhanger after Koby’s foster brother is found murdered.
The murder, which occurred in public between light-rail stops, seems impossible for the police to solve. But as Keaton and Koby know, two heads are always better than one, especially when it comes to mysteries. With just a week to go before the grand opening of their new café, the twins will use their revitalized connection with each other to make sure this is the killer’s final page.
Books and food! Two of my favorite things! I love the idea of a hybrid café and bookstore, because I’ve visited a few and they are so cozy in real life. I love the family dynamic of a brother and sister making up for lost time and getting reacquainted. They both use their knowledge of mystery media to put on their amateur sleuth hats to try to solve the mystery. It’s equally a cozy and entertaining read.
Haunted Homicide
Avery Morgan has had a harrowing first week on the job as manager of the Portage Path Woman’s Club. Not only is she in charge of a grand old home with a mountain of maintenance problems and scheduling nightmares–thanks to a recent fire in the Marigold meeting room–but she’s also got Muriel Sadler to deal with. Muriel is the current president of the club, the one “nay” vote when the rest of the board voted “aye” to hiring Avery.
After a morning of dealing with another one of Muriel’s snits and a meeting with the delicious and delightfully unsettling Ben Harkness, who will be handling renovations in the fire-damaged portions of the house, the last thing Avery needs is for one of the fuses to blow. Again.
She grabs her handy flashlight and heads into the basement, where she stumbles across Muriel’s body. She also stumbles across an unexpected helper, Clemmie Bow, the ghost of a young woman who was accidentally killed in the building almost a hundred years ago.
Together Clemmie and Avery are determined to solve Muriel’s murder before the killer sends Avery to join Clemmie on the other side.
A good start to a paranormal cozy mystery series! Though the plot is a bit predictable it didn’t take away anything from the story for me. There’s a small love interest and a ghost sidekick to add to mystery aspects as well. I enjoyed the immersive setting of the mansion, which is beautiful, yet mysterious. All the rooms and secrets within it naturally pique the readers interest of what will be revealed in the novel and future books.
That concludes my reading recommendations for cozy mysteries! What books do you recommend or what are your favorites? Comment below!
