Must-Read Christmas Cozy Mysteries
Christmas Cozy Mystery Books New in 2025
Christmas cozy mysteries are a delightful subgenre of crime fiction. They sparkle with the magic of the season while delivering a satisfying dose of sleuthing. Christmas cozies almost always include some type of community event, celebration, or gathering along with a murder or two. And like every other cozy mystery, they often have a cute pet on hand for comic relief.
The plots can vary, but usually have a seasonal spin. A missing ornament might hold the key to a motive, a poisoned fruitcake might send the town into a tizzy, or a snowstorm might conveniently trap everyone in one place. There is also just enough heart, humor, and holiday magic to make the murder feel festively charming.
Now that you know what to expect from Christmas cozy mysteries, pour yourself a mug of cocoa, sit by the tree, and settle into one of these 15 must-read Christmas cozy mystery books released in 2025.
Cozy Mysteries With a Pinch of Christmas Magic
A Cattitude Christmas is part of the Crescent Moon Mystery Series by Tara Lush. In this Christmas cozy mystery, a witchy midlife innkeeper tries to make her first Florida Christmas as festive as possible while juggling magical mischief and mystery.
A Zappy Little Christmas is part of the Hometown Hardware Mystery Series by Paula Charles. In this small town Christmas cozy mystery, a hardware store owner's Christmas Light Trolley Tour goes from merry and bright to scary and fright when she sees a dead body and a ghost
Linzer Cookie Murder is a part of the Christmas Catastrophe Mysteries by Trixie Silvertale. This paranormal Christmas cozy mystery, Santa Claus' daughter, Cindy, must take off her baking gloves and pick up the reins to deliver presents, rescue Christmas, and save her father.
Historical Holiday Mysteries
Murder at the Scottish Ball is part of the Opal Laplume Mystery Series by Millicent Binks. In this historical holiday cozy mystery, a legendary Christmas-themed ball at a Scottish castle goes from festive to frosty when a shocking accident occurs.
Danger at Darkmoor Park is part of the Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke & Fire Mystery Series by Syrie James. In this Victorian mystery, a woman tries to solve a mystery while snowbound at a country manor with the man who stole her heart
The Scrooge Conspiracy is part of the Homefront Sleuths Mysteries by Anna Elliott and Charles Veley. In this book, a Christmas Carol production for evacuee children at a country manor turns into a mystery involving wartime espionage.
Small Town Christmas Cozy Mysteries
A Stroke of Murder is part of the Shepherd Sisters Mystery Series by Tracy Gardner. In this heartwarming family Christmas mystery, an art authenticator must solve a deadly art heist in her lakeside town before her New Year’s Eve wedding to the single dad who stole her heart.
Gingerbread, Garlands, & Gunshots is part of the Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery Series by Tonya Kappes. In this festive mystery, a campground owner and her friends swap cocoa for clues when mystery and mayhem come to the town’s Gingerbread Gala.
Yule Regret It is part of the Northwoods Mystery Series by Annie McEwen. In this holiday whodunit, a family resort needs a Christmas miracle when ho-ho-homicide comes to their cozy lakeside retreat in the Northwoods during the annual Christmas celebration.
Bookish Christmas Cozy Mysteries
Crescent City Christmas Chaos is part of the Vintage Cookbook Mystery Series by Ellen Byron. In this humorous holiday cozy mystery, a vintage cookbook collector & the staff of the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum must track a killer in the Crescent City during the Christmas season.
Epilogue to a Christmas Murder is the final book in the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery Series by Lauren Elliott. In this mystery, a bookshop owners tries to discover who stole a first edition of The Gift of the Magi and how a body ended up on the rocks at the bottom of the lighthouse in her seaside town.
Deck the Halls With Homicide is part of the Killer Chocolate Mystery Series by Christina Romeril. In this Christmas cozy mystery, the twin sister owners of the Murder and Mayhem Book and Chocolate Shop turn to sleuthing when a community Christmas decorating competition turns deadly.
Christmas Town Cozy Mysteries
A Wonderful Christmas Crime is part of the Christmas Tree Farm Mystery Series by Jaqueline Frost. In this festive holiday mystery, an innkeeper with a baby on the way tries to solve a mystery in Mistletoe, Maine after the attempted theft of an antique ornament ends in the death of the thief.
Mince Pies to Die For is part of the Christmas Cozy Mystery Series by Mona Marple (Katie Forrest). In this book, Holly Claus (Mrs. Claus) races against time to catch a killer who's cooking up murder with a beloved house elf's legendary mince pies during a magical blizzard in Candy Cane Hollow.
O, Deadly Night is part of the Year-Round Christmas Mystery Series by Vicki Delany. In this Christmas cozy mystery book, the owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, decorates a Christmas parade float, sells baubles in her shop, and solves a festive whodunit in Rudolph, New York, the year-round Christmas town.
