Must-Read Cozy Mystery Series Starters
Books to Read If You Love Cozy Mysteries
There are so many cozy mystery series out there, it can be hard to know where to start! If you are looking for a good cozy mystery series, this list contains a great selection of books to try. All of the books are the first book in a series.
Some of the series highlighted below have only a few books so far, while others have dozens to binge. But they all have one thing in common: an amateur sleuth at the heart of the story. You’ll find bookish sleuths, cooking sleuths, crafty sleuths, senior sleuths, witchy sleuths, socialite sleuths, and everything in between.
Click on the images or the links in the book descriptions to get a free reading guide for each cozy mystery series starter. The reading guides contain spoiler-free book blurbs, reasons to read the book, reader reviews, interviews with the author, and more.
A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder is the first book in the Countess of Harleigh Mystery Series by Dianne Freeman. The amateur sleuth is American-born Frances Wynn, the recently widowed Countess of Harleigh in Victorian-era London.
A Very Woodsy Murder is the first book in the Golden Motel Mystery Series by Ellen Byron. The amateur sleuth is Dee Stern, a down-on-her-luck sitcom writer who impulsively buys an old motel in a rustic area of California.
Pretty Is As Pretty Dies is the first book in the Myrtle Clover Mystery Series by Elizabeth Spann-Craig. The amateur sleuth is Myrtle Clover a retired school teacher and spirited octogenarian in Bradley, North Carolina.
Ill-Fated Fortune is the first book in the Magical Fortune Cookie Novel Series by Jennifer J. Chow. The amateur sleuth is Felicity Jin, a third-generation Chinese-American with a magical pastry shop in Pixie, California.
Caturday Crime is the first book in the Cat Rescue Mystery Series by Amanda Flower. The amateur sleuth is Kinley Remington, a twenty-something bank worker in a small Ohio River town who ends up juggling a mystery and a cast rescue.
Ranch and Red Herrings is the first book in the Bluegrass Ridge Ranch Mystery Series by Tonya Kappes. The amateur sleuth is Georgia "Cussy" Hollingsworth, a twenty-seven-year-old city girl who inherits a Kentucky horse and cattle ranch.
Cheddar Off Dead is the first book in the Cheese Shop Mystery Series by Korina Moss. The amateur sleuth is Willa Baur, a cheese monger with a French-inspired cheese shop in Yarrow Glen, California.
Eat, Pray, Hex is the first book in the Crescent Moon Mystery Series by Tara Lush. The amateur sleuth is Amelia, a middle-aged woman who gets in touch with her inner psychic after inheriting a haunted Florida inn.
A Murder Most Fowl is the first book in the Food Truck Mystery Series by Carmela Dutra. The amateur sleuths are Beth and Seth Lloyd, twin siblings who recently inherited a chicken-themed food truck in Clementine, California.
The Body in the Bookstore is the first book in the Secret Bookcase Mystery Series by Ellie Alexander. The amateur sleuth is Annie Murray, a mystery lover who studied criminology in college but became a bookseller and event planner in Redwood Grove, Oregon.
Hammers and Homicide is the first book in the Hometown Hardware Mystery Series by Paula Charles. The amateur sleuth is Dawna Carpenter, a spirited widow with a hometown hardware store in Pine Bluff, Oregon.
Murder at the Woolen Mill is the first book in the Northwoods Knitting Mystery Series by Amelia Pine. The amateur sleuth is Julia Holmes, a knitting enthusiast who solves a mystery with a knitting circle while on vacation in Wisconsin’s Northwoods.
The Deep End is the first book in the Country Club Murders Series by Julie Mulhern. The amateur sleuth is socialite Ellison Prentice Walford Russell, an artist in the mid-1970s Kansas City country club scene.
Peppermint Cookie Murder is the first book in the Christmas Catastrophe Mysteries by Trixie Silvertale. The amateur sleuth is Cindy Claus, an aspiring baker who also happens to be Santa Claus’s daughter.
Have you read or written a cozy mystery series that you love? Recommend a cozy mystery.
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