Cozy Crime Fiction

It’s summer on Whisper Island. Ex-cop-turned-private-investigator Maggie Doyle is looking forward to sun, fun, and romance. Instead, she gets bills, an assault allegation, and a busted wrist. To add insult to injury, there’s a movie being filmed on the island, and Maggie’s diva sister has been cast in it—her debut role. While other residents clamor for parts as extras, Maggie wants nothing to do with the shoot. But when hotshot director Con Ryder asks Maggie to investigate a series of suspicious accidents on the movie set, she can’t afford to refuse.

When the boss of the big local DIY outlet is murdered on a moonlit night, all the evidence points to the store's junior manager. And when police retrieve the murder weapon from the Thames, the manager goes on the run. But Jack and Sarah are not at all sure of his guilt. Can they uncover the real killer before it's too late for the runaway suspect? Cherringham is a serial novel à la Charles Dickens, with a new audio episode released every two weeks. Set in the sleepy English village of Cherringham, the detective series brings together an unlikely sleuthing duo.

When the body of Rufus Moorcroft, a middle-aged widower with a distinguished war record, is found in his summerhouse, the verdict is suicide. But both reporter Jill Francis and her lover, Detective Richard Thornhill, approaching the case from different angles, discover there's more to it than that. The sixth instalment in the acclaimed Lydmouth series.

When a Dutch art dealer hides the stock from his gallery - rather than turn it over to his Nazi blackmailer - he pays with his life, leaving a treasure trove of modern masterpieces buried somewhere in Amsterdam, presumably lost forever. That is, until American art history student Zelda Richardson sticks her nose in.

Mimi Capurro, owner of Gotcha Detective Agency, hasn't seen her old college flame since they teamed up to find a killer several months earlier. Now, after breaking and entering into an alleged predator's home, Mimi and Charles find a murder victim on the floor in his bedroom. When homicide detective Nick Christianson and his new partner, Piper Mason, arrive on the scene, this is not the way Mimi expected to see Nick again.

Fresh from solving a spate of murder mysteries, Diana Bakewell and Zaf Williams are separated when Zaf goes on a course to gain his qualification as a tour guide. The course is at London's iconic St Paul's Cathedral, which Zaf is expected to get to know so he can be tested on his tour guide abilities. Meanwhile, Diana is forced from her wonderful London home by her unscrupulous landlord. But all this has to be put aside when a resident at a local hostel is found dead, apparently poisoned.

No stranger to fear since meeting the unhuman Inspector Hobbes, Andy Caplet fears getting fired from his reporting job (again). His main concern, though, is a shady property developer who has designs on Sorenchester Common, and more annoyingly on his wife. Perhaps a trip to the mountains will help him relax, but this proves even more perilous with foul weather, inedible food, brigands, and a terrifying cruise. Fortunately, mountain leopards, Yetis and Flossy, the yak, take a shine to Andy.

Fall has come to Fort Connor, Colorado, and the cool air has inspired the knitters at the House of Lambspun to start on their hats and mittens. It's also brought an influx of students to the university town—and into the shop for knitting classes. Kelly Flynn is happy to teach them the tricks of the trade—until one of them is found dead on the river trail near Kelly's house. Compelled to investigate, Kelly finds herself following a path that twists more easily than the yarn with which she knits. Knowing the killer could be close, Kelly must work fast.

When Mimi accepts $500 from a sketchy client and takes on the case to follow an alleged cheating husband, she almost immediately regrets it. Charles warned her. Why didn't she listen to him? While spying on the husband, the client's house explodes, and so does Mimi's sense of reality. Who is dead, who is hiding, and who may come back to life?

It was planned as an act of charity: a new piano for the parish hall, an amusing play to finance the gift. But its execution was doomed when Miss Campanula sat down to play. A chord was struck, a shot rang out and Miss Campanula was dead. A case of sinister infatuation for the brilliant Chief Detective-Inspector Alleyn.

Two years ago, Miff Ferguson chose to opt out of the rat race. Since then he's been living rough and happily so. That is until now. For, as the first signs of winter approach, everything changes. While looking for shelter, Miff stumbles across the dead body of a young woman inside a dilapidated warehouse. Quickly realising he's not alone, and what's worse he's been spotted, Miff becomes embroiled in a game of cat and mouse with a killer that forces him to abandon his life on the streets and take refuge with his aunt and uncle in the village of Weston St Ambrose.

On the set of The Suffolk Seagull nobody really knows what is going on - least of all Felix Smythe, whose bit part is constantly changing, much to Felix’s chagrin. But the unambiguous death by gunshot of a female cast member brings a drama to proceedings lacking in the film itself, and Lady Fawcett, Rosy, Felix and even Cedric Dillworthy are once again at the centre of a murder mystery in which further victims may face the cut.

Kitt Hartley wakes to the news that a murder has been committed in Irendale, a village high on the wild Yorkshire moors where her boyfriend, DI Malcolm Halloran lived with his ex-wife until she, too, was murdered. The MO of the two crimes is identical, right down to the runic symbols carved into the victims' hands. Unable to leave it to the local police to solve, Kitt and Halloran travel to Irendale, where a literary mystery awaits. A line of Anglo-Saxon poetry found on the victim leads to a hiding place, and another cryptic clue.

When Tilly Edgely lands a position working at Ashton’s bookshop in Cambridge, she thinks she’s found her perfect job. But one winter’s morning, when she arrives to open up, she discovers the body of her boss suspended from the ceiling, hanging by a rope around his neck. DCI Barrett and DI Palmer are called to the scene and quickly find themselves searching for a twisted killer whose identity and motive are nearly impossible to trace. But just when they think they have the murderer in their sights, another body shows up throwing the case wide open....

Jenny Starling has a job on a luxury paddle steamer working for a wealthy businessman. All she has to do is cook for his small number of guests. But things quickly turn sour. Then she discovers the body of one of the passengers in the store cupboard. Who wanted him dead and why? Jenny will have to ignore many red herrings and follow the clues to get to the bottom of a complex and intriguing murder mystery. This is the third of a series of enjoyable murder mysteries with a great cast of characters and baffling crimes which will keep you in suspense to the final second.

Jenny Starling is spending Christmas in a snowed-in country house cooking all the traditional food she loves. But the family she’s working for are not full of the seasonal spirit. In fact, they seem to hate each other. On Christmas Eve, someone is found dead on the kitchen table. And the head of the family is blaming Jenny! But with an incompetent detective called in, and seemingly no motive for the murder, Jenny will have to give the police a hand. She will stop at nothing to clear her name and find the real murderer.

Molly's been handed the reins for this year's creative retreat - an exhilarating weekend out on the Monterey Peninsula, complete with crochet classes. Unfortunately for one teacher, though, the breathtaking scenery is where she'll take her last breath. Now Molly will have to find a new instructor, and, if she can squeeze it in, solve this murder - with the help of her pals from the Tarzana Hookers.

All is not well on the mean streets of Barnes. A double homicide in trendy deli Bohemia is followed by a spate of mysterious thefts across Castelnau's parade of shops. And there are rumors. Whispers of supernatural beings stirring, of dark forces from the dawn of time. Only one PI can solve this baffling mystery. Only one hero can crack the case. The terror of sparrows. The prodigal snoozer. The esteemed and revered Detective Buscemi Daintypaws Twinklefur. The crime-solving cat.

Late March is prime reading weather in the small northern Michigan town of Chilson. Though snowfall and cloudy skies deter outdoor activities, life inside the bookmobile is warm and cheerful. But as Minnie and Eddie are making the rounds to deliver comforting reads, they see something strange: loyal bookmobile patron Ryan Anderson making a sudden U-turn and speeding away. When Minnie discovers the police want to question Ryan about a bank robbery and the death of a security guard, she realizes she's one of the only people who thinks Ryan isn't morally bankrupt.

When a woman is found strangled in the London borough of Soho, the police think it's a suicide, but Violet Despuis knows better, and Cassie knows that if Violet thinks it's murder, it's murder. The two women find themselves needing to prove not only who committed the crime but also that a crime was committed at all. As Cassie joins Violet in investigating the crime, they quickly find themselves embroiled in a controversy that lands them on the front page. And just in case that wasn't complicated enough, Jake is being secretive, and Cassie is pretty sure someone is following them.