December 2023 - Cozy Mysteries

As the holiday season approaches, it is time to sit back, relax, and pick up a cozy murder mystery.

You can choose to read a Christmas (or other holiday cozy) like the ones listed below
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/107674.Holiday_themed_Cozy_Mysteries
https://www.thecreativemuggle.com/christmas-murder-mystery-books/
https://www.audible.com/blog/article-best-holiday-cozy-mysteries

You can read any of the best cozy mysteries
https://bookriot.com/best-cozy-mystery-series/
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3810.Best_Cozy_Mystery_Series
https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/between-the-chapters/new-mysteries-to-cozy-up-wi...

Or you can just read a favorite mystery author that gives you a cozy warm feeling when you read them.
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So many possibilities. I think I'll have to leave it to see how it fits with other challenges

I have a few of these on the go - will probably go with a Christmas one.

I am also going with a Christmas theme for my mystery reading in December. Crime at Christmas by C.H. Kitchin is a vintage mystery featuring an amateur detective and a country home while Silent Nights edited by Martin Edwards is a collection of 12 short stories from the golden age of mysteries. I am looking forward to both!

Going to have a look in the shelves...

I'm considering either The Case of the Missing Servant or Under Lock & Skeleton Key.

I am thinking of Peg and Rose Solve a Murder although it is not a Christmas cozy. But it features lots of dogs!

I'm planning on The Last Mrs Summers.

I will definitely have a lot that will fit here, so I might also see what fits other challenges.

I have The Company of Cats on my shelves, unread. I think it should fit!

I plan to read Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan.

I love Christmas mysteries and I'm sure that I'll pick up many BBs from this thread!

>11 MissBrangwen: I love Christmas mysteries too. I am sure I will also pick up some ideas for my TBR list.

I think I'll read Maple Mayhem, second in the Sugar Grove mystery series.

I really liked the "Cat in the Stacks" series so I may pick one up for this last month of the year.

>14 threadnsong: It won't be a ROOT but I do have the next one on my virtual TBR shelf.

I was going to read another food related cozy, but found Dark Chocolate Demise already on my TBR pile, and it's set in Scottsdale, not far from me.

I read a cozy set in England, Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death.

I read Peg and Rose Solve a Mystery which was free on Kindle Unlimited.

I read Reindeer Runes, the second book in the Winter Witches of Holiday Haven series. Fun Christmas atmosphere, very enjoyable.

I'll be listening to Hercule Poirot's Christmas

I found Dark Chocolate Demise to be a bit sillier than I like, though the recipes included look very good.

Out of Circulation / Miranda James.
3.5 stars

This is the 4th in the series. Vera is on the library board and everyone in town seems to hate her. She is found dead at the bottom of the stairs during a fundraising event by Charlie’s housekeeper, Azalea. Although Azalea hated Vera (for some reason she will not disclose to Charlie), it appears there was no way she could have pushed Vera down the stairs. But someone could have.

As with many cozy mysteries, it took some time to set things up, including introducing the characters and conflicts with Vera. I do like many of the characters and I love Diesel the Maine Coon cat. This is a good story.

>22 LibraryCin: That is the next one in the series for me. I am doing a series category next year to help me get caught up on this one and several other cat cozy mysteries I have started.

>23 lowelibrary: Nice! Enjoy!

I have completed both Crime at Christmas and Silent Nights for December's theme.

I read We Wish You a Murderous Christmas by Vicki Delany, book 2 in the Year Round Christmas Mystery series.

I read Crime & Poetry by Amanda Flower, the first in the Magical Bookshop Mysteries, which has both cryptically magical books and a curiously clever cat (and crow). Cute and fun.

I just read Death Comes to Kurland Hall, which is part of a series I'd describe as "historical cozy." There are murders, but not gruesome ones, and the sleuths are a local landowner and the vicar's daughter, who also have a romance brewing. :)

I read Not A Creature Was Purring by Krista Davis for this challenge. A cozy dog mystery that takes place at Christmas.

>27 antqueen: I really wish Amanda Flower's books were on Kindle Unlimited as my library doesn't have any of them and they are very expensive here. I really want to read her Emily Dickinson mystery series, as well as this one.

I read Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan, a golden age mystery that I would describe as cozy due to the Christmas atmosphere and the classic setting in a country house. I enjoyed this book a lot!

I was in a bookstore looking for a bookclub book, and what did I find but Irish Knit Murders! It was not great (I cannot imagine having a friend who drops by 2 and 3 times a day, every day, to take me along on a sleuthing adventure), but the knitting that was there was interesting and the knitting circle was composed of folks who seem like real knitters.

Read another cozy Christmas mystery, Twelve Slays of Christmas by Jacqueline Frost. This is book 1 in the Christmas Tree Farm mystery series.

Naughty in Nice / Rhys Bowen
3.5 stars

In this 5th book in the series, Georgiana’s brother and his wife are heading to the Riviera and want to shut down the castle that Georgie is currently living in (with them). But they can’t afford to bring her along; the queen (remember, Georgie is thirty-something in line to the throne!) helps Georgie out by paying for her way in exchange for Georgie looking for and retrieving an item that the queen is certain was stolen from her… and is now in the Riviera. Things escalate once Georgie is there.

I liked this. It was kind of fun how the author brought Coco Chanel into the story. (Author’s note at the end suggests that Coco would have spent time in the Riviera during this time frame.)