Holiday Cozy Mysteries for the Festive Season

It’s Christmastime in Shady Palms, but things are far from jolly for Lila Macapagal. Her cousin Ronnie is back in town after ghosting the family fifteen years ago and soon is suspected of murder. Now Lila has to put away years of resentment and distrust to prove her cousin’s innocence. He may be a jerk, but he’s still family. And there’s no way her flesh and blood could actually be a murderer … right?

In Rudolph, New York, it’s Christmastime all year long. But this December, while the snow-lined streets seem merry and bright, a murder is about to ruin everyone’s holiday cheer in the first Year-Round Christmas mystery.

The holiday season looks merry and bright for Libby and her friends at Y.A.R.N. — until Libby’s ex-husband, Sterling, turns up in town … and then turns up dead. The murder unravels Libby’s life faster than a hand-knit Christmas stocking. The luxe yarn goes missing, Sterling’s domineering family comes to town, and the vicuña attempt an escape. If Libby can’t stitch up a solution to the case, she may be trading in her knitting needles for a set of handcuffs.

More than a year ago Natalie Gordon went to buy a balloon at the Thanksgiving Day Parade and dissolved into thin air. The police and a private investigator still have no leads. So when Natalie’s despairing husband pleads with ex-nun Christine Bennett to help, she can’t say no. Starting with a cardboard box of Natalie’s belongings – a few books, keys, some cosmetics – Chris searches for a life someone has tried very hard to erase and finds a cast of characters so chilling that murder seems not only inevitable but likely to happen again …

18 festive stories of murder and mystery in the grand tradition of Christmas crime fiction, from the masters of the genre. From locked room mysteries on Christmas Eve to devilish whodunits and tales of simmering rivalries unfolding at the dinner table, these seasonal tales will delight and shock at every twist and turn.

The author of City of Lies returns to nineteenth-century New York City to find Christmas in the air, a police detective and a midwife with love in their hearts, and a wealthy widow accused of murder …

It is an Edwardian Christmas, and the Pennyfoot Hotel is all dressed up. But when one of the guests turns up dead, owner Cecily Sinclair Baxter realizes it is not only the Pennyfoot that is back in business — the hotel’s Christmas curse is, too … It is up to Cecily to prevent this holiday season from turning out more fatal than festive.

In the third installment of the Caribbean Kitchen mysteries, for fans of Mia P. Manansala, Miriam Quiñones, cooking show sensation and amateur sleuth, has sand between her toes and a murderer nipping at her heels.

Innkeeper Holly White is decking the halls this Christmas season, but someone is on the naughty list when a body is discovered in the fifth installment in the Christmas Tree Farm mystery series from bestselling author Jacqueline Frost.

Phyllis Newsome would like to think she’s entering the Christmas cookie contest for the fun of it, but that’s not exactly true. She can’t imagine anyone beating her snowflake-shaped lime sugar cookies. Then, during her annual Christmas cookie exchange, Phyllis heads over to the elderly Mrs. Simmons’s house and finds her dead … in a pile of lime sugar cookies. But with the number of names on Santa’s naughty list, this case may be a hard cookie to crumble.

Ellie Christie has recently returned to her tiny Colorado hometown to run her family’s historic bookshop with her elder sister, Meg, and their beloved cat, Agatha. The Book Chalet is a famed bibliophile destination known for its maze of shelves and relaxing reading lounge. At least, until trouble blows in with a wintry whiteout. A man is found dead on the gondola, and a rockslide throws the town into lockdown. Although the only Agatha in their family tree is their cat, Ellie and Meg know a lot about mysteries and realize they must summon their inner Miss Marple to trek through a blizzard of clues before the killer turns the page to their final chapter.

Inn owner Holly Miller finds it ruff staying cheerful over the holidays when the dead body of a beloved businessman turns up in the pet-friendly town of Wagtail, Virginia. Now Holly and her dedicated detectives — her Jack Russell, Trixie, and Twinkletoes the cat — must sniff out the killer to keep Christmas from going to the dogs …

It’s Christmastime in Cabot Cove, but there’s more homicide than ho-ho-ho in the newest entry in the USA Today bestselling Murder, She Wrote series.

Curated by New York Times bestselling author Tod Goldberg, this collection of eleven delightful and twisted Hanukkah capers will entertain you through all eight nights of the Festival of Lights. This captivating collection contains old-school slapstick comedy, hardboiled noir, gritty procedurals, and poignant reminders of the meaning of Hanukkah, offering something for almost every reader willing to take the journey through these twisted tales.

Tea maven Theodosia Browning and her tea sommelier, Drayton Conneley, are catering a Victorian Christmas party at a swanky mansion in downtown Charleston. An attack on the host of the party sends Theodosia looking for answers in the latest entry in the New York Times bestselling series.

Bronwyn Crewse has just taken over her family’s ice cream shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and she’s going back to basics. But unexpected construction delays mean she misses the summer season, and the shop has a literal cold opening: The day she opens her doors an early first snow descends on the village. To make matters worse, that evening, Win finds a body in the snow. Soon, Win’s father is implicated in his death. It’s not easy to juggle a new-to-her business while solving a crime, but Win is determined to do it.

Their chocolates are to die for — but things aren’t so sweet when a real killer comes to town, in this debut mystery perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke and Laura Childs.

‘Tis the season in Briar Creek, and this year festivities become fatalities in the newest Library Lover’s Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Fatal First Edition.

Jill’s store is co-sponsoring a charity dart tournament on Thanksgiving weekend with Chip’s Bar, where toys and cash will be collected. She and her new husband, Greg, will be competing as well — that is, if Greg’s brother and his girlfriend don’t ruin the evening. But the event leads to something much worse than a family squabble when the bar owner is found dead the next morning after being used as a human dartboard … Jill is determined to find the killer, but with the night’s big haul of cash donations left untouched, what could possibly be the motive for this murder?

Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat, Diesel, are busy decking the halls for the holidays when an unexpected delivery and a shocking murder conspire to shake up the season in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series.

Throughout her illustrious career as the Queen of Crime, P. D. James was frequently commissioned by newspapers and magazines to write a special short story for Christmas. Now, for the first time, four of the best are collected in this volume. Playful and ingenious, shot through with narrative elegance and sly humor, The Mistletoe Murder is a treat for James’s legions of fans — and anyone who enjoys the pleasures of a masterfully wrought whodunit.

Contractor Shannon Hammer hopes for a peaceful Christmas with her fiancé, Mac, until murder throws a wrench in her holiday plans in a brand-new installment of the USA Today bestselling Fixer-Upper Mystery series.

The crime-solving powers of the inimitable Cora Felton and her clever niece, Sherry Carter, are put to the ultimate test as they square off against a yuletide killer who hides within the white-and-black shadows of an acrostic …

What should have been a family celebration of Chinese New Year descends into chaos when longtime foes crash the party in this hilariously entertaining novel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties.

In this new installment of the bestselling Aunt Dimity series, a dreary Christmas leads to hidden treasure and new friendships.

Georgie is back and hanging the stockings with care when a murder interrupts her Christmas cheer in this installment in the bestselling Royal Spyness series.

When a series of mysterious deaths spoil the Christmas season in Crozet, Virginia, Mary Minor “Harry” Harristeen and her beloved cats and dogs lend the police a helping paw in this exciting holiday mystery from Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown.