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5 Winter Mysteries That are Cozier Than a Cup of Tea

Ann Foster

Staff Writer

Ann can often be found walking very slowly through the aisles of bookstores, making sure that nothing new has come out she doesn’t know about yet, and then eagerly telling people about them. She writes about women from history at annfosterwriter.com, and about books, film, TV, and feminism at various other sites. She prefers her books to include at least three excellent plot twists, which is why she usually reads the end first. Twitter: @annfosterwriter

Happily this Christmas by Susan Mallery.

Happily This Christmas is the heartfelt story of two neighbors in Happily Inc who become close friends, supporting one another through the ups and downs of single parenthood at Christmas.

One of the many great things about the cozy mystery genre is that they are suited for any type of weather. If it’s getting cold where you are, it makes sense to mark the change of seasons with a pivot from autumnal cozies to wintry ones. These cozy winter mysteries all take place in or around the winter holidays. While many of these are part of series, another great thing about cozy mysteries is you don’t have to read them in order. Combine a clever premise with cozy sweaters and a not-too-gruesome crime, and you’ve got the perfect books to hibernate with.

5 Cozy Winter Mysteries

death in d minor

Death in D Minor by Alexia Gordon

This second book in a series finds American musician Gethsemane Brown working as a teacher in a small Irish village. With winter holidays coming up, she’s looking forward to a restful break from her recent amateur sleuthing. But then her ghostly companion takes off and her visiting brother-in-law is accused of stealing a valuable antique. In true Gethsemane style, she proceeds to accidentally summon summons the ghost of an 18th century sea captain…and wind up the suspect in a murder. Can she save herself and bring a thief and murderer to justice, just in time for the winter holidays?

gutsy lovers and cadavers

Gutsy Lovers And Cadavers by Anne R. Tan

This entry in the Raina Sun series finds the graduate student mentoring a foreign-exchange student just before Christmas. During a jaunt holiday shopping, Raina finds herself involved with a mysteriously abandoned baby. When the baby’s mother dies, Raina is the only one who thinks it might have been murder. She is determined to solve both the mystery of the baby’s identity and the woman’s death before the FBI takes over the case. The more she investigates, the more Raina discovers that everyone around her has a hidden secret or two. But luckily, she’s got her grandma and a dangerously sexy ex to help her along the way, to identify the baby and solve a murder…just in time for Christmas.

wed read and dead

Wed, Read, And Dead by V.M. Burns

Samantha Washington owns a mystery bookstore, and keeps finding real-life mysteries to solve. In this adventure, she has just three weeks to help her mother plan her wedding. Enter the town’s controversial wedding planner…until she turns up mysteriously murdered, with Sam’s stepfather-to-be as the prime suspect. With her beloved and boisterous Nana Jo to help out, Sam sets out to solve the mystery, finish writing her own novel, keep her bookstore running, and ensure her new stepfather doesn’t spend his honeymoon behind bars!

mrs claus and the santaland slayings

Mrs. Claus And The Santaland Slayings by Liz Ireland

April Claus, newly married to the real-life Santa, has a lot of adjusting to do in her new home, the North Pole. When a cantankerous elf is found dead from a spider bite, the authorities claim it was an accident. But then again, there isn’t much crime in Christmastown. April can’t stop herself from starting her own investigation. This leads to the expected complications, such as: will she ruin Christmas? And: if there is a killer on the loose, is April next on their lethally naughty list?

murder of twelve

The Murder Of Twelve by Jessica Fletcher and Jon Land

The beloved TV series Murder She Wrote may have ended years ago, but the resourceful Jessica Fletcher is still nosily solving cozy mysteries in this book series. This recent wintry installment finds Jessica stranded with 12 strangers in a hotel during a blizzard. In a story with nods to Agatha Christie, the guests find themselves targeted by a mysterious killer determined to take them down one by one. With Jessica on the case, rest assured the murders won’t be too distressing and the culprit will certainly be caught (and given one of her trademark disapproving looks).