Holiday season stressing you out? We have the solution. Read a book...a cozy mystery, to be exact. No intense suspense here. If you are a little squeamish, that's okay. No explicit sex or violence will show up in these books. Think Murder, She Wrote. Wherever she went, amateur sleuth, Jessica Fletcher, attracted both quirky characters and murders. Murder, She Wrote followed the simple, basic, very pared down formula of a cozy mystery. Take one amateur sleuth, a crime that may involve a friend/acquaintance/the main character, and add a small community of friends, family, and potential suspects and a hobby or career-related theme. Themes include baking, knitting, cats, libraries, bookstores, gardening, crossword puzzles, the list goes on. There is a series for any interest or profession you can think of, so there's bound to be one you connect with.
Below are some titles to get you started. Click on the titles or book covers to bring you to our catalog. You can check out on OverDrive or Libby, place on hold, or find out where the book is being held, so you can pick it up at the branch nearest you.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
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Hannah Swensen owns a successful bakery in Minnesota. One day, the delivery driver for the competition is found murdered behind her bakery and she is compelled to investigate in order to clear her good name. This series has been adapted into the popular Murder, She Baked movies on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
Real Murders
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Charlaine Harris might be most famous for her Sookie Stackhouse novels, which were adapted into Showtime series, True Blood, but she also has a very successful series of cozy mysteries involving a plucky librarian, Aurora Teagarden. Aurora, or Roe as she is called by friends and family, runs a club for true crime buffs called "Real Murders Club" on her off time. One night, she finds the body of one of her fellow club members and finds herself at the center of a murder investigation. This series was also made into popular Hallmark Movies & Mysteries movies.
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
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Precious Ramotswe opened a detective agency in Botswana out of a desire to help people with problems in their lives. In the first book, Precious sets up her agency and is immediately hired to track down a missing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. But she is put into danger when she takes on a case of a child who may have been kidnapped by witch doctors. This series has been adapted into a television series on HBO.
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
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Growing bored, Agatha Raisin decides to enter a baking contest to win over the residents of the small town she moved to following an early retirement. Unfortunately, she did not bake the quiche she entered. Even more unfortunate, the quiche contained poison and killed the judge! This novel spawned over 30 books and a television series.
Death by Dumpling
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Lana Lee is back waiting tables at her family's restaurant when the property owner, Mr. Feng, dies after receiving a delivery of shrimp dumplings from their restaurant. Since Mr. Feng was highly allergic to shellfish, this was very suspicious. Feeling the heat, with her family's restaurant under suspicion and the press and law enforcement on their backs, Lana decides to investigate.
The Whole Cat and Caboodle
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Sarah Grayson is the owner of Second Chance, a charming store that sells refurbished items, and an adopted stray cat named Elvis. In the first book in the Second Chance Cat series, a dead body turns up in an elderly friend's garden and she becomes the prime suspect. Sarah and Elvis are on the case to clear her name.