by Louise Ferrell
While I firmly believe that cozies are perfect year-round, I’m a pretty seasonal reader, and I do find that I pick up more and more mysteries as the nights turn darker and the days colder. Maybe it’s that cozy factor — balancing out months that are jammed with the stresses of big social gatherings and elbowing your way through the shops in search of last-minute gifts — with a kind-hearted protagonist setting an injustice to rights. There’s something about pouring a warm drink, settling under a blanket, and letting a really great cozy wash over me.
And, while of course, a summer or non-descript seasonal cozy is just as much fun, there’s something top tier when that really great cozy is also set during the winter holiday chaos. I love to see a character making gingerbread cookies, or trudging around a Christmas Tree farm, or going to some idyllic town event — all the things that scream this time of year, but I never actually get around to doing myself.
Let me join in through them!
Sometimes long-running series will drop a seasonal instalment here and there, following our characters throughout the year, while other series focus purely on the holidays, returning a year later for an update on their lives (another dead body). Here are some of my favourites, of both types, which I highly recommended checking out.
First, a couple of series set fully during the holidays, so you can binge them back-to-back.
The Christmas Tree Farm Mystery series by Jacqueline Frost
This series returns us to Holly White and her family’s reindeer farm near the picturesque Christmas-obsessed town of Mistletoe. The farm hosts the “Reindeer Games” each year which makes for all sorts of hijinks and yummy-sounding snacks, while Holly works on beautiful, bespoke jewellery and uncovers killers. The sixth book, A Wonderful Christmas Crime, just came out, and there are some big developments in store for Holly’s family life, so it’d be a great time to dive in.
The Killer Chocolate series by Christina Romeril
This series starts with A Christmas Candy Killing and follows identical twin sisters. Alex and Hannah, who run a mystery bookshop which sells poison-themed chocolates. Honestly, they’re living my dream! The setting – “Murder and Mayhem” – is the star of this series for me, although I also really love seeing their flavour names/combinations, like “strychnine strawberry”.
Next, a few series with excellent holiday installments in case you’d rather sprinkle them throughout the year.
A Lively Midwinter Murder (Three Dahlias Mysteries #4) by Katy Watson
The Three Dahlias is a British series, based around three actresses who have all, at various points, played the same character: a 1930s female detective, Dahlia Lively (think Phryne Fisher or a young Miss Marple). Naturally, they stumble onto some mysteries all their own. In A Lively Midwinter Murder, we see the Dahlias attend a winter wedding at a remote Scottish castle. This one feels very Christie with those locked room/ trapped in a snowstorm vibes.
Deck the Donuts (Deputy Donut Mystery #6) by Ginger Bolton
The Deputy Donut series gives you all the amateur sleuth/ food-themed cozy vibes, but with a little more action from the emergency services. Emily, our heroine, used to be a 911 dispatcher, so her social circle features cops, paramedics and firefighters to clue her in on all the local happenings she stumbles into. The donut shop itself is fantastic (and delicious sounding!) and features Dep the cat, one of my all-time favourite cozy companions.
Gingerbread Danger (An Amish Candy Shop Mystery #9) by Amanda Flower
Yes, it’s the ninth in the series, so this one is a bit of a commitment, but the whole Amish Candy Shop is fantastic, so I’m sure you’re going to enjoy the journey too! By the time you get to this one, you’ll be fully invested in Bailey, the sweet shop she co-runs with her grandmother, and all the eccentric and quirky residents of Harvest, Ohio. Here, there’s an accident at Bailey’s brand-new candy factory, wedding planning, a parental visit, pigsitting, and organising life-size Christmas Candyland and Nativity events (phew!) to sink your teeth into.
ABOUT LOUISE FERRELL
Louise has been a Cozy Mystery Book Club lurker right from the beginning. On her blog, Foxes and Fairy Tales, you can find Top Ten recommendations lists and book reviews, focusing mostly on all types of Fantasy and Cozy Mystery, but also dipping into Romance, Horror, and diverse stories.
She makes sporadic appearances on BlueSky and Instagram and, this year, has found a brand-new love for creating BookTube videos: mixing vlogs, reading challenge check-ins and my own TBR game.
YOUTUBE CHANNEL | BLOG | BLUESKY | INSTAGRAM
