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With Christmas right around the corner, I can’t think of anything better than curling up with a cup of hot chocolate and a good mystery to match the cozy vibes. Fairy lights, crackling fires, and the suspense of a well-crafted plot are the perfect companions for chilly nights. Whether you’re a fan of small-town whodunits or a mystery with a holiday twist, this list has something for everyone. This collection features 7 charming cozy mysteries for you to enjoy during the Christmas season and I couldn’t resist including a plus-one book for those looking for a more high-stakes less-cozy story. So without further ado… Grab your favorite blanket, settle in, and let these mysteries add a touch of suspense to your holiday cheer!
The list of our Cozy Mysteries for this Christmas:
1. The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
Fans of the Knives Out movies will LOVE this book! The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year is the perfect read for anyone looking for a cozy mystery with just the right amount of romance. Two rival writers, Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt, just found themselves in one of their crazy plots when they both receive invitations to a mystery dinner hosted by the Duchess of Death herself, Eleanor Ashley. When Eleanor disappears the next morning, it’s up to our rival heroes to try to figure out the whys and hows of this mysterious affair. Also, sidenote, but I just ADORE the cover of this book, it’s so good!
“It wasn’t until the elevator doors were sliding open that Maggie realized she was about to come face-to-face with her three least favorite things in the world:
Christmas. A party. And Ethan Freaking Wyatt.
For a moment, she just stood there (…) as she stared through the open doors at the smug look on his face (…). The fact that it was just a cardboard cutout and not the man himself should have softened the blow for Maggie, but it was all she could do not to punch him in his cardboard teeth.”
Read it now: Goodreads | Amazon
2. Christmas Corpse by Mona Marple
I don’t think it gets more cozier and Christmassy than the Christmas Corpse by Mona Marple. This little bit cheesy, but still charming story follows Holly Wood’s adventure into Candy Cane Hollow, where she finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. The prime suspect? Well… it’s Mrs Claus, the woman who kindly took her in after her car accident. As she can’t believe that Mrs Claus could hurt anyone, she swears to find the actual perpetrator and bring them to justice! Oh, and I almost forgot to mention Mrs Claus’ handsome son, Nick.
“…”What’s your name, dear?”
“Holly,” I said. “Holly Wood.”
“Well, that’s a good sign. If you’re well enough to joke…”
“I’m not joking. That’s really my name,” I insisted. She wasn’t the first person to think it was a joke.
“Okay then, Holly, I’m Mrs Claus, and that’s not a joke either…”
Read it now: Goodreads | Amazon
3. Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson
When I saw that this book is advertised as a cross between The Thursday Murder Club and Knives Out, I knew I had to include it in this lineup, because does it ever get better than that?! This is the third installation of the Ernest Cunningham series but can be read as a stand-alone. And if I haven’t got your attention with the first sentence, then I must also say that this book is set up as an advent calendar, with 24 chapters and 24 clues, so you can solve the murder just before Christmas Eve! Well, if you can resist skipping forward, of course. Ernest is investigating his ex-wife’s boyfriend’s murder, to clear her name and prove her innocence and he’s up against 7 professional trickster suspects, so he has his work cut out for him! Can you solve the mystery before the real perpetrator is revealed?
“In keeping with an accidental theme—my first case involved a full stop, my second a comma—this may well be the first mystery ever solved by Comic Sans.”
Read it now: Goodreads | Amazon
4. The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose
The Mistletoe Mystery is a novella following the first two installments of the series (The Maid and The Mystery Guest). For this story, you should definitely check out the first two, to get a well-rounded picture of the whole story. But if you’ve already liked the Maid series, you definitely will love this one! Molly Gray has loved the holidays ever since she was a child, but after losing her grandmother, who made all Christmases so special, they were just never the same… But this year seems to be the one that could break the cycle. Molly’s boyfriend is going out of his way to try to make this Christmas one to remember. But Molly starts to think some of his behavior is very suspicious! Read this novella before the next book is out in 2025!
“My gran used to say that a successful marriage requires falling in love many times. But the trick is that it’s always with the same person.”
Read it now: Goodreads | Amazon
5. Ryan’s Christmas by L.J. Ross
Ryan, Phillips, and their partners found themselves in the middle of a murder investigation when they have to take shelter in an old caste during a snowstorm. The castle is said to be hunted by ghosts and they are invited to the “Candlelit Ghost Hunt” (— you see why I had to include this one, right?). When they find one of the guests murdered, they have to figure out who could’ve committed the crime, and as all evidence points to the direction that no living could be the perpetrator, we are in for a good old-fashioned Agatha-Christie-like mystery!
“Suddenly, she remembered where she’d felt something similar before. Keir Edwards. The Hacker.”
Read it now: Goodreads | Amazon
6. Gone Before Christmas by Charles Finch
This short Christmas story takes place in 1877. We follow Charles Lenox as he’s trying to solve the impossible mystery of the disappearance of Lietunenant Austen. See, he entered a cloak-room at Charing Cross train station and he never came out. Can our detective solve the case before Christmas? This short story is a great introduction to Charles Finch’s Charles Lenox Mysteries and includes a sneak peek into The Woman in the Water, a prequel to the series. As it’s only 80 pages, I think you should give this one a try!
“Why, at the coldest time of year, did they return to the warm parts of each other, the parts they could forget in the haste and noise so much of the time, when they were lesser friends, lesser brothers, lesser partners to each other? What spirit made this room so happy? It was a mystery; a mystery beyond even the ken of a very great detective.”
Read it now: Goodreads | Amazon
7. A Tail of Woe by Eryn Scott
Foster kittens, a bookshop, a small town, and it’s all set in the Christmas season! Oh, I don’t think it gets better than this, to be honest… Such a perfect setting. Louisa Henry is ready to spend Christmas with her family. They arrive on December 1st to have a month-long celebration. It is perfect, up until the point when the town’s Scrooge is found murdered. Our Lou does not want to get involved in this investigation, but with everything going on and another body found, it’s simply impossible to not give it her all, to get to the end of this and find the killer. True to its genre, A Tail of Woe is the ultimate cozy mystery. Get ready to sip on your hot cocoa, and it is greatly encouraged to cuddle up with your cats while reading!
“Not only was there a murderer in Button, but it didn’t seem like they were done killing. And if what Ferris saw had gotten him killed, the biggest question in Lou’s mind was, who might be next?”
Read it now: Goodreads | Amazon
+1. The Girls in the Snow by Stacy Green
I chose to include The Girls in the Snow as our +1 because I just found it so intriguing reading the plot. I felt like after all this coziness we might need to balance it out with a little more suspense. In this novel, you’ll follow Special Agent Nikki Hunt as she’s trying to solve the murder of two young girls in her hometown. But it’s more than just an investigation for Nikki… Her own parents were killed in this town years ago, and as she learns more about the current case, she has to wonder… are these cases connected? Does her parents’ death have anything to do with these two young girls tragic faith? I just love the genre of a tough FBI agent returning to her hometown to help solve a case, that is somehow connected to her own tragic past, don’t you?
“But I know this about grief: it does what it wants, when it wants.”
Read it now: Goodreads | Amazon
As always, thank you for reading our recommendations! I hope you have found some cozy mysteries to add to your TBR before Christmas!
