Are you looking for Light and Cozy Mystery Books to Read? Here are a wide variety of light and cozy reads ranging from amateur detective stories to neighborhood cozies, to fun game and puzzle mysteries.
Cozy Mystery Books for Summer 2025
Some of the links below are affiliate links and I may receive a small amount of qualifying purchases
Now that I’ve read many of these, here are my recommendations:
- If you love a comic cozy: The Vera Wong series by Jesse Q. Sutanto OR No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding
- If you are up for a very unusual narrator: All the Words We Know by Bruce Nash
- Like some romance in your cozy mystery: Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds by Allison Brennan
- If you love a good feel-good, friend group cozy: The Busybody Book Club
Senior Detectives for fans of The Thursday Murder Club
Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping by Jesse Q. Sutanto (April)
Vera and the gang try to locate a missing influencer and Vera gets scammed. Check out my Readers Guide to Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping!
A Senior Citizens Guide to Life on the Run by Gwen Floria (May)
After a heated dispute over feeding pigeons, a member of a retirement community turns up dead.
The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs (May)
Friends turn to murder so they can collect their husbands’ life insurance.
All the Words We Know by Bruce Nash (July)
A woman with dementia tackles a mystery case.
Charming Neighborhood Cozies
The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson (May)
A bickering book club must unite when a member goes missing. LOVED this modern cozy with a surprising ending.
I have’t read this but I enjoyed Sampson’s prior book, Nosy Neighbors!
A Senior Citizens Guide to Life on the Run by Gwen Floria (May)
A member of a retirement community turns up dead.
Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols (August)
The owner of a summer cottage colony must solve a crime.
LOVED this modern cozy with a surprising ending. Check out my Readers Guide for the Marigold Cottages Murder Collective.
A Ghostwriter’s Guide to Murder by Melinda Mullet (July)
The “neighborhood” for this one is a community of houseboats on a canal. When a ghostwriter ends up tangled in a real mystery, her neighbors come to her aid.
Cozy Vacation Thrillers
No One Was Supposed to Die at the Wedding by Catherine Mack (May)
Murder at a wedding on Catalina Island. For fans of Dial A for Aunties!
Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds by Allison Brennan (June)
A woman visiting a private island investigates a missing guest. This one has a spicy romance for those of you who enjoy murder and romance in one!
Check out my Goodreads review of BRaDD!
Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman (June)
Muriel Blossom, a supporting character in the Tess Monaghan series, looks into a murder on a river cruise.
Check out my Goodreads Review of MTaV!
Amateur Detective Stories
The Ex-Girlfriend’s Murder Club by Gloria Chao (June)
Three women discover they have been dating the same guy … who just got murdered!
Here’s my Goodreads review of the book!
World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant by Liza Tully (July)
The young female assistant to a famous detective takes on a case.
Savvy Summers and Sweet Potato Crimes by Sandra Jackson-Opoku (July)
The proprietor of a Chicago cafe investigates the death of a customer.
Making Friends Can Be Murder by Kathleen West (June)
The women in a “Sarah Jones” club are concerned when women with that name start being murdered.
Okay, I am getting Terminator vibes. Calling Sarah Connor….
The Game is Afoot by Elise Bryant (July)
Book two in a comic cozy series about a mom who quits her job and turns detective.
A Novel Murder by EC Nevin (June)
An author turns sleuth at a murder mystery festival.
Marble Hall Murders (Susan Ryeland #3) by Anthony Horowitz
I’ve watched the show on PBS and enjoyed it. Have you read the books?
Quirky Detectives
The Dead Come to Stay by Brandy Schillace (August)
An amateur autistic sleuth and a prickly detective team up to investigate a body in the Yorkshire woods.
If, like me, you are really enjoying autistic amateur detective Patience (you can watch Patience on PBS or Hulu) you might love this book!
Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library by Amanda Chapman (August)
The conservator at a NYC mystery library teams up with a woman who insists she’s Agatha Christie to solve a crime.
So this one was a bit too quirky for me. The ghost of Agatha Christie appears to help a New York Society woman (and the keeper of the Agatha Christie room at, you guessed it: the Mystery Guild Library.) solve some murders in her family.
Positives: the Christie references were fast and furious. Negatives: I didn’t like the main character at all and her whole society world was completely unrelatable.
My Goodreads review of Agatha Christie at the Mystery Guild Library is here.
All the Words We Know by Bruce Nash (July)
An elderly woman with dementia is determined to solve a crime.
I really do enjoy a non-conventional detective but overall this one was too out-there for me. It takes some patience to connect with Rose and understand her thinking.
Puzzles and Games
The Game is Murder by Hazell Ward (July)
You are invited to solve a cold case from 1970s England.
Picking Up The Pieces by JB Abbott (August)
A group of puzzle enthusiasts team up to solve a murder. Check out my list of cozy mysteries for another puzzle-themed cozy!
Welcome to Murder Week by Karen Dukes (June)
A woman finds her late mother’s ticket to a mystery murder week and decides to go.
Can You Solve the Murder by Antony Johnston
An interactive crime novel for you to solve!
That Missing Piece is Killing Me (Alice Pepper 2) by Roz Noonan (July)
A woman in a puzzle club solves mysteries!
If you know of a title I missed, please drop me a comment and I will add it!
Oooo! Which of these would you definitely reccomend?! I love cozies!
I still have a few to read but:
If you love a comic cozy: The Vera Wong series by Jesse Q. Sutanto OR No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding
If you are up for a very unusual narrator: All the Words We Know by Bruce Nash
Like some romance in your cozy mystery: Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds by Allison Brennan
If you love a good feel-good, friend group cozy: The Busybody Book Club