# Let's talk about cozy mysteries **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [June 22, 2021, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806 "2021-06-22T00:13:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/1 "2021-06-22T00:13:04Z")
I have been a fan of cozy mysteries for a long time. I started with Agatha Christie’s _Poirot_ and _Miss Marple_ and went from there. I don’t know if this exactly fits the bill, but I loved Dorothy Gilman’s _Mrs. Pollifax_ series. Her adventurous attitude and deadpan humor had me hooked. Then I moved into the more lighthearted stuff like Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swenson and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum. I also like the foodie type mysteries like Diane Mott Davidson’s Goldy and Susan Wittig Albert’s series on herbs. I’m also a fan of TV shows based on cozy mysteries like _Murdoch Mysteries_ (currently watching), _Miss Fischer’s Murder Mysteries_ and of course the classic _Poirot_ and _Miss Marple_. I’m currently listening to a Harper Lin series based on a latte shop owner, a Chris Ewan series called _The Good Thief’s Guide to_ [place], and Juliet Blackwell’s series on Annie Kincaid, an art restoration expert with a tendency toward forgery. What are some of your favorite cozy mysteries? Or even cozy mystery genres since there are so many at this point? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/2 "2021-06-22T01:20:55Z")
For TV, there’s _Death in Paradise_, as typical as cozy as you’ll see these days, which always end with the detective gathering all the suspects together in the room to tell who the murderer is (they even are a bit self-aware of that). They even do locked room mysteries (the very first episode is one). _Midsomer Murders_ is very much in that genre, as are the _Father Brown Mysteries._ ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/3 "2021-06-22T01:47:45Z")
I’ve been thinking of subscribing to Acorn TV. All three, _Death in Paradise_, _Midsomer Murders_ and _Father Brown Mysteries_ are all there, and many more. I’ve been watching _MIdsomer Murders_ free on IMDb TV and started both _Father Brown Mysteries_ and _Death in Paradise_ on Hoopla (free library service). I’m also watching _Janet King_ on Hoopla but don’t know if that’s a cozy. Does _Psych_ fit into the genre? I watch that on Peacock TV. ---
**Author:** ![FallingLeaves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/54ee81/32.png) [@FallingLeaves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallingLeaves)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/4 "2021-06-22T02:45:57Z")
For books some of my favorite cozies are: Savannah Reid series by G.A. McKevett Benni Harper series by Earlene Fowler Martha’s Vineyard Mysteries by Philip Craig On the TV side, not mentioned yet: Rosemary and Thyme ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/5 "2021-06-22T03:04:13Z")
I just read the first book in a cozy series called “An Unkindness of Ravens” by ME Hilliard, featuring a librarian who, as she puts it, “read a lot of girl mysteries growing up and prefers Trixie Belden to Nancy Drew.” I quite enjoyed it, and my wife is enjoying it now. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/6 "2021-06-22T03:11:39Z")
In an odd way, I think the Family Skeleton series by Leigh Perry fits here. I also for the most part enjoy Stephanie Plum, but she’s starting to get a bit tired, I think. Time for the status quo to shake up a bit somehow. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/7 "2021-06-22T04:04:16Z")
Death in Paradise is on my local PBS station of Saturday nights. ---
**Author:** ![omenran](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omenran/32/3318_2.png) [@omenran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omenran)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/8 "2021-06-22T07:07:23Z")
Probably because Mystery! On PBS ran it alongside Agatha Christie stuff, I put _Cadfael_ in the same genre of mystery stories. I haven’t read the books it’s based on, but I do enjoy the episodes. (There are 4 seasons, but a total of 13 episodes) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/9 "2021-06-22T07:33:50Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > I’ve been thinking of subscribing to Acorn TV. This is a good plan, because there you will find things like _Agatha Raisin, Whitstable Pearl, Professor T,_ and _Dead Still_. Also you may want to track down _McDonald and Dodds, Rosemary and Thyme, Miss Scarlet and the Duke,_ and _Shakespeare and Hathaway_. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/10 "2021-06-22T08:32:12Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Also you may want to track down _McDonald and Dodds, Rosemary and Thyme, Miss Scarlet and the Duke,_ and _Shakespeare and Hathaway_. Thanks for the recommendations! All of those are on Britbox except Miss Scarlet is on PBS. I looked them up on [justwatch.com](http://justwatch.com) ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/11 "2021-06-22T09:18:18Z")
You might find some old radio mysteries enjoyable. There’s a real art to making a great audio production generally but in particular in the mystery genre. I love listening to old shows like that which in their day where the common source of entertainment. > **[Mystery - Old Time Radio Shows - OTR](https://www.oldradioworld.com/mysteryoldtimeradioshows.php)** > > Old time radio mystery from the golden days of network broadcasting before television. Hear famous shows such as CBS Radio Mystery Theater and The Whistler. [https://www.oldradioprograms.us/index-Mystery.htm](https://www.oldradioprograms.us/index-Mystery.htm) In terms of ‘cozy’ books, the ones you’ve mentioned I’ve read and liked too. I would recommend a book called The Red House Mystery which was written by A.A. Milne (creator of Winnie The Pooh). It’s a short murder mystery but very fun and in a way jovial because it is an amateur sleuth story. Then there are some modern books which are in the locked-room mystery theme that puts a group of different characters all together who are all suspect and all suspecting. It is down to you as the reader to decipher who is not what they say they are in order to get to the bottom of the mystery. Shari Lapena and Lucy Foley are two excellent authors of this kind of book which alternates the reader’s viewpoint by putting you into the mind and viewpoint of each of those suspect characters and how they behave as the story goes on as opposed to solely from the view of a detective. Sometimes there is no detective and therefore no good/neutral perspective. It’s all fun. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/12 "2021-06-22T11:35:57Z")
Sharyn McCrumb. Her **Bimbos of the Death Sun** structure is a cozy. Her Elizabeth McPherson mysteries also qualify. Maybe Honor Raconteur’s The Case Files of Henri Davenforth would qualify, though they’re on a different planet. Which has magic. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/13 "2021-06-22T12:09:30Z")
_Jonathan Creek_ was cosy-adjacent. At least the first seasons. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/14 "2021-06-22T13:16:50Z")
you should go over to [fanfiction.net](http://fanfiction.net) and check out the stephanie plum fanfic, some of it is actually better than the original author. [and in many of them, Ranger gets the girl] ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/15 "2021-06-22T16:17:44Z")
Brit TV at its finest: the Ian Carmichael versions of Peter Wimsey. As far as I know, they are not streaming, but are available on YouTube. I have both Britbox and Acorn. They are different…Do a trial sub for each and decide which you like. However, they are cheap as chips and you should be able to afford both. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/16 "2021-06-22T18:04:58Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > This is a good plan, because there you will find things like _Agatha Raisin, Whitstable Pearl, Professor T,_ and _Dead Still_ . Also you may want to track down _McDonald and Dodds, Rosemary and Thyme, Miss Scarlet and the Duke,_ and _Shakespeare and Hathaway_ . I got a subscription to Acorn TV so I could watch the Miss Fisher mysteries, and was surprised to see all the other shows they had. I haven’t watched any of the ones you mentioned; I’ll have to add them to my viewing list. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/17 "2021-06-22T22:53:22Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > I would recommend a book called The Red House Mystery which was written by A.A. Milne (creator of Winnie The Pooh). Thanks! Borrowed the ebook at my Overdrive online library. I have the audiobook on hold. > [@Boycott](#): > > Shari Lapena and Lucy Foley are two excellent authors of this kind of book which alternates the reader’s viewpoint by putting you into the mind and viewpoint of each of those suspect characters and how they behave as the story goes on as opposed to solely from the view of a detective. Sounds fun. I borrowed _A Stranger in the House_, _Someone We Know_, _An Unwanted Guest_, and the _End of Her_ on audiobook on Overdrive. I doubt I’ll get through much of them in 3 weeks, but maybe enough to get a feel for the genre. Lucy Foley is way more popular. I put her audiobooks on hold. I’m over 100 in line, but there are over 50 copies, so it shouldn’t be that long. Thanks again! > [@kitap](#): > > Sharyn McCrumb. Her **Bimbos of the Death Sun** structure is a cozy. Her Elizabeth McPherson mysteries also qualify. I borrowed Sharyn McCrumb’s Sick of Shadows on ebook, the first Elizabeth McPherson book of the series. Thanks for the suggestion! > [@MrDibble](#): > > _Jonathan Creek_ was cosy-adjacent. At least the first seasons. This is streaming on Britbox for those that have Britbox. There are a couple seasons on Pluto TV (which is free) if people just want to get a feel for the series. > [@peedin](#): > > I have both Britbox and Acorn. They are different…Do a trial sub for each and decide which you like. However, they are cheap as chips and you should be able to afford both. For anyone wanting to know how much chips cost. [Acorn TV](https://acorn.tv/) is $5.99/mo and $59.99 for the year in the US. [Britbox](https://www.britbox.com/us/) is $6.99/mo and $69.99 for the year in the US. They both have a 7 day free trial. The Britbox app has a poor (2.8) rating in the Google Play store. The complaints that I saw are about the app freezing, not about the content which is generally admittedly good according to the reviews. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/18 "2021-06-23T03:48:37Z")
How about cozy-adjacent books? Personally I can’t abide the cooking ones or the ones with animals. My rules are No Food, No Pets. I sort of define a cozy as one where a) the detective and/or their immediate loved ones are never in any real danger; 2) it is usually a whodunnit, with clues, and an honest possibility for the reader to figure out at least some of it; and iii) the detective is either amateur or at best unofficial. So cozy-adjacent would be where one of those rules is not followed. For example, a book called The Eighth Detective by Alex Paresi is sort of hybrid cozy with slightly sinister overtones. Anthony Horowitz, an actual movie and TV writer, has written some books with basically himself (with a few details changed) as the detective. Pretty cozy. One from the golden age: The Widening Stain by W. Bolingbroke Johnson, with another librarian as detective. Also very cozy. Simon Brett has a series about Charles Paris, an actor, as detective; the Fethering series practically defines cozy, taking place in the town of Fethering, with a couple of maybe-spinsters doing the sleuthing; someone called Mrs. Pargeter, which I haven’t read, and something called Blotto Twinks, which I haven’t read either. He’s very prolific, and while entertaining, sometimes his books are a little light in the thought department. The guy who does Agatha Raisin books (M. C. Beaton) also has Hamish Macbeth, about a village police sergeant in northern Scotland, and something called the Poor Relation series. There must be more, he has 38 pages on Amazon. Charlotte MacLeod is another prolific writer. There’s a series with Peter Shandy, an agriculture professor in New England, and another with a husband-wife team Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn. The Bryant and May series by Christopher Fowler is, I think, cozy-adjacent. They are, after all, London cops, but they are very old, and the senior detectives of the Peculiar Crimes Unit. The dangers seem much more apocalyptic than personal. Usually quite funny in spots. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/19 "2021-06-23T04:55:44Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > My rules are No Food, No Pets. But surely, crafts and hobbies are OK, right? 😉 That reminds me of this list of cozy mysteries [categorized by theme](https://cozy-mystery.com/cozy-mysteries-by-themes.html). IMO, this is one of the best, if not the best website on cozy mysteries. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Anthony Horowitz, an actual movie and TV writer, has written some books with basically himself (with a few details changed) as the detective. Pretty cozy. I looked him up on IMDb. Supposedly, he wrote the Alex Rider series. [Is this it](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/alex-rider)? I have that one on my watch list on IMDb. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > One from the golden age: The Widening Stain by W. Bolingbroke Johnson, with another librarian as detective. Also very cozy. Borrowed. Thanks! > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Simon Brett has a series about Charles Paris, an actor, as detective Also borrowed. Thanks! The covers of his books look fun. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > The guy who does Agatha Raisin books (M. C. Beaton) also has Hamish Macbeth, about a village police sergeant in northern Scotland Also on Acorn TV for people who are subscribed. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Charlotte MacLeod is another prolific writer. I borrowed _The Bilbao Looking Glass_, a Peter Shandy mystery. At this point, I’m just borrowing them as placeholders. Too many great ones in the thread already that are in my queue to read. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > The Bryant and May series by Christopher Fowler I put _The Invisible Code_ on hold. I wasn’t going to borrow any more, but I couldn’t resist the cover. Thanks for all the great suggestions! These are ones I would never have come across myself. I’m amazed that my library had so many of them. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806/20 "2021-06-23T05:14:31Z")
I’ll just use links from Cozy Mystery, as these are convenient. Coffeehouse mysteries from [Cleo Coyle](https://cozy-mystery.com/cleo-coyle.html). Martha Vineyard’s mysteries from [Cynthia Riggs](https://cozy-mystery.com/cynthia-riggs.html). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cozy-mysteries/944806.md?page=2)