Cozier Reads for the Faint of Heart

Donut Disturb by Ellie Alexander

Baked goods, a wedding, and a murder mystery—what more could you want for a cozy fall read? In the 15th installment of Ellie Alexander’s A Bakeshop Mystery series, the filling is looking grim for pastry chef and amateur sleuth Juliet Capshaw as everyone in town gathers to celebrate Thomas and Kerry’s wedding. Jules and her team at Torte have been tasked with catering the outdoor reception and everything is going according to plan, until a wedding crasher shows up: Kerry’s estranged father who is supposed to be behind bars. Jules vows to do everything she can to make sure that there are no other surprises on her friend’s big day. But when the bassist for Heart Strings, the wedding band, is found stabbed with the blunt end of his instrument, Jules’s promise takes on new meaning. Now she’ll have to slice through the five tiered cake and a bevy of potential suspects in order to track down a killer before they turn the knife on her.

The Devil’s Delight by M. C. Beaton and R. W. Green

Beloved New York Times bestseller M.C. Beaton’s cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin is back on the case again in Devil’s Delight. Agatha and her assistant, Toni, are driving to their friend Bill Wong’s long-awaited wedding, thinking of nothing more than what the beautiful bride will be wearing when a terrified young man comes running down the country lane towards them wearing…nothing at all. The encounter leads them to become embroiled with a naturist group, a disappearing corpse, fantasy games, witchcraft, an ice cream empire, intrigue and murder (naturally, the perfect cozy Halloween read). In the meantime, Agatha’s hectic life swirls along at dizzying pace, her private detective agency as busy as ever and her private affairs in turmoil, with old loves to contend with and a new suitor on the scene. But when she begins to close in on a suspected murderer, she finds herself in deadly peril, as the sinister nature of the ice cream business leads her to a chilling conclusion…

Murder Most Fowl by Donna Andrews

Fans of Shakespeare, rejoice! Murder Most Fowl—the next installment in the long-running Meg Langslow Mystery series from award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Donna Andrews—follows a Shakespearean twist that will certainly put you in the Halloween spirit. Meg Langslow’s husband is directing a production of Macbeth, and most of the cast and crew are occupying spare bedrooms in their house. She also has to keep an eye on Camp Birnam, where a group of medieval reenactors are commemorating the real-life Macbeth by setting up what they fondly believe is an authentic medieval Scottish military camp. And then there’s Damien Goodwin, a filmmaker who has been trying to document the production. When Goodwin hosts a showing of some of the footage he’s taken, he manages to embarrass or offend just about everyone. The next morning Meg isn’t exactly surprised to find that someone has murdered him. But the question is, who?

Gone for Gouda by Korina Moss

Mystery plus sweet delicious cheese results in Gone for Gouda by Korina Moss. This second mystery in the Cheeseshop Mystery Series and the follow-up to Moss’s Cheddar Off Dead follows cheesemonger Willa Bauer as she works in Yarrow Glen’s newest cheese shop, Curds & Whey. As preparations begin for the fall festival, a visiting celebrity vegan chef is murdered, and the cheese shop’s own friendly employee Archie is one of the top suspects. To clear her co-worker’s name, Willa must suss out who exactly has been up to no gouda in this series that First Clue says “readers will be eager to revisit.”

A Few Drops of Bitters by G. A. McKevett

A Few Drops of Bitters is the final installment in the long-running Savannah Reid mystery series starring the plus-sized Southern PI. This time, an upscale party ends with a murder, and Savannah must discover clues while mingling with the famous party guests. Plus, if you’re looking for a mystery series with several feline characters, you’ll definitely want to pick this one up—available now in paperback. While the Savannah Reid series comes to a conclusion here, McKevett continues to write the Granny Reid Mystery spin-off series now, of which the most recent installment—Murder Most Grave—is also available.

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