I think we can all agree that it wouldn’t quite be Christmas without the carols, cocoa, cookies—and crime. Fortunately, Kensington continues to aid and abet our homicidal (reading) habits with a smorgasbord of seasonal stories that meld food, flirtation, and felonies. Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off By Darci Hannah In Darci Hannah’s Michigan-based Murder…
Chapter 1 “This is Terry Banner asking you to remember that you heard it here first.” The red light went off, telling Banner with certainty that he was no longer on the air. He took out his earpiece, removed his microphone, opened his shirt collar, and removed his tie. He hated ties; if the inventor…
Every holiday season, I get bombarded with messages from friends and fans telling me they’re dying to buy me a crime-fiction-related present but aren’t sure what to get such an accomplished author…
In this heartwarming new Christmas short story featuring Tasha Alexander’s Victorian sleuth, Lady Emily, and her husband, Colin, the discovery of a clue in a Christmas cracker leads to a true holiday miracle. While most of London society has fled to their country estates for the holidays, Lady Emily and her family are enjoying a few…
Fall may only have just begun, but the crisp autumn air and ever-darkening sky are but a precursor to the next change: Winter, inevitably, drawing near. And, just as one season transitions to the next, soon pumpkin spice and apple cider will recede into the background as peppermint and hot chocolate reclaim their transient glory.…
Christmas comes but once a year—and with it, a bookish bounty of murder, mayhem, and merriment! Seasonal cozies are as much tradition as cookies, cakes, and pies, and pair equally well with a hot cup of tea (or something stronger) and a roaring fire. If you’re looking for something delightfully decadent to sink your teeth…
In A Gift of Bones, Christmas comes to Zinnia, Mississippi and Sarah Booth Delaney must solve a case as the holiday approaches, in this new cozy mystery Carolyn Haines. Take a visual tour through A Gift of Bones with GIFnotes! I know I’ve reviewed earlier books in the Sarah Booth Delaney series and told you how much fun…
Lark! The Herald Angels Sing is New York Times bestselling author Donna Andrews’ latest in the Meg Langslow Mystery Series. While in a manger, asleep on the hay, Meg Langslow finds a little gift: a live baby. Chapter 1 “Melchior! Give Caspar back the frankincense! And Balthazar, if you don’t stop throwing myrrh at…
Clearly, this is far from an exhaustive list. Don't see your favorite Christmas cozy? Let us know which is YOUR favorite in the comments below!
Donna Andrews’s first novel, Murder with Peacocks, was published in 1999, beginning her critically acclaimed series of Meg Langslow murder mysteries. The book garnered her the coveted Agatha Award, opening the door for her to expand on Meg’s story—one about an amateur detective that is a blacksmith by day set in Caerphilly, Virginia—and Andrews hasn’t…
