Theme Post: Cozy Mysteries

In the past year or so, I've discovered the awesomeness of cozy mysteries. Everybody has a slightly different definition of what qualifies as a cozy mystery. As a general rule, blood, gore, and sex seldom appear on the page; and often the story stars an amateur sleuth, although personally I'm not a stickler for that. For me, if a mystery doesn't make me want to sleep with the lights on, I consider it a cozy. However you define cozy mysteries, the books almost always provide a fun, interesting read, and I find myself frequently picking them up. There are literally hundreds of cozy mystery series out there, so it can be a bit intimidating trying to find a good one. As much as I love this genre, quite a few of them aren't exactly up to par. To help you weed through the extensive pile, I wrote about a few that I've read and loved. Female leads feature heavily in this genre, so all of the books in this post have female main characters. There are certainly ones with male leads I intend on picking up soon, and look out for another cozy mystery themed post where I review them. 

 1. Death By Dumpling By: Vivien Chen

A Noodle Shop Mystery (4 books)

This is one of my all time favorite cozy mystery series so far. Everything about this series is such great fun, the characters, the food, the mystery, and the engaging writing to name a few. When the book opens, the young Lana Lee just quit her job, lived through a terrible break up, and finally moved back home. Now she's serving tables in her parents Chinese restaurant, the Ho-Lee Noodle House. The restaurant is located in an Asian marketplace, and the owner of the plaza, Mr. Feng ends up dead after eating a shrimp dumpling from the Noodle House. Suspicion falls on everyone in the restaurant, and since Lana delivered the dumplings, her name's near the top of the suspect list. Lana needs to clear her and her friends names, while trying to convince the hunky detective to take her to dinner instead of jail. Shocking secrets begin to reveal themselves throughout Lana's amateur investigations, as she learns more about everyone connected to the plaza and Mr. Feng. On top of everything, Lana's trying to piece her life back together after some major life changes, which I'm sure many people can find relatable. Chien is great at making the reader suspect everyone until the very end. I certainly didn't see the ending coming, although to be fair, I never see the ending coming. Side note, this is actually an entire sub-genre of the cozy mystery sub-genre. Cozy mysteries set in restaurants, bakeries, cafes, or some other food related business are extremely popular. Therefore, if you like this series, there's plenty more material for you to sink your teeth into.

2. It Takes a Witch By: Heather Blake

A Witchcraft Mystery (9 Books)

This was the first ever cozy mystery series I picked up, and I absolutely devoured it. My love for this genre unquestionably began with this book. I love genre bending and genre mixing books, and cozy mysteries that sprinkles in a little bit of magic definitely fit the bill. Darcy Merriweather recently moved to the Enchanted Village in Salem, Massachusetts with her sister Harper. Darcy's dealing with a pretty fresh divorce, and Harper's trying to keep a few of her own secrets buried in the past. As a bonus these ladies just found out they come from a long line of witches. Eager to learn about their family and the Craft, the sisters move in with their Aunt Velma. Things start getting a little crazy when an outcast, wannabe witch is found dead with Aunt Ve's beau hovering over the body. Everyone in the Enchanted Village now find themselves as suspects, and the sisters feel wary about trusting anybody. Additionally, Darcy needs to figure out what Ve's boyfriend is hiding before it's too late. I totally adore the cast of characters throughout these books; from the enigmatic detective handling the investigation to the numerous talking animals that make appearances, and everyone in between. Other exciting, mysterious aspects of this series continue to crop up as new plot twists emerge regarding the family's past, a supporting character's past, the nature of magic, or a ton of other things. There are so many charming parts of this series, I feel like many people can find something to love here.

3. Maisie Dobbs By: Jaqueline Winspear
A Maisie Dobbs Mystery (15 Books)

This final series stars the clever Maisie Dobbs in London a few years after the end of WWI. Maisie worked as a nurse during the war, and now works as a private investigator using her psychology education to make her one of the best. These books are amazingly atmospheric, and the author's descriptions of Maisie's world absolutely blew me away. Truth time, I'm a serial skimmer. Don't worry, it's a problem I'm working on. There are just so many book I want to read, and life keeps getting in the way, so usually I try to read as fast as possible. If the descriptions and language aren't engaging then 90% of the time I skim or skip over them. I didn't encounter that kind of trouble with this book. I desperately needed to read every single word on the page to imagine that complete picture of Maisie's life. That is only one of many things that stood out to me in this first book, another being the incredibly well written characters. Not only is it great following Maisie, the supporting characters play integral parts in the story and the author didn't skimp on their development. The mystery begins with a client Maisie takes on who believes his wife is having an affair. Maisie follows her client's wife, and soon finds out the man that she is visiting, is in a grave. Maisie's ill feelings toward this situation and the strange circumstances of the man in the graves death spark the real mystery that unfolds. Maisie's life grows increasingly complicated the more she learns about the dead man and his time in and after the war. This mystery heads Maisie down a path that ends up much closer to home than she's prepared for. My favorite part of this series is without a doubt Maisie. She's a strong, intelligent woman who has had her crosses to bear, but still manages to be the best she can be. I could honestly go on for pages about how much I love the character Maisie Dobbs, and yet I also cannot find the words to do her justice. White Maisie alone is enough for everybody to read this book, the surprises waiting throughout the plot are another reason among many to pick up this mystery.