Kym Roberts | Wrapping Up the Best Mysteries of 2023

It may not seem like it, but it’s already time to pay homage to the year’s best mysteries. Each year I struggle to list what I believe to be the best of the best. Some of the authors I’ve interviewed, some I’ve merely featured, and others haven’t even made the Cozy Corner’s blogs—I could write a blog a day and never complete the list of great mysteries released every year. Yet, it’s a job I’ve tasked myself with year after year.  This year I decided to sub-genre the mysteries in my own categories; not Amazon’s, not New York’s and maybe not a category you’ll recognize. Hopefully, these ‘new’ groups will give you a different perspective of what I liked about the mystery, the style of writing, or world the author created. (Most of the books could fit in two, three or all categories, but this is where I decided they fit best—for now.) After I decided to create my own categories, however, I realized I made an extremely tough job tougher!

Lol, I’ve never been known to take the cleared path, why should I start now.

Delicious Mysteries of 2023

The best foody mysteries of the year the make you want to devour the pages and the treats!

SPOON TO BE DEAD by Dana Mentink

Shake Shop Mystery #3

A Dessert Cozy Mystery

A murder for the holidays is about to shake things up!

Trinidad Jones is starting the festive season with sugary confections and a heaping scoop of worry as her shake shop enters its first Oregon winter. With snow abound and tourists trickling through, she’ll do anything to keep her milkshake dreams afloat, even if it means catering a holiday steamboat party for some new arrivals in town.

But when her good-for-nothing ex crashes through her shop’s door claiming he’s being charged with murder, things go sideways. With clues piling up like whipped cream on a sundae and motives abound, Trinidad and her fellow ex-wives must solve this murder before she’s finally thrown for a scoop.

Mystery Cozy | Mystery Culinary | Mystery Woman Sleuth [Poisoned Pen Press, On Sale: October 31, 2023, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781728231617 / eISBN: 9781728231624]

BAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT by Sarah Fox

In a cute new culinary cozy from USA Today bestselling author Sarah Fox, budding chocolatier Becca Ransom must solve a murder before she meets a sticky end.

Winter has arrived in Larch Haven, Vermont, bringing with it holiday cheer, lots of snow, and freezing temperatures. Becca Ransom is squeezing in time to skate on the frozen canals and drink hot chocolate by a roaring fire while also whipping up new creations for her family’s chocolate shop and experimenting with holiday flavors like eggnog, gingerbread, and peppermint. At the same time, Becca is preparing for the Baking Spirits Bright holiday baking competition, a popular annual event. She’s planning to enter an edible model of Larch Haven, with a mountain backdrop made of cake, gingerbread cottages, and chocolate gondolas on sugar-glass canals.

Professional bakers and a local food blogger are also participating in the event and they aren’t about to go down without a fight. The competition quickly heats to a boiling point, with flaring tempers and mysterious happenings. When one of the entrants is found dead, stabbed with Becca’s chocolate chipper, Becca tries to salvage the season by finding the killer. But the heat is on, and Becca is in danger of getting burned.

Suspense Women Sleuth [Berkley, On Sale: October 10, 2023, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593546635 / ]

FRUITCAKE AND FELONIES by Sue Hollowell

A Belle Harbor Cozy Mystery #13

Riotous relatives, startling suspects, and grannies galore…

Thirteenth in the Belle Harbor Cozy Mystery series!

Tilly has secured one of her biggest bakery clients yet, the largest gamer convention on the West Coast. As she is preparing the menu, the pushy bookstore owner inserts herself with a homemade fruitcake offering.

Not one to rock the boat, TIlly reluctantly agrees to include the item with plans to place it far from the guests. As they are setting up for the long weekend, word comes that one of the most well-known gamers has been found dead.

Suspects abound from the cutthroat competition to attain the highest score and win the grand prize. Will Tilly follow the rules to save the day or will it be game over?

Fruitcake and Felonies is Book 13 in the Belle Harbor Cozy Mystery series. A light, cozy mystery in a quaint beach town with a fun loving, amateur female sleuth, her quirky uncle, and enough antiques and pastries to fill your home and your belly. No gore, swearing or cliffhangers. Can be read as a standalone.

Mystery Cozy [Self Published, On Sale: May 28, 2023, e-Book, / ]

The Bloody Best of 2023

The best mysteries with the U.K. as it’s setting. Sorry if you were expecting something more sinister, but who knows, maybe you should!

A SINISTER REVENGE by Deanna Raybourn

Veronica Speedwell Mystery #8

Veronica must find and stop a devious killer when a group of old friends is targeted for death in this new adventure from the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Veronica’s natural-historian beau, Stoker, has been away in Bavaria for months and their relationship is at an impasse. But when Veronica shows up before him with his brother, Tiberius, Lord Templeton-Vane, he is lured back home by an intriguing job offer: preparing an iguanodon for a very special dinner party.

Tiberius has received a cryptic message—along with the obituaries of two recently deceased members of his old group of friends, the Seven Sinners—that he too should get his affairs in order. Realizing he is in grave danger but not knowing why, he plans a reunion party for the remaining Sinners at his family estate to lure the killer out while Veronica and Stoker investigate.

As the guests arrive and settle in, the evening’s events turn deadly. More clues come to light, leading Veronica, Stoker, and Tiberius to uncover a shared past among the Sinners that has led to the fatal present. But the truth might be far more sinister than what they were prepared for.

Romance | Mystery [Berkley, On Sale: March 7, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593545928 / eISBN: 9780593545942]

Feminist detective and her partner must uncover a tricky killer

THE QUEEN AND THE KNAVE by Sarah M. Eden

Proper Romance

Romance and mystery come full circle in the fifth and final book of Sarah M. Eden’s best-selling Victorian Proper Romance series.

London, 1866

Móirín Donnelly has spent the last five years working in the shadows for the Dread Penny Society, a secret fraternity of penny dreadful authors who use their profits, influence, and street smarts to protect the poor and vulnerable of Victorian London. But spending so much of her life in secret is taking its toll on her soul—and her heart.

When members of the Dread Penny Society begin disappearing, Móirín turns to her friend Detective Constable Fitzgerald Parkington for help. The two have developed a friendly rapport, and Móirín feels like she can trust him, though perhaps not with all of her secrets.

Fitzgerald Parkington has a sixth sense when it comes to tracking down criminals, which is why he’s recently been transferred to the Detective Department at Scotland Yard. But when roadblocks and red tape keep him from tracking down the criminal mastermind known as “The Tempest,” he must rely on the one woman who has unexpectedly captured his heart—the brash, bold, and fiery Irish lass, Móirín Donnelly.

As the Tempest’s deadly reach threatens to overwhelm all of London, Móirín and Fitz are caught in an elaborate game of cat and mouse that leads down back alleys, through dark London buildings, and right to the gates of Kensington Palace. Móirín has one chance to save Fitz and the Dread Penny Society from the Tempest, and she might have to sacrifice her one chance at love to do so.

Romance Historical [Shadow Mountain, On Sale: September 5, 2023, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781639931521 / ]

The Most Chilling Mystery of 2023

The best mystery of the year set in the dead of winter. Don’t take this book out of the lodge, you may breakout in goosebumps!

SNOW PLACE FOR MURDER by Diane Kelly

Mountain Lodge Mysteries #3

The third in the charming and engrossing Mountain Lodge mystery series by Diane Kelly, in Snow Place for Murder, the weather at the Mountaintop Lodge is truly frightful…

International resort developer Nigel Goodwin has traveled all the way from London, England to Misty Murphy’s little corner of North Carolina and bought out the Mountaintop Lodge for the week prior to Christmas. Their intention? To pitch an exclusive new resort concept to wealthy American investors.

But locals are at odds over the idea, and when a group comes to the lodge to express their worries to Mr. Goodwin and the potential investors, a blizzard hits Beech Mountain. Like the weather outside, things quickly get frosty, and Misty has to call local police to intervene. Handyman Rocky Crowder plows the lodge’s drive and, in an attempt to regain a jovial holiday atmosphere, smooths the snow pile into a makeshift sledding hill for the guests to enjoy.

Misty’s boys have finished their exams and are “home” from college for the winter break, planning to spend most of their time snowboarding at the ski resort. While taking a few runs down Rocky’s sledding hill, they discover a funny-looking, nose-shaped rock. Only it’s not a rock. It’s the frozen nose of Nigel Goodwin, who’s found dead and buried under the mound of snow.

Who put the developer on ice and why?

Mystery Cozy | Small Town [St. Martin’s Paperbacks, On Sale: October 24, 2023, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781250816016 / eISBN: 9781250816023]

The Steamiest Mysteries of 2023

Can you guess? That’s right, the best mysteries that transport you to the beach where the breeze won’t turn the pages fast enough and you may get burned!

A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS by Lucy Burdette

A Key West Food Critic Mystery #13

Bestselling author Lucy Burdette turns up the heat in the next installment of her Key West Food Critic mystery series, perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke and Laura Childs.

Food critic Hayley Snow and her pal Miss Gloria are overjoyed to welcome Violet and Bettina Booth, aka the Scottish Scone Sisters, to Key West. The sisters will host The UK Bakes!—Key West Edition. But the same day they arrive, the bed-and-breakfast the sisters are staying in gets torched.

The contest begins the next morning featuring three local bakers. One is the inn owner’s wife, Rayna, who is not only the most talented chef of the group but now a person of interest in the fire. The next night, a dogwalker discovers a body near the bed-and-breakfast. The victim appears to be Rayna’s husband, and the murder weapon points directly to the Scottish Scone Sisters.

But the show must go on. In between filming sessions, the three elderly ladies and Hayley must search for clues to the brutal murder in order to find out who wants to force them out of the kitchen.  But as they draw closer to the answer, the threats from a murderer grow closer too. Are they now in danger of getting baked off?

Mystery Amateur Sleuth | Mystery Cozy | Mystery Culinary [Crooked Lane Books, On Sale: August 8, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781639104307 / eISBN: 9781639104314]

STEEPED IN MALICE by Vicki Delany

With a “beautifully described setting and a cast of charming, small-town characters” (Booklist), this delightful cozy mystery series set in a Cape Cod tea shop will be irresistible for fans of Laura Childs’ Tea Shop series.

Afternoon tea isn’t just about flavorful brews and delicious treats. It’s also about presentation—fine china teacups (never mugs!), with carefully coordinated saucers and plates. With her fragile stock running low, Lily has an excuse to indulge in one of her favorite hobbies: visiting an antiques fair for replacements.

Among other finds, Lily snaps up a charming Peter Rabbit-themed tea set in a wicker basket, perfect for children’s events. But a few days later, a woman named Kimberly marches into the tearoom, rudely demanding to buy it back—then later returns and removes an envelope hidden in the basket’s lining.

An acquaintance of Lily’s named Rachel is on the trail of the tea set too. Apparently, she and Kimberly are half-sisters, searching for their mother’s final will. To her annoyance, Lily is dunked into the middle of this mess—especially when her ex-boyfriend turns out to be involved. But it’s more than a storm in a teacup when one of the sisters is found dead on the grounds of the B&B owned by Lily’s grandmother, Rose.

Is this a simple case of greed boiling over, or are there other suspects in the blend? It’ll take some savvy sleuthing from Lily, Rose, and their allies to find the answers before a killer shatters more lives . .

Mystery Cozy [Kensington Cozies, On Sale: July 25, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781496737724 / eISBN: 9781496737748]

The Most Cuddly Mystery of 2023

The mystery that makes you appreciate the animal experience even more with the most adorable pets of the year you just want to squeeze.

THE BARK OF ZORRO by Kathleen Y’Barbo

Gone to the Dogs #4

Who Is Spray Painting the Dogs in Brenham, Texas?

Cozy up with your favorite pooch and unwind with a small-town mystery in book 4 of the Gone to the Dogs series.

Strange happenings are afoot in Brenham, Texas, as dogs start showing up at the Lone Star Veterinary Clinic with a Z spray painted on them. The cops blame pranksters, while pet owners are blaming each other. Receptionist Cassidy Carter uses her social media expertise to try to get the culprit caught on camera, but Texas game warden, Justin Cameron, thinks online media attention is the last thing this case needs. It’s bad enough he’s currently being followed around by reality TV cameras. When Cassidy’s post goes viral, more dogs are found painted and her new home gets marked with a big Z too. How could her good intentions have backfired so badly?

Mystery Cozy | Mystery Pet Lovers [Barbour Books, On Sale: March 15, 2023, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781636095172 / ]

The Best Destination Mysteries of 2023

These mystery settings are a dream vacation—even if the crime is not!

A TEMPEST AT SEA by Sherry Thomas

The Lady Sherlock Series #7

Charlotte Holmes’s brilliant mind and deductive skills are pulled into a dangerous investigation at sea in the new mystery in the bestselling Lady Sherlock series.

After feigning her own death in Cornwall to escape from Moriarty’s perilous attention, Charlotte Holmes goes into hiding. But then she receives a tempting offer: Find a dossier the crown is desperately seeking to recover, and she might be able to go back to a normal life.

Her search leads her aboard the RMS Provence, sailing from Southampton for the eastern hemisphere. But on the night Charlotte makes her move to retrieve the dossier, in the midst of a terrifying storm in the Bay of Biscay, a brutal murder also takes place on the ship.

Instead of solving the crime, as she is accustomed to doing, Charlotte must take care not to be embroiled in this investigation, lest it become known to those who harbor ill intentions that Sherlock Holmes is abroad and still very much alive.

Mystery Historical | Romance Historical [Berkley, On Sale: March 14, 2023, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593200605 / eISBN: 9780593200612]

Female Sherlock Holmes confronts a twisty plot of love, jealousy, and betrayal

Murder on a storm-tossed steamship, with a female detective leading the investigation

MURDER AT AN IRISH CASTLE by Ellie Brannigan

An Irish Castle Mystery

Fans of Hannah Dennison and Carlene O’Connor’s mysteries are in for a treat with Ellie Brannigan’s captivating debut cozy mystery, complete with a sharp and endearing protagonist.

Rodeo Drive bridalwear designer Rayne McGrath expected her thirtieth birthday to start with a power lunch and end with champagne, lobster, and a diamond engagement ring from her fiancé. Instead, flat-broke and busted, she’s on a plane to Ireland where she discovers that she’s inherited a run-down family castle. Uncle Nevin’s will contains a few caveats—for example, if Rayne doesn’t turn McGrath Castle around within a year, the entire village will be financially destroyed.

With the fate of the town in her hands, and rumors that Rayne’s uncle’s death wasn’t actually an accident, she can’t possibly go back to her old life in L.A. As the devastating truth about her uncle dawns on Rayne, it’s not just her reputation that’s on the line, it’s her life.

Featuring a sharp and endearing protagonist, a colorful and quirky locale, and replete with twists and turns befitting an old Irish village, the first in Brannigan’s mystery series transports us to a milieu as romantic as it is deadly.

Thriller Crime | Mystery Culinary | Mystery Cozy [Crooked Lane Books, On Sale: February 7, 2023, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781639102587 / eISBN: 9781639102594]

Inheriting a castle carries great responsibilities

The Best Spending Nightmare of 2023

The best shop to host the worst of crime of the year.

A FATAL GROOVE by Olivia Blacke

It’s springtime in Cedar River, Texas. The annual Bluebonnet Festival is brewing and the whole town is in harmony. Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie thought opening Sip & Spin Records was going to be their biggest hurdle, but the Frappuccino hits the fan when the mayor drops dead—poisoned by their delicious coffee.

Since Tansy was the one to brew the coffee, and Juni was the unfortunate citizen who stumbled upon the mayor’s body, the sisters find themselves in hot water. Family is everything to the Jessups, so with Tansy under suspicion, the sisters spring into action.

Between the town festivities, a good old-fashioned treasure hunt, and an accidental cow in the mix, Juni will have to pull out all the stops to find the mayor’s killer.

Mystery Cozy [St. Martin’s Paperbacks, On Sale: July 25, 2023, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781250860101 / ]

The Best Transcendental Mysteries of 2023

The best mysteries of 2023 to transport you to an alternate universe where anything is possible!

IN THE WICK OF TIME by Valona Jones

Magic Candle Shop Mystery #2

Tabby Winslow will help her twin sister Sage with anything and everything—and that includes putting out the flames of suspicion when Sage’s boss is found murdered in this magical mystery, perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Sofie Kelly.

December in Savannah, Georgia, is a sight to behold. With all the festivities—including the traditional riverfront luminary display during the boat parade—twin sisters Tabby and Sage Winslow are busier than ever setting up for the big celebration. But that isn’t the only thing on the sisters’ minds. Both Sage and her fellow employee Mary Nicole are vying for the sought-after assistant manager job at the plant nursery. But when Loren Lee, their boss, is found dead, and Sage becomes the police’s favorite suspect, both Winslow girls know that they’ll need more than a flicker of magic and their sisterhood to solve the murder and clear Sage’s name.

Soon, Tabby realizes that this is just one of the many problems they have. If being a suspect for murder wasn’t enough, there are more magical problems that they have to fix: Sage’s boyfriend is having a paranormal experience of his own he can’t control, there’s an energy vampire searching for his supposedly lost cousin, her cat suddenly dislikes her, and oh—every time Tabby hiccups, she turns completely invisible. The suspect list grows with each day and it seems everyone has a reason or a connection to Loren Lee.

Tabby and Sage are burning the candle at both ends—but will it be enough to keep their friends safe and find this killer? Or will they be burned by their efforts?

Mystery Cozy | Mystery Hobbies [Crooked Lane Books, On Sale: October 17, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781639105076 / eISBN: 9781639105083]

PERILOUS POTIONS by Amanda M. Lee

A Luna Thorn Witchy Mystery #2

Luna Thorn sprang into being in the middle of the night in a downtown Detroit park years ago. She had no memory of her past and no idea what the future would hold for her. The only thing she possessed was magic…and the determination to win at all costs.
She’s finally about to get the answers she’s been looking for .
There are zombies popping up on Detroit’s mean inner city streets. They’re not normal zombies, however. They move fast and don’t go down under the usual methods. They have a mission, though, and the only thing that stops them is death.
Luna knows someone is controlling them, but who? She’s determined to find answers on her own, but the people who know her best and love her most refuse to let her fight this battle without backup.
Luna has been a loner for as long as she can remember, but her blood is running hot these days after joining with a phoenix, and news that she’s a traveler—a being that can jump through time—has her second-guessing every decision she’s ever made.
Detroit is about to be rocked by death and destruction. The question is, will Luna be the saint protecting it or the sinner bringing it down?
Things are about to change for everybody, and it’s impossible to know who will rise from the ashes.
The fight between good and evil, the past and the present, is on, and Luna will be right in the middle of it for better or worse.
The world is about to burn.

Mystery Paranormal [Self Published, On Sale: October 3, 2023, e-Book, / ]

LEGALLY BURNED by Jane Biteme

AFTER NAILING THE BIGGEST CASE OF HER CAREER, SLOAN REYNOLDS. SHOULD RE SIPPING SOME WELL-DESERVED SMOKED BOURBON BY THE FIREPLACE, RIGHT?

Yeah, right…

With love troubles, legal troubles, and every other freaking thing under the sun troubles, Sloan can’t seem to find a moment to catch her breath.

Add a few dead bodies, betrayal, the usual suspects, paranormal misbehavior, and a dash of internal organizational corruption, and you have the perfect supernatural concoction. And yeah, we’re not talking about a mixed drink.

With few friends, and even fewer places to turn for backup, Sloan must top her own best performance in short order.

Is she willing to pay a heavy price for the power needed to accomplish the impossible?

Join Sloan Reynolds on her second adventure in the Paranormal Justice for. All series, and get lost in a world of legal ambiguity, witches, vampires, monsters, and the unapologetically paranormal.

Mystery Paranormal [Self Published, On Sale: April 18, 2023, e-Book, ISBN: 9780578826226 / ]

The Craftiest Mysteries of 2023

The best mystery of the year that makes you envy the author’s talents away from the computer as well as on the page!

LET IT CROW! LET IT CROW! LET IT CROW! by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow #34

‘Tis the season for sleuthing in Donna Andrews’ cheery new addition to the New York Times bestselling Meg Langslow series.

Meg has been roped into participating in a weaponsmithing competition, a Forged in Fire wannabe organized by a blacksmith friend. Meg originally turned down an invitation to participate, but the night before the filming starts, someone attacks Faulk, her blacksmithing mentor, breaking his arm and eliminating him from the contest before it begins. Meg agrees to step in as his replacement to keep the project from failing. She’s not thrilled that the filming will take place during December – Christmas is already a crazy time for her. Since the competition is taking place on Ragnarshjem, the picturesque estate that her friend Ragnar, the retired heavy metal drummer, is turning into a Goth castle, Meg won’t have to spend Christmas alone and gets to bring Michael and her twin sons with her.

So Meg joins the cast, to the dismay of several old-school blacksmiths who think women have no place in the profession anyway. And if the show’s producers were hoping for drama, they’re in luck. The blacksmithing world is a small one, and some of the contestants arrived already laden with grudges and feuds.

It’s a high-stakes, cutthroat competition between people who wield large hammers and make swords and have forges full of fire at their disposal. What could possibly go wrong?

Mystery Cozy | Mystery Hobbies [Minotaur Books, On Sale: October 10, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781250893963 / eISBN: 9781250893970]

A TWISTED SKEIN by Sally Goldenbaum

Seaside Knitters Society #6

Set in the “idyllic world” (Publishers Weekly) of a small Massachusetts coastal community, rich in friendship and “full of suspense and human warmth” (The Washington Book Review), this skillfully written series combines intriguing mysteries with rich characters and emotional warmth.

Like every coastal town, Sea Harbor needs tourists and their dollars. But there’s something special about that time of year when summer people return to their normal lives, and the wide sandy beaches welcome back locals with their dogs and strollers. And this year, even as the season cools down, Izzy Perry’s Sea Harbor Yarn Studio is heating up, thanks to an upcoming fashion benefit . . .

The show will feature hand-knit garments, and enthusiastic knitters flock to the shop for supplies to create runway-worthy pieces. Yet Seaside Knitter Birdie is enjoying flocks of a different kind, thanks to a rekindled interest in birdwatching, a hobby she enjoyed with her late husband. Along with a small group of passionate birders, she often spends weekend mornings looking for warblers, or keeping watch for gannets and grebes. The group members themselves are almost as fascinating as the birds. It’s a lovely, special time—until Birdie makes her way through a tangle of vines and stumbles upon a fellow birder’s body.

At first, it appears to be an accidental fall, but an autopsy soon reveals that the victim died before hitting a granite boulder. When police discover a clue linking the victim to one of the Seaside Knitters, the web of suspicion grows. Before the woods are ablaze in autumn glory and the knitters have cast off the final rows on their runway projects, they’ll have to unravel secrets and ties strong enough to bind friends and neighbors together—and some that may press a killer to take another life.
Mystery Cozy | Mystery Hobbies [Kensington, On Sale: November 28, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781496729439 / eISBN: 9781496729453]

The Best Holiday Cheer Mysteries of 2023

These mysteries don’t just fall in December, they’re the best mysteries of the year with a holiday theme.

BOBBIN FOR ANSWERS by Melissa Bourbon

Magical Dressmaking Mystery #7

As the Halloween season approaches, Harlow Cassidy finds herself entangled in the spookiest of mysteries, racing against time to untangle the threads of deceit before they weave a chilling and inescapable knot…

It’s autumn in Bliss, Texas, and Harlow Cassidy is creating the perfect costume for her friend Josie’s Halloween party. She hopes she can sew her own wishes and dreams into the Wednesday Addams dress.

But fashion turns fatal when the Halloween party takes a dark turn. One of the party-goers is found dead next to the toppled barrel of apples and so many people have a potential motive, including Harlow’s good friend Orphie. Not only does Harlow need to get to the truth about the murder, but she also needs to keep her ghostly great-grandmother under wraps before the secret Cassidy charm isn’t so secret anymore.

Mystery Cozy [Self Published, On Sale: October 15, 2023, e-Book, / ]

THE TWELVE BOOKS OF CHRISTMAS by Kate Carlisle

Bibliophile #17

The first ever Christmas mystery in the beloved New York Times bestselling Bibliophile Mystery series!

San Francisco book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright and her hunky security-expert husband, Derek Stone, face a locked-room murder mystery during the holidays in Scotland.

In the middle of a wonderful Christmas holiday in Dharma, Brooklyn and Derek receive a frantic phone call from their dear friend Claire in Loch Ness, Scotland. The laird of the castle, Cameron MacKinnon, has just proposed to her! They plan to be married on New Year’s Day, and they want Derek and Brooklyn to be their witnesses. And while they’re visiting, Claire hopes that Brooklyn will be able to solve a little mystery that’s occurred in the castle library—twelve very rare, very important books have gone missing.

Once in Scotland, Brooklyn starts working on the mystery of the missing books but is soon distracted by all of the thumping and bumping noises she’s been hearing in the middle of the night. You’d think the Ghost of Christmas Past had taken up residence. But when one of the guests is poisoned and another is killed by an arrow through the heart, Brooklyn and Derek know this is not the work of any ghost. Now they must race to find a killer and a book thief before another murder occurs and their friends’ bright and happy future turns dark and deadly.

Mystery Cozy | Mystery Book Lover | Holiday [Berkley, On Sale: October 24, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593637685 / eISBN: 9780593637692]

Make sure this holiday cozy mystery is on your wish list!

Looking for missing books leads Bibliophile Brooklyn to investigating murder…

This Scottish wedding is starting the year off with some missing books and murdered guests.

I could go on and on with categories to include all of the fabulous books of 2023, but like the year, this blog must come to an end. Until next year I hope you have a safe and happy holiday season. Don’t forget to make time to get cozy and read on!