20 Mystery Books So Funny and Clever, They’ll Be Your Next Favorite

Looking for funny mystery books for your 2025 reading list? Check out these 10 laugh-out-loud whodunits that combine humor and suspense in the most entertaining way. I’m a huge fan of twisty mystery books, but they rarely include funny moments. So, I’m thrilled to have found these funny mystery-suspense books packed with hilarious moments. These are perfect for fans of cozy mysteries and dark comedy!

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The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

The Thursday Murder Club is about four quirky retirees who meet up to solve cold cases, but when someone’s actually murdered in their retirement village, they jump in to crack the case. The gang—Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron—are sharp, funny, and totally unexpected as detectives. It’s clever, full of twists, and feels like hanging out with the coolest grandparents ever.

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?

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Over My Dead Body by Maz Evans

In Over My Dead, Dr. Miriam Price wakes up dead, and things just keep getting worse. People think she killed herself, so now she’s stuck in Limbo; unless she can prove she was murdered. Her only chance is teaming up with Winnie, her cranky neighbor who can see ghosts. They bicker nonstop, but it’s hilarious watching them solve the mystery and try not to kill each other.

When the misanthropic Dr Miriam Price wakes up dead, her day has only just started to go wrong.

With everyone mistakenly thinking she killed herself, she’s condemned to half a century in Limbo as a ‘Death By Misadventure’ – unless she can prove that she was murdered. Unable to communicate with anyone living, Miriam’s investigative options look decidedly limited.

But she soon realises that Winnie, her elderly next-door neighbour – and mortal enemy – can see, hear and talk to her. The good news for Miriam is that the dying can interact with the dead. The bad news for Winnie is that if she can see Miriam, she hasn’t got long to live. Now this unlikely detective duo must work together to solve Miriam’s murder – and maybe avert Winnie’s death – before time runs out for them both. And before they kill each other first.

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Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Ernie Cunningham’s family reunion takes a surprise turn when someone’s murdered and let’s just say his family is really familiar with killing people. This book is funny and witty with a narrator who feels like he’s talking directly to you. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone has got Agatha Christie vibes but with way more sarcasm.

Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.

I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.

Have I killed someone? Yes. I have.

Who was it?

Let’s get started.

EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE

My brother

My stepsister

My wife

My father

My mother

My sister-in-law

My uncle

My stepfather

My aunt

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Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Bernadette is this brilliant, reclusive mom who disappears right before a family trip to Antarctica. Her daughter Bee pieces together emails, letters, and clues to figure out what happened. Where’d You Go, Bernadette is hilarious with a lot of chaos and a deeper story about family and identity.

Bernadette Fox has vanished.

When her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligent shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip. But worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Ms. Fox is on the brink of a meltdown. And after a school fundraiser goes disastrously awry at her hands, she disappears, leaving her family to pick up the pieces–which is exactly what Bee does, weaving together an elaborate web of emails, invoices, and school memos that reveals a secret past Bernadette has been hiding for decades. Where’d You Go Bernadette is an ingenious and unabashedly entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are and the power of a daughter’s love for her mother.

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The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman

Mrs. Pollifax is a bored widow who decides to join the CIA, because why not? What starts as a simple mission to Mexico turns into a wild Cold War adventure. She’s tough, funny, and totally underestimated. So basically The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax is about a grandma who becomes a spy and kicks everyone’s butt.

Mrs. Virgil (Emily) Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was a widow with grown children. She was tired of attending her Garden Club meetings. She wanted to do something good for her country. So, naturally, she became a CIA agent. This time, the assignment sounds as tasty as a taco. A quick trip to Mexico City is on her agenda. Unfortunately, something goes wrong, and our dear Mrs. Pollifax finds herself embroiled in quite a hot Cold War—and her country’s enemies find themselves entangled with one unbelievably feisty lady.

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Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen

Bad Monkey starts with a severed arm in a freezer and takes you on a crazy journey through Florida and the Bahamas. There’s a disgraced cop, a voodoo witch, a sleazy real estate guy, and yes, a monkey. It’s darkly funny and totally over-the-top in the best way.

Carl Hiaasen is back doing what he does best: spinning a wickedly funny, fiercely pointed tale in which the greedy, the corrupt, and the degraders of pristine land in Florida–now, in the Bahamas too–get their comeuppance in mordantly ingenious, diabolically entertaining fashion.

Andrew Yancy–late of the Miami Police, soon-to-be-late of the Key West Police–has a human arm in his freezer. There’s a logical (Hiaasenian) explanation for that, but not for how and why it parted from its owner. Yancy thinks the boating-accident/shark-luncheon explanation is full of holes, and if he can prove murder, his commander might relieve him of Health Inspector duties, aka Roach Patrol. But first Yancy will negotiate an ever-surprising course of events–from the Keys to Miami to a Bahamian out island–with a crew of equally ever-surprising characters, including: the twitchy widow of the frozen arm; an avariciously idiotic real estate developer; a voodoo witch whose lovers are blinded-unto-death by her particularly peculiar charms; Yancy’s new love, a kinky medical examiner; and the eponymous Bad Monkey, who earns his place among Hiaasen’s greatest characters with hilariously wicked aplomb.

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Devil’s Chew Toy by Rob Osler

Hayden McCall wakes up with a black eye, no memory of the night before, and a missing dancer named Camilo. Along with Camilo’s best friends, he tries to figure out what happened.

Seattle teacher and part-time blogger Hayden McCall wakes up in a stranger’s bed alone, half-naked and sporting one hell of a shiner. Then the police come knocking on the door. It seems that Latino dancer Camilo Rodriguez has gone missing and they suspect foul play. What happened the night before? And where is Camilo?

Determined to find answers, Hayden seeks out two of Camilo’s friends–Hollister and Burley–both lesbians and both fiercely devoted to their friend. From them, Hayden learns that Camilo is a “Dreamer” whose parents had been deported years earlier, and whose sister, Daniela, is presumed to have returned to Venezuela with them. Convinced that the cops won’t take a brown boy’s disappearance seriously, the girls join Hayden’s hunt for Camilo.

The first clues turn up at Barkingham Palace, a pet store where Camilo had taken a part-time job. The store’s owner, Della Rupert, claims ignorance, but Hayden knows something is up. And then there’s Camilo’s ex-boyfriend, Ryan, who’s suddenly grown inexplicably wealthy. When Hayden and Hollister follow Ryan to a secure airport warehouse, they make a shocking connection between him and Della–and uncover the twisted scheme that’s made both of them rich.

The trail of clues leads them to the grounds of a magnificent estate on an island in Puget Sound, where they’ll finally learn the truth about Camilo’s disappearance–and the fate of his family.

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Coming in Hot by Deany Ray

Coming in Hot is about Piper and her biker grandma who are in witness protection, trying to adjust to life in Florida when they crash into a murder mystery. They’re supposed to be laying low, but instead, they’re sneaking around solving crimes. This one’s fast, funny, and packed with crazy characters. Plus, Piper’s grandma is an absolute riot.

Starting a new life in Florida means year-round sunshine, beautiful beaches, and balmy breezes. For most people, anyway.

But not for thirtysomething Piper and her grandmother, former members of a motorcycle gang in Oregon.

For them, it means entering the witness protection program and moving to Bitter End in the Sunshine State. Yes, to Bitter End. It doesn’t get much more ironic than this.

But hey, it’s better than rotting in jail for getting busted with tax evasion and money laundering, and infinitely better than getting killed by said gang for testifying against them.

Needless to say, they both have difficulties adjusting to life in Florida. Moving into a retirement community and dealing with all those quirky characters? Wearing flip-flops instead of biker boots? Where do you even hide your gun if you’re wearing those godawful muumuu dresses? Not to mention, they’re supposed to keep everything on the right side of the law now? Ugh!

Oh, and there’s that dead body in their neighbor’s front yard. Instead of laying low, Piper and her Gran somehow get sucked into that murder mystery.

When they realize they’re in too deep and their cover is almost blown, they have no other choice but to find the killer before it’s too late.

Unique characters, laugh-out-loud moments, and of course, a hot PI guy await for you in this fast and funny romp!

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Poison in Paddington by Samantha Silver

Cassie Coburn heads to London after her medical career crashes, but instead of sightseeing, she’s solving a murder with a French detective named Violet. There’s also a mischievous cat on a leash and a cute pathologist she’s crushing on. This novel is a cozy, modern mystery with plenty of laughs and charm.

When Cassie Coburn moved to London, she never thought she’d be involved in a quadruple homicide.

After a car accident ended her medical career before it even started, Cassie moved to London on a whim, expecting to see the sights and live the typical tourist backpacker lifestyle.

Instead she finds herself accompanying a French private detective, Violet Despuis, as they attempt to find out who poisoned four people in the middle of London.

Cassie’s life soon includes this crazy detective, an ancient landlady with a curious past, a mischeivous orange cat who likes going for walks on a leash, and a super hot pathologist that Cassie is sure is out of her league.

And they haven’t even found the murderer yet…

The Cassie Coburn mysteries are a cozy mystery series featuring a Sherlock-holmes style sleuth. If you want a light, fun, modern mystery featuring a San Francisco girl totally out of her element in London, and a crazy French woman who happens to be very good at noticing things, then this is the series for you.

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The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society follows Sherry Pinkwhistle, a librarian who’s surprisingly good at solving murders. But when her cat gets possessed by a demon, she realizes something supernatural is going on in her village. It’s part fantasy, part mystery, and totally bonkers in the best way.

A librarian with a knack for solving murders realizes there is something decidedly supernatural afoot in her little town in this cozy fantasy mystery.

Librarian Sherry Pinkwhistle keeps finding bodies—and solving murders. But she’s concerned by just how many killers she’s had to track down in her quaint village. None of her neighbors seem surprised by the rising body count…but Sherry is becoming convinced that whatever has been causing these deaths is unnatural. But when someone close to Sherry ends up dead, and her cat, Lord Thomas Crowell, becomes possessed by what seems to be an ancient demon, Sherry begins to think she’s going to need to become an exorcist as well as an amateur sleuth. With the help of her town’s new priest, and an assortment of friends who dub themselves the “Demon-Hunting Society,” Sherry will have to solve the murder and get rid of a demon. This riotous mix of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Murder, She Wrote is a lesson for demons and murderers.

Never mess with a librarian.

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The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

The Eyre Affair is a wild mix of sci-fi, mystery, and classic lit. Thursday Next works in a world where people can jump into books. When someone steals Jane Eyre from her own story, Thursday must go inside the novel to stop a crime that could change English literature forever. Expect fast-paced action, smart humor, and a lot of bookish fun.

Great Britain circa 1985: time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. Baconians are trying to convince the world that Francis Bacon really wrote Shakespeare, there are riots between the Surrealists and Impressionists, and thousands of men are named John Milton, an homage to the real Milton and a very confusing situation for the police. Amidst all this, Acheron Hades, Third Most Wanted Man In the World, steals the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and kills a minor character, who then disappears from every volume of the novel ever printed! But that’s just a prelude . . .

Hades’ real target is the beloved Jane Eyre, and it’s not long before he plucks her from the pages of Bronte’s novel. Enter Thursday Next. She’s the Special Operative’s renowned literary detective, and she drives a Porsche. With the help of her uncle Mycroft’s Prose Portal, Thursday enters the novel to rescue Jane Eyre from this heinous act of literary homicide. It’s tricky business, all these interlopers running about Thornfield, and deceptions run rampant as their paths cross with Jane, Rochester, and Miss Fairfax. Can Thursday save Jane Eyre and Bronte’s masterpiece? And what of the Crimean War? Will it ever end? And what about those annoying black holes that pop up now and again, sucking things into time-space voids . . .

Suspenseful and outlandish, absorbing and fun, The Eyre Affair is a caper unlike any other and an introduction to the imagination of a most distinctive writer and his singular fictional universe.

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Eat, Pray, Die by Chelsea Field

In Eat, Pray, Die, Isobel Avery is a poison taster for rich clients. Her job sounds fancy but it’s full of stress, danger, and bad coffee. She’s trying to pay off her past while keeping her life together. Things get messy when someone tries to kill her. Expect mystery, light romance, and a lot of snarky humor.

Being an undercover poison taster for the rich and famous might sound glamorous, but for Isobel Avery it means stomaching bad clients and even worse coffee.

The one side of the job that lives up to expectations is the money. Which is just as well for Izzy, since she needs an awful lot of it. Who knew when she made a lifelong commitment to a man that it would be one year living with him and the rest of her life paying for it?

But even her scoundrel ex-husband doesn’t look so bad compared to her new client. He’s competent, condescending, and annoyingly attractive, and Izzy doesn’t know whether to sleep with him or poison him herself. Throw in a loan-shark, a nosy neighbor, and a murder attempt, and Izzy will have her work cut out for her.

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Murder With Peacocks by Donna Andrews

Murder With Peacocks brings chaos to a small town with three weddings and one murder. Meg Langslow is stuck planning all the events, dealing with crazy family requests, and trying to keep her cool. When a guest ends up dead, she finds herself solving a mystery instead of picking out flower colors. Expect quirky characters and a fun, twisty cozy mystery.

Three Weddings…And a Murder

So far Meg Langslow’s summer is not going swimmingly. Down in her small Virginia hometown, she’s maid of honor at the nuptials of three loved ones–each of whom has dumped the planning in her capable hands. One bride is set on including a Native American herbal purification ceremony, while another wants live peacocks on the lawn. Only help from the town’s drop-dead gorgeous hunk, disappointingly rumored to be gay, keeps Meg afloat in a sea of dotty relatives and outrageous neighbors.

And, in whirl of summer parties and picnics, Southern hospitality is strained to the limit by an offensive newcomer who hints at skeletons in the guests’ closets. But it seems this lady has offended one too many when she’s found dead in suspicious circumstances, followed by a string of accidents–some fatal. Soon, level-headed Meg’s to-do list extends from flower arrangements and bridal registries to catching a killer–before the next catered event is her own funeral.

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Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen

Nature Girl is a wild ride through the Florida swamps. Honey Santana wants to teach a rude telemarketer a life lesson. But things spiral out of control when a mix of odd people follow her into the wild. The story is full of strange events, messy relationships, and sharp comedy. Expect satire, chaos, and lots of nature.

Honey Santana—impassioned, willful, possibly bipolar, self-proclaimed “queen of lost causes”—has a scheme to help rid the world of irresponsibility, indifference, and dinnertime sales calls. She’s taking rude, gullible Relentless, Inc., telemarketer Boyd Shreave and his less-than-enthusiastic mistress, Eugenie—the fifteen-minute-famous girlfriend of a tabloid murderer—into the wilderness of Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands for a gentle lesson in civility. What she doesn’t know is that she’s being followed by her Honey-obsessed former employer, Piejack (whose mismatched fingers are proof that sexual harassment in the workplace is a bad idea). And he doesn’t know he’s being followed by Honey’s still-smitten former drug-running ex-husband, Perry, and their wise-and-protective-way-beyond-his-years twelve-year-old-son, Fry. And when they all pull up on Dismal Key, they don’t know they’re intruding on Sammy Tigertail, a half white–half Seminole failed alligator wrestler, trying like hell to be a hermit despite the Florida State coed who’s dying to be his hostage . . .

Will Honey be able to make a mensch of a “greedhead”? Will Fry be able to protect her from Piejack—and herself? Will Sammy achieve his true Seminole self? Will Eugenie ever get to the beach? Will the Everglades survive the wild humans? All the answers are revealed in the delectably outrageous mayhem that propels this novel to its Hiaasen-of-the-highest-order climax.

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Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson

In Dark Tort, caterer Goldy Schulz finds a dead body at the law office she’s working for. The victim is her neighbor, and now Goldy is pulled into another murder case. She juggles her food business while searching for the truth. Expect a cozy mystery with recipes, humor, and lots of suspects.

The New York Times bestselling author of Double Shot cooks up a knockout treat featuring irrepressible caterer Goldy Schulz that gives new meaning to the phrase, “let’s kill all the lawyers” I tripped over the body of Dusty Routt sometime after 10 on the evening of October 19th. Goldy Schulz has a lucrative new gig, preparing breakfasts and conference room snacks for a local law firm. It’s time consuming, but Goldy is enjoying it―until the night she arrives to find the firm’s paralegal dead. The poor girl also happens to be Goldy’s next-door neighbor, and now her grieving mother begs Goldy to find out who murdered her daughter. Just because the police are on the case doesn’t mean Goldy can’t do a little snooping―and catering―too. Before long, Goldy is knee-deep in suspects, one of whom is very dangerous and very liable to cook Goldy’s goose.

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The Luck Runs Out by Charlotte MacLeod

The Luck Runs Out follows Professor Peter Shandy as he tries to stop trouble at a horse show. Someone has messed with good luck charms and other strange things are happening at the college. Shandy digs into the mystery before things get worse. Expect small-town charm, quirky humor, and clever puzzles.

Professor Peter Shandy is in trouble up to the eyeballs again. With the Annual Competition of the Balaclava County Draft Horse Association coming up, some saboteur has reversed all the horseshoes nailed to the stable doors of Balaclava Agricultural College as good luck charms. Shandy predicts dire happenings. His predictions are nowhere near dire enough.

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Rest You Merry by Charlotte MacLeod

In Rest You Merry, Peter Shandy comes home from a trip and finds a body in his living room. The victim was part of the college’s big holiday event. Now Peter must solve the case while dealing with holiday madness. Expect a cozy feel, funny moments, and a smart amateur sleuth.

Professor Peter Shandy finally succumbs to Jemima Ames, Chairperson for Balaclava Agricultural College’s major fundraiser, the Grand Illumination. He buries his small brick house under an avalanche of tawdry plastic and escapes on a sea cruise. But he returns to find Jemima dead on his living room floor and a murder to solve.

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Picture Miss Seeton by Heron Carvic

Picture Miss Seeton begins when Miss Seeton sees a stabbing and later sketches a picture that might help catch the killer. But her art puts her in danger. She’s a retired teacher with a gift for getting involved in crime. Expect a classic English village mystery with light humor and a unique detective.

When Miss Seeton walks out after a performance of Carmen and witnesses a real-life stabbing, all she can recall is a shadowy figure. But how could she have guessed that her latest artistic endeavor is a picture-perfect portrait of the killer?

Her sketch puts her in a perilous position, for back at her recently inherited cottage in Plummergen village, she’s fated to be a sitting duck . . . for murder most foul!

Meet Miss Emily D. Seeton: retired art teacher Miss Seeton steps in where Scotland Yard stumbles. Armed with only her sketch pad and umbrella, she is every inch an eccentric English spinster and the most lovable and unlikely master of detection.

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V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton

In V is for Vengeance, Kinsey Millhone takes on a case tied to shoplifting, gambling, and murder. A woman is dead, and nothing about her story makes sense. As Kinsey digs deeper, she finds a web of lies and a crime ring that goes all the way up. Expect a gritty mystery, strong characters, and sharp writing.

A spiderweb of dangerous relationships lies at the heart.

A woman with a murky past jumps off a bridge, or was she thrown? A spoiled kid awash in gambling debt thinks he can beat the system. A lovely woman whose marriage is about to splinter into a thousand fragments. A professional shoplifting ring working for the Mob, racks up millions from stolen goods. A wandering husband is rich and ruthless. A dirty cop is so entrenched on the force he is immune to exposure. A sinister gangster is conscienceless and brutal. A lonely widower mourns the death of his lover, desperate for answers, which may be worse than the pain of his loss. Private detective Kinsey Millhone’s thirty-eighth-birthday gift is a punch in the face that leaves her with two black eyes and a busted nose.

And an elegant and powerful businessman whose dealings are definitely outside the law: the magus at the center of the web.

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A Nun in the Closet by Dorothy Gilman

A Nun in the Closet starts with two nuns inheriting an old house in the country. They discover a wounded man, a suitcase of money, and signs of danger all around them. Strange people show up, and soon they’re in the middle of a real mystery. Expect a mix of charm, suspense, and some unexpected laughs.

A mysterious benefactor donates an old house to the abbey of Sister John and Sister Hyacinthe, bringing ghosts, gangsters, and murder. A wounded man hides in the house. A suitcase stuffed with money sits at the bottom of the well. Apparitions haunt the nights. God knows what will happen next.

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