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

Looking for funny mystery books for adults for 2025 reading list? Check out these best humorous cozy mysteries. These laugh-out-loud whodunits 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 lighthearted funny mystery-suspense books packed with quirky characters. If you love mystery comedy books like Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, this list is for you. I’ve also included most anticipated funny mystery releases of 2025 too.

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• 52 Upcoming Thriller Books 2024
• 51 Bone-Chilling Psychological Thriller Books for Book Clubs
• 10 Best Cozy Mystery Series For Fall 2024
• 10 Cozy Mystery Audiobooks to Keep You Hooked This Fall
• 30 Best Cozy Mysteries for Book Clubs
• 18 Christmas Murder Mystery Books To Read During The Holiday Season

Cozy Mysteries Coming In 2025

Here are some of the upcoming funny mysteries of 2025

Death and the Librarian by Victoria Gilbert

It’s summertime in Virginia, but things are about to get out of hand when murder darkens the annual arts festival in this ninth installment of the critically acclaimed Blue Ridge Library mystery series, perfect for fans of Ellery Adams and Miranda James.

Library director Amy Muir has always been suspicious of wealthy art dealer Kurt Kendrick. As a close family friend, the ties that bind them are strong, but his murky past is concerning, especially since he is the godfather to Amy and her husband Richard’s six-year-old twins. When a visitor to their small, historic Virginia town is found dead after publicly accusing Kurt of committing a decades-old murder, Amy is determined to prove that Kurt didn’t kill anyone, in the past or the present. But the evidence Kurt’s accuser sent to Sheriff Brad Tucker before her untimely demise indicates otherwise. 

With Amy’s own aunt and other older town residents corroborating some of the details related to the first murder, and a witness placing Kurt near the scene of the second crime, it seems Kurt is doomed to swift, and severe, justice. Amidst the fun and excitement of an arts festival that features the premiere of Richard’s new dance company, Amy faces her own challenging performance—balancing her work and family life while dancing on the edge of danger. 

With family and friends harboring suspicions about Kurt, and Amy bedeviled by her own wavering trust in his innocence, she must fight to uncover the truth before a hidden killer strikes again.

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The World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant by Liza Tully

A great detective’s young assistant yearns for glory, but first they have learn to get along in this delightful feel good mystery.

Olivia Blunt doesn’t want to be an assistant detective for the rest of her life. She’s determined to learn everything she can from her mentor and renowned investigator, Aubrey Merritt, but the latter is no easy grader.

After weeks of fielding phone calls from parties desperate for the world-renowned detective’s help, a case comes across Olivia’s desk that just might be worthy of Merritt’s skills. On the evening of her sixty-fifth birthday party, Victoria Summersworth somehow fell over her balcony railing to her death on the rocky shore of Lake Champlain. She was a happy woman—rich, beloved, in love, and matriarch of the preeminent Summersworth family. The police have ruled it a suicide, but her daughter Haley thinks it was murder.

Merritt is ever the skeptic, but Olivia believes Haley. Plus, she’s desperate to prove her investigative skills to her aloof boss. But the Summersworth family drama is a complicated web.

Olivia realizes she might be in over her head with this whole detective thing… or she might be unravelling a mystery even bigger than the one she’d started with.

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Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes by Sandra Jackson-Opoku

A sparkling debut mystery set on the south side of Chicago, featuring the quick-witted, unforgettable Savvy Summers, proprietor of a soul food café.

When Savvy Summers first opened Essie’s soul food café, she never expected her customer-favorite sweet potato pie to become the center of a murder investigation. But when Grandy Jaspers, the 75-year-old neighborhood womanizer, drops dead at table two, she suddenly has more to worry about than just maintaining Essie’s reputation for the finest soul food in the Chicagoland area.

Even as the police deem Grandy’s death an accident, Savvy quickly finds herself—and her beloved café—in the middle of an entire city’s worth of bad press. Desperate to clear her name and keep her business afloat, Savvy and her snooping assistant manager, Penny Lopés, take it upon themselves to find who really killed Grandy.

But with a slimy investor harassing her to sell her name and business, customers avoiding her sweet potato pie like the plague, and her police sergeant ex-husband suddenly back in the picture, will Savvy be able to clear the café’s name and solve Grandy’s murder before it all falls apart?

After all, while Savvy always said her sweet potato pie was to die for, she never meant literally.

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The Game Is Afoot by Elise Bryant

After rage quitting her job, Mavis finally has time to get all the rest she’s been putting off. Or she should have the time. Hypothetically. Except she’s taken on a new  Supermom. Her hours are filled with chauffeuring her daughter, Pearl, around to her extracurricular activities, somehow ending up class mom, and…investigating another mystery?

When Coach Cole, the director of the kids’ soccer program, drops dead on a sunny Saturday morning, no one suspects foul play. However, the police soon discover something suspicious left on the field, making it clear that someone had it in for the coach. But who? Sure, parents got mad when he made their precious star athletes sit on the bench, but not that mad.

Mavis is determined to find out, even if it takes her into the dark, dangerous underbelly of gentle parents and MLM girlbosses. Plus, it’s an easy distraction from everything else going on. Like the panic attacks she keeps brushing off. Or the fact that she’s unemployed and totally lost as to what her purpose and path in life should be. And then there’s her ex-husband who’s back in town and doing everything she’s ever wanted, just as she’s beginning a new relationship. Mavis knows a murder investigation probably isn’t the self-care she needs right now. But how exactly are you supposed to take care of yourself when you don’t even know who you are anymore?

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Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue by Spencer Quinn

Mrs. Plansky is fresh off of winning a thrilling senior tennis championship with her doubles partner, Kev Dinardo, and is gearing up to celebrate with him on his yacht. That is, until the yacht is destroyed in a fire. Kev claims the fire was caused by a lightning strike, pure bad luck, but there’s one small problem—Mrs. Plansky didn’t see any lightning.

Already certain there’s more going on than she’s being told, Mrs. Plansky’s curiosity turns to concern when Kev goes missing. Her suspicion gets the better of her and leads her to break into his house, only to find it ransacked.

But Kev isn’t the only person Mrs. Plansky has to worry about. A conversation with her dad reveals that not long ago, he’d introduced Kev to Jack, Mrs. Plansky’s wayward tennis pro son. And now, her dad—distracted by arrangements for his upcoming wedding—either can’t remember or has no interest in divulging any details.

Worse? Now Jack has gone missing, too.

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Icing on the Murder by Valerie Burns

Influencer-turned-bakery-owner Maddy Montgomery has sold plenty of wedding cakes before, but before she turns one out for her and her fiancé’s wedding, she’ll have to solve a little case of murder . . .

Aunt Octavia would be so proud! Maddy has turned Baby Cakes Bakery—named for her 250-pound English Mastiff, Baby—into a runaway success, and she’s marrying the love of her life, veterinarian Michael Portman. #DreamWedding! Plus the timing couldn’t be the country’s biggest bridal expo has come to New Bison, Michigan, and Maddy has secured a spot for Baby Cakes to showcase their cakes. She’s also entered a contest for an all-expenses-paid wedding extravaganza offered by world-renowned wedding planner Serafina.

Unfortunately, supremely nasty Serafina truly takes the cake—she makes the worst bridezilla seem like a shy flower girl. But there’s one thing the wedding planner didn’t plan on—being impaled by one of the skewers Baby Cakes uses on their tiered wedding cakes.

While Maid of Honor Sheriff April Johnson rounds up suspects at the expo, Maddy and her aunt’s friends, the Baker Street Irregulars, and even Baby join forces to unveil a killer hiding in plain sight . . . before  wedding bells start to chime.

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Solid Gold Murder by Ellen Byron

Dee Stern’s Golden Motel-of-the-Mountains promises a tranquil getaway for outdoor lovers in the scenic Californian village of Foundgold. But when Dee accidentally triggers a modern gold rush, she suddenly turns her peaceful retreat into a hotspot for mayhem and murder . . .

With the summer season looming, former Hollywood sitcom writer Dee Stern has one small goal—scrubbing her motel’s unflattering moniker as the “Murder Motel.” Dee and ex-husband-turned-business-partner Jeff Cornetta are excited to introduce a family-friendly panning activity complete with fool’s gold just in time for the peak tourist months. Except neither could have anticipated the discovery of a real gold nugget or the ensuing social media frenzy. In a flash, the viral sensation draws grizzled prospectors, wide-eyed adventurers, and trend-chasing thrill seekers to the abandoned mines scattered around the woods . . .

The instant popularity proves great for business, but it also attracts a group of out-of-touch Silicon Valley techies with dreams of striking it rich—again. Dee finds herself particularly annoyed by the insufferably smug Sylvan Burr, a retired CEO who sold his startup before age 30 and won’t let anyone forget it. But things take a sinister turn when Sylvan meets a grim fate at the bottom of a mineshaft, leaving Dee at the center of a deadly mystery that could end her days as a motelier. And while Sylvan had plenty of enemies, Dee suddenly faces adversaries rooting against her own success. Now, with her life and the future of the Golden Motel hanging by a thread, Dee must unearth a minefield of suspects and outwit a greedy killer before she finally digs herself too deep

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The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club by Gloria Chao

In this laugh-out-loud murder mystery, three women dating the same man band together to get revenge, but when they discover his body, they’ll need to solve his murder before they go down for it.

The body in the closet was going to be a problem. Kathryn Hu knew it. Yes, Tucker Jones was a cheating scumbag, and yes, she’d agreed to meet Olivia and Elle—Tucker’s other girlfriends—to exact revenge for all he’d put them through… But then they found him. Dead.  

Do they look guilty? Yes.

Do they feel guilty for having wished him dead just hours before? Maybe a little.

But—solid motive and a crime scene covered in their DNA aside—they’re innocent. They swear.

To clear their names, Kat, Olivia and Elle team up to find the real killer. But as they go undercover and lie to everyone, including the hot detective working the case, they realize that every person in their ex’s life had a reason to want him dead. Will they uncover the truth before they go down for a murder they didn’t commit?

Filled with humor and shenanigans, The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club is a romp of an adventure by award-winning author Gloria Chao, perfect for fans of Dial A for Aunties, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It and John Tucker Must Die.

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Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman

Highly acclaimed New York Times bestseller Laura Lippman returns with an irresistible mystery featuring Muriel Blossom, a former private investigator and middle-aged widow whose vacation on a Parisian river cruise turns into a deadly international mystery…that only she can solve. 

Mrs. Blossom is not the kind of woman to play the lottery. She is practical, a devoted grandmother, and has a knack for blending into the background, which was an asset during her days assisting private investigator Tess Monaghan. But when Mrs. Blossom finds a winning ticket in a parking lot, everything changes…including Mrs. Blossom. She is determined to see the world that sometimes feels as if it’s passing her by.

But when Mrs. Blossom booked her cruise through France on the MS Solitaire, she did not expect to meet Allan on her transatlantic flight. He is the first man who’s sparked something inside her since her beloved husband passed.

She also didn’t expect Allan to be found, dead, twenty-four hours later in Paris, a city he wasn’t supposed to be in.

Now Mrs. Blossom doesn’t know who to trust on board the ship, especially when a new, mystifying man, Danny, keeps popping up around every corner, always present when things go awry. He claims that Allan was involved in the transport of a stolen, precious piece of art, and he’s convinced that Mrs. Blossom knows more than she lets on, regarding both the artifact and Allan’s murder.

Mrs. Blossom’s questions only increase as the cruise sails down the Seine. Why does it feel like she is being followed? Who was Allan, and why was he killed? Most alarmingly, why do these mysterious men keep flirting with her?

What follows is a charming one-of-a-kind mystery from one of Time magazine’s “essential crime writers of the last 100 years.” The perfect combination of cozy and thrilling, this novel and the delightful Mrs. Blossom are sure to be unforgettable.

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Answers in the Ashes by Kathi Daley

A case of arson, a long road to recovery, and a new beginning built up from the ashes.After suffering a personal tragedy Abby Sullivan buys seaside mansion, packs up her life in San Francisco, and moves to Holiday Bay, where she is adopted, quite against her will, by a huge Maine Coon Cat named Rufus, a drifter with her own tragic past named Georgia, and a giant dog with an inferiority complex named Ramos. What Abby thought she needed was alone time to heal. What she ended up with was, an inn she never knew she wanted, a cat she couldn’t seem to convince to leave, and a new family she’d never be able to live without.

Was it faulty wiring, or was it arson?

In book 34 in the series, Colt is living with Abby while he mends, and while the couple are enjoying the time they spend together, they both know that there are some hard truths that eventually will need to be dealt with. Georgia and Tanner are having growing pains as they prepare in their own way for the birth of their first child, and Alex is up to her ears in clues, confessions, and leads that go nowhere, when she tries to uncover the truth about the rash of arson fires that seem to be all tangled up with a food truck murder.

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Best Cozy Mysteries That Are Still Popular

Sick Puppy  by Carl Hiaasen 

Sick Puppy centers around a wealthy eco-terrorist who punishes a litterbug with a car full of dung beetles, only to discover the man is a powerful political fixer. What starts as a prank quickly turns wild.

Independently wealthy eco-terrorist Twilly Spree teaches a flagrant litterbug a lesson–and leaves the offender’s precious Range Rover swarming with hungry dung beetles. When he discovers the litterer is one of the most powerful political fixers in Florida, the real Hiaasen-style fun begins.

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L is for Lawless by Sue Grafton

L is for Lawless follows a no-nonsense PI who gets caught up with a couple of smooth-talking scammers, chasing them across the country in a case full of fake identities and hidden motives.

Kinsey’s skills are about to be sorely tested. She is about to meet her match in a couple of duplicitous, world-class prevaricators who quite literally take her for the ride of her life!

‘L is for Lawless,’ but you could call it ‘Kinsey Millhone in Bad Company.’ Call it a mystery without a murder, a treasure hunt without a map, a quest novel with truly mixed-up motives. Call it the return of Kinsey as a bad girl – quick-witted and quick-silvery. She pokes her nose into everybody’s dirty laundry as she joins up with a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde in an ‘Our Gang’ comedy that will take her halfway across the country and leave her with a major headache and an empty bank balance.

America’s favorite borderline delinquent is back with her one-liners and her energy level on high, romping through her fastest and funniest adventure in this, her twelfth foray into the alphabet of crime.

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She Needed Killing  by Bill Fitts 

She Needed Killing unfolds at a folk festival where a man, his cat, and a photo shoot get tangled in a strange mix of snakes, blackmail, and a burning desire for the truth literally.


Crawford had never considered taking his cat to the local folk festival. But when a friend wants The Black for a photo shoot, he obliges. That a snake will be part of the shoot is just the first surprise in store for him and his pets. Snakes, fortune tellers, arsonists, blackmailers . . . this festival will be unlike any other in the history of Jemison County.

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Terminal by Marshall Karp 

Terminal revolves around two LAPD detectives investigating a group of terminally ill people hired to kill for cash. The moral lines blur fast in this case where everyone’s got something to lose.


From James Patterson: “Lomax and Biggs are back, and this is my good friend and co-writer Marshall Karp at his funniest—while also fashioning a very tight and surprising mystery.”

Marshall Karp, coauthor of the #1 bestselling NYPD Red series, sets his latest thriller in LA, where someone is recruiting terminally ill patients to commit one final act before they die. Murder.

Laced with twists, turns, and Karp’s trademark biting cop humor, you may find yourself rooting for the killers—law-abiding citizens who have abandoned their values to earn a half million dollars for the loved ones they will leave behind. You may also find yourself asking, “What would I do?”

If you’ve never met LAPD detectives Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs, TERMINAL is the perfect place to start.

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He Needed Killing Too  by Bill Fitts 

He Needed Killing Too kicks off when a hated university press director is shot dead. With plenty of people happy to see him gone, one reluctant sleuth has to sort through suspects including the office cat.


The director of the University Press was often characterized as a man who needed killing. The Press’s authors and employees certainly wouldn’t disagree–even Peter the Gray, the office cat, detested him. So when someone puts a bullet through Philip Douglas’s head, Crawford has plenty of suspects to consider when he is once again thrust into the role of detective.

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Where the Truth Lies by Rupert Holmes

Where the Truth Lies follows a free-spirited young journalist digging into a cold case involving two entertainers and one dead woman. The deeper she goes, the more twisted the truth becomes.


O’Connor, a vivacious, free-spirited young journalist known for her penetrating celebrity interviews, is bent on unearthing secrets long ago buried by the handsome showbiz team of singer Vince Collins and comic Lanny Morris. These two highly desirable men, once inseparable (and insatiable, where women were concerned), were driven apart by a bizarre and unexplained death in which one of them may have played the part of murderer. As the tart-tongued, eye-catching O’Connor ventures deeper into this unsolved mystery, she finds herself compromisingly coiled around both men, knowing more about them than they realize and less than she might like, but increasingly fearful that she now knows far too much.

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A Bad Day for Pretty by Sophie Littlefield 

A Bad Day for Pretty centers on a tough small-town woman trying to prove a gentle man’s innocence after a body turns up under a demolition derby snack shack. Add a nosy ex-wife and a complicated sheriff, and things get messy fast.


Stella Hardesty, avenger of wronged women, is getting cozy with Sheriff “Goat” Jones when a tornado blows none other than Goat’s scheming ex-wife, Brandy, through the front door. Adding to the chaos, the tornado destroys the snack shack at the demolition derby track, pulling up the concrete foundation and unearthing a woman’s body. The main suspect in the woman’s murder is Neb Donovan—he laid the foundation, and there’s some pretty hard evidence pointing to his guilt. Years ago, Neb’s wife asked Stella for help getting him sober. Stella doesn’t believe the gentle man could kill anyone, and she promises his frantic wife she’ll look into it.
Former client Chrissy Shaw is now employed at Stella’s sewing shop and she helps with the snooping as Stella negotiates the unpredictable Brandy and the dangerously magnetic sheriff.
This is the thrilling sequel to Sophie Littlefield’s critically-acclaimed debut, A Bad Day for Sorry, which won an Anthony Award and an RT Book Award, was an Edgar Award Finalist, and was shortlisted for Barry, Crimespree, and Macavity Awards. Stella Hardesty is a heroine to watch—join her on this next adventure for as fiercely funny and riveting a story as there is to be found in crime fiction.

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Money for Nothing by Donald E. Westlake

Money for Nothing begins with a man mysteriously receiving monthly checks for years until someone shows up to collect. Turns out, cashing them came with strings, and now he’s part of something he can’t escape.


One of America’s best-loved authors returns with a delightfully chilling new stand-alone in the vein of his bestsellers The Ax and The Hook. Josh Redmont was 27 when the first check arrived, and he had absolutely no idea what it was for. Issued by “United States Agent” through an unnamed bank with an indeterminate address in D.C., someone seemed to think Josh was owed $1,000. One month later, another check arrived, and then another, and another…and Josh cashed them all. Month after month, year after year, never a peep from the IRS, never an explanation for all this seemingly found money; the checks even followed Josh from one address to another as he moved through life. Now, after a full seven years, we find him on his way to meet the wife and kids for a summer vacation. Puzzled by the approach of a smiling stranger, Josh’s stomach seizes with dread when the unwanted greeting begins with, “I am from United States Agent.” Dumbstruck, Josh attempts to feign ignorance until he hears the words, “You are now active.”

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Malicious Masquerade by Alan Cupp

Malicious Masquerade  is about a private investigator whose new case involves vanishing fiancés, stolen money, and secrets that could turn deadly. Nothing is as it seems, and time is running out.

Chicago PI Carter Mays is thrust into a perilous masquerade when local rich girl Cindy Bedford hires him. Turns out her fiancé failed to show up on their wedding day, the same day millions of dollars are stolen from her father’s company. While Carter takes the case, Cindy’s father tries to find him his own way. With nasty secrets, hidden finances, and a trail of revenge, it’s soon apparent no one is who they say they are.

Carter searches for the truth, but the situation grows more volatile as panic collides with vulnerability. Broken relationships and blurred loyalties turn deadly, fueled by past offenses and present vendettas in a quest to reveal the truth behind the masks before no one, including Carter, gets out alive.

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Dover Two by Joyce Porter

Dover Two features a grumpy, lazy inspector.  Now tasked with solving the attempted murder of a girl in a coma. With barely any clues and his own bad attitude, solving the case might be harder than it looks.

In the best and funniest of a series of books about Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover of New Scotland Yard, the irascible detective investigates the murder of “Sleeping Beauty”–a young woman who has been in a coma since a murder attempt months earlier. Clues are few and the case is a tough one, but even an open-and-shut case might prove difficult for Dover, who is distinguished chiefly by corpulence, ill temper, and incompetence. – The Mystery Lover’s Companion, Art Bourgeau.

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Gator Bait  by Jana Deleon 

Gator Bait follows a CIA assassin and small-town fake who’s finally settling in until her new love interest is nearly killed. She snaps back into action, ready to find the shooter and settle the score. 


From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jana DeLeon, the fifth book in the hilarious Miss Fortune series.

Things are starting to look up for Fortune Redding. Even though her life was at stake, the CIA assassin had balked at taking on a new identity in Sinful, Louisiana. But instead of hating it like she’d thought she would, Fortune now has friends she cares about and just finished up an incredible first date with the sexiest deputy in the state. Sure, there’s been a murder or two that she’s gotten mixed up in since she arrived in town, but she’s hoping all of that is behind her.

But when someone almost kills Deputy Carter LeBlanc, Fortune tosses her dreams of peace and quiet into the muddy bayou and shifts back into being the deadly trained professional that she is. With the help of Ida Belle and Gertie, Fortune launches a manhunt, intending to find a killer before he tries again.

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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

Me

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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

Devil’s Chew is about a teacher and part-time blogger Hayden McCall. He 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. Poison in Paddington 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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