Hopefully during these busy last days of the year, you’ll be able to take a few moments for yourself. I can’t think of a better way to spend that time than with a good mystery and a cozy blanket, with cup of hot cocoa in hand. Here are a few cozy mysteries I highly recommend:
Agatha Christie is the first author who comes to mind when I think “cozy mystery.” Time after time, she flawlessly pulls together a masterful 
whodunit that you simply cannot put down. If you’ve never tried her books, “And Then There Were None” is a great introduction to the Queen of Mysteries. This stand-alone mystery is a gripping read that finds 10 strangers on an island off the coast of Britain in 1939. When they start dying off, the hunt is on to find which one of them is actually the murderer.
“Real Murders” is a cozy mystery from Charlaine Harris, the author whose books inspired the “True Blood” television series. Librarian Aurora 
Teagarden belongs to a club that regularly meets to discuss real life murder mysteries. Soon members of the group begin turning up dead in similar fashions to the famous murders they are studying. Aurora sets out to find out whodunit before any more of her group fall victim. Harris writes with a delightful sense of humor, and, if you enjoy it, you’ll be happy to know this is the first book in a series.
If you want something cozy, but are interested in something a little more ominous, then Ruth Ware’s “In a Dark, Dark Wood” may be the book for you. Years after their 
friendship ends, Nora is surprised to find herself invited to Clare’s hen party. Nora can’t resist the urge to find out why and heads out for the party, which happens to take place in an isolated house in the woods. It’s soon apparent that the group may not be the only ones in the woods, and before the end of the weekend someone is dead. Ware’s novel is a twisty, layered tale that slowly unfolds through a series of flashbacks, and it’s filled with red herrings that would make Agatha Christie herself proud!
Val McDermid’s “A Place of Execution” is one of my favorite mysteries. It is a bit on the darker side, but still draws on that cozy mystery theme of 
murder in a small town. A young girl goes missing from her village and signs point to her vicious murder. The book then jumps ahead 34 years. The case, it turns out, was solved and punishment was rendered. Journalist Catherine Heathcote is looking into this old mystery, but when she is blown off by retired cop George Bennett, who was originally in charge of the case, she discovers that justice may not have been served. Even though it means opening old wounds, she moves forward to find out just what really happened.
Happy (and cozy) reading!
photo credit: Davi Ozolin, Tell me a Story via photopin (license)
