Harvest your next read with these fall cozy mysteries.
Fall is just around the corner and what better way to get into the season than to read a fall-inspired Cozy Mystery?
Grab your library card, a cup of coffee, and a warm sweater because here is my list of 8 Fall Cozy Mysteries.
- Bitter Harvest
- Through the Liquor Glass
- Foul Play at the Fair
- Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking
- Castle Deadly, Castle Deep
- Death Overdue
- The Spook in the Stacks
- A Halloween Homicide
And one for the kid in me. Fletcher and the Falling Leaves. This has got to be my favorite fall children’s book. I still read it each year. So sweet!
Bitter Harvest -Book 2 in the A Green House Mystery Series by Wendy Tyson
Megan Sawyer should be shouting from the barn roof. Washington Acres survived its first year, the cafe has become a hot spot for locals, and Winsome’s sexy Scottish veterinarian is making house calls-and not just for the animals! But as summer slips into fall and Winsome prepares for its grand Oktoberfest celebration, beer isn’t the only thing brewing. When the town pub’s owner is killed in a freak accident, Megan suspects something sinister is afoot in Winsome, but no one is listening. As nights grow longer and temperatures chill, Megan must plow through Winsome’s fixation with autumn festivities to harvest the truth, before another dead body marks the season.
Through the Liquor Glass- Book 5 in the Literary Pub Mystery Series by Sarah Fox by Wendy Tyson
Autumn brings a wonderland of color and atmosphere to Vermont. As the last leaves fall from the trees, the town is gearing up for a new festival: A Taste of Shady Creek. Pub proprietor Sadie Coleman is looking forward to visitors coming to sample her literary-themed cocktails. She’s a little more wary about her mother’s impending first visit. What if her mom doesn’t like Sadie’s adopted town—or her new boyfriend, Grayson Blake?
Those concerns are overshadowed when a food critic is found dead at Grayson’s craft brewery, pinned under a barrel. Curiouser and curiouser—the victim is linked to Grayson’s past as a private investigator, and all the evidence points to him as the killer. While Grayson lays low, Sadie starts some investigating of her own, diving down a rabbit hole of suspects. Was it a bad review that made the killer mad as a hatter? Or are there other motives at play?
In between serving Kiss of the Cider Woman cocktails and book-minded bites to festival goers, Sadie is striving to clear Grayson’s name. But it’ll take more than a dash of ingenuity to prevent the festival from fizzing out completely—and stop a killer from downing another innocent life . . .
Foul Play at the Fair – Book 1 in the Celebration Bay Series by Shelly Freydont
Every day is a holiday in Celebration Bay . . . but unfortunately death doesn’t take a holiday. New York City event planner Liv Montgomery is burned out, sick of the bridezillas, the mad men, the desperate housewives, the anything but sweet sixteens. So the job of event organizer in the small, rural town of Celebration Bay, sounds like a little piece of heaven.
With the success of the Harvest on the Bay Festival, life is sweet, all apple crisp and homemade jams, cider donuts and pumpkin pies. But things hit a sour note when an itinerant entertainer is found dead, pinioned by an antique apple press.
Motives pile up higher than a bushel of apples and Liv must navigate her way through a maze of secrets, lies and Yankee taciturnity to find the killer before the Harvest on the Bay Festival heads for Foul Play at the Fair.
Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking – Book 2 in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery Series by Raquel V. Reyes
It’s time for a savory soirée—but something sinister is stewing—in Raquel V. Reyes’s second delightful Caribbean Kitchen mystery, perfectly delicious for fans of Mia P. Manansala. Fall festivities are underway in Coral Shores, Miami. Cuban-American cooking show star Miriam Quiñones-Smith wakes up to find a corpse in her front yard. The body by the fake tombstone is the woman that was kicked out of the school’s Fall Festival the day before.
Miriam’s luck does not improve. Her passive-aggressive mother-in-law puts her in charge of the Women’s Club annual gala. But this year, it’s not canapes and waltzes. Miriam and her girlfriends-squad opt for fun and flavor. They want to spice it up with Caribbean food trucks and a calypso band. While making plans at the country club, they hear a volatile argument between the new head chef and the club’s manager. Not long after, the chef swan dives to his death at the bottom of the grand staircase.
Was it an accident? Or was it Beverly, the sous chef, who is furious after being passed over for the job? Or maybe it was his ex-girlfriend, Anastasia?
Add two possible poisonings to the mix and Miriam is worried the food truck fun is going to be a major crash. As the clock ticks down and the body count goes up, Miriam’s life is put in jeopardy. Will she connect the dots or die in the deep freeze? Foodies and mystery lovers alike will savor the denouement as the truth is laid bare in this simmering stew of rage, retribution, and murder.
Castle Deadly, Castle Deep – Book 2 in the A Dinner and a Murder Mystery Series by Veronica Bond
After a man dies during a performance at Castle Dark, Nora Blake learns just how hard it is to catch a killer, especially if every suspect is a trained actor, in this exciting new Dinner and a Murder Mystery. Autumn has arrived at Castle Dark, and Nora Blake has settled into her role as an actor in Derek Corby’s castle murder-mystery troupe. She is troubled, however, by the setting of Derek’s fall mystery: the catacombs in the depths of the castle. Yes, these catacombs are part of a set, the skeletons and cobwebs mere props, but Nora feels uneasy in the shadowy passages beneath Castle Dark. When a man is killed during one of their first shows, the eerie catacombs become a place of terror.
Joined by her castle companions, Nora attempts to find the motive for killing a seemingly innocent victim. Some of those answers appear to lie with the local community theater, the members of which Nora has come to know because she has joined Derek’s latest town production. As Nora practices her lines at Wood Glen’s Blue Curtain Theater, she realizes that everyone around her is an actor, and all of her suspects are perfectly capable of convincing others of their innocence. Nora soon discovers that someone else is in danger and that she may also be in the sights of the killer. With the help of her handsome boyfriend, Detective John Dashiell, Nora will have to go off-script to prevent a murderous encore. . . .
Death Overdue – Book 1 in The Haunted Library Mysteries by Allison Brook
Carrie Singleton is just about done with Clover Ridge, Connecticut until she’s offered a job as the head of programs and events at the spooky local library, complete with its own librarian ghost. Her first major event is a program presented by a retired homicide detective, Al Buckley, who claims he knows who murdered Laura Foster, a much-loved part-time library aide who was bludgeoned to death fifteen years earlier. As he invites members of the audience to share stories about Laura, he suddenly keels over and dies.
The medical examiner reveals that poison is what did him in and Carrie feels responsible for having surged forward with the program despite pushback from her director. Driven by guilt, Carrie’s determined to discover who murdered the detective, convinced it’s the same man who killed Laura all those years ago. Luckily for Carrie, she has a friendly, knowledgeable ghost by her side. But as she questions the shadows surrounding Laura’s case, disturbing secrets come to light and with each step Carrie takes, she gets closer to ending up like Al.
Check out Angela Marie Hart’s full review
The Spook in the Stacks – Book 4 in the Lighthouse Library Mystery Series by Eva Gates
Halloween in North Carolina’s Outer Banks becomes seriously tricky when librarian Lucy Richardson stumbles across something extra unusual in the rare books section: a dead body.
Wealthy businessman Jay Ruddle is considering donating his extensive collection of North Carolina historical documents to the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, but the competition for the collection is fierce. Unfortunately, while the library is hosting a lecture on ghostly legends, Jay becomes one of the dearly departed in the rare books section. Now, it’s up to Lucy Richardson and her fellow librarians to bone up on their detective skills and discover who is responsible for this wicked Halloween homicide.
Meanwhile, very strange things are happening at the library—haunted horses are materializing in the marsh, the lights seem to have an eerie life of their own, and the tiny crew of a model ship appears to move around when no one is watching. Is Lucy at her wit’s end? Or can it be that the Bodie Island Lighthouse really is haunted?
With The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on everyone’s minds and ghoulish gossip on everyone’s lips, Lucy will need to separate the clues from the boos if she wants to crack this case without losing her head in The Spook in the Stacks, the delightful fourth in national bestseller Eva Gates’ Lighthouse Library mysteries.
A Halloween Homicide – Book 3 in the Holiday Cozy Mystery #3 by Tonya Kappes
CELEBRATE GOOD CRIMES. In book 2, Violet Rhinehammer is busy trying to keep the Junctional Journal afloat and that includes the participating in all the Halloween activities planned. One problem, Violet is not a fan of Halloween or anything that comes with it. Including a haunted ghost walk.
Town folks believe Violet has woken an angry spirit due to the nature of her snooping around into the past history of Holiday Junction. Darren Strickland, a life long resident, thinks Violet is letting her imagination run away.
Violet begins to dig deeper when local law enforcement seems to be dragging their feet, after all, she’s got a hot story to uncover, but really uncovers a buried secret along with some old skeletal bones that gives Violet the fright of her life.
Meanwhile, Mille Kay is adjusting to spending time with new friends and making sure she puts the southern in her new tradition even if it includes her coming face to face with the ghost!
Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson
As the autumn season sets in, Fletcher is very worried his beautiful tree has begun to loose all of its leaves. Whatever Fletcher attempts to do to save them, it’s simply no use. When the final leaf falls, Fletcher feels hopeless… until he returns the next day to a glorious sight. A tender, uplifting tale about acceptance and hope for the future.
What better way to kick off the fall season than with this list of fall cozy mysteries! Celebrate with a great read and a cup of coffee.
If you are in need of all things pumpkin check out these great fall recipes including our pumpkin creamer!
Looking for great Real Halloween Movies, not Slash and Hacks parading around like a Halloween movie? Check out our list of 31 days of real Halloween movies.
If you are interested in purchasing one of these fall novels my Bookshop.org page has them. I receive a small commission if you purchase through my link. However, Bookshop.org also donates a commission to independent bookstores across the country. Bookshop.org is an organization dedicated to helping independent bookstores compete with big box stores.
Books are the most wonderful friends in the world. When you meet them and pick them up, they are always ready to give you a few ideas. When you put them down, they never get mad; when you take them up again, they seem to enrich you all the more. -Fulton Sheen
As always, Thanks for stopping by for some Salty Inspirations!
