Try A Culinary Cozy Book Club

10 Great Mysteries That Will Make You Hungry For More

The Recipe for a Perfect Culinary Cozy Mystery

Here at ThriftBooks, we often talk about starting a culinary cozy mystery book club! The cozy mystery genre is ideal when you've got a group with eclectic literary tastes because, while the books tend to be page-turners, they avoid the explicit sex and violence that dominate the crime genre. Mix in the culinary aspect and you've got a meal plan!

Ingredients:

• Sex and violence may be alluded to, but they occur off stage. No gory details to keep you up at night.
• The crime-solver in cozy mysteries tends to be an amateur sleuth and often a woman. There are a few notable exceptions to this rule, such as Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Inspector Chopra (with his baby elephant!).
• The setting involves a particular eatery, often located in a small cloistered community (exceptions include the Singaporean and Coffeehouse series, highlighted below).
• The book's deliciously punny title may make you both giggle and groan simultaneously, e.g. Feta Attraction, Cobblered To Death, The Crêpes of Wrath.
• Food is a big part of the story, obvs, and recipes are often included!

Combine and serve! Here are ten of our favorites of the genre.

Brutal Beverages

On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle (#1 of the Coffeehouse Mysteries)
Ten years ago, Clare Cosi left a job she loved, managing a coffeehouse in Greenwich Village, to raise her daughter in the quiet suburbs of New Jersey. But now that her daughter is grown, life has gotten way too quiet for Clare. Returning to the city (and her old job), she gets one heck of a jolt on her first morning back.

A Riesling to Die by J. C. Eaton (#1 of the Wine Trail Mysteries)
When screenwriter Norrie Ellington takes over running her family's winery, she finds herself squaring off against local B&B owner Elsbeth Waters, who makes a habit of bad mouthing area wineries. But when Waters's body is found on the grounds of her winery, Ellington needs to clear her name.

Death by Darjeeling by Laura Childs (#1 in the Tea Shop Mysteries)
It's tea for two hundred at the annual historic homes garden party. And Theodosia, as event caterer, is busy serving steaming teas and blackberry scones while guests sing her praises. But the sweet smell of success turns to suspense when an esteemed guest is found dead—his hand clutching his empty teacup.

Murderous Mains

Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien (#1 in the Noodle Shop Mysteries)
Lana Lee didn't want to work in her family's noodle restaurant, but she's out of options after quitting her former job. Now one of their customers has turned up dead after eating the shrimp dumplings and Lana has to clear her name by figuring out who killed him. Bonus: her dog is named Kikkoman!

Hummus and Homicide by Tina Kashian (#1 in the Kebab Kitchen Mysteries)
After ditching her job as a lawyer, Lucy Berberian has returned to her hometown to help out in her family's Mediterranean restaurant. But the health inspector, Lucy's high school nemesis, cites the restaurant for several violations. When she suddenly drops dead, Lucy is left as the number one suspect.

Curses, Boiled Again! by Shari Randall (#1 in the Lobster Shack Mysteries)
Welcome to the seaside hamlet of Mystic Bay, where the fish is always fresh, the folks are ever-friendly, and murder is on a roll. After a bad fall, professional ballet dancer Allie Larkin is back home nursing a broken ankle and helping her beloved Aunt Gully get her lobster shack business going. But things take a turn when one of the judges for the local food fest turns up dead.

Aunty Lee's Delights by Ovidia Yu (#1 of the Singaporean Mysteries)
Meet Rosie "Aunty" Lee, feisty widow and proprietor of Singapore's best-loved restaurant. When a body is found in one of Singapore's tourist havens and one of her guests fails to show at a dinner party, Aunty Lee knows that the two events are likely connected.

Dangerous Desserts

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke (#1 in the Hannah Swenson series)
Hannah has her hands full trying to dodge her mother's attempts to marry her off while running Lake Eden's most popular bakery. But when the beloved delivery man from a local dairy is found murdered with her famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, she sets out to nab the killer.

A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collette (#1 in the new Ice Cream Parlor Mysteries)
Recent MBA grad Bronwyn Crewse has taken over her family's ice cream shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. She's renovating the building and revamping the menu with all of her grandmother's delicious, homemade recipes. But her plans are complicated by unexpected delays, wintry weather, and then there's that body that turns up in snow.

Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake by Sarah Graves (#1 in the Death by Chocolate Mysteries)
When Jake and Ellie decide to open a chocolate-themed bakery in the island fishing village of Eastport, Maine, they figure it'll be a piece of cake. With Ellie's irresistible family recipes, they expect to make plenty of dough over Fourth of July weekend. But their plans are dashed by an early-season hurricane, and also...murder.

You may have noticed a few similarities in these descriptions. And you may be asking yourself: Are cozy mysteries perhaps a little formulaic? To that, we must respond: Yes, of course! But it's a working formula, people! In any case, you don't have to read the books, but (if you like terrible, wonderful puns) you MUST peruse some of the tasty titles in these featured series. They're just too good!

Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon