Cozy mysteries give readers an escape from the darkness of their lives, taking something like murder and finding a way to make it lighthearted. And though Britain may be known for its gloomy weather, their mysteries really are the coziest.
Do you like historical tales unraveling in the big city? Or maybe modern marvels tucked away in the countryside?
You're in for a treat! Here are eight British cozy mystery books that'll have you hooked.
A Murder of Crows
Ecologist Dr. Nell Ward finds herself stepping into the role of amateur sleuth when she becomes the primary suspect in a murder.
She's inspecting an old tunnel in the grounds of a local manner house when she overhears a deadly confrontation. Now she's the only one with a clue about what happened, and the only one that can clear her name.
Her special set of skills make her uniquely qualified to solve this case—and others, and this is book one in an ongoing series!
A Rare Interest In Corpses
Like your mysteries with a splash of the past? This historical cozy is set in 1864.
Lizzie Martin has taken a job as a rich widow's companion and is unsettled to learn the girl in the position before her had a sudden disappearance. The story is that the girl ran off with a mysterious man, but things look shady when her body is found in a demolished slum.
With some help from her old friend, Inspector Benjamin Ross, Lizzie tries to unravel the complex web surrounding the girl whose life was so similar to hers. But the truth can be deadly…
Cover-Up Story
Perkins & Tate is a hands-on public relations firm in London. But even they get more than they bargained for with their new potential client, country singer Black Bart.
Black Bart may bring the big bucks, but he's also got a bad habit of drooling after underage groupies. His comic wife and her overbearing stage mother don't exactly clean up his image.
When Black Bart's mother-in-law turns up dead, it's up to Douglas Perkins and Gerry Tate to dig through the suspicious circumstances to find the truth. It's business, after all.
Grey Mask
Charles Moray spent four years traipsing through the jungles of India and South America. Now the young man has return to his family home in England to collect his rightful inheritance.
When he arrives at the manor, however, he finds it unlocked. More unusual, one of the unused rooms has a light on.
Stealthily moving through the home, Charles overhears a conspiracy to commit a horrible crime. At first, he's content to push the matter onto the police, but the song of his long-lost love's voice in the mix gives him pause.
Instead, he turns to Miss Maud Silver, a governess-turned-detective who can untangle this nefarious plan.
A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall
Kat Stanford is an antique dealer who finds herself embroiled in an old mystery when she discovers the mummified remains of a young woman in an abandoned wing of Honeychurch Hall.
It seems this woman was murdered, and it's likely the culprit used to live at the sprawling home. Kat's mother, Iris, has a dicey past, so it's not shocking to Kat that she knew the victim.
Kat is determined to untangle this crime of days gone by, and soon discovers that things aren't as clear cut as they're made out to be. And sometimes, to protect the ones you love, you have to lay your life on the line.
The Festival Murders
The annual literary festival in Mold-on-Wold is in for a scandalous and scathing talk from Bryce Peabody. He's not a man without enemies, and he's not afraid to make more.
When he's found dead in his hotel room, it's not entirely surprising. But the nervous festival attendees are eager to know who did it.
Was it a jilted writer out for revenge? A more personal crime of passion?
Author Francis Meadowes is used to writing about amateur detectives, but life is imitating fiction as he tries to get to the bottom of things.
A Quiet Life in the Country
Eccentric widow Lady Emily Hardcastle has a secret past. She also has a maid, Florence Armstrong, who is adept at martial arts.
It's 1908, and these offbeat women have just left London for a quieter life in the country. But a dead body in the woods sends them down another path.
With the police taking their investigation in the wrong direction, it's up to Lady Hardcastle to put the pieces together herself. As they traverse the intrigue woven around the town and beyond, everyone is a suspect.
Pancakes and Corpses
Julia South is in the middle of a divorce, and the last thing she needs it to be caught up in a murder investigation. But when she finds the dead body of a customer in her café, she doesn't really have a choice.
With a new Detective Inspector poking around and undermining her at every turn, Julia sets out to solve the case before her friends take the heat. Or worse, someone else ends up dead.
