August may be full of hot and humid days, but we know fall is just around the corner. The first sign of the changing seasons is the return of children to their schools across the United States.
Weeks before, teachers have been prepping their classrooms and readying their lesson plans for the year ahead. But in the mind of a cozy mystery writer, the school year offers all sorts of opportunities for murder and mayhem.
Teachers can be great detectives with their sharp eyes and inquisitive brains. Here are eight teacher cozy mysteries—plus a bonus book centered around teachers and schools!
Dandy Gilver and a Bothersome Number of Corpses
Some schools have a high turnover of teachers, but St Columba's College for Young Ladies has a high mortality rate for its staff.
Fleur Lipscott is one of the teachers at the school, and she happens to be an old childhood friend of Dandy Gilver. But it's Fleur’s sisters who call in Dandy to get to the bottom of all of these missing and murdered teachers.
Dandy goes undercover as a substitute French tutor, but soon she discovers the body of the missing French tutor. Meanwhile, Fleur claims she’s behind the deaths.
Now Dandy has to figure out what is going on, and if her old friends’ sister really is a serial murder.
It’s the 7th in the 16-book Dandy Gilver series.
Dear Miss Demeanor
In the fourth book of the Agatha award-winning Joan Hess’ Claire Malloy series, Claire needs a break from the construction right outside her bookshop. So when her daughter tells her about how the beloved journalism teacher, Emily Parchester, has been accused of embezzlement, she asks her mother to go undercover as a substitute teacher to figure out what really happened.
Worse yet, when the principal dies from poison laced in Emily Parchester’s compote, Claire has to clear the disgraced teacher’s name of murder.
Death Makes the Cut
In the second book of the three-book Jocelyn Shore series, Jocelyn is heartbroken to learn that the body of her friend and colleague Fred Argus has been found on campus. Worse yet, there is strong evidence that Fred was a drug dealer.
On top of that, the campus is being used for a movie shoot, getting in the way of a regular school day, much less Jocelyn’s investigations.
But it’s clear that someone does not want Jocelyn to clear her friend’s name, which only makes her more committed to finding out the truth.
Murder on the Blackboard
There’s a lot of speculation about teacher Anise Halloran, who seems too young, fashionable, and beautiful to be working as a teacher. But when she’s found murdered in the cloakroom after staying after school, fellow teacher Hildegarde Withers pulls in Inspector Piper to help find the young teacher’s killer.
Except the body has disappeared. Now Withers and Piper have to find both the body and the killer.
It’s the third in the 14-book Hildegarde Withers series.
Murder in G Major
Sometimes you need to make a fresh start. Even if that means moving to another country and working in a small-town all-boys school.
That’s what concert violinist Gethsemane Brown decides to do. She’s moved from the United States to a small Irish village to direct and lead a boys’ orchestra to victory.
But she gets more than she bargained for when she learns that her cottage is haunted by the ghost of famous composer Eamon McCarthy, who was accused of murdering his wife before taking his own life. The ghost begs her to clear his name and find out who really killed the two of them.
It’s the first in the five-book Gethsemane Brown Mysteries Series.
Good news, the books have also been made into Hallmark movies, with the fourth movie, Haunted Harmony Mysteries: Prelude to a Wedding, debuting on September 5th.
My Grandfather, the Master Detective
This book is being described as a Japanese Thursday Murder Club. Schoolteacher Kaede works with her grandfather, who previously was a member of the Waseda Mystery Club before a diagnosis of Lewy body dementia changed his life.
But she soon realizes that despite his hallucinations and memory gaps, he’s still lucid when it comes to solving mysteries, including one from Kaede’s own past.
A Spoonful of Murder
The tag line is pitch perfect: retirement can be murder.
Three former schoolteachers—Liz, Pat, and Thelma—meet every Thursday at the Thirsk Garden Centre cafe. It gives some structure to their lives.
But things get interesting when they run into a former colleague, Topsy, one week.
When the next Thursday comes around, they learn that Topsy is dead. They think that Topsy was murdered, and decide to put their brains together to find out who killed their colleague.
It’s the first in the four-book Liz, Pat and Thelma series.
Death by Deception
Savanna Shepherd has started a new life in her old town as an art teacher. It's nice to be closer to her sisters.
She’d spent years working as an arts authenticator, letting her artistic side languish. Now she’s gotten a second chance when an old family friend commissions a mural in her mansion.
But something is off in the mansion. Accidents, break-ins, and a death seem to center around the house.
Savanna decides to investigate to find out what exactly is going on with their only family friend.
It’s the first in the five-book Shepherd Sisters Mysteries series.
Don’t Cross Mo Ellery
As a bonus, here’s a USA Today bestselling teacher-adjacent cozy-ish mystery.
In one fell swoop, Mo Ellery loses her job, her boyfriend, and her apartment on her birthday. Moving home isn’t an option, so she finds a part-time job as a school crossing guard.
It doesn’t pay a lot, but at least there is health insurance.
But it’s not as easy as she thought. She hardly expected to have a nemesis, Poodle Dude, who tries to run her over every day in his SUV with poodles hanging out the windows.
One day, he crashes his car, and she discovers he is very dead.
Now she’s taking care of his three poodles while being dragged kicking and screaming into a murder investigation by a neighbor and a precocious schoolkid
It’s a fun cozy-adjacent mystery with some spicy elements.
