Some people take their love of beer or wine very seriously. People may plan entire vacations to check out the wineries in Napa or in France.
Others may do beer crawls in cities known for their beer offerings. And some even decide to take the leap into owning their own bar, brewery, or even winery and wine bar.
But where passions run high, murder soon follows.
Here’s a list of seven books for cozy mystery lovers who also adore their beers and/or wines.
Killer Chardonnay (A Colorado Wine Mystery Book 1)
It’s the first of the four-book Colorado Wine Mystery series. It’s a dream come true for Parker Valentine. She’s finally opening the wine bar of her dreams, Vino Valentine, in her hometown, Boulder, Colorado.
But when a food critic shows up and pans the wine bar, the future starts to look murky.
When that very same good critic dies shortly after his review…people suspect Parker was behind it. Now she’s got to clear her name and save her dream business.
From Beer to Eternity (A Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon Mystery Book 1)
In memory of her past friend, Chloe Jackson decides to take time off to help her late friend’s grandmother, Vivi, run her bar, the Sea Glass Saloon in Emerald Cove, Florida.
No one told Vivi that she was coming, and Vivi doesn't want the help. Chloe fibs that she’s stuck there due to car troubles and asks for a job at the bar.
But when Vivi gets into a fight with a bar patron, and that man shows up dead behind the Sea Glass’ bar, it’s clear that Vivi does need help to stay out of jail.
It’s the first of four books in the Sea Glass Saloon Mystery series.
Blackmail and Bibingka (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mysteries Book 3)
In the third book of the six-book Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series, Lila Macapagal and her friends are about to end the year in the black with their new cafe/bakery The Brew-Ha Cafe.
But when Lila’s estranged cousin, Ronnie, suddenly reappears in their lives, she’s worried it’s going to break her aunt’s heart again. Ronnie swears he’s back for good since he’s part owner of a local winery.
Lila isn’t completely convinced so when someone turns up dead at the winery, Ronnie is the top suspect. But she feels compelled to investigate since he is technically family.
A Frosty Mug of Murder (The Grumpy Chicken Irish Pub Series Book 1)
Ginger O’Mallory owns the amazingly named Grumpy Chicken Irish Pub, the family pub which had been in operation for 150 years. It may be haunted…by a ghostly chicken?
But when Ginger finds the very real body of a local woman suspected of being a Black Widow is found dead in the bar. Now Ginger has to figure out who Black Widowed the Black Widow.
It’s the first in the six book Grumpy Chicken Irish Pub #1 series.
A Cyclist’s Guide to Villains & Vines (A Cyclist's Guide Mystery Book 2)
After Sadie Greene packed up her entire life to move to France to run the bicycling tour company, Oui Cycle, all she wants to do is enjoy her new job and new digs.
In her newest tour, she’s got the Silver Spinners, six well-traveled seniors, and she wants them to enjoy everything that Alsace in northern France can deliver.
Things get tricky when one cyclist claims she found a dead body while out at midnigh,t but no dead body is found in the light of day.
All seems well until a cycling crash into a wine barrel reveals a corpse. There’s some evidence that someone in the group may have committed the deed.
Now Sadie will have to put aside her tour guide/cycling hat to find out who killed this mysterious victim. It’s the second of the two books so far of the Cyclist’s Guide Mystery series.
Wine Tastings Are Murder (A Poppy McAllister Mystery Book 5)
Poppy McAllister enjoys running the Butterfly House Bed and Breakfast with her Aunt Ginny and her burgeoning business as a gluten-free baker.
She loves baking and keeping an eye on her wayward aunt, who always seems to find a new way to prove that age is just a number. But murder seems also nipping at her heels.
This tim,e they are hosting some guests in town for a winery tour, but you’d think people on vacation to taste wine would be a bit more pleased about their surroundings.
At the center of it all is the extremely wealthy but very cranky Vince Baker and his new young wife Sunny. When he’s found poisoned in the middle of a wine tour, Poppy feels like she’s got to get to the bottom of it all.
It’s the fifth book in the delightfully funny nine books (so far) of the Poppy McAllister Mystery series.
Wined and Died in New Orleans (A Vintage Cookbook Mystery 2)
Ricki James-Diaz loves being the proprietor of the Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbook and Kitchenware Shop in the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.
She’s loving getting to know her quirky coworkers at the museum, including the leader and owner, Eugenia Charbonnet Felice, but Ricki is worried about getting more foot traffic into the museum.
When several crates of 19th-century French wine are discovered buried in the mansion, people are eager to find out more about this treasure.
Unfortunately, there are distant Charbonnet family members from all over who want in on the newly found treasure. But no one wants to claim credit for the dead body found.
When the police are keen to point fingers at Eugenia, Ricki decides that she needs to clear her employer’s name.
It’s the second in the four-book Vintage Cookbook Mystery series, with book four, Crescent City Christmas Chaos, coming out later this year. The series is a gem and a love letter to a great city.
