Cozy Mystery Series I Love

  • Book cover for 'A Quiet Life in the Country' by T E Kinsey, featuring a large mansion in the background, two women in Victorian attire talking, and cartoon-like trees and a seated elderly woman on the right.

    The Lady Hardcastle Mysteries

    T.E. Kinsey

    The first cozy mystery series I read and it is my absolute favorite. The series is told from the point of view of Florence Armstrong, ladies maid to Lady Hardcastle. Each book in the series can be read as stand-alone mysteries. The banter between Lady Hardcastle and Flo, as she’s called is witty and always leaves me laughing. It’s a wonderfully light series to read. As of July 2025, there are 12 books in the series.

  • Book cover titled 'The Secret, Book & Society' by Ellery Adams, featuring an open book with a red ribbon bookmark, a steaming cup of tea, and a plate of scones with jam on a wooden table in a bookstore setting.

    The Secret, Book & Scone Society

    Ellery Adams

    Oh my heart! I love the group of characters that Ellery Adams has created in this series of cozy mysteries!

    Nora, a Bibliotherapist along with her friends Estelle, Hester and June are ladies I’d love to know! Together they solve mysteries as well as grow together through love and friendship. There are currently 8 books in this series and the author says there are many more adventures to come.

  • Book cover titled "Murder in an Irish Village" by Carlen O'Connor, featuring colorful houses and a scenic Irish landscape in the background.

    Murder in an Irish Village

    Carlene O’Connor

    I just adore the O’Sullivan family! Twenty-two year old, Siobhán, eldest of the O’Sullivan siblings. Around their quaint village they are known as the O’Sullivan Five and Siobhán works hard to keep the family bistro running after the tragic death of her parents. This is a light read, murder mystery series set in County Cork, Ireland.

  • Beyond the Page Bookstore Mysteries

    Lauren Elliott

    Addie Greyborne is leaving heartache and tragedy behind. After an unexpected inheritance from a Great Aunt, she moves to a small town in New England and begins life anew living in Greyborne Manor.

    I love series with main characters starting over and finding new life in new ways. Addie is one of my faves. This lovely series of 11 books to date, feels like a grown up version of Nancy Drew mysteries and I’m a huge fan of Nancy. There’s romance but not so much that it outweighs the mystery in eacah book.

Favorite Historical Fiction Novels

  • American Sky

    CAROLYN DASHER

    It’s 1943. The war rages. The newly launched WASP program is recruiting. And barnstormer fan Georgeanne “George” Ector’s dream is to take to the skies. Grit is what she inherited from her mother, an Oklahoma farm girl at the turn of the century who preferred taking apart an engine to stitching linens for a hope chest. She taught her daughter well. George isn’t the only woman about to follow her calling.

    Vivian Shaw, so similar to George they’re like sisters, also longs for a career flying the fastest planes in the American arsenal. For a time, George and Vivian triumph. But at war’s end, the adventurous women are grounded by the expectations of others: to get married, have children, and raise a family. Vivian has other plans. So, eventually, do George’s daughters, Ruth and Ivy, who embark on very different paths of their own.

  • The Women of Arlington Hall

    JANE HEALEY

    1947: Adventurous Radcliffe graduate Catherine “Cat” Killeen cancels her wedding and upends a future that no longer suits her. At the behest of her professor and hungry for a challenge, Cat arrives in Virginia to work on a confidential military project. A student in cryptoanalysis, Cat is already ahead of the game—to assist in rooting out Soviet spies who have infiltrated the US.

    Joining the “government girls” of Arlington Hall, Cat gains the respect of her superiors and the friendship of her peers. Then, on a night out in DC, Cat runs into Jonathan Dardis, her arrogant and privileged Harvard rival and newly minted agent for the FBI. What Cat and Jonathan share is a competitive drive and an attraction that’s becoming just as spirited. They’re also united in the same critical goal for America. Together, they’re diving deep into the shadows of espionage.

  • The Baker of Lost Memories

    SHIRLEY RUSSAK WACHTEL

    Growing up in 1960s Brooklyn, Lena wants to be a baker just like her mother was back in Poland prior to World War II. But questions about those days, and about a sister Lena never even knew, are ignored with solemn silence. It’s as if everything her parents left behind was a subject never to be broached.

    The one person in whom Lena can confide is her best friend, Pearl. When she suddenly disappears from Lena’s life, Lena forges ahead: college, love and marriage with a wonderful man, the dream of owning a bakery becoming a reality, and the hope that someday Pearl will return to share in Lena’s happiness—and to be there for her during the unexpected losses to come.