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It’s time for some cosy Christmas Eve reading!
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring—except for an amateur sleuth solving a holiday homicide.
If the idea of curling up with hot chocolate in one hand and a murder mystery in the other sounds like your ideal Christmas Eve, we’ve got just the list for you!
These 11 festive cosy mysteries are packed with yuletide cheer, charming townsfolk, and a touch of mischief to keep you on your toes as you await Santa’s arrival.
Unwrap a world of intrigue and holiday spirit, and prepare for some delightfully festive sleuthing. Warning: these books may cause a strong craving for gingerbread and have you hearing phantom sleigh bells!
We encourage you to always source books from your local independent bookshop. However, we understand this is sometimes not practical based on location or budget.
Therefore, this post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means, if you click on the link and purchase the book from that link, I get a few dollars at no extra cost to you! This way we can both stock up on festive fiction! 😀
Merry Christmas, Friends!
Series or Standalone? :
This is Book 3 in ‘An Italian Village Mystery’ series.
"A Mystery Before Christmas" Book Blurb:
A haunting Christmas song from a faraway land. A child with striking green eyes. A man with no past. When elderly widow Mrs De Blasi catches sight of eight-year-old Betta Giordano, all she can see is the face of her son, Marco. But how can this be? Marco died tragically young, many years before Betta was born. Travel writer Giò Brando can’t help but be intrigued by the string of coincidences connecting Betta to the De Blasi family. Why does the child bear such a strong resemblance to a long-dead man? How does she know an ancient tune from the remotest parts of Britain? And why does the carillon that Mrs De Blasi gifts to Betta play that very same tune? Embracing her natural sleuthing skills, Giò faces a desperate race against both time and the worsening weather. Will she be able to ensure it’s a happy Christmas for everyone in Maratea?
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Series or Standalone? :
This is a short story.
"Crime Before Christmas" Book Blurb:
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the club, people were stirring, except for the body in the library. When local curmudgeon and notorious food critic, Cyril Greenfield, is found dead in the library of the exclusive Explorers’ Club. Detective Inspector Edith Grayson is put in charge of solving the crime.
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Series or Standalone? :
This is Book 4 in the ‘Bookish Cafe Mystery’ series.
"Crime Before Christmas" Book Blurb:
Right before Christmas, Fair Haven is celebrating its annual Ice Fishing Jubilee. When a bad-mannered lawyer is found frozen to death inside his fishing shack, the police soon discover he was really shot. The prime suspect is local ice-fishing legend Jim Campbell, but Maggie thinks he is innocent. The culprit could be the long-suffering wife or the mistress, and soon, Maggie is off doing her own investigating, dragging Joshua along for the ride. As her boss, Joshua couldn’t possibly be romantically interested in her. So why did he hold her so close at the town dance? As Christmas nears, Maggie catches a killer and also a kiss under mistletoe.
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Series or Standalone? :
This is Book 11 in the ‘Fixer-Upper Mysteries‘.
"The Knife Before Christmas" Book Blurb:
Christmas has come to Lighthouse Cove, but business hasn’t slowed down for Shannon Hammer. She’s been contracted to renovate a local hotel owned by the Garrisons, a family that’s so devoted to the holidays they serve a seven-course dinner every night from Thanksgiving through Christmas. Last year’s festivities featured a train that transported guests around the breathtaking Cliffside property. This year, Shannon and her crew have been commissioned to build a Victorian-style carnival midway with games and prizes galore. Everyone in town loves the hotel’s spirit, except the Garrisons’ children and their spouses, who are hum-bugged by the money being wasted on holiday cheer while their inheritance goes up the chimney. Things turn nasty when a mischief-maker close to the family is found dead. It’s up to Shannon and Mac to catch a sinister Scrooge before all of Lighthouse Cove receives coal for Christmas.
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Series or Standalone? :
This is Book 9 in the ‘Gotcha Detective Agency’ series.
"The Knife Before Christmas" Book Blurb:
Charles and Mimi are at it again. On the trail of another killer. Only this time the alleged killer is in jail, and swears he’s innocent. A known Mexican gang leader has been arrested for the murder of his fiancee, but swears he didn’t do it. He’s hired Mimi and Charles to find the real killer. The Gotcha agents are on the case, and with Christmas looming, they’d like to prove their client’s innocence, or solidify his guilt. Either way, they want the right person behind bars. Lots of changes are coming to the agency, but you’ll have to read this novel to find out what happens next!
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Series or Standalone? :
This is Book 18 in the ‘Melanie Travis Mystery‘ series.
"The Bark Before Christmas" Book Blurb:
There’s nothing lovelier than Christmas in Connecticut, but Melanie Travis can scarcely find a moment to enjoy the festivities. With her youngest son approaching toddlerhood, she’s decided to return to her old job at Howard Academy, a posh private school attended by the children of Greenwich’s well-heeled gentry. Balancing work, motherhood, and the hectic dog show circuit takes some fancy footwork, especially when the headmaster taps her to be the chairman of the school’s Christmas Bazaar. The Christmas Bazaar is Howard Academy’s biggest and most important fundraiser, so Melanie feels the pressure to make it a huge success. But everything goes awry when a prize show dog goes missing and Santa turns up dead. The dog’s owner is one of the school’s most perfectly pedigreed alums, and she enlists Melanie to help find the purloined pooch. But just as Melanie starts pawing at the truth, she digs up a sleighful of sinister secrets that leaves everyone feeling less than merry.
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Agatha Christie Fact or Fiction? :
This is Book One in the ‘Charlie Kingsley’ series.
"The Murder Before Christmas" Book Blurb:
If you’ve got a problem, Charlie Kingsley probably has a tea that’ll help make it right. EXCEPT when it comes to love. She does NOT do love potions. Not even for Courtney, her pregnant new client who showed up three weeks before Christmas seeking a love potion because her husband was cheating on her. So, Courtney asked about poison, instead. She said she was joking. That’s what happens between wives and husbands. They get angry and talk about killing each other. They don’t really mean it. It seems to make sense … until Courtney’s husband turns up dead on Christmas Eve. He was poisoned, of course. And who is the number one suspect? Courtney. Of course. But did she actually do it? Or is she being set up? It’s up to Charlie to sort through all the twists and turns in a case that gets more complicated the deeper she digs.
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Series or Standalone? :
This is Book 4 in the ‘DI James Walker‘ series.
"The Night Before Christmas" Book Blurb:
When four trail hunters go missing in the fells of Cumbria on Christmas Eve, the race is on to find them before nightfall – when the temperature plummets. After hours of searching, the first body is found… not frozen in the snow, but brutally murdered and bearing a warning: the real hunt has begun. As a snowstorm descends, three lives hang in the balance. But can the killer be caught before the trail goes cold?
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Series or Standalone? :
This is Book 18 in the ‘Meg Langslow Mystery‘ series.
"The Nightingale Before Christmas" Book Blurb:
As the holidays draw near in Caerphilly, Mother volunteers to take part in in a big Christmas-themed decorator show house—each room of a temporarily untenanted house is decorated to the hilt by a different decorator for the public to tour. Of course, Mother insists that Meg pitch in with the organisation, and she finds herself surrounded by flamboyant personalities with massive egos clashing and feeling their professional reputations are at stake. Then the rooms start to be sabotaged, and an unfortunate designer turns up dead—making Mother a prime suspect. Can Meg catch the real killer in time to save Mother the indignity of arrest?
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Series or Standalone? :
This is Book 6 in the ‘Bought the Farm Mystery’ series.
"Twas the Bite Before Christmas" Book Blurb:
Stray rescue animals are business as usual for hobby farmer Ivy, and her sheepdog, Keats. Misfits blend seamlessly into the menagerie and the more the merrier. When a mouthy, grieving donkey demands room at the inn right before Christmas, however, Ivy bites off more than she can chew. He’s got a message that’s far from festive and he won’t stop singing the blues till she figures out his secret. Someone in town won’t live to see another Christmas, and Ivy, Keats and the crime-solving crew will need to work fast if there’s any hope of making their first country yuletide bright. Or even making it out alive. Can they show this sad donkey the true meaning of Christmas while taking down a killer?
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Series or Standalone? :
This is Book 28 in the ‘Andy Carpenter’ series.
"Twas the Bite Before Christmas" Book Blurb:
Reluctant lawyer Andy Carpenter is at the Tara Foundation’s annual Christmas party. The dog rescue organisation has always been his true calling, and this is one holiday tradition he can get behind because every dog that’s come through the rescue—and their families—are invited to celebrate. This year’s party is no exception. But before the stockings can be hung by the chimney with care, homicide detectives ruin the evening. Derek Moore, one of the foundation’s best foster volunteers, is arrested for murder. Andy discovers Derek—whose real name is Bobby—is in the witness protection program after giving evidence against his former gang. The police believe Bobby murdered a member. But Bobby swears to Andy he didn’t do this. He’s built a new life, a new business, has two new dogs after being a double foster-failure. There isn’t much Andy likes about this case, but he likes Bobby. If he’s innocent, Andy wants to help. Before Andy can settle down for his long winter’s nap, he has a client’s name to clear, a murderer to catch, and two new dogs to look after: a golden and a Dalmatian. Andy’s golden retriever, Tara, will have to adjust to not being the only golden at the house while Andy gets to the bottom of this one.
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