Our reviewers, Margaret Agnew, Cathy Akers-Jordan, Vicki Kondelik and Carla Schantz, are all extremely discerning readers and all have shared their favorites for the year. I so appreciate the yearly efforts of these wonderful reviewers, and their top 10 lists should help you find a good read. Some have comments, some (like Margaret) have merely listed their selections in order. All the choices have been given lots of thought. Needless to say, their reviews appear on the website, and you can read more about them on the “Our Reviewers” tab here.
Margaret Agnew
At Midnight Comes The Cry, Julia Spencer-Fleming
Making a Killing, Cara Hunter
Hunter’s Heart Ridge, Sarah Stewart Taylor
Lady Darling Inquires after a Killer, Colleen Gleason
Thus with a Kiss I Die, Christina Dodd
Murder in Miniature, Katie Tietjen
Winter’s Poison, E.L. Johnson
The Black Wolf, Louise Penny
The English Masterpiece, Katherine Reay
Miss Morton and the Missing Heir, Catherine Lloyd
Cathy Akers-Jordan
Reykjavík, Ragnar Jónasson. Holy crap! So good I’m afraid to say anything for fear of giving away the big twist.
A Christmas Witness, Charles Todd. Chief inspector Rutledge is back!
Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure, Rhys Bowen. Another great WWII standalone.
The Return of Moriarty, Jack Anderson. He’s back and this time he’s the detective – but can he be trusted?
The Murders in Great Diddling by Katarina Bivald. A real treat for fans of Midsommer Murders. Loved the humor!
Return to Sender, Craig Johnson. Sheriff Walt Longmire searches for a missing mail carrier with a 300-mile route through the desert.
Murder Most Royal, S. J. Bennett. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is on the case when a severed hand is found on the beach near Sandringham.
To the Hilt, Dick Francis. My favorite of his books and one of my all-time favorites, well worth re-reading.
Stormy Petrel by Mary Stewart. A favorite comfort read set in Scotland.
The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart. Love the movie, finally read the classic book. The ending is better than the movie!
Vicki Kondelik
Huguette, Cara Black
A Fashionably French Murder, Colleen Cambridge
Revenge, Served Royal, Celeste Connally
The Stars Turned Inside Out, Nova Jacobs
A Fatal Waltz, Kathleen Marple Kalb
No Comfort for the Dead, R.P. O’Donnell
The Black Wolf, Louise Penny
Agony Hill, Sarah Stewart Taylor
Death in the Details, Katie Tietjen
The Heir, Darcie Wilde
The hardest thing about making a top 10 list is narrowing it down to only 10. I read so many wonderful mysteries this year, many of which did not even make the list, and I hated to leave them off, but I had to. As usual, my list includes mostly historical mysteries, with a few contemporary, or near-contemporary, ones. And no, I do not consider a novel set in the 1980s a historical novel.
I will begin with that particular novel, No Comfort for the Dead by R.P. O’Donnell. In a small town in Ireland (which has been called “an Irish Three Pines”) local librarian Emma finds the dead body of the richest man in town. She has returned to her home after a scandal puts an end to her dream of becoming a police detective in the big city. Emma works together with several other characters, including her high school boyfriend, to solve the mystery. I loved Emma’s character, and I enjoyed the setting in the 1980s, with no cell phones or internet. I hope this is the beginning of a series.
The Black Wolf by Louise Penny is the immediate sequel to The Grey Wolf, where Chief Inspector Armand Gamache foiled a plot to poison Montreal’s water supply, at great cost to himself. A notebook leads him to believe that this was only the beginning of an even more dangerous plot, which stretches to the highest ranks of the government of both the US and Canada. The Black Wolf, like its predecessor, is really more of a political thriller than a mystery. It’s a genre I don’t usually care for, but Penny’s writing elevates it above most of the genre (in my opinion). The plot is truly frightening, and the amazing thing is that Penny wrote it in 2024, before there even was a possibility these events could become a reality. And it is always wonderful to have another visit with the beloved Three Pines characters. The Grey Wolf definitely needs to be read first, though.
The final contemporary mystery on my list is The Stars Turned Inside Out by Nova Jacobs, an unusual novel with a highly traditional mystery which could be taken from the pages of Agatha Christie or another Golden Age author, in the setting of the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. The body of a physicist is discovered, blasted by radiation, in the particle collider, when it was supposed to have been empty and inactive. There are two timelines set only a few months apart, which in itself is unusual. One details the events that led up to the murder, with a female physicist as the protagonist, while the other is set in the “present” as a female private investigator, who had wanted to be a scientist at one time, works to solve the case. The book made me want to learn more about particle physics and the concepts discussed in the novel, and led me to some fascinating videos by Neil deGrasse Tyson and others.
I have noticed that some of the historical mysteries on my list have settings in common, and I am sure that was just a coincidence. I will begin with two novels set in rural Vermont, one of which I read at the beginning of the year and one of which I read in November, and I didn’t realize how much they had in common until I made this list. They are Death in the Details by Katie Tietjen and Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor. Both feature a main character who has moved to Vermont from the big city, and both include a death in a barn, which might be suicide or murder. But the similarities stop there. The writing, plots, and characters are very different.
Tietjen’s novel is about Maple Bishop, a female lawyer, widowed in World War II, who moves to a small Vermont town after she learns her husband left no money behind, and she is unable to get a job as a lawyer because of her gender. She uses her talent for making dollhouses to earn money, but discovers her first customer dead in a barn. Maple teams up with a young police officer and constructs dollhouses depicting the crime scene, in order to solve the crime.
Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor is set in the 1960s, as Franklin Warren, a police detective from Boston, moves to the town of Bethany, Vermont following a family tragedy. A farmer is found burned to death in his barn. Is it suicide or murder? Warren works closely with Alice Bellows, a widow in her fifties whose husband was an international spy. She was probably involved in her husband’s activities as well, as we learn when an old nemesis shows up in town. I am sure we will learn more about Warren’s and Alice’s backgrounds in the next novel, which I am looking forward to reading. I loved the characters of Warren and Alice, as well as the small town which is the setting for the series.
Two of my choices are set in post-World War II Paris, but they could not be more different from each other. A Fashionably French Murder by Colleen Cambridge is the latest book in a series featuring Julia Child and her friend Tabitha Knight, who was a Rosie the Riveter in World War II, but who can’t cook. She has moved in with her French grandfather and his male partner, who want to eat delicious French meals. Luckily, she has Julia to help her. In this novel, Tabitha and Julia solve a mystery set in the world of French high fashion, as a fashion house, a rival to the House of Dior, is targeted by a killer. This series generally has an upbeat tone, and the friendship between Tabitha and Julia is a great strength of these books.
The next book on my list, Huguette by Cara Black, is also set in postwar Paris, but could not be more different in tone. It’s the gritty tale of a young woman’s struggle to survive in the world of organized crime and black marketeers. Huguette is left orphaned and pregnant after the liberation of Paris, and she is in danger from her father’s enemies. It turns out her father was a Nazi collaborator and was involved with the black market. Only a young police officer, Claude Leduc, offers to help Huguette. But can she trust him? This is an excellent prequel of sorts to Black’s Aimée Leduc series.
Two of the books on my list are set among the royal family in the Regency, or shortly after the Regency. Revenge, Served Royal by Celeste Connally features Lady Petra Forsyth, a young aristocrat who has sworn never to marry. She arrives at Windsor Castle to judge a baking competition, a Regency version of The Great British Bake Off. When the former royal chef is murdered, Petra’s aunt becomes a suspect, as does the Prince Regent himself.
The Heir by Darcie Wilde is the first in a new series about the young Queen Victoria when she was still a princess. Victoria breaks away from her domineering mother to go riding, and finds a dead body. Her mother’s chief adviser (and possibly lover), Sir John Conroy, keeps lying to her about the body, and it is up to Victoria, accompanied by Conroy’s daughter Jane, to find out what really happened. I loved seeing Princess Victoria as a detective, and the relationship between the two girls develops during the book, as they distrust each other at first, but eventually become friends. I look forward to future books in the series.
Last but not least is another book that involves British royalty: A Fatal Waltz by Kathleen Marple Kalb. Ella Shane, an opera singer in Gilded Age New York, is newly married to Gil, a British duke. After Ella makes her Metropolitan Opera debut, a friend of hers involves her in a case when her friend’s husband is taken by the police in a raid on a brothel. It turns out this is part of a blackmail scheme involving the husband’s brother, who is now living as a woman. Meanwhile, Gil investigates a case that goes back to the visit of the Prince of Wales to New York years earlier–a case that might leave the succession to the British throne in doubt. This is a wonderful series, unjustly neglected, and I was very happy to read that it will continue.
Carla Schantz
Lady Darling Inquires After a Killer, Colleen Gleason. Set in 1898 London and the Marchioness of Darling, Irene Clochester has decided to return to London after a long sabbatical in the countryside. She is helping a dear friend of hers who happens to be too ill to introduce her daughter to society by assisting that daughter in looking for a husband. Lady Darling is well respected but seen as a bit eccentric, and is the perfect sponsor for Priscilla Bedwith. I recommend Lady Darling Inquires After a Killer for anyone who enjoys a historical cozy that has a strong female lead character who isn’t afraid of stepping out of line to get things done, the line in this case being what is expected and accepted for women of the 1890s. Lady Darling’s wit, intelligence, and eccentricities brought the story to life and I look forward to seeing what she tackles next. As well as pity whoever decides to cross this formidable Marchioness.
The Hearth Witch’s Guide to Magic and Murder, Kiri Callaghan. There is a disclaimer at the start of the book that also lets readers know that, while this is a cozy, it also has some rather graphic depictions of the bodies that might be a bit more intense than a typical cozy. However, that does not detract from the story at all and seems to motivate the characters even more to find the killer. Callaghan’s world has a clear separation of the magical and non-magical world, which makes investigating one in the other rather difficult as the average normal human won’t be able to see or tell if there was some magical hijinks happening around them. The heroines are Avery Hemlock and Saga Trygg: Avery is a changeling who was condemned to five hundred years of nightmares in punishment by the Fey, and Saga is a woman trying to find herself again, and is a practitioner of witchcraft like her grandmother and aunt, although Saga sees it as a spirituality and not an actual ability to cast spells. I recommend The Hearth Witch’s Guide to Magic and Murder for any reader that enjoys a supernatural cozy that goes more in depth into the origins of myth and lore.
Bait and Swiss, Korina Moss. There is more cause to celebrate around town when Hope is ready to reveal and open her new cakery shop, and Willa and team are excited to attend the grand opening event to support her community and friends. However, Willa is aghast to discover that Hope’s new partners are two people she’d hoped to never see again, and who permanently put her off chocolate: her ex-fiancé Pearce Brenner and her ex-best friend Riley Stephens, still together ten years after betraying Willa’s trust. I have loved the Cheese Shop Mystery series since I started reading the series, and cannot recommend it enough to fellow cozy enthusiasts. Bait and Swiss had me hooked with finally getting to experience Willa’s ex friend and fiancé. However, given the emotional charge of Bait and Swiss, I highly suggest readers to enjoy the other books first.
Murder in an Italian Piazza, Michael Falco. In this series, readers are transported to the lovely town of Positano on the Amalfi coast. Bria Bartolucci runs a B&B there known as Bella Bella, living with her son Marco and their dog Bravo. Her connection to the town grows every day, and she feels like this is truly her home. However, having seen plenty of big events in town result in tragedy, Bria is more than a little wary when she receives word that famous opera singer Carlotta Incantaro is coming to town. She cannot shake this sense that something bad is coming, and she is proven right when she finds a corpse in the piazza. Bria is back on the case, but she has no idea how dramatic this case will end up becoming and how much turmoil she will have to personally face before it’s over. Given some of the relationship developments and drama I do suggest reading the previous books to truly be able to appreciate the events in this book. There are plenty of Italian phrases and cultural immersion as well, and as in all of the Bria Bartolucci mysteries, I appreciate the Italian mental vacation it provides.
Just Another Dead Author, Katarina Bivald. This novel is set in Chateau des Livres in the French countryside, as the series main character, mystery writer Berit Gardner, heads to a writer’s retreat as a favor to an old friend. All the other guests are either aspiring writers or authors, eager for a chance to hear the advice of accomplished and published authors, and get the chance to write in a beautiful French setting. However, the most famous author at the event has a sour attitude. He isn’t shy about telling the aspiring writers that they might as well give up now, and that they have no chance at all of being published, let alone famous. While this attitude isn’t a shock to those who know him, it is disheartening to Berit. I can genuinely say I was shocked by the reveal of who the killer was, as Bivald had me ready to believe two other suspects were the real culprit. Readers will have a blast trying to pin down who it may be. Just Another Dead Author is a must read for anyone who loves a mystery with plenty of twists and turns, or anyone who is thinking of giving writing a shot.
A Spirited Blend, Lauren Elliott. Shayleigh Myers is making the most of her life in Bray Harbor, California, as a tea shop owner and local seer. Not only is she learning how to run her tea shop, she is also having to learn how to work with and use her ancestors powerful magic known as the Early Magic, and Halloween has Shayleigh more than a little worked up. Someone she thought of as a friend has opened up a rival tea shop down the street, even offering their own seer readings. As if that isn’t stressful enough, Shayleigh’s ex decides that he needs to move to Bray Harbor as well, and push his own new life and relationship in her face as much as possible. While the Halloween Monster Mash Dance and her own Halloween booth give her some distraction, it is short lived when the body of a woman is found and it seems like someone was performing some sort of conjuring ritual. Shayleigh is on a journey of discovery with her seer powers, and readers get to discover and experience it along with her. While A Spirited Blend is an enjoyable book on its own, I feel readers would enjoy it more if they have read the previous books.
A Death on Corfu, Emily Sullivan. Minnie and her husband Oliver decided to make their home with their two children, Cleo and Tommy, on the Island of Corfu in Greece. However, when Oliver passed away, Minnie promised him to raise the children on Corfu and not to return home to England. At the moment, Corfu is abuzz with excitement when famous mystery writer Stephen Dorian comes to the island. He is staying with friends while he finishes his next Inspector Dumond novel. He seems disinterested in leaving his residence, and when Minnie meets him, she is less than impressed. He is rude and abrupt and she would be more than happy to not have crossed his path again after the initial meeting. However, when he turns around and offers her a job as a typist that is too good to be true, she puts her personal feelings aside and gets to work, but the dead body of a local maid ruins her seemingly steady new routine. Less than impressed at the local authority’s response to the death, Minnie fears that the girl’s loss will simply be fall by the wayside. Refusing to sit by and watch history sweep another underprivileged woman’s’ murder under the rug, Minne and Mr. Dorian take it upon themselves to get justice for the young girl.
An Amateur Sleuth’s Guide to Murder, Lynn Cahoon. An Amateur Sleuth’s Guide to Murder sounds like an instructional booklet, but is the most recent of Lynn Cahoon’s novels. Meg Gates is our protagonist, and readers join her at the lowest point of her life. Her fiancé has just left her, right before their wedding, to take their honeymoon trip with one of her bridesmaids. Meg is determined to leave and rebuild her life before the happy couple returns. Luckily, she has plenty of friends and family living nearby on the island of Bainbridge ready to help her do just that. This includes finding two part-time jobs on the island, one in her Mother’s bookstore and the other as a researcher for famous mystery author Lilly Aster. While a little unsure about working for Ms. Aster at first, Meg finds her inspirational and endearing. The work becomes fun and easy to do, and Meg even begins to think of a book she might like to write herself. Just as it feels like she is reaching some form of normalcy on the island, though, Ms. Aster’s manager is found near the author’s property. Even with all the setbacks and challenges she is facing, Meg isn’t about to let anyone tell her what is best for her, even if that happens to be her uncle telling her to keep her nose out of his investigation or her mother telling her to get back in the dating game.
Death of a Tom Turkey, Lee Hollis. Lee Hollis’ eighteenth Haley Powell mystery, Death of a Tom Turkey, is the perfect Thanksgiving read. Haley Powell is a food writer and owner of Hayley’s Kitchen restaurant in Bar Harbor, Maine. The story opens with the town’s annual turkey shoot, where everyone turns out to compete for prizes. No one expects anything but targets to get shot, but local grouch, turkey farmer, and all around mean neighbor, Tom Farley, ends up being sent to the hospital with a round in him. It’s no sooner than he’s discharged from the hospital, though, that Haley finds Tom dead on his farm and feels compelled to help find the truth behind what happened to the grumpy old man. The biggest problem for Haley is that she literally has a full town of suspects, and very few are concerned about finding justice for Tom. Instead, everyone is focused on what exactly is going to happen to the valuable property he left behind, as well as his horde of turkeys. There are a few plot points that might have heightened in enjoyment and tension if readers have some background from the previous books, but new readers will still understand what is going on and what’s at stake. Death of a Tom Turkey really showcases the trust her town and neighbors have for Haley. I, for one, was surprised by the final twist in the investigation and that isn’t an easy feat.
There will be Bodies, Lindsey Davis. In Lindsey Davis’s thirteenth addition to her Flavia Albia series, Flavia is married to a Roman named Tiberius, and is a dedicated wife who has learned her husband’s business. However, she has her own profession on the side, a knack for solving mysteries and getting answers for people, and she’s made a bit of a name for herself. This novel takes place in Napolis ten years post the Mount Vesuvius eruption. Flavia’s husband’s uncle Tullius has hired Tiberius and his construction crew to reclaim an expensive villa he managed to buy cheap, and reclaiming includes digging out the ash as well as any restoration work. In addition, they are required to treat any and all bodies discovered respectfully and set them aside to be properly mourned and buried. The body of the previous owner, for example, is found in a storeroom – a storeroom locked from the outside and laid out in such a way that Flavia is instantly suspicious that Mount Vesuvius was not his cause of death. The same could not be said for a group of slaves also found, chained and apparently left behind to face their fate at the hands of the volcanic disaster. Plenty of locals are willing to talk about the old owner of the Villa, and none of them kindly. Apparently, the man was known as an abuser and a drunk. Readers will struggle right alongside Flavia to discover who is to blame and what crimes have been committed.
