These are the most popular, most acclaimed, and most beloved cozy mystery series — the ones that readers come back to again and again. Each entry links to a detailed reading order guide with every book in the series listed in order.
The Hannah Swensen Mysteries follow Hannah Swensen, owner of The Cookie Jar bakery in the fictional small town of Lake Eden, Minnesota. Hannah is smart, witty, and has a talent for both baking and... See full reading order →
Best friends Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura run Fairy Tale Cupcakes in Scottsdale, Arizona. The series is lighter and funnier than many cozies, with a strong emphasis on the friendship between Mel... See full reading order →
Goldy Bear Schulz is a caterer in the fictional mountain town of Aspen Meadow, Colorado. The series is notable for being one of the earliest culinary cozy mystery series, launching in 1990 and... See full reading order →
The Mrs. Murphy series is one of the foundational cat cozy mystery series. The books are set in the fictional town of Crozet, Virginia, and follow postmistress Mary Minor 'Harry' Haristeen and her... See full reading order →
Charlie Harris is a librarian and archivist who lives in the small Mississippi town of Athena with his enormous Maine Coon cat, Diesel. Diesel is not just a pet — he goes to work with Charlie at the... See full reading order →
The Cat Who... series is one of the most iconic cat mystery series ever written, spanning from 1966 to 2007. Journalist Jim Qwilleran (known as Qwill) and his two Siamese cats, Koko (Kao K'o Kung)... See full reading order →
Brooklyn Wainwright is a bookbinder and book restoration expert in San Francisco. She grew up in a commune in Sonoma (her parents were part of the Grateful Dead-following counterculture), which gives... See full reading order →
Theodosia Browning runs the Indigo Tea Shop on Church Street in Charleston, South Carolina. The series is one of the longest-running and most popular in the cozy genre, and Laura Childs' love for... See full reading order →
Clare Cosi manages the historic Village Blend coffeehouse in Greenwich Village, New York City. The Village Blend has been in operation for over a hundred years, and its owner, Madame Dreyfus Allegro... See full reading order →
Lily Ivory is a natural-born witch from a small Texas town who has relocated to San Francisco, where she runs Aunt Cora's Closet, a vintage clothing store in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Lily has... See full reading order →
Agatha Raisin is one of the most distinctive protagonists in cozy mystery fiction. She is not sweet. She is not modest. She is a retired London PR executive who moves to the Cotswold village of... See full reading order →
The Three Pines series follows Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec as he investigates murders in and around the fictional village of Three Pines, hidden in the Eastern Townships of... See full reading order →
The Honourable Phryne Fisher is a wealthy, glamorous, and fearless detective in 1920s Melbourne, Australia. Born to an aristocratic family, Phryne (pronounced FRY-nee) has traveled the world, driven... See full reading order →
Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, 35th in line for the English throne, is flat broke. It is the 1930s, and her family's Scottish castle is crumbling, her brother has given her a London house... See full reading order →
For more ways to discover series, browse by subgenre or by author. New to the genre? Visit our Beginner's Guide.