I’m a sucker for a witchy cozy mystery. It doesn’t have to be Halloween or Fall for me to curl up and read some magical, mystical sleuthing. And I figured I’m not alone. Plus, not everyone is into the scarier side of Halloween. So, I’m giving you six book series to put you in the Spoopy mood.
As always, I will share links where you can buy the books and the series. If you use my links, I may earn a small commission. And that helps me buy more books to read and review. So, thank you.
Wishcraft Mystery by Heather Blake
From It Takes a Witch’s Amazon description –
From Book 1: FIRST IN THE NATIONAL BESTSELLING WISHCRAFT MYSTERY SERIES!
Darcy Merriweather and her sister, Harper, hail from a long line of witches who have the power to grant wishes using spells. They’ve come to Enchanted Village in Salem, Massachusetts, to join the family business, but soon find themselves knee-deep in murder…
Until three weeks ago, Darcy and her sister, Harper, were working dead-end jobs and trying to put their troubles behind them. Then their Aunt Velma delivered a bombshell: they’re actually Wishcrafters—witches with the power to grant wishes with a mere spell. Wanting a fresh start, they head to their aunt’s magic-themed tourist town to master their newfound skills.
But their magic fails them when a wanna-be witch turns up dead—strangled with Aunt Ve’s scarf—and Ve’s sweetheart, Sylar, is found looming over the body. Ve is standing by her man, but Darcy overheard Sylar wish that the victim would disappear—forever. With Harper distracted by her handsome new crush, Darcy is determined to sleuth her way to the truth. But it’ll take more than a wish to unravel this mystery…
About Heather Blake
Heather Blake (aka Heather Webber) is the author of more than twenty mystery novels and has been twice nominated for an Agatha Award. She’s a total homebody who loves to be close to her family, read, watch reality cooking competition shows, drink too much coffee, crochet, and bake cookies. Heather grew up in a suburb of Boston, but currently she lives in the Cincinnati area with her family.
To learn more about the author and their other books, click here. https://amzn.to/3tVwO0K
Witchcraft Mystery by Juliet Blackwell
From Secondhand Spirit’s Amazon description –
From Book 1: Love the vintage- not the ghosts
Lily Ivory feels that she can finally fit in somewhere and conceal her “witchiness” in San Francisco. It’s there that she opens her vintage clothing shop, outfitting customers both spiritually and stylistically.
Just when things seem normal, a client is murdered and children start disappearing from the Bay Area. Lily has a good idea that some bad phantoms are behind it. Can she keep her identity secret, or will her witchy ways be forced out of the closet as she attempts to stop the phantom?
A Haunted Home Renovation Mystery by Juliet Blackwell
From If Walls Could Talk’s Amazon description –
From Book 1: Melanie Turner has made quite a name for herself remodeling historic houses in the San Francisco Bay Area. But more than her reputation is on the line in the first novel in the New York Times bestselling Haunted Home Renovation Mystery series.
At her newest renovation project, a run-down Pacific Heights mansion, Mel is visited by the ghost of a colleague who recently met a bad end with power tools. Mel hopes that by tracking down the killer, she can rid herself of the ghostly presence of the murdered man.
Mel’s only clue is an odd box she discovers inside a wall at the job site. If she can make sense of its mysterious contents, she might be able to nail a killer—before she herself becomes the next construction casualty…
About Juliet Blackwell
Juliet Blackwell was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, the youngest child of a jet pilot from New York and an editor from Texas. She graduated with a degree in Latin American Studies from University of California, Santa Cruz, and went on to earn Masters degrees in Anthropology and Social Work from the State University of New York, Albany. While in graduate school she published several articles based on her research with immigrant families from Mexico and Viet Nam, as well as one full-length translation: Miguel León-Portilla’s seminal work, Endangered Cultures. Juliet taught Medical Anthropology at SUNY-Albany, was producer for a BBC documentary about Vietnamese children left behind by US soldiers, and worked as an elementary school social worker in rural New York. Upon her return to California she became a professional artist and ran her own decorative painting, historical renovation, and domestic design studio for more than a decade. In addition to mainstream novels, Juliet pens the New York Times Bestselling Witchcraft Mysteries and the Haunted Home Renovation series. As Hailey Lind she wrote the Agatha-Award nominated Art Lover’s Mystery series. She is past president of Northern California Sisters in Crime and former board member of Mystery Writers of America. Juliet lives in a hundred-year-old house with extensive botanical gardens in Northern California, but spends as much time as possible in Europe and Latin America. She believes in the magic of language, travel, and cultural exchange to open hearts, minds, and souls.
To learn more about the author and their other books, click here. https://amzn.to/3zjYSMk
Relatively Dead Mysteries by Sheila Connoly
From Relatively Dead’s Amazon description –
From Book 1: The New York Times bestseller from author Sheila Connolly!
Abby Kimball has just moved to New England with her boyfriend and is trying to settle in, but the experience is proving to be quite unsettling, to say the least. While on a tour of local historic homes, Abby witnesses a family scene that leaves her gasping for breath—because the family has been dead for nearly a century. Another haunting episode follows, and another, until it seems to Abby that everything she touches is drawing her in, calling to her from the past.
Abby would doubt her sanity if it weren’t for Ned Newhall, the kind and knowledgeable guide on that disturbing house tour. Rather than telling her she’s hallucinating, Ned takes an interest in Abby’s strange encounters and encourages her to figure out what’s going on, starting with investigating the story of the family she saw . . . and exploring her own past.
But as Abby begins to piece together a history that’s as moving as it is shocking and unravels a long-ago mystery that nearly tore her family apart, she also begins to suspect that Ned’s got secrets of his own, and that his interest may be driven as much by a taste for romance as a love for history.
“This book kept me hooked until the very end, and even then I wanted more of it. The storyline . . . is original and fun.” –Simply Bookish
“I really enjoyed this little paranormal mystery and loved the storyline. Ms. Connolly created interesting characters that I wanted to learn more about.” –Night Owl Reviews
About Sheila Connolly
After collecting too many degrees and exploring careers ranging from art historian to investment banker to professional genealogist, Sheila Connolly began writing in 2001, and has now published over thirty traditional mysteries, including several New York Times bestsellers.
Her series include the Orchard Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime), the Museum Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime), The County Cork Mysteries (Crooked Lane Books), the Relatively Dead Mysteries (Beyond the Page Press), and beginning in 2018, The Victorian Village Mysteries from St. Martin’s Press.
Her first full-length, standalone ebook, Once She Knew, was published in October 2012.
Connolly has also published a variety of short stories: “Size Matters” appeared in the 2010 Level Best Anthology, Thin Ice; “Called Home,” a short prequel to the Orchard series, was published by Beyond the Page in 2011; and “Dead Letters,” an e-story featuring the main characters from the Museum series, will be published by Berkley Prime Crime in February 2012. Beyond the Page also published “The Rising of the Moon,” and another Level Best anthology includes “Kept in the Dark,” which was nominated for both an Agatha award and an Anthony award for 2013.
She is passionate about genealogy, both American and Irish, and is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Society of Mayflower Descendants. She is also an Irish citizen and owns a cottage in West Cork.
She lives in a too-big Victorian in southeastern Massachusetts with her husband and three cats. Find out more about her at her website, http://www.sheilaconnolly.com
To learn more about the author and their other books, click here. https://amzn.to/2XBtaNY
Ghost Hunter Mystery by Victoria Laurie
From What’s a Ghoul To Do’s Amazon description – From Book 1: M.J., her partner Gilley, and their client, the wealthy, de-lish Dr. Steven Sable, are at his family’s lodge, where his grandfather allegedly jumped to his death from the roof-although Sable says it was foul play. But the patriarch’s isn’t the only ghost around. The place is lousy with souls, all with something to get off their ghoulish chests. Now M.J. will have to to quell the clamor-and listen for a voice with the answers…
About Victoria Laurie
When I was in the 7th grade I took one of those career aptitude tests – you know, the ones where you answer a bunch of questions and the results indicate what profession you’d best be suited for? Yeah, well my test results indicated I was best suited for a career as a government spy.
A SPY!
I think I had the coolest results in the entire class. 🙂
Needless to say, I did not follow that particular career path – or maybe I just took the more indirect route. In my thirties a very good friend of mine who is now one of the world’s most renowned psychic mediums suggested I stop ignoring my talents and dive right into the professional world of a psychic intuitive. On a lark, I did. And the results were pretty mind-blowing. Within just a few short weeks even I couldn’t deny it – so much of what I predicted for total strangers was coming true and I really had to accept the “gift” so to speak.
Over the years I’ve built a really fabulous clientele and all those experiences have helped me create the Psychic Eye Mysteries, the Ghost Hunter Mysteries, and – for children – Oracles of Delphi Keep. And along that way I discovered my true love – writing.
Writing is one of those passions that gets me out of bed in the morning and invigorates my day. I love spinning a good yarn, and when I feel I actually get it right – wow! There is no better feeling.
In fact, the other day I was kicking back after a looooong day of writing, which ended in the completion of a manuscript and I remember just marveling in the fact that I actually get paid to daydream! I can’t think of a more satisfying way to spend a life. And let’s face it – it’s a whole lot safer than working some covert operation. Although – I’m pretty sure the benefits might be better at the CIA. Still, I’ll stick to my daydreams…at least for now… 🙂
To learn more about the author and their other books, click here. https://amzn.to/39m7N5i
Simon Kirby-Jones Mysteries by Dean James
From Posted to Death’s Amazon description –
From Book 1: Simon Kirby-Jones Mysteries #1
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Cat in the Stacks Mystery Series, a traditional British village cozy mystery series…with a twist!
“Sure to revolutionize the traditional British cozy and win the hearts of fans everywhere.” —Publishers Weekly
“A delightful English village whodunit filled with some of the most eccentric characters you’ll ever run across in a mystery novel.”
—The Denver Post
Amateur sleuth, Simon Kirby-Jones is looking forward to settling into his new home in the quaint British village of Snupperton—despite a few potential challenges. Not only is Simon an American, but he’s also a gay vampire who controls his vampiric urges and sun sensitivity with an effective medication.
Delighted to be in the cozy English village of his dreams, he’s eager to make Snupperton his home, and joins the fundraising committee of the local church. But at the first meeting, an argument breaks out between the town matriarch Lady Prunella Blitherington, and the nosy village postmaster, Abigail Winterton.
When Abigail is found murdered the next day, Simon determines to reveal the murderer in town– and in the process discovers all the delightfully sordid secrets of Snupperton!
“A worthy and cozy village mystery you can really sink your teeth into.”
—The Houston Chronicle
“A wickedly funny send-up of the classic cozy British mystery. Dame Agatha would be rolling in her grave, unless she’s already out of it.”
—Nancy Pickard
“A delight from start to finish. Everything you could wish for in a British cozy. Simon Kirby-Jones is a charming and intriguing sleuth who puts the village of Snupperton Mumsley squarely on the mystery map.”
—Dorothy Cannell
“A delightful English village whodunit filled with some of the most eccentric characters you’ll ever run across in a mystery novel.”
—The Denver Post
“A fresh and funny new voice has joined the ranks of cozy mystery writers. Well done, Dean James!”
—Laurien Berenson
“Agatha Award-winning author Dean James has penned a chatty charmer of a first book in this new cozy-with-a-kink series. Posted To Death will appeal especially to those who enjoy their murders mixed with mirth.”
—I Love A Mystery
“In this entertaining English village mystery with a twist, Dean James has created a sleuth who is both fresh and endearing.”
—Jonnie Jacobs
To learn more about the author and their other books, click here. https://amzn.to/3CsxxJN
Well, I hope this list helps you get into the magical side of the season without scaring you too bad. Let me know if you read any of these and what you thought. That’s all I’ve got for today, train wrecks. All aboard.
Make a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearly
The Glorious Train Wreck Mom 