A crackling fire, a mug of hot cocoa or cider, snow gently falling outside, and a cozy mystery audiobook—what could possibly make for a more pleasant December evening? Cozy mysteries are the perfect comforting listen because, unlike other mystery sub-genres, they don't contain graphic violence or sex. Yes, they’re entirely wholesome! Cozies are generally set in small communities, featuring amateur detectives. These books range from the absurd to the thoughtful, the very silly to the mostly lighthearted. Cozy mysteries are also the ideal vehicle for holiday stories. There are so many fun tropes to play with, from holiday parties gone wrong to families snowed in together at ancient manors with a killer on the loose.
We’ve rounded up a list of some of the best cozy mystery audiobooks to help you get in the holiday spirit. Here you'll find contemporary and historical cozies, classic whodunits, and ingenious heist stories. While varying in tone, plot, and setting, these picks all share an irresistible holiday atmosphere. You'll find snowstorms galore, bakeries full of tasty holiday treats, glittering get-togethers, and picturesque English villages decked out in their holiday finest.
This delightfully suspenseful Audible Original series is set around a Christmas-themed shop in a charming small town. But Emily Lane, the shop's owner, isn't as wide-eyed and innocent as she seems. Emily's been hiding some big secrets behind all that tinsel, and a mysterious figure from her past might just put all she's built for herself at risk. Narrated by a full cast starring actors Cobie Smulders and Raymond Ablack, it's the perfect holiday listen full of intrigue, slow-burn romance, and Christmas cheer.
Nita Prose is known for her dark, twisty Molly the Maid series. Now, she's written the perfect cozy holiday addition to the series with The Mistletoe Mystery. Molly's been a Christmas person ever since her gran taught her the importance of having special holiday traditions. Gran is gone now, and Molly's new boyfriend, Juan, is determined to make this an especially magical Christmas to honor her memory. But when Molly gets a present from her Secret Santa at the Regency Grand Hotel's holiday party, it forces her to question everyone she thought she could trust—including Juan. It's a festive holiday treat narrated with cheer by Lauren Ambrose.
Listeners are always in for a deliciously good time with Mia P. Manansala's Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mysteries series. But if you're looking for a tasty holiday mystery, Blackmail and Bibingka is for you. Lila is focused on getting her new business off the ground, perfecting her Bibingka recipe, and spending time with family for the holidays. But her Christmas celebrations are anything but peaceful when her troublesome cousin comes back to town and immediately finds himself the lead suspect in a murder investigation. With mouthwatering food descriptions and entertaining narration by Danice Cabanela, you don't want to miss this cozy holiday audiobook.
Contractor Shannon, star of the Fixer-Upper Mystery series, has a busy holiday season ahead of her when she's tasked with building a Victorian-style Christmas Carnival at the Cliffs Hotel. Things get even trickier when the daughter-in-law of the hotel owner turns up dead. Can Shannon bring Christmas cheer to the whole town of Lighthouse Cove while also solving a murder? If you can't get enough HGTV holiday content, this festive audiobook narrated by Jae Delane is definitely your style.
Delilah O’Leary's pizzeria is the caterer of choice for her Wisconsin town's Christmas, Hanukkah, and inclusive Chrismukkah celebrations. During the town's famous snow-sculpting competition, a missing guest from the latest Chrismukkah event is found dead. Delilah and her detective boyfriend scramble to find out what happened and save the holiday celebrations. With lots of pizza puns and a friendly cat sidekick named Butterball, this cozy holiday treat, narrated by Holly Adams, is the perfect amount of—ahem—cheesy.
There's nothing like a magical bakery to put you in a festive mood. Felicity grew up learning to bake fantastical treats from her mother at their bakery in Pixie, California. When her fortune cookies get wildly popular, Felicity has to get creative to come up with fresh fortunes. One of them comes true in a shocking way and one of her customers dies, leading the police right to the doorstep of Felicity's bakery. If you like cozy mysteries with a touch of fantasy, this audiobook narrated by Catherine Ho can't be beat.
Hayley Powell has a busy holiday season ahead as a food columnist and restaurateur in the tourist town of Bar Harbor, Maine. Things get even busier when her father, who she hasn't seen since she was a kid, turns up unexpectedly. Even worse? He's a suspect in a murder case. Can Hayley figure out whether or not her dad is guilty before it puts a major dent in her Christmas plans? Narrated by Randye Kaye, it's a twist-filled cozy mystery that will keep you guessing through to the very end.
Set out on a tropical beach holiday with Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal, a food-filled, adventurous mystery narrated by Frankie Corzo. Chef Miriam Quiñones thinks she's in for a much-needed break when her husband surprises her with tickets to visit her family in Punta Cana for Christmas. But between someone sabotaging her parents' rental properties, a last-minute trip to Puerto Rico to film a Three Kings Day TV special, a missing telenovela star, and a New Year's Eve gift from a potential stalker, Miriam's vacation is anything but relaxing.
In the blissful days before New Year's Eve, pastry chef Jules welcomes her husband's friends from Spain for a visit filled with tasty treats, frosty snowshoe tours, and an annual Downhill Dummy competition, where dummies are strapped to skis and sent down the mountain for a wild ride. Things turn grim when one of the dummies hits and kills a local. Was it an accident, or something more sinister? This cozy mystery, narrated by Emily Durante, is set in a snowy Oregon wonderland you'll want to visit yourself.
Looking for the perfect cozy mystery to celebrate Lunar New Year? You'll find it in the 10th installment of Vivien Chien's Noodle Shop Mystery series, Peking Duck and Cover. The shops of Asia Village throw a killer party to ring in the new year—but they didn't mean for it to be literally killer. A performer in the lion dance group is found dead backstage, along with a red envelope holding four dollar bills, a very unlucky omen. Property manager Ian and family noodle shop employee Lana team up to investigate in this cozy Lunar New Year mystery narrated by Cindy Kay.
This collection of holiday whodunits is a must-listen for cozy mystery lovers and all fans of the Queen of Mystery, Agatha Christie. In these winter-themed tales, you'll find dangerous snowdrifts, mysterious dinner guests, and deadly gifts. Oh, and beloved detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple make appearances.
Bronwyn "Win" Crewse, owner of the local creamery, looks forward to the annual Harvest Time Festival to mark the start of the holiday season in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, the charming small town she calls home. Residents take hayrides, enjoy the changing leaves, and devour tasty treats from her ice cream truck. But this year's festival doesn't turn out to be much fun—a former Festival Queen is poisoned, and Win is implicated. To clear her name before the chill of winter sets in, our heroine will have to dig into who in Chagrin Falls has it out for the victim—and her. The third book in Abby Collette's Ice Cream Parlor Mystery series, A Killer Sundae is a treat for cozy fans.
Marking the debut of Valerie Burns's Baker Street Mystery series, Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder kicks off with a question: What happens when a social media maven, accustomed to presiding over her perfectly curated life, is stood up at her own livestream wedding? The answer for Maddy Montgomery is starting fresh in the tiny town of New Bison, Michigan, where she has inherited a house, a bakery (even though she doesn't bake), and a giant dog (even though her Louboutins aren't made for walking). Boring? Not with a killer on the loose. This deliciously transporting tale centers on an unexpected, fashion-loving sleuth you can't help but root for.
This cozy murder mystery is set in 1920. Shortly before Christmas, Major Lennox finds a dead body on his doorstep. Hoping for answers, he travels to his uncle's grand estate, Melrose Court. But murders start piling up soon after he arrives, and so does the snow. This is the first book in a historical cozy mystery series starring Major Heathcliff Lennox, a very tall World War I pilot named, to his dismay, after the brooding hero of Wuthering Heights.
Fans of savvy pet sidekicks will be enchanted by this Christmas cozy, staring amateur sleuth and librarian Charlie Harris and his cat, Diesel. At home in Athena, Mississippi, Charlie is busy preparing for his very first Christmas as a granddad when his neighbor, a real estate agent who's always coveted Charlie's house, winds up dead at her own holiday party. It's up to Charlie and his girlfriend to solve the murder—with a little help from Diesel, of course. While this holiday cozy stands alone, it's also part of a mystery series, Cat in the Stacks, all narrated by Erin Bennett.
This witty cozy mystery stars Flavia de Luce, a precocious 11-year old sleuth. It's Christmas, and chemistry-loving Flavia is busy in her lab, working to perfect a trap to catch Saint Nick. But she's drawn away from her experiments when a film featuring a famous actor begins shooting at her family's crumbling estate, Buckshaw. The whole town is shocked when a body turns up on set, and Flavia is determined to find the killer. Jayne Entwistle voices the young sleuth. And if you enjoy this holiday cozy, you'll be delighted to know that Flavia has a whole series of mysteries.
Lady Georgiana Rannoch is not excited about spending Christmas snowed in with her brother and sister-in-law. So, when she manages to secure a position hosting an extravagant holiday party in her mother's picturesque village, she couldn't be happier. But she's not expecting to encounter a murder on her first day in town—or, again, on her second day or, again, on her third. If Georgiana can't catch the killer soon, half the village residents might wind up dead. Performed by the Audie Award-winning Katherine Kellgren, this festive and historical cozy is a standalone mystery but also part of Rhys Bowen's wonderful, long-running Royal Spyness series.
What could be cozier and more wintery than a mystery set on a Christmas tree farm? Devastated after her fiancé bails on their wedding, Holly White returns home to her family's Christmas tree farm in rural Maine, hoping a little Christmas magic will cheer her up. But when Margaret Fenwick, president of the Mistletoe Historical Society, is found bludgeoned to death on the farm, Holly's vacation turns into a race against time to find the murderer and prove her family's innocence. Twelve Slays of Christmas is the first in a series of three Christmas Tree Farm Mysteries.
In this heartwarming holiday cozy, lawyer Andy Carpenter and his golden retriever Tara are determined to bring a family back together and make one boy's Christmas wish come true. When Andy sees a wish hanging on the tree at his local pet store—from a boy named Danny, asking for the safe return of his father—Andy can't help but feel moved. Danny's dad has just been arrested for a decades-old murder, and Andy takes on his case. Dachshund Through the Snow is part of a series of 25 cozies, all narrated by Grover Gardner. And it's not the only holiday-themed listen in the pack!
A small Irish village, a massive snowstorm, and a mysterious murder—this charming novel has all the elements of a quintessential cozy for the holidays. Siobhán and her large family are spending the holidays in West Cork with the family of her brother James's fiancée, Elise. But when the two families are snowed in together in a remote farmhouse, and Elise's grandfather, a cantankerous conductor, turns up dead, tensions rise far beyond what to purchase for the gift exchange. It's up to Siobhán to shift the focus back to the murderer. Could it be the violinist? The Archers actor Caroline Lennon lends her authentic brogue to this and several other Irish Village Mystery audiobooks.
Erin Murphy, the manager of her family's general store turned gourmet food market in the small town of Jewel, Montana, is busy preparing for the holiday season. Still, she has time for her new friend, Merrily. When Merrily goes missing and her boss discovers he's been robbed, townsfolk naturally suspect the woman with a past—until Merrily turns up dead. Erin sets out to find the killer before anyone else, including Erin herself, gets hurt. This Christmas cozy is part of the Food Lovers' Village Mystery Series, all deliciously narrated by Rebecca Mitchell.
Fans of golden age mysteries will enjoy this thoughtful cozy about a young woman reckoning with her past. It's Christmas 1922 in Cambridge, England, and Posie Parker is determined to get to the bottom of an old mystery: the disappearance of renowned doctor William Winter. But when she starts digging into the past, she finds more ghosts and secrets than she bargained for. Clare Wille narrates this holiday-themed historical whodunit, as well as the other books in the series.
For those who like a little magic in their mysteries, this bewitching cozy makes for the perfect holiday listen. Part-time journalist and full-time Slip Witch, Harlow Torrent is looking forward to a break from her duties during the holidays. But when a murder occurs in her small town of Harlot Bay, she finds herself dealing with a whole lot of mayhem instead of sipping cocoa by the tree. Holiday Witch is part of the Torrent Witches series of cozy mysteries with a supernatural twist.
The Mistletoe Murder treats listeners to four previously uncollected winter-themed mysteries from one of the reigning masters of the contemporary whodunit, P.D. James. Each of these perfectly plotted stories—two of which feature the young and supremely upstanding Sergeant Adam Dalgliesh—will have you guessing to the very end, as James's ingenious detectives work through clue after clue. Another treat—the collection is impeccably narrated by award-winning British actress Jenny Agutter with Daniel Weyman.
Though Christmas stories dominate holiday cozy mysteries, there are, happily, more winter cozies focused on other holidays coming out each year. This charming novel features amateur sleuth and choir singer Ruby Rothman. When one of her fellow choir members, Serena, dies of heart failure just before a big Hanukkah concert, Ruby suspects foul play. But it takes all of her wit and skill to prove that Serena's death was no accident—and to catch the killer. Suzanne Toren performs all the twists to a T.
In the small English village of Finch, Emma and Derek Harris's annual Christmas party is one of the biggest events of the year. But when a sudden snowstorm keeps the guests from going home, the gathering takes a mysterious turn. A car winds up the driveway and crashes into a tree. The driver, a slightly scatterbrained middle-aged woman, is unhurt, and Emma invites her to stay the night. But in the morning, this stranger seems to know more about Emma's house than Emma herself, especially regarding one secret room and its collection of strange treasures. This standalone mystery from Nancy Atherton will captivate fans of the Aunt Dimity series.
A holiday party is the perfect setup for a great cozy mystery. It's 1909, and Lady Hardcastle, an eccentric widow, and her maid and trusted confidant Flo have been invited to spend the holidays at The Grange. The Christmas festivities have just begun when the hosts realize they've been robbed—someone has stolen a precious pearl necklace. Lady Hardcastle (an amateur spy with a secret past) and Flo (who happens to be an expert in martial arts) roll up their sleeves, ready to tackle the case, but it soon becomes clear that they're dealing with more than just a simple burglary. If you enjoy this sleuthing duo, there's a whole series of adventures, all narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden.
This anthology of fun seasonal stories includes contributions from three seasoned cozy mystery writers: Joanne Fluke, Leslie Meier, and Laura Levine. Each story features candy canes, and, of course, murder. A trail of candy canes leads to a body; a man falls to his death while trying to install a candy cane on his roof; and a glass candy cane provides the clues to an old case. Candy Cane Murder is an irresistible blend of humor, holiday cheer, and old-fashioned sleuthing. Hungry for more? This standalone listen is linked to two series, Hannah Swensen and the Jaine Austen Mysteries.
It's holiday time in the Valley, and private eye Bernie desperately needs a good case—preferably attached to a well-paying client. But when he's offered a case heavy on research and low on action, he refers the job to Victor Klovsky, a colleague who likes his detective work quiet and safe. After Victor goes missing from his mother's Hanukkah dinner, she hires Bernie to find him, with the help of his canine sidekick, Chet. They wind up following a trail that leads to the ruins of a mission. Before long, Bernie and Chet are caught up in a very old Christmas mystery involving a very valuable piece of art. Jim Frangione lends his voice to this holiday caper, and all the mysteries that cross paths with Chet and Bernie.
For Clare Cosi, manager of the popular Village Blend coffeehouse in New York City, the holiday season is the busiest and most festive time of year. Famed for her Fa-la-la-la Lattes, she's once again in charge of beverages at the annual Great New York Cookie Swap. But when Clare discovers the body of a baker's assistant, it puts a damper on the event. Soon, another baker turns up dead, and Clare knows it's only a matter of time before she becomes a target herself. If you enjoy this Christmas cozy, there are lots more Coffeehouse Mysteries to keep you up and listening all night.
