A New, Edgier Style of Cozy Mystery Goes Beyond Kittens and Tea Cups

Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

The lovable but exasperating tea shop owner Vera Wong is getting bored: She needs a murder to solve, so she begins a search for the killer of a young high-rolling TikTok influencer named Xander by seeking out everyone connected to him and plying them with questions and home cooking. Like its predecessor, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers (2023), it’s a fun mystery with heart.

Penguin Random House

One Death at a Time by Abbi Waxman (April 15)

“The dead man was not a good swimmer” is how this fun, clever tale begins. It’s where we meet Julia, a grumpy ex-actress wanted for murder after a dead body is found in her swimming pool, a rifle nearby. She teams up with her sobriety sponsor to search for the real killer. Her sobriety sponsor, Natasha (they met at an AA meeting), wants to keep her both on the wagon and out of jail — where she’s already been once -- so the two set out to unravel the mystery in a madcap adventure in and around Los Angeles. One note: Don’t read it if you’re offended by curses; Julia’s got quite a mouth on her! Some may not consider it a cozy, but it’s got murder and the feel-good vibes noted above, so why not? Waxman is also the author of other light-hearted novels that aren’t mysteries, including The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.

Penguin Random House

Vice and Virtue by Libby Klein (April 29)

Blue-haired senior detectives are nothing new in this genre, but in her latest mystery, author Libby Klein introduces a blue-haired protagonist of a different type: Her hair is blue blue. Layla Virtue is a thirtysomething ex-cop who’s in recovery and aiming to reinvent herself as a rock star. She’s making her way up from the bottom and finds herself performing at an eight-year-old’s birthday party, where she meets Chuckles the Clown — who quickly ends up poisoned. To protect herself from suspicion and clear her name, she decides to search for answers, which leads Layla into an atmosphere of suburban snobbery and trust funds that’s worlds away from the trailer park she calls home. Expect a dose of sharp-edged sarcasm that feels like a bracing spritz of lemon on a traditionally sweet genre.

The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson (May 27)

Fans of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club will love this new novel from Sampson, her fourth, which follows a similarly enthusiastic crew of amateur British detectives. Protagonist Nova Davies moves from London to a seaside village in Cornwall, where she starts a book club at the community center. The quintet of literary lovers squabbles over little things (which books to read, which biscuits to bring as snacks). The disagreements turn dark, however, when money (about $7,700 in American dollars) goes missing from the center — and darker still when one of their squad disappears after a corpse is found at his house. The remaining members band together to find the money and their missing friend, each approaching the mystery from the point of view of the genres they love, including romance, sci-fi, and Agatha Christie classics. 

Also of note:

The Summer Guests by Tess Gerritson: The second book in Gerritsen’s Martini Club Series (after The Spy Coast) again features her four martini-sipping ex-CIA operatives, now searching for a missing teenager.

This Is Not a Game by Kelly Mullen (April 8): The debut mystery features a widow, Mimi, living on idyllic Mackinac Island in Michigan when a wealthy socialite is murdered. She and her estranged granddaughter, Addie, team up to find the killer.

Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin (May 6): How about another grandma/granddaughter caper? Widow Kausar Khan’s adult daughter is accused of murder, she goes in search of the actual killer with help from her granddaughter.

Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes by Sandra Jackson-Opoku (July 29): This series debut features a Chicago soul-food restaurant proprietor who becomes an amateur sleuth after a customer dies in her café.