Bibliolifestyle’s
Best Cozy Mysteries of 2023
by Victoria Wood

Not a lot of cozies make the best of the year lists, so here is a list to balance out the others.

SIX SWEETS UNDER, Sarah Fox
OF MANNERS AND MURDER, Anastasia Hastings]
THE GOLDEN SPOON, Jessa Maxwell
THE RAVEN THIEF, Gigi Pandian
MURDER IN POSTSCRIPT, Mary Winters
MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH MURDER, Colleen Cambridge
VERA WONG’S UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS, Jesse Q. Sutanto
NONNA MARIA AND THE CASE OF THE STOLEN NECKLACE, Lorenzo Carcaterra
THE LATE MRS. WILLOUGHBY, Claudia Gray
MURDER ON MUSTANG BEACH, Alicia Bessette
A NOVEL DISGUISE, Samantha Larsen
CHARLOTTE ILLES IS NOT A DETECTIVE, Katie Siegel
A MOST AGREEABLE MURDER, Julia Seales
MRS. PLANSKY’S REVENGE, Spencer Quinn
REHEARSED TO DEATH, Frank Anthony Polito
FINAL CUT, Marjorie McCown
TAKE THE HONEY AND RUN, Jennie Marts
MURDER AND MAMON, Mia P. Manansala
MURDER BY INVITATION ONLY, Colleen Cambridge
MURDER IN AN ITALIAN VILLAGE, Michael Falco
BAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT, Sarah Fox

Comments: I’m not a cozy expert. Not my cup of tea. However, I do know enough to tell that this is a well-thought-out list created by someone who knows what she’s talking about. Someone like our own Robin Agnew.
But I was surprised in perusing this list to find four male authors included. Cozy mystery is such a female dominated sub-genre of mystery fiction.
The Jesse Q. Sutanto title is the one found most often on Best of 2023 lists. MRS. PLANSKY’S REVENGE is the only one that I was tempted to read. Perhaps I still will.