“Curl up in your comfy chair, crack that spine, and enjoy! Note: all good cozies are best served with tea.”

“Please do forgive me for beginning here, dear Indigo reader, but how could I possibly create a list of classic cozies without including one from the grande dame herself, the mistress of mystery, Agatha Christie? She penned 66 novels and 15 short story collections, but of them all, Murder on the Orient Express is my favourite. Starring the world-famous Belgian detective with an egg-shaped head full of ‘little grey cells,’ Hercule Poirot investigates the murder of a wealthy passenger while uncovering a web of secrets that keeps you barreling down the tracks. Monsieur Poirot is the consummate investigator, shrewd and visionary, oddly out of step, but a great detective as a result. In some ways, he’s a source of inspiration for my very own punctilious protagonist, Molly the Maid.”

“I’ve never met an unusual protagonist I didn’t like—a political dystopia starring talking pigs, a seashell-philosopher wearing shoes … or a sentient flock of detective sheep intent on solving a murder. Three Bags Full really does star sleuthing sheep, which is why in this whodunit you’ll never guess who’s pulling the wool over your eyes. This heartwarming novel is so witty, sly, and utterly enchanting that after reading it, you might just declare, as Carl Hiaasen did, that you’ll ‘never eat lamb chops again.’ The film adaptation, scheduled for next year, has a star-filled cast including Emma Thompson and Hugh Jackman!”

“Love puzzles, Wordle, and Murdle? This is the cozy for you since the unique form is the real appeal (see what I did there?). Employing a modern epistolary style, Hallett uses emails, texts, voicemails, receipts, and any other ephemera she can think of to invite readers to solve the crime. In The Appeal, a group of theatre-goers becomes embroiled in a murder investigation, but getting to the bottom of things is like digging through your mother’s purse for a tissue. Janice Hallett is the MacGyver of the mystery world, fashioning page-turning whodunits out of a paperclip and a Post-it note. Magically, she manages to sketch a convincing cast of suspects and keep the reader intrigued from beginning to end. For sheer inventiveness, this cozy makes the cut.”

“Is there anyone left who hasn’t read The Thursday Murder Club? Yes, you! I’m talking to you. What on earth are you waiting for? Hasn’t FOMO kicked in yet? Badass septuagenarians, MI5 secrets, and spies, spies, spies. Set in a quiet retirement home, we meet four quirky friends who convene every week to investigate cold cases, but their skills are put to the test when they become involved in a real-life murder investigation. The good news is, if you like your cozies in serial forms, there’s more books to keep you reading (and chortling) well past the first.”

“If you loved The Queen’s Gambit and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, have I got the book for you. I first read it years ago, and I still think about it often. It’s one of those wonderfully insidious novels that wends its way into your heart. It follows 12-year-old Mathilda as she grapples with the aftermath of her sister's death, and while that notion might not sound ‘cozy,’ I assure you this book moves deftly between laugh-out-loud hilarity and authentic depth. That’s the magic of a great cozy—the exceptional ones balance humour with emotional heft. In a great cozy, you’ll flip the last page and feel hope turn on like a light bulb. Your heart will grow two sizes, leaving you thinking you might—you just well might—have gathered enough strength to face reality yet again.”