My hot take: cozy mysteries are even better when they’re queer. Quozy mysteries, as they’ve been dubbed, feature queer characters solving crimes. Because the mysteries are cozy, the crimes are typically rather bloodless and done off the page. And the settings of the books are more evocative than gritty. More apothecaries and bed and breakfasts, fewer dark alleys. If these are the kinds of mysteries you seek, you’re in luck. Quozy mystery is a growing subgenre.
You can have historical quozy, paranormal quozy, even science fiction and fantasy quozy. There is no corner of literature to which authors won’t add a queer cozy mystery. For that, we should applaud them. Several of the books are also parts of series. I love to rely on an author who can bring me back to a familiar setting and give my favorite amateur detective a new villain to unmask.
Most of these also involve some amount of romance as a plot alongside the mystery. I’m hoping some of these new series contain tantalizingly slow romances that play out over the course of the series. I live for that payoff. So let’s hop aboard the quozy express and see where these books take us.
Murder in the Dressing Room (Misty Divine #1) by Holly Stars
I just know you want to read a quozy series with a drag queen detective. While he’s Joe the accountant by day, at night Misty Devine comes out to dazzle the London drag scene. When Misty’s dragmother is found dead next to poisoned chocolates, Misty knows the score: she is going to be a suspect, and the police will be biased in their investigation. This mystery has some great twists and turns. It also has real emotional heft while never straying too far from cozy territory.
The second book in this series, Missing in Soho, is out now.
The Rivals by Jane Pek (Claudia Lin #2)
This is the second book in the series following Claudia Lin, who helps run a detective agency for people wanting to vet their online dating matches. This book follows Claudia as she and her colleagues at Veracity investigate whether sophisticated AIs are posing as human users of dating apps. As this mystery takes Claudia deeper into the underbelly of the tech world, she wrestles with feelings for her colleague Becks and a charming target named Amelia. The plot of this book is quite dense for a cozy mystery, but the characters and their relationships will pull you in the way a cozy should.
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The Shabti by Megaera C. Lorenz
Whomst among us did not have an Egyptology phase at some point? This book has it all. Historical, mystery, paranormal, queer, romance, maybe a little horror. With a haunted artifact to boot? I’m sold. Dashiel Quicke is a former medium who now travels around debunking claims of paranormal activity. Meeting Hermann Goschalk changes everything. Hermann is an Egyptologist who is convinced he’s dealing with a haunted artifact, and Dashiel, too, may be persuaded. This one does get genuinely scary at times, but overall it’s a blast.
Brewed with Love by Shelly Page
Here’s a YA quozy fantasy mystery! Sage works at her family’s apothecary, where her Nana just hired Ximena. Ximena is Sage’s ex-friend and her first crush, definitely not who Sage wants around when she’s trying to focus on saving the family business. When someone breaks in and steals potent tonics, the two have to team up to find the culprit. Maybe they’ll rekindle their relationship along the way. This story also has some deeper themes, about fighting big business and envisioning your own future.
Dead & Breakfast by Kat Hillis (Dead & Breakfast #1)
Now here’s a premise: a vampire couple opens a B&B in a town not welcoming to paranormal entities. When the mayor turns up dead in their garden with puncture wounds in his neck, Arthur and Sal need to clear their names. This book is so funny and packed with charming characters.
You’ll also be delighted to know it’s the first in a series, with the second book, Summer Coven, arriving in August 2026.
Death in the Cards by Mia P. Manansala (Dizon Detective Agency #1)
If you love Veronica Mars, this is the quozy for you. This YA mystery introduces readers to Danika Dizon, who reads tarot for her fellow high schoolers. She’s also a natural-born detective, given that her mom is a PI and her dad is a mystery author. When one of her clients goes missing after being dealt the death card in a tarot reading, Danika is on the case. There is a romance subplot in this book as well, as Danika finds herself in a bit of a love triangle. While the stakes are pretty high in this book, there is abundant heart and humor as well.
The next book in the series, Murder Under the Full Moon, is expected in April 2027.
Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite (Dorothy Gentleman #1)
Yes to sci-fi quozy mystery! Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, an interstellar passenger ship. Dorothy Gentleman is a detective on board, and she has a doozy of a case to solve. She’s woken up in a body that isn’t hers. Someone else aboard the ship is murdered. And someone is deleting people’s minds, which are supposed to be stored safely in a library while people are in between bodies. As a hat tip to Miss Marple, Dorothy also loves to knit. This book is as cozy as it is inventive.
There are three books in the series so far: Nobody’s Baby is out now, and The Double Dorothy is expected in March 2027.
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