With the holiday season soon upon us, now is the time to start choosing the right novels to keep you occupied during your stay. There’s something innately special about pulling out a fresh book while lying by the pool that you just can’t match at home.
Mystery books tend to dominate the industry, with the cosy variety pairing perfectly with both travel and relaxation. You still get that hit of dopamine from the intellectual whodunnit without something so challenging it’ll require flicking back a few pages to follow again with the plot.
If you’ve already made your way through a huge chunk of the best-sellers lists or simply want a few recommendations, here are our favourite cosy crime books of all time that you won’t want to put down during your holiday (unless it’s time for your evening meal, of course).
All the Other Mothers Hate Me, Sarah Harman
A contemporary and witty novel from Sarah Harman, All the Other Mothers Hate Me delves into the troubles of parenthood and the pressures that women face from others in their social circle.
The story follows Jen, a struggling single mother living in West London, and failed member of the band Girls’ Night. Her son, Dylan, attends the local private school, thanks to an arrangement with Dylan’s father, Will, which is why Jen finds herself feeling like an outcast amongst the other “posh London mums”.
After a school trip one day, one of Dylan’s classmates goes missing – the son of a frozen food business owner. It’s then Dylan who becomes the prime suspect, and it doesn’t help matters when Jen finds evidence that could back this up. To prove everyone wrong, Jen decides to find out the truth about the missing boy. Along the way, the story covers the difficulties of making new friends and the scary reality of how you never really know people’s true intentions, regardless of how well you think you truly know them.
Death Comes to Marlow, Robert Thorogood
The second instalment of Robert Thorogood’s Marlow Murder Club Series is our favourite, with a clever storyline and plenty of twists and turns. With the characters already developed, you already feel a close connection to the series’ trio of amateur sleuths (Judith, Becks, and Tanika) and can delve further into their chaotic lives, in addition to a brand-new ‘murder’ to solve.
Newcomers to the series needn’t worry about catching up on the first book (although you really should), given that the plot is self-contained. While you do miss out on the origins of the three friends, it’s not necessary to understand things, although you may experience a spoiler or two.
Death Comes to Marlow starts with the protagonist Judith receiving an invitation to a pre-wedding garden party at the wealthy Sir Peter Bailey’s residence. His fiancée, who is much younger, is not particularly well-liked among his adult children. Later in the evening, when Sir Peter goes to retrieve a celebratory bottle of champagne, the guests are startled by an explosion where he’s found lifeless inside a locked room.
Was it murder? If so, how could one carry out such a crime? You’ll have to find out. It’s a story that doesn’t dive into heavy logistics, rather a jovial group of intelligent women who don’t care too much for the law, only the truth for answers.
Yellowface, R.F. Kuang
While more of a literary thriller, Yellowface is a unique take on mystery, in which the main character is, in fact, the real ‘monster’ in the story, and we’re just here for her downfall. R.F. Kuang’s bestseller brilliantly covers societal issues surrounding “cancel culture” and the ethics around who truly gets to tell personal stories, converting this into a captivating and scarily realistic tale.
You don’t need to get far into the book before things begin to spiral. Protagonist June Hayward visits her long-time ‘friend’, Athena Liu, whom she secretly loathes for being not only more successful but also a better writer.
After a light-hearted night of drinking, Athena suddenly begins to choke while making pancakes, which leads to her untimely demise. While most would immediately call emergency services for help, June takes an unfinished manuscript of Athena’s around the Chinese Labour Corps during WWI.
With very little knowledge about said history, she makes her own contributions and publishes under a new name, to high praise around the world. But how would a woman with no interest in these topics and no known lineage to tie her to events understand how to write something so captivating – some people seem to know the real reason, and they’re out to bring June down one way or another.
It’s one of those books that’s eerily close to what we see on social media and the news, and a refreshing way to expose identity and legacy theft that many writers experience daily.
Everyone on This Train is a Suspect, Benjamin Stevenson
Benjamin Stevenson’s Everyone on This Train is a Suspect pays homage to every great whodunnit crime novel in the best of ways. Plenty of characters, each with a complex story and quirks, that’ll keep you guessing: could it be them?
The book is narrated from the perspective of the main character, Ernest Cunningham, with the audience constantly being reminded that it’s possible to deduce the killer early on using clues that adhere to ‘Knox’s Commandments’. Albeit, despite all of these hints, it’s still a guessing game right until the reveal.
The plot starts with Ernest being invited to a writer’s convention aboard the Ghan, one of the world’s most famous locomotives that travels across the Australian Outback from Darwin to Adelaide. Here, you’ll be introduced to the other writers, each with a different personality (and motive). The drama all starts when one of the writers is found dead in their cabin – and with being stuck in the middle of nowhere and a train full of characters who know how to get away with a crime, it’s not going to be easy to ascertain who is responsible.
The previous book in the franchise, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, is another great read and highly recommended, but it doesn’t limit you in understanding the story. You will find spoilers throughout the book, though, so you might as well grab a copy, so you have plenty to read while relaxing by the pool.
The List of Suspicious Things, Jennie Godfrey
While the premise of the book may involve a search for the Yorkshire Ripper, a killer who instilled fear in all northerners back in the day, The List of Suspicious Things is a charming tale around a group of pre-teens in the north of England trying to find their way during difficult times. It follows Miv, a young girl whose mother has become a shell of herself and whose father is threatening a move down south to escape the danger of the murders in the news.
The thought of losing everything she knows and loves, in particular her best friend Sharon, she takes it upon herself to find the real killer and remain in her hometown for good. From following their teacher to staking out the local convenience shop, the story covers a range of adult topics, from racism to affairs and abuse – yes, there’s a killer to hunt down, but there’s more going on in this small town than you’d originally have thought.
Jennie Godfrey perfectly captures the need for tight-knit communities while also offering a mystery that is just as enticing as the lives of the characters themselves. Not everything in the book is a clue to murder, but you never feel it’s really necessary – the epitome of a good cosy crime.
The Guest List, Lucy Foley
Set on an island just off the coast of Ireland, The Guest List follows your typical Agatha Christie setup – a group of guests, a murder, and no way of leaving. On the island, you’ll get to experience the ‘perfect’ wedding between Jules and Will, when a storm suddenly causes the lights to cut out. As things regain normality, this is quickly interrupted by the presence of a body.
Each invitee has their own motive, and you’ll jump between the characters often, from the bride to the best man and even the wedding planner. No one is who they say they are, and old grudges soon surface (and the violent weather certainly doesn’t help).
The book is slow but detailed; you’ll gradually build up to the events of the murder, but for the most part, you don’t even know the identity of the unfortunate victim. Lucy Foley expertly puts you as the sleuth in the story, carefully taking you on a journey that leads to that eventual ‘eureka’ moment that is deeply satisfying and quite surprising.