Mistletoe Whodunits: 23 Christmas Mystery Books to Unravel in 2023

Winter is finally here, and that means it’s time to curl up with a good cozy mystery book!

From cozy mysteries with a festive flavor to heartwarming stories about family and friends, these books are perfect for a cozy night in!.

If you’re looking for a great Christmas read, then check out our selection of cozy mystery books. Here you’ll find mystery series with romance, suspense, and mystery, all perfect for a winter holiday read.

Whether you’re a mystery lover or not, these Christmas mysteries are sure to keep you entertained. We’ve picked out some of our favorite Christmas cozy mysteries and given you a short summary of each one.

So whether you’re looking for a quick read or a full-length mystery novel, be sure to check out these Christmas cozy mysteries! You won’t be disappointed!

From cozy mysteries with a Christmastime twist to traditional holiday mystery plots, these books will have you wrapped up in a warm Christmas mystery!

Related Topics: Best Holiday Books

1. Just William: Home for the Holidays

Just William: Home for the Holidays by Richmal Crompton

So first up I wanted to recommend Just William at Christmas by Richmond Crompton Richmond Crompton wrote many books for children under the Just Williams series just William is a very naughty boy

and he has friends he has lots of friends and they gather together as a group called the outlaws and they all get up to no good her writing actually reminds me a bit of a sort of pg wood house for children.

I think that’s why adults still love reading these because all of the stories are so tightly plotted you always wonder how William is going to get out of his latest scrape but he always does manage it or almost always anyway

and I love the Christmas stories that are gathered together in this volume there’s also an audible edition of this book which is read by Martin Jarvis and I do recommend that it’s just so funny and light-hearted that I always giggle when I read or listen to the just William books so this is a real favorite of mine.

2. Who Killed the Curate?

Who Killed the Curate? by Joan Coggin

Then I wanted to share this book called Who Killed the Curate a Christmas Mystery by Joan Coggin I love reading cozy mysteries at Christmas there’s always at least one by my bedside table

I always hope to get a new one on Christmas day I just love cozy mysteries generally but there’s something special about reading them at this time of year, especially one set at Christmas which is why I read this book years and years ago

and I actually discovered this author because I loved her schoolgirl stories there’s a book called Audrey A New Girl that I absolutely adored as a child and Joan Coggin wrote those stories under the name Joanna Lloyd.

But her mysteries by Joan Coggin are great reads for adults and this is a really funny one they’re very light-hearted it’s about a very scatter-brained newlywed young woman she’s the new sort of wife of the village vicar and she’s really struggling in the role

and then the vicar’s curate is killed and she sets out to find out who the killer is but she’s rather dismayed that all of the suspects actually seem to be much nicer people than the curate

and it’s just a very light-hearted entertaining golden age-style mystery and quite a nice Christmas read too so I recommend it.

3. Mistletoe and Murder

Mistletoe and Murder (A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery) by Robin Stevens

Then I absolutely love the murder most and Ladylike Mysteries by Robin Stevens this is a fabulous Christmassy one in this set it’s called Mistletoe and murder these are set in a boarding school

but they follow the stories of two young friends Daisy and Hazel who set themselves up to be young lady detectives and solve all sorts of crimes that occur in and outside of their school.

This one is set outside of their school it’s set in the Christmas holidays in Cambridge and it’s just so atmospheric I loved it the first time I read this

I went to Cambridge at Christmas time and it was just such a beautiful time of year to visit the city we had buns at Fitz Phillies which is their famous cafe there to have buns and they go and visit that tea shop in Mistletoe and Murder too and the lights were all out it was just charming and robin stevens really brings that feeling of Cambridge at Christmas time to live in this book

so I really enjoyed it it’s a great read for young children but also for adults, I still love reading this.

4. Snowdrift and Other Stories

Snowdrift and Other Stories by Georgette Heyer

Next up I really enjoy short story collections generally at this time of year they’re nice easy reads to read at bedtime or hopefully by a roaring fire hot chocolate to hand and this is the collection I got a few years ago

I think it’s Snowdrift and other stories by Georgette Hare now if I remember correctly only about the first one or two short stories in this were particularly sort of snowy um or like wintry and Christmasy the rest weren’t you know, particularly sort of festive reads at all

however, I love Georgia’s hair she’s one of my favorite cozy reads generally she writes books that are set in the Regency period rather than in the style of Jane Austen.

But I would say they’re much more just light-hearted fun and funny reads her heroines are always um eloping with romantic love interests and they’re just full of fun and humor and they’re great cozy reads

and I love this short story collection Georgia Heroes wrote a really great Christmas mystery she wrote a few golden age crime mysteries too which were first published under the title Envious Casca

but I think it’s now been republished as a Christmas mystery something quite standard like that and that’s a really fun Christmas read too I also wanted to point out these short stories because I read them on Christmas and just really enjoyed them they were wonderful cozy reads.

5. ADVENTURE OF XMAS PUDDING

ADVENTURE OF XMAS PUDDING by AGATHA CHRISTIE

and then next up I have to read Agatha Christie at Christmas time and there are some great festive collections of her stories this one is the adventure of the Christmas Pudding and it’s a collection of classic Archie Paro stories again not all of them are Christmasy but there are a couple.

I think at least good Christmas ones in here the adventure of the Christmas Pudding is the most famous one that’s in here and it’s just a really nice collection.

I think I enjoy short stories it might just be the Christmas pudding one that is Christmassy in here but it is worth getting for that one and like I said I just generally enjoy short stories and golden age crime at this time of year so I do like this collection.

6. Midwinter Murder: Fireside Tales from the Queen of Mystery

Midwinter Murder: Fireside Tales from the Queen of Mystery by Agatha Christie

and then midwinter murder by Agatha Christie and this is a sort of collection of some of her Christmas festive sort of short stories um it’s got the chocolate box a Christmas tragedy that’s actually one of my favorite Miss Marple short stories.

I always either read or listen to that short story at Christmas so there are some festive reads in this one as well and those are just some really good short stories of the golden age style crime

so I love the cover of this one too I think it’s fabulous so I’m looking forward to that one this year.

7. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (Hercule Poirot Mystery)

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (Hercule Poirot Mystery) by Agatha Christie

Then, of course, there’s the classic Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha christie this is a full-length novel one of Hercule Poirot’s Mysteries and it is a favorite of mine I think it’s a really clever one, of course, it’s all set over the Christmas period too.

And it’s just so atmospheric if you haven’t read it before then I do recommend curling up with it one evening because I really enjoy this one.

8. The Mistletoe Murder: And Other Stories

The Mistletoe Murder: And Other Stories by P. D. James

more Christmasy short stories this is the collection called the mistletoe murder and other stories by PD James again not all of them are Christmasy in this collection but I think at least one or two

and I just love the cover I love to read I loved reading all of these stories I think PD James is such a brilliant writer.

I love her short stories as well as her longer novels and this is a great read I’m looking forward to returning to this actually because I think I read it a couple of years ago first

and I’d like to come back to them because I don’t remember who did it half the time so unfortunately, I can re-read them now.

9. A Child’s Christmas in Wales

A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas

a child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas is just a family favorite of hours at Christmas time I absolutely love to listen to Dylan Thomas reading this it’s such a wonderful listen

I’ll put the link to the audible um as well as the physical book in the description box down below my dad would always put this audiobook on every Christmas.

It really sorts of signaled the start of the Christmas season in our household when we listened to this and it’s just a very poignant nostalgic look back at the childhood spent in Wales listening to the author reading it is even more important

I think because it is such a poetic tale and reading and hearing it in his voice is really special so yes this is the Christmas classic for me.

10. The Ultimate Christmas Cracker

The Ultimate Christmas Cracker by John Julius Norwich

And then next up I love the um Christmas crackers that john Julius Norwich would compile every Christmas I think it started as a personal project that he would do he’d make selections from the commonplace book that he kept throughout the year

and he’d send it off to friends and family and gradually some of his friends and acquaintances would contribute to some of their own um extracts sayings clever quotes things like that.

He also ended up putting in his own Christmas crackers I’ve bought a few of his Christmas crackers sadly the last one was in 2018 he died that year um which was very sad but then they brought out this ultimate Christmas cracker which has sort of collected the best of his Christmas crackers through the years I think he was creating them from the 1970s or something like that.

So it was a real feature of his Christmas and something that came to be shared amongst so many people as well I love reading commonplace books at Christmastime and books that have little extracts

I mean they’re not necessarily Christmasy or festive extracts that’s not the point of them they’re just entertaining amusing interesting stories quotes short little snippets that are compiled in a single volume

and this book has collected the best of them I think it’s a really good Christmassy read so again one that I would recommend.

Continue Reading…