Quirky Cozies: Wonderfully Weird Cozy Mysteries

Cozy mysteries are generally known for their quirky characters, small-town settings, amazing food descriptions, and warm, fuzzy vibes (despite all the murder). But some are quirkier than others.

What makes a cozy mystery exceptionally quirky, you ask? Excellent question!

For starters, it might be the characters. As an example, Gigi Pandian’s Accidental Alchemist series revolves around an actual centuries-old alchemist and her living-gargoyle bestie (who also happens to be a wildly gifted gourmet chef), who solve alchemy-related murders in their new home in the Pacific Northwest. Throw in a couple of angsty teenagers and a café owner with a dodgy past, and you can understand how the unique cast of characters sets the stage for quirkiness.

That being said, it might also be the setting. One of my faves is the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen mystery series by Mia P. Manansala. Set in Shady Palms, IL, a town filled to the brim with eccentric events, businesses, and characters. Not only that, but the fictional Chicago suburb has its own beauty pageant and corn festival, not to mention about a million quaint shops and restaurants with their own (sometimes murdery) flair. It’s charming and, well, shady, and the town is as much a character as the human—and canine—characters are.

Then again, there’s the mystery itself. I can’t help but think of the mystery in Ally Carter’s It’s the Most Wonderful Crime of the Year . I mean, the superstar murder mystery writer nicknamed the Duchess of Death goes missing from a locked room in her own house during a whiteout blizzard. The two mystery writers invited to her home for the holidays are caught in the middle of it, and the house is full of suspicious characters with strong motives. Every step of the way is exciting, intriguing, and so very, wonderfully odd.

So whether a cozy gets its quirk from a supernatural premise, a bizarre cast of characters, an idiosyncratic setting, or the mystery at its core, these quirky cozies will linger in your memories for a long time.

Under Lock and Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian I absolutely adore Gigi Pandian’s Secret Staircase Mystery series (book 4, The Library Game , was released this March). Tempest Raj was a stage magician until an accident ruined her reputation and sent her back home to northern California. Her family of magicians runs a very unusual home renovation business for clients who want a secret staircase, a speakeasy, or some other illusion built into their homes. But when Tempest returns, it’s not long before a dead body is found in the walls of their latest renovation project. Not only is it impossible for the body to have gotten into the walls, but the victim was Tempest’s stage double. She will have to figure out what happened and whether or not she believes the family curse is real. This series is super quirky because the family’s background in stage illusions factors strongly into the apparently impossible murder scenarios. (Bonus: If you like this series, Pandian has written others and they’re all fantastic!)

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