These are my cozy mystery choices for Summerween 2024. What is Summerween? Different social media platforms and blogs have different rules for what Summerween is. However, a simple explanation is that Summerween is it’s a read-a-thon challenge where you read spooky books in July.
Think of Christmas in July but with Halloween themed books instead. I will be doing a Christmas in July blog post and video for my YouTube channel, so stay tuned!
On this book list, I chose cozy mysteries that were spooky enough to fit any Halloween reading list. I excluded the many thousands of cozy mysteries that were set during Halloween. Many other lists online only feature the thriller or horror genres. This list if for the cozy mystery lovers!
Ten Dead Comedians by Fred Van Lente
The first book for my Summerween 2024 cozy mystery books list.
The inspiration for Ten Dead Comedians comes from Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None”. This book is considered to be, ” a modern show-business satire.” In the story, nine comedians of varied fame are summoned to the island retreat of legendary Hollywood funnyman Dustin Walker.
The book descriptions states,
“The group includes a former late-night TV host, a washed-up improv instructor, a ridiculously wealthy “blue collar” comic, and a past-her-prime Vegas icon. All nine arrive via boat to find that every building on the island is completely deserted. Marooned without cell phone service or wifi signals, they soon find themselves being murdered one by one. But who is doing the killing, and why?”
I’m intrigued by the plot and setting. Despite having a 3.19 rating on Goodreads, readers seem to have mixed opinions about this book. The spooky island setting, catchy title, and intriguing book cover make this book first on my list. It also promises to be funny.
The description also mentions,
“Ten Dead Comedians is a marvel of literary ventriloquism, with hilarious comic monologues in the voice of every suspect. It’s also an ingeniously plotted puzzler with a twist you’ll never see coming!”
I hope this book will be as fascinating as its description.
Knit of the Living Dead by Peggy Ehrhart
I love this book’s description,
“When a spooky celebration in Arborville, New Jersey conjures real scares, can Pamela and the Knit and Nibble Club sink their teeth into a bone-chilling mystery that just won’t rest in peace?”
This book is set at a Halloween parade where a woman dressed as Little Bo Peep suddenly gave a shriek of horror. The protagonists find the nursery rhyme character dead. Strands of yarn are all over the scene.
“Pamela and her best friend, Bettina, are set on pinning down who wanted the woman gone forever, but it’ll take every trick they can muster to catch the culprit without becoming the next poor souls to join Little Bo Peep’s dark, endless sleep.”
This is a Halloween-themed cozy. It has knitting tips and recipes included in the book.
Ghosts, Lore and a House by the Short by Nellie H. Steele
I am very excited to read this cozy mystery this summer. It gets a lot right just from the books cover, title, and description. For me, it checks off a lot of boxes for being a Summerween cozy mystery. Ghosts, Lore & House by the Shore is set in a small, seaside town. The novel is set around a spooky manor. The place is said to be haunted by the deceased mistress of a seaside captain that owned it propertly long ago.
Cassie is newly widowed. She and her mother move into their new home, Whispering Manor. It’s an old property with legends of ghosts and pirate treasure. Cassie discovers the journal that belonged to a woman who died there. In their home, the mother uncovers a more recent tragedy. The description states,
“They begin to wonder if the stories may be fact instead of fiction. When the strange occurrences turn dangerous, Lily and Cassie will have to investigate to save their home and possibly even their very lives!”
The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait by Cleo Coyle
This book has a lot going for it. A Rhode Island bookshop has paintings of vintage book covers. One is of a haunted or cursed painting of a crazy lady. Mysterious tragedies surround it. They hire a retired private investigator to find out what’s really going on.
A Dark and Stormy Murder by Julia Buckley
Lena London is an aspiring suspense novelist. She lands a job working as the assistant to her favorite author. She even gets to live rent-free in her lakefront Victorian home in the quaint town of Blue Lake, Indiana. When attending a writers’ event, Writer’s Apprentice, she lands in the middle of a real crime. She finds a body.
Here’s a quote from the book’s description:
“Now Lena must take a page out of one of Camilla’s books to hunt down clues in a real crime that seems to be connected to the novelist’s mysterious estate—before the killer writes them both out of the story for good…”
The Haunting of Blackwood Manor
by Vincent Valentian
This is book 88 in the series. I’m not 100% certain that this book is a cozy mystery. Goodreads has classified it as a horror novel, even though it originates from a mystery series. Other sources do tag this novel as a cozy mystery.
Based on my reading of the description, it’s possible that it’s a cozy mystery. It’s set in a tight-knit community. It’s in a spooky manor. I’m uncertain whether the protagonists need to solve a mystery or if their new home is just mysterious. Do secrets about the old property unravel on their own? Or must the main characters unravel them?
Thank you for checking out my list for Cozy Mystery Summerween Books. I hope you enjoyed the spooky aesthetic of the covers and darker themes.
Are you on Good Reads? See my review here and follow me on Good Reads for more cozy mystery reviews. Are you looking for more summer cozy mysteries? Check out these new releases for July 2024.
Best,
Anita