Cozy Cat Mysteries

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A Not So Cozy Cat!

A Cozy Cat Mystery is any mystery with a cat in it! The cat might be a victim, a bystander or the villain. Often the cat will be either the detective's pet or the actual detective!
Yes, many of the best Cozy Cat Mysteries are those where a cat is the sleuth - helping those silly humans catch the criminal.
Whatever role the cat plays, detective or pet, if you buy a Cat Mystery novel you know you'll enjoy a mystery you can read curled up in front of the window of your home.  Happy reading!

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10 Cozy Cat Mystery Tales

The Cat Who Played Post Office Review by Lillian Jackson Braun

​Bagging an unexpected windfall of millions, has left reporter Jim Qwilleran quids in and happier than a cat in a bowlful of cream. With his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, running the roost of a bona- fida mansion Qwilleran has fun splashing cash left, right and center - living life as he expects the rich should. When a housemaid goes AWOL and a body shows up in shocking circumstances, Jim discovers the unpleasant side of the Silver Spoon crowd. And it takes Koko's purr-fect clue finding paws to claw out the real suspects from the champagne and caviar laden red herrings...

Cat with an Emerald Eye: A Midnight Louie Mystery Review by Carole Nelson Douglas

​If Midnight Louie were a character from a noir detective movie he'd probably be  Sam Spade, a big, tough, hit first and ask questions afterwards sort of fella. But in this adventure our sleuthing Tom-Cat  shows his sensitive side. In "Cat with an Emerald Eye" our very own feline Sam Spade and his human sidekick, Las Vegas public relations woman Temple Barr, bare their claws at the spooky occult ... and guess who which cozy cat detective comes out on top!

Hiss of Death: A Mrs Murphy Mystery Review by Rita Mae Brown

Most people visit hospitals to get their wounds patched up and their ailing body's rejuvenated, but in Crozet, Virginia, everything is topsy turvy. As the spring blossoms bloom and the land is swept with a healthy green, people begin to drop like the rusty leaves of autumn. 
A nurse is discovered, lifeless and without mark. Another hospital employee is found dead. And into all this turmoil comes Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen who has developed health worries of her own. But, as the bodies mount and even Harry's life becomes at risk - her husband and her faithful felines prove more than a match for the mystery that is afoot.

Copycat Killing (Magical Cats Mysteries) Review by Sofie Kelly

Major rain storms in Mayville heights turns streets into rivers and basements to subterranean pools. The local artist center becomes soggier than a biscuit dunked ten times; and Librarian Kathleen Paulson rushes to help her friend save the art exhibits before they are destroyed forever. When a floating object in the cellar bumps into her, and Kathleen realizes in horror that the pale waxen face of one of the artists is staring up lifeless beside her, the mystery begins.  

What was the artist doing down in the cellar, how did they die, and was it murder? It takes the help of Kathleen's two magical cats to make sense of the clues that point her own best friend as being be behind the death of Jaeger Merrill.

The Cat, the Wife and the Weapon Review by Leanne Sweeney

Quilter Jillian Hart and her cats have more than their paws full in this story, set again at Jillian's lake house, South Carolina. Not only is she caring for her friend Tom's diabetic cat, but Tom's step son's dog is under her caring wing too. To add to the stress, Jillian discovers her friend Tom has gone missing, and his half-brother is now living in Tom's house. Weave Tom's mother, his ex-wife and a jumble of feuds and plot twists into the mystery, and you get a tightly plotted story full of entertaining characters.

File M for Murder (Cat in the Stacks Series) Review by Miranda James

Weighing in at 36 pounds, Diesel the Maine Coon is closer to a mountain lion than domestic pussy cat. What's more his human, librarian Charlie Harris is convinced that Diesel understands people as much as other cats. 
When boorish playwright Connor Lawton becomes writer in residence in Athena, and Charlie's daughter takes a teaching job at the college, Charlie is shocked to discover that Lawton is Laura's ex-boyfriend. His shock segues to dismay when Lawton is murdered and the accusing gaze of the police turns to Laura. 
Together, Charlie and Diesel must sort through the lies and secrets and discover who really killed Connor Lawton..

The Big Kitty (Sunny & Shadow Mystery Series) Review by Claire Donally

Kittery is a real town in Maine. It looks across the rippling water of a harbor to forested islands, and should be an idyllic getaway for anyone from bustling New York city. But for Sunny Coolidge the move is a forced one. She has to let go of her newspaper job to care for her ailing father, and she finds Kittery bereft of engaging work or excitement. Then the town's local 'cat lady' asks for help in finding the supposed winning lottery ticket she has lost, and suddenly Kittery no longer bores Sunny into catalepsy. The old lady is found dead at the bottom of the stairs, the County Sheriff, strangely, insists the death was an accident; and the Travel Agency boss fears for the town's tourism.
Only Sunny, the local constable and Shadow the cat take the death seriously, and perhaps one other person too – as Sunny realizes that her own life is under threat.

Double Booked for Death (Black Cat Mystery Series) Review by Ali Brandon

Something is rotten in the County of Brooklyn, and rest assured it is Hamlet who will help uncover what. Hamlet's association with Shakespeare in this novel is slim, for he is a literary aware ebony tomcat who lives at the bookshop in New York, just recently acquired by Darla Pettistone after her great-aunt Dee passed away. Running a bookshop in the age of Amazon and Kindle is a tough task, and Darla is relieved when the teenage author of bestselling YA horror novel “Haunted High” agrees to partake of a book signing – an event which will boost sales considerably. But when the Gothic clad author Valerie Baylor becomes deceased in an untimely manner, and similarly clad fans, a bookshop employee, a makeup assistant and more – number among the murder suspects, Darla realizes she has more than a failing bookshop business to worry about.     Can Hamlet save the day?

Nine Lives Forever (Cats and Curios Series) Review by Rebecca M. Hale

The human protagonist of this novel is Rebecca, who has just inherited a curios shop 'The Green Vase' from her uncle. But the real protagonists are Isabella and Rupert, her beloved cats (well, Isabella, Rupert is focused mostly on food).
With frogs appearing in the streets of San Francisco one could almost fear a biblical plague has befallen the city; but, the reality involves a crocodile, an aquarium, and a amphibian whisperer. Stir in a chicken recipe and some missing money and you're left with a real stew of a mystery that requires all of Isabella's wits to solve.

 

Somerset the Cat by Mike Jelley

You might be forgiven for assuming that all of the world's intelligent cats live in the USA (with a smattering in Britain). Well, those cats of Europe just don't like the limelight and keep their crime sleuthing successes to themselves. Georgio in Rome, Hans in Denmark and Pierre in France might never reach the consciousness of the masses – but perhaps Somerset who lives deep in the old city of Belgrade, Serbia, will. Irascible and rather fond of his excess weight, this intelligent Tom cat is faced with his first ever murder to solve when an old lady in a nearby apartment is found dead.

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