6 Cozy Spring Mysteries: A Round-Up

Now that my busy season has ended (Yay!) and April showers have begun (mixed feelings), I'm looking forward to indulging in some cozy mysteries, one of my go-to genres for comfort and escape.

I'm featuring two Penguin Random House imprints today: Berkley Prime Crime and Obsidian, and all six books are out this month. Let the rains come! I'm ready to spend a few lazy afternoons meeting some great amateur sleuths and trying to figure out who done it.

• Demise in Denim is the fourth installment in Duffy Brown's popular Consignment Shop series set in Savannah Georgia. Our hero is Reagan Summerside, who runs a consignment shop out of the first floor of her historic Victorian house. In this mystery, Reagan must help the lawyer she claims to hate beat a murder rap. Reviewers comment on the likeable characters, twisty plot, and fun romance. (Berkley, ISBN: 9780425274705)
• The star of Amanda Cooper's Teapot Collector mysteries is Sophie Taylor, a chef who leaves the big city to work in her grandmother's tea room in Gracious Grove, New York. In Shadow of a Spout, the second in the series, Sophie's grandmother is accused of murder while attending a teapot collectors' convention. Tea, sweets, and antiques add charm to this light mystery. (Berkley, ISBN: 9780425265246)
• Susan Wittig Albert's twenty-third China Bayles mystery, Death Come Quickly, was published last year, but is now out in paperback. The protagonist is a lawyer-turned-herbalist living in Pecan Springs, Texas. When a friend of hers is mugged and killed, China wonders if her late-friend, a filmmaker, was about to shed light on a cold-case murder. China must solve both crimes, with the help of a lawyer friend, before she becomes the next victim (Berkley, ISBN: 9780425255636)

• If you're looking for a first in series, give Laura DiSilverio's The Readaholics and the Falcon Fiasco a try. When she's not running her event-planning business Amy-Faye Johnson is enjoying life in the small town of Heaven, Colorado, and reading books with her fellow Readaholics. When one of the women in the book club turns up dead, Amy-Faye is on the case. Quirky characters and a close-knit group of friends make this a fun mystery. (Obsidian, ISBN: 9780451470836)
• The seventh installment of Amanda Lee's Embroidery series takes us to a Renaissance Faire, where our hero, Mary Singer, finds herself in a tangle of trouble. In Wicked Stitch, Marcy, who owns a needlework shop in Tallulah Falls, Oregon, is dismayed when she sees that her enemy in thread has the booth next to hers. But things really heat up when the knitter is found strangled and Marcy becomes the prime suspect. Reviewers note the good humor and well-paced plot of this hobby-themed cozy. (Obsidian, ISBN: 9780451467409)
• Buy a Whisker is the second book in the Second Chance Cat series by Sofie Ryan. Sarah Grayson and her cat, Elvis, are focused on running their secondhand goods store in North Harbor, Maine, until the townsfolk begin talking about a waterfront development. When a woman who has been resisting change is found murdered in her bakery, Sarah turns her attention to solving the crime, getting some help from her friends. This mystery has it all: super friendships, a lie-detecting cat, and a hint of love. (Obsidian, ISBN: 9780451419958)