6 Free Cozy Mysteries You'll Love [March 2023]

Free cozy mysteries from Next Chapter [March 2023]

Cozy mysteries, also known as “cosies,” are a popular subgenre of crime fiction that emerged in the early 20th century. These stories typically involve amateur sleuths who solve crimes in a small, tightly knit community or setting. The term “cozy” refers to the often lighthearted tone of these novels, which usually avoid graphic violence, profanity, and sexual content. Instead, they focus on witty dialogue, interesting characters, and clever puzzles for readers to solve alongside the protagonist.

Cozy mysteries typically feature a protagonist who is not a professional detective but rather a curious and intuitive amateur. The protagonist often has a close relationship with the other members of the community and uses this familiarity to uncover secrets and motives that might otherwise go unnoticed. Many cozy mysteries also include a recurring cast of characters, such as family members, friends, and neighbors, who provide additional support and insight for the protagonist.

One of the defining characteristics of the cozy mystery genre is its focus on setting. These novels often take place in small towns, villages, or other close-knit communities, where everyone knows everyone else's business. The setting itself becomes a key character in the story, providing a sense of familiarity and warmth that is often lacking in more gritty crime novels. Overall, cozy mysteries offer a delightful escape into a charming and often quirky world where crime is always solved and justice is always served.

Below, we’ve collected five of Next Chapter’s new cozy mystery novels, all free to download from Amazon, Apple Books, Rakuten Kobo, Google Books and Barnes & Noble! If you enjoy the books on this page, please don’t forget to leave the author a review :) Don’t agree with our choices? Please leave a comment and let us know which mystery novel is your favorite!

Books featured on this page

• Academic Curveball (Braxton Campus Mysteries Book 1) by James J. Cudney

• Killers (The Bax Mysteries Book 1) by Patrick Hodges

• Murder on Tyneside (Agnes Lockwood Mysteries Book 1) by Eileen Thornton

• Sullivan's Secret (Marie Bartek & The SIPS Team Book 1) by Robin Murphy

• The Connecticut Corpse Caper (Triple Threat Mysteries Book 1) by Tyler Colins

• Death By Didgeridoo (Jamie Quinn Cozy Mysteries Book 1) by Barbara Venkataraman

Academic Curveball (Braxton Campus Mysteries Book 1) by James J. Cudney

Book excerpt

While I reached for Lorraine's left arm, Maggie propped her against a table. “What's wrong? Are you ill?” I worried she was having a stroke or heart attack. She looked practically catatonic.

“I'm afraid your father… have you seennn hhhim?” Her breathing labored, and a look of terror possessed her face. Though her skin was usually quite pale, she looked nearly translucent.

What did she mean by a dead body? She'd aged ten years in those moments. I pulled out my phone and pressed the button to dial his cell. “What's going on, Lorraine?” Maggie briefly slipped away and returned with a glass of water. People had begun to leave the party. My phone verified it was exactly nine o'clock. The call went to voicemail. I didn't leave a message, as I had no idea what to say.

“I saw… ummm… someone needs to… check on… now!” She pointed out the window and covered her mouth. Exaggerated expressions produced unfortunate wrinkles on her forehead. “I'm sorry… such a shock.”

“What?” I grew fearful over what she might have seen. “Did something happen to my father?”

Maggie rubbed Lorraine's back to comfort the panicked woman. “Talk to us.”

Lorraine finished drinking her water. “I went back to the office to get your Christmas present. It was so lovely, and… but then I….”

I nodded. “That was thoughtful, thank you. But surely that's not what has you so upset.” I had no clue what caused her to approach hyperventilation mode. “What about my father?”

“I couldn't find him, that's why I came to you. Went to the back door… closer to my desk… working there temporarily… finish all the construction.” Lorraine paused and let out a deep breath. Her hazel eyes shifted and filled with wild anxiety. “I got the key to unlock it… saw it was partially open.”

I wasn't sure what she'd meant by temporarily working elsewhere, but I didn't want to interrupt her baffling train of thought. “Okay. Did you go inside?”

“No, I couldn't. I tried to push the door open… wouldn't budge. It only moved an inch… crack wasn't wide enough to stick my head through. That's when I ran around to the front of the building… used the main entrance.”

“Keep talking, tell us everything.” Maggie’s gaze went broad with confusion.

Lorraine composed herself. “I walked through the hallway to the back of the building. I thought I could open the other door leading into the stairwell from the inside, but it wouldn't move either. Something was sitting on the platform, preventing both doors from opening.”

“Right. It's such a tight space. Two people can't open the doors at the same time since they both open inward,” Maggie responded. “Then what?”

Lorraine explained she'd gone up to the second floor to look down the stairwell and see what was on the other side of the doors. While she painfully told us everything—probably suffering from shock over what she'd seen—I wondered why my father had left the party. Had he gone to meet someone? Why wasn't he picking up my calls? Was there really a dead body?

“Somebody fell down the stairs. I could see blood. I thinkkk they hit their head. Might be deaddd,” Lorraine stuttered with a wicked shiver.

Maggie stifled a scream. Her body twitched from the tension. She'd been leaning against me as we comforted Lorraine. “Who was it?”

Killers (The Bax Mysteries Book 1) by Patrick Hodges

Book excerpt

On Monday, Sheila picks me up at the townhouse for one final shopping jaunt. She spends five whole minutes gushing over my new ‘do, and then we go out and I buy myself an entertainment system, including a 42-inch high-def smart TV and a brand-new Xbox/Blu-Ray/DVR. Between my Netflix app and this cool multiplayer game called Roblox that Gina told me Trina was into, I don’t even look at the clock until midnight.

I sleep well into the morning and make a mental note to hit the sack early given my pre-dawn start. The last thing I want to do is come into my first day of work looking like an extra from The Walking Dead.

When the elementary and middle schools let out for the day and the lawn fills up with frolicking youngsters, I decide to join the fun. A smiling Trina vouches for me as she introduces me to all the kids I didn’t meet before. Some are wary, most are friendly, and when I volunteer to be the impromptu goalie in the soccer-ball kick-around, they let me have it with both barrels. Who knew second-graders could kick so hard?

By dinnertime, I’m utterly exhausted but happier than I’ve been in forever. It hasn’t been all that long since I was a kid. God knows I’ve been accused of behaving like an eight-year-old on more than one occasion in the last couple of years—including by a prosecuting attorney—but the ability to lose myself in the innocence of play is something I thought I’d never get back. Having ten laughing kids dog-pile on you may sound unpleasant, but if nothing else, it helped chill my anxiety about my impending career as a barista.

I say goodbye to Trina and the Arbor Vista gang, grab a quick shower, and am in bed by ten.

Look at me go.

***

Five o’clock sucks.

I yawn as I walk into Hill O’ Beans, bumping into not one but two chairs on my way to the counter. I’m thankful Austin left the front door unlocked, or I’d have face-planted right into it.

Austin, fresh as a daisy despite the early hour—damn him—gawps at Nico’s handiwork and smiles. I put on an apron, pin my brand-new personalized nametag to it, and training begins.

October, Austin explains, is Pumpkin Spice Latte season, so the first thing I learn is how to make Hill O’ Beans’ version of a PSL. I’ve heard of these things, and how college students gulp them down like there’s money at the bottom of the cup, but I’ve never had one. It’s a pretty complex procedure, and I struggle to maintain my concentration. After a couple of stifled yawns, Austin pours me a cup of black coffee, which I down in two gulps. Oh, man. Even the plain stuff tastes awesome. Suck it, Carl.

For the next forty-five minutes, I attempt to duplicate Austin’s process of brewing, mixing, whisking, and steaming the myriad ingredients together in the right proportions. I even learn how to hold the whipped cream can correctly to top the thing off, dust the finished product with cinnamon flakes, and hey hey, I’ve created my very first thousand-calorie pick-me-up.

The shop opens at seven sharp, by which time two more employees have shown up for their shifts. I am introduced to Imani, a diminutive, slightly chubby African-American girl with braided hair and a smile that rivals Nico’s in brilliance, and Sierra, a pretty, slender Asian girl with short, purple-highlighted hair. Both welcome me to the Hill O’ Beans family.

And then customers start pouring in. Holy crap, do they. When Austin said the pace would be fast, he wasn’t kidding.

Murder on Tyneside (Agnes Lockwood Mysteries Book 1) by Eileen Thornton

Book excerpt

Agnes awoke the next morning with a dreadful headache. She’d had far too much to drink the previous evening. But her outburst had left her feeling rather embarrassed and the alcohol had helped hide her discomfort. Alan had been very kind. Changing the subject, he had told her a few things about himself.

He had been married, but he and his wife were divorced. For some strange reason, once he and his fiancée had tied the knot everything had gone wrong. “Everything was perfect before the ceremony. We were so happy together we both thought it was the real deal. Yet the moment we were married, everything changed.” He had paused at that point as he thought back to the divorce. “It was so strange,” he said picking up the story. “Once we were back from our honeymoon, we couldn’t agree on anything.” He shrugged. “I suppose some would say the magic was over.”

Alan had gone on to tell her that he had never thought about remarrying. “Footloose and fancy-free – that’s me.” Yet there was something in his voice that told her he would give marriage another whirl if the right lady came along.

Agnes showered and dressed before heading down to breakfast. Alan had said he would be calling at the hotel again to carry on with the enquiries. Perhaps she would bump into him and learn a little more about the case. She frowned; he wasn’t really allowed to talk about ongoing enquiries. But surely it wouldn’t hurt if she just happened to be around when he made some startling discovery.

The Dining Room was almost empty when she walked in. Some of the guests would have checked out by now, while others probably wanted to get an early start on a full day of sightseeing.

Agnes was still making her way across to her table, when she noticed a young woman sitting alone at a table in a corner of the room. She was focused on something in the newspaper she was reading. But quite suddenly she folded the paper and stood up to leave.

Agnes was a little intrigued as she watched the woman walk across the Dining Room. It was almost as though she had read something upsetting. But Agnes shrugged it off. Why did she have this thing about construing more into what people did? Perhaps the woman had simply finished breakfast and had decided to leave. Or maybe she suddenly realised the time and was late for an important appointment. She was very smartly dressed. Her skirt and blouse were perfectly matched.

Sullivan's Secret (Marie Bartek & The SIPS Team Book 1) by Robin Murphy

Book excerpt

Marie pulled the covers tightly under her chin and stared into the dark. “Gale, are you still awake?”

“Hell yeah. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to sleep. Not only am I keyed up over the investigation, but I'm freaked out that they found another dead girl. Do you think they're related?”

Marie sighed and sat up. “I don't know. I was supposed to go to breakfast with Cory tomorrow, I mean today, but I have a feeling he's going to cancel.”

Gale switched on the lamp. “Hey, if you're up for it, why don't we go over some of the evidence we caught. I'm dying to hear what that whisper was in your ear.”

Marie got out of bed. “Sure, why not. It's not doing us any good forcing ourselves to sleep. Gee, considering its three in the morning, should I put on a pot of coffee or open a bottle of wine?”

Gale yawned. “Well, normally I'd go with wine, but let's try coffee. With the state I'm in, neither is probably going to affect me.”

While the coffee brewed, Gale started pulling out the digital cameras and voice recorders. Marie began uploading the EVPs and photos into the paranormal software on her computer. They tracked the personal experiences and matched them to the times and places on the videos.

Marie poured their cups of coffee. “Did you find the tape of us yet?”

Gale was busy scanning through the videos. “Not yet. I think I need a new pair of earphones. Mine keep cracking.”

Marie set their coffee on the dining table. “Here, use these. It's an extra pair I just bought.” She quickly spotted the video tape. “Wait, stop the tape. That's us in the children's section. Let me plug in my earphones while you rewind the video back. We need to be able to place them together.”

Gale slowly rewound to the exact spot on the video showing Marie jumping and brushing at her ear. “There it is. Okay, are you ready? Let's play this thing back and see what we can make of it.”

As they listened and watched the video, Marie's eyes widened as she whipped off the earphones and almost knocked over their coffee. “What the heck was that? Did that just say what I think it said?”

Gale stared at the computer screen. “Well, if you just heard the words, save Christy, then yeah, that's exactly what it said.” Gale stopped the tape. “Who the heck is Christy and why does she need saving? Better yet why was it whispered in your ear?”

Marie slowly blew on her coffee and took a sip. “I don't know. Geez, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Let me put my earphones on and listen again.”

Marie rewound the tape and listened to the repeated words and then removed her earphones. “Let me mark this on the report so we know when to play it back for the team. I wish Myra were here. She didn't mention any names. Did she write anything down in the log?”

Gale started to review the notations in the log when a knock on the back door made her jump. “Who could that be?”

Marie set her coffee cup down and walked over to the back door and turned on the porch light. “It's Tim.” She unlocked the door. “Hey, come on in. What are you doing here?”

The Connecticut Corpse Caper (Triple Threat Mysteries Book 1) by Tyler Colins

Book excerpt

A few minutes before 8:00 a.m., I entered a kumquat-colored mini gym with the intention of spending an hour losing calories and gaining energy. The exercise room was on the second floor on the west side, away from guest rooms and main foot traffic. A tall unadorned narrow door leading into it could easily have served as an entrance to a storeroom for anyone knew.

“Oh.” I’d not expected company.

“Miss Fonne,” Jensen Q. Moone greeted me with a bow of the head. Dressed in navy-blue Nike nylon pants and a well-pressed ash-gray sweatshirt promoting the Hawaiian Islands, he was seated on a sleek g-Force RT Lemond stationary bike, cycling at a slow but steady pace. A thin layer of sweat lined a high smooth brow. Forbes was on his lap.

I stepped onto a Smooth elliptical trainer. “Have you been here long?”

He glanced at a Swiss Army watch. “About forty minutes. I did weight training,” he motioned the Boflex home gym machine, “and now I’m doing cardio. Another fifteen minutes and I’ll have a pot of Earl Gray. And prior to lunch, I’ll partake of the hot tub and sauna.”

“Aunt Mat has a hot tub and sauna?”

He pointed down, to the north. “They’re off the deck, accessible through that huge oak door to the left of the den.”

“She has a deck?” Why was that so surprising?

He laughed. “Not in the traditional sense. It’s more of an elaborate patio, with a built-in barbecue and ‘picnic’ area which, in summer, is graced with clemitis, English ivy, and bougainvillea. The in-ground hot tub is set up like a pergola -- the sunlight can stream through the top during good weather, but when it’s frightfully wretched out, the ‘roof’ can also be closed. It’s rather an elaborate structure.”

Death By Didgeridoo (Jamie Quinn Cozy Mysteries Book 1) by Barbara Venkataraman

Book excerpt

I was making my way down the hall when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, are you Jamie Quinn?"

I turned around and found myself face to face with a GQ cover model. From his shiny wingtip shoes to his tailored Armani suit to his glossy black hair, this guy looked like he was going places--if he hadn't already arrived. I was pretty sure he was not Detective Hernandez.

"I see my reputation precedes me," I said with a smile. "And you are?"

"Nick Dimitropoulos, State Attorney's office." He shook my hand firmly but briefly, all business.

"I've been assigned to the homicide case from this morning. Are you representing Adam Muller?" He tried to sound nonchalant, but I could tell he was stoked, like a lion circling a herd of wildebeests. Well, this guy was messing with the wrong wildebeest.

"I am." Did those two words really just come out of my mouth?

"And what firm did you say you're with?" he asked, eyeing my two year old suit, purchased off the rack at Macy's. As my mother used to say, the classics never go out of style.

I smiled sweetly. Only rookie lawyers judge you by your appearance. I stored that tidbit of information in my brain. "I'm a sole practitioner, my office is downtown. So, jumping ahead a little, have you charged my client with anything?"

There you go: six free cozy mysteries from Next Chapter in 03/2023. We hope you enjoy the novels on this page - and if you do, please leave a comment below, or a review in Goodreads or your favorite store. It would mean a lot to us!