Cozy Mysteries That Make You Laugh Out Loud

The cozy mystery books that make you laugh out loud are the ones where the detective is a bit of a liability. My own Bob and Shirley series, M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin books, Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels and Faith Martin's Hillary Greene mysteries all do it, and every one of them is in Kindle Unlimited. If you want murder mystery books that make you snort tea onto your screen, start with those four.

Why some cozy mystery books are funnier than others

The funny ones almost never rely on jokes.

They rely on a sleuth who is confidently, gloriously wrong. Someone who marches into a crime scene, announces they have solved it, and turns out to have accused the postman.

Add a village where everyone knows everyone's business. Add one person who takes something extremely small extremely seriously. That's the whole recipe.

I once spent four days researching how long a Victoria sponge stays fresh, purely so a character could be smug about it for one paragraph. This is what I do with my life now.

The best cozy mystery books also let you laugh without ever making the murder feel silly. The puzzle stays a proper puzzle. The laughs come from the people solving it.

Bob and Shirley, my own funny cozy mystery series

I'll declare my interest straight away, because these are mine.

Bob and Shirley run a pub in the fictional English village of Great Oakley. Bob is a pedant. Shirley says out loud what everyone else is thinking, usually at the worst possible moment, usually to a police officer.

The books are written in dual first person, so you get both of them narrating. Bob will tell you a scene went one way. Shirley will then tell you what actually happened. Readers tell me this is the bit that gets them, and it's the bit I have the most fun writing.

They work well as book club books too, because everyone always takes a side. It's usually Shirley's side. Bob has made his peace with this.

All the Bob and Shirley books are in Kindle Unlimited, so if you're a member you can read the lot without paying extra.

Three more funny cozy mystery authors to try

M.C. Beaton

Agatha Raisin is vain, prickly and hopeless at village life, and that's exactly why she's brilliant. She solves murders while making an absolute meal of her own social calendar. If you want cozy mystery books with real bite in the humour, start here.

Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter who keeps blowing up cars. The mysteries are proper mysteries and the comedy is broad, warm and daft in the best way. Grandma Mazur alone is worth the read.

Faith Martin

Faith Martin's humour is gentler and drier than the other two, so if you like your funny cozy mystery books a little more understated, her Hillary Greene series is lovely. Good English setting, good puzzles, quietly amusing throughout.

What to read first

If you want laugh-out-loud from page one, read Agatha Raisin or Stephanie Plum.

If you want a village pub, two people who bicker constantly and a murder that neither of them is remotely qualified to solve, read Bob and Shirley.

If you want something calmer to wind down with, read Faith Martin.

All of them are murder mystery books that will not leave you lying awake at 3am worrying, which for me is the entire point of the genre.

Frequently asked questions

What is the funniest cozy mystery series?

Agatha Raisin by M.C. Beaton and Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich are the two most reliably funny long-running series. For a British village pub setting with two narrators who disagree about everything, readers point to my Bob and Shirley books.

Are funny cozy mystery books good for book clubs?

They're some of the best book club books going. They're quick to read, nobody feels lost, and there's always an argument to be had about which character was in the wrong. Humour gets people talking far faster than a serious literary novel does.

Can I read funny cozy mysteries on Kindle Unlimited?

Yes. There are thousands of cozy mystery books in Kindle Unlimited, including every Bob and Shirley book. If you're already a member, funny murder mystery books are one of the best-value things on there.

Do funny cozy mysteries still have proper murder plots?

They do. The comedy sits in the characters and the village, not in the crime. A good funny cozy mystery still plays fair with clues, suspects and a solution you could have worked out. You just laugh on the way there.

One last thing

If you've got a funny cozy mystery series I've missed, do tell me. I read constantly and I am always looking for the next one that makes me cackle on a train.

Thank you SO much for reading, lovely readers.

Suzy xx