The Book Retreat Mysteries follow the life of widow Jane Steward. Tasked with managing Storyton Hall, a family estate that was moved from England to the mountains of Virginia and converted into a five -star hotel, Jane has enough on her plate when one of the prestigious guests at a conference is found murdered. Adams’s dialogue is often so expository as to be cringingly obvious, but the stories are well-paced, charming, and chock-full of literary references.

Murder at the Vicarage has all the hallmarks of a good cozy series: a nosy yet self-effacing elderly woman, a charming English village, the rigid class tensions that will never cease to fascinate American audiences. Yet despite these now-stereotypes, the Miss Marple series has all of Christie’s hallmark twists. It takes quite a while for Miss Marple to enter the story she eventually anchors – a fascinating view at the artistic process.

A group of 4 English retirees – a nurse, a spy, a psychiatrist, and a ball-busting union protester – get together every Thursday to discuss old murder cases. What starts as an interesting way to pass the time quickly evolves into something more when the developer of their retirement community is found murdered.  Osman is a comedian in his native UK, and it shows, as I laughed out loud many times reading this series. Come for the mystery and stay for the idiosyncratic and painfully real characters.

Chief Inspector Armand Ganache is tasked with infiltrating the remote Québécois village of Three Pines in the first installment bucolic series. The series still emanates a certain old-fashioned charm; perhaps it’s the small town, perhaps it’s Gamache’s calm, collected, Poirot-esque analysis. Featured in the upcoming Amazon Prime show Three Pines, this series is well worth a reading binge before partaking in a watching binge. The later books in the series stray from Three Pines, but still center around Gamache’s inner circle and their authentic inner monologues.

Vicky Bliss, a self-aware and self-deprecating art historian, is constantly being pulled into art heists and scandals the world over. While the first book takes place in a dank castle in Bavaria, many of the books double as love letters to their settings; Street of the Five Moons in particular will make you feel absolutely transported to Rome. These books were written in the 70s and 80s, as the rampant sexism from male characters will show, but Vicky’s second wave feminism is alive and well as she deftly outsmarts her male counterparts. This series is a must for art and travel lovers.

Peter Grant sits on the lowest rung of London’s metropolitan police force: Probationary Constable. Until one day when he encounters a bizarre murder scene and talks to a witness no one else seems able to see. Peter’s phantasmagorical encounter leads him to the door of DCI Thomas Nightingale, the head of a secret unit that deals in all crimes paranormal and magical. As a love letter to London and a nod to British magical lore, this series does its job splendidly.

Okay okay so it’s not magical or paranormal – but I’d argue that talking animals fall into the category of “fantasy” and these charming books don’t fit elsewhere on the list, so here we are. Intrepid reporter and fox Vera Vixen moved to the sleepy enclave of Shady Hollow for a slower pace of life. Too bad her dreams are spoiled when the town curmudgeon is found floating facedown in the millpond. When the sleepy bear sheriff drags his heels, Vera jumps into investigate the mysterious death herself.

If you are a Halloween and vintage clothing stan, run don’t walk to this series. The series follows a modern day witch and vintage clothing purveyor named Lily as she juggles demons and malcontents along with the cultural clashes of the Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco. With a memorable cast of characters, and a metric ton of witch lore, these books will more than scratch an occult itch. The audiobook narrator has a charming, lilting southern accent that makes these books a dream to listen to.

As the proprietor of the eponymous Weary Dragon Inn, Bev has built a lovely life for herself, and a reputation for delicious rosemary bread. However, when mysterious sinkholes appear all over the village of Pigsend, Bev makes it her business to find the culprit, or lose her business. The warm inn invites readers in with its close coziness, and you can relax knowing the series has low stakes but high warmth.

Halloweentown meets Veronica Mars in this enchanting series. Recent grad Zoe Clarke is looking for a job in the dying industry of print journalism. When she gets a job offer it doesn’t matter that it’s in a tiny town she’s never heard of called “Moon Grove.” Upon arrival Zoe discovers the town is hidden for a reason – it’s full of magical creatures. As it turns out, Zoe herself is a witch! With a werewolf for an editor and a town full of vampires, witches, and more, Zoe dives headfirst into this magical mystery world when she sniffs something rotten during the election for the Head Witch.

Serge Storms operates in the… gray areas of law. Make no mistake, Serge operates under a moral code, it just doesn’t exactly line up with everyone else’s. When a suitcase full of money crosses his path, Serge, his partner Coleman, and their acquaintance Sharon, team up to acquire it. Murder, mayhem, and good, old-fashioned Floridaman nonsense ensue. Chock full of trivia and a sort of twisted affection for the Sunshine state, these books offer the perfect beach read for an entertaining vacation.

If you’ve never jumped into Stephanie Plum’s world, I hope you give it a shot. Plum is a bond enforcement agent (bounty hunter) for a working class section of Trenton, New Jersey. Crucially, she is desperately bad at her job. More “light chuckle” funny than “laugh-out-loud” funny, the series of events in Plum’s world are predictable and ridiculous from book to book. It’s not without its problems. Evanovich has really clung to some of the fatphobic jokes about Plum’s partner Lula in an unfortunate way. Lula’s character has gotten her comeuppance in recent books. Her undeniable confidence and sparkle anchor Stephanie’s total lack of ability to pull herself together.

In the midst any number of gritty men writing gritty stories, Sue Grafton stood proudly with her scrappy, tomboyish protagonist, Kinsey Millhone. Kinsey is is a private detective in Santa Teresa, California, about an hour north of LA. Unlike many of the books in this list, the backdrop of Kinsey’s exploits is far from quaint or picturesque. She frequently takes up in questionable motels and biker bars in pursuit of her cases. The subject matter and pacing of each book are vastly different, and the investigations aren’t always murder.

Grouchy lesbian Sikh Harbinder Kaur spends days investigating crime and nights fending off questions from her parents. Luckily, a strange case comes in to distract her. A woman is found murdered at a local school with a cryptic note left near her body. The note’s text comes from a short story by a famous local author, and all signs seem to point to the victim’s friend and confidante Clare Calloway. As always, there’s more to this case than meets the eye. This series has a delightful gothic quality with a heavy dose of exceptional characters.

Photographer Sarah Bain finds herself roped into the crimes of Jack the Ripper when someone finds two of her boudoir clients murdered in Whitechapel, London, in 1888. With the help of a band of misfits, Bain sets out to find Jack the Ripper before he can silence her. A touch more dark than a typical cozy, the gaslamp setting and persistent amateur sleuth nevertheless contribute to a plucky tale.

In this series, Marston wrote different mysteries on the famous high-class ocean liners of the early 20th century. Thankfully, he avoided the Titanic. This murder takes place 8 years before a German u-boat sunk the Lusitania on its maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York. The Line hires undercover detective George Dillman to keep a lid on petty crimes. His boredom is quickly stamped out by the discovery of a body – and missing ship’s blueprints.

Many authors have revisited the 1920s over and over, typically with the same settings. Sujata Massey puts a new twist on this era with her Perveen Mistry series set in Bombay. Perveen stands out in Indian society. She’s an Oxford-educated Zoroastrian and one of India’s first female lawyers. While handling the estate of a rich muslim man with three wives, she realizes that all have signed over their significant inheritances to charity. Spidey senses tingling, Perveen’s instincts sadly prove correct when a body turns up as a result of her investigation.

Poor, but educated, aristocratic, and well-mannered Olive Belgrave is desperate for money. She takes a job as a private investigator looking into her cousin’s shady fiancé. However, she gets more than she bargained for when their engagement party turns deadly. Rosett incorporates a fad or fact from the 1920s into each mystery. Archly Manor, for example, includes the protagonist’s need for special cigarettes to treat her asthma (a real thing). Downton Abbey meets Nancy Drew in this light-hearted and charming series.

In Victorian London, Charlotte Holmes strains against the bonds of her aristocratic upbringing. Suddenly, her family gets roped into a salacious murder. Adopting the pseudonym Sherlock Holmes, Charlotte sets out to solve the mystery, and disentangle her family. It’s a fun take on an idea – what if Sherlock Holmes were actually a man? Every title is a take on a famous Sherlock Holmes story. Part mystery, part romance, part historical fiction, this series is juicy and fun and unputdownable.