Engaging Cozy-Adjacent Mystery Reads for Fans of The Thursday Murder Club

nosy neighbors by Freya Sampson

Twenty-five-year-old Kat Bennett has never felt at home anywhere, and especially not in crumbling Shelley House. She's prickly and unapproachable, but beneath her tough exterior, Kat is plagued by guilt from her past. Seventy-seven-year-old Dorothy Darling is Shelley House's longest resident, and she's as cantankerous and vindictive as they come. Except there's a good reason Dorothy spends her days spying on her neighbors--a closely guarded secret which is the reason Dorothy barely leaves her beloved home. When their building faces demolition, sworn enemies Kat and Dorothy become unlikely allies in their quest to save their historic home. But when someone starts to play dirty and viciously targets one of the residents, Dorothy and Kat suspect foul play in their community. After the police close the investigation, it's up to this improbable pair to bring a criminal to justice.

one puzzling afternoon by Emily Critchley

It is 1951, and fifteen-year-old Edie Green is lonely. Living with her eccentric mother and her mother's new boyfriend, Edie is desperate for something to shake her from her dull, isolated life. So when the popular, pretty Lucy Theddle befriends Edie, she thinks all her troubles are over. Even though Lucy has a secret, one Edie is not certain she should keep. Then Lucy goes missing. Now in 2018, Edie is eighty-four and still living in the same small town, when one afternoon she glimpses Lucy Theddle, still looking the same as she did at fifteen. Her family write it off as one of her many mix ups, there's a lot Edie gets confused about these days. But Edie knows she's the key to finding Lucy. Time is running out and Edie must piece together the clues before Lucy is forgotten forever.

don't ever get old by Daniel Friedman

Learning that an old adversary may have escaped Germany with a fortune in stolen Nazi gold, retired Memphis cop Buck Schatz teams up with his plugged-in, smart-alecky grandson in a vigilante investigation to hunt down the fugitive and claim the loot. But a lot of people want a piece of the stolen treasure, and Buck's investigation quickly attracts unfriendly attention from a very motley (and murderous) crew.

glory be by Danielle Arceneaux

It's a hot and sticky Sunday in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Glory has settled into her usual after-church routine, meeting gamblers at the local coffee shop, where she works as a small-time bookie. Sitting at her corner table, Glory hears that her best friend--a nun beloved by the community--has been found dead in her apartment. When police declare the mysterious death a suicide, Glory is convinced that there must be more to the story. With her reluctant daughter--who has troubles of her own--in tow, Glory launches a shadow investigation into Lafayette's oil tycoons, church gossips, a rumored voodoo priestess, nosy neighbors, and longtime ne'er-do wells. As a Black woman of a certain age who grew up in a segregated Louisiana, Glory is used to being minimized and overlooked. But she's determined to make her presence known as the case leads her deep into a web of intrigue she never realized Lafayette could harbor.

the marlow murder club by Robert Thorogood

Judith is a seventy-seven-year-old whiskey drinking, crossword puzzle author living her best life in a dilapidated mansion on the outskirts of Marlow, an English town where nothing much ever happens. That is, until Judith hears her neighbor get shot while skinny-dipping in the Thames. But the local police don't believe her story, writing it off as an open and shut case. Judith decides to conduct her own investigation and picks up a crew of sidekicks: Suzie the dogwalker and Becks the vicar's wife. Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club. When another body turns up, they realize they have a real-life serial killer on their hands, and the puzzle they set out to solve has become a trap from which they might never escape. This is also a PBS Masterpiece series!

Book Jacket: Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

vera wong's unsolicited advice for murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Vera Wong is a lonely lady of a certain age who lives above her once thriving, now forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco's Chinatown. She likes nothing more than a good cup of Wulong and extensive, loving detective work on the Internet to see what her Gen-Z son is up to. Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing--a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand is a flash drive, which Vera picks up after calling the cops like any good citizen would. Vera is sure she would do a better job than the police possibly could, because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands. Vera knows the killer will be back for the flash drive; all she has to do is watch the increasing number of curious customers at her shop and figure out which one among them is the killer. What Vera does not expect is to form friendships with her new customers and start to care for each and every one of them. As a protective mother hen, will she end up having to turn in one of her newfound chicks to the police?

magpie murders by Anthony Horowitz

When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pund, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to classic British crime writers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved so hugely successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job. Conway’s latest tale has Detective Pund investigating a murder at a local manor house. There are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition, and murder. Masterful, clever, and relentlessly suspenseful, Magpie Murders is a deviously dark take on vintage English crime fiction in which the reader becomes the detective.

Book Jacket: A Beginner's Guide to Murder

a beginner's guide to murder by Rosalind Stopps

Grace, Meg and Daphne, all in their seventies, are minding their own business while enjoying a cup of tea in a cafe, when seventeen-year-old Nina stumbles in. She's clearly distraught and running from someone, so the three women think nothing of hiding her when a suspicious-looking man starts asking if they've seen her. Once alone, Nina tells the women a little of what she's running from. The need to protect her is immediate, and Grace, Meg and Daphne vow to do just this. But how? They soon realize there really is only one answer: murder. And so begins the tale of the three most unlikely murderers-in-the-making, and good luck to anyone who underestimates them.

killers of a certain age by Deanna Raybourn

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills. When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they’ve been marked for death. Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They’re about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman-and a killer-of a certain age.

before she was helen by Caroline B. Cooney

Clementine Lakefield leads a simple life in her retirement community in Sun City, South Carolina. But behind her carefree facade, she is hiding a lifetime of secrets. When Clemmie goes next door to check on her difficult and unlikeable neighbor Dom, he isn't there, and she finds something stunning, beautiful and inexplicable instead. Clemmie photographs the wondrous object on her cell phone and makes the mistake of forwarding it. As the picture races around the internet, Clemmie tries desperately to keep a grip on her own personal network of secrets. Can fifty years of careful hiding be ruined by one careless picture? And although what Clemmie finds is a work of art, what the police find is a body. . . and she was the last person at the crime scene, where she left her fingerprints. Suddenly thrown into the heart of a twisted investigation, Clemmie finds herself the uncomfortable subject of intense scrutiny. And the bland, quiet life Clemmie has built for herself in her sleepy South Carolina retirement community comes crashing down as her dark past surges into the present.

secret lives by Mark De Castrique

For fans of unexpected-yet-badass female sleuths, meet former FBI agent-turned-boardinghouse landlady Ethel Fiona Crestwater. Her age affords her precious invisibility. She can outthink and outshoot those who are half her age. When someone murders one of her boarders, Ethel springs into action-much to the surprise of her double-first-cousin-twice-removed, Jesse, who has recently come to stay with her while he attends university. As he watches her photograph the crime scene, conceal evidence, and speed-dial the Secret Service Director, Jesse realizes that there's much more to Ethel than appearances suggest. When Jesse is assaulted and the gym bag full of cash Ethel had hidden is stolen from the basement, the pair decides it's time to launch their own unofficial investigation. With no one to trust but each other, this unlikely duo learns that the only thing truly worth risking your life for is family.

dangerous women by Mark De Castrique

This cleverly plotted high stakes thriller is set in motion by botched attack on two law clerks leaving one dead and the other in a coma. The ensuing cover up leaves a string of bodies and too many players at cross-purposes. It also leaves Chief Justice Clarissa Baxter with a target on her back. She'll need an off the grid hero with friends in high places: enter retired FBI agent-turned-boardinghouse landlady, Ethel Crestwater (legend) and her double-first-cousin-twice-removed Jesse Cooper (sidekick). Although in her mid-seventies, Ethel is no bumbling amateur sleuth; she's a seasoned pro with razor-sharp instincts and Bond-worthy skills. College-aged Jesse brings tech savvy and boundless enthusiasm, along with an innate talent for intrigue. Together, the unlikely duo will face malicious back-stabbing political sycophants, conniving lobbyists, and a motivated assassin bent on removing the Chief Justice from the equation--along with Ethel, who stands defiantly between the hitman and his payday.

Book Jacket: An Elderly Lady Is up to No Good

an elderly lady is up to no good by Helene Tursten

Maud is an irascible 88-year-old Swedish woman with no family, no friends, and no qualms about a little murder. Ever since her darling father's untimely death, Maud has lived in the family's spacious apartment in downtown Gothenburg, Sweden, rent-free, thanks to a minor clause in a hastily negotiated contract. That was how Maud learned that good things can come from tragedy. Now in her late eighties, Maud leads a solitary existence, and she likes it that way. Over the course of her misadventures, this tiny, bold lady will handle a crisis with a local celebrity who has her eyes on Maud's apartment, foil the engagement of her long-ago lover, and dispose of some pesky neighbors. But when Detective Inspectors Irene Huss and Embla Nystrom are called in to investigate a dead body found in Maud's apartment, will Maud finally become a suspect?

Book Jacket: Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions

auntie poldi and the sicilian lions by Mario Giordano

On her sixtieth birthday, Auntie Poldi retires to Sicily, intending to while away the rest of her days with good wine, a view of the sea, and few visitors. But Sicily isn't quite the tranquil island she thought it would be, and something always seems to get in the way of her relaxation. When her handsome young handyman goes missing and is discovered murdered, she can't help but ask questions. Soon there's an investigation, a smoldering police inspector, a romantic entanglement, one false lead after another, a rooftop showdown, and finally, of course, Poldi herself, slightly tousled but still perfectly poised.

Book Jacket: The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp

the sunset years of agnes sharp by Leonie Swann

It has been an eventful morning for Agnes Sharp and the other inhabitants of Sunset Hall, a communal home for the old and unruly in the sleepy English countryside. Although they have had their share of issues (misplaced reading glasses, conflicting culinary tastes, mobility issues, and unruly grandsons), nothing prepares them for an unexpected visit from a police officer with some shocking news. The body of one of their neighbors was discovered earlier that morning on the lawn. The members of the house are secretly relieved the body in question is not the one they're currently hiding in the shed (sorry, Lillith!). After holding an emergency house meeting, they decide that the answer to their little problem with Lillith is to find out who murdered their neighbor, so they can pin Lillith's death on them, thus killing two (old) birds with one stone (cold killer). With their plan sorted, Agnes and her geriatric gang spring into action, and the more suspicion they can cast about, surely the less will land on them. To investigate, they will have to leave their comfort zone and journey into the quaint village of Duck End and tangle with sinister bakers, broken stairlifts, inept criminals, local authorities, and their own dark secrets.

Book Jacket: Amy Among the Serial Killers

amy among the serial killers by Jincy Willett

Carla Karolak is doing just fine. Having escaped the clutches of her controlling mother and founded a successful writing retreat in which participants are confined to windowless cells until they hit their daily word count, she lives a comfortable, if solitary, existence. If only her therapist, Toonie, would stop going on about Carla's nonexistent love life and start addressing her writer’s block, she might be able to make some progress. But then Carla finds Toonie murdered, and suddenly her unfinished memoir is the least of her concerns. Without quite knowing why, she dials an old phone number. Amy Gallup, retired after decades as a writing instructor, is surprised to hear from her former student Carla out of the blue, three years since they last spoke. She’s even more shocked when she finds out the reason for Carla's call. Suddenly, she finds herself swept up in a murder investigation that soon brings her old writing group back together. But they’ll need all the help they can get, as one murder leads to another, and suspicions of a serial killer mount across San Diego.

a spoonful of murder by J. M. Hall

Every Thursday, three retired school teachers meet at the Thirsk Garden Centre café. But one fateful week, as they are catching up with a slice of cake, they bump into their ex-colleague, Topsy. The following week, Topsy’s dead. The last thing Liz, Thelma, and Pat imagined was that they would become involved in a murder. But they know there’s more to Topsy’s death than meets the eye - and it’s down to them to prove it...

mrs. plansky's revenge by Spencer Quinn

Mrs. Loretta Plansky, a recent widow in her seventies, is settling into retirement in Florida while dealing with her 98-year-old father and fielding requests for money from her beloved children and grandchildren. One night Mrs. Plansky is startled awake by a phone call from a voice claiming to be her grandson Will, who desperately needs ten thousand dollars to get out of a jam. Of course, Loretta obliges--after all, what are grandmothers for, even grandmothers who still haven't gotten a simple "thank you" for a gift sent weeks ago. Not that she's counting. By morning, Mrs. Plansky has lost everything. Law enforcement announces that Loretta's life savings have vanished, and that it's hopeless to find the scammers behind the heist. First humiliated, then furious, Loretta Plansky refuses to be just another victim. In a courageous bid for justice, Mrs. Plansky follows her only clue on a whirlwind adventure to a small village in Romania to get her money and her dignity back-and perhaps find a new lease on life, too. The recent movie Thelma has a very similar plot.

Book Jacket: Peg and Rose Solve A Murder

peg and rose solve a murder by Laurien Berenson

Sixty-something former nun Rose has her limits, and her gruff sister-in-law Peg Turnbull sure knows how to push them. But after forty years of bickering, they’re attempting to start over, partnering up to join the local bridge club. Peg and Rose barely have a chance to celebrate their first win before one of the club’s most accomplished players is killed in his home. As the newest members, the sisters-in-law come under scrutiny and decide to start some digging of their own. Bridge is typically seen as a wholesome pastime, yet this group of senior citizens harbors a wealth of vices, including gambling, cheating, and adultery . . . By comparison, Peg and Rose’s fractious relationship is starting to feel almost functional. But as their suspect list narrows, they’re unaware that their logic has a dangerous flaw. And they’ll have to hope that their teamwork holds steady when they’re confronted by a killer who’s through with playing games . . .

the night in question by Susan Fletcher

Florrie Butterfield-eighty-seven, one-legged, and of cheerful disposition-believes there can't be any more adventures or surprises in life to experience. Yet one midsummer’s evening, there’s an accident at Babbington Hall-the adult residence where she lives-so shocking and strange that Florrie is suspicious; is this really an accident? Or is she being lied to? Is she, in fact, living alongside a potential murderer? In her efforts to learn the truth, Florrie is forced to look back on her own life, with all its passions and regrets; she must confront her own bloody secret-and, at last, forgive herself. Above all, Florrie learns, through the help of her new friend, Stanhope, that you’re never too old to have the life you’ve always dreamed of. When it comes to love, it’s never too late.

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