Category: Amateur Sleuths
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Left Coast Crime Awards 2025: One Female Sleuth Winner
Immediately added to my TBR list: A former reporter must investigate a murder with the detective who broke her heart in their native Hawaii in the Best Debut Mystery Novel winner.
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An Amateur Sleuth’s Adventures in Academia Provide a Cozy Diversion
In troubled times, a well-written cozy offers welcome respite from the day’s news. Cynthia Kuhn’s series features a sharp protagonist, a look at life on campus from someone who’s been there, and a lively sense of humor.
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On the Lighter Side: A Cozy Series for Garden Lovers
Amateur sleuth Steph Williams puts to bed any ideas that gardening is a leisurely pursuit as she works for Britain’s modern monied classes — and solves a fair share of their problems — in this cozy series.
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Agatha Award Winners 2024: Celebrating Traditional Mysteries
If you’re a fan of Agatha Christie, you’ll likely find something to love in this annual awards roundup. Fans chose the winners, which cannot include explicit sex, gore or violence.
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A Flawed Protagonist Searches for the Missing, and Redemption
Frankie Elkin is an “average, middle-aged white woman” who travels from one missing-persons case to the next, dragging a single suitcase behind her. Think Jack Reacher, but with fewer muscles and more underwear.
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Edgar Award Winners 2024: Few Female Sleuths, Few Surprises
Familiar names and titles dominated the list of award recipients but I think this annual winners’ roundup — described as “the Oscars of mystery awards” — is always worth a look.
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The Expectant Detectives: Very Pregnant Women Track a Killer
I am not now, nor have I ever been, nine months pregnant. But it doesn’t matter. This is a hilarious modern take on a cozy, wherein a waddle of women tackle a mystery to distract from the terror of impending childbirth.
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A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder: How to Ace Your Senior Project
I fell hard for Pippa, the “good girl” who decides to investigate the murder-suicide of two classmates for her high school senior project. If you haven’t read a young adult mystery lately, I encourage you to give this one a try.
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What Lies in the Woods: A Survivor’s Suspenseful Tale
A twist-filled tale about the resilience of little girls and the adults who are supposed to take care of them. I was cheering for our tough protagonist by the end, a grand finale I definitely didn’t see coming.
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Scorched Grace: A Poet Pens a Lyrical Debut
Lush language, an atmospheric setting and the most original protagonist in many a mystery. There’s so much to love in this intense noir debut featuring a queer punk rock nun in the sweltering heat of New Orleans.
FemaleSleuths.com 