Christmas seems to be the most popular holiday theme for mysteries and fiction of all varieties. I discovered that there were hundreds from which to choose, with more written every year. Some writers focus entirely on Christmas in every book they publish.

 

If you are a fan of Christmas themed fiction, then this updated 2021 list of fifty-eight novels, novellas, and short stories is for you. The books were recommended by avid cozy booksellers and reviewers, as well as NBR and Kerrian’s Notebook subscribers. Click on the titles to find out more about the books, then snuggle up with a great Christmas read.

 

Susan Wittig Albert “The Darling Dahlias & the Poinsettia Puzzle”

Gretchen Archer  “Double Deck the Halls”

Donna Andrews “The Twelve Jays of Christmas”

Mary Angela “Very Merry Murder”

Joy Avon “In Peppermint Peril”

 

Laurien Berenson “Here Comes Santa Paws”

Susan Bernhardt “Murder Under the Tree”

Brittany E. Brinegar “Holly Jolly Murder”

Leslie Budewitz “As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles”

Ellen Byron “A Cajun Christmas Killing”

 

Lynn Cahoon “Have a Holly Haunted Christmas”

Robyn Carr “A Virgin River Christmas”

Nancy Coco “Have Yourself a Fudgy Little Christmas”

Cate Conte “A Whisker of a Doubt”

Maya Corrigan “Gingerdead Man”

 

Kim Davis “Frosted Yuletide Murder”

Maddie Day “Candy Slain Murder”

Vicki Delany “Dying in a Winter Wonderland”

Maria DiRico “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder”

Leighann Dobbs “Grievance in Gingerbread Alley”

 

Barbara Early “Murder on the Toy Town Express”

Peggy Ehrhart “Silent Knit, Deadly Knit”

Morris Fenris “Christmas Angel Charity”

Beatrice Fishback “Winter Writerland”

Amanda Flower “Candy Cane Crime”

Joanne Fluke “Christmas Cupcake Murder”

Jacqueline Frost “Slashing Through the Snow”

 

Daryl Wood Gerber “Wreath between the Lines”

John Gray “Manchester Christmas”

Patrice Greenwood “As Red as Any Blood”

 

Carolyn Haines “A Garland of Bones”

Victoria Hamilton “Breaking the Mould”

Jo A Heistand “Shortbread and Dead”

Julie Hennrikus “A Christmas Peril”

Liz Ireland “Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings”

 

CeeCee James “The Frosty Taste of Scandal”

Miranda James “Six Cats a Slayin”

Tina Kashian “Mistletoe, Moussaka, and Murder”

Andrea Kress “Christmas Recipe for Murder”

Laura Levine “Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge”

 

Debbie Macomber “Dear Santa”

VL McBeath “A Christmas Murder”

Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Peggy Ehrhart  “Christmas Card Murder ”

Ada Moncrieff “Murder Most Festive”

Nancy Naigle “Hope at Christmas”

 

Carlene O’Connor “Murder at an Irish Christmas”

Gail Oust: “The Twelve Dice of Christmas”

James Patterson, Maxine Paetro: “The 19th Christmas”

Anne Perry “A Christmas Legacy”

 

Amy M. Reade “The Worst Noel”

Heather Redmond “A Christmas Carol Murder”

Barbara Ross “Nogged Off”

Rosemarie Ross “Christmas Candy Corpse”

 

Karen Schaler “A Royal Christmas Fairy Tale”

Julie Seedorf  “The Discombobulated Decipherers”

Jane Willan  “Abide with Me”

Traci Wilton “Mrs. Morris and the Ghost of Christmas Past”

Sherryl Woods: “Christmas at White Pines”

Happy Choosing!