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20 Pumpkin Spice Mysteries to Cozy Up With This Fall

Writer: Jennifer King
Jennifer King
2 hours ago
5 min read

There’s something about pumpkin spice that signals the official arrival of cozy season. Add a crackling fire, a warm blanket, a steaming mug, and a good whodunit, and you have just about everything a mystery reader could want on a chilly autumn afternoon.


Apparently, mystery writers agree. When I was compiling a list of autumn-themed cozies, I noticed that pumpkin spice has made its way into the titles of a surprising number of cozy mysteries, where it accompanies everything from cupcakes and coffee shops to fall festivals, bookshops, puppies—and, naturally, murder. Here are 20 pumpkin-spice mysteries perfect for adding a little mystery to your autumn reading list.


This post contains Amazon Associate affiliate links. When you purchase any of these books by using these links, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

 

Pumpkin Spice Peril by Jenn McKinlay

Mel and Angie’s Scottsdale bakery is serving pumpkin-spice cupcakes when their friend Rene, a talented local artist, suddenly dies. When police determine she was poisoned—and that the bakery’s cupcakes were among the last things she ate—the two bakers have a powerful incentive to find the real killer.


Pumpkin Spice Puppy by Laurien Berenson

Autumn has arrived in Connecticut, and Melanie Travis is helping with a school fundraiser involving a town-wide treasure hunt. When she visits a participating pet-supply store and discovers the owner murdered, Melanie finds herself investigating suspects ranging from disgruntled neighbors to an ex-wife—all while making sure the victim’s Chow Chow, Cider, is safe.


Death by Pumpkin Spice by Alex Erickson

Bookstore café owner Krissy Hancock expects an evening of costumes and cocktails when she attends an elaborate Halloween party at a mansion. Instead, one of the guests turns up dead, and Krissy once again finds herself trying to determine which member of the party had a motive for murder.


Restaurant owner Angie Turner takes her County Seat staff on a well-earned arts-and-crafts retreat, but relaxation doesn’t last long. When an older guest asks for help locating his missing son, Angie and her crew find themselves caught up in another mystery. The novella is also included in Cahoon’s three-story collection A Basketful of Murder.


Harper Coleman hopes inheriting her grandmother’s bookshop will give her the fresh start she desperately needs. Instead, she discovers a body among the shelves and becomes the prime suspect, forcing her to investigate the secrets of seemingly idyllic Whisper Hollow—with a gossipy neighbor and inquisitive black cat lending a hand.



Returning to her hometown of Westhaven wasn’t exactly part of the plan, but life has other ideas for this reluctant homecomer. When a favorite former teacher convinces her to enter a pie festival and the festivities end in murder, she becomes much more interested in identifying the killer than in winning the competition.


Pumpkin Spice Scare by Molly Maple

Charlotte McKay is preparing to move on from her job at Bill’s Diner and concentrate on her cupcake business when she discovers the body of a coworker. Another attack suggests someone may be targeting the diner’s staff, leaving Charlotte scrambling to uncover buried grudges before her own name is added to the killer’s list.


Heather is looking forward to a haunted trolley ride when one of the tour guides dies in what appears to be a car accident. After evidence suggests the crash may have been deliberate, she starts looking into the victim’s history as a practical joker—and wonders whether one prank went far enough to give someone a motive for murder.


Pumpkin Spice Sacrifice by Addison Moore

Baker Lottie Lemon has an unusual talent: she can see the ghosts of animals connected to the recently deceased. In this paranormal cozy, pumpkin-spice season brings Lottie another murder to unravel as she balances baking, romance, suspects, and the supernatural.


Brambleberry Bay is celebrating autumn with its annual Pumpkin Spice Festival—complete with treats, sweaters, games, rides, and plenty of small-town charm. The cozy celebration takes a decidedly less festive turn when someone drops dead in the middle of the Pumpkin Palooza, giving the local Murder Club another case to solve.



This first installment in Tanya R. Taylor’s Nosy Paralegal series introduces another unlikely amateur detective to the cozy-mystery ranks. A paralegal with a talent for asking questions gets caught up in a case involving crime, secrets, and a heist, launching a series of investigations that take her well beyond her ordinary day job.


Pumpkin Spice Murder by Laura Pauling

With the town’s Pumpkin Festival approaching, Lucas Graystone should be enjoying the season. Instead, a real-estate agent is murdered and Lucas’s father lands among the suspects, leaving Lucas and the rest of the Baron and Graystone team to uncover the truth before the festivities are overshadowed by murder.


Pumpkin Spice Murder by Summer Prescott

Cupcake baker Melissa “Missy” Beckett heads to a Halloween masquerade expecting costumes and seasonal fun. Murder disrupts the festivities, however, and Missy is soon using her amateur-sleuthing skills to uncover the person hiding something much more dangerous than a face behind a mask.


A peaceful walk in the woods with her bluetick hound turns frightening when Rainey hears a gunshot and discovers a body. Now she has two mysteries to worry about: who pulled the trigger—and whether the murderer saw her arrive at the scene.


Pumpkin Spice Lies by Kathleen Suzette

Mia makes an extraordinary discovery in the park: a beautiful emerald ring. Unfortunately, the ring is still attached to its dead owner. With the town’s Pumpkin Hollow Days celebration approaching, Mia begins investigating a murder that proves there are plenty of secrets lurking beneath the town’s cheerful autumn atmosphere.


Pumpkin Spice and Poisoning by Katherine Hayton

When six people become ill at a restaurant, including Holly Waterston’s sister, suspicion quickly falls on the cupcakes supplied by Holly’s family bakery. Holly knows the bakers aren’t responsible, but proving it means discovering who really poisoned the victims—and why.


Are you a pumpkin spice fan? Share your favorite seasonal treat in the comments below.


Harmony Hollow’s Fall Festival should mean baked goods, seasonal fun, and plenty of customers for Willa Honeycutt’s café. Instead, a local busybody suddenly dies, and Willa gathers her wonderfully unconventional investigative “war council” to sort through gossip, suspicious photographs, questionable recipes, and a growing collection of suspects.


Death by Pumpkin Spice by Patti Petrone Miller

Pumpkin Hollow, Vermont, seems tailor-made for autumn, especially from inside Tessa Greenwood’s cozy coffee shop, the Lantern Cup. But when a visiting documentary filmmaker is murdered during the town’s seasonal festivities, Tessa becomes entangled in a mystery involving the town’s past, its founding families, and secrets that some residents would rather keep buried.




An autumn festival turns deadly when food critic Gideon Gourd (love that name!) is found murdered in a corn maze—and the evidence points toward barista Madison Perkins’s best friend. Madison sets out to clear her friend’s name, following clues involving the pumpkin patch, a mysterious old library card, and plenty of small-town secrets.


Pumpkin Spice Scandal by Tonya Kappes (coming in October!)

Fall has arrived in Honey Springs, Kentucky, where Roxy Bloom’s Bean Hive Coffeehouse is busy serving seasonal drinks to crowds of leaf-peepers. When murder interrupts the season and suspicious activity at the local country club appears connected to the crime, Roxy puts her former-lawyer instincts to work to find out who is hiding a deadly secret.




A Lot-te of Murders for Pumpkin-Spice Season

Who knew pumpkin spice could be so dangerous?


Whether your ideal autumn setting is a bustling bakery, a small-town coffee shop, a bookshop, a harvest festival, or a leaf-strewn New England street—with perhaps a faithful dog or curious cat nearby—there’s a pumpkin-spiced mystery waiting for you.


So, grab your favorite sweater, order a spiced latte, and settle into your favorite reading chair. The pumpkin spice is sweet, and the mysteries are delicious.



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