The Cozy Shelf · No. 1Small-town mysteries, chosen by a reader
A weekly letter for cozy mystery readers

A pot of tea.
A small town.
A body in the garden.

Every week I send one short letter: the cozy mysteries worth your evening, the ones free in Kindle Unlimited, and any good deal I trip over. Join and I'll send you a free short mystery straight away.

One letter a week. Unsubscribe any time; we never share your address.

Reading lists

From our own shelf

Tales from the Twisted Leaf by Claire Willowbrook
The Twisted Leaf Mysteries · all three in one volume

Tales from the Twisted Leaf

by Claire Willowbrook

Emma Calloway gave up a Seattle law career for a weathered blue tea shop on Harbor Street in Harrow's Cove, Washington. Over one year, from a crisp October morning to the first blue light of spring, she keeps noticing the things everyone else misses. A dead antique dealer the police say died of natural causes. A winter storm and a missing set of historical documents. A stranger with a story that ties the whole autumn together.

Three short mysteries, best read in order, with a pot of something hot.

Read it on Kindle Free with Kindle Unlimited

Our own book. Free to read for Kindle Unlimited members.

Coming this autumn

Marta Pettibone spent thirty-one years as a hospice nurse. Now she owns two shaggy acres of plant nursery above the harbor in Gullwater, Washington, a goose named Custis who won't let her into the barn, and a town that thinks her late aunt sold poison plants. The Foxglove Nursery Mysteries start October 25.

A Body in the Bee Balm
A Body in the Bee BalmBook one · October 25
The Wolfsbane Window
The Wolfsbane WindowBook two · November 1
The Hemlock Bed
The Hemlock BedBook three · November 8

Subscribers hear the morning each one goes live, while it's at its launch price.

Why this exists

I started keeping a list of cozy mysteries the way some people keep recipe cards: the ones I'd hand to a friend, the ones that were better than their covers, the ones that turned up free on Kindle Unlimited when I wasn't looking. Eventually the list got long enough that it seemed selfish not to share it.

So that's what this is. A short letter once a week, a few reading lists, and our own books when there's a new one. No pop-ups, no countdown timers, and I won't pretend a book is good because someone paid for it to be here. If a pick is sponsored, it says so.

Claire

Claire Willowbrook, First Chapter Press

Read more for less

Most of the books on our lists are in Kindle Unlimited, which lets you borrow as many as you like for one monthly fee. If you're reading more than two a month it usually pays for itself, and new members can often start with a free trial. If you'd rather listen while you knit or drive, Audible has a trial too.

Or just get the letter:

One letter a week. Unsubscribe any time; we never share your address.