When the days grow shorter and the nights stretch long, there’s nothing better than curling up with a cozy mystery. Add in a jack-o-lantern glow, a cup of cider, and the sound of leaves scratching at the windows, and you’ve got the perfect October setting.
It’s no wonder Halloween feels like it was made for mystery lovers.
Think about it—so many of the tropes we love in cozy mysteries pair perfectly with this spooky season:
The Small Town with Secrets: Everyone knows everyone… or so they think. (And in October, those secrets feel just a little darker.)
The Amateur Sleuth: Armed with curiosity, a dash of courage, and maybe a costume party alibi, our sleuth always ends up in the wrong place at the right time.
The Haunted House (or B&B): Drafty staircases, unexplained footsteps, and flickering candlelight—whether the ghosts are real or just rumors, the setting makes you shiver.
The Unlikely Sidekick: From nosy neighbors to mischievous pets, someone always seems to dig up a clue right when it’s needed most.
And for those of us who love a paranormal twist? Talking pets, helpful spirits, and haunted heirlooms slip so naturally into the Halloween atmosphere that it feels like they were meant to be here all along. So this October, as you’re lighting pumpkins and dodging candy wrappers, don’t forget to also stock up on cozy mysteries—the kind that keep you turning pages while the wind rattles the windows. A special treat from my Haunted Kitchen:
Witch’s Brew Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Every Halloween needs a signature snack. These cookies are soft, spiced, and drizzled with a ghostly glaze—perfect for nibbling while you solve (or create) a little mischief.
Ingredients 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 1 ½ tsp cinnamon ½ tsp nutmeg ½ tsp ground cloves ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar ½ cup brown sugar, packed 1 cup pumpkin purée 1 large egg 1 tsp vanilla extract Ghostly Glaze 1 cup powdered sugar 2 tbsp milk (plus more if needed) ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
In another bowl, cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Mix well.
Slowly blend dry ingredients into wet until just combined.
Drop by spoonfuls onto prepared sheets. Bake 12–14 minutes, until edges set.
While cooling, whisk glaze ingredients. Drizzle over cookies like ghostly cobwebs. Serve on a dark plate with a few candy eyeballs scattered around… and you’ve got a haunted treat worthy of October.
Click here for a printable version of Witch’s Brew Pumpkin Spice Cookies Happy reading!
About the author
Emmie Lyn grew up in a small town in New England, much like the towns where her female characters live—scenic, quaint and filled with colorful characters. She loves to create mysteries with twists and unexpected turns that draw readers in and capture their imagination.
Emmie lives in rural Massachusetts with her husband, a rescue terrier, and a black cat with a bad attitude. She shares twelve acres with a wide variety of wildlife including deer, bunnies, turkeys, and many songbirds. When she’s not busy thinking of ways to kill off a character (for a book, of course!) she enjoys a cup of tea and chocolate in her flower garden, hiking, or spending time near the ocean.
Despite being a cozy mystery author and a fan of mysteries and romantic suspense, I’m not a fan of all things spooky. I scare incredibly easy and I just know I’d be the first to go if I ever landed in a horror film.
However, I do love the autumn season. I love the changing leaves and the crisp air with the sun shining overhead. I love pulling out my sweaters and having hot chocolate, curling up on the couch with one of my many fleece blankets.
My favorite part of the fall season is pumpkins. I honestly don’t know what my fascination is with them. We’ve always carved pumpkins with our girls and we did the whole traditional trick or treat thing with them but over the years, I wasn’t sorry to see the knocking on strangers’ doors for candy portion of the season end.
Since they were little girls (they’re grown now), we’ve gone to local pumpkin patches and picked more pumpkins than we need. My youngest used to want the biggest and my oldest wanted the cleanest. One of my favorite things to do is stroll through the pumpkin patches looking for the best pumpkins.
A few years ago, while scrolling on Pinterest, I came across painted pumpkins. I’m now obsessed with painting them. It takes me a while to choose but I often land on Disney themed pumpkins.
I don’t have any pictures of my painted pumpkins (that’s what I get for tidying up my phone storage) but I do have an awesome picture of my girls then and now enjoying the same traditions.
While I’m not into jump scares or terrifying costumes, I’m happy the season to burrow under cozy blankets and scroll through this year’s pumpkin painting ideas on Pinterest is finally here.
About the author
Jody Holford writes sweet romance and cozy mysteries with sweet romance in them. She’s published several books including the cozies in The Britton Bay Series. She’s unintentionally funny and rarely on time for anything. If she’s not writing, she’s reading, hanging out with her family, or doodling. She also writes romcoms under the pen name, Sophie Sullivan.
If my book were a Halloween movie…it would be Garfield’s Halloween Adventure! Wait, wait, I promise it makes sense!
This gem of children’s animation first came out in 1985. Back then, my grandmother taped it off of the television and for years I could pop in the VHS tape into the VCR whenever I wanted to watch it. Fun fact, as a kid one year I dressed up as Garfield for Halloween because I loved this movie so much. Sadly, this show hasn’t been broadcast on tv since 1999, but you can watch it on Youtube. Of course, that version won’t have the classic Campbell’s soup, McDonald’s Halloween McBoo Buckets, or Double Mint gum ads that I can also quote by heart… With music sung by Lou Rawls and the typical Garfield hijinks and humor, this movie was a fall staple in my household growing up. To this day, I sometimes find myself singing “This is the night!” or quoting random lines from it (“Garfield, you are a genius! I know that.”).
So, how is Garfield’s Halloween Adventure anything like Murder, She Rolled? Let’s break it down (without spoilers!):
First, the obvious similarity: both take place in fall with Halloween right around the corner. And while Garfield may be lazy, my protagonist, Wren Winters, is anything but. She and her friends are busily preparing for the Hollow’s Way Harvest Festival, planning out a hay maze and outdoor games for folks to play.
Garfield discovers that, unlike other holidays that might involve him getting pine needles in his paws, if he dresses up in costume on Halloween, he can get candy, candy, candy! In Murder, She Rolled, Wren and her friends are about to play a tabletop roleplaying game, the kind of collaborative storytelling game where you pretend you’re someone else – very Halloween appropriate.
After a montage of trying on different costumes (“What should I be? There’s so many sides to me.”) Garfield and Odie go out dressed up as pirates. It’s all fun and games, but danger lurks when they enter a run-down mansion that they thought was abandoned. Similarly, when Wren and her friends sit down to play a game, one of them collapses, sending the group spiraling and running headlong into danger at every turn.
Ultimately, Garfield and Odie survive because of their friendship and the sacrifices they make for one another. In Murder, She Rolled, Wren and her friends are put to the test, but ultimately they need to rely on one another in order to figure out whodunit and how to put things right before it’s too late…
About the author
Shelly Jones is a professor by trade and a nerd by design. Woefully introverted, their pockets are full of post-it notes and their head is full of (unsaid) witty come-backs and un-won arguments from years past. When they aren’t grading papers or writing new cozy mysteries, Shelly can often be found hiking in the woods or playing a board game while their cats look on. Connect with Shelly on her website: shellyjonesauthor.com.
Greetings, victims, I mean, friends, and welcome to my not-so-spooky Tule Halloween Festival post. If you’ve read any of my Elmo Simpson Mysteries, you know the town of Paradise Springs, Florida is filled with unusual characters. If you haven’t, there’s no better time to change that as all three are on sale this month for the bargain price of $1.99 for Kindle readers.
Among the denizens of the Springs is Abraham Longfellow, a dashing recluse who might be a vampire. Then there’s Idira Maradona, who’s known to many as The Black Widow due to the unusually large number of deceased former spouses. I’d be remiss if I failed to mention the Farrell Sisters, local entertainment magnates who may also be witches.
So, it was no surprise when I started working on a timeline for Dead in the Ditch, book 3 in the series, that Halloween had to play a key part.
The story opens on Halloween night and features trick-or-treating and one whale of a Halloween costume party. A dead body turns up, too. I mean, I write murder mysteries. How could there not be one?
I’ve always loved Halloween. When I was a kid, I spent the night of October 31 dashing from house to house with my friends knocking on doors and shouting, “trick or treat.” It was great fun, and I treasure those memories.
When my kids were young, I took them trick or treating and had as much fun enjoying the spookiness of the evening as they did. We also had a great time decorating the house with jack o’ lanterns, spider webs, and all kinds of other not scary decorations.
Over the years, there have been trips trough haunted houses, strolls through Halloween-themed zoos, and viewings of too many scary movies to count. Not to mention the annual viewing of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!”
So, yeah, I love Halloween. To me, it’s a time of fun, friendship, and goodwill. I mean, children going house to house to receive treats from people they don’t know? That’s an act of trust and belief in community that can’t be beat.
That’s why, when the opportunity presented itself, I wasn’t going to pass on giving Dead in the Ditch a Halloween theme. And I can’t wait until the timing works to write another Halloween story.
Until next time, stay spooky, friends and keep reading Tule mysteries!
About the author
J.C. Kenney is the bestselling author of The Allie Cobb Mysteries, The Darcy Gaughan Mysteries, and The Elmo Simpson Mysteries. He’s also the co-host of The Bookish Hour webcast. When he’s not writing, you can find him following IndyCar racing or listening to music. He has two grown children and lives in Indianapolis with his wife and a cat.
Mistletoe, mochas, and murder. When a Christmastime killer strikes, can one amateur sleuth save the festivities from chocolate-covered ruin?
Ava Decker craves clarity. Stuck in limbo while her maybe-boyfriend takes flight overseas, the sarcastic pastry chef buries her insecurities inside her cupcakes. But as her town immerses itself in yuletide cheer, she pushes herself to re-enter the world and celebrate… only to discover a fellow confectioner’s body floating in a lake of fudge.
Grieving and prepping for the magical winter festival, the witty entrepreneur is dumbfounded by the news that she’s inherited the cocoa master’s decadent empire. And as a disgruntled relative contests the will and traces of embezzlement surface, Ava mixes a batch of relentless sleuthing with a pinch of help from her forensic accounting background.
Will refusing to walk away get her yule cake crumbled or put a grinch behind bars? Candy Canes and Crimes is the quirky sixth book in the Frosted Misfortunes Mysteries culinary cozy series. If you like strong female leads with self-deprecating humor, loveable animal sidekicks, and small-town holiday charm, then you’ll adore Lisa Siefert’s entertaining adventure.
Lisa Siefert is a USA Today Bestselling Mystery Author who writes humorous cozy mysteries. She dedicates all of her free time to testing out different latte flavors at every coffee shop she comes across and has never once skimped on dessert because life is too short not to. She lives in San Diego with Lucky, her own devious but adorable Abyssinian kitten. She excels at recounting every Hallmark Movie plot ever conceived and can also whip up a mean batch of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Her books feature amateur women sleuths that always believe in silver linings despite all of the murderous clouds surrounding them.
