I’ve just read a few of the Christmas books in the Andy Carpenter series by David Rosenfelt and really enjoyed them.
I wouldn’t call them traditional cozy mysteries, and most of the standard cozy mystery books tend to get on my nerves a bit.
“Cozy-adjacent” is the best way I can think of to describe Rosenfelt’s style of writing. It’s a little gritty, but not too much, there’s violence but it’s not gratuitous, the MC has a cozy and pleasant home life but it’s not saccharine sweet, and he has a sarcastic sense of humor throughout but it manages not to overstay it’s welcome. Also the mysteries themselves are compelling and I haven’t been able to guess the culprit until the story is over (unlike traditional cozies that are very light on the mystery and tend to be very easy to solve).
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
by peanut_dust_purveyor