Cozy Mystery Halloween Novellas to Read

In today’s blog post we’re going to be discussing different cozy mystery halloween novellas to read. I like to read seasonal books during fall, and cozy mystery halloween novellas for a variety of reasons.

• It’s fun to dive into a spooky read during the Halloween season
• Halloween novellas are often written in popular cozy mystery series, so you get the chance to read more about the characters you love!
• Novellas are a great way to read more. We’re in Q4 and I’m getting nervous that I may not be able to complete my goodreads reading challenge for the year. Novellas are a great way to bulk up my numbers. Lol

First, I want to share a couple of different standalone cozy mystery halloween novellas. Then we’ll discuss a couple of different book options.

Spellbound Sweets: A Samantha Sweet Halloween Novella by Connie Shelton

Spellbound Sweets is part of the Samantha Sweet series, which focuses on the Sweet’s Sweets pastry shop. In this story they are busy preparing for Halloween and baking ALL of the usual fall goodies. The team at Samantha’s shop is also preparing to go to a costume party at the local bookstore. But when someone turns up dead AND a rare book goes missing, Sam realizes she will have to jump into action to figure out who is responsible.

Murder in the Villa: A Maggie Newberry Halloween Novella by Susan Kiernan-Lewis

This is part of the Maggie Newberry mystery series. Maggie and Laurent are headed to a Halloween party but their car breaks down along the way. A storm is brewing so they wind up stopping for a bit at an old villa, where they meet an elderly woman who things the war is still going on. As the storm gets worse and the woman divulges stories from the past to Maggie and Laurent, they begin to wonder if they will make it out of the spooky villa alive.

Halloween Hustle: A Cassandra Sato Mystery Novella by Kelly Brakenhoff

This is part of the Cassandra Sato mystery series. Cassandra agrees to participate in a Halloween Hustle 5k event for charity. But while training for the run, she stumbles upon a dead body during one of her practice runs. Yikes! Cassandra must work with her friends to figure out what happened and who did it. Otherwise, she may be permanently disqualified from the race.

Candy Coated Murder: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery by Kathleen Suzette

(I’m not totally sure if this is a novella or not, but I’ve read mysteries by this author and they are generally pretty short, so I’m including one on this list!)

Mia Jordan has made it to adulthood, only to return to her hometown of Pumpkin Hollow. But things aren’t exactly how she remembers. Except for Hazel Martin, who is as mean as ever. When Hazel turns up dead, it seems as if there are a lot of people who may have had issues with her. Mia must work to figure out who the true murderer is, all while working with her Mom and the family candy store.

The next couple of books are Halloween collections, which feature multiple different stories in them. I will summarize a little about each story so that you know what to expect from each book! All of these authors are fabulous. I know because I have all of these already on my bookshelf at home. 🙂

Halloween Cupcake Murder

Features:

• Halloween Cupcake Murder by Carlene O’Connor
• Mrs Claus and the Candy Corn Caper by Liz Ireland
• A Triple Layer Halloween Murder by Carol J Perry

In Halloween Cupcake Murder we get three different stories. I am most looking forward to checking out Mrs. Claus and the Candy Corn Caper by Liz Ireland. I really love the Mrs. Claus series and so I’m incredibly excited to dive back into the Santa Land world.

Halloween Party Murder

Features:

• Halloween Party Murder by Leslie Meier
• Death of a Halloween Party Monster by Lee Hollis
• Scared Off by Barbara Ross

In Halloween Party murder, all of the stories take places at… you guessed it… halloween parties! I’m familiar with the first two stories but I haven’t read anything by Barbara Ross. These seem like a great set of stories to read.

Haunted House Murder

Features:

• Haunted House Murder by Leslie Meier
• Death by Haunted House by Lee Hollis
• Hallowed Out by Barbara Ross

In Haunted House Murder all of the stories take place at haunted houses! That’s a pretty smart setting idea because I feel like a lot could go wrong in a haunted house. I’ve been in a few and they are very dark and scary.

If I think of any more Halloween Cozy Mystery Novellas, I will be sure to add them to this post throughout the season. That way when we’re looking for something short and spooky to read, we’ll have plenty of options.

xo Marian