10 Delicious Cozy Mystery Series Filled With Bakeries, Cupcakes, Pies & Murder

There are few things cozy mysteries love more than a charming bakery, and honestly, I understand. Give me a display case filled with cupcakes, a small town where everyone knows everyone, a suspiciously high murder rate, and an amateur sleuth who really should be frosting something instead of investigating a crime, and I’m in.

I’ve read and loved several of these series, while others have been sitting very impatiently on my cozy mystery TBR. There are traditional bakeries, cupcakes, pies, home bakers and even a little magic mixed in, so if you like your mysteries served with something sweet, consider this your next reading menu.

Want All the Bakery Cozies in One Place? 🥧

I gathered all 10 books together so you can browse the entire list in one spot.

→ Browse Cozy Mysteries for Bakers

Meet Your Baker by Ellie Alexander

The first book in the Bakeshop Mystery series introduces pastry chef Jules Capshaw, who returns home to Ashland, Oregon and her family’s beloved bakeshop, Torte.

If you’ve spent any amount of time around here lately, you already know how I feel about this series. 😂 The combination of incredible food descriptions, an atmospheric small town, a lovable recurring cast and mysteries that keep me entertained book after book makes this one of my gold standard cozy series.

Bakery vibes: Pastries, coffee & an actual bakeshop

Start here if: You want a long running series to completely disappear into.

Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop by Darci Hannah

Lindsey Bakewell leaves city life behind to purchase a historic lighthouse in Michigan and transform it into the bakery of her dreams. Unfortunately, opening day also comes with a murder.

The Beacon Bakeshop Mysteries are another personal favorite of mine. I love the waterfront setting, the food, the characters and the slightly whimsical feeling running through the series. It’s exactly the kind of cozy world I want to revisit.

Bakery vibes: Lighthouse bakery & gorgeous baked goods

Start here if: You want your murder with waterfront atmosphere.

Sprinkle with Murder by Jenn McKinlay

Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura own Fairy Tale Cupcakes, where elaborate cakes and cupcakes are their specialty—until a bride to be ends up dead and Mel becomes a suspect.

The Cupcake Bakery Mysteries have been around for years for good reason, and this is one I’ve been wanting to spend more time with. Cupcake shop + best friends + murder is basically a cozy mystery starter pack.

Bakery vibes: Cupcakes, frosting & best friend business partners

Start here if: You want a huge established series with plenty to binge.

Brownies and Broomsticks by Bailey Cates

Katie Lightfoot moves to Savannah to help run her aunt and uncle’s bakery and quickly discovers that baking isn’t the only family talent—there’s a little magic involved too.

The Magical Bakery Mysteries are perfect when you want the comfort of a culinary cozy with an extra paranormal twist. And yes, apparently witches and baked goods are a combination I will continue recommending whenever possible.

Bakery vibes: Bakery treats with a magical ingredient

Start here if: You want your cupcakes with a side of witchcraft.

Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns

Maddy Montgomery unexpectedly inherits her great aunt’s home, enormous dog and bakery in New Bison, Michigan. Keeping Baby Cakes running wasn’t exactly part of her plan, and neither was becoming involved in a murder investigation.

The Baker Street Mysteries have been calling my name for a while, and this is high on my own TBR. I especially love finding cozy series that bring different voices and characters into a genre I read so much of.

Bakery vibes: Inherited bakery & fresh start energy

Start here if: You love a reluctant new baker figuring things out as she goes.

A Peach of a Murder by Livia J. Washburn

Retired teacher Phyllis Newsom is an enthusiastic home baker whose competitive streak lands her in the middle of a baking contest—and eventually a murder investigation.

The Fresh Baked Mysteries give us something a little different from all the bakery owners on this list. Phyllis is a home baker and older amateur sleuth, proving you don’t actually need a storefront to encounter an alarming amount of flour based homicide.

Bakery vibes: Home baking & competitive baking

Start here if: You like traditional cozies and older sleuths.

Pies and Prejudice by Ellery Adams

Ella Mae LeFaye returns to her Georgia hometown and opens the Charmed Pie Shoppe, where she soon discovers there may be something genuinely magical about the pies made by the women in her family.

Another paranormal option! The Charmed Pie Shoppe Mysteries combine Southern charm, pie and magic with murder, which certainly distinguishes them from your average neighborhood bakery.

Bakery vibes: Magical pies & Southern charm

Start here if: You want your baking cozy with an enchanted twist.

Éclair and Present Danger by Laura Bradford

After leaving her job, Winnie Johnson turns her vintage ambulance into an emergency dessert business, delivering sweets to people who desperately need a pick me up.

The Emergency Dessert Squad Mysteries have one of the most fun concepts on this list. It’s still dessert centered without giving us another traditional bakery storefront, and I’m extremely susceptible to any cozy premise involving baked goods delivered by a converted ambulance. 😂

Bakery vibes: Mobile desserts & clever treat names

Start here if: You want a culinary cozy with an unusual setup.

And Then There Were Crumbs by Eve Calder

Kate McGuire arrives in Coral Cay, Florida looking for a fresh start and finds herself working at a bakery where the owner soon becomes the prime suspect in a murder.

The Cookie House Mysteries combine bakery life with a coastal Florida setting and found family potential—basically several of my cozy weaknesses stacked on top of one another.

Bakery vibes: Cookies & coastal bakery life

Start here if: You like fresh starts, beach towns and found family.

The Witching Flour by Samantha Silver

If regular bakery murder isn’t quite enough for you, apparently we can also make it magical. 😂 This paranormal cozy brings witchcraft into the kitchen for another combination of spells, sweets and suspicious deaths.

I love including a couple magical options because bakery cozies don’t all have to feel the same. Sometimes you want the baker to solve the murder. Sometimes you want the baker to solve the murder and potentially cast a spell.

Bakery vibes: Magical baking & paranormal mayhem

Start here if: Your ideal cozy recipe includes both flour and witchcraft.

Apparently Baking Is a Dangerous Profession

Looking at this list, I have questions about the occupational safety standards in fictional bakeries. 😂

But that’s also why bakery cozies work so well. There’s something incredibly comforting about returning to the same shop, seeing familiar customers and characters, and watching a community grow across a series, even when someone periodically ends up dead between batches of cupcakes.

Some of these are already favorites, some are waiting on my shelves, and several are series I’m hoping to finally start soon. That’s the danger of making these lists: I inevitably add approximately seventeen books to my own TBR.

Perfect for Readers Who Love:

• Culinary cozy mysteries
• Charming bakeries and cafés
• Cupcakes, cookies, pies and pastries
• Small town settings
• Amateur sleuths
• Long running cozy series
• Magical and paranormal cozies
• Mysteries with plenty of comfort between murders

Ready for Something Sweet? 🧁

Whether you want cupcakes, magical pies, a lighthouse bakery or good old fashioned home baking, all 10 series start with a mystery that pairs particularly well with coffee and something from the pastry case.

→ Browse Cozy Mysteries for Bakers here

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