The best humorous cozy and amateur sleuth mysteries for when you really need a good laugh

Technically, Stephanie Plum isn’t an amateur sleuth because she works as a bounty hunter, but since she was never trained and tends to succeed despite her bungling and ineptitude, I consider her an amateur sleuth. Besides, when you’re sorely in need of a good laugh to release some endorphins, you can’t go wrong spending a few hours with Stephanie and her colorful cohorts. This twenty-seventh outing in the long-running series is one of the best when it comes not only to the humor, but it offers up a well-plotted story, and lots of red herrings. Plus, there’s plenty of Grandma Masur in this one. What more could you ask for?

When it comes to absurdist humor, this book is a standout. I couldn’t stop laughing, beginning with the first page. Jane Delaney is known as the Death Diva. Her freelance business provides services that range from scattering loved one’s ashes to tasks that…well, let’s just say she’s got the oddest profession of any amateur sleuth I’ve ever come across, not to mention the most unusual sidekick, a neurotic poodle named Sexy Beast who plays Watson to Jane’s Sherlock. The first-person narrative comes alive with Jane’s delicious self-deprecating sense of humor and makes for the absolute best in escapist reading as Jane takes you on a hilarious journey on the road to whodunnit. 

Former investigative reporter Rick Atwood is the go-to guy for the chief of police whenever crime strikes Seaside Cove, but Rick’s precocious eleven-year-old daughter is the real star of this series. Alex is a Nancy Drew for the 21st century. Her diary entries put a smile on my face as they brought back memories of my own childhood. Her upstaging of the adults in her life made me chuckle throughout the book. Terry Ambrose is a true master at capturing what it’s like to be a young girl yearning to be taken seriously by the adults in her life, a difficult task for any author but even more so for a male author.

If you’re a fan of droll British humor, as I am, you can’t do better than to spend a few hours with The Thursday Murder Club. The author is a master at creating characters that are both over-the-top and oh-so-believable at the same time, and his plot will keep you up well past your bedtime in your quest to find out what happens next. Be prepared to laugh your way through this mystery, with the added bonus that it will keep you guessing whodunnit until the very end.

When twenty-six-year-old Lady Philomena Dunbridge solves a murder that has stymied the police, she scandalizes Edwardian England. Rather than lead a dowager’s life, she escapes to America—and immediately stumbles upon another murder in need of solving. I absolutely love Lady Phil’s unique outlook on life, which had me chuckling from chapter to chapter. The verbal sparring between her and her butler, the detective assigned to the case, and the mysterious Mr. X often made me shout, “You go, girl!” And she not only excels at dropping perfect bon mots, but she goes about unraveling whodunnit with absolute panache.