Cozy Mysteries Set in Oxford

15/5/2019

Ahhh! The British (English) city of Oxford. City of Spires. Home to many a famous writer and academic, and of course the world renowned 'University of Oxford'. A city that has a rather personal connection for me too as it happens. You see, my father was born in Oxford, and my nan spent many years of her life as a patient at the santorium where she lived in as part of the treatment at the time for tuberculosis. It was also where I was based for my work with the Royal Navy, and in my earlier career as a Neuropsychologist I was very involved with neuroscience research at the hospital and the university, spending long summers involved in different projects, including research on phantom limb pain, and on autism.

Oxford was the place where my nan would take me for treats when I stayed with her, and we would often catch the bus there and nip into one of the department stores for a cup of coffee, something my nan found quite exciting since most people just drank tea at home and coffee shops were a relatively new thing. It's hard to imagine an Oxford pre Starbucks or Costa Coffee, or McDonalds!

For me, Oxford was always really exciting, but it must have held different memories for my nan, as she would only really visit for hospital appointments or spend her hours desperate to get back home to her family whilst residing at the sanitorium. For me it is a place filled with memories of dining in my Royal Navy Uniform at fancy balls and drinking a little too much port as part of the maritime traditions! Lots of late nights polishing boots or doing drill practice, or working on improving my knots.

Funny how a single place can mean so many things to different people, and I suppose that is what I love about cozy mysteries that are set in Oxford. Each author draws on the thing that most inspired them about the city, experiences they had there, or people that they met. That's the beauty of books, and there is definitely no shortage of wonderful places to read a good book in Oxford. And plenty of lovely bookshops to visit too. I don't think I ever came back from Oxford without at least one, brand new, sweet smelling, and shiny covered paperback!

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"Scones, a tea shop in England, a kitty & a murder - yes, please!"
When an American tourist is murdered with a scone in her quaint English tearoom, Gemma must solve the mystery with the help of the nosy Old Biddies and a mischievous little feline named Muesli. Soon she finds herself apron-deep in a mystery involving long-buried secrets from Oxford's past. But between her bossy, matchmaking mother and the return of her old college love as a handsome CID detective, Gemma has her hands full and her head spinning!

Murder is bad for business, especially when customers think your scones are more deadly than delicious. With the body count rising and her tearoom going bust, can Gemma find the killer before things turn to custard?

Meet Jenny Starling: travelling cook and reluctant amateur detective.

Jenny Starling has a summer job cooking at a prestigious Oxford college. But she’s not expecting murder on the menu.

Then womanising taxidermy society president, Maurice Raines, is found with a knife in his neck in the dining hall.

Everyone is in classes at the time of his death. So, frustratingly it seems they all have an alibi.

However there are many suspects, including Maurice’s wife and his lover.

The college and police need Jenny’s help to solve this perplexing case. But can Jenny keep her concentration with a budding romance on the cards?

Every family has annoying relatives; mine just happen to be undead.My Grandmother, Agnes Bartlett, used to own Cardinal Woolsey’s knitting shop in Oxford then died and left her shop to me, without informing me that she wasn’t actually dead.
She’s a vampire and part of the world’s strangest craft circle – the Vampire Knitting Club.As you might imagine, this means she’s free to interfere in how I run the business that used to be hers. She’s trying to teach me to knit and it’s not going well. She’s also trying to teach me how to be a witch, since it turns out I’m from a long line of witches. Another tiny detail about my family that no one ever told me, along with the long-lost witch cousins I recently discovered. But I’m learning. I’ve got my family spell book, my black cat familiar, some powers that sometimes scare me, and an interesting new group of friends. My archaeologist parents are coming to visit and bringing me a gift I could do without. So, to recap, I run a knitting shop and I can’t knit. I’m a beginning witch who can’t always control her cat, never mind her magic, and my love life is as tangled as the last sock I tried to knit. Oh, and for some reason, I keep getting involved in murder investigations. Good thing I have my vampire knitters to help sniff out clues. At least I’ve finally hired the perfect assistant, a real demon with the crochet hook. Or is she too perfect?

(The first part is set in Oxford with Oxford Girls Maddy and Eloise)

A murdered chef. A poisoned pastry.

Can a young barista deliver a killer their just desserts?Maddy dreams of opening her own detective agency with her best friend. Fresh off her A-levels and looking to save up funds, she and her BFF take a gap-year job serving coffee to rich tourists at an Austrian ski resort. But when someone tampers with one of Maddy’s sweet creations to snuff out a snooty pastry chef, the offending doughnut becomes a recipe for disaster…

With her dreams of becoming a PI in serious danger, Maddy has next to no time to preserve the cafe's reputation and clear her name. But as the suspect list rises and the trail of breadcrumbs grows stale, her future rests on bringing the killer to justice.

Can Maddy close her very first case before she's cooked?