5 Cozy Mysteries Featuring Small-Town Festivals

Quirky festivals and events in cozy mysteries are one of the things that keep us coming back for more. What are the residents of Pine Bluff, for example, celebrating now and who is acting badly? It's easy to imagine ourselves taking in all the sights and sounds of the festival while indulging in the delicious food that seems to be a given fact at these events.

Pour yourself your favorite beverage, grab a yummy snack, and pick up one of these delightful books that will transport you to small-town life and an entertaining festival.

1) Enjoy a spectacular autumn in Vermont with Kara Lacey's Masked Intentions. The annual Harvest Festival is taking place in small-town Stonebridge, kicking off with a masquerade party on the village green. The vibrant leaves and the chilly fall air will have you craving hot apple cider and a toasty sweater as you try to find the killer behind the mask! I love this series and highly recommend it to any lover of fall festivals.

2) Claws of Death is the first book in Cathy Wiley's Fatal Food Festival Mysteries and is a pure delight. This series is different in the setting, since the amateur sleuth is a former celebrity chef who now travels to food festivals all over the place. In this first book, she finds herself judging a Crab Festival in Texas. You'll want to sink your toes in the sand, sip on a cold drink, and crack a crab leg or two. I laughed out loud several times while reading and will definitely be reading the others in this fun series!

3) Let's head to a centennial celebration in St. Ignatius, Iowa in Game of Scones by Mary Lee Ashford. While protagonist Sugar runs around town collecting recipes to create a community cookbook for the centennial, (and stumbles on a murder!), you'll need a glass of strawberry iced tea and scones with a dollop of whipped cream to cool down from the Midwest heat so you can enjoy the celebration. I loved Sugar and her sidekick Spice, and will be visiting St. Ignatius again soon!

4) Murder Strikes a Chord by Heather Weidner is all about events when Cassidy Jamison inherits her grandmother's event planning business in Ivy Springs, Virginia. She's scored a three-weekend Groovin' Through the Decades music festival that she's hosting at her venue in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Settle in for some good old rock 'n roll with a plate of nachos from the taco truck and an iced cold beverage. This is such a fun series. You're going to love Cassidy, the Pearly Girls, and Elvis the chihuahua.

5) Awl Shook Up by Paula Charles will transport you to an icy February in the mountain town of Pine Bluff, Oregon. Pull on your bobby socks and head to the high school for the annual Winter Carnival, where you'll indulge in the spaghetti feed and then hit the cake walk in hopes of winning a baked confection! For this one, you'll be sure to need a snack that involves marinara sauce and a mug of hot tea to chase the chill away!

Which small town festival will you be visiting first?