If you’ve ever wondered what lembas bread might taste like, this literary cookbook is for you. Each recipe takes inspiration from the elves in Tolkien’s legendarium — useful for a quiet weekend breakfast (or second breakfast) and themed get-togethers.

In Eating from Our Roots, registered dietician Maya Feller shares recipes from around the world with sustainable and minimally processed ingredients. Each recipe also includes nutrition tips applicable to cooking as a whole.

Through history, personal experiences, and worldwide travel, food writer and Asian Flavors host Raghvan Iyer traces the culinary origins of curry. As you learn more about the historical and cultural roots of curry, you can also try the over 50 recipes included in the book.

Creator of the blog The Dusky Kitchen Abi Balingit shares dessert recipes and essays that explore Filipino American heritage and her experiences selling pasalubong boxes of desserts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Author and TV personality Jocelyn Delk Adams brings together more than 80 Southern comfort food recipes that encourage readers to find gratitude in every meal. From turkey and mustard greens enchiladas to salted caramel chocolate chip cookies, you’ll find joy in every bite.

In her follow-up to An Everlasting Meal, James Beard Award–winning chef Tamar Adler shares an A–Z compendium of recipes and tips to combat food waste by using every part of the ingredients you’re cooking with.

Chanie Apfelbaum, author of Millennial Kosher, is back with another cookbook full of kosher recipes perfect for everyday meals and sharing at special events. Alongside the recipes are cooking hacks, including family meal prep tips.

Every Sunday morning, food writer Mark Pupo makes breakfast with his son Sam and husband Stephen. In 52 recipes, this cookbook shares anecdotes and advice while exploring the joy of cooking for those you love.

Written by licensed therapist Jack Hazan, this cookbook encourages readers to practice positive emotional health skills through baking. Each section is organized by the skill the recipes within will teach them, from mindfulness and self-care to dealing with stress and anxiety.

There are few actions as simultaneously mundane and deeply meaningful as sharing a meal. Company includes over 125 recipes from food writer Amy Thielen designed to help the reader reflect on the relationships they value and how to show loved ones you care through cooking.

In their follow-up to Oaxaca: Home Cooking from the Heart of Mexico, Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral share over 100 recipes for organizing a carne asada gathering. Each recipe is organized into eight sections: botanas (appetizers), carnes (meats), mariscos (seafood), side dishes and vegetables, salsas, aguas frescas, cocktails, and desserts.

Curious what a 3,000-year-old stew recipe might taste like? Max Miller, creator of the YouTube channel Tasting History, presents a compendium of recipes from 2000 BCE to today. Although updated in some ways, each recipe follows the original text it comes from as closely as possible.

Chef Michela Tartaglia shares seasonal recipes inspired by her restaurant Pasta Casalinga as well as her experiences living in both Seattle, Washington, and Turin, Italy. Included are vegetarian- and pescatarian-friendly recipes.

In Great British Baking Show finalist Kim-Joy’s latest cookbook, she shares recipes for cat-themed treats as cute to decorate as they are delicious to eat. Whether you’re a cat owner yourself or admire Kim-Joy’s culinary style, you’ll find something to enjoy here.

Professional beekeeper and chef Amy Newsome shares more than 80 recipes that teach and celebrate the beauty of cooking with honey — from apricot honey buns to eucalyptus honey granitas and more.

Inspired by her time living in Iran and Italy, food writer and photographer Saghar Saterah explores the similarities between Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking. In over 80 recipes, this cookbook celebrates the culinary heritage of both countries while reflecting on her own experiences as an immigrant.

Sustainable cooking doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. Sisters and restaurant owners Margaret Li and Irene Li share over 80 recipes designed to both reduce food waste and help with budgeting.

Lyana Blount, owner of New York City pop-up restaurant Black Rican Vegan, brings together over 60 plant-based Puerto Rican recipes. Alongside each recipe are family stories and anecdotes as shared by the author.

This is one of my most anticipated reads in cookbooks and in books as a whole. Baking Yesteryear includes vintage recipes that a modern reader might consider surprising. Sometimes in a good way…and sometimes not so much (if you haven’t before, check out B. Dylan Hollis’s TikTok to see what I mean by that).

Hosting a murder mystery dinner party or book club this fall? You’ll want to use this cookbook to plan your menu. The recipes compiled inside are each paired with one of the 66 novels written by Agatha Christie.

When Lyndsay Murray opens Spice Isle Bakery in the Little Caribbean neighborhood of Brooklyn, she’s finally fulfilled her dream. But local bakery owner Claudio Fabrizi sees Lyndsay and her family as a threat to his business.

And what’s worse, shortly after she and Claudio are seen fighting in her shop, Claudio is found dead under suspicious circumstances. If Lyndsay wants to clear her name and keep Spice Isle Bakery running, she’ll need to catch the killer herself.

After pastry chef Chloe Barns returns home to California following a breakup, she’s in need of a change. Her eccentric Aunt Dawn has just the thing in mind: opening up a cannabis cafe.

No such business currently exists in her hometown and, motivated by the way THC helps her grandmother manage pain, Chloe sets up shop. But when Aunt Dawn is implicated in the death of a creepy man from Chloe’s past, she must navigate opening her new business while proving her aunt’s innocence at the same time.

On your marks, get set…sleuth! Daisy Ellery often uses her magical pies to bring abusive men to justice. But when she’s invited to compete on a televised baking show, she hopes she’ll have no need to create deadly pastries.

When she discovers that one of the judges is someone she’s slated to deliver a pie to — and he is murdered before said pie reaches him — she must uncover what’s going on behind the scenes of this charming-turned-sinister show.

Running the family farm keeps Shiloh Bellamy busy — even in winter, there’s much to plan for spring. But Shiloh also has a talent for sleuthing, one that comes in handy when the local Ice Fishing Derby turns deadly.

Fields Brewery owner Wallace is found dead shortly after the competition, and the police suspect Shiloh’s friend despite evidence that someone else is responsible for the murder. It’s up to Shiloh to solve the crime and prevent an innocent person from being charged.

Married couple Margery and Clementine Butcher-Baker work at a local school during the day, but they’ve built a reputation for themselves in their English village as amateur sleuths. Summertime, they hope, will allow them time for a needed rest.

But their break is cut short as soon as it starts when a mayor is poisoned and suspicions fall to Margery and Clementine. And with more people falling sick, the two must prove their innocence by catching the real culprit.

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a better premise than “sapphic Sherlockian mystery set in space.” Investigator Mossa takes on a missing person case that leads her to a university in Valdegeld, a colony on Jupiter. Here she’s reunited with Pleiti, an Earth scholar and Mossa’s ex-girlfriend. When Mossa asks for Pleiti’s help in solving the case, old feelings resurface.

I can’t even put into words how excited I am for this book. It looks like a lot of fun! Vera Wong is an elderly tea shop owner who, when not keeping tabs on her son, feels like her life is missing something.

Enter a dead body, found by Vera in her shop. When she notices the corpse has a flash drive in his hand, she decides to solve his murder for herself. But who among her customers committed the crime? The only way to find out is to get to know them.

Stage magician Tempest Raj works for her family’s Secret Staircase Construction, where they build hidden pathways and nooks within their customers’ homes. When their client invites them to a mock séance to ward off all feelings of her ex-husband from her home, the guests are shocked to discover her ex’s corpse.

When suspicions fall on Tempest’s Grandpa Ash, she must investigate which of the eight party guests actually killed their client’s ex.

While investigating what was supposed to be a minor crime, Kaveri Murthy discovers a dead body during a blood moon eclipse. To protect herself from rising danger as she works to catch the killer, she must bring the Bangalore Detectives Club together to solve the crime amidst rising city tensions.

Food critic Tiffany Austin is one of two people in the running for a full-time position at Southern Style magazine. Unfortunately, the other person is her rival Jenny Lee Plumm. And so, when Jenny is discovered dead several days later, it’s only natural that Tiffany is a primary suspect.

But Tiffany didn’t kill Jenny. If she wants to save her reputation, she’ll have to find out who did herself.

When a hotel guest blames her missing necklace on Nonna Maria’s goddaughter who works on the cleaning crew, she refuses to believe the young woman really stole it. And after a body is discovered not far away, Nonna Maria believes the two incidences are connected. But how, and why did the culprit frame her goddaughter?

When costume designer Joey Jessop is hired to work on a blockbuster superhero movie, she’s thrilled to get started, even if her ex-boyfriend Eli is the first assistant director.

But filming takes an alarming turn when the body of Courtney, Eli’s new girlfriend and the second assistant director, is discovered on set. Because of their history, Joey is considered the main suspect. To prove her innocence and protect her reputation, she must solve the crime herself.

Cousins Yale and Celine Yee run a food stall together at an L.A. night market. As their popularity gains momentum, they’re invited to a dinner held by the local restaurant owners association.

But the event turns from exciting to deadly when association president Jeffrey Vue is electrocuted during the meal. Yale and Celine are no strangers to amateur sleuthing, however, and they’re determined to discover who among the guests killed Jeffrey.

After receiving an unexpected inheritance from her Great Aunt Octavia, influencer Maddy Montgomery reopens Baby Cakes bakery in New Bison, Michigan. But as the local Spring Baking Festival approaches, Maddy discovers that she has a new rival: investor CJ Davenport, who is opening up a second bakery in town.

Until, that is, CJ’s corpse is discovered with a knife in his back. Now it’s up to Maddy and the local group of Baker Street Irregulars to catch the killer before they come after her, too.

Once a celebrated teen detective, 25-year-old Charlotte Illes struggles to find purpose. When she’s called in to help with one more case, she jumps at the opportunity.

But this investigation is more serious than the ones she would solve as a child. There’s a dead body, and a killer on the loose who may well strike again. Not only does she struggle to dust off her old crime-solving skills, but she fears she may be the murderer’s next target.

After his sister Caroline dies suddenly and violently, genderfluid teen Mars is expected to take her place at the annual Aspen Conservancy Academy retreat. Convinced that there is more to Caroline’s death than everyone else claims, Mars investigates the Honeys — a malicious and secretive group of girls that Caroline was close to before she died.

During her senior year, biracial teen Avery and her mother move to Bardell, Georgia to care for her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. Here Avery meets Simone, a next door neighbor who she soon falls for, and Jade — whose mother was murdered and the crime never solved.

As Avery is confronted with Bardell’s cruelty and racist history, she is determined to understand more about her mother and Mama Letty’s past while uncovering what happened to Jade’s mother.

Najwa is a professional Scrabble player at her first tournament following the death of her best friend and fellow competitor Trina. One year exactly since Trina’s death, Najwa hopes to claim the “Queen of the Tiles” title in her honor.

But when Trina’s Instagram reactivates — and the posts allude to her death not being accidental — Najwa is determined to find out what happened to Trina last year.

Raised in a cult responsible for the end of the world, trans boy Benji runs away to find somewhere in what’s left of the world where they can’t hurt him anymore.

Enter the ALC, or Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, a group of teens who accept Benji as their own. They believe that Benji can use the biochemical powers the cult inflicted on him to protect the ALC. But even in this safehold, secrets lurk with the potential to destroy everything.

After Zharie lost her mother, she began seeing zombies. Nobody understands why except Bo, a new neighbor who helps her figure out the meaning behind what she sees. As she spends more time around Bo, Zharie finds ways to process the grief behind her visions.

To save Ning’s sister from the same poisonous tea that killed her mother (a tea that Ning accidentally brewed), she enters a competition open to the kingdom’s shennong-shi — those who practice the art of tea-making.

The winner’s prize? A favor from the princess, which Ning believes will save her sister. That is, if she can survive long enough to compete.

As one of the few students of color at her new Catholic school, 16-year-old Yamilet Flores would prefer to be closeted. Especially since at her last school, the choice was taken away from her when her former best friend outed her.

But as Yamilet grows closer with Bo, a classmate who is openly queer, she struggles to decide whether a chance at love is worth risking rejection — not just from Bo but from her family and her school.

When 16-year-old Joan starts a new job at the Holland House, she finds herself drawn to her co-worker Nick while enjoying life with her mother’s eccentric family.

But there’s more to both than Joan initially sees. Nick is a monster slayer and, as Joan soon discovers, her family are monsters. If Joan wants to save her family, she’ll have to embrace that she, too, is a monster.

Goth girl Jessica is stunned when a woman claiming to be her biological mother contacts her through her Instagram. Jessica, who has been in the foster care system since she was 7 years old, is eager to reunite with her mom.

And joining an upcoming cosplay competition in New York City with a group from her school seems to offer the opportunity to do so. But as she prepares for the competition, she finds family and belonging in her newfound friends.

Best friends Linus and Harrison are inseparable and, with junior year just months away, the two need each other. But when Linus tells Harrison that his family is moving in a week, neither can’t process what life will look like without the other there.

Inspired by Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Harrison plans one memorable day together to say goodbye. But letting go of your best friend isn’t easy, even if you make memories along the way.

When 17-year-old Marnie Barnes realizes she’s more of a “forgettable middle child” Mary Bennet than a bold and witty Elizabeth, she’s determined to cultivate more of a main character personality. But she soon discovers that everyone is the hero of their own story and that there’s more to fulfillment in life than chasing after perfection that only a fictional character could embody.

Autistic nonbinary teen Sam and his dad move to Astoria, a small town in Oregon. Here, Sam meets new friends — including Shep, who they fall for — at their school’s LGBTQ+ student club.

As Sam finds themselves increasingly drawn to a decades-old murder, they are determined to catch the killer — who they believe still lives in Astoria. Even if it means facing the ghosts of the town’s past.

After his boyfriend Farouk leaves him to travel the world, 17-year-old Sy wishes he had said yes to Farouk’s offer to join him. He’d give anything for a second chance.

Wish granted! But not in the way Sy expects. When a stranger grants him three wishes — and soon after proves she can offer what she claims — Sy embarks on an around-the-world mission to reunite with Farouk.

After fulfilling his destiny as the kingdom’s Chosen One, Arek unexpectedly becomes the new ruler. And this kingship comes with a catch: he must find a spouse by his 18th birthday or die.

To escape this curse, Arek and his mage best friend Matt begin a search for a spouse. But what is Arek to do when the only person he could see himself spending his life with is Matt?

After discovering she has a knack for engineering, Bel joins her school’s robotics club. Although she and team captain Teo disagree on the specifics, they know the club has the potential to win big at Nationals. As they prepare their robot for the competition, Bel and Teo find themselves understanding themselves and each other more — and falling in love along the way.

Theater nerd Mille Price was raised by a loving single dad, with little knowledge of who her mother was or why she left while Millie was a baby. But when Millie discovers her dad’s old LiveJournal account, she discovers something shocking. In college, her dad was involved with three different people who could be Millie’s mom. And all of them still live nearby!

As Millie competes for her dream internship with her frenemy Oliver, who she may be falling for, she searches for her mother in this Mamma Mia–inspired romantic comedy.

Lila Macapagal and her family and friends who frequent the Brew-ha Café are back for a holiday-themed whodunit! In this installment of the series, Lila’s Christmas plans for the café and her family are made complicated when her estranged cousin Ronnie returns home.

Lila does not trust Ronnie, nor his shady business plans. And when he’s accused of murdering one of his investors, her suspicions appear to be proven right. But for the sake of her family, Lila investigates the crime herself.

While taking time off from her day job, event planner Morgan Ross returns to her hometown. It has been seven years since she’s been to Fern Falls, with her memories making it painful to visit her dad or her best friend and first love, Rachel Reed.

But when Rachel’s family Christmas tree farm is in trouble, Morgan uses her event planning skills to start a fundraiser and save it from corporate greed. The longer Rachel and Morgan spend time together, however, the more old feelings reignite.

Co-workers Venus McGee, Draya Carter, and Jackie Benson often commiserate about having to work with their boss Rufus Jackson. But on the night of the company Christmas party, their wishes that he would disappear from their lives are answered in an unexpected way: murder.

When they discover the next day that Rufus was killed, the three must team up to find the real killer. Not for Rufus’s sake, but because they were framed.

Married couple Margery and Clementine have unexpectedly become known for their amateur sleuthing skills in their small English village. Both would prefer a quiet, comfortable life.

But when a music teacher is murdered right before the upcoming school Christmas concert and drama teacher Mrs. Smith is implicated in the crime (falsely, or so she claims), Margery and Clementine are the only hopes of finding the real killer.

When struggling celebrity Bettie Hughes accidentally plays a vinyl of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” backwards, she summons Hall — a personified spirit of the Christmas season. His goal? To help her find joy and cheer as she reconnects with her estranged family over the holidays.

But when Bettie and Hall’s relationship takes a romantic turn, both can’t help but worry about their future together. Because if Bettie feels joyful enough, Hall’s mission will be fulfilled and he’ll return to the realm of holiday spirits.

When baker Gabriel Capras opens a shop next door to her café, Sari Tomas enters a prank war to keep him from stealing her customers. But as Christmas approaches and their banter starts to feel like flirting, Sari realizes she may be falling for Gabriel in this heartwarming, steamy contemporary romance.

To uncover the truth about her sister Faith’s suspicious death, journalist Hope Fisher travels to rural Benediction, Virginia. But after a near-drowning almost takes her life, Hope puts her trust in local Gage Graham as she risks her life to bring her sister’s killer to justice. If you prefer your holiday reads to keep you at the edge of your seat, this romantic suspense is the perfect choice.

I’ve heard this one described as a new adult romance with Schitt’s Creek vibes. When Matthew Prince’s wealthy parents cut him off and send him to live with his grandparents in a small town called Wind River, he feels as though his life is over. But after he signs up to help with a charity gala in the hopes of getting back in his family’s good graces, he unexpectedly falls for local college student Hector Martinez.

After her Aunt Liliana passes away, Lily reluctantly returns to Endgame House. Why? Because now, the games begin. As stipulated in her aunt’s will, Lily and her cousins must solve a series of clues over the 12 days of Christmas to compete for the deed to Endgame House. And if Lily’s suspicions are correct, one of these clues might lead her to uncovering who murdered her mother years ago.

This audiobook adaptation is narrated by the man who brought Gollum to life in the Peter Jackson films. Like the Rob Ingles audiobook, this one is also unabridged.

Pros: Do I even have to tell you he nails the character voices? Of course he does.

Cons: For those who grew up with the Rob Ingles audiobooks, Andy Serkis’s more dramatized narration style may feel like too much.

Another source of childhood nostalgia for many, this adaptation is one of the few besides the audiobooks to keep Tom Bombadil in the story.

Pros: They did it! Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow!

Cons: The production value was lower than the BBC radio drama, which is on the whole more popular.

For many children growing up in the ’70s and ’80s, this adaptation of The Fellowsip of the Ring was their introduction to Tolkien’s legendarium.

Pros: The animation style is intriguing, and it’s an overall faithful adaptation of Fellowship. Also, that official poster is badass and one of my favorite pieces of LOTR art.

Cons: A sequel was never made, leaving the story open-ended for young viewers who hadn’t yet read the books.

Despite the name, this adaptation incorporates plot points from Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers as well.

Pros: It would be difficult for anyone to condense LOTR into a 90-minute film, and it’s clear those involved put some thought into it.

Cons: While a solid attempt at a film adaptation, there’s a lot left out.

Until 2021, this low-budget Soviet TV adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring was thought to be lost.

Pros: It’s certainly something.

Cons: Where do you start?

When someone says “Lord of the Rings adaptation,” this is likely the first to come to mind.

Pros: Considered by many fans to be the adaptation. The extended editions, even more so.

Cons: Not a perfect adaptation — there are inevitably some scenes that differ from the books — but whether this is a weakness or just a consequence of adapting a written work to a visual medium depends on who you’re talking to.

While an adaptation of Sauron’s rise in the Second Age, I’m including it here because its main source material is the Lord of the Rings appendices.

Pros: Setting a series during the Second Age is daring, and it does a thoughtful job of condensing millenia into a TV-friendly story.

Cons: Because the production does not have rights to The Silmarillion, where much of the Second Age lore is, they are limited in what they can include.

Dubbed “LOTRO” by fans, this MMORPG is easily the longest running and continually updated Tolkien video game. It’s set in Middle Earth during the events of LOTR.

Pros: Perfect if you want an immersive Middle Earth experience, exploring the scenes and landscape as they appeared in LOTR.

Cons: It’s so large and long-running that approaching it as a new player can be intimidating.

Illustrated by John Howe, whose Tolkien artwork is well-known within the fandom, this board game allows one player to take control of the Fellowship and Free People, the other to play as Sauron and his Shadow Army to reenact (and potentially change) the War of the Ring.

Pros: Its game mechanics are well-thought out, no easy thing for a board game that covers such an intricate setting and storyline.

Cons: It’s a little pricier than your average video game at approximately $80.

Released shortly after The Hobbit trilogy films, this video game follows LOTR scenes as portrayed in the Peter Jackson films but with a comedic bent.

Pros: It’s fun. You collect coins and build things. What’s not to like?

Cons: Not compatible with most platforms released past 2013, with the exception of PC and Xbox by way of backwards compatibility. C’mon, Lego. You’d be my hero if you put it back on mobile.

Set between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, this RPG follows a ranger named Talion.

Pros: Not just any game wins the Game of the Year award. From what I’ve heard (okay, yes, from my husband), it has a strong storyline and gameplay.

Cons: They do take some liberties with the canon. Personally, not enthused that they gave Shelob the power to shapeshift into a person. No, thank you.

While technically taking place in between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings like Shadow of Mordor, I’m including this game because it’s the newest video game based on Tolkien’s work and its plot is heavily tied to and influenced by LOTR.

Pros: Gollum is a fascinating character, and the game is said to let players decide which side of his two personalities wins out.

Cons: It’s not out yet, so hard to say.

Lifelong Tolkien fan Paul and newcomer Tori explore the legendarium. Hilarity ensues. While the first episodes focused on The Silmarillion and The Hobbit, the two are now reading through and discussing the Lord of the Rings as of (when else?) September 22nd.

Now’s the perfect time to start listening and following along as they read through Fellowship of the Ring.

If you’re looking to dip your toes into Tolkien scholarship, you can’t find better than them. This podcast provides a chapter-by-chapter deep dive into all of Tolkien’s legendarium. They’ve covered The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, and The Two Towers and are currently discussing Book I of The Return of the King.

While the PPP is more beginner-friendly with its chapter-by-chapter approach, this sentence-by-sentence podcast is perfect for when you’re ready to take a deep dive into LOTR analysis. The host, Tolkien Professor Corey Olsen, has done over 200 episodes and still hasn’t finished discussing The Fellowship of the Ring.

Although Leon lives in a world where superpowers are the norm, he was not born with one. But even if he doesn’t have magical abilities, Leon is a sharp and talented kid.

When a sinister app turns his classmates into mindless zombies, Leon is the only one who can save his school from a supervillain.

Although Resilience is a Mars rover built to explore, he cannot help but feel that he is more than his programming. Because even if the NASA engineers who created him did not intend to give him emotions, Res does feel.

Mars, Res discovers, is so much more than the scientists on Earth prepared him for. It’s beautiful but also dangerous, and it pushes Res to his limits as he fights to fulfill his mission.

In the sequel to The Monsters of Rookhaven, half-human, half-monster Mirabelle prepares along with the rest of Rookhaven Village for the Great Configeration — a once-in-a-century event that brings together both humans and monsters. But when a boy named Billy steals something from Mirabelle, the consequences could destroy not only her family but the entire world.

Uriel the angel and Little Ash the demon have been study partners for two hundred years in a small shtetl. But when they discover that a girl who once lived in their shtetl has gone missing in America, the two immediately leave in search of her while meeting others in need of their help along the way.

Abyan is an alien hunter attending the prestegious Carlisle Academy with a mission: to protect humanity from vampire-like aliens called The Nosaru. But when a member of her squad is murdered and replaced with a new recruit named Artemis, Abyan unravels life-changing secrets that Carlisle Academy fought hard to hide.

Like a Golden Age detective, Mallory Viridian always seems to find herself nearby when a murder occurs. But Mallory doesn’t live in a cozy mystery series and in the real world, one coincidence too many starts to seem suspicious.

To escape whatever strange force seems to get people killed whenever she’s nearby, Mallory escapes onto a sentient space station where she is the only person around. But when others are allowed to board the station against her will and people start dying again, Mallory must use her knack for solving murders to clear her name and to stop yet another killing spree.

The sequel to The Atlas Six follows the five magicians left at the end of the first novel as they continue to complete their initiation the secretive Alexandrian Society at the end of the first book in the trilogy. In between investigating the Society and the truth behind what they claim to do and continuing their magical research, the five search for their missing friend.

I think you know which song is stuck in my head after looking at this title, and I welcome it. A Queen reference is always a good thing. Bakery owner Jules Capshaw has a knack for two things: baking delicious food and solving crimes. When her friend Lance is framed for murder at the local Shakespeare Festival, it’s up to Jules to catch the real killer. Actors: always stirring up drama, am I right?

The pun and the dog on this cozy mystery cover are both perfect and immediately make me want to read more. In this installment of the Dog Club Mystery series, amateur sleuth Lilly Echosby fosters a dog named Rex (after the mystery writer Rex Stout) after its owner, local billionaire Archibald Lowry, is murdered at a fundraiser for the Eastern Tennessee Poodle Rescue.

On the bright side, her dog Aggie (short for Agatha Christie) seems to be getting along with Rex. But when an attempted dog-napping occurs, Lilly must investigate the murder to protect her community and her dogs.

Culinary puns like this are part of the reason I love the cozy mystery genre so much. The Noodle Shop Mystery series stars Lana Lee who, after quitting her job and suffering a rough break-up, returns home to help run her family’s restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio. Dim Sum of All Fears is the second book in the series, and in it, Lana investigates the sudden deaths of the couple who run the souvenir shop next door.

Although this cozy mystery doesn’t come out until next year, I’m including it because the title is too good to ignore. When Chloe Barnes moves back to her California hometown, her eccentric Aunt Dawn convinces her to open a cannabis cafe. But as Chloe renovates her new shop and prepares her edible recipes for opening day, she is forced to investigate a murder when the police suspect Aunt Dawn of the crime.

Cheesy puns are the grate-est! This culinary cozy mystery series follows Willa Bauer as she runs her cheese shop Curds & Whey in Sonoma Valley town Yarrow Glen. In Gone for Gouda, Willa must use her sleuthing skills to protect her employee Archie when he is falsely accused of killing a celebrity chef at the Yarrow Glen fall festival.

Like A Half-Baked Murder, this series starter with a punny title comes out early next year. Lyndsay Murray is thrilled to open Spice Isle Bakery with her family in the Little Caribbean neighborhood of Brooklyn. When competitive local bakery owner Claudio Fabrizi threatens to shut the bakery down, Lyndsay refuses to let his threats scare her.

But the next day, Claudio is found murdered and the police name Lyndsay their main suspect. To prove her innocence, Lyndsay investigates who wanted Claudio dead to uncover the real killer.

Get it? Because it’s part of the Psychic Eye Mystery series? In this installment, reluctant psychic and amateur sleuth Abby Cooper travels to Las Vegas when her cousin Chase is kidnapped. Her visions tell her that Chase is still alive, but finding him proves harder than expected — especially when she begins having nightmares that predict the death of her boyfriend Dutch.