Picked by Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries fans

Here are 5 books that Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries fans have personally recommended once you finish the Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries series. Shepherd is a community of authors and super-readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

Book cover of The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp

Molly MacRae Author Of Come Shell or High Water

From my list on mystery with sidesplitting sidekicks.

Why am I passionate about this?

I started reading mysteries as a way to avoid studying for final exams as an undergrad. Nemesis by Agatha Christie was my gateway mystery. That was fifty-plus years and many, many mysteries read ago. I managed an independent bookstore for several years and then worked in a public library for twenty more. I especially liked introducing readers to my favorite mysteries in the store and the library. Why mysteries in particular? Because they do something that doesn’t often happen in real life—they restore order. But the best mysteries, to my mind, are the ones that include humor. We need humor in our lives because it restores hope.  

Molly's book list on mystery with sidesplitting sidekicks

Molly MacRae Why Molly loves this book

I like a good mystery where seniors show what they’re made of. This book is as smart and funny as they come. I’d be happy to move into the house where Agnes and her friends have invented their own assisted living situation.

They’re adept at solving the problems that come with aging—finding someone to repair the stair lift, what to do with Lilith now that she’s died and they’ve moved her body into the shed to avoid awkward questions, solving the murder of the neighbor found dead on the lawn—all things I’d be happy to pitch in on. Some might call Agnes and her housemates batty; I call them delightful. 

By Leonie Swann , Amy Bojang (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One murder to solve and another to cover up. It'll be tricky, but the OAP residents of Sunset Hall are going to give it their best shot.

Sunset Hall is a house-share for the old and unruly, led by Agnes Sharp. It's an eventful day when this group of idiosyncratic geriatrics gets a visit from the police to inform them of some shocking news: a body has been discovered next door. Everyone puts on a long face, but they are secretly relieved that the body in question is not the one they're currently hiding in the shed (sorry about that,…


Book cover of A Skeleton in the Family

Kris Bock Author Of Something Shady at Sunshine Haven

From my list on mystery series that I've reread multiple times.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a mystery writer and reader, I try to understand why some books feel bland or dull even when the characters are investigating a murder with high stakes. Writing style is a part of that and encompasses techniques such as good pacing. Yet I think it really comes down to the characters. In all these series, I enjoy spending time with the characters, in their worlds. They are people I would like to know in real life, so they have become book friends. That makes it possible to enjoy the mysteries on a reread, even if I know what’s going to happen.

Kris' book list on mystery series that I've reread multiple times

Kris Bock Why Kris loves this book

These are solid mysteries with plenty of twists and delightful primary characters.

Something about the voice of this series simply works for me. It's cozy without being too cutesy. The characters feel real. Even Sid, the living skeleton, feels like a real person, and the books might work almost as well if he was human, but he adds some fun and complications because he can’t let people see him.

Start at the beginning of the series and keep reading! It's worth it.

By Leigh Perry ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked A Skeleton in the Family as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A woman discovers the literal skeleton in her family’s closet in the first Family Skeleton Mystery!
 
Moving back into her parents’ house with her teenage daughter had not been Georgia Thackery’s “Plan A.” But when she got a job at the local college, it seemed the sensible thing to do. So she settled in and began reconnecting with old friends.
 
Including Sid. Sid is the Thackery family’s skeleton. He’s lived in the house as long as Georgia can remember, although no one, including Sid, knows exactly where he came from and how he came to be a skeleton.
 
Sid walks,…


Book cover of Dog On It

Wendy Delaney Author Of Trudy, Madly, Deeply

From my list on lighthearted mysteries for some fun escapism.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’d always been a bookworm, but once I settled into a not-so-exciting career, I became a voracious reader of romance and mystery to escape the monotony of my day job. I’d frequent the library during my lunch breaks and devour the titles by my favorite authors. While this was entertainment, it was also educational. My love for writing became rekindled, and I started studying cozies and romantic mysteries with the goal to write what I most loved to read: fun, lighthearted mystery. I especially enjoy writing and reading humorous whodunits that are populated by quirky, loveable characters as reflected by my list. I hope you enjoy them too!   

Wendy's book list on lighthearted mysteries for some fun escapism

Wendy Delaney Why Wendy loves this book

I found this book to be an excellent, well-crafted mystery, but what put it on my best books list was Chet, the four-legged narrator. He’s not an entirely reliable narrator, but the reader can count on his doggy behaviors to be consistently reliable as he serves as his owner’s faithful sleuthing sidekick.

Just as Chet has a nose for sniffing out trouble, he also has a nose for Slim Jims, burgers, and the other dogs (his tribe members) in the neighborhood, and can be easily distracted. This keeps the story light and delightfully entertaining. I was charmed from page one.

By Spencer Quinn ,

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked Dog On It as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first book of the New York Times bestselling Chet and Bernie mystery series, an “enchanting one-of-a-kind novel” (Stephen King) that is “nothing short of masterful” (Los Angeles Times).

Chet, the wise and lovable canine narrator of Dog on It, and Bernie, a down-on-his-luck private investigator, are quick to take a new case involving a frantic mother searching for her teenage daughter. This well-behaved and gifted student may or may not have been kidnapped, but she has definitely gotten mixed up with some very unsavory characters. With Chet’s highly trained nose leading the way, their hunt for clues takes them…


Book cover of The Thursday Murder Club

Alexandra Addams Author Of The Self-Made Saint

From my list on menopause as a superpower for women who are happy to jump off the rollercoaster of youth.

Why am I passionate about this?

I started my motherhood journey when I was barely out of my teens. For the next two decades, I only knew myself as a wife and mother. As my brood of five children grew into adults, I found myself poorly equipped to parent independent Gen X and Z’ers. Then, at 46 years of age, when perimenopause hit me like a hurricane, I found myself evolving into another woman altogether. The good news was – I really liked her! I hope you enjoy these books about mid-life women parenting adult children and rediscovering themselves in the never-ever-done-aftermath of motherhood.

Alexandra's book list on menopause as a superpower for women who are happy to jump off the rollercoaster of youth

Alexandra Addams Why Alexandra loves this book

This was one of the first books I read in which the older women were not just the main characters but were the kick-butt heroes of the day.

I read it while in the middle of a messy draft of my own book and felt inspired to stop diluting the age-related experience of my own main character.

By Richard Osman ,

Why should I read it?

34 authors picked The Thursday Murder Club as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A New York Times bestseller | Soon to be a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg at Amblin Entertainment

"Witty, endearing and greatly entertaining." -Wall Street Journal

"Don't trust anyone, including the four septuagenarian sleuths in Osman's own laugh-out-loud whodunit." -Parade

Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves
A female cop with her first big case
A brutal murder
Welcome to...
THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club.

When a local developer is found dead…


Book cover of Holmes on the Range

Molly MacRae Author Of Come Shell or High Water

From my list on mystery with sidesplitting sidekicks.

Why am I passionate about this?

I started reading mysteries as a way to avoid studying for final exams as an undergrad. Nemesis by Agatha Christie was my gateway mystery. That was fifty-plus years and many, many mysteries read ago. I managed an independent bookstore for several years and then worked in a public library for twenty more. I especially liked introducing readers to my favorite mysteries in the store and the library. Why mysteries in particular? Because they do something that doesn’t often happen in real life—they restore order. But the best mysteries, to my mind, are the ones that include humor. We need humor in our lives because it restores hope.  

Molly's book list on mystery with sidesplitting sidekicks

Molly MacRae Why Molly loves this book

This is the cleverest, funniest, best Sherlock Holmes homage ever. It’s Montana, 1893, and I’m watching the red-headed Amlingmeyer brothers, down-on-their-luck ranch hands, entertain themselves reading Holmes stories in Harper’s Weekly.

Big Red, the younger brother, is reading to his older brother, Old Red (all of 27). Old Red might be illiterate, but I’ll match his “detectifyin’” skills with Holmes’ any day. I love Big Red’s reluctant but loyal acceptance of his role as Watson as the two cowpokes deal with stampedes, mysterious deaths, and cowboys named Puddin-foot and Swivel-eye.

No matter what Big Red tells him, Old Red doesn’t quite believe the Holmes stories are fiction. But I believe Hockensmith’s stories are exactly what Mark Twain would have written if he’d come up with this brilliant idea.

By Steve Hockensmith ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Holmes on the Range as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Somewhere due west of Deadwood, a pair of unlikely cowboy sleuths investigate murder just like their hero, Sherlock Holmes. 1893 is a tough year in Montana, and any job is a good job. When Big Red and Old Red Amlingmeyer sign on as ranch hands at the secretive Bar- VR cattle spread, they're not expecting much more than hard work, bad pay, and a comfortable campfire around which they can enjoy their favourite pastime: scouring Harpers J,Veekly for stories about the famous Sherlock Holmes. When another ranch hand turns up in an outhouse with a bullet in his brain, Old…