Books Like The Murder at the Vicarage
Manybooks Article: Books Like The Murder at the Vicarage (1120 Words)
Age is just a number, as the saying goes, and there are plenty of literary heroines who live by these words. Of course, growing old doesn't mean losing your wits, so amateur sleuthing is a popular hobby for many retired women in fiction. One of the most beloved examples is Miss Marple, the amateur consulting detective made famous by Agatha Christie. Although she has previously appeared in short stories published by magazines, the first full-length novel to feature Miss Marple is The Murer at the Vicarage. For more novels where feisty older women take on mysteries, check out the following books like The Murder at the Vicarage.
The Thursday Murder Club
by Richard Osman
The Thursday Murder Club is the first book in the series of the same name by Richard Osman. The club consists of four unlikely friends from a peaceful retirement village who meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room, where they discuss unsolved crimes. However, the club suddenly finds itself in the middle of their first live case when a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body. This series is filled with wonderful characters and some interesting story twists to keep fans of cozy mysteries hooked.
The Marlow Murder Club
by Robert Thorogood
The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood features three women who discover that their quiet town of Marlow might have a real-life serial killer. It all begins when Judith, a seventy-seven-year-old crossword puzzle author who lives on the edge of town, hears her neighbor getting shot. Since the local police don't believe her story, she begins investigating herself and is soon joined by Suzie and Becks. Together, they try and solve the puzzle, but when another body turns up, Judith realizes that her own life might be in danger too.
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
by Dorothy Gilman
The Unexpected Mrs. Pllifax is the first in a series of fourteen novels featuring Emily Pollifax. Mrs. Pollifax lives in New Brunswick, New Jersey, but since her husband passed away and her children got married, she doesn't have much to keep her busy apart from attending Garden Club meetings. Deciding that she wants to do something good for her Country, Mrs. Pollifax ends up joining the CIA, but a simple courier assignment quickly turns into an unexpected adventure. The popularity of Mrs. Pollifax has seen it receive two movie adaptations, one of which has Angela Lansbury in the title role.
Murder, She Knit
by Peggy Ehrhart
Murder, She Knit is the first book in the A Knit & Nibble Mystery series by Peggy Ehrhart. Pamela Paterson is the associate editor of a craft magazine and founder of the Knit and Nibble knitting club. These things keep her busy in the quaint town of Arborville after her only daughter left for college. However, things go very wrong when Pamela recruits an old friend, Amy Morgan, as the group's newest member. Amy has recently moved to town, and Pamela is looking forward to colorful yarn, baking, and a little harmless gossip at the next Knit and Nibble meeting. Unfortunately, what she finds instead is her friend dead, stabbed to death by a knitting needle. Pamela is determined to solve the mystery of who killed Amy and took off with her knitting bag.
Leave No Stone Unturned
by Jeanne Glidewell
The star of Leave No Stone Unturned by Jeanne Glidewell is Lexie Starr, a widowed library assistant. Lexie is about to become a grandmother but then makes the startling discovery that her new son-in-law, Clay Pitt, might be a murderer who killed his previous wife and unborn child. When her daughter, Wendy, is abducted, Lexie is determined to get her back safely and unravel the truth about Clay. Thankfully, her research skills serve her well as she takes leave from the library to dabble in amateur sleuthing.
Partners In Crime
by Katy Munger
Partners in Crime by Katy Munger is the first novel in the Hubbert & Lil Cozy Mystery series. Although T.S. Hubbert tells the story, the book's real star is his eighty-four-year-old aunt, Lil. As a personnel manager, T.S worked for most of his adult life at the snooty private bank, Sterling & Sterling. However, barely eight hours after retiring, he is summoned back to do damage control due to one of the bigwigs being found stabbed to death in the Partner's Room. T.S. sets out to solve the crime, but Auntie Lil, with her smarts, street-savvy, and moxie, steals the show.
Getting Old Is Murder
by Rita Lakin
Getting Old is Murder by Rita Lakin is the tale of 75-year-old Gladdy Gold and her gang of eccentric Fort Lauderdale retirees. The thought of murder never even crossed the minds of Gladdy and her neighbors when Selma Beller dies of a heart attack, but this changes when another one of their friends dies in an eerily similar fashion. Unfortunately, the police aren't interested in their theories, so Gladdy and her gals take it upon themselves to figure out how the murders are being committed.
A Wicked Yarn
by Emmie Caldwell
A Wicked Yarn is the first book in the A Craft Fair Knitters Mystery series by Emmie Caldwell. It is the crafting community that is under threat when a man who is hell-bent on unraveling the Crandalsburg Craft Fair is murdered. Knitting enthusiasts Lia Geiger already has her hands full when her daughter announces she's quit her job, but Lia also becomes tangled up in the murder of her best friend's ex-husband. Together Lia and her crafty group of Ninth Street Knitters must put down their needles and solve the murder mystery.
Better Off Read
by Nora Page
Better Off Read is the first book in A Bookmobile Mystery series by Nora Page. Although he is in her seventies, librarian Cleo Watkins is determined to save her tiny town's storm-damaged library when an upstart young mayor threatens to have it closed down. However, when a major benefactor known for his eccentric DIY projects requests all the books she has in her bookmobile about getting away with murder, she is slightly concerned about his plans. Unfortunately, when he is bludgeoned to death, Cleo is shocked to find that all the evidence points to her best friend, Mary-Rose Garland, being the killer. Nevertheless, Cleo is sure of Mary-Rose's innocence, so she sets off to track down the real killer and save some lives as well as her library in the process.
