A mystery and a rom-com shouldn’t work together. On the surface, they sit on opposite ends of the spectrum from one another.
But structurally, the two have more in common than you’d assume: both are puzzles of a sort, both depend on clues that you might not notice until your second read, and both end (or are supposed to end, at least) with happily ever afters, whether it be two people finally kissing or an amateur detective unmasking a killer. Mash them together, and the romance gives the murder heart, while the murder gives the romance stakes.
Plus, there’s just something extra romantic about not being sure whether your two leads will make it to the end together…or make it to the end at all.
If you, like me, have trouble choosing between a meet-cute and a whodunit, here are five books that will let you have both.
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Ally Carter, The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year
Part Knives Out, part holiday Hallmark movie, Cater’s cozy mystery / rom-com pairs two rival novelists at the same publishing house (one cozy queen and one thriller bro) and forces them to work together when a prolific mystery author disappears. Plenty of witty banter ensues between our enemies-to-lovers leads and you can tell Carter clearly had a lot of fun mashing up genres and tackling tropes.
The best part is that another holiday-themed, enemies-to-lovers book is coming from Carter in October of this year (and I, for one, can’t wait).
Kate Eberle, If Books Could Kill
More thriller and less cozy mystery, If Books Could Kill is a wild, hilarious romp about a romance reader who makes a throwaway wish to live in her favorite author’s next novel…and gets exactly that, except her favorite author has decided to try her hand at something new. A thriller.
Part Ashley Poston and part James Bond (two things shouldn’t go together, but, as Eberle proves, absolutely does), the book follows Roxie on her unexpected journey as she tries to stay alive. Joined by a mild-manner professor, the two struggle to stay alive while (of course) falling in love.
Bellamy Rose, Pomona Afton Can So Solve A Murder
What do you get if you take one Upper East Side heiress, one dead (murdered) grandmother, a bunch of frozen assets (a bunch meaning millions and millions of dollars’ worth), and a very, very attractive man? The answer, obviously, is a murder mystery…the fact that our amateur detectives fall in love while they’re solving it is just a bonus.
Pomona has shades of Alexis Rose (IYKYK) which means that while she’s occasionally too much, she’s always hilarious—and underneath it all, she has a genuine, well-meaning heart.
Nicolas DiDomizio, A Murder Most Camp
When the parents of a spoiled nepo baby Mikey Hartford threaten to take away his inheritance unless he gets his life together and “does some good,” he’s forced to attend summer camp with his twelve-year-old aunt to help her come out of her shell.
What was supposed to be a character-building summer where he proves to his parents he’s not as worthless as they say turns into something else entirely when Mikey’s group of preteens drag him into a decade-old camp disappearance. Suddenly, Mikey finds himself investigating a very real cold case alongside a camp lifeguard who is, obviously, infuriatingly handsome. (Side note, but what is it about a rich-person-losing-their-inheritance situation that lends itself so well to murder mysteries?)
Liz Lawson, It Happened One Murder
Is it uncouth to include your own book on a list like this? Perhaps, but it’s my adult debut and I’m extremely excited about it, so hopefully you’ll forgive me.
Described as Only Murders in the Building meets Katherine Center, It Happened One Murder follows Harriet, a journalist who recently slunk back to New Jersey after losing her dream job in New York City. When her (very evil) stepfather is murdered at her ridiculously extravagant birthday party and the head catering chef is blamed, Harriet reluctantly teams up with the man she ghosted eight years ago (who still hasn’t forgiven her) to figure out who actually did it.
Do they fall in love along the way? I doubt I’m spoiling anything when I say: of course they do.
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