Series by State
Cozy Mystery Series that Take Place In: CA
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Kate Carlisle writes the Fixer Upper Mystery series which started in November 2014 and is set in California. In the seaside town of Lighthouse Cove in northern California, everyone knows the best man for the job is actually a woman—contractor…
Penny Pike (aka Penny Warner) writes the Food Festival Mystery series which started in August 2014 and is set in California. It features restaurant reviewer Darcy Burnett who gets served a pink slip from the San Francisco Chronicle. Now she needs…
Daryl Wood Gerber writes the French Bistro Mystery Series which started in November 2017 and is set in California. It’s always been Mimi Rousseau’s dream to open her own bistro, but it seems beyond her grasp since she’s been chased back home to…
Diana Orgain writes the Gold Digger Mystery Series which started in August 2021 and is set in California. Frannie lives in the historic town of Golden, not too far from Sacramento California. Her family owns and operates a gold…
Ellen Byron writes the Golden Motel Mystery Series which started in July 2024 and is set in California. Down-on-her-luck sitcom writer Dee Stern is flipping the script. Twice divorced and wasting her talents on an obnoxious kids’ show, the…
This series started in 2009 and is set in California. It features Granny Apples, who is a 100-year-old ghost and her great-great-great-granddaughter, modern-day divorced mom Emma Whitecastle. Together, Emma and Granny Apples solve mysteries of…
This series is set in Los Angeles and started in 2008. This series centers around Haley Randolph who is obsessed with designer purses. After losing her accounting job, Haley goes to work part-time in a department store.
This series started in 2010 and takes place in San Francisco. It features Melanie Turner, who leaves Paris and takes over her depressed father's San Francisco Bay construction business, Turner Construction. They specialize in restoration of…
Meera Lester writes the Henny Penny Farmette Mystery series which starts in September 2015 and is set in California. It features ex-policewoman Abigail Mackenzie. After an injury forced her to leave the police department, Abigail Mackenzie…
Dianne Harman writes the High Desert Mystery series which started in September 2015 and is set in California. It features recently divorced antique and art appraiser Marty Morgan who moves from the Midwest to live with her sister in High Desert,…
Gemma Halliday writes the High Heels Mystery series which started in 2011 and is set in California. It features L.A. shoe designer, Maddie Springer. Maddie Springer, lives her life by three rules: Fashion. Fashion. Fashion. But when she stumbles…
Sylvia Selfman writes the Izzy Greene Mystery Series which started in 2014 and is set in Palm Springs, California. It features Izzy Greene, a woman of a certain age fwho inds herself embroiled in one murder after another. Along with her sidekick…
This series started in 2002 and is set in Los Angeles, CA. It features Jaine Austen who owns a writing service-- This Pen for Hire-- out of her apartment. She writes brochures, resumes, letters, and personal ads. She shares her apartment with her…
Janet Finsilver writes the Kelly Jackson mystery series which started in 2013 and is set in northern California. It features Kelly Jackson, the new manager of the Redwood Cove Bed and Breakfast. In the first book Kelly replaces the previous…
Patricia Fry writes the Klepto Cat Mystery series which started in June 2013 and is set in California. It features a veterinarian who is currently working as a vet tech, Savannah and her klepto cat Rags. They have temporarily moved into her Aunt…
Catriona McPherson writes the Last Ditch Mystery Series which started in April 2018 and is set in California. It features Lexy Campbell who fell in love and left her native Scotland for a golden life in California―hitched to a hunk, building her…
Dianne Harman writes the Liz Lucas Mystery series which is set in California. It features Liz Lucas, a 52 year old widow, is beginning to think she’s been given a second chance at life by owning a successful spa located in a beautiful forest area…
This series started in 2009 and takes place in California. It features Delores (Lola) Cruz, a private detective at Camacho and Associates by day and a waitress at the restaurant owned by her family, Abuelitas, by night.
Diana Orgain writes the Love or Money Mystery series which started in March 2015 and is set in California. It features brokenhearted Georgia Thornton who goes on reality TV looking for romance-- she has nothing to lose—apart from a good man, a…
Mary Feliz writes the Maggie McDonald Mystery Series which is set in California. It features professional organizer Maggie. Maggie McDonald has a penchant for order that isn’t confined to her clients’ closets, kitchens, and sock drawers. As she…
Sharon Burch Toner writes the Maggie McGill Mystery series which is set in California. It features psychotherapist Maggie McGill and her 30-something daughter, Allie. Maggie lives in Florida and Allie lives in California. In the first book in…
Diane Vallere writes the Material Witness Mystery series which started in November 2014 and is set in California. It features fabric store owner Polyester Monroe. When Poly was little, she loved playing in her family’s textile store. But after a…
This series started in 2009 and is set in San Francisco. It features Kate Connolly who is a new mom and amateur sleuth.
Rimmy London writes the Megan Henny Cozy Mystery Series which started in April 2022 and is set in California. It features Megan Henny and a very large Great Dane named Fred. She opens up a scooter shop on the…
This series is set in Los Angeles and was started in 2011. The first novel in this series is Rochelle's first book. This series features clinical psychologist Liz Cooper. Her mother is a tarot card reader and occultist. Liz helps solve murders…
Margaret Grace writes The Miniature Mysteries Series which started in 2008 and takes place in California. It features Geraldine Porter, a retired school teacher who now loves to create miniatures.
Margaret Dumas writes the Movie Palace Mystery Series which started in February 2019 and is set in San Francisco, CA. It feautres Nora Paige whose movie-star husband leaves her for his latest co-star. She flees Hollywood to take refuge in San…
T.C. LoTempio writes the Nick and Nora Mystery series which started in December 2014 and is set in California. It features crime reporter Nora Charles. She doesn’t believe in fate, even if she is a crime reporter who shares a name with a…
Cheryl Crane writes the Nikki Harper Mystery series which started in 2010 and is set in California. It features Hollywood realtor Nikki Harper. realtor to the stars and daughter of 1950s screen goddess Victoria Bordeaux, Hollywood is home--an…
Nikki Sands was like every other aspiring actress—waiting tables between jobs. But Nikki had taken serving wines to heart. She knew enough to impress Napa Valley’s golden boy, Derek Malveaux, who offered her a job at his vineyard. And though…