If your ideal cozy mystery comes with a feline sidekick who’s smarter than half the suspects, you’re in good company. Cats have been “solving” crimes in cozy fiction for decades — sniffing out clues, tripping up killers, and generally being far more useful than the local police department.
Here are 12 cozy mystery series where a cat is practically a co-detective. Pick whichever setting sounds most like your kind of town.
12 Cozy Mystery Series Every Cat Lover Should Try
1. The Cat Who… series — Lilian Jackson Braun
The one that started it all. Crime reporter Jim Qwilleran and his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, solve mysteries in the small Midwestern town of Pickax — Koko has an uncanny habit of “finding” the clue that cracks the case. (We’ve got a full reading order for this one — link at the end of this post.)
2. Cat in the Stacks — Miranda James
Widowed librarian Charlie Harris and his enormous, gentle Maine Coon, Diesel, investigate crimes in a small Mississippi college town. Diesel goes everywhere on a leash like a very large, very calm dog.
3. Magical Cats Mysteries — Sofie Kelly
Librarian Kathleen Paulson’s two rescue cats, Owen and Hercules, turn out to have small magical abilities — one can disappear, the other walk through walls — which come in handy when murder hits their Minnesota town.
4. Mrs. Murphy Mysteries — Rita Mae Brown
Set in Virginia horse country, this long-running series is narrated partly from the point of view of Mrs. Murphy the cat and her animal friends, who “talk” to each other (though not to the humans) while helping solve local murders.
5. Joe Grey Mysteries — Shirley Rousseau Murphy
A grittier, more fantastical take: Joe Grey is a gray tomcat in a California coastal town who can actually talk and teams up with police to solve crimes, all while keeping his ability a secret from most humans.
6. Midnight Louie Mysteries — Carole Nelson Douglas
Some chapters are narrated by Midnight Louie himself, a streetwise black tomcat in Las Vegas who has strong opinions about the human mystery unfolding around him.
7. Second Chance Cat / The Whole Cat and Caboodle — Sofie Ryan
A secondhand shop owner in coastal Maine and her rescue cat, Elvis, investigate local crimes with help from a group of sharp-witted older women who form her unofficial detective club.
8. Cat Café Mysteries — Cate Conte
A woman opens a cat café on a New England island and ends up solving murders with her scrappy orange stray, JJ, always somewhere nearby.
9. Bookmobile Cat Mysteries — Laurie Cass
Minnie Hamilton runs a bookmobile through small-town Michigan, with an orange tabby named Eddie who snuck aboard once and never left — and who has a knack for leading her toward trouble.
10. Paws & Claws Mysteries — Krista Davis
Set in the impossibly charming, pet-friendly resort town of Wagtail, Virginia, this series follows an innkeeper whose guests — animals included — keep stumbling into murder.
11. Cats in Trouble Mysteries — Leann Sweeney
A quilter living with three rescue cats in small-town South Carolina keeps getting pulled into local investigations, with her cats’ odd behavior often pointing her toward the truth.
12. Southern Eclectic Mysteries — Elizabeth Spann Craig
A research librarian in North Carolina stumbles into amateur sleuthing with occasional help from her library’s resident cat — a lighter, small-town series for readers who want their cozy extra cozy.
Which One Should I Start With?
New to cat cozies? Cat in the Stacks and The Cat Who… series are the most beloved starting points — both have a gentle, low-stakes tone and a cat character readers fall in love with fast. If you want the cats to actually talk to each other, start with Mrs. Murphy or Joe Grey instead.
FAQ
Do the cats actually solve the mysteries?
Not literally — but in most of these series, the cat’s behavior (sniffing at something, refusing to leave a room, staring at a suspect) tips off the human sleuth. A few series, like Joe Grey and Mrs. Murphy, do let the cats “talk” to each other or to the reader.
Are these series ongoing?
Most are — Cat in the Stacks, Magical Cats, and Paws & Claws all have new entries in recent years. The Cat Who… series ended with Lilian Jackson Braun’s passing in 2011, but all 29 books are still in print.
Which series has the most books?
The Cat Who… series leads with 29 full-length novels, followed closely by Mrs. Murphy and Cat in the Stacks.
Which cat detective is your favorite? Tell us in the comments below!