Love the idea behind this sampler, and I'm definitely confident that I'll find a new favorite in here.

A delightful sampler of cozy mysteries that will introduce you to a variety of new books. Cozy mystery lovers will be engaged in these five samples that introduce a variety of stories from death at a cooking class to a historical murder. This is the perfect treat to test out the books to see what fits right for you or simply fall in love with all of them. It gives you a taste then leaves you wanting to see what happens next. It succeeds in gaining interest in each of the series and serves as solid introductions to each one. The cozy sampler serves as a great way to lure new readers into the series by letting them read a few chapters to decide which series is perfect for them or even all of the series.

Deadly Editions by Paige Shelton is the seventh book in the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series. The new installment in the series sets up a treasure hunt, an eccentric socialite, and an enticing first edition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. First impressions of the book: this is clearly another winner for the series with a fun theme, quirky humor, and plenty of sleuthing. Bodies & Bows is the third book in the Apron Shop series by Elizabeth Penney. Iris has every plan to have a bit of relaxation now that summer is on its way out but her plans are quickly thwarted when a murder occurs and one of her friends is the primary suspect. The location of Maine is stunning and is the perfect backdrop as Iris works to prove that her friend isn't capable of murder. Highly enjoyable and leaves you wanting the next chapter. Death of a Showman takes you into the past in the fourth book in the Jane Prescott series from Mariah Fredericks. The year 1914 will never look the same after Fredericks' delightful sample that sets readers up for a glisty wedding in Europe, a historic look at Broadway, and plenty of scandals.

Diane Kelly takes you into the world of house-flipping with Murder with a View which is the third book in the House-Flipper Mystery series. This is a great cozy for those that love HGTV and house renovation shows. The mystery samples introduce a great house renovation bend with a Southern twang, a Nashville setting, and a country-western singer. Chilled to the Cone by Ellie Alexander is the twelfth book in the Bakeshop Mystery series. The perfect treat for summer with ice cream, murder, and a charming assortment of characters. This creates the perfect taste for this longstanding series that will make everyone want to binge the books from the first one. The Noodle Shop Mystery series returns with book seven, Fatal Fried Rice. The sample from Vivien Chien's next installment is funny, humorous, and has lots of food references. Lana Lee takes on a new challenge when she takes a cooking class to help out more at her family's restaurant and ends up directly in the middle of a murder investigation ... again.

A fun selection of cozy mystery samples that will leave you wanting more!

Cozy mysteries are my favorite! I love the samplers so I can read little bits and decide what needs to go on my TBR list. So many good authors and books in such a small sampler!

This book contains samples .. teasers... of 6 different stories. Fun reads from some talented authors. Always a win when you find new authors to follow. I'd like to thank the publisher Minotaur Books for the advance copy.

This book has six great samples of some very good cozy mysteries and I definitely wanted to finish all of the stories. Highly recommend!

I enjoyed this sampler and was particularly interested in the second story by Paige Shelton. What a great way to try a few different stories and to see which ones you connect with. Now I'm off to find some Scottish Bookshop Mystery books. I need to find out what happens!

This was a lovely set of tales which hit exactly the right spot. The mix of styles was engaging and I fully enjoyed each story.

This was my first time reading a Cozy Case Sampler, and I'm hooked. I enjoyed that these samples gave me a preview of the world and the characters without leaving me on cliffhangers. The mysteries hadn't begun yet, but I learned enough about the worlds to know that there are a couple cozy mystery books that I'll be watching for in the next year. I recommend that anyone looking to get into cozy mysteries or lovers of the genre looking for fresh stories check out this Cozy Case Files mystery sampler.

nother free sampler of some cosy mysteries (3-5 chapters of six new releases), all quite different and all will be a hit or miss with readers. This series starts us off in New York in 1914, takes us to contemporary Scotland, and then back to the US - the PNW, Maine, Nashville and the mid-west.

I especially liked Murder with a View and Fatal Fried Rice. I'm going to put those series on my TBR list. I did (honestly) skip one of the samples, but read all the others with varying degrees of enjoyment. Whilst the pre-war one was well written, personally I don't enjoy period books so it's not a series I'll pursue.

But that's the beauty of these samplers - reading a variety of titles that will pique your curiosity and hopefully find some new authors to add to your reading list.

I always enjoy these samplers, as they open me up to new authors I may not have considered on my own! Thank you for the previews, I will be buying the books now!

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

This title contains 6 charming samples for the upcoming thriller novels. Even though it was just a few pages but I was completely immersed. The setting was very well written, I could almost feel like I was living each one of them.

Death of a Snowman - Mariah Fredericks
It is the hot summer in 1914, New York City. There are broadway, glittering costumes and love songs but also... A MURDER.

Deadly Editions - Paige Shelton
Bookstore. Treasure Hunt. Mysterious socialite. Kidnapping. Being the next target of the villain. What more does one need?

Bodies and Bows - Elizabeth Penney
Iris just wants to relax. But she has been roped into the museum committee, to plan her friend's wedding. oh and also, to get her dearest friend Bella off the murder charge.

Murder with a View - Diane Kelly
How did a country music singer end up dead in the flipper motel that Whitney and Buck are planning to transform into a condo?

Chilled to the Cone - Ellie Alexander
In Chilled to the Cone, a seasonal ice cream shop should be the perfect supplement to Torte’s amazing bakery and pizzeria, but things don’t go to plan when a body is found on the tracks nearby.

Fatal Fried Rice - Vivien Chien
Lana Lee is trying to learn the food served in her family’s restaurant when the clandestine classes end in murder!

The digital file/book I received was very confusing at first--for some reason the TOC was at the very end and the arrangement was poor. Until I found the TOC by stumbling around, I thought this was a very weird book. I also wasn't aware that you only get a few chapters of a book instead of short stories. Once I had this figured out it was okay. I only liked two of the selections but feel this is a good way to try out similar books from authors.

A group, of your favorite cozy mystery writers in one book. Not exactly how I usually go about my reading but I didn’t hate it.

A perfect taste of fabulous mysteries! Each excerpt gives the reader just enough to want to run out and buy the entire series!

Thanks to Netgalley and Publishers for a free copy of this sampler in exchange for a honest review. I adored the settings of each of these upcoming novels and interested in Vivien Chien's latest work. I'm new to the 'Cozy Mystery' genre but I'm very much intrigued after reading these samples! Highly recommend taking using this sample bundle as sneak peaks especially if you're interested in some 2021 cozy mysteries.

This was a charming set of samples. All the mystery started easily described the setting and introduced the crime in an intriguing way. I loved the different time periods a few samples brought, especially when they used the dialects of that time when the character communicate. I thought that was a lovely addition. Overall these were all great and they all definitely cozy reads.

An easy but effective way to find a new cozy series without getting bogged down in any one for too long.

This sampler is highly useful. Thank you to the publisher, Minotaur Books, for providing me with a Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) via NetGalley. Readers may opt to buy this sampler to taste the work of each of the six authors. The six samples contain about three chapters each, so the reader isn’t purchasing six entire novels, just the first portions. A sampler such as this allows readers to select books more carefully for eventual purchase.
The six samples, and my reactions to each, follow.

Death of a Showman, by Mariah Fredericks
This sample begins with a first-person narrator who has a grown grandson, Leo, and a great granddaughter, Amy. It’s modern day, and together they attend the musical “Cats” on Broadway. After this brief introduction, the story flashes back to the past...
It’s the summer of 1914, and Jane Prescott, lady’s maid to young society matron Louise Tyler, is the one telling this story. Louise’s sister has just been married in Vienna, and the family has returned to New York. The voyage home wasn’t smooth. Jane is confronted with the news that Leo Hirschfeld—the beau she broke up with before the Vienna trip—has married a chorus girl. Leo is a musician and composer on Broadway. I wondered what his link is to the grandson Leo of the introductory chapter.
The story interested me at first, although my attention lagged when it fell into mundane domestic detail. The period facts—such as the assassination of Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand, the Ludlow Massacre in Colorado, and the explosion meant to kill Rockefeller of Standard Oil—add touches of realism. However, the author paraphrases entire conversations, a style that creates a bit of distance from the reader. You don’t feel you’re “living” the novel, but hearing about things secondhand. Perhaps the author meant to emulate the archaic diction of the era.
To credit the author, by the end of the sample, I did find myself wanting to “turn the page” and find out what will happen next.

Deadly Editions, by Paige Shelton
I like the book cover, which shows a Gothic-looking library, with a burning candle next to an edition of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and some curious-looking steam emanating from a glass beaker. This is Shelton’s sixth Scottish Bookshop Mystery. It’s written in first person, and the narrator is Delaney Nichols, owner of the bookshop. Delaney has a grandmotherly coworker named Rosie, who speaks in Scottish brogue and tells Delaney that the local police “might be a wee bit worrit about ye.” Since this is a series, we’re clued in that Delaney frequently gets mired in troublesome situations and probably trods the toes of the authorities.
I was hooked right away by the arrival of a mysterious letter asking Delaney to a meeting that afternoon to discuss Shelagh O’Connor’s priceless book collection, presumably for sale. But Rosie cautions Delaney that Ms. O’Connor was once suspected of murder, although never arrested.
Before attending the meeting, Delaney visits her husband’s pub. A supposed “friend” of Delaney’s husband, Tom, shows up. His name is Findlay Sweet, and he makes it clear that he thinks Delaney made a mistake marrying Tom (they’ve only been married six months).
At the meeting Delaney attends with four others, the eccentric Ms. O’Connor reveals her plan: a treasure hunt for a first-edition copy of Jekyll and Hyde, signed by the author. Once the book is found, each attendee will receive a large sum of money. The hunt will begin with individual tours of O’Connor’s library. I must say, I was totally intrigued.

Bodies and Bows, by Elizabeth Penney
Iris Buckley and her Grammie run an apron shop, Ruffles and Bows, in Blueberry Cove, Maine. This first-person narration starts out with Iris’ visit to the dentist, which is every bit as cringeworthy as your own real life visit. Thanks to author Penney’s descriptive writing, you are there, whether or not you want to be. And in this first chapter, you meet dental hygienist Gretchen, who bears some ill will toward Iris’ friend Bella.
Going home, Iris sees that Bella is having her car towed, since it won’t start. Iris gives Bella a ride to the garage, and on the way, they discuss Alan, Bella’s cheating ex-husband. Will Bella and Alan give their marriage another try?
If this seems a rather bland start to a murder mystery, readers know that beneath the surface of ordinary life, turbulent emotions simmer, just waiting to explode. The publisher’s blurb promises as much, as Bella’s latest fling, Lance Pederson, is killed in a hit-and-run, and evidence points to Bella.

Murder with a View, by Diane Kelly
Whitney Whitaker wakes up to her head-butting cat and sets off to the Nashville courthouse for a tax auction with her cousin Buck. They want to buy an abandoned one-story motel and renovate it. Their competitor is Thad Gentry, a villainous sort and the owner of Gentry Real Estate. Whitney talks another bidder, Presley Pearson, into pooling resources against Gentry.
Buck convinces Gentry that the motel is at risk of being redeemed by the delinquent owner, and ends up winning the bid. Whitney and Buck are elated, as is their new silent business partner, Presley. Their plan is to remodel the 12-unit motel into six one-bedroom condos.
The story really gets going when Whitney and Buck discover a likeable homeless man living in their new property. I noticed some typos in the manuscript (“The glimmer in her eye said she [was] being facetious”), but these may be caught and corrected by publication time.

Chilled to the Cone, by Ellie Alexander
In Ashland, Oregon, Jules and her estranged husband Carlos try to figure out what they want from their relationship. Carolos has taken extended leave from his work as head chef on a cruise ship, where Jules also once worked. Jules now bakes in her family bakeshop. My mouth watered at the lengthy description of Jules’ signature French toast casserole made with brioche.
Jules’ friend Laney Lee owns a street food truck, and Laney suggests Jules could open a walk-up coffee shop in the Railroad District. Laney introduces Jules to Addie, who owns the vacant space. While the three of them meet in the courtyard where the coffee and ice cream shop could be established, a homeless man known as “the Wizard” pedals past on a rusty bike. The Wizard creeps Addie out.
According to the publisher’s blurb, the Wizard later turns up dead just as Jules is ready to open her new shop. It isn’t clear how this motivates Jules to solve the murder… maybe it’s that having a dead body found near your business isn’t the best PR.

Fatal Fried Rice, by Vivien Chien
This one is my favorite, because I really enjoyed the author’s voice and style. I love that the first-person narrator, Lana Lee, has a black pug dog named Kikkoman. The youngest daughter and manager of the family restaurant, Ho-Lee Noodle House, Lana is taking a Chinese cooking class on the sly. Right! She never learned to cook! I’m smiling already.
Lana lives in Cleveland, sings while driving, and has a police detective boyfriend named Adam, who “would be happy if we had chicken wings and curly fries every night.” Her days of thinking herself invincible are long gone, due to being around a few murders, a boatload of deceptions, and working with the public.
I really enjoy this author’s sense of humor. She’s the only person of Asian descent in her cooking class and is so self-conscious, she considers telling people she’s adopted.
The murder occurs in Chapter three—it’s the cooking class instructor. Lana is the one who discovered the body. When the investigative team arrives on scene and interviews Lana, you start to get an uneasy feeling that things are about to go haywire… for good reason!

Excellent collection of samples from a wide range of cozy mystery styles, subgenres and voices. I particularly enjoyed the newest release from Vivien Chien.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, in return for an honest review. This is the 11th offering of upcoming new releases and a wonderful way to learn about six either new-to-you authors or see what your favorite authors are releasing. For each new book, you get several chapters of their upcoming release. I’m delighted that I’d not read several and, after reading the new stories, immediately purchased them on Amazon for e-reading upon release. A fun aspect is that each book is set in a different locale so it’s a great chance to travel safely from home!
In 1914 New York City, death is alive and well on Broadway in Death of a Showman.
Visiting Edinburgh, Scotland, has never been safer than in Deadly Editions, as a transplanted American solves crimes in addition to her day job at a unique bookstore.
Bodies and Bows is set in Maine and niche shop owner, Iris, must solve another crime before someone she loves is charged.
How did a country music singer end up dead in the flipper motel that Whitney and her cousin are rehabbing in Murder with a View?
In Chilled to the Cone, a seasonal ice cream shop should be the perfect supplement to Torte’s amazing bakery and pizzeria, but things don’t go to plan when a body is found on the tracks nearby.
And it’s always a pleasure to return to the Ho-Lee Noodle House and see what Lana Lee’s up to – this time, she’s actually trying to learn the food served in her family’s restaurant when the surreptitious classes end in murder!
There’s a lovely set of different stories and this is a great way to decide if these should be added to your ‘must read’ pile in 2021. Enjoy!