When I’m looking for a relaxing mystery read, I turn toward cozy mysteries. These mysteries do not have gratuitous sex or violence (the murders happen off the page). One of my favorite types of cozy mysteries are queer cozy mysteries that feature an LGBTQ cast of characters. As of this writing, all of these titles are owned by the Davenport Public Library. Descriptions are provided by the publishers.

The Body in the Back Garden by Mark Waddell (Crescent Cove Mystery #1)

Crescent Cove, a small hamlet on Vancouver Island, is the last place out-of-work investigative journalist Luke Tremblay ever wanted to see again. He used to spend summers here, until his family learned that he was gay and rejected him. Now, following his aunt’s sudden death, he’s inherited her entire estate, including her seaside cottage and the antiques shop she ran for forty years in Crescent Cove. Luke plans to sell everything and head back to Toronto as soon as he can…but Crescent Cove isn’t done with him just yet.

When a stranger starts making wild claims about Luke’s aunt, Luke sends him packing.  The next morning, though, Luke discovers that the stranger has returned, and now he’s lying dead in the back garden. To make matters worse, the officer leading the investigation is a handsome Mountie with a chip on his shoulder who seems convinced that Luke is the culprit. If he wants to prove his innocence and leave this town once and for all, Luke will have to use all his skills as a journalist to investigate the colorful locals while coming to terms with his own painful past.

There are secrets buried in Crescent Cove, and the more Luke digs, the more he fears they might change the town forever. – Crooked Lane Books

Dead & Breakfast by Kat Hillis & Rosiee Thor (Dead & Breakfast #1)

The new vampires in town are sinking their teeth into solving a murder…

Married odd couple Arthur and Sal are totally normal. They wear sunscreen, not because the sun can kill them, but because even the undead need a skincare regimen. They eat garlic whenever they want, though it gives Sal indigestion. They can talk to creatures of the night, but only the raccoons that rifle through their garbage. Really, they don’t bite… except into delicious baked goods.

Ready to settle down and stay out of trouble, the two have opened a bed & breakfast in the idyllic, if not-so-paranormal-friendly, town of Trident Falls, Oregon. But trouble finds them when the mayor is discovered dead in their begonias with two puncture wounds in his neck. With the help of a werewolf barista, the elven town coroner, and a very human city manager, Arthur and Sal will need to prove they aren’t literally out for blood by catching a killer… – Berkley

Death in the Cards by Mia P. Manansala (Dizon Detective Agency #1)

Danika Dizon is a natural problem-solver. Thanks to her private investigator mom and mystery author dad, she’s equipped with the skills to offer guidance to anxious classmates who come to her for a tarot reading between classes. For a price, of course.

But when one of her clients vanishes shortly after they’re dealt a death card, the girl’s younger sister Gaby begs Danika to figure out what went wrong. Danika takes on the case, thinking it’s the perfect way to prove to her parents that she should be an official investigator in the family’s detective agency.

What starts off as a compelling challenge quickly devolves into something darker as Danika and Gaby peel back layer after layer of the secret life the missing girl has been living. A life that those involved would do anything to keep from being revealed… – Delacorte Press

Devil’s Chew Toy by Rob Osler (Hayden & Friends #1)

Seattle teacher and part-time blogger Hayden McCall wakes sporting one hell of a shiner, with the police knocking at his door. It seems that his new crush, dancer Camilo Rodriguez, has gone missing and they suspect foul play. What happened the night before? And where is Camilo?

Determined to find answers, pint-sized, good-hearted Hayden seeks out two of Camilo’s friends—Hollister and Burley—both lesbians and both fiercely devoted to their friend. From them, Hayden learns that Camilo is a “Dreamer” whose parents had been deported years earlier, and whose sister, Daniela, is presumed to have returned to Venezuela with them. Convinced that the cops won’t take a brown boy’s disappearance seriously, the girls join Hayden’s hunt for Camilo.

The first clues turn up at Barkingham Palace, a pet store where Camilo had taken a part-time job. The store’s owner, Della Rupert, claims ignorance, but Hayden knows something is up. And then there’s Camilo’s ex-boyfriend, Ryan, who’s suddenly grown inexplicably wealthy. When Hayden and Hollister follow Ryan to a secure airport warehouse, they make a shocking connection between him and Della—and uncover the twisted scheme that’s made both of them rich.

The trail of clues leads them to the grounds of a magnificent estate on an island in Puget Sound, where they’ll finally learn the truth about Camilo’s disappearance—and the fate of his family. – Crooked Lane Books

How to Have a Killer Time in DC by Sam Lumley (Oliver Popp’s Travel Guide to Murder #1)

A young, gay, autistic travel writer takes a head-spinning detour when murder and romance unbalance his well-planned life and career in this fun, quirky debut mystery . . .

For twenty-four-year-old Oliver Popp, autism is just another fact of life. As long as Oliver sticks to a comfortable itinerary planned well in advance, he gets by just fine as a staff writer for Offbeat Traveler magazine. But a curveball drops into Oliver’s budding career when his first feature assignment takes him to Washington, DC, to chronicle the latest tourism trends.

His freelance project photographer is Ricky Warner, a gregarious and impulsively adorable shot of adrenaline. If the flirty gay photographer isn’t enough to unbalance shy Oliver at the get-go, there’s also an unsettling chance encounter with old acquaintance, Elise Perkins, and a congressional hearing that’s shaking up both the capitol and an entrepreneurial billionaire. The unexpected distractions soon collide—quite literally—when Elise is struck dead by a speeding car. Funny how she didn’t move and didn’t scream. She just stared it down like she knew it was coming. Forget the National Mall and Mt. Vernon Square. Oliver and Ricky are game for something much more interesting: solving a mystery and a murder.

With their focus shifted and a deadline coming, they only have a few days to solve the crime. For Oliver, it’s a weeks of firsts: first crush, first time without a schedule, first time playing amateur sleuth, and first time getting wrestled out of his comfort zone. But with a loosey-goosey new partner like Ricky, that might not be such a bad thing at all. – Kensington Cozies

A Killing in Costumes by Zac Bissonnette (Hollywood Treasures Mystery #1)

Jay Allan and Cindy Cooper were soap opera stars in the late ’90s, a wholesome young husband-and-wife duo who combined musical talent with humor and charisma. When the truth about their sexual orientations came to light, their marriage and TV careers ended, but decades later they have remained friends. Together, they open Palm Springs’ chicest movie memorabilia store, Hooray for Hollywood–but no customers and dwindling finances spell trouble.

A Hail Mary arrives in the form of Yana Tosh, a ninety-year-old diva of the silver screen who has amassed a valuable collection of costumes and props and is looking to sell. But first, Jay and Cindy have to beat their competition, a vice president from a mega-auction house with ten times their resources. And when he winds up dead, they become prime suspects in the murder.

With their freedom and livelihoods on the line, Jay and Cindy desperately need to clear their names. There are plenty of other potential suspects, but they’ll have to solve it soon before they’re forced to trade in their vintage costume collection for two orange jumpsuits. – Crooked Lane Books

Molten Death by Leslie Karst (Orchid Isle Mystery #1)

A glimpse of a quickly melting corpse at the foot of a volcano has amateur sleuth and food enthusiast Valerie Corbin shocked. But how can she investigate a murder, when there’s no evidence the victim ever existed?

The first Orchid Isle cozy mystery, set in tropical Hilo, Hawai‘i, introduces a fun and feisty LGBTQ+ couple who swap surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions!

Retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have come to the Big Island of Hawai‘i to treat themselves to a well-earned tropical vacation. After the recent loss of her brother, Valerie is in sore need of a distraction from her troubles and is looking forward to enjoying the delicious food and vibrant culture the state has to offer.

Early one morning, the couple and their friend – tattooed local boy, Isaac – set out to see an active lava flow, and Valerie is mesmerized by the shape-shifting mass of orange and red creeping over the field of black rock. Spying a boot in the distance, she strides off alone, pondering how it could have gotten there, only to realize to her horror that the boot is still attached to a leg – a leg which is slowly being engulfed by the hot lava.

Valerie’s convinced a murder has been committed – but as she’s the only witness to the now-vanished corpse, who’s going to believe her?

Determined to prove what she saw, and get justice for the unknown victim, Valerie launches her own investigation. But, thrown into a Hawaiian culture far from the luaus and tiki bars of glossy tourist magazines, she soon begins to fear she may be the next one to end up entombed in shiny black rock . . .

The amiable characters, stunning backdrop and culinary delights make this the perfect cozy of fans who enjoy a tropical vacation with a twisty murder mystery and compelling Hawai‘ian culture – paired with an added bonus of recipes of local Hawai‘ian dishes! – Severn House

Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite (Dorothy Gentleman #1)

A mind is a terrible thing to erase…

Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty’s most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! Room and board are included, new bodies are graciously provided upon request, and should you desire a rest between lifetimes, your mind shall be most carefully preserved in glass in the Library, shielded from every danger.

Near the topmost deck of an interstellar generation ship, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn’t hers—just as someone else is found murdered. As one of the ship’s detectives, Dorothy usually delights in unraveling the schemes on board the Fairweather, but when she finds that someone is not only killing bodies but purposefully deleting minds from the Library, she realizes something even more sinister is afoot.

Dorothy suspects her misfortune is partly the fault of her feckless nephew Ruthie who, despite his brilliance as a programmer, leaves chaos in his cheerful wake. Or perhaps the sultry yarn store proprietor—and ex-girlfriend of the body Dorothy is currently inhabiting—knows more than she’s letting on. Whatever it is, Dorothy intends to solve this case. Because someone has done the impossible and found a way to make murder on the Fairweather a very permanent state indeed. A mastermind may be at work—and if so, they’ve had three hundred years to perfect their schemes…

Told through Dorothy’s delightfully shrewd POV, this novella is an ode to the cozy mystery taken to the stars with a fresh new sci-fi take. Perfect for fans of the plot-twisty narratives of Dorothy Sayers and Ann Leckie, this well-paced story will leave readers captivated and hungry for the series’s next installment. – Tordotcom

Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars (Misty Divine #1)

A poisoned chocolate. A stolen dress. An elusive catburglar. Drag’s not just dramatic, it’s deadly.

By day, Joe is a hotel accountant, invisibly sitting behind their desk and playing by the rules. By night, donned in sequins, they take to the stage as Misty Divine, a star of the London drag scene.

But when Misty’s drag mother, Lady Lady, is found dead in her dressing room beside a poisoned box of chocolates, Misty and her fellow performers become the prime suspects.

Heartbroken by the loss, and frustrated by the clear biases of the police, Misty must solve the crime before the culprit strikes again. Among the drop-dead gorgeous lurks a cutthroat killer, and Misty Divine won’t rest until she finds out who it is. – Berkley

Renovated to death by Frank Anthony Polito (Domestic Partners in Crime #1)

It’s Hart to Hart via HGTV in award-winning author and playwright Frank Anthony Polito’s fabulous new cozy mystery series featuring a gay couple who solve crimes while renovating houses in suburban Detroit as part of their hit reality show Domestic Partners.

Real-life domestic partners and stars and producers of the new hit reality home renovation show Domestic Partners, bestselling mystery author Peter “PJ” Penwell and actor JP Broadway are enjoying work and life in their sleepy Detroit suburb of Pleasant Woods—until a suspicious death makes an unscripted appearance…

After a successful first season of Domestic Partners chronicling the renovation of their historic Craftsman Colonial, Peter and JP are taking on a renovation of a local Tudor Revival inherited by identical twin brothers Terry and Tom Cash. But linoleum floors and a pink-tiled bathroom aren’t the only unwelcome surprises awaiting inside the house…

Just as the show is set to start filming, Peter and JP discover Tom Cash dead at the foot of the house’s staircase. And when the police ruling changes from accidental death to homicide, the list of suspects grows fast. Could the killer be the crabby next-door-neighbor, the Realtor ex-boyfriend, the bartender ex-boyfriend, the other, much younger, ex-boyfriend, or even renovation-reluctant brother, Terry? And what’s that awful smell coming from the basement? Now Peter’s mystery writer skills, and JP’s experience as the former star of a cop show, will be put to the test—as will their relationship while they uncover the secrets of the house and its owners. With a killer on the loose, this is one fixer upper that may prove deadly… – Kensington