The Best Cozy Mystery Episodes for Christmas
Here are our current Top 10 Favorite Christmas episodes for Christmastime:
10. Signed, Sealed, Delivered - “Signed, Sealed, Delivered for Christmas”
Series Synopsis:
This series of shows and movies (2012 - 2021) follows the Postables team (played by Eric Mabius, Kristin Booth, Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe, and Geoff Gustafson) at the Dead Letter Office as they solve non-murderous cases and uncover clues to deliver lost mail to their rightful owners with heartwarming results.
Episode Description:
TV Movie based on series
The Postables aim to deliver every single letter to Santa before the holidays, but when they find a lost letter addressed to God, they delay their travel plans to solve a Christmas mystery.
Available on Hallmark Now
9. Death Comes to Pemberley
Miniseries
Description:
This (2013) three part mini-series based on the book by P.D. James follows Jane Austen’s characters from Pride and Prejudice six years after Elizabeth (played by Anna Maxwell Martin) and Darcy (played by Matthew Rhys) have wed. Their preparations for their annual ball is brought to a stop when a murder occurs.
Available for purchase from PBS or Amazon
8. Psych - “Gus’s Dad Might Have Killed an Old Man”
Series Synopsis:
This (2006 - 2014) series follows hyper-observant but juvenile Shawn Spencer (played by Jame Roday Rodriguez) who pretends to be a psychic as he assists the Santa Barbara police with his best friend Gus (played by Dule Hill.)
Episode Description:
Season 2, Episode 10
Near the holidays, Shawn and Gus must prove that Gus’s dad did not murder the Grinch-like man he was having a long-standing feud with.
Available on Amazon Prime
7. Murder, She Wrote - “A Christmas Secret”
Series Synopsis:
This classic cozy (from 1980 to 1996) follows amateur sleuth and mystery writer Jessica Fletcher (played by Angela Lansbury) as she solves crime using her charm and intellect in her travels and in her hometown of Cabot Cove, Maine.
Episode Description:
Season 9, Episode 9
Jessica investigates a fatal shooting near the holidays.
Available on Peacock
6. Murdoch Mysteries - “A Merry Murdoch Christmas”
Series Synopsis:
In this (2008 - present) series, straight-laced Detective Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) uses the latest forensic techniques available in the 1890s to solve murders while falling for charming coroner Dr. Julia Ogden (Helene Joy).
Episode Description:
Season 9 Christmas Special
Murdoch investigates the murder of a local businessman dressed as Santa who was killed at a Christmas Charity Gala, as well as the sightings of the Krampus.
Available on Acorn
5. Murder, She Baked - “A Plum Pudding Mystery”
Series Synopsis:
This mystery series (2015 - 2017, and then renamed “Hannah Swensen Mysteries” which runs 2021 - present) follows baker Hannah Swensen (played by Alison Sweeney) as she creates new recipes, runs a small business, figures out her love life and solves murders in Minnesota.
Episode Description:
Season 1, Episode 2
Hannah investigates why owner of the Christmas Tree Village where she sold cookies was murdered.
Available on Hallmark Now
4. Monk - "Mr. Monk and the Secret Santa”
Series Synopsis:
This comedy mystery series (2002 - 2009) follows the brilliant retired detective Adrian Monk (played by Tony Shalhoub) who now works as a private consultant to the police as he deals with his obsessive-compulsive disorder and phobias.
Episode Description:
Season 4, Episode 9
Monk must figure out who is behind the poisoning of a Secret Santa gift at the police department Christmas party.
Available on Amazon Prime
3. Father Brown - “The Tree of Truth”
Series Synopsis:
Based on the books by G. K. Chesterton, this (2013 - present) series follows Father Brown (played by Mark Williams) and his friends as they investigate mysteries in the 1950s English village of Kembleford. Father Brown does all that he can to right wrongs, catch murderers, and save souls.
Episode Description:
Season 6, Episode 1
The Kembleford Christmas play becomes a setting for a murder that Father Brown must solve.
Available on Britbox
2. Agatha Raisin - “Kissing Christmas Goodbye”
Series Synopsis:
This series of movies and shows (2014 - present), based on the books by M. C. Beaton, follows a London PR guru, Agatha Raisin (Ashley Jensen), who fulfills a dream of retiring early to the English countryside. However, once there, she discovers she has a real skill for solving murders.
Episode Description:
Season 4, Episode 1
Agatha is hired to protect a miserly woman from the ghosts of her past, but when this client is found dead, Agatha must solve her murder.
Available on Acorn
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries - “Murder Under the Mistletoe”
Series Synopsis:
This (2012 - 2015) series follows lady detective Phryne Fisher (Essie Davis) as she uses her wit, charm, and pearl-handled pistol to fight injustice in 1920s Australia.
Episode Description:
Season 2, Episode 13
Phyrne and friends head to a ski chalet to celebrate a “Christmas in July” party but when guests start dying according to the lyrics of the “Twelve Days of Christmas” song, they must solve the mystery quickly before they become victims too.
Available on Acorn