Let’s face it: Holiday family get-togethers can be a recipe for awkwardness.
Between your cousin Travis’ conspiracy theories and Grandma’s not-so-subtle observations on your life choices, sometimes you truly need a holiday from the holidays. But don’t worry, this “holiday” doesn’t require EVEN MORE driving. In fact, you can pack up this delicious escape alongside the cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes.
That’s right, it’s a food-inspired audiobook collection!
But these aren’t just any food-inspired audiobooks. No, this curated collection is a veritable smorgasbord of audio appetizers—a selection of titles so pun-laden they’ll make you chuckle when all you want to do is cringe. Each delicious series works together to create a literary amuse-bouche that will help you relax before (and after) all the noise of familial… let’s call them “discussions.”
Whether you’re facing a six-hour drive to your in-laws’ house or need some sonic comfort food after explaining your career choices (again), these audiobooks are here to serve. Think of them as your audio palette cleanser between courses of family drama. Stuck in holiday traffic? Let these stories transform your car into a cozy listening nook. Need to decompress after Aunt Martha’s detailed critique of your parenting style? These tales are better than a post-dinner digestif.
Each audiobook has been carefully selected not just for its clever culinary wordplay, but also for how it can easily transport you from any holiday situation that’s gotten a bit too… well-done. So grab your headphones and prepare to feast your ears on stories that are equal parts savory and sweet, served with a dash of silly and a generous helping of entertainment.
Read on for the perfect culinary soundtrack to help you survive every holiday hang!
Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies
Book 1 in the Pies Before Guys series
Written by Misha Pop, narrated by Tany Eby
Daisy Ellery’s pies have a secret ingredient: the magical ability to avenge women done wrong by men. But now she finds herself on the receiving end….
The first time Daisy Ellery killed a man with a pie, it was an accident. Now, it’s her calling. Daisy bakes sweet vengeance into her pastries, which she and her dog, Zoe, deliver to the men who’ve done dirty deeds to the town’s women. But if she can’t solve the one crime that’s not of her own baking, she’ll be out of the pie pan and into the oven.
A freshly baked take on the classic culinary cozy mystery, the sleuth is the murderer in this series that’s oven-ready for fans of Ellery Adams and Mary Maxwell.
Love the punny title for Book #1? Check out the others – A Good Day to Pie and The Last to Pie
Up to No Gouda
Book 1 in the Grilled Cheese Mysteries series
Written by Linda Reilly, narrated by Mia Gaskin
This delicious culinary cozy series features a grilled-cheese eatery owner who must solve murders in her small town before she is put under lock and brie.
Back in Balsam Dell to heal after the death of her husband, Carly Hale is finally pursuing her lifelong dream—opening Carly’s Grilled Cheese Eatery. After only five months, business is booming as Vermont vacationers and townspeople alike flock to lunch on her Party Havartis and other grilled-cheese concoctions. That is, everyone is but Lyle Bagley, her one-time high-school boyfriend who’s now the town bully—and he just bought the building that houses her eatery and wants her out. After a muenster of a fight, she’s forced to put her nose to the rind and find a solution to keep her business afloat.
But then Lyle is discovered dead behind the dumpster of Carly’s shop, and one of her employees becomes the prime suspect.
With a delightful cast of characters, an inventive amateur sleuth, and a whole host of cheesy hijinks, this series has the perfect cozy murder mysteries for you to melt into.
Learn more about the narrator and this cheerfully cheesy series in our other blog – A Q&A with Mia Gaskin
Grounds for Murder
Book 1 in the Coffee Lovers Mysteries series
Written by Tara Lush, narrated by Kae Marie Denino
A former award-winning reporter returns to her roots when she becomes the prime suspect in the murder of her café’s competition in the Sunshine State’s best barista contest.
When Lana Lewis’ best—and most difficult—employee abruptly quits and goes to work for the competition just days before the Sunshine State Barista Championship, her café’s chances of winning the contest are creamed. In front of a gossipy crowd in the small Florida town of Devil’s Beach, Lana’s normally calm demeanor heats to a boil when she runs into the arrogant java slinger.
Of course, Fabrizio “Fab” Bellucci has a slick explanation for jumping ship. But when he’s found dead the next morning under a palm tree in the alley behind Lana’s café, she becomes the prime suspect.
This debut coffee-lovers cozy series is filled to the brim with witty humor and loveable characters (including an adorable ShihTzu named Stanley). Perfect for any listener in need of a holiday pick-me-up!
Love the punny title for Book #1? Check out the others – Cold Brew Corpse and Live and Let Grind
Steeped to Death
Book 1 in A Witch’s Brew Mystery series
Written by Gretchen Rue, narrated by Kristin Price
A murder at the bookshop/tea store The Earl’s Study sets the stage for an intoxicating brew of small-town chicanery with a hint of the supernatural.
Phoebe Winchester’s beloved Aunt Eudora has a taste for adventure—and a knack for making magical tea. It’s even rumored that she just might be a witch. So when Eudora passes away and leaves everything to her niece—her Victorian mansion, her bookshop/tea store The Earl’s Study, and one very chubby orange cat named Bob—Phoebe gets more than she bargained for.
And she knows she’s in deep when a dead man is found on the shop’s back step, apparently killed while trying to break in!
Perfect for fans of Practical Magic and everything about fall, this cozy series has a magical plot that will keep you coming back for more. Plus, it includes recipes to enjoy while you listen!
Love the punny title for Book #1? Check out the others – Death by a Thousand Sips and The Grim Steeper
Looking for more holiday listens? Check out these blogs next!
Audiobooks to Listen to Over the Thanksgiving Holiday
Thankful for Audiobooks: Our Most Anticipated November Releases
