The Cornish Halloween Murder – Jodie Parker Is Back for a Spooky Cozy Mystery

There are some cozy mystery series where a new book feels less like starting a new story and more like catching up with people you already know.

Fiona Leitch’s Nosey Parker Mysteries have become exactly that for me.

And now Jodie Parker is back for mystery number eleven, The Cornish Halloween Murder, which is due to be published on September 24th, 2026.

If you have been following the series from the beginning, you will already know what to expect. We have a very Cornish setting, a proper murder mystery, lots of family life, sharp dialogue and plenty of humor along the way.

What I really love is the level of comedy in Fiona Leitch’s books, but also that it never gets in the way of the mystery. They’re funny, but there is always a real case to solve, and The Cornish Halloween Murder is no exception.

What Is The Cornish Halloween Murder About?

Let’s get straight into the plot. It is almost Halloween in Penstowan, and there is already plenty of trouble brewing before anyone turns up dead.

The old abandoned convent and former cottage hospital of St Ann’s has been sold to developers, who plan to turn the site into apartments.

The locals are far from pleased. Many would rather see the site used for something that benefits the town, including a much-needed health center.

Work goes ahead despite the protests, but then the builders begin making some very strange finds inside the old building.

Dolls are being found hidden inside the walls. They certainly look creepy enough, but there is another odd detail…they appear to be fairly new.

Someone, it seems, has deliberately been putting them there, and Jodie is asked to find out who is responsible and why. Before long she is caught up in stories of witches and Wiccans, strange noises in the convent and even the sound of babies crying where there really should not be any babies at all.

And all of this is happening as Penstowan prepares for its annual Bonfire Parade on Halloween night. The timing couldn’t be more fitting!

Then things become much more serious when one of the builders is found dead at the bottom of a staircase, which means that Jodie and her husband, DCI Nathan Withers, now have a murder to solve.

Why I Loved This One

Halloween and cozy crime work wonderfully together, especially when you have an old convent, hidden dolls, rumors of ghosts and a small Cornish town thrown into the mix.

But what I liked most was that Fiona Leitch does not suddenly turn Nosey Parker into a paranormal mystery series. In fact, it’s not really ‘spooky’ in that sense at all.

There are plenty of slightly creepy moments and strange goings-on, but underneath all of that there is a very real world crime to investigate.

And, as always, Jodie is great company. I can never quite put my finger on what exactly it is about her that makes her so incredibly realistic and relatable. It’s almost like she could be a real person, somebody you just genuinely like spending time with.

Then there is Nathan. Their relationship has been one of the pleasures of following these books over time, and seeing where they are now makes the earlier books even more fun to look back on.

The supporting cast also matters. By book eleven, we have come to know and love Daisy, Jodie’s daughter, and Shirley, her mum, who have both evolved with the books and become just as much a part of the investigation team as Jodie and Nathan. And who can forget Germaine the Pomeranian with her own unique little personality!

Of course, none of that would matter much if the mystery was weak. Thankfully, it isn’t.

There are enough questions surrounding St Ann’s to keep things moving. Who is putting those dolls into the walls? Are the attempts to stop the building work connected to the murder? How much of the convent’s past really matters?

It makes for another very satisfying whodunit, with enough suspects and possible motives to keep you guessing.

Can You Start With Book 11?

Absolutely, you can pick up this book and still be delighted by it even if you haven’t read any of the rest of the series.

The central murder is its own case, so you are not going to be completely lost if The Cornish Halloween Murder is your first Nosey Parker book.

But I wouldn’t recommend doing it that way. A big part of the fun comes from seeing Jodie’s life change across the series, particularly her relationship with Nathan and everything happening around her family.

And if you enjoy cozy mystery series where the characters matter almost as much as the murder, there is a lot to gain from starting at book one.

The full Nosey Parker reading order is:

• The Cornish Wedding Murder
• The Cornish Village Murder
• The Perfect Cornish Murder
• A Cornish Christmas Murder
• A Cornish Recipe for Murder
• A Cornish Seaside Murder
• The Cornish Campsite Murder
• The Cornish Castle Murder
• The Cornish Christmas Pantomime Murder
• The Cornish Honeymoon Murder
• The Cornish Halloween Murder

And here is another good reason to go back…

If you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, the first nine books in the series are available.

That makes this a great series to work through if you are already paying for the service and want to get plenty of reading bang for your buck.

Is The Cornish Halloween Murder Worth Reading?

For me, it 100% gets a thumbs up. After eleven books, Fiona Leitch still manages to find new situations for Jodie without losing what made the Nosey Parker Mysteries so enjoyable in the first place.

The Cornish Halloween Murder gives us a wonderfully seasonal case with an abandoned convent, strange dolls, Halloween celebrations and a murder, but it is the humor, characters and banter that continue to make this series such fun.

If you already love Nosey Parker, I cannot imagine you will need much convincing. And if you haven’t met Jodie yet, I would start with The Cornish Wedding Murder and work your way through them.

You have eleven Cornish murder mysteries waiting for you, so what are you waiting for??