Fiona Leitch writes the Nosey Parker Cozy Mysteries — ten books set in the Cornish village of Penstowan, following a former Metropolitan Police officer who moves home, retrains as a caterer, and finds that murder follows her anyway. She also has an earlier, sharper-edged pair of books about a crime writer called Bella Tyson.
New to Fiona Leitch? Start with The Cornish Wedding Murder. It is the first Nosey Parker book, it introduces Jodie, her daughter Daisy and DCI Nathan Withers, and the series runs in a clear line from there.
Nosey Parker Cozy Mysteries in Order
Ten books, all set in and around Penstowan. Each has its own self-contained murder, but Jodie’s life changes a great deal across the series — she arrives as a caterer starting over, ends up working as an auxiliary detective sergeant, gets engaged, and is married by book ten. Read out of order and you will have the ending of that thread handed to you early.
#1 — The Cornish Wedding Murder · January 2021
Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker leaves the Met and the noise of London behind and comes home to the Cornish village of Penstowan to start again as a caterer. Her first big wedding job is the one where a body turns up. The book that introduces Jodie, her daughter Daisy, and DCI Nathan Withers. View on Amazon →
#2 — The Cornish Village Murder · February 2021
A body at her last catering gig did nothing for the hors d’oeuvres, and Jodie now has a reputation to salvage as well as a murder to think about. View on Amazon →
#3 — The Perfect Cornish Murder · March 2021
A film company descends on Penstowan and half the village turns out hoping to be cast as extras. The production brings a death with it. View on Amazon →
#4 — A Cornish Christmas Murder · November 2021
The first Christmas outing for the series — Penstowan in December, and a festive season Jodie does not get to enjoy in peace. View on Amazon →
#5 — A Cornish Recipe for Murder · August 2022
A televised baking contest sets up in the grounds of a historic house near Penstowan. Jodie is catering; somebody else has other plans. View on Amazon →
#6 — A Cornish Seaside Murder · June 2023
Jodie starts a trial period as an auxiliary Detective Sergeant with the Penstowan force — which means working alongside Nathan Withers as well as living with him. View on Amazon →
#7 — The Cornish Campsite Murder · June 2024
A festival fills the coast just along from Penstowan, and Jodie has agreed to help run the Pie Hard food truck with her distinctly reluctant fiancé. View on Amazon →
#8 — The Cornish Castle Murder · April 2025
Jodie’s eighth case, and one that takes the series somewhere grander than a village hall. View on Amazon →
#9 — The Cornish Christmas Pantomime Murder · October 2025
The second Christmas book, built around a village pantomime — the series at its most seasonal. View on Amazon →
#10 — The Cornish Honeymoon Murder · June 2026
Jodie and Nathan are married at last, honeymooning at a luxury eco-resort on a secluded Cornish island. Everyone says a honeymoon should be memorable. The newest book in the series. View on Amazon →
The Bella Tyson Mysteries in Order
Two books, written before the Cornish series and noticeably wilder in tone — comic crime with a romcom streak rather than village cozy. Worth knowing what you are picking up: if you came for Penstowan, these are not that.
#1 — Dead in Venice · October 2019
The first Bella Tyson book and a different animal from the Cornish mysteries — a darker, funnier crime and romcom mashup that takes crime writer Bella to Venice. View on Amazon →
#2 — Murder Ahoy! · June 2020
Bella Tyson is hired to co-host a murder mystery cruise on a luxury liner sailing out of Southampton. The staged murder is not the one that causes the trouble. View on Amazon →
Do you have to read them in order?
For the Nosey Parker books, yes — more than for most cozy series. The mysteries stand alone, but Jodie’s relationship with Nathan Withers and her slow move back toward police work run straight through the ten books, and the titles give away a fair amount on their own. Starting with The Cornish Wedding Murder costs you nothing and saves the surprises.
The two Bella Tyson books are separate from the Cornish series entirely — different character, different tone, no overlap. You can read them before, after, or not at all.
Where to go next
If Penstowan is your sort of place, our guide to British cozy mysteries covers the wider village-mystery shelf, and culinary cozy mysteries picks up the catering-and-baking thread that runs through this series. You can browse everything we hold on the Fiona Leitch author page, or jump to the Nosey Parker and Bella Tyson series pages, where every book is listed in reading order with covers and current prices.