Debbie Young books

Debbie Young is a British author of cozy mysteries, short fiction, and non-fiction, best known for her Sophie Sayers Village Mystery series set in the Cotswolds.

Collections

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Quick Change: Tiny Tales of Transformation 2014 Buy
Stocking Fillers: Twelve Short Stories for Christmas 2014 Buy
Instead of a Christmas Card: Two Short Stories for December 2015 Buy
Marry in Haste: 15 Short Stories of Dating, Love and Marriage 2016 Buy

Cotswold Curiosity Shop Mysteries Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Death at the Old Curiosity Shop 2024 Buy
Death at the Village Chess Club 2025 Buy
Death at the Village Christmas Fair 2025 Buy

Gemma Lamb Cozy Mystery Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Secrets at St Bride’s 2019 N/A
Dastardly Deeds at St Bride’s 2022 Buy
Sinister Stranger at St Bride’s 2022 Buy
Wicked Whispers at St Bride’s 2022 Buy
Artful Antics at St Bride’s 2023 Buy

Non-Fiction

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Sell Your Books! 2012 Buy
Opening Up To Indie Authors: A Guide for Bookstores, Libraries, Reviewers, Literary Event Organisers … and Self-Publishing Writers 2014 Buy
All Part of the Charm: A Modern Memoir of English Village Life: Volume 1 2016 Buy
Young By Name: Whimsical Columns from the Tetbury Advertiser 2016 Buy
How To Get Your Self-Published Book Into Bookstores 2017 Buy

Short Stories/Novellas

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Lighting Up Time 2014 Buy
The Owl and The Turkey: The Real Reason We Eat Turkey at Christmas 2016 Buy
Mrs Morris Changes Lanes 2021 Buy

Sophie Sayers Village Mystery Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Best Murder in Show 2017 Buy
Murder at the Vicarage 2017 Buy
Murder in the Manger 2017 Buy
Murder by the Book / Murder At The Well 2018 Buy
Springtime for Murder 2018 Buy
Murder Your Darlings 2020 N/A
Murder Your Darlings / Murder At The Mill 2020 Buy
Murder Lost and Found 2021 Buy
Murder in the Highlands 2023 Buy
Driven to Murder 2024 Buy

Staffroom at St Bride’s Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Secrets at St Bride’s 2019 Buy
Stranger at St Bride’s 2020 Buy

Tales from Wendlebury Barrow Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
The Natter of Knitters 2020 Buy
The Clutch of Eggs 2020 Buy
Christmas with Sophie Sayers 2023 Buy

Debbie Young is a British author and blogger based in the Cotswolds, and the English countryside setting is central to most of her fiction. She began publishing cozy mysteries in 2017 with Best Murder in Show, the first Sophie Sayers Village Mystery, and has since built a substantial output across multiple series set in and around the fictional Cotswold village of Wendlebury Barrow.

Her fiction has a distinctive warmth and humor, drawing on the tradition of the English village mystery popularized by Agatha Christie. The Sophie Sayers series, which now runs to ten books, follows a bookshop assistant who repeatedly finds herself entangled in local murders. The Gemma Lamb series is set at a fictional girls’ boarding school called St Bride’s, blending cozy mystery with school story conventions. Her newer Cotswold Curiosity Shop Mysteries launched in 2024 with a fresh protagonist and setting.

Beyond fiction, Young has written non-fiction about self-publishing and village life, and her short story collections show her range within the cozy and comic register. She is also active in the Alliance of Independent Authors community and has written guides for other self-publishing writers. Her work consistently celebrates English rural life while finding comic and dramatic possibilities in its small-scale social tensions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books has Debbie Young written?

Debbie Young has written 35 books across eight series.

What was Debbie Young's first book?

Debbie Young’s first book is Sell Your Books!, published in 2012.

What makes Debbie Young's mysteries cozy?

Young’s mysteries feature small English village settings, amateur sleuth protagonists, humor, and minimal graphic violence. The Sophie Sayers and Gemma Lamb series both center on likeable community members who stumble into local crimes, with a strong sense of place and English village life.

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