Book picks similar to
Mind If I Come In by K.L. Phelps
mystery
paranormal
fantasy
cozy
Loose Screw
Rae Davies - 2011
She even lets a cat shove her around.When Lucy trips over the body of a buckskin-clad relics trader, her ex-boss asks her to cover the story. She tries to tell him no, but old habits die hard and soon she finds herself directly in the path of a killer and the exasperating, if attractive, detective in charge.Can Lucy catch a killer or is this the last confrontation for her—period?
The Silence of the Elves
Meg Muldoon - 2016
FREE for Kindle Unlimited subscribers. If there’s one thing that every elf in the North Pole knows, it’s this: Never get on Mrs. Claus’s bad side. Never. Ever. Ever... After getting reassigned from the North Pole by a jealous Mrs. Claus, misfit elf Holly Hopewell is sent to work in the worst place imaginable: The North Pole Emporium Department store in Mistletoe, Oregon. The elves call it Mistletoe Row: a place so devoid of joy and Christmas spirit, that many a curly-toed folk has lost their poor mind working there. But just when Holly thinks things can’t get any worse, the store’s manager, who also happens to be Mrs. Claus’s nephew, is found murdered in his office. And good-natured Holly Hopewell finds herself as the prime suspect in the local police’s investigation. Will Holly be sent to a row of a different sort for a crime she didn’t commit? Or will the handsome yet mysterious homicide detective assigned to the investigation find the real murderer before the gumdrops hit the fan for Holly?
Dead Eye
Alyssa Day - 2015
Dead End, Florida, to be exact. When he learns that he inherited a combination pawn shop/private investigation agency from his favorite uncle, Jack’s first job is to solve his uncle’s murder. Because sometimes it takes a tiger’s eye to see the truth. This novel is a paranormal mystery with magic, shape shifters, humor, vampires, a taxidermied alligator, witches, gunshots, bad singing, Crazy Hormonal Town, terrible parking, the FBI, swamp commandos, tigers, special agents, flirting, belly laughs, comedy, humor, and a pawn shop.
Fries and Alibis
Trixie Silvertale - 2019
A murder she didn’t commit. A barista in a latte trouble…Mitzy Moon believes she’s an orphan, so she’s dumbstruck when a special delivery to her low-rent apartment reveals a family. But her shock turns to awe when she discovers her grandmother left her a fortune and a bookshop of rare tomes brimming with magic.No sooner does she set foot in the quirky village of Pin Cherry Harbor to claim her inheritance, than the handsome sheriff catches her standing over a corpse. Desperate to prove her innocence, she’s forced to accept help from her granny’s entitled cat and a spirit from beyond the grave.Can Mitzy and her otherworldly helpers uncover the real killer before the long, sexy arm of the law hauls her to jail?Fries and Alibis is the first book in the hilarious paranormal cozy mystery series, Mitzy Moon Mysteries. If you like amateur sleuths, small town intrigue, and a dash of the supernatural, then you’ll love Trixie Silvertale’s twisty whodunit.
No Lathering Matter: A Magical Soapmaker Mystery
S.E. Babin - 2021
Unfortunately, that’s just what she’ll have to do, when a missing box of lye from her store gets linked to a recent small-town murder and everyone labels her as the prime suspect.With a wise-cracking, uppity skeleton as her sidekick, Ivy is forced to investigate the crime, all while trying to figure out who would want to implicate her in such a serious ordeal—especially considering the cops and their new necromancer-for-hire are all but certain of her guilt. Meanwhile her biggest business rival sees the open investigation as the perfect opportunity to muscle Ivy out of business, and also her super cute librarian crush may have finally noticed she's alive.Uh-oh, it looks like she may not come out of this squeaky clean, after all… But hopefully she can still come out of it alive.
Follow the Crow
B.B. Griffith - 2014
Six years ago his little sister Ana vanished without a trace. His best friend saw what happened, but he refuses to speak of what he knows, and so was banished from the Navajo tribe. That was the day the crows started following Ben. Caroline Adams is a nurse with a special talent: she sees things others can’t see. She knows that Ben is more than he seems, and that the crows are trying to tell him something. What the crows know will shed new light on the mystery of Ana’s disappearance, and throw Ben and Caroline into a race against time to find out what happened before they end up vanishing just like she did.
Escape From Danger (Escape from Reality Cozy Mystery, #1)
Courtney McFarlin - 2020
She never thought she’d discover something shocking about her own past. She never dreamed she’d have an opportunity to fall in love. She never expected she’d soon be fighting for her life after getting too close to the truth.After the unexpected death of her father, Shay moves back home and discovers her father left her a legacy to live out her dreams. Her new business is set to open in just a few weeks, and she needs to figure out why there’s a dead guy in one of the newest escape rooms. Join Shay as she reconnects with her best friends from childhood, tries to solve a murder, and locks horns with the attractive detective assigned to the case. Sparks fly and danger lurks where Shay least expects it.
Cozy Up To Death
Colin Conway - 2020
The cute shop has a loyal customer base as well as an ornery cat.Unfortunately, Brody doesn’t know the first thing about running a legitimate business, he doesn’t want to be in the small town, and he hates cats. On top of all that, he hasn’t read a book since high school.When a cute woman walks into the store, he thinks his bad luck is about to change. But as she starts asking about the previous owner’s whereabouts, his safe new existence begins to unravel.For Brody Steele is a man with a secret he must protect at all costs. The U.S. Government has invested a lot to keep it hidden, and his enemies will stop at nothing to expose him.Does happiness or death await Brody in this charming seaside community?If you like stories with a solid male lead, wonderfully odd characters, and a troublesome cat, then this book is for you.
Sharpe Shooter
Lisa B. Thomas - 2015
They found a skeleton in the closet…literally. When they identify the man’s body 40 years after his disappearance, the family turns to their niece, Deena Sharpe, to uncover the truth about his murder. Deena, a burned-out high school teacher, soon discovers that a mysterious author is about to implicate her dead uncle in his latest conspiracy theory. She must channel her inner Lara Croft and Lois Lane to solve the puzzle and protect her family name. With the help of her off-beat brother and others from the cozy town of Maycroft, Texas, Deena takes on a quest that leads to more questions than answers. Along the way, she discovers some truths about life and herself as well.
Brownies and Broomsticks
Bailey Cates - 2012
So when her aunt Lucy and uncle Ben open a bakery in Savannah's quaint downtown district and ask Katie to join them, she enthusiastically agrees. While working at the Honeybee Bakery—named after Lucy's cat—Katie notices that her aunt is adding mysterious herbs to her recipes. Turns out these herbal enhancements aren't just tasty—Aunt Lucy is a witch and her recipes are actually spells! When a curmudgeonly customer is murdered outside the Honeybee Bakery, Uncle Ben becomes the prime suspect. With the help of handsome journalist Steve Dawes, charming firefighter Declan McCarthy, and a few spells, Katie and Aunt Lucy stir up some toil and trouble to clear Ben's name and find the real killer..
Glad One: Crazy is a Relative Term
Margaret Lashley - 2017
Two gin and tonics. Three derelict beach-bum friends. Will Val’s fourth stab at starting over add up to a big fat zero?St. Pete Beach attracts weirdos like mosquitoes to a bug zapper. But when thrice-divorced native Val Fremden feels the tug to fly back to her old stomping grounds, she finds everyone and everything she knew squashed under the heels of change. Reluctantly cast into the weirdo world of down-and-outer beach bums, Val’s got nothing to go on but her own dry sense of humor and the life coach advice of a beer-guzzling old lady she meets at the beach. When an old hoarder passes away and leaves an uncertain heir to the throne, Val and her pals stir up a hornet’s nest trying to uncover the truth. Who’ll get stung and who’ll be named queen to the throne? It’s anybody's guess.If you like wacky, deeply flawed characters and laugh-out-loud situations, you’ll love Glad One! It’s the first book in Margaret Lashley’s hilarious Val Fremden Mystery Series.
Too Ghoul for School
Sarina Dorie - 2020
Life isn’t easy being twenty-two, drop-dead gorgeous, and the most fashionable witch in all the land—especially while working as an intern teacher at a magical boarding school. Being young and beautiful is a curse.A curse for everyone who underestimates her.Vega finally thinks she has her student teaching figured out at Encantado Charter Academy. The lecherous tyrant of a mentor teacher who was supervising her is dead, she gets to do what she does best—boss people around—and she might even prove to her mother that she doesn’t need their family’s money to succeed in life. She can support herself in a career without anyone else’s help, live a somewhat normal life, and keep her ghoulish family secrets under wraps.Unfortunately, all Vega’s well-laid plans go awry when she is framed for murder. Worse yet, she fears she may have revealed her darkest secret—one so awful she will be shunned by Witchkin society even if she can prove her innocence.Vega is going to need to find the true culprit of the crime in order to save her reputation—and her life.Enjoy this spin-off series from the world of Womby’s School for Wayward Witches. This book starts with Vega Bloodmire’s life before working at Womby’s when she was a new and inexperienced teacher at Encantado Charter Academy.Clean, cozy, no sex or swearing, PG 13—perfectly fine for teens or grandmas who like paranormal mysteries at magical boarding academies.
The Skeletons of Scarborough House
Kitty French - 2016
She’s single, addicted to sugar and super heroes, her family are officially bonkers, and she sees dead people. Is it any wonder no-one’s swiping right on Tinder? Waking up lonely on her twenty seventh birthday, Melody finally snaps. She can’t carry on basing all of her life decisions on the advice of her magic 8 ball; things have got to change. Fast forward two months, and she’s now the proud proprietor of her very own ghostbusting agency - kind of like in the movies but without the dodgy white jumpsuits. She’s also flirting with her ex Leo Dark, fraternising with her enemy in alleyways, and she’s somehow ended up with a pug called Lestat. Life just went from dull to dynamite and it’s showing no sign of slowing up anytime soon. Melody’s been hired to clear Scarborough House of its incumbent ghosts, there’s the small matter of a murder to solve, and then there’s the two very handsome, totally inappropriate men hoping to distract her from the job… Welcome to Chapelwick, home of the brand new and hilarious Girls Ghostbusting Agency series, where things really do go bump in the night.
Seashells, Spells & Caramels
Erin Johnson - 2017
She travels to a bustling, medieval village off the coast of France and discovers an enchanting world of magic and mystery, and learns that she, too, possesses powers.Unable to so much as cast a spell, Imogen struggles to keep up with the other witches and wizards who have come from all over the magical world to the Water Kingdom's big competition. She juggles relationships with a sweet new friend, a snarky baking fire, and a brooding, handsome baker. As Imogen falls for this bewitching world, she fears she won’t master her magic in time to win the job of Royal Head Baker, and will be forced to return to the shambles of her non magical life.It only gets worse, when a competitor drops dead in the middle of the big white baking tent, and Imogen’s the prime suspect. Now, she’ll not only have to survive the vampire and psychic judges, but also clear her name by finding the real murderer, before they strike again.With a killer on the loose, a missing prince, and the Summer Solstice Festival fast approaching, Imogen will have to bake like her life depends on it- because it just might.
Sweet Masterpiece
Connie Shelton - 2010
But her real dream is to open her own pastry shop, Sweet's Sweets.Life is a little crazy for Sam right now. At one of her break-in properties a dying woman insists that she take a small wooden box. Sam doesn't realize that the old woman was known locally as a bruja, a witch, until she begins to feel some strange effects from the box, herself.Meanwhile, at another property, she finds an unmarked grave and the authorities come to investigate. The property owner disappeared a few months earlier and Sam wonders--who is the body in the grave? A small mural in the house leads to a connection with a famous artist; a bogus will points to possible fraud; and the handsome deputy investigating the case seems completely enchanted with Sam.While Sam scrambles to fill bakery orders and keep her properties in order, she's equally intrigued with the idea of a new romance. It all makes for a delightful romantic mystery with elements of the paranormal.