Book picks similar to
Strawberries & Crème Murder by Susan Gillard


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mystery
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mystery-cozy

A Dead End


Keeley Bates - 2015
    Blackballed by the producers of her hit TV show, she returns home to the affluent town of Westdale, chock full of Mayflower descendants, to enroll in college and lead a quiet life...until she discovers a skeleton in her house. Kit quickly finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation led by the handsome detective, Romeo Moretti. With the help of her new neighbors, Kit channels her former character, hotshot detective Ellie Gold, in order to solve the murder so she can get back to renovating her house and avoiding the Mayflower Madam, who also happens to be her hypercritical, gin-swilling mother. Saints & Strangers cozy mystery series: Book 1: A Dead End Book 2: The Deep End Book 3: The Bitter End

Meet Your Baker


Ellie Alexander - 2014
    The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is bringing in lots of tourists looking for some crumpets to go with their heroic couplets. But when one of Torte's customers turns up dead, there's much ado about murder...The victim is Nancy Hudson, the festival's newest board member. A modern-day Lady Macbeth, Nancy has given more than a few actors and artists enough reasons to kill her...but still. The silver lining? Jules's high school sweetheart, Thomas, is the investigator on the case. His flirtations are as delicious as ever, and Jules can't help but want to have her cake and eat it too. But will she have her just desserts? Murder might be bad for business, but love is the sweetest treat of all...

The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum


Kirsten Weiss - 2016
    Railroaded into managing the local paranormal museum, she’s certain the rumors of its haunting are greatly exaggerated. But a new ghost may be on the loose. A fresh corpse in the museum embroils Maddie in murders past and present.With her high school bully as one of the officers in charge, Maddie doubts justice will be served. When one of her best friends is arrested, she’s certain it won’t be.Maddie grapples with ghost hunters, obsessed taxidermists, and the sexy motorcyclist next door as outside forces threaten. And as she juggles spectral shenanigans with the hunt for a killer, she discovers there truly is no place like home.

May Day


Jess Lourey - 2006
    Due to a dead-end job and a cheating boyfriend, the Twin Cities have lost their charm, and Mira decides to begin a new life in rural Battle Lake. Right away she is offered jobs as an assistant librarian and part-time reporter, and falls into an unexpected romance with a guy who seems to be the perfect man until he turns up dead between the reference stacks her tenth day on the job. Anxious to learn more about the man who had briefly stolen her heart, Mira delves into the hidden mysteries of Battle Lake, including a old land deed with ancient Ojibwe secrets, an obscure octogenarian crowd with freaky social lives, and a handful of thirtysomething high school buddies who hold bitter, decades-old grudges. Mira soon discovers that unknown dangers are concealed under the polite exterior of this quirky small town, and revenge is a tator-tot hotdish best served cold.A hip, humorous, and gripping account of small-town murder, this novel is the first in a series of cozies featuring Mira James, an urban woman with rural Minnesota roots.

The Murder Pit


Jeff Shelby - 2014
    A new husband. A bunch of kids. A charming old house. What she doesn't want is a dead body. When a frozen pipe in the basement of her century-old home leads her and her husband downstairs into a newly discovered crawl space, they find a coal chute they didn't know they had. And a corpse inside of it. Things become complicated when Daisy realizes she knew the victim. And things get even worse when it becomes increasingly clear that the body was placed there to make Daisy look like the killer. Against her husband's advice and her own common sense, Daisy makes it her mission to prove to the denizens of Moose River that she is innocent. But doing so may be more dangerous than she planned.

Death of a Kitchen Diva


Lee Hollis - 2012
    But as new food writer Hayley Powell is about to find out, the occasional murder can take a bite out of seaside bliss. . .Single mom Hayley Powell is barely keeping her leaking roof over her head when her boss at the Island Times gives her a new assignment--taking over the paper's food column. Hayley's not sure she has the chops--she's an office manager, not a writer, even if her friends clamor for her mouth-watering potluck dishes. But the extra income is tempting, and Hayley's chatty first column is suddenly on everyone's menu--with one exception.When rival food writer Karen Appelbaum is found face-down dead in a bowl of Hayley's creamy clam chowder, all signs point to Hayley. To clear her name, she'll have to enlist some help, including her BFFs, a perpetually pregnant lobster woman, and a glamorous real estate agent. As she whips up a list of suspects, Hayley discovers a juicy secret about the victim--and finds herself in a dangerous mix with a cold-blooded killer.Includes seven delectable recipes from Hayley's kitchen!"What a delicious debut mystery!" -Laura Levine"A delicious read that I ate up in one sitting." -Isis CrawfordMore Mouth-Watering Praise For Lee Hollis And Hayley Powell!"Sleuth Hayley Powell slides down as easily as one of her Lemon Drop Martinis (recipe included) and readers will be calling for a second round from author Lee Hollis." --Leslie Meier, author of Chocolate Covered Murder"Delicious and satisfying. Another course, please." -Carolyn HartMore Mouth-Watering Praise For Lee Hollis And Hayley Powell!"Sleuth Hayley Powell slides down as easily as one of her Lemon Drop Martinis (recipe included) and readers will be calling for a second round from author Lee Hollis." --Leslie Meier, author of Chocolate Covered Murder

The Third Girl


Nell Goddin - 2015
    She’s looking for peace, beautiful gardens, and pastry—a slower, safer life than the one she’d been living outside of Boston. But you know what they say about the best intentions… Molly has barely gotten over jet-lag before she hears about a local student’s disappearance. In between getting her old ramshackle house in order and reveling in French food, Molly ends up embroiled in the case, along with the gendarmes of Castillac. And unlike the Nancy Drews she loved as a child, this mystery stirs up emotions she thought had been put to rest..and terrifies the residents of her beloved village.

Best Murder in Show


Debbie Young - 2017
    What she gets instead is a dead body on a carnival float, and an extraordinary assortment of suspects. Is the enigmatic bookseller Hector Munro all he seems? And what about the over-friendly neighbour who brings her jars of honey? Not to mention the eccentric village shopkeeper, show committee, writers' group and drama club, all suspiciously keen to welcome her to their midst. For fans of cosy (cozy) mysteries everywhere, Best Murder in Show will make you laugh out loud at the idiosyncrasies of English country life, and rack your brains to discover the murderer before Sophie can.

Going Organic Can Kill You


Staci McLaughlin - 2012
    In fact, it's all tofu fish sticks, stuffed squash blossoms, and enough wheat grass shots to scream bloody murder - especially when Dana discovers the body of Maxwell Mendelsohn, Hollywood producer and opening weekend guest, deader than a yoga corpse pose. While Dana pens the Spa's blog and balances the attentions of the local police and reporter Jason Forrester, her escalating job duties now include finding clues, motives and suspects. One thing's for certain, she better act fast before all this healthy living kills her.

The Sweet Dreams Bake Shop


J.A. Whiting - 2015
    The building's new owners are not renewing the bake shop's lease and Angie is running out of time to find a new location. When one of the town's long-time residents is murdered, Angie finds herself on the suspect list. With the help of her three sisters and a huge orange cat, Angie works to uncover the killer's identity. A cozy mystery with recipes ! This story has some mild paranormal elements. The main mystery is solved in each book but you will enjoy the series more if the books are read in order as some story threads run from book to book. In The Sweet Cove Mystery series: 1. The Sweet Dreams Bake Shop 2. Murder So Sweet 3. Sweet Secrets 4. Sweet Deceit (Coming late July 2015) And more to come ! Thank you for reading

In Deep Voodoo


Stephanie Bond - 2005
    . . There's something strange afoot in the small town of Mojo, Louisiana. Yet even as the annual voodoo festival gets underway, Penny Francisco, who runs a health food business, refuses to believe in black magic. Her mind is on celebrating her divorce from her lying, cheating husband Deke.Add a Pinprick of Revenge . . .Fueled by run-ins with her ex-mother-in-law and Deke's busty mistress, Penny is eager for the "emancipation party" her friends plan. When she receives a Deke voodoo doll as a gag gift, she sticks it with a pin as a joke. But when Deke winds up fatally stabbed, the police aren't laughing.And Watch Things Boil Over . . .A junk-food junkie P.I. offers his services, and although Penny is wary of the sexy Cajun's motives (and his diet), she's desperate. Dodging a media sideshow and a looming murder rap, Penny realizes that somehow she's landed herself "In Deep Voodoo,"

Murder in an Irish Village


Carlene O'Connor - 2016
    Nowadays twenty-two-year-old Siobhán O’Sullivan runs the family bistro named for her mother, along with her five siblings, after the death of their parents in a car crash almost a year ago.   It’s been a rough year for the O’Sullivans, but it’s about to get rougher. One morning, as they’re opening the bistro, they discover a man seated at a table, dressed in a suit as if for his own funeral, a pair of hot pink barber scissors protruding from his chest.   With the local garda suspecting the O’Sullivans, and their business in danger of being shunned—murder tends to spoil the appetite—it’s up to feisty redheaded Siobhán to solve the crime and save her beloved brood.

Starboard Secrets


Hope Callaghan - 2015
    After months of mourning and moping, Millie is surprisingly hired on a cruise ship as assistant director, where she investigates how a dead body ended up near the atrium bar. The deceased had more enemies than friends. Will Millie delve too deeply and risk losing her job - and possibly her life? (Includes recipe)

Escape to Osprey Cove


Luisa Marietta Gold - 2016
    It will also change Catherine’s. Doug and Catherine come from two different worlds. Catherine’s world is one of privilege and wealth. Doug grew up dirt poor and full of envy of others who had the things that he wanted but could not have. His goal was to one day have all the things he coveted. Their worlds collide when Catherine, VP of a large New York City marketing firm, hires Doug. As soon as Doug learns of Catherine’s wealth, he sees Catherine as his ticket to all the things he covets. After a whirlwind courtship, they are married. Poor boy meets rich girl should have resulted in “happily ever after” — not exactly. Doug quickly learns he also covets independence. Events begin to unfold in each of their lives. For Doug, it is his mysterious discovery in the secret compartment of the Corvette. For Catherine, it is a business meeting with Alex Droxell at the Osprey Cove Lodge. When Catherine enters the beautiful and serene lodge, it’s as though she is entering another place and time. The lodge is an escape from the nightmare she is living back home. Follow the twists and turns of Book 1 of the Osprey Cove Lodge Series. Follow Doug and Catherine’s story to see if there is a “happily ever after” and with whom. EXCERPT: It appeared to Catherine as though she had just approached Mr. Darcy’s Pemberly in all its magnificence. Now she knew how Elizabeth felt at her first sighting of Pemberly. But unlike Elizabeth, Catherine thought, there would be no happy ending. This would not become her home one day, as Pemberly had become Elizabeth’s, and live happily ever after. Catherine did not covet the house that lay before her. In fact, Catherine was wealthy enough to buy a home like it, if she so desired. What Catherine did long for was what Pemberly represented to all Jane Austen lovers — the culmination of a beautiful love affair. Catherine was not naive enough to expect her life to be storybook in nature. But she did not expect her life with Doug to disintegrate into shambles just two years after marrying him. She did not understand why it was happening. She did not know how to fix it.

A Charming Crime


Tonya Kappes - 2012
    Bubble...June Heal has nothing to lose when she relocates her homeopathic cure shop, A Dose of Darla, from the flea market booth in her home town, to a quaint shop in the cozy but unusual little town of Whispering Falls, Kentucky. Or so it seems. Cures and trouble... Whispering Falls has a lot of secrets. From talking snow globes to whispering animals not to mention a few sprinkles of fairy dust, June realizes Whispering Falls is more magical than she thought. . .literally.