Book picks similar to
Bodies on the Beach by Stacey Alabaster


cozy-mysteries
mystery
mystery-cozy
series-first

Murder on the Hill


Kennedy Chase - 2014
    Until now she’s been know as many things: Thief, Bandit, The girl dressed like a ninja… When she’s offered an investigative position at the Silvers Finders Agency, she decides it’s time to go straight. But when a jewelry store break-in she’s investigating turns into a murder case, Harley will need all her skills to find the killer and avoid the attentions of a Russian crime boss. With the help of her new friends, and some from her underworld past, Harley faces a race against the clock. She’ll need to uncover the secret behind the artifact left at the jewelry store if she’s to catch the murderer. If she fails, it won’t just be the job she loses — but her life.

Shop Till You Drop


Elaine Viets - 2003
    Once on the fast track to success, Helen Hawthorne is now going nowhere fast.  She traded in her chic life for a shabby one.  And now she's on the fun, jumping from city to city and dead-end job to dead-end job, trying to stay one step ahead of her past...After two weeks as the new salesclerk at Juliana's, Fort Lauderdale's ultra-exclusive clothing boutique, Helen still feels out of fashion.  And since the only crime likely to be committed around here is being old-or worse, looking old-Helen figures she is safe.  Until she discovers the manager has been embezzling money and selling designer drugs along with the designer clothes.  Add murder to the mix-and Helen's dead-end job is downright deadly.

Twisted Threads


Lea Wait - 2015
    Her mother has been found, and now the question of her whereabouts has sadly become the mystery of her murder. The bright spot in Angie's homecoming is reuniting with Charlotte, who has started her own needlepointing business with a group called the Mainely Needlepointers. But when a shady business associate of the stitchers dies suddenly under suspicious circumstances, Charlotte and Angie become suspects. As Angie starts to weave together clues, she discovers that this new murder may have ties to her own mother's cold case.

Pancakes and Pleas


Gretchen Allen - 2019
     Joss Rockwell has been a waitress at the Day and Night Diner for fifteen years, and while she loves her job, she’s about to find out that there are some things in life that are more important than work. When an old friend is found murdered, Joss realizes just how fragile life is and how dear her friends are. Determined to get to the bottom of the tragedy, she jumps into investigating the crime. Her boss is a task-master, and it seems that everyone in her life depends on her for something, but she’s determined to move forward with the case, no matter what. This determined, and a little bit snarky, amateur sleuth will use her wit and wisdom to find out the truth, even if it puts her own safety in danger.

The Murder at Sissingham Hall


Clara Benson - 2013
    But in the dead of night Sir Neville is murdered. Who did it? As suspicion falls on each of the house guests in turn, Knox finds himself faced with deception and betrayal on all sides, and only the enigmatic Angela Marchmont seems to offer a solution to the mystery. This 1920s whodunit will delight all fans of traditional country house murder stories.

The Case of the Flashing Fashion Queen


N.L. Wilson - 2011
    firm where she's worked for years, Dix Dodd has hung out her own shingle at the ripe age of 40. There are plenty of cheating husbands to go around, and Dix has a knack for busting them. Problem is, it doesn't always pay so well. Conscious that the guys back at the old firm are laying bets about how soon she'll come crawling back, she figures she's got six months to make a go of it.The going gets even tougher when she hires Dylan Foreman. But when he told her about getting fired from his law firm and disbarred for putting common decency before the firm's interests, she hired him on the spot. In addition to being smart, he's gorgeous enough to remind her she's a woman. And at 28, young enough to make her feel like a total cougar.Things start looking up when Dix gets hired by millionaire businessman Ned Weatherby's wife Jennifer Weatherby, to tail Ned 24/7 for a week, for a cool ten grand. Easy-peasy, right? Wrong! The job lands Dix in the middle of a murder investigation - with her as the prime suspect and her arch-enemy Detective Richard Head (a.k.a., Dickhead, one of the cheating husbands she'd nailed) gunning for her.Dix will need all her ingenuity, as well as the help of Dylan and her oddball cast of supporters to extricate herself from this one.

Curtains for Romeo


C. Rysa Walker - 2019
    She just played one on TV. Will that be enough to help her find the killer? Acting jobs are scarce now for former TV teen detective Antigone Alden. So when a teaching position opens up at Southern Coastal University, Tig packs up her teenage daughter and heads home to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.But house she inherited from her mother isn't entirely empty. Her mom seems stuck between this life and the next, and now Tig is a local reporter's prime suspect in the murder of the former theater professor. Given his reputation as a ladies' man, however, there are plenty of people with a motive. Previously published as Jessa Archer

Murder Fir Christmas


Joyce Lavene - 2015
    Yet even here in this quiet, postcard-perfect corner of the world, darkness and murder can still stalk the night.Federal Wildlife Agent Bonnie Tuttle has always had a special gift with wild animals. It was one of the reasons she decided to train with the wildlife agency. She’s spent the last ten years in Alabama working, but her mother needs her home and she’s back despite all the bad parts of her life she hoped to leave behind.Her first day home begins with a fire on the island in Sweet Pepper Lake and the death of Harvey Shelton, the wildlife agent she’s supposed to replace. Bonnie manages to rescue dozens of animals from the fire – including a wolf pup that was shot with the same bullet that killed Harvey. Now she’s hot on the trail of Harvey’s killer and trying to reintegrate the wolf back into the wild even though he seems to want to stay with her. Yet old memories persist in the small community where she grew up, and the killer now seems to believe that she has what he killed Harvey for. All she has to do is figure out what that is before it’s too late.Christmas Recipes included!

Murder in Steeple Martin


Lesley Cookman - 2006
    The play, written by her friend Peter, is based on real events in his family, disturbing and mysterious, which took place in the village during the last war. As the investigation into the murder begins to uncover a tangled web of relationships in the village, it seems that the events dramatised in the play still cast a long shadow, dark enough to inspire murder. Libby's natural nosiness soon leads her into the thick of the investigation, but is she too close to Peter's family, and in particular his cousin Ben, to be able to recognise the murderer?

Death in the English Countryside


Sara Rosett - 2014
    Afraid that Kevin has slipped back into some destructive personal habits he struggles with, Kate travels to England to salvage Kevin’s and the company’s reputation before word gets out that he is missing. Things go from bad to worse when Kate arrives in Nether Woodsmoor, a quaint village of golden stone cottages and rolling green hills, only to find no trace of Kevin except his abandoned luggage. Even the rumpled, easygoing local scout they consulted, Alex, doesn’t know where Kevin might be. Increasingly worried about Kevin and with an antsy director waiting for updates about the preproduction details, Kate embarks on a search that includes a pub-crawl and cozy cottages as well as stately country manors. But Kevin remains missing, and she begins to suspect that the picturesque village and beautiful countryside may not be as idyllic as they seem.

Rules of Murder


Julianna Deering - 2013
    When a weekend party at Farthering Place is ruined by murder and the police seem flummoxed, Drew decides to look into the crime himself. With the help of his best friend, Nick Dennison, an avid mystery reader, and Madeline Parker, a beautiful and whip-smart American debutante staying as a guest, the three try to solve the mystery as a lark, using the methods from their favorite novels.Soon, financial irregularities at Drew’s stepfather’s company come to light and it’s clear that all who remain at Farthering Place could be in danger. Trying hard to remain one step ahead of the killer–and trying harder to impress Madeline–Drew must decide how far to take this game

Dying for a Drive


Susan Harper - 2017
    . . until a man drives into town with a classic car to sell but never drives out A new series from Susan Harper with #1 Best Selling Author Stacey Alabaster Felicity went to college to become an investigative journalist but returned home to become a party planner instead. When she gets her first big break, a murder turns the event into one that she will never forget. After the police arrest her friend, who she knows is innocent, she is forced find the killer herself. If she doesn’t find him soon, though, she just might be the next victim. Dying for a Drive is part of the Senoia Cozy Mystery series. If you like fast paced mysteries with interesting characters and unexpected twists, you’re going to love Dying for a Drive. Get Dying for a Drive and start solving your next mystery today! Always FREE on Kindle Unlimited

Murder Packs a Suitcase


Cynthia Baxter - 2008
    Thanks to her new job as travel writer for the New York magazine The Good Life, recently widowed Mallory is zipping around Orlando, assigned to rediscover the glory days of “old Florida.” It’s the first of what she hopes will be many exciting adventures . . . but she’s about to discover that the Sunshine State has a dark side.Settled in among the faux volcanoes and tiki torches of the Polynesian Princess Hotel, Mallory is on the lookout for quirky attractions like alligator farms and pirate-themed diners hidden amid the glitzy theme parks. But she’s not prepared to find a cranky journalist speared to death in the Bali Ballroom—or to find herself a suspect in his murder. With her trip coming to a close, Mallory has no choice but to figure out if one of her fellow travel writers is a killer. Because if she doesn’t get out of Florida soon, her career—and her life—are about to come to a dead end.Includes Mallory’s article for The Good Life, with tips and reviews of real Florida attractions!

Love Me If You Must


Nicole Young - 2007
    For a start she discovers something unsettling in the basement that interests the police officer next door.

Coffee & Corpses


Maisy Marple - 2020
    This is the first book in The Connie Cafe Mystery Series -- a perfect series for lovers of clean small town mysteries that feature coffee and an amateur sleuth who’s in way over her head.