Book picks similar to
Operation Zigzag: Eve’s War (The Heroines of SOE #1) by Hannah Howe


fiction-historical
family-friendship-romance
female-protagonist
62

Prepped to Kill


M. Lee Prescott - 2011
    While she pretends to be an ace private investigator, the niece of Massachusetts’ governor goes missing and a murderer terrorizes the campus. Ricky enlists the aid of her former roommates and together, the three create mayhem during Whitley School’s reunion weekend, bungling along in search of the truth. Join Ricky on her first caper and see how this humorous rollicking mystery series got its start.

The Private Face of Murder


John Bonett - 1966
    In the Spanish town of Caltrava, a group of ex-pats have created their own close-knit community. In moving to a hotter country, the Brits are hoping to find a more relaxing way of living. But then – disaster strikes when the beautiful Linda Huntingdon is killed in a fatal car crash. Nothing appears too suspicious until retired actor Aubrey de Lamplugh meets the same fate, being crushed by a falling cliff. Two complete accidents, or a double homicide? That’s what Inspector Borges intends to discover. At first, the two appear unrelated – how is the death of a young, bored housewife connected with that of an alcoholic egotist?Slowly, a picture starts to unfurl before the Inspector’s eyes...The Private Face of Murder is an intriguing murder mystery that will keep you gripped until the very end.

Saving Worms After the Rain: A Central Pennsylvania Novel of History and Mystery


Paul C. Nelson - 2018
    A young autistic man with psychic powers is called upon to help solve a missing persons case in the small mountain town of Renfro, PA. The story includes gangsters, moonshiners and a touch of autism. This story is also filled with quirky characters, common to this region of the country. Another vital character in the story is the setting, a deeply wooded river valley. This book may push you a bit outside of your comfort zone.

Bangkok Shadows


Stephen Shaiken - 2018
    Few questions are asked. When American criminal defense lawyer Glenn Murray Cohen took a bundle of cash from a murdered client and moved to Thailand and a new life, he thought his troubles were over forever. For seven years, Glenn enjoys the life of a wealthy expat, forms friendships and seeks love, spending much of his time at the mysterious NJA Club where he pursues the beautiful Noi. This pleasant life is turned upside down when American agents come calling, pressuring him to kidnap a Russian gangster, a dangerous task for which he is woefully unprepared. Glenn is drawn him into an underbelly of corruption, criminal activity and international intrigue hidden in the shadows of Bangkok. Glenn recruits his close friends from the NJA Club to help him, all of whom reveal useful talents previously unknown to Glenn. Sleepy Joe looks like an aging hippie, but he is full of surprises. The gregarious Oliver seems can find out anything for the right price. Rhode Island Joe comes across as an oaf until you get to know him. Glenn is never quite certain if a wily retired Thai general on his side, but has no choice but to trust him. Bangkok is a constant presence, creating a mood that is both exotic and noir. This novel shows you the Big Mango as it is rarely seen by foreigners.

Poisoned Legacy


Jenny Wheeler - 2018
    Untold treasure. Can she uncover the secret of her inheritance before dark forces claim another victim? Graysie Castellanos is ready to take her final bow. When the traveling singer inherits a rundown mine, she thinks it’s her golden opportunity to provide her adopted daughter with a happy childhood and a prosperous future. But their bright new beginning crumbles underfoot when the townsfolk of the Sierra Nevada mining town start dropping dead of mysterious causes. If Nathan Russell had listened to his gut, he’d have cleared out of Grass Valley before the first corpse turned cold. But the Aussie-born adventurer refuses to abandon the gorgeous singer and her young child to their doom. And when his old rival arrives in town looking to stir up trouble, he only gets pulled deeper into the mystery of the dark forces taking control. With no choice but to press forward, Graysie and Nathan must solve the riddle of the deaths before the shadowy culprit adds their names to the tombstone. Poisoned Legacy is the first book in the absorbing Of Gold & Blood historical mystery series set on the California frontier. If you like accurate details, edge-of-your-seat suspense, and a glimmer of romance, then you’ll love Jenny Wheeler’s sparkling saga.

Devil's Ledger: A Female Sleuth Financial Thriller with International Espionage (A Louise Moscow Novel Book 3)


Lorraine Evanoff
    All roads lead to Siena on her top-secret mission: to expose the devastating corruption behind the collapse of the world’s oldest bank.Her investigation becomes a race to discover an ancient and mysterious treasure, while fighting a new enemy…The Master of the Russian Dark Arts.It’s not long before Louise finds herself in the cross hairs of powerful enemies. Risking her life to shine a light on financial and political wrongdoing, can Louise expose the rot that has taken hold of Siena?Or has she finally met her match?Filled with suspense and international espionage, spirited female sleuth, Louise Moscow’s next adventure is where James Bond meets Temperance Brennan.Praise for the international award-winning, bestselling Louise Moscow Series:“Just read Foliage…Great read. Beautifully written, I highly recommend.” – Matthew J. Dowd, Chief Political Analyst, ABC News"Being a major Bond fan, I have read all of Ian Fleming's novels. It was so refreshing and entertaining to get the female spy's perspective. Pinot Noir is an intoxicating tale even to readers who are as sober as a monk." – David Kempf, Award-Winning Author

Anointed


Greg S. Baker - 2018
    “Let the king know. Your servant kept his father’s sheep. There came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock. And when the lion arose against me, I caught the lion by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. I also slew the bear, my lord. This uncircumcised Philistine will be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD God that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.”The king’s eyes closed. “I fear to send you, my son. I fear what the giant will do to you. You have yet to witness his great strength.” He hesitated. “But I do believe the LORD is with you. I pray that He is. Our honor, our nation, our lives rest upon you, my servant. Go, and Jehovah be with you.”David left the tent, but only Jonathan followed him. The king’s son walked over to a pole that bore a flag of challenge. It had lain unused on the ground for these past forty days, but now Jonathan hoisted it high and slammed the butt hard into the earth to steady it. The red flag waved defiantly in the small breeze of the late afternoon.A roar of approval rose from the ranks of Hebrew soldiers, and from the valley below, Goliath beheld the challenge flag and beat upon his breastplate in pleased battle lust. He shouted, “Come then! Send me a man that we may fight!”David took a deep breath, eyeing the monstrous giant. Then he bounded down the slope to meet his fate and fulfill the duty of his anointing.

FIFTY (Detonation Book 1)


Eldon Kellogg - 2018
    Lieutenant General Kung Yusheng has been the Commander of 22 Base, the secret underground repository of China's nuclear arsenal, for over 30 years. He is a collector of artifacts owned by famous military leaders, loves American art, and would like nothing better than to bring the United States to its knees.

The Trouble with San Francisco


Adrianne Ambrose - 2020
    She gets roped into following a friend’s cheating husband. But tailing a middle-aged lawyer through the streets of San Francisco is more challenging than it sounds.Sam’s “easy gig” drags her into one perilous predicament after another, where she encounters a wide array of the citizens San Francisco has on offer, including: a hot cop, an out-of-control frat boy, a feisty grandmother who plays loose with the law, friendly leather daddies, an aging biker, a shady dude she used to know in high school, and worst of all, Slain. He’s a professional PI., who is so hardboiled he needs a Google Translate button. And he doesn’t appreciate some dame filching a gig from a hard-working shamus. Slain goes out of his way to make Sam understand that being a private detective is a dangerous business. And ends up making her life miserable in the process.If you love a good laugh, and can’t quite figure out how anyone could leave their heart in San Francisco, then grab a copy of The Trouble with San Francisco and fall in love with its madcap cast of characters. What else would you expect from the City by the Bay?

Mrs. Jones


William Cain - 2019
    Detective Adelaide Henson of the Asheville PD lands the case because she’s iron tough.When she begins her investigation she surprises herself, though, and cautiously begins a romance with the son of a strange witness. She also finds the dangerous mobster has a human side too – even when he’s surrounded by enemies.Someone murdered his wife and now they want him to meet his fate. And he’s not waiting. He’s got an army of killers at his disposal and he’s going to use them.A hitlady with a reputation is on her way to seal his destiny!

Vengeance List (Foley & Rose Book 1)


Gary Gregor - 2019
    But after his best friend is murdered and his newfound love kidnapped, Sam has to race against time to not only save his own life, but the life of the woman he loves.Can Russell and Sam put their past differences aside, and catch the killer before he claims another victim?

Killing Rebecca


K.J. North - 2022
    Her heart is filled with love for them. It’s a life that excites her every morning when she gets out of bed. She is lucky to be living in a beautiful home overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and she loves her career as a crime fiction novelist.Until Her Life is Shattered…A late-night knock at the door destroys her world when news of her family’s fate is too devastating to bear. Her life turns into one of the stories she only writes about.When She Finds Out Who is to Blame…Marni must act on the shocking truth. Like in her books, the perpetrator needs to be caught and held prisoner until she decides their fate. Nothing too quick—they need to suffer slowly before they’re sentenced to death.

The Steel Girls


Michelle Rawlins - 2021
    

Tom Wasp and the Murdered Stunner


Amy Myers - 2007
    But she couldn’t. She’d stay there stuck fast in paint forever. A chimney sweep in Victorian London’s poverty-stricken East End, Tom Wasp is highly flattered to be asked to model for Valentine Drake, a painter in fashionable Chelsea, especially since his co-model is the beautiful and warm-hearted Bessie Barton, a red-headed stunner who becomes his friend. Grief-stricken when her body is found by mudlarks on the muddy banks of the river Thames, Tom vows to find her murderer. Tracking her pitiful past through London’s seamiest quarters, he discovers the monstrous shadow that hangs over her life, Moonman, from whose clutches Bessie had fled, only to fall into his murderous hands at last. But who is Moonman? Is he one of the Angels, the high-minded group of artists to which Valentine belongs? Or is the truth more terrifying still? Step by step Tom hunts down his quarry through the darkness, guided by his faith that there is goodness in this world as well as evil, and assisted by his chummy, the eleven-year-old Ned. Narrated by Tom himself, this unusual historical thriller whirls the reader from the squalor of London’s Victorian slums to the heady pleasures of its high-life, revealing both the evil and the goodness in both. Tom and Ned make a formidable team as they clean the filthy chimneys of life in this first book of the Tom Wasp series. Praise for Amy Myers ‘Victorian England hides a dark underbelly of misery and degradation along with a vicious murderer.’— Kirkus Reviews ‘Tom Wasp is one of the most engaging characters I’ve encountered in yeats’ – Ellen Keith, Historical Novels Review AMY MYERS has been a full-time writer since 1988, and has written a wide range of novels from historical sagas and contemporary romance to crime. She is married to an American and lives in Kent. Many of her novels have been published under the name of Harriet Hudson.

An Orphan’s Wish


Molly Green - 2018
    What more could you wish for than a poignant, heart-warming saga to read this Christmas? LIVERPOOL, 1943Yorkshire is the place Lana has always called home, but it’s now filled with painful memories of her fiancé, Dickie, who was killed at sea. When she accepts the challenging position of headmistress at a school in Liverpool, she hopes a new beginning will help to mend her broken heart.A BATTLE TO FIGHTNot everyone at Bingham School is happy about her arrival but Lana throws herself into the role, teaching children from the local village and the nearby Dr Barnardo’s orphanage. She thrives in her work, but soon finds herself falling for a man who she would once have considered the enemy – and is torn between what she knows is right, and taking a risk that might see her lose everything.THE STRENGTH TO HOPEThere are children that desperately need her help, and Lana must fight for everyone’s happiness, as well as her own. But one young girl in particular shows her that there is a way through the darkness – because even when all seems lost, there is always a glimmer of hope to be found…