Book picks similar to
Pretty Poison by Joyce Lavene


mystery
cozy-mystery
cozy-mysteries
mysteries

On the Chopping Block


Jenny Kales - 2016
    The 36-year-old Greek-American proprietor of “Callie's Kitchen,” a meals-from-scratch business in an idyllic small town, has been busy creating a post-divorce life for herself, her young daughter and her Yorkie, Koukla. After a lot of hard work (including staving off her father’s continual advice), she’s got the locals and tourists clamoring for her delicious Mediterranean dishes and Midwest comfort food classics. Recently, she’s started a budding romance with a fellow foodie, the wealthy owner and chef of Crystal Bay’s most popular bistro. However, success is as fleeting as one of Wisconsin’s glorious autumn days. As local businesses begin to shut down due to a slow economy, Callie is struggling not to become another statistic. A contest with a hefty cash prize seems like the perfect chance to fix her financial woes, until a shocking murder threatens not only her livelihood – but her life. When she’s targeted as a prime suspect by an attractive expat British detective, Callie’s situation becomes more delicate than her Greek egg-lemon soup. She’s got to find the killer and fast if she wants to protect her daughter, save her business and stay alive.

Corpse Pose


Diana Killian - 2008
     Ever since her husband ditched her-for another man-A.J. hasn't exactly been on the road to inner peace. Then her yoga-guru aunt is found dead, and A.J.'s named the sole heir to her lucrative yoga studio-making her a multimillionaire, a prime suspect, and the killer's next target.

Kilt Dead


Kaitlyn Dunnett - 2007
    Returning to her hometown of Moosetookalook, Maine, she decides to help her aunt run her Scottish emporium. But when murder rears its ugly head in the idyllic, quiet village, Liss will have to add sleuthing to her repertoire...Liss hasn’t been in Moosetookalook in over ten years, but the quaint little town, nestled in the hilly terrain of western Maine, looks exactly as she remembers it. Only home a day before her aunt takes off on a tour of Scotland, Liss mans the emporium’s booth at the annual Western Maine Highland Games. There she gets reacquainted with some old friends and new local characters, including an obnoxious real estate agent and his spoiled girlfriend who insists on ordering a custom-made kilt sewn from a plaid called the Flower of Scotland.Liss knows a sale is a sale and returns to the emporium that night exhausted yet happy. But her bliss soon turns to dread when she finds the dead body of her aunt’s nosy neighbor, Amanda Norris, under a bolt of the Flower of Scotland fabric in the stock room. And if things weren’t bad enough, the state police hone in on Liss as the prime suspect.With the help of Dan Ruskin, a neighbor and former high school classmate, Liss begins her own investigation that uncovers secrets about the residents of Moosetookalook–secrets she wished had stayed buried. Now Liss will have to do some fancy footwork to prove she’s innocent while avoiding becoming the killer’s next victim...

Geared for the Grave


Duffy Brown - 2014
    But after someone sends a prominent local on her final ride, it’s up to one resourceful visitor to get things running again… Hoping to shift her chances of a promotion in her favor, Evie Bloomfield heads to Mackinac Island to assist her boss’s father. Rudy Randolph has broken his leg and operating his bike shop, Rudy’s Rides, is too much to handle by himself. But Evie’s good turn only leads to more trouble… After Evie’s arrival, wealthy resident Bunny Harrington dies in what looks like a freak bike accident. Upon closer inspection, Bunny’s brakes were tampered with, and now the prime suspect in her murder is also Bunny’s number one enemy: Rudy. So if Evie hopes to stay on her boss’s good side, she’ll need to steer Rudy clear of jail. Now she must quickly solve this mystery so she can put the brakes on the real killer’s plan…

Kneading to Die


Liz Mugavero - 2013
    Now there's plenty of time to spend in her sleepy new Connecticut town working on her dream: baking healthy, organic pet treats!Before long the neighborhood dogs are escaping their yards to show up at Stan's doorstep, begging for the kinds of special homemade treats her Maine coon cat Nutty loves so much. And Stan's pet-loving neighbors are thrilled with the new organic options available to their furry family members. But not everyone loves Stan and her newfangled organic ways...It seems Carole Morganwick, the town vet, is from the old school of pet care. But when Stan swallows her pride and brings a very unwilling Nutty in for a checkup, she not only finds Carole dead under a pile of kibble. . .but also that she's in the dog house as the prime suspect! Finding the real killer and clearing her name will require some seriously surreptitious sniffing around. . .and hopefully, curiosity won't kill this innocent cat!Includes Gourmet Pet Food Recipes!

Dire Threads


Janet Bolin - 2011
    And while In Stitches is a hit with tourists, the town's zoning commissioner, Mike Krawbach, isn't exactly a fan. After denying Willow's plan to renovate the charming cottage behind the shop, he attempts to have it knocked down for an ATV trail. Furious, Willow picks a fight with him. And when Mike turns up dead in her yard, Threadville's newest resident becomes the prime suspect.

A Crafty Killing


Lorraine Bartlett - 2011
    But when her business partner, Ezra Hilton, is found bludgeoned to death, she has no other choice. Business under Ezra has been faltering-but was it enough to provoke someone to murder? Only Katie can find the answer.

The Gilded Shroud


Elizabeth Bailey - 1992
     When a murder is committed a lady’s companion finds herself as an amateur sleuth… 1789, London When Emily Fanshawe, Marchioness of Polbrook, is found strangled in her bedchamber, suspicion immediately falls on those residing in the grand house in Hanover Square. Emily’s husband - Randal Fanshawe, Lord Polbrook - fled in the night and is chief suspect – much to the dismay of his family. Ottilia Draycott is brought in as the new lady’s companion to Sybilla, Dowager Marchioness and soon finds herself assisting younger son, Lord Francis Fanshawe in his investigations. Can Ottilia help clear the family name? Does the killer still reside in the house? Or could there be more to the mystery than meets the eye…? THE GILDED SHROUD is the first book in the Lady Fan Mystery series: historical romance murder mysteries with a courageous woman sleuth embarking on a traditional British, private investigation in eighteenth-century London.

Dixie Divas


Virginia Brown - 2009
    "Where? Mexico? Paris? In Tupelo with a cocktail waitress?" "In your closet," I answered. "Dead." Break out the hoop skirts and the zinfandel. The Divas are on the case. Wine. Chocolate. Transvestite strippers. Just another good-time get-together for the Dixie Divas of historic Holly Springs, Mississippi, where moonlight and magnolias mingle with delicious small-town scandal. But Eureka "Trinket" Truevine, the newest Diva, gets more than she bargained for when she finds her best Diva girlfriend Bitty Hollandale's ex-husband in Bitty's hall closet. He's dead. Very dead. Now Trinket and the Divas have to help Bitty finger the murderer and clear her name. Virginia Brown is the nationally acclaimed, award-winning author of fifty novels.

Crime Brûlée


Nancy Fairbanks - 2001
    She’s finally decided to throw in the dishtowel—and take on a dream job as food writer. Now her plate is filled with exotic locales, delectable foods, and even a dash of crime—to taste. She could very well get used to this.It was a perfect arrangement. Carolyn had already planned to accompany her husband to an academic conference in New Orleans—an event that meant visiting old college pals. So why not use the opportunity to write a story about Cajun cuisine? But just as she gets a taste of Creole, she gets a bite of crime…Her friend Julienne disappears at a dinner party. True, she had been fighting with her husband, but this only worries Carolyn more. Now, she has to put her taste-testing aside to search for answers—and the trail leads her right to an alligator swamp. Carolyn better act fast, because in these parts, it’s eat or be eaten…Includes over a dozen delicious Southern recipes!

Murder is Elementary


Diane Weiner - 2014
    What a joy to be able to attend the holiday concert without worrying about how her chorus will perform. But wait. Where's the principal? Susan offers to check, only to find the principal lying dead on her office floor. Of course, now that she's retired she has time to help the local police (one of whom is her daughter) solve the mysterious crime. Did the principal die of natural causes? The bruise on her face doesn't seem severe enough to be fatal. What about that funfetti cupcake sitting on her desk? Could she have been poisoned? Susan has just found the perfect retirement activity, much to her daughter's chagrin. And when the principal's teenage daughter, one of Susan's all time favorite students, asks for help - how can she say no? Little does she realize that this crime will take her far from the schoolhouse doors, as she investigates a mystery that extends back into one family's painful past.

The Crepes of Wrath


Sarah Fox - 2016
    With its rustic interior and syrupy scent, the Flip Side Pancake House is just as she pictured it--and the surly chef is a wizard with crêpes. Marley expects to spend a leisurely week or two in Wildwood Cove, the quaint, coastal community where she used to spend her summers, but then Cousin Jimmy is found murdered, sprawled on the rocks beneath a nearby cliff. After she stumbles across evidence of stolen goods in Jimmy's workshop, Marley is determined to find out what's really going on in the not-so-quiet town of Wildwood Cove. With help from her childhood crush and her adopted cat, Flapjack, Marley sinks her teeth into the investigation. But if she's not careful, she's going to get burned by a killer who's only interested in serving up trouble.

Frosted Shadow


Nancy Warren - 2011
    She’s also got a nose for trouble and a passion for solving mysteries. Imagine Columbo in a lavender suit. She never met a woman who wouldn’t look better with a little help from the Lady Bianca line of cosmetics. But don’t be fooled by appearances. Underneath the fake diamonds and the big hair is a sharp brain and a keen eye that sees the details as well as the funny side of life. When a Lady Bianca sales rep is murdered at the annual convention in Dallas, Toni is the one who notices things that some people, like sexy Detective Luke Marciano, might easily miss. Only someone who understands as much about how to make appearances deceiving could see into the mind of this killer -- a murderer who wants to give Toni a permanent makeover. Into a dead woman.

Sprinkled


Gina LaManna - 2014
    She just never expected the lows to be so… sparkly. After falling on her face during an attempt to follow in her recently-deceased mother’s stripper-boots, Lacey realizes she’s not cut out for life on stage. She sets out on a year-long investigation to find her true family, never expecting she’ll find it with a capital “F.” With a rumbling stomach, a need for money (check engine lights don’t fix themselves!), and a conscience that operates at 78% on a good day, Lacey is sucked into a whirlwind of Family secrets, hard-as-cement cookies, and mysterious, sexy men who unfortunately shoot guns, sometimes aimed at her face. The long-lost-granddaughter of Carlos Luzzi, the Godfather of the Italian Mafia, Lacey accepts her first assignment for the mob: finding fifteen million dollars of ‘the good stuff.’ Even after she enlists the help of her mouthy best-friend and her cousin, a technical genius and social disaster, she finds that going toe-to-toe with the rival Russian mob is more dangerous than expected. No one chooses their Family, but Lacey Luzzi will be lucky if she can survive hers. ** ** Lacey Luzzi: Sprinkled, is a full-length, laugh-out-loud, humorous cozy mystery with a strong female protagonist in the spirit of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum, albeit one working for the wrong side of the law…

From Beer to Eternity


Sherry Harris - 2020
    To Chloe’s surprise, feisty Vivi Slidell isn’t the frail retiree Chloe expects. Nor is Emerald Cove. It’s less a sleepy fishing village than a panhandle hotspot overrun with land developers and tourists. But it’s a Sea Glass regular who’s mysteriously crossed the cranky Vivi. When their bitter argument comes to a head and he’s found dead behind the bar, guess who’s the number one suspect?   In trying to clear Vivi’s name, Chloe discovers the old woman isn’t the only one in Emerald Cove with secrets. Under the laidback attitude, sparkling white beaches, and small town ways something terrible is brewing. And the sure way a killer can keep those secrets bottled up is to finish off one murder with a double shot: aimed at Chloe and Vivi.