Book picks similar to
Necessary Evil by David Bussell


urban-fantasy
audible
paranormal
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Spirelli Paranormal Investigations: Episodes 4-6


Kate Baray - 2020
    Unexpected clients, deadly magical objects, and a disturbingly aware house lead the duo to the edge of catastrophe more than once in this collection.

Rivers of London


Ben Aaronovitch - 2011
    Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

Ghost Gifts


Laura Spinella - 2016
    Her remarkable gift may help others rest in peace, but it also made for an unsettling childhood and destroyed her marriage. Finally content as the real estate writer for a local newspaper, Aubrey keeps her extraordinary ability hidden—until she is unexpectedly assigned the story of a decades-old murder.Rocked by the discovery of a young woman’s skeletal remains, the New England town of Surrey wants answers. Hard-nosed investigative reporter Levi St John is determined to get them. Aubrey has no choice but to get involved, even at the terrifying risk of stirring spirits connected to a dead woman’s demise and piquing her new reporting partner’s suspicions.As Aubrey and Levi delve further into the mystery, secrets are revealed and passion ignites. It seems that Aubrey’s ghost gifts are poised to deliver everything but a normal life.

Magically Poisoned


Joynell Schultz - 2020
    There’s no way I could have snuck a murder into my busy schedule, but obviously, someone I know did. They stole a plant from my garden and poisoned the Mayor. It couldn’t be my hard-working assistant, the delivery driver, or my gardener, could it be? And I’m sure it wasn’t the sexy water witch who spends an absurd amount of time staying at my little Bed & Breakfast…but he does know way more than he should about magical plants. When the police ask for my cooperation, I begin to investigate myself. Who would steal from me? Frame me? None of my friends look like they could murder anyone…but what does a murderer look like? But don't worry, I have this all under control. I’m a potion witch and have a few tricks up my sleeve. You’ll love this new paranormal witch cozy mystery because it has everything you want to read about: magic, witches, potions, murder, and romance. Download it now. This is a novella prequel to a new series coming this June. Books in the series: Magically Poisoned (Prequel Novella) Magically Murdered (Book 1) Magically Attacked (Book 2) & More!

Death Rites


E.A. Copen - 2018
    Hunted by gods. Low on ramen.After getting out of prison, necromancer and curio shop owner Lazarus Kerrigan has done his best to stay out of trouble. Unfortunately for him, fate has other plans.When a woman is found dead on his doorstep, Laz’s checkered past makes him the prime suspect, especially since he was the last person to see her alive.Lazarus will have to find the real killer if he wants to clear his name. That means delving into the magical world of vengeful gods, conniving fae, and powerful witches, a world that once shunned him.But more than monsters go bump in the night in New Orleans, and what Laz awakens in his quest for answers might just be more than he bargained for. Baron Samedi is back in town, asking for Lazarus by name. And when the Baron of Death calls, answering is a dangerous game.NOLA may never be the same.

Strange Magic


James A. Hunter - 2015
    He never should have answered the phone. Stupid bleeding heart—helping others in his circles is a good way to get dead.Just ask the gang members ripped to pieces by some kind of demonic nightmare in LA. As a favor to a friend, Yancy agrees to take a little looksee into the massacre and boom, he’s stuck in a turf war between two rival gangs, which both think he’s pinch-hitting for the other side. Oh, and there’s also a secretive ass-hat with some mean ol’ magical chops and a small army of hyena-faced, body- snatching baddies. It might be time to seriously reconsider some of his life choices.Yancy is a bluesman, a rambler, a gambler, but not much more. Sure, he can do a little magic—maybe even more than just a little magic—but he knows enough to keep his head down and stay clear of freaky-deaky hoodoo like this business in LA. Somehow though, he’s been set up to take a real bad fall—the kind of very permanent fall that leaves a guy with a toe tag. Unless, of course, he can find out who is responsible for the gangland murders, make peace in the midst of the gang feud, and take out said magical ass-hat before he hexes Yancy into an early retirement. Easy right? Stupid. Bleeding. Heart.

Stalking The Unicorn


Mike Resnick - 1987
    As he cheerlessly reflects on the passing of a lousy year, which saw his business partner run off with his wife, he assumes the bourbon is responsible for the appearance of a belligerent elf. This elf informs him that he needs the detective's help in searching for a unicorn that was stolen from his charge.When Mallory realises the little green fellow is not going to disappear with the passing of his inebriation, he listens to the elf's impassioned plea that the stolen magical beast must be returned to his care by daylight or his little green life will be forfeited by the elves' guild. Join detective Mallory on a New Year's night of wild adventure in a fantasy Manhattan of leprechauns, gnomes, and harpies as he matches wits with the all-powerful demon The Grundy in a race to find the missing unicorn before time runs out!

Roseland: Volume One


Eric Ugland - 2019
    Without a disapproving mom to rebel against, what was the point?When she arrives back in her hometown, she finds a lot more going on than fancy food trucks and put-a-bird-on-it hipsters. Murders are being passed off as suicides. College-aged women keep going missing. And then there's the troubling spate of mobsters who keep inviting her out to eat. With a pile of cash saved from her last job and no one around to tell her not to, Ginger decides to become a private investigator, to find out exactly what's gone wrong in the City of Roses. First up: Her mother's "suicide."Included in this omnibus are the first six novellas in the series: Home Is Where the Start Is The Ruth Is Out There The Body in the Pool Amber Alert Jane Dead Welcome to Roseland Praise for The Roseland Series: "This heart-racing mystery is just dripping with snark. Ginger Mitchell is one of the best private investigators to hang up a shingle in years." "Ginger is a little bit Veronica Mars with daddy issues, fewer moral hang-ups, and a mom who is a not-so friendly ghost.""A slice of yummy cake. Quickly devoured and highly enjoyed."

The Infinity Caverns (Parallel Society Book 1)


Stuart Jaffe - 2017
    Other universes. And sometimes, they slip into our own. When Veronica “Roni” Rider discovers this, she also learns that there are three people tasked with saving our universe — her grandmother and two seventy-year-old friends. But it’s hard to defend your world with a bad back and arthritis. Tossed into a new reality that she never expected, Roni must decide if she will step up and join the team or forever leave behind all she has learned and all she cares about. Oh, and she’ll have to save the universe, too.

The Federal Witch: Books 3,4&5


T.S. Paul - 2017
     Agatha Blackmore has grown. She finished her internship with the Magical Crimes Division of the FBI with flying colors. Now her and her team are on their own fighting magical creatures across the nation. Witches, Wizards and Dragons had better beware because nobody touches the witch! This volume contains three individual books: Special Agent in charge Witness Enchantment Night of the Unicorn

Beezley and the Witch: Books 1-3


Willow Mason - 2019
    After the coven excommunicates me, I need to find a new job. So when I see a sign asking for an assistant - only witches need apply - I feel my fortunes might be trending up. Sure, there's a murder to solve, a killer on my tail, and my new boss is a French Bulldog, but at least it's not working checkout in a supermarket. Beezley and I soon form a private investigation service to help with the weird and wonderful cases Fernwood Gully has to offer. Join us as we chase leads into danger and back out again, with the help of some black magic and an occasional chewy dog treat. This boxed set contains the following titles: Selective Spells Vexatious Voodoo Muddled Mutt

Feathers and Fire Series: Books 1 - 3


Shayne Silvers - 2018
     UNCHAINED (Book 1) Callie Penrose is a middle-class, Midwest American girl, and a wizard in training. She works for the Vatican Shepherds – an elite group of twelve warrior priests who travel the world smiting whatever offends them or their Good Lord.One problem. Callie isn’t a huge fan of churches… Not even a minor fan, really.But when a Heavenly spear enters an auction in Kansas City, Callie is forced to step up as an interim Shepherd, and her first night on the job puts her in a bidding war against the infamous Nate Temple – the billionaire wizard from St. Louis. And when demons, shifter bears, vampires, and Nephilim attack the auction for the spear, Nate and Callie are forced to join teams, and one-time foes become hesitant allies.Callie must learn where she stands as a wizard. Will she hide behind a man, or light Kansas City afire with a name of her own? And will she finally come to appreciate God? Or will the demons and monsters in the shadows take her for themselves?Because Callie soon learns she isn’t just a wizard, and it was never just about the spear. Monsters have evidently been hunting Callie her entire life, and now, they’ve finally found her… RAGE (Book 2) Ever since Callie – the Vatican’s rookie monster hunter – killed a demon a few weeks ago, Kansas City’s been eerily quiet.But she soon learns it’s just the calm before the storm.Because werewolves begin abducting young women in Kansas City, and a new church opens its doors, pronouncing death to all idols, including these ‘make-believe’ monsters and wizards.But when one of their congregation is disemboweled by a monster on the steps of the church with the phrase God is dead painted in blood, someone in the church decides to take a lesson from the Salem Witch Trials… And the police seem to be helping.Callie must catch the killer before Kansas City erupts in civil war. A civil war she inadvertently started.But she’s being stalked. By something unseen. More than one something… And with so many new faces coming to Missouri – gods, legends, and nightmares – Callie begins to realize it’s all someone’s sick idea of a game.And that Hell never really left Kansas City. Or Callie Penrose. WHISPERS (Book 3) The Vatican is broken… And Callie’s hearing Whispers in the dark corners of her mind…One of the Vatican’s most infamous Shepherds has been murdered, and Callie’s friends are the prime suspects. To prove them innocent, Roland and Callie must risk their very souls…Because Callie can’t reveal that she’s hearing strange Whispers when she uses her magic, or that she’s harboring an Angel’s Grace. And if the Shepherds discover the hellish bargain Roland made, the streets of Rome will flow with blood as brother turns against brother.And with the Antipope pressuring the Vatican for change, and Nate Temple arriving unannounced to demand an audience with the Shepherds, things couldn’t get any more chaotic.Until Callie learns of an ancient order of traitors hiding in the Vatican, and they’ll do anything to bring it down – brick by brick.

Haunted on Bourbon Street


Deanna Chase - 2011
    What she doesn't count on is making friends with an exotic dancer, attracting a powerful spirit, and developing feelings for Kane, her sexy landlord. Being an empath has never been easy on Jade's relationships. It's no wonder she keeps her gift a secret. But when the ghost moves from spooking Jade to terrorizing Pyper, the dancer, it's up to Jade to use her unique ability to save her. Except she'll need Kane's help to do it—and he's betrayed her with a secret of his own. Can she find a way to trust him and herself before Pyper is lost?

The Realm of False Gods 8 Book Bundle: An Urban Fantasy Saga


Steve Higgs - 2020
    

The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone Omnibus Three


Michael Anderle - 2019
    Brownstone books 13-18 (including Vax Humana, One Epic Ring, Spontaneous Justice, Shadow of the Ring, The Horsemen Gather, War of the Four Worlds)Vax Humana: James was raised by some good men. What would have happened if twisted cultists like the Brotherhood had found him instead of Fathers McCartney and Thomas? It's time to find out more about the Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone.James isn't from Earth or Oriceran. Where he is from has been a question for years.Will we find out now, or will those who seek to kill what James can become win in the end? One Epic Ring: “But you haven’t taken brain damage. I don’t want to have to take the time to get to know you again. The first time was exhausting enough...” Brownstone accepts a simple job and pisses off the most dangerous criminal in LA.Shay is approached by a powerful billionaire, one who knows her past.Now, Brownstone is ready to provide a beat down, but Shay is asking him for help. Does he stay in LA or fly (something he doesn't like to do) to Cambodia? Spontaneous Justice There is nothing to fear but the Vax Forerunner himself. Or is that something only aliens fear? Brownstone is at to a fever pitch to understand Shay and create something epic, so he makes a decision to ask someone hundreds of years old.The fight of his life and for his life is about to occur. Will he have a future when all is said and done? Shadow of the Ring James achieved something epic with his proposal. Now it is Shay’s turn. In planning the wedding, the tomb raider soon finds she sympathizes with what James had to go through. How does someone top something so special?The world’s mightiest class-six bounty hunter believes he’s conquered his amulet. The symbiont’s dark whispers no longer push him out of control, but a new enemy has decided LA should be his stomping grounds and threatens to break through James’ hard-earned discipline. The Horsemen Gather Barbecue is life.  Everything else is just details.With his life settling into a comfortable routine and the criminals of Los Angeles finally accepting his power, James ponders a future of family and food rather than kicking bounties through walls.  Can a bounty hunter be happy as a pitmaster? James’ idle thoughts of retirement are put on hold when a rogue group of government agents decides to go after the man they feel is the greatest threat to the country.  War of the Four Worlds The government and the underworld have finally learned their lesson about not taking on James Brownstone, but some enemies will never learn.  Some enemies can only be destroyed. James and Shay’s wedding is fast approaching, as is the bounty hunter’s semi-retirement. He’s ready to replace butt-kicking with barbecue, convinced he can have a life filled with something other than constant violence.