Book picks similar to
The Silence of the Elves by Meg Muldoon
christmas
mystery
holiday
fiction
Elvis and the Dearly Departed
Peggy Webb - 2008
And no one gets into Eternal Rest without passing muster with Elvis--the basset hound who's convinced he's the reincarnation of the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Brewing up a big ol' pitcher of Mississippi mystery, Peggy Webb's delightful new series is as intoxicating as the Delta breeze.Normally, Callie Valentine Jones spends her days fixing up the hairdos of the dead, but when the corpse of local, prominent physician Dr. Leonard Laton goes missing, it's bad for business. So Callie and her cousin Lovie (Eternal Rest's resident wake caterer) have no choice but to go in hot pursuit of the recently embalmed, last seen bound for Vegas by way of downtown Tupelo. In Vegas, Callie and Lovie hit the jackpot when they find the dearly departed inside a freezer owned by his showgirl mistress, Bubble Malone. But their luck runs out when Bubble decides to join her man in the afterlife. With the poisonous Laton family tree providing plenty of rotten suspects, Callie, along with some help from her basset hound, Elvis, is determined to crack this case--and have a killer singing "Jailhouse Rock" in time for her next haircutting appointment. . .Pure southern lunacy of the best possible kind." --Laurien Berenson
Who Killed the Ghost in the Library? (Ghost Writer Mysteries, #1)
Teresa Watson - 2014
When she gets a reply and meets the client, she gets more than she bargained for. She's thrown into a 60-year-old mystery, but somebody doesn't want the truth to come out, and they are willing to go to any lengths to keep that from happening...even if it means killing Cam.
Dying for a Date
Cindy Sample - 2010
Right, or Mr. Every Other Saturday Night, divorced mother of two, Laurel McKay reluctantly joins THE LOVE CLUB, a popular local dating service. Dressed to kill, she meets bachelor number one at a trendy restaurant. But the date is a bust, literally, when the guy decides Laurel is dessert, and she breaks his nose with her cell phone. It gets even worse when the man is found murdered the next morning, and Laurel has his blood on her clothes.Despite her now being a person of interest to the police, Laurel bravely ventures out on date number two. When that unlucky bachelor disappears during dinner, Laurel’s only alibi is a bottle of Dom Perignon. The sexy investigating detective thinks she’s innocent and is worried she may be the next target. That’s more than enough motivation for Laurel to find a murderer determined to kill her social life––before dating becomes a dead end she can’t escape.
Mercy & Mayhem
Ava Mallory - 2015
A new job posting halfway across the country promises to satisfy one of those needs, but when her patient's spouse dies within minutes of meeting her, she will soon find out that she's going to need a lot more than car repairs. What was touted as the friendliest town in America soon turns on her and it will be up to her to connect the dots and find the true murderer, but doing so will be no easy feat. With memory impaired witnesses, a meddling medical staff, and a cast of characters dead set on keeping their community free of strangers, Mercy will need a little help from her loved ones and a lot of luck to get herself out of this jam or risk losing everything she's worked so hard to achieve. Find out what happens when mayhem becomes synonymous with Mercy in this humorous, slightly irreverent Cozy Medical Mystery novel!(This a previously-published edition of ASIN B010EJQT6K, which is located at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4....)
Who, What, Where, When, Die
Amanda M. Lee - 2011
First, she had to cover a story on a barricaded gunman who likes to dance naked in his window. Second, she's receiving death threats with her morning newspaper. Lastly, and most importantly, her mom keeps vetoing her outfit choices.It's all in a day's work for this hardworking, if easily distracted, reporter.Avery Shaw is hot on the trail of the story, even if it means tangling with her hot ex-boyfriend -- the county sheriff -- and the equally hot, if slightly shadier pawnshop owner down the street.Getting the story is going to be totally worth it -- that is if Avery can survive the week.
The Case of the Missing Finger: A Cruise Ship Cozy Mystery
Cheri Baker - 2021
Two years later, with her children grown and the rest of her life ahead of her, she's ready to have the adventure she'd planned before her life was turned upside-down. She's excited to visit the U.S. Virgin Islands on her very first cruise.After boarding the most beautiful cruise ship she's ever seen, Ellie's surprised when she's assigned a cabin inside the cruise line's new singles club at sea, but she quickly sees that her new friends aboard could use some advice when it comes to romance. Unfortunately, Ellie's matchmaking efforts are interrupted when a fellow passenger finds a finger with a big diamond ring on it in her Sangria Surprise!Passengers are scandalized and tongues are wagging all around the ship. The ship's security chief seems eager to brush the crime under the rug while others are eager to point fingers at Ellie's favorite bartender. After thirty years married to a small town police chief, Ellie's picked up some sleuthing skills of her own, and she knows that justice demands honest answers to the questions rocking the ship. Who does the finger belong to? How did it end up in the boozy drink special of the day? And what other secrets lurk beneath the Caribbean sun?It's all hands on deck for adventure with this matchmaking sleuth.
Bottling It
A.A. Albright - 2017
But that doesn’t bother Wanda. Much. Not when she can spend all of her time in the human world and pretend that her coven doesn’t exist. But when Wanda takes a job at Berrys' Bottlers, working with the handsome Will Berry and his unpleasant Aunt Alice, she soon realises that she's a lot closer to the magical world than she thought.All over Dublin, humans are murdering witches. When asked why, all they'll say is, 'I dunno why I done it.' But Wanda thinks she does know why they’ve done it – and hopefully she’ll receive her power in time to help her coven discover the truth.
From Garden To Grave
Rickie Blair - 2017
It’s a perennial problem. Verity Hawkes is a shut-in. After two years bunkered in her apartment, the only thing that gets her out is the disappearance of her beloved but eccentric aunt. As she takes over her aunt’s landscaping shop, she’ll need to go from hoarder to horticulturist in a hurry…Her new home of Leafy Hollow is quaint, except for her most obnoxious client. When a series of freak accidents kills the customer, all signs point to Verity as the killer. The hunt for answers is on, and Verity must question a tipsy carpenter, a bacon-peddling vegan baker, and her dreamy landscaping competitor to keep her new life afloat. Failure to find the truth could put her back in a confined space for much more than two years…If you like lovably quirky characters, deceptively idyllic Canadian villages, and twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love Rickie Blair’s Leafy Hollow Mysteries series.
A Page of Murder
Penny Brooke - 2021
A quaint bookshop. And a murder.Returning to Somerset Harbor, Rue Collier looks after her gran’s bookstore while she’s kicking off her retirement with a dream trip to Paris. As Rue settles in, she reunites with old friends and is excited to start a new chapter in her life.But not long after she rings up her first customer, the town is in an uproar over the murder of a local bakery owner. It doesn’t take long until Rue finds herself smack dab in the middle of a murder investigation that threatens to upend life in her new home.Will Rue unmask the killer before it’s too late? Or will she unwittingly become their next victim?This fun-filled and clean bookshop cozy mystery will have you guessing until the very end.
Footprints in the Frosting
Laura Pauling - 2015
When footprints in the frosting lead to a body facedown in one of her cheesecakes, Holly becomes a prime suspect.With her opening day delayed, Holly deals with a nosy no-good reporter and the local cop, the handsome Officer Trinket, as she puts her sleuthing skills to the test to save her business and her name. With the help of her dog, Muffins, she needs to find the real murderer, before the killer looks to frost someone else.
Craks in a Marriage
Barbara Barrett - 2018
A few days later, the husband is found dead, his head bashed in. Fearing she’ll be considered the most likely suspect, the widow prevails upon Sydney and her three friends—Marianne, Kat and Micki—to find out who really killed him. Though none of these four fun-loving, take-charge retirees has any training as detectives, the women agree to launch a secret investigation. As they dig under the happy veneer of their community’s social life, they find more than enough suspects, from shady ladies to resentful golf buddies, to keep them looking over their shoulders. Could the murderer be lurking among the talent in a chaotic production put on by Sydney’s husband, who will do anything to keep busy in retirement? Could the sheriff, who may have more than a professional interest in chanteuse Kat, end up pinning the crime on the women instead? Each discovery during their investigations and their weekly mah jongg game keeps them running as they close in on the killer—but the killer may also be closing in on them. This cozy mystery, the first in the Mah Jongg Mystery series, features four retired amateur sleuths who live in the small Florida town of Serendipity Springs, all female and all friends who play the game of mah jongg together. Though they don't set out to investigate murder, after their first experience in this story, others start looking to them to help investigate subsequent homicides and questionable accidents. In this first book, Sydney Bonner takes the lead, although she turns to her three friends for help. Though this series features four protagonists, the others will take the lead in subsequent stories. Two are married, one is divorced and the fourth, who has been single all her life while she tended to her ailing mother, now finds herself the object of the sheriff's attention in this series. The four don't seek out murder; somehow the circumstances and those affected drag them in. Meanwhile, as they attempt to gather information, life goes on in their community in such activities as a women's club, a social group for those over 50, real estate transactions, numerous stops at the local coffeehouse, and even a shopping trip to Naples. Sydney's husband, Trip, and her friend Marianne Putnam's husband, Beau, are golf buddies who spend many a day on the course. When not there, Trip is busy seeking to build a new post retirement life, and Beau is often prevailed upon to join in Trip's latest activity, which in this first book is a town follies. Kat Faulkner has lived a frugal life until winning big in a lottery shortly after her mother's death; suddenly, Kat has money and doesn't know how to spend it. But her divorced friend and freelance writer, Micki Demetrius, does, even if it's to guide Kat through a makeover and wardrobe change for her lounge act. This cozy mystery is the first book in the Mah Jongg Mystery series. Barbara Barrett is already published in contemporary romance. She is a member of the Mystery/Romantic Suspense chapter of Romance Writers of America. Like her protagonists, she is retired and is a resident of Florida, although she spends her summers in her home state of Iowa. She spent over three decades as a human resource management analyst with Iowa state government. She can be contacted at barbarabarrett747@gmail.com. Check her website at barbarabarrettbooks.com.
Murder in Cherry Hills
Paige Sleuth - 2015
Tinsdale. Matilda, Mrs. Tinsdale's orphaned rescue cat, just might be the only eyewitness to the murder. But how do you convince a cat to reveal "whodunit"?
Murder Any Witch Way
N.M. Howell - 2016
It’s even harder when you live in a town that doesn’t believe in witches. When young witch River Halloway moves to sleepy Brimstone Bay for her very first journalist job she doesn’t expect to cover anything ground-breaking, until a paranormal festival comes to town and a body is found on opening night. Now, with all evidence pointing towards a witch, River must find the true killer before she becomes the prime suspect, or worse, the next murder victim.
Gunpowder Chowder
Lyndsey Cole - 2015
With the inheritance of her Great Aunt Caroline’s café and cottages, she faces a challenge of turning it into a modern business. A challenge she is ready for—until a body turns up in an unexpected place. With her own insecurities rising when she becomes a suspect, Hannah must decide who in Hooks Harbor she can trust, and who is really out to get her—Her elderly neighbor? The handsome carpenter? A former employee of the café? The list grows.Hannah’s life—and reputation—depends on her ability to make quick decisions. Will she get herself out of this nightmare and get her business moving forward before time runs out? If you love a good culinary cozy mystery, grab Gunpowder Chowder and get hooked on Hannah Holiday’s adventures.***Gunpowder Chowder is approx. 330 pages and is volume 1 in the Hooked & Cooked Cozy Mystery Series. Lyndsey’s books can be read and enjoyed in any order.
Murder on the Menu
Nancy Skopin - 2015
When the brutal murder of socialite, (and stripper), Laura Howard lands on her desk, she finally encounters a case worthy of her talent.Murder on the Menu is the first in a series of mysteries featuring Nikki Hunter. The only child of a Cossack and a former nun, Hunter is a smart, tenacious thirty-five-year-old, who lives aboard a sailboat in the San Francisco Bay Area and works out of a ground floor office in the marina complex where she lives.When the Howard murder goes unsolved, the victim’s mother contacts Nikki, who agrees to a preliminary investigation, and discovers that Laura was about to inherit several million dollars. The list of suspects grows as Nikki delves into Laura’s past. Nikki befriends Homicide Detective Bill Anderson, and he confides to her that three recent murders, including Laura’s, have peculiar similarities.Nikki enlists the aid of her best friend and fellow boat-dweller, Elizabeth Gaultier, and while the two are conducting interviews they discover they’re being tailed by another PI. When the interviewees start turning up dead, Nikki tells Detective Anderson everything she’s uncovered, but it’s too late. Nikki has already become the killer’s next target.