Book picks similar to
Drugged on Deck by Susan Harper
cozy-mystery
mystery
cozy-mysteries
first-in-series
The Final Arrangement
Annie Adams - 2012
But there’s a problem—Quincy is now the main suspect in The Vulture’s murder. Armed with only her Zombie delivery van, good intentions, and the business card of a handsome cop named Alex, she must find the killer, save the flower shop, and keep from ending up in the next casket. If she can dodge burning bushes, the plague of a polygamist ex, and her mother's Mormon Mafia Spy Network, her life with Alex and her shop could become the perfect arrangement.
A Fresh Brew
Verena DeLuca - 2021
Azure is actually a cat-dragon.If discovering dragons were real wasn’t enough, Azure is convinced Hailey’s aunt was actually murdered.The town’s sheriff and his deputy are oblivious. Which means it falls to her to solve the mystery.All while running the cafe.Will Hailey bring her aunt’s murderer to justice?Can she learn to run Aconite Cafe?Does she have what it takes to be a Dragon Protector?A Fresh Brew is the first book in the Hill Country Mysteries series set in the heart of Texas. Each book is a clean, full-length, snarky, cozy mystery, that doesn't always involve a death.
Death By Suspenders
L.C. Turner - 2019
They are excited about meeting new students and kicking off a fantastic year when instead, one of their co-workers, David, is found hanging in the academic building.David wasn’t always the most well-liked colleague, but Olivia and Polly can’t even imagine who would kill him. Is one of their co-workers a murderer? If so, was campus safe or should they be worried about what might happen next time there was a difference of opinion at a faculty meeting?
The Art & Craft of Murder
Cozy Cat Parker - 2015
But when the local gallery owner, Hilary Small, is poisoned in Misty's teahouse, and it begins to look as if the man Misty is in love with committed the murder, Misty must turn amateur sleuth in order to save the reputation of her teahouse and her hopes for romance. Set in an enchanting location, this cozy mystery will delight with its entertaining cast of humorous characters, including Misty's cat Miss Mabel, who plays a crucial part in revealing the true murderer.
Seaside Secrets
Cindy Bell - 2014
With her best friend, Mary, going through a messy divorce, the two decide to get away and go to the small town of Garber to see the house. Despite the stunning setting, the house has been neglected for years and is in a terrible state of disrepair. Suzie and Mary make the decision to refurbish the house together. But then, Suzie and Mary start finding evidence that maybe Uncle Harry didn’t die of natural causes. Suzie’s investigative background as a journalist takes over and the ladies go on a search to discover what secrets the house holds. Will these secrets reveal a dark side to Suzie’s strange cousin, Jason? Was the decision to refurbish Dune House the worst mistake of their lives? Or is this the beginning of an exciting new chapter?
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.
Crime Chowder
Hillary Avis - 2018
So when her real estate developer boyfriend offers her a sweet catering gig, she jumps at the chance to cook for his gala and rub elbows with the town’s elite. The problem? That fancy gala is only happening because her best friend’s home was burned down by an arsonist. And the more Bethany learns about her boyfriend’s planned development, the more she suspects that he might have had something to do with it.Determined to uncover the arsonist’s identity, Bethany cooks her way through the gala, listening to the secrets, lies, and gossip swirling around Hosanna Street. But when someone close to her is killed during the party—and the murder weapon is found in her pot of clam chowder—Bethany finds herself in more than a little hot water.---------------------------------------If you like smart culinary mysteries with quirky characters and quaint seaside towns, you’ll love the Death du Jour series that follows Bethany Bradstreet as she builds her career and solves crimes with the help of her friends. Crime Chowder is the first book in the Death du Jour series. This book has clean language and mild suspense with no cliffhangers. It contains depictions of an LGBT relationship.P.S. – There’s a dog in it.
The Slay of the Santas
Kacey Gene - 2019
It’s Christmas time in the snowy, quaint town of Middlebridge, Wisconsin, and Jennifer Hunter -- a sweet, organized second-grade teacher who has a mind for sleuthing -- is ready to spend her Christmas break crocheting, baking, and relaxing. But before the school bell can ring for Christmas break, her best friend and Middlebridge’s Lieutenant, Jake Hollow, shows up in her classroom, but he’s not there to bring a cup of Christmas cheer. There’s a murder in town, and he needs Jennifer’s help solving the crime. Jennifer soon discovers that not only is the killer targeting retired Santa Clauses, but he’s also staging his victims like scenes from the Charles Dickens novel A CHRISTMAS CAROL. As Jake and Jennifer follow the clues, more questions than answers start to arise: What is this Society of Santas they keep hearing about? Why is the killer leaving behind empty pudding packages at each crime scene? And what in the world does the book A CHRISTMAS CAROL have to do with the victims? Add to that a tight-lipped orphan boy who’s housing a pack of puppies in one of the victim’s buildings, a quirky book store owner who lies about ever having sold a copy of A CHRISTMAS CAROL and Jennifer’s date with a fellow school teacher that ends in total disaster. In between holiday parties, family obligations, baking, and creating handmade Christmas presents, Jennifer must craft together an investigation that catches the killer and saves the Santa Clauses in town. Otherwise, the night before Christmas might be their last. This clean, cozy mystery will captivate readers with Jennifer’s amateur sleuthing that entangles her in snow-deep shenanigans, cryptic car chases, and more chocolate pudding than she ever imagined. Readers will fall in love with the quick-witted and craft-loving Jennifer Hunter, who is down-to-earth and has a heart as warm as a crackling fire on a cold winter’s night. The charming friendship between Jennifer and Lieutenant Jake Hollow epitomizes the quaint, familial feel that lives in small towns, especially those sleepy hamlets with snow-capped houses and a love for Christmas. THE SLAY OF THE SANTAS is an exhilarating page-turner with cliffhangers around every corner, and it will bring the joy of the holiday season all year round. Readers who love cozy mysteries like Jessica Beck’s PUMPKIN PLEAS, Betty Hechtman’s BY HOOK OR BY CROOK, and Joanna Campbell Slan’s KIKI LOWENSTEIN SERIES and readers who have holiday favorites like Charles Dickens’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Louisa May Alcott’s LITTLE WOMEN, and O’Henry’s “THE GIFT OF THE MAGI,” will be enchanted by Kacey Gene’s THE SLAY OF THE SANTAS.
White Satin & Murder
Harper Harris - 2018
A clingy Yorkie. And a dead Maid of Honor.
It’s the first wedding Valerie Masters has ever planned and the start of her new business.There’s money flowing in Buckingham Downs, California, a small coastal town largely taken over by the rich, where weddings are a billion-dollar business. Val works tirelessly to make sure this one- the very first that she’s been hired to plan- is perfect, juggling a temperamental florist, a diva cake baker, and a self-obsessed DJ who’s threatened to walk off the job if the Chicken Dance is requested.Not to mention the biggest Bridezilla Val has ever seen, the bride’s “unique” family and snooty Maid of Honor.Starting a new business is hard, and this first wedding is turning out to be more than Val bargained for. Right before the wedding, Val finds the Maid of Honor dead and the expensive, one-of-a-kind wedding dress missing!Now, on top of getting a hitch-filled wedding to go off without a…well…you know, she has no choice but to solve this mystery. No wonder half of all new businesses fail!The stakes couldn’t be higher. This socially influential family has already threatened to ruin Val if any part of the wedding is ruined.But who among this motley cast of characters could be a murderer and a dress thief? And will Val figure it out in time to pull off the perfect wedding? Or will her business crash before it’s even started?White Satin & Murder is a full length cozy mystery novel full of humor, intrigue, and an adorable furry friend named Buttons. It's the first book in the Val Masters Wedding Planner series, which can be read in any order and are best enjoyed together.
Maple Can Be Murder
Grace Lemon - 2016
It’s just that kind of place. And things get a whole lot stickier for the residents when a businessman visiting the island ends up smothered at the local sugar bush. With maple syrup season in full swing, Ida Noe’s fudge shop is busier than a centipede at a toe counting contest – especially when she’s invited to showcase her world famous Maple Bacon Fudge at Sweeney’s Sugar Bush. All is sweet until some poor sap kicks the bucket in the sugarhouse and all fingers point to Ida’s best friend Maura Sweeney. With the help of her lumpy black Lab and origami loving friend, Ida is determined to “tap” the real killer and prove that maple can indeed be murder. Previously published as Maple Can Be Murder.
Massage & Murder
Jenn Cowan - 2018
A professional. A healer. Not a killer. When a client ends up dead on my massage table, I become the number one suspect. I have Means. Motive. Opportunity. But I didn't kill her. The clock is ticking, someone is stalking me, I have to find out who before I end up in jail or worse...dead.
Virtually Scared To Death
Gillian Larkin - 2013
You can get free copies of the next two stories in this series by signing up to my newsletter at www.gillianlarkin.co.uk Julia Blake runs her own cleaning business. The first time she sees a dead body is when she discovers one of her clients, Mark Castle, lying dead on the floor of his luxury apartment. She remembers things that Mark mentioned to her a few days before his death, things he was worried about. A bottle of pills is lying open at Mark’s side, but they’re not his usual ones. And why is his computer playing a continuous game? Julia soon suspects that Mark was murdered. He was a good friend and she is determined to find out who killed him.
Death by the Book
Beth Byers - 2019
Her only hope is to bring her account out of overdraft and possibly buy some hens. The problem is that she has so little imagination she uses her neighbors for inspiration. She little expects anyone to realize what she’s done. So when Chronicles of Harper’s Bend becomes a bestseller, her neighbors are questing to find out just who this “Joe Johns” is and punish him.
Things escalate beyond what anyone would imagine when one of her prominent characters turns up dead. It seems that the fictional end Georgette had written for the character spurred a real-life murder. Now to find the killer before it is discovered who the author is and she becomes the next victim. Book ONE in The Poison Ink Mysteries. Georgette Marsh might be a quiet wallflower and treated as such, but it’s time for this wallflower to blossom. Are you ready to journey with her as she decides to craft a new life? If so, you’ll love Miss Marsh! For fans of Carola Dunn, Jacqueline Winspear, Georgette Heyer, and Lee Strauss. A light, cozy historical mystery. No swearing, graphic scenes, or cliffhangers.
Secrets in a Bottle
Shelly West - 2019
She's been struggling to make it in Boston when a call beckons her down to the cozy seaside town of Wallace Point. Now's her chance to meet a grandmother she never knew--if Grandma survives, that is!Grandma is in a coma after an apparent break-in at her antique store, leaving Abigail to run Whodunit Antiques in her absence. The locals are very protective of Grandma, their de facto town matriarch, making Abigail wonder... just who is this woman?When Grandma wakes up, a mystery unfolds, starting with a dead body, a broken ship in a bottle, and a historical maritime rivalry. Will Abigail uncover the centuries-old secret that put Grandma in the hospital? And will Abigail learn why her mother kept her away from Grandma for all these years?The Whodunit Antiques series is fun, quirky, and, most importantly, cozy! So settle into your favorite chair, preferably with a cup of hot cocoa in hand, and get ready to escape into a town whose residents are always up to mischief, and where pirates run amok.
Hyde Park Heist
Bettie Jane - 2018
A generation of lost youth. An elite women’s group determined to find their place in the world. Welcome to Piccadilly Ladies Club. Julia Barlow is an elite member of this all-female club for writers, illustrators, and daughters of accomplished gentleman. She is caught between her desire to prove herself as a respectable journalist in male-dominated 1920’s London and a carefree existence as one of the Bright Young People living life on her terms. When a scavenger hunt at Hyde Park goes badly and her dear friend Jimmie is accused of a heinous crime, Julia finds herself and her friends in the middle of a high-society scandal that could destroy their charmed way of life. Can she clear Jimmie’s name or will her stubborn determination to find her place in the world get her and her friends into even more trouble? Hyde Park Heist is the first book in Piccadilly Ladies Club Mysteries. Join Julia and her best friend Edith on rowdy treasure hunts, at exclusive, often garish house parties, and at speakeasies and jazz clubs where they dance and drink the nights away, challenging the standards of their birthright at every turn.