Book picks similar to
Chaos in Little Leaf Creek by Cindy Bell
mystery
fiction
mystery-cozy
first-in-series
Chicken Culprit
Vikki Walton - 2018
Discovering an old Victorian for sale in the small mountain town of Carolan Springs may be just what she needs. The beauty of Colorado beckons, so Anne heads west to start her new life.Yet, before Anne'scompletely settled in, her neighbor is found dead in his compost pile. What’s worse is that Anne’s quirky young neighbor, Kandi Jenkins, could be the killer. When Kandi begs for her help, Anne feels she has no choice but to help the young woman. However, she finds herself quickly at odds with the local sheriff. And while she uncovers more of the community's secrets, she's also exploring her awakening feelings for Sam Powers, the town's deputy coroner. Once Anne starts looking at who could be the real killer, the suspect list keeps getting longer and longer. It seems that Carolan Springs is a place of many secrets. But who would want to murder Ralph and who’s willing to kill again to keep their secret? Cast of Characters
Stewart Rogers: Ralph’s nephew who’s always turning up unexpectedly.
Hope Boswell: Doctor and herbalist who’s come home to care for her ailing mother.
Faith Boswell: Dealing with early onset dementia, she still has what some call second sight.
Eliza de French: An Ethiopian woman whose beauty hides an ugly secret.
Jeff Jenkins: Kandi’s goal-oriented husband who often travels for work.
˃˃˃ First Book in The Backyard Farming Cozy Mystery Series Chicken Culprit introduces us to Anne Fremont, a divorcee starting over in the fictional town of Carolan Springs, Colorado. With a diverse cast of characters, the locale isn’t short of personalities and suspects. With a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor that women of a certain age can relate to, Chicken Culprit takes a look at love, loss and the impact of the past in our lives. ˃˃˃ Q&A with the Author 1. Why did you decide to write a mystery series around homesteading?Mysteries have always been my favorite genre since I received my first set of Nancy Drew books. When I finally decided to write my own I knew I wanted to write about something I love and that’s homesteading or backyard farming. I live in the suburbs but our landscaping is a combination of permaculture food guilds, gardens and Xeriscape. We have chickens and are beekeepers. My chicken, Rusty, was a character in her own right. Now she’s one in my first book. 2. What advice would you give to someone who wants to start backyard farming? Decide what you want the most and do that first. Then add to it. Don’t do too much at once. You can use the simple quiz on my website to help determine the top three things for your havenstead. 3. What’s a havenstead? I believe that your home should be your haven. Homesteading has been around for hundreds of years. Now you can create your own havenstead. 4. Can you give us a glimpse into the next book? Sure! Someone and possibly a couple of someone’s are going to die. It will feature another part of homesteading and that’s around the food production side of things. In this case the main star will be the elderberry plant. The book after that will feature bees. 5.
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.
Kelly's Koffee Shop
Dianne Harman - 2014
She was usually standing at the door of Kelly's Koffee Shop, waiting for Kelly to open up. Wonder what that’s all about, she thought. The local residents of Cedar Bay come to Kelly’s Koffee Shop for breakfast, lunch, and lots of gossip. Kelly serves it all up as she works to solve the murder of the high school Homecoming Queen. The townspeople can’t believe what has happened in their sleepy little Oregon seaside town. She identifies five prime suspects, but which one did it? Follow Kelly, her boxer dog, Rebel, and her boyfriend, Mike, the county sheriff, as they try to determine who the killer is in a murder that’s shocked the town. Kelly’s Coffee Shop is a mouth-watering cozy mystery with recipes!
Inn Over Her Head
Dixie Davis - 2018
Lori Keyes is excited to settle into her perfect new life: a bed and breakfast owner in the sleepy resort town of Dusky Cove, North Carolina. Sure, her first guest is a little rude and hateful, but that just comes with the hospitality territory sometimes, right? Lori steels herself to endure one bad guest—until that guest turns up dead. The police investigation says it’s murder, and the evidence points to Lori. She’s instantly the prime suspect. Lori digs into the guest’s failing marriage and into rivalries in town, trying to figure out who could have killed her. To keep her dream job, her perfect life and the inn over her head, Lori will have to prove that she’s innocent—or she’ll go to jail for a murder she didn’t commit. A new cozy mystery series set in a Southern small town, featuring a historic inn! Read more of the Dusky Cove B&B Cozy Mystery series: 1. Inn Over Her Head 2. Inn Trouble 3. Inn Vain 4. Inn Dire Straits 5. Inn Danger (early 2019) Get recipes and a tourist's guide to the prettiest little town all up and down the North Carolina coast in the author's email group--offer inside!
Murder Mystery Book Club
Danielle Collins - 2021
One of her favorite things to do is read murder mystery novels. She even has a murder mystery book club. When a dead body is found near the bed and breakfast, Eva has a real murder mystery on her hands. Can she help solve the mystery, even if it implicates one of her esteemed guests and ruffles the feathers of the local police department, or will her book smarts be the end of her?
Death on the Danube: A New Year's Murder in Budapest
Jennifer S. Alderson - 2019
Her luck has run sour for going on a decade, ever since she got fired from her favorite job as an investigative reporter. When her fresh start in Seattle doesn’t work out as planned, Lana ends up unemployed and penniless on Christmas Eve. Dotty Thompson, her landlord and the owner of Wanderlust Tours, is also in a tight spot after one of her tour guides ends up in the hospital, leaving her a guide short on Christmas Day. When Dotty offers her a job leading the tour group through Budapest, Hungary, Lana jumps at the chance. It’s the perfect way to ring in the new year and pay her rent! What starts off as the adventure of a lifetime quickly turns into a nightmare when Carl, her fellow tour guide, is found floating in the Danube River. Was it murder or accidental death? Suspects abound when Lana discovers almost everyone on the tour had a bone to pick with Carl. But Dotty insists the tour must go on, so Lana finds herself trapped with nine murder suspects. When another guest turns up dead, Lana has to figure out who the killer is before she too ends up floating in the Danube… Introducing Lana Hansen, tour guide, reluctant amateur sleuth, and star of the Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mystery Series. Join Lana as she leads tourists and readers to fascinating cities around the globe on intriguing adventures that, unfortunately for Lana, often turn deadly.
A Deadly Course
Diane Weiner - 2016
As if the discovery isn’t shocking in itself, Emily learns the dead body has a connection to the adult summer writing camp she is about to start teaching. With no apparent cause of death, Henry’s buddy, the coroner, suspects foul play. Neither Dr. Henry, nor former reporter Emily can resist solving a puzzle. As they work to solve the mystery, they discover an intricate web of relationships and motives involving the writers in Emily’s class. Along the way, they are confronted with a profound, life changing decision. Follow A Deadly Course through the first book in the Sugarbury Falls mystery series and see if Emily and Henry make it safely to the end.
Death in Room 7
K.J. Emrick - 2015
Adelle Powers, or Dell as she is known around the town of Lakeshore, is living her dream life. She and her best friend Rosie Ryan are owners of the wonderfully quirky Pine Lake Inn, a very popular Australian tourist destination. Running her own inn is the only thing she has ever wanted to do and it is her pride and joy. So when Dell's friend Jessica calls to say she's coming for a visit Dell is ecstatic and can't wait to show it off to her friend. Surprisingly Dell finds that Rosie is less than thrilled about the visit and can't understand why. They were all such good friends, or so she thought. It would seem that Rosie may know something about Jessica's past that Dell doesn't. Some sort of secret that Rosie is reluctant to share with her. When Jessica is found dead in her room the following day it would appear that her secret past may have finally caught up with her. Horrified by the death of her good friend in her very own inn, Dell soon gets drawn into the mystery. And things take a turn for the very weird when Jessica's ghost visits her, more than once, directing Dell to clues that have been overlooked by a very incompetent police investigation. Soon Dell finds her own life in peril as she gets further into the mystery surrounding her friends life, and death.
Strawberries and Strangers
Leena Clover - 2018
Locals are lining up at the Boardwalk Café for her tasty cakes and muffins. But when her aunt, a local artist, is accused of killing a stranger, Jenny is forced to set her apron aside and put on her sleuthing cap.Jenny battles with the cranky local sheriff and quirky local characters to get to the truth. Aided by her new friends, she will move heaven and earth to find out who the dead stranger was and what he was doing in Pelican Cove.If you like cozy murder mysteries with friendly small towns, scenic settings, yummy food and a touch of romance, you will like Strawberries And Strangers.
Jeopardy in January
Camilla Chafer - 2017
Welcome to Calendar where life is sweet, but death is murder. Sara Cutler loves her job as head librarian of the public library, an integral part of the historic heart of the picturesque mountain town, Calendar. The combination of old books, quirky clientele, and endless reading is nothing less than perfection for Sara. So when she discovers a body in the rare books section that threatens to destroy her quiet existence, along with the imminent demise of the library, Sara vows to find the killer. She never expects to receive any help from Jason Rees, the handsome, big city developer whose only objective is to get rid of the library. Sara assumes he is counting on the murder to serve as the final death knell his firm needs to demolish the library. However, that doesn’t prevent him from falling head over heels for the very woman with whom he’s clashing. When news arrives that the dead woman was nothing that she appeared to be, the whole town is instantly enthralled by the concept of having an actual jewel thief in their midst. Even more puzzling is: where did she hide her stolen treasure? All Sara must do to save the library is simply solve the murder, find the hidden jewels, and convince herself not to succumb to the one man she would rather see run out town. It doesn’t take long before she realizes that amateur sleuthing isn’t as easy in real life as it is in the stories she loves to read. Twelve cozy mysteries... one deadly town!
Cupcakes and Conspiracies
Katherine Hayton - 2017
Small town. Big secrets. With a divorce pending and her career hanging in the balance, Holly Waterston returns to her hometown of Hanmer Springs to lick her wounds. According to her accountant, she also needs to sell the cupcake bakery owned and operated by her family for three generations. The bakery is the only place Holly's younger sister Crystal has ever worked. But when their mortgage holder suffers anaphylactic shock after eating a cupcake, Crystal is chief suspect for the attempted murder. Despite being labeled allergy-free, the cake was chock full of peanuts. Holly must dig in her heels and don an apron if she's to clear her sister's name, uncover the real culprit, and find out why their booming business is hemorrhaging money. If she can't, then Holly might lose Crystal to prison and lose the one place she can truly call home. This Sweet Baked Mystery is certified allergy-free of the following ingredients: No Swearing No Gore No Graphic Scenes and absolutely No Cliffhangers! Warning: May contain traces of danger and good humor. Scroll up to solve the conspiracy today!
Up in Smoke
Shannon VanBergen - 2017
Geraldine is her quirky grandmother. Mix in a bunch of gun-toting grannies, an outrageous retirement home, and an unsolved mystery and there's bound to be some excitement. Follow along as Nikki and the cast of retirement home vigilantes work to solve the mystery before everything goes up in smoke. Specially priced at $0.99 for a limited time only Always FREE on Kindle Unlimited Up in Smoke is part of the Glock Grannies Cozy Mystery series. If you like fun cozy mysteries and outrageous characters, you are going to love Up in Smoke. Buy Up in Smoke and start solving your next mystery today! Always FREE on Kindle Unlimited
Lady Rample Steps Out
Shéa MacLeod - 2017
Lady Rample finds herself at odds after the death of her husband until her best friend drags her to a hot new jazz club in the heart of London. As if being wooed by two handsome men isn’t enough, Lady R finds herself embroiled in the murder of one of the club’s owners. Bored with her aristocratic life and irked that the police have arrested the wrong suspect, Lady R decides to turn lady detective. With her eccentric Aunt Butty in tow, Lady R scours London for clues. If she’s lucky she’ll find the killer before the killer finds her. From the author of the Viola Roberts Cozy Mysteries comes the first book in the Lady Rample Mysteries set in jazz-era London.
A Villa in Sicily: Olive Oil and Murder
Fiona Grace - 2020
Burnt-out with the endless hours, she wonders if the time has come for a new direction. And when her 15th year high school reunion (and her hopes for re-sparking on old flame) end in disaster, Audrey knows the time has come to make a change.When Audrey sees an ad for a $1 home in Sicily, it captivates her. The only catch is that the house requires renovation, something she knows little about. She wonders if it could be real—and if she may really be crazy enough to go for it.Can Audrey create a life and career—and the home of her dreams—in a beautiful Sicilian village? And perhaps even find love while she’s there?Or will an unexpected death—one that only she can solve—put an end to all of her plans?Are some dreams too good to be true?A laugh-out-loud cozy packed with mystery, intrigue, renovation, animals, food, wine—and of course, love—A VILLA IN SICILY will capture your heart and keep you glued to the very last page.
Escape From Danger (Escape from Reality Cozy Mystery, #1)
Courtney McFarlin - 2020
She never thought she’d discover something shocking about her own past. She never dreamed she’d have an opportunity to fall in love. She never expected she’d soon be fighting for her life after getting too close to the truth.After the unexpected death of her father, Shay moves back home and discovers her father left her a legacy to live out her dreams. Her new business is set to open in just a few weeks, and she needs to figure out why there’s a dead guy in one of the newest escape rooms. Join Shay as she reconnects with her best friends from childhood, tries to solve a murder, and locks horns with the attractive detective assigned to the case. Sparks fly and danger lurks where Shay least expects it.