Book picks similar to
Shooting Star: A Nikki Latrelle Mystery, Book 5 (The Nikki Latrelle Mystery-Thriller Series) by Sasscer Hill
mystery-suspense
amateur-sleuth
animals
california
Murder at the St. Regis
Dianne Harman - 2020
And not just any old chef – but a chef who goes on to become the darling of the celebrity chef world.When a rabid fan tries to kill her, she ends her television career as a celebrity chef to start a catering company for the VIPs of the world. What she never expected, after not speaking with her brother for years, is that he had a child, and when he unexpectedly dies, that she would become that child’s guardian. Suddenly she’s Auntie Dani to a ten-year-old.But someone wants to kill her. It takes all the resources her bodyguard, Arthur, who doubles as her sous-chef, has to keep Dani and her niece safe. Whipping up cream for chocolate mousses was a lot easier for both Dani and Arthur!This is the debut book in the Chef Dani Rosetti Cozy Mystery Series by a USA Bestselling Author and Amazon All-Star.
Pet Whisperer P.I. Collections #3: Books 7-9
Molly Fitz - 2019
This collection includes Raccoon Racketeer, Himalayan Hazard, and Hoppy Holiday Homicide. Read along as surprising family secrets are uncovered by a gossipy raccoon, murder happens on board a train, and Octo-Cat even finds love. Add in a double homicide and a kidnapping on Christmas Eve, toss on your favorite deerstalker cap, and let’s go sleuthing! If you love kitty detectives and quirky humor, then you do not want to miss this USA Today bestselling series and your chance to binge read books seven through nine with this special boxed collection… Enjoy! ★ WHY READERS LOVE PET WHISPERER P.I. ★ "I just finished KITTY CONFIDENTIAL last night... and wow, what a ride! I fell in love with Molly Fitz's fresh, zany voice on the first page... A delightfully fun ride. I've already started the second book in the series!" ~ Karen MacInerney, author of the Gray Whale Inn Mysteries "Need a quick pick me up with an adorable talking cat who helps solve crimes? It’s here! Molly Fitz does not disappoint in this cute start to a brand new series. I’m already hooked and picking up the next book. Do yourself a favor and spend some time in Blueberry Bay. It’s so fun and cute you’ll wish you had a talking cat of your own." ~ New York Times Bestselling Author, Addison Moore "Molly Fitz's debut novel, KITTY CONFIDENTIAL, is a fantastic start to a new series. Molly has not only provided a fun, fast-paced mystery, she's also brought great characters to life. I enjoyed spending time in her world, and I look forward to future books in the series!" ~ Misty Bane, Author of the Blackwood Bay Witches Cozy Mysteries "KITTY CONFIDENTIAL is such a fun escape that leaves the reader completely satisfied but craving more. I couldn’t help but fall in love with Octo-Cat, and I look forward to Angie’s next curious adventure... A must-read for cozy lovers and mystery lovers alike!" ~ Poppy Bolton, Author of the Katie Chance Cozy Mysteries "Molly Fitz hits her first cozy mystery out of the park. KITTY CONFIDENTIAL is a great read - fast and fun and is the promising first book in what should be a terrific series." ~ Ronnie Roberts, Author of The Complete Bootcamp for Fiction Writers “Oh, my whiskers. This was. So. Much. Fun!!! I am a big fan of cozy mysteries, especially quirky ones with pets. And this one was a gooood one! I doted on Octo-Cat! I adored Angie! The book has a very light-hearted tone that I loved. I loveloveloved it!” ~ Nadine V “Amazing cozy mystery! I would give it six stars if I could! I absolutely loved this book… and I loved the voice of Octo-Cat! I’m not sure I really want to know what cats think, but I am pretty sure they would say things like Octo-Cat!” ~ Candace
Fatal Fall (A Miranda and Parker Mystery Book 18)
Linsey Lanier - 2021
Lines of Duty: Deputy Corus Mystery #1
Mark Hazard - 2019
The series you didn’t know you’ve been missing.
From lauded author Mark Hazard comes a new off-beat crime series about a man with one name, a hidden past, and an uncontrollable urge to root out villainy.
Mere weeks after returning from his final deployment, Corus is a cadet at an elite police academy in Seattle. While doing grunt work at a local precinct, he comes across a set of diamonds taken from the scene of an unsolved hit-and-run. Not only did the diamonds go unclaimed, but the still-living victim is nowhere to be found. When the diamonds turn out to be fakes, it’s one too many oddities in an attempted murder with no suspects.
Instincts forged in covert action plunge Corus headlong into criminal ranks, but taking the fastest route to answers runs roughshod over the delicate procedural approach he’s supposed to be learning. Corus knows he’s threatening his new life and career in the process, but putting the mission before self-preservation is the hardest habit of all to break.
The one man who can help Corus sort through his issues is the least likely of all. Albert Chu is a cheery and childlike cadet who's failing the academy but has a knack for getting into Corus' head. In trying to rein Corus in, he ends up proving his mettle, and together they fight to prevent multiple murders and foil a kidnapping plot, even while the eye of the law they hoped to serve is turned on their actions.Can Corus unite the lines of duty pulling him in different directions, or will he end up another casualty of the war he brought home?Through Corus’ journey runs a cracking mystery/crime story with humor, thrills, and a cast of well-drawn side characters, from small-time gangsters and rodeo riff-raff to Corus' wife who grapples with her own grifter impulses. The Deputy Corus series is precisely the blend of action and depth that readers of James Patterson and Lee Child are looking for.What readers are saying about the series:
“…Nuance of character development that is often lacking these days. - especially with books that deal with military or police.”
“A heck of a caper that'll make you laugh a lot more often than most crime novels.”
“Not at all the same cookie cutter outline that most crime writers follow for their main character. It's much more complex and enjoyable.”
"Exactly the story I was waiting for!"
"In Lines of Duty, Hazard paints a scene with his words that transported me into a new world and created thought-provoking and enticing dilemmas. This story is entertaining and engaging. I recommend Lines of Duty 100% to anyone who loves a good mystery."
"If you’re looking for a paint-by-numbers procedural, this isn’t the book for you, but if you crave deeply human crime drama with a fair share of thrills and humor, then this is a must-read."
“This series is as enjoyable as Lee Child’s Reacher books.”
The Spencer Quinn Box Set #1: Dog On It and Thereby Hangs a Tail
Spencer Quinn - 2011
The big difference here is that the narrating buddy is a dog, Chet by name.In Dog On It, he and his partner Bernie investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl who may or may not have been kidnapped. Bernie and Chet have both had some setbacks in life—Bernie in combat, Chet in K-9 school—but together they make up a team like no other in the literature of detection. Chet is full of heart, and occasionally mischief, but always intensely loyal to Bernie—and dedicated to unraveling the mysterious disappearance of a high school girl who seems to have gotten mixed up with some very dangerous characters. In Thereby Hangs a Tail, Bernie and Chet are called on to investigate threats made against an unlikely target—a pretty and pampered show dog named Princess. What seems like a lark of a case turns serious when Princess and her owner are abducted. To make matters worse, Bernie’s on-again off-again girlfriend, reporter Susie Sanchez, disappears too. When Chet is separated from Bernie, he’s on his own to put the pieces together, find his way home, and save the day.
The Girl Who Told Stories (Joe Court Book 7)
Chris Culver - 2020
Joe Court has moved on with her life. With her faithful dog at her side, she's left St. Augustine county and hopes to start a new career in a new state. Life isn't perfect, but it's good. She's happy...or at least close to it.Then a young woman at a local university disappears.Joe's never met the victim, but she knows her all the same. The victim was a storyteller. She runs a very successful true crime podcast and has fans across the country. She also has enemies.Joe gave up her badge when she left St. Augustine, but she didn't relinquish her skills or her sense of right and wrong. When the young woman's mother asks for help, Joe can't refuse. But with every secret she uncovers and every clue she finds, she draws closer to a dangerous foe--and now, she no longer has a station full of colleagues to watch her back.The Girl Who Told Stories is a gripping thriller with unforgettable twists. If you like Michael Connelly, James Patterson, or John Sandford, you'll love Chris Culver's Joe Court series. Check it out!
A COTSWOLDS MURDER MYSTERY BOX SET BOOKS 1–4 four gripping cozy mysteries full of twists
Stella Cameron - 2021
The Cheshire Moon
Robert Ferrigno - 1993
is going to get any sleep. Robert Ferrigno's brilliant first novel, The Horse Latitudes, was lauded as "the most memorable fiction debut of the season" by Time magazine, "riveting, breathtaking, extraordinary" by Playboy, and "a double-barreled shotgun of a novel" by The Boston Sunday Globe. Ferrigno's dazzlingly sure handling of noir fiction, his cleverly conceived characters, and explosive plotting created a best-seller worthy of the highest praise, and The Cheshire Moon takes Ferrigno's skill even further, on a dizzying roller coaster of greed, lust, and redemption. Quinn is a former investigative reporter who got burned by a source two years ago, with fatal consequences. These days he sticks to celebrity interviews and games of go fish! with his daughter, but when a friend from the bad old days is found dead, it's up to Quinn and his sultry partner, Jen Takamura, to find the killer. The search leads from high-profile politicos to Rubenesque talk-show queens, silken criminals to dessicated ex-movie stars. Caught in a tightening spiral, Quinn and Jen are drawn into ever deeper and more dangerous passions, a sizzling counterpoint to the frustrated rage of the killer who is now stalking them. Filled with a hypnotic sense of evil, charged with a comic energy and a violently dark eroticism, The Cheshire Moon is a noir Beauty and the Beast that perfectly captures the heat and smoke of southern California.
Books to Die For: Books 1-3
Richard Houston - 2015
He’s an ordinary guy with an extraordinary dog. He's trying to make the best of a divorce and mid-life crisis when he gets a call at two o’clock Sunday morning from his mother. His sister has been arrested for the murder of her fourth husband, and his father is near death. Thus begins an adventure that takes Jake and his golden retriever from their Colorado retreat to a backwater town in the Missouri Ozarks where they search for cold-blooded killers, a cache of gold coins buried by Jesse James, and the love of a beautiful nurse. A Book to Die ForThis time the story takes place in the foothills of Denver. Jake is accused of manslaughter and he has to prove the accident was really murder. Along the way he encounters a poaching ring and falls in love with a beautiful game warden. A Treasure to Die ForThere is a treasure high in the Colorado Rockies waiting for someone to find it. Jake Martin couldn't care less. Since the death of his wife, all Jake wants is to be left alone in his mountain cabin where he and his dog, Fred, can get on with life. But when it becomes known that the location of the treasure is encrypted in a message left by a 19th century miner, people begin to die, and Jake’s good friend and neighbor becomes the number one suspect.The old miner used a copy of Tom Sawyer as a key to his coded message, and the real murderer wants that edition so bad, he’s willing to kill for it. Can the amateur sleuths decode the message and stop the murderer, or have Jake and Fred finally met their match?
Bunburry - Lost and Found: A Cosy Mystery Series (Countryside Mysteries: A Cosy Shorts Series Book 13)
Helena Marchmont - 2022
The Andy Carpenter Series, Books 9-11: One Dog Night, Leader of the Pack, Unleashed
David Rosenfelt - 2015
Here together for the first time in a fabulous eBook bundle are three of Rosenfelt's popular Andy Carpenter novels:ONE DOG NIGHTFive years ago, Matt Starks' drug addiction cost him everything, and he brought the golden retriever puppy he'd rescued, Tara, to a shelter, where defense lawyer Andy Carpenter adopted her. Now Matt has turned his life around-until charges of murder are brought against him. Is there anything Andy can do to save the man who saved Tara?LEADER OF THE PACKAndy has always known that Joey Desimone, a man convicted of murder years ago, was innocent. While there isn't much Andy can do for Joey while he serves his sentence, he can take his dog to visit Joey's senile uncle, who might hold the key to Joey's freedom after all this time.UNLEASHEDAndy's accountant, Sam Willis, is stunned to receive a phone call from his high school friend Barry Price, pleading for Sam's financial help and Andy's legal expertise. But before Sam can make it to Barry's home, Barry's already taken off on a private airplane. Then they learn that Barry's plane has crashed, and Sam was also supposed to have been killed on that plane.
Jewel of the Aisle: A humorous cozy mystery novella
Laura Durham - 2021
The House on the Shore: A Short Paranormal Mystery
A.L. Jambor - 2015
Circumstances kept her from getting her college degree out of high school, and now, at twenty-eight, she is finally getting her life on track. She and her mother, Janet, share a house, and they get along well. Nothing has prepared Mariah for the news heading her way via a letter from the law offices of Hardy, Hardy, and Hardy. From the letter, Mariah learns that she was born to a teenage girl named Kathleen Warren, the granddaughter of a wealthy woman named Cora. Cora’s legacy is one of pain and loss. Her daughter died tragically, and her granddaughter withered away behind the walls of the old Victorian house on the shore. Their pain was so great that it has lingered, and when Mariah is told she has inherited the house from her hitherto unknown great-grandmother, she must contend with the spirits dwelling there when she takes possession of the charming white house by the sea. Since she was a child, Mariah was a loner whose imaginary friends were her constant companions. Now, as an adult, when she is confronted by visions while packing up her dead relatives belongings, she isn’t afraid. She is, however, intrigued, and with the help of a mysterious man named Jerry and an investigator named Sam, Mariah seeks to discover what the “ghosts” are trying to tell her.