Book picks similar to
The Body in the Bog by J.L. Johnson


short-mystery-and-romance
mysteries
fs-mystery-comedy-la
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Skin Dancer


Carolyn Haines - 2011
    The victims are poachers and professional hunters. Their skinned and beheaded corpses are left hanging upside down. Rookie Criss County Deputy Rachel Redmond, a young woman with a troubled past and a need to prove herself, must find the killer.Native American legend speaks of a Sioux warrior who took too much pride in his ability to kill. The gods punished him by taking his skin, leaving him unable to endure the sunlight. This warrior is said to roam the wilderness looking for those he can kill and “borrow” their skin. The Skin Dancer.There’s a lot on the line for Rachel and the county residents. A highway project is cutting across the Sioux wilderness, opening the region for a multi-billion dollar technology development. The road is a point of controversy with environmentalists and Native Americans who want to preserve their sacred grounds. When a spokesman for an animal rights organization (WAR) claims the murders, Rachel realizes she’s sitting on a powder keg. Old wounds and grievances, long buried, come to the surface. And the Skin Dancer strikes again, killing two more poachers.As bodies pile up and tempers flare, Rachel has to find the killer, or killers, before Criss County erupts in a battle between those who want the road and Paradise Development and those who don’t.Carolyn Haines, author of the Sarah Booth Delaney Mississippi Delta Mystery series, and the 2010 Harper Lee award winner, weaves legend and murder into another page turner.

For Old Crime's Sake


Rose Pressey Betancourt - 2014
    A routine investigation leads to something major when she stumbles on what she believes is murder. Rival reporter Bill Dangerfield is interested in the case too. Chase doesn’t need him getting in the way of her solving this mystery. Marc Marquez the rookie police officer offers to help Chase, but she doesn't know how deep the New Orleans Police force are involved in the criminal activity. Chase is positive she witnessed a cop disposing of a corpse. Voodoo, suspense, dirty secrets, and the temptation of two gorgeous men won’t stop Chase from scooping this hot report.

Summer in the Bayou


Caroline Mickelson - 2016
    James (AKA manners columnist Miss Prim & Proper) heads to Sinful, Louisiana to stay with her frail, elderly great-aunt Ida Belle, a woman she's never met. What better place to hide than a sleepy little southern bayou town where nothing ever happens? But when the bullets start to fly, she soon discovers that her aunt Ida Belle and friends are anything but feeble, and that Sinful is anything but quiet. When the corpse of a scorned suitor goes missing, Stephanie decides her best hope to escape a murder rap is to join forces with Swamp Team Three.

Australian Amateur Sleuth: Box Set: Books 1-3


Morgana Best - 2017
     First THREE books in series. BOOK ONE: Live and Let Diet USA Today BestsellerSybil Potts moves to Little Tatterford, a small town in the middle of nowhere in Australia, seeking to find peace and quiet after the upheaval of her divorce. Although the town is sleepy and nothing has ever happened, her arrival coincides with a murder in the property adjacent to her cottage. Sybil soon finds she is at odds with the attractive Blake Wessley, the exasperated police officer who is trying to solve the murder. After Sibyl narrowly misses becoming the next victim, she turns her attention to the suspects. Is it the English gentleman, Mr. Buttons, who serves everyone tea and cucumber sandwiches, or her landlord, Cressida Upthorpe, who is convinced that her fat cat, Lord Farringdon, speaks to her? Or is it someone else entirely? BOOK TWO: Natural-born Grillers When one of the new boarders, an eminent professor of Socratic philosophy, is found poisoned by hemlock in a meal of grilled quail, eccentric boarding house owner Cressida Upthorpe soon becomes the main suspect. Sibyl Potts, with the help of Mr. Buttons, launches herself into the investigation, much to the consternation of stressed police officer Blake Wessley. As the body count mounts, will Sibyl be able to clear Cressida’s name and find the real killer? BOOK THREE: Dye Hard Obnoxious ghost hunters descend on Cressida Upthorpe’s boarding house, convinced it must be a source of paranormal activity given that three murders have occurred there in a short space of time. After one of the ghost hunters is murdered with poisoned hair dye, Sibyl does her best to keep well away from the investigation, that is, until Cressida almost falls victim. With the bumbling detectives back in town and on the scene, Sibyl races to solve the murder before the body count rises. In this fun cozy mystery series so far: 1. Live and Let Diet 2. Natural-born Grillers 3. Dye Hard 4. The Prawn Identity 5. Any Given Sundae 6. Last Mango in Paris

A Fatal Four-Pack: Four Complete Mystery Novels


P.B. Ryan - 2013
    L. Bartlett, Rae Davies, and P.B. RyanAll author proceeds from this anthology to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.Murder Passes The Buck by Deb BakerWhen her neighbor is shot and killed, sixty-six-year-old widow Gertie Johnson seizes the opportunity to move on with her life by investigating his death. Gertie is abetted (and hindered) by her grandson Little Donny, man-hungry best friend Cora Mae, and word-of-the-day challenger, Kitty. It doesn’t help that the death has been ruled an accident by the sheriff of this backwoods community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Or that Sheriff Blaze Johnson happens to be Gertie’s son.Whether it’s interrogating neighbors, spying, or impersonating the FBI—not to mention staying one step ahead of Blaze—Gertie will do whatever it takes to solve the case, even when the killer takes aim at her.Murder On The Mind By L. L. BartlettAfter insurance investigator Jeff Resnick is viciously mugged, he discovers the resulting brain injury has left him able to sense people’s secrets. When his estranged half-brother, Richard, takes Jeff to the family home to recover, Jeff’s senses pick up clues to the recent vicious murder of a local banker. Despite Jeff’s mixed feelings about his new sixth sense, he feels compelled to explore the banker’s murder--using both his senses and his investigative skills, along with Richard’s reluctant help. Against the gritty setting of wintry Buffalo, NY, and a tormented family history of his own, unraveling the truth threatens Jeff’s--and Richard’s--life.Loose Screw by Rae DaviesLucy Mathews, crime reporter turned antiques dealer, avoids confrontation like a home perm. She even lets a cat shove her around.When Lucy trips over the body of a buckskin-clad relics trader, her ex-boss asks her to cover the story. She tries to tell him no, but old habits die hard and soon she finds herself directly in the path of a killer and the exasperating, if attractive, detective in charge.Can Lucy catch a killer or is this the last confrontation for her—period?Still Life With Murder by P.B. RyanBook #1 of P.B. Ryan’s bestselling historical mystery series featuring Boston governess Nell Sweeney and opium-smoking former battle surgeon Will Hewitt. Long thought to have died during the Civil War, Will is arrested for murder, and it's up to Nell to prove his innocence.“P.B. Ryan makes a stunning debut with Still Life With Murder, bringing Nineteenth Century Boston alive, from its teeming slums to the mansions on Boston Common, and populating it with a vivid and memorable cast of characters. The fascinating heroine, Nell Sweeney, immediately engages the reader and I couldn’t put the book down until I discovered the truth along with her. I can’t wait for the next installment.” —Bestselling author Victoria Thompson

Dead Fall


Matt Hilton - 2009
    He's never tolerated bullies, but this time it's personal. And no matter how many heads he has to bash to do it, Joe will find his man.Includes a sneak preview of Blood and Ashes, the exhilarating fifth novel in the Joe Hunter series.

Lets Us Prey / Textual Relations / Death of a Sales Rep


Jamie Lee Scott - 2013
    Using the skills she learned as a secret service agent, she runs the Gotcha Detective Agency, along with her skilled computer forensics partner Charles Parks. Gotcha specializes in executive protection (bodyguards), and tailing cheating spouses.Nick Christianson is running from the demons of his past, and that has put him back in his old stomping grounds in Salinas, CA. Nick has transferred from the San Francisco Homicide Division and is now adjusting to this new police department.Mimi never expects to run into her old college flame Nick, when she takes on an executive protection case for New York Times bestselling author Lauren Silke. But when Lauren’s assistant is murdered, the homicide case, along with Mimi, land in Nick’s lap. Will Mimi and Nick be able to solve this murder without killing each other first?Textual Relations - book 2Mimi Capurro, owner of Gotcha Detective Agency, hasn’t seen her old college flame since they teamed up to find a killer several months earlier. Now, after breaking and entering into an alleged predator’s home, Mimi and Charles find a murder victim on the floor in his bedroom. When homicide detective Nick Christianson and his new partner, Piper Mason, arrive on the scene, this is not the way Mimi expected to see Nick again.Even though it’s his job, Nick is loath to find the killer. That is until a teenage girl with ties to the victim disappears. Now Mimi, Nick and Charles race against the clock to find the killer and hopefully find the girl in the process.

Murder at Spirit Falls


Barbara Deese - 2012
    But when a body washes up below the falls, the No Ordinary Women find themselves up to their bifocals in a real mystery. And one of them could be the next victim.

In the Shadow of El Paso


Frank Zafiro - 2012
    Isabella is a beautiful Mexican woman that everyone in town loves, including the hapless Pete and the wealthy, powerful Jack...but most of all, Carl.Part romance, part police procedural, IN THE SHADOW OF EL PASO contains two short stories by Frank Zafiro. Both stories explore love, race, class and the ambiguity that exists on the southern border.

Nobody's Sorry You're Dead


Jeri Green - 2016
    She lives in a small town in the Southern Appalachians where nothing much happens. Nothing much, that is, until murder comes to town. And it isn’t until Hadley is given the job of cleaning out the victim’s house, an incredible hoarder of the first degree, that Hadley begins to unravel the mystery. When it's discovered that Eustian Singlepenny has been poisoned and a friend is arrested for his murder, Hadley dives head first into the muddy maze, searching for clues to the killer’s true identity. A humorous tale full of local color and wit, this is the first book in the NOBODY mystery series.

Mercury Rising


Jerusha Jones - 2016
     Combine the resulting murder investigation with mysterious nighttime kayak trips, politicians run amok, nosy neighbors, and culinary lessons for her blue-haired teenage tagalong, Willow Ratliff, and Eva has her hands full. It doesn’t help that the police detective on the case is handsome, annoying, and more than willing to match her snide remarks with witticisms of his own. Soon, Eva is a walking repository of other people’s secrets. It’s not a role she ever asked for, and it just might prove lethal.

Going Rate for Mr. Right


Jessie Evans - 2016
    That’s why she’s moving forward with her Happily Ever After solo, with the help of a sperm sample from a double PhD holder. At least that was her plan until the sperm bank sold her the wrong sample and she ended up deep in let-me-have-your-baby-batter negotiations with her unnamed donor. Her homecoming to Sapphire Falls is taking a hard turn for the sour, and that’s before her mother’s prize-winning rooster, Sampson the Third, makes it clear he’s out for blood—Yasmin’s blood.The first time Noah Riley visited his cousin, Mason, he fell hard for Sapphire Falls. So he’s not really surprised to find himself falling hard for a Sapphire Falls girl. The moment Yasmin races past him, chased by a demon rooster, his gut utters two words—yes and mine. He and Yasmin share an instant connection, but convincing this wounded woman to let him be her knight in faded blue jeans is harder than he ever imagined. Especially when he discovers she’s the woman who was accidentally given his sperm sample!Can Yasmin and Noah survive the attack of the killer poultry and find their way to you and me and baby makes three the old-fashioned way? Or will the scars from the past keep two destined lovers from their Meant To Be?

Murder at Cookie Lane


Karen Sullivan - 2016
     That sorrow turns into outrage when Detective Jack Bradshaw turns up in her famed cookie store, Cat’s Cookies, and reveals that the Walters family has pinned the blame on her. What's a Southern Belle to do? Now, Cat must follow her gut and the trail of cookie crumbs to clear her name and keep her head above the water. Armed with her craving-inducing cookies, her impulsive nature and her cute cat, Oreo, for company Catherine sets out to solve the crime. But she has to juggle her work, the anger of an entire family, and the suspicions of the police in the process. Follow Cat as the tries to keep a low profile amidst the suspicions as she uses both her brains and intuition, to make sure the killer is caught before it's too late! Click the “buy now with 1 click” button at the top of the page OR Read it for FREE with Kindle Unlimited.

A Christmas Tartan


Paige Shelton - 2016
    Between mugs of hot chocolate and nibbles of gingerbread, Delaney has been given the task of tracking down the provenance of a mysterious box of objects that her boss, Edwin, has recently acquired. In it are various trinkets, but what really catches Delaney's eye is a worn copy of A Christmas Carol, where she also finds an old photo tucked inside. On the back is a name, which leads her to a woman whose granddaughter has gone missing. When it becomes clear that the box might be connected to the missing girl, Delaney is pulled into the intrigue, and takes it upon herself to figure out what really happened—and why.