Book picks similar to
The Abduction of Mary Rose by Joan Hall Hovey
mystery
suspense
fiction
thriller
Death by a Honeybee
Abigail Keam - 2010
They are not cozy or fuzzy, but they do try to be humorous and witty. Sometimes they succeed. Each novel/novella has a stand-alone mystery, but the stories are also about the continuing life saga of a middle-aged Southern woman as she faces many serious obstacles. Josiah faces the world with sarcastic humor and a number of quirky, oddball friends that can only be found in the Southern town of Lexington, the heart of the Kentucky horse country. Some mysteries end with a bang, some are not solved at all and the first one ends with a cliff hanger, but they always entertain in the sassy, humorous and suspenseful world as Josiah goes about sleuthing. The Josiah Reynolds Mystery Series is just like fried chicken . . . finger-licking good! Add some sweet tea and a piece of chocolate pecan pie with a scoop of ice-cream and you got yourself some tasty reading. Description Josiah Reynolds is a beekeeper trying to stay financially afloat by selling honey at the Farmers' Market. She finds her world turned upside down when a man is found dead in her beeyard, only to discover that the victim is her nemesis. The police are calling the brutal death murder and Josiah is the number one suspect! Josiah makes the rounds of quirky characters that can only be found in the lush Bluegrass horse country. Fighting an unknown enemy in the glamorous world of Thoroughbreds, oak-cured bourbon and antebellum mansions, Josiah struggles to uncover the truth in a land that keeps its secrets well. Death By A HoneyBee is the first of an episodic series and as such ends in a cliff-hanger which is crucial to the rest of the series. Attached to HoneyBee is a bonus chapter from Death By Drowning which continues our heroine's story in linear time. I hope you enjoy reading Death By A HoneyBee as much as I have enjoyed writing it. It was a labor of love.
A Beautiful Poison
Lydia Kang - 2017
But with so many victims in her close circle, young socialite Allene questions if the flu is really to blame. All appear to have been poisoned—and every death was accompanied by a mysterious note.Desperate for answers and dreading her own engagement to a wealthy gentleman, Allene returns to her passion for scientific discovery and recruits her long-lost friends, Jasper and Birdie, for help. The investigation brings her closer to Jasper, an apprentice medical examiner at Bellevue Hospital who still holds her heart, and offers the delicate Birdie a last-ditch chance to find a safe haven before her fragile health fails.As more of their friends and family die, alliances shift, lives become entangled, and the three begin to suspect everyone—even each other. As they race to find the culprit, Allene, Birdie, and Jasper must once again trust each other, before one of them becomes the next victim.
Innocent Little Crimes
C.S. Lakin - 2011
But, it's not enough she has everything she desires; for fifteen years she has been obsessively orchestrating payback to five unsuspecting, former schoolmates—“friends” who played a nasty trick on her, and now it’s her turn for revenge.Under the flattering auspices of a cozy college reunion, these unsuspecting classmates are invited to Lila’s private island for a weekend from hell where Lila forces them to play a vicious parlor game—a psychological “Ten Little Indians,” where one by one Lila’s guests are figuratively killed-off. Yet, revenge turns bittersweet when the weekend is over and one guest is dead.A psychological spinoff of Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians" that Publisher's Weekly calls "A page-turning thrill ride that will have readers holding their breaths the whole way through."
Polar Bear Dawn
Lyle Nicholson - 2013
But not with employees of the same company in Oil Camps in the high Arctic and Northern Canada. Two detectives, one from Alaska and one from Canada, are given the case. They find the murders are connected. Now, they have to work together to find out why the victims were silenced. What secrets did their deaths conceal?Frank Mueller, the Alaskan Detective, is close to retirement. He’s been through three marriages and two stints in rehab. He is on probation with the force. He knows the Anchorage Police department has given him this case because they don’t want it investigated fully and there’s no booze in the Arctic oil camps.Bernadette Callahan, the Canadian Detective, is in her mid thirties with a lot to prove on the force. She is Cree Indian and Irish, raised on a native reservation in Northern Canada. She’s been ingrained with the ways of the ‘people,’ by her grandmother that have given her instincts. Her instincts tell her there is something more than four dead people—someone is settling a score. The real crime will happen soon.The oil companies think the deaths are bad for publicity and they want them solved quickly. The detectives are under pressure to come up with a verdict they know is wrong.Callahan begins to unravel a series of unlikely suspects. A Chemistry Professor with a grudge against big oil, a Mexican low life gangster and Wall Street Executives. How are they connected?Something is about to happen to oil supplies in the Arctic. The two Detectives can sense it. They know it’s real—can they convince others to act?
Back on Murder
J. Mark Bertrand - 2010
Roland March is a homicide cop on his way out. But when he's the only one at a crime scene to find evidence of a missing female victim, he's given one last chance to prove himself. Before he can crack the case, he's transferred to a new one that has grabbed the spotlight--the disappearance of a famous Houston evangelist's teen daughter. With the help of a youth pastor with a guilty conscience who navigates the world of church and faith, March is determined to find the missing girls while proving he's still one of Houston's best detectives.
By Reason of Insanity
Randy Singer - 2008
In an effort to aid the investigation, she shares them with her confidential source—a detective working on the case. Catherine's intimate knowledge of the crimes immediately makes her a prime suspect. When scientific evidence corroborates her guilt, she's arrested and charged with murder. As she begins to doubt her own innocence, Catherine turns to Las Vegas lawyer Quinn Newberg, a high-priced specialist in the insanity defense. Quinn believes in justice, Vegas-style. But he doesn't believe in the supernatural, or that Catherine's dreams are anything other than the result of a fractured personality disorder. "Who can understand the human mind?" Quinn knows that insanity cases are unpredictable, but nothing had prepared him for "this!" To win, or even survive, Quinn will need more than his famed legal maneuvering and biting skepticism. On this case, he needs a miracle.
An Invitation to Murder
Leighann Dobbs - 2017
Not only to stop the killing but also to prove her skills at detection to her father and win her dowry and independence. There’s only one catch—she has to take one last matchmaking job to do it. Never mind that the match is impossible, all the better because if she fails, then no one will seek her services again. The job provides the perfect cover especially when her peculiar investigatory techniques are mistaken for unconventional matchmaking attempts. Things would go a lot smoother if she weren’t knee-deep in suspects and thwarted at every turn by a rival matchmaker. But when the killer strikes again, Katherine’s investigation leads down a dangerous path. Too late, she discovers that she has a lot more to lose than her dowry…
Just Add Water
Jinx Schwartz - 2004
Pushing forty and still single, Hetta is the epitome of the b word: bold, bossy, brassy, breezy and brash. After leaving a lifelong swath of failed multi-national affairs in her jet stream, it is no wonder Hetta prefers living with her dog R.J. But old habits die hard, and trolling for triceps is Hetta s hobby. Plying the waterfront in search of Saturday brunch, Hetta s attention is snagged by a parade of passing yacht--especially their predominantly male skippers--and experiences a champagne-induced epiphany: if she had a boat, she could get a man. In hopes a floating Valhalla will overcome an all-time low-water mark in her life, Hetta buys her dream boat in spite of a spectacular ignorance of all things nautical. But a shadowy stalker, an inconvenient body, and Hetta s own self-destructive foibles imperil not only her new life, but a newly- found romance.
Interference
Brad Parks - 2020
That, it turns out, is not quite true: Matt has been prodding the mysteries of the quantum universe, with terrible repercussions for his health. And perhaps even for humanity as a whole.Then, in the midst of another seizure, Matt disappears. When foul play is feared, there is no shortage of suspects. Matt’s research had gained the attention of Chinese competitors, an unscrupulous billionaire, and the Department of Defense, among others.With Matt’s life in clear danger, Brigid sets out to find him. Will Matt be killed before she reaches him, or could the physics that endangered him actually be used to save his life?
Dark Desires
Eve Silver - 2005
Damien Cole. Ignoring the whispered warnings and rumours that he's a man to fear, she takes her position at his eerie estate, where she quickly discovers that nothing is at it seems, least of all her handsome and brooding employer. As Darcie struggles with her fierce attraction to Damien, she must also deal with the blood, the disappearances ... and the murders.With her options dwindling and time running out, Darcie must rely on her instincts as she confronts the man she falling in love with. Is he an innocent and misunderstood man ... or a remorseless killer who prowls the East End streets?Note: All books in the Dark Gothic series can be read as stand-alone novels.
Unleashed
Emily Kimelman - 2011
This left him unconscious on the floor of my home. Amazingly, this bullet did not kill him. Ten years ago I adopted Blue as a present to myself after I broke up with my boyfriend one hot, early summer night with the windows open and the neighborhood listening. The next morning I went straight to the pound in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Articles on buying your first dog tell you never to buy a dog on impulse. They want you to be prepared for this new member of your family, to understand the responsibilities and challenges of owning a dog. Going to the pound because you need something in your life that's worth holding onto is rarely, if ever, mentioned. I asked the man at the pound to show me the biggest dogs they had. He showed me some seven-week-old Rottweiler-German shepherd puppies that he said would grow to be quite large. Then he showed me a six-month-old shepherd that would get pretty big. Then he showed me Blue, the largest dog they had. The man called him a Collie mix and he was stuffed into the biggest cage they had, but he didn't fit. He was as tall as a Great Dane but much skinnier, with the snout of a collie, the markings of a Siberian husky, the ears and tail of a shepherd and the body of a wolf, with one blue eye and one brown. Crouched in a sitting position, unable to lie down, unable to sit all the way up, he looked at me from between the bars, and I fell in love. "He's still underweight," the man in the blue scrubs told me as we looked at Blue. "I'll tell you, lady, he's pretty but he's skittish. He sheds, and I mean sheds. I don't think you want this dog." But I knew I wanted him. I knew I had to have him. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Blue cost me $108. I brought him home, and we lived together for years. He was, for most of our relationship, my only companion. But when I first met Blue, a lifetime ago now, I had family and friends. I worked at a crappy coffeehouse. I was young and lost; I was normal. Back then, at the beginning of this story, before I'd ever seen a corpse, before Blue saved my life, before I felt what it was like to kill someone in cold blood, I was still Joy Humbolt.I'd never even heard the name Sydney Rye.P.S. The dog does not die.**Beware: If you can’t handle a few f-bombs, you can’t handle this series.**
A Journal of Sin
Darryl Donaghue - 2014
A troubled priest is brutally murdered, leaving behind a journal of the resident's confessional secrets; secrets certain people would prefer he took to the grave. As word spreads, the pressure rises as the eyes of the town watch her every move. With no forensic team, no support and a savage killer hiding in a turbulent town, is PC Sarah Gladstone up to the task?
Dark Corners
Liz Schulte - 2011
Waiting. Her husband's violent murder sent her spiraling into a world of grief and isolation, but Ella isn't alone. Who or what is responsible for her husband's death is still with her. Darkness has engulfed the past year of Ella's life. Everyday reality slips a little more between her fingers as she struggles to break free from her memories. She must look deeper into her past as well as the present to discover truth of her husband's homicide. A string of uncanny events takes place and practical explanations run thin as Ella follows the terrifying road to closure. As the past and present come to a head, Ella must decipher who or what the murderer is before it takes her as well.
A Soul to Steal
Rob Blackwell - 2011
Quinn and Kate, two community journalists, race to uncover his identity before a promised bloodbath on Halloween. But to stop him, they may unleash a far darker threat--and pay an unimaginable price. A Soul to Steal has been featured on USA Today and praised by book bloggers and readers alike for its thrilling combination of mystery, suspense and the supernatural. Hailed as an addictivepage-turner with a "fantastic" ending, this Kindle bestseller is the perfect novel for Halloween. A Soul to Steal is the first novel in The Sanheim Chronicles. The sequel, Band of Demons, will be published on Oct. 2, 2012.