Book picks similar to
Alice by Faith Lyon
mystery
cozy-mystery
first-in-series
fiction-mystery-suspense
The Barks & Beans Cafe Mystery Series: Books 1-3
Heather Day Gilbert - 2020
NO FILTER2. ICED OVER3. FAIR TRADEWelcome to the Barks & Beans Cafe, a quaint place where folks pet shelter dogs while enjoying a cup of java...and where murder sometimes pays a visit.Join siblings Macy and Bo Hatfield as they sniff out crimes in their hometown...with plenty of dogs along for the ride! The Barks & Beans Cafe cozy mystery series features a small town, an amateur sleuth, and no swearing or graphic scenes.
Potions and Predicaments
Morgan Vale - 2020
The arrogant new girl Starla has it out for her and her mom’s more interested in her (lack of) love life. Things go from bad to worse when Kat finds her shop ransacked and rarest items stolen.Oh, and one more thing: Starla turns up dead.Suddenly the prime suspect in a murder investigation, will Kat and her magic be enough to clear her name? Or will she have to enlist the town’s most notorious (and handsome) informant to uncover the truth?Joined by her bubbly best friend Pepper and her familiar Albus, she'll have to use every trick and tincture at her disposal. There’s a killer on the loose, and she might be next.If you like humorous paranormal cozy mysteries full of snarky cats and sassy witches, then you’ll devour Potions and Predicaments, the first full-length novel in a fun new series. These are clean reads with no swearing, gore, or adult situations, so curl up and enjoy!
Beach Body Boogie (A Pepper Ryan Thriller Book)
Timothy Fagan - 2018
A bizarre plot to kill the President. A cop with one chance to save his reputation… and his country.
"An entertaining and compulsively readable thriller--on the beach or anywhere." -- Kirkus Reviews
Police Officer Pepper Ryan returns home to Cape Cod for his last shot at redemption. Dumb move? He can never measure up to the ghost of his brother who died a good cop. But when a Secret Service agent’s corpse shows up in a clambake pit with a note threatening the President’s life, Ryan sees his chance to erase the past and prevent the assassination… Desperate to clear his name and protect the POTUS, Ryan confronts a tidal wave of trouble. Running afoul of mob hitmen, wacko anti-government groups, and a billionaire’s conniving daughter, he races to unravel the devious plot.Can Ryan find the assassin before it’s too late, or are his future and the President's life doomed? Beach Body Boogie is the first book in the humorous Pepper Ryan mystery-thriller series. If you like everyman heroes, thrilling twists, and laugh-out-loud moments, you’ll love Timothy Fagan’s raucous tale. Buy Beach Body Boogie to join the chase today!
A VERY MODEL MURDER: An Inspector Rudolph Riley Mystery
Jack G. Hills - 2017
But to add further angst to the growing list of gruesome killings is his boss’ decision to re-open the cold case involving the disappearance of a school boy in what has become an annual test of endurance… The Ten Tors Race. Unsure why a twenty year old case has suddenly come to the top of his in tray, his suspicions are aroused further when the murder victims all appear to have been school friends of the missing boy. Adamant that coincidences don’t exist in police work Riley sets about trying to find the link between Sam Haldane’s disappearance and the recent killings, other than the obvious connection of friendship. Added to his troubles, is the presence in the area of a fugitive, who has his own ideas about revenge and justice and an unscrupulous developer, who wants to buy the land surrounding his farm and turn it into a theme park, with scant regard for the history or the people who were thrown off their land prior to D Day. With the disappearance of the schoolboy and the final showdown all set around the infamous Fox Tor Mire, which was allegedly the inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle’s Grimpen Mire in the Hound of the Baskervilles, the murderer is finally revealed but not without one final twist of the plot. But in all the blackness and soul searching there is one ray of brightness for Riley, and its one that will bring him a little closer to his brother and shows a different side to the curmudgeonly detective.
Bones & Boxes
Anna Drake - 2015
Recently widowed and new to to town, she also must find her place among a village of strangers. That effort is how she discovers her first dead body. It also launches her into her first murder investigation. But her effort to track a killer gets muddled as ghost and cat compete for her attention. Then there’s her daughter, Megan. How is Hetty to track a killer without tipping her off? Finally, mix in a clever killer, and Hetty finds herself truly challenged in this lighthearted, mystery novella
Center Stage
Denise Grover Swank - 2016
Ten years ago, Magnolia Steele fled Franklin, Tennessee after an incident that left her with hazy memories and a horror of the place where she had been born and bred. Though her abrupt departure destroyed most of her treasured relationships, she vowed never to return . . . until she has no choice. When Magnolia’s breakout acting role in a Broadway musical ends in disgrace, there’s only one place she can go. She finds herself on her momma’s porch, suitcase in hand. Drama follows Magnolia around like a long lost friend. She reluctantly agrees to help her momma’s catering company at a party for a country music star, only to find herself face-to-face with a sleazy music agent from her past. After a very public spat, Magnolia not only finds him dead but herself center stage in the police’s investigation. Now she must scramble to prove her innocence, relying on the help of acquaintances old and new. But the longer Magnolia stays in Franklin, the more she remembers about the big bad incident that chased her away. The past might not be finished with her yet, and what she doesn’t remember could be her biggest danger.
He Needed Killing
Bill Fitts - 2012
What was I doing here? Last week I was just a university employee who had taken early retirement. Now a man was dead and I was in the thick of it. People were counting on me to figure out what had happened—and why. What kind of retirement was this?
Angela Cray Gets Real: (An Angela Cray Mystery, Book 1)
Dara Carr - 2018
After coming within air-kissing distance of a felony charge, Angela is determined to make something of her life. When a sympathetic neighbor offers her work, Angela jumps at the opportunity. She figures it won’t be hard to track down a missing fiancé last seen with two Lady Gaga lookalikes. After all, one of her superpowers is finding badly behaved men. But the trail of the runaway groom has more twists than a bride’s updo. And when Angela uncovers secrets that people will kill to keep hidden, she has to decide the price she’s willing to pay for success. Angela will need to call upon all her charm and cunning—and the deities of her ancient Samoan ancestors—to make sure this professional growth opportunity doesn’t kill her first. Praise: "...An entertaining, unconventional mystery that is difficult to put down. Dara Carr’s Angela Cray Gets Real is a mystery with a decidedly unconventional detective: Angela Cray is broke, living with her mother, desperately in need of a job, and entirely lacking in detective experience. Her story of venturing into this new line of work is stylish, absorbing, and laugh-out-loud funny."—Foreword Clarion Reviews Finalist for a Freddie Award for Writing Excellence from the Mystery Writers of America/Florida chapter.
Facade (Iris Reid Mystery #2)
Susan Cory - 2016
One of the girl's last visits was to Xander DeWitt, Harvard's handsome guest starchitect, who denies that they ever met. Only Iris can provide an alibi that will allow DeWitt to keep his perfect life, but can she actually vouch for his innocence? KIRKUS says: "Cory gleefully breezes through subplots and twists with a resourceful protagonist at the helm...Supporting characters are outstanding...the ending is bound to surprise."