Book picks similar to
A Dash of Peach by Wendy Meadows


cozy-mysteries
mystery
cozy-mystery
cozy

How to Bake a Murder


K.J. Emrick - 2016
    Cookie, call for an ambulance.” Definitely not the words you want to hear when a man has just collapsed in the middle of your bakery. A few minutes is all it took for Karen 'Cookie' Williams to be thrust into the center of a nightmare. A customer was dead and she was considered a suspect. Her beloved shop was a crime scene. Things weren't looking so great for her. If you add in the strange figure that was lurking around at night, the prominent businessman who was harassing her to sell up and an unhappy granddaughter who was spending the summer with her you had a recipe for disaster. Can Cookie work out who killed her customer and save her bakery from ruin before she becomes a victim herself?

Raining Men and Corpses


Anne R. Tan - 2014
    Raina Sun is a typical graduate student trying to keep her head above water as the bills roll in from a lawsuit disputing an inheritance from her dysfunctional family. Then her dashing college adviser cons her out of several months of rent. Her quest to get her money back sets into motion a streak of bad luck. First, she finds the dead body of an ex-lover and becomes the prime suspect to his murder. The only man she ever loved reappears as the lead detective to the case and wants to reignite their passion (or at least he’s sending out smoke signals). Her life careens out of control as her best friend does whatever it takes to get the inside scoop for the town’s newspaper. And her grandma moves into Raina’s postage-stamp-sized apartment, dragging a red suitcase and trouble. The family secret Raina has been running away from is now staring at her across the dining room table every morning.Raina must figure out how to extract herself before things get dicey. There is no place for an amateur when it comes to murder. The eclectic cast of characters in this amateur sleuth mystery will have you scratching your head and laughing until the end.

The Buzz Kill


Katherine Hayton - 2018
    Instead, after just one day, a dead body is discovered nearby covered in bee stings. Now the police believe that a killer used her bees as a murder weapon. Desperate to keep her hives safe from destruction, and the bees safe from police officers on the hunt for evidence, Alice sets out to solve the murder. Between an argumentative wife, a neighbor embroiled in property disputes, and a potential stalker, she's soon in over her head. As if having a potential murder conviction hanging over her hives wasn't enough of a worry, Alice's dog Chester is also feeling under the weather. Trouble just seems to be making a beeline to Alice's door. The Honeybee Mysteries are quick 1-2 hour reads perfect for filling in time waiting for appointments, commuting to work, or when your significant other insists on watching the show that makes you roll your eyes! The stories contain no swearing, no cliffhangers, and no graphic scenes but are chockablock full of bees.

Halloween Moon


Kathi Daley - 2020
    She’d come to find an explanation for the dreams that haunted her after the death of the cop who’d both rescued and raised her. And she’d come to identify the family she couldn’t remember but knew in her heart she’d once belonged to.Ainsley hoped that by finding these answers, she’d also find healing. She hoped that once she’d resurrected the memories buried deep in her mind, she’d find peace.The Cottage at Gooseberry Bay is a series about, not only finding answers, but finding hope.It’s a series about family and friendship.It’s a series about shared holidays, festivals, and celebrations.It’s a series about shared heartbreak and hardship.And it’s a series about the bond that can be forged amongst strangers when tragedy binds two or more individuals with a common goal.In book 1 in the series, Ainsley arrives in Gooseberry Bay only to find there will be no easy answers as she’d so naively hoped. Unwilling to leave before she gets what she came for, she rents a cottage on the sea where she and her dogs, Kai and Kallie, can settle in and wait.Her first night in town she meets a young woman who is later found dead. The local sheriff has labeled the death of this young woman a suicide based on a text message she’d sent before she died. But Ainsley, who’d spoken to the victim only hours before the text was sent, isn’t quite as sure of the easy answer the sheriff would like everyone to believe.An investigative journalist by trade and cops daughter by upbringing, Ainsley never had been the sort to walk away from unanswered questions, so with the help of new friends she meets along the way, she initiates a parallel investigation which seems to indicate the sheriff’s real motivation in trying to sell the suicide angle to the community is to protect the interests of a very rich and very powerful man.

Makeup & Murder


Stephanie Damore - 2017
    When she’s attacked inside a client’s home and wakes to find a dead body, she gives up the safety of selling lipsticks for the dangerous role of detective. The dead man was her top client’s husband, and it turns out he used his money to buy more than happiness. With suspects piling up, a killer on the loose and her own life threatened, Ziva vows to solve the case and digs her high heels in even deeper. The last thing she expected is finding another dead body – or befriending the murderer!

Witch Doggone Killer?


Paula Lester - 2020
    Winter lasts for up to nine months there, and the biggest event of the year is the summer dog show. People come from all over to attend. It brings money and prestige to town.But when Willow’s landlord is poisoned to death, she quickly finds herself in a tricky situation. People are canceling their appointments, afraid when they learn someone was murdered in her clinic. And one of her employees is acting super strange.Then she’s asked to take over the dead man’s spot as a dog show judge, and she gets even more nervous. After all, she’s the town veterinarian, so is it even okay for her to be a judge? And, oh yeah, she’s a witch who can talk to animals, but only her elderly aunt is in the know on that point.Before long, Willow is in way over her head. She has to learn the rules for judging the dog show, save her business from financial ruin, and juggle a couple of potential love interests.But that’s not the worst of it. Willow is pretty sure she may be on the short list for the killer’s next victim. Now, she’s racing the clock to catch the murderer and finds herself having to choose between revealing her secret and possibly losing her life.

Paramour Bay Mysteries Books 1-3


Kennedy Layne - 2019
    USA Today Bestselling Author Kennedy Layne brings you the first Paramour Bay Mysteries boxset that includes cozy tales of magical tea blends and bewitching characters! This enchanting boxset includes the first three books in the Paramour Bay Mysteries: Magical Blend Bewitching Blend Enchanting Blend So brew yourself up a cup of tea and dive into a world of magical chaos!

Death by Chowdah


Donna Walo Clancy - 2017
    He secretly purchases the local lighthouse and surrounding property to open The Shipwreck Cafe. Rich in history, the lighthouse is rumored to be haunted by multiple ghosts and hiding a buried treasure worth millions. Robbie, Jay's younger brother, surfs by day and tends bar at the cafe by night. He doesn't like ghosts, but it's okay, because they don't like him either. Stormy, an abandoned golden retriever who has been living at the lighthouse, is adopted by Jay. Together, they move in to the keeper's cottage. Two murders in as many weeks transpire in Anchor Point. Who is killing the locals and why? Jay, Robbie, and Roland Knowles, one of the ghosts, must work together to bring answers and peace back to their beloved town.

Limoncello Yellow


Traci Andrighetti - 2014
    But Franki soon learns that solving crime in The Big Easy is no Bourbon Street party. Case in point, her first investigation involves the murder of a beautiful boutique manager who was strangled with a cheap yellow scarf, and her primary suspect is her client. When Franki’s not on the clock, she hopes to get cozy with a handsome bank executive named Bradley, but her meddlesome Sicilian nonna has other ideas about who she should date. As Mardi Gras approaches and the boutique mystery deepens, Franki must decipher the odd ramblings of a voodoo priestess, or she could end up single—and the next strangling victim. Limoncello Yellow is book 1 in the Franki Amato Mysteries, but it can be read as a standalone. If you like zany characters and laugh-out-loud humor with a splash of suspense, then you’ll drink up this fun series by USA Today Bestselling Author Traci Andrighetti. Cheers!

Family Matters


Laurinda Wallace - 2013
    An unsolved hit-and-run accident claimed her cousin’s life 20 years ago. Dissatisfied with the seemingly lax police investigation, she begins her own. Her friends and family in the rural village of Deer Creek warn her to leave the case alone. And then death strikes again. Although she’s overwhelmed with running her new dog business, and grief stricken over the recent of loss of her husband and unborn child, she’s determined to unravel the mystery of her cousin’s untimely death. With Haley, her intrepid Labrador by her side, Gracie follows a dangerous trail of clues to find a killer.

Candy Coated Murder


Kate Bell - 2017
    But when the most hated woman in town is murdered, the police start looking in my direction and I have to wonder if moving home was a good idea. In Pumpkin Hollow, Halloween is celebrated all year long. Mia Jordan has just moved home after being gone ten years, and when she discovers a neighbor has been murdered, it casts a shadow on the town's year-round Halloween theme. Can Mia find the killer and save the town's Halloween celebration before it's too late?