Book picks similar to
Grim and Bear It by Paula Lester
paranormal
series-beginning
mystery
arc
Escape From Danger (Escape from Reality Cozy Mystery, #1)
Courtney McFarlin - 2020
She never thought she’d discover something shocking about her own past. She never dreamed she’d have an opportunity to fall in love. She never expected she’d soon be fighting for her life after getting too close to the truth.After the unexpected death of her father, Shay moves back home and discovers her father left her a legacy to live out her dreams. Her new business is set to open in just a few weeks, and she needs to figure out why there’s a dead guy in one of the newest escape rooms. Join Shay as she reconnects with her best friends from childhood, tries to solve a murder, and locks horns with the attractive detective assigned to the case. Sparks fly and danger lurks where Shay least expects it.
A Medium's Birthday Surprise
Chariss K. Walker - 2018
An optimistic and positive young woman, Becky determines to make the best of a difficult situation in the small town of Asheville, North Carolina where the smallest detail is noticed and everyone knows everything about everyone else.Becky deals with a lot of departed spirits in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Such a job can get rather hectic at times. Misunderstood ghosts can create a lot of sticky problems for the living and a community such as hers.Used to dealing with ghosts on a daily basis, Becky is not easily surprised. However, on her 26th birthday, Becky gets the biggest shock she’s had in the past ten years and it’s a doozy.
Cupcakes and Crime
April Browne - 2020
Sophia Bell, owner of Mama Ginger's Bakery and a not very skilled kitchen witch, is hired to cater the highly anticipated event.But the job is no icing on the cake, especially when she winds up as the prime suspect in the murder investigation. Her mother's legacy on the line, Sophia launches her own investigation. With the help of her southern assistant, some honesty magic, and two fluffy dogs, Sophia uncovers a secret she never thought possible.A murderer is living in Gold Valley, and Sophia is next on the list.
A Little Bit Witchy
A.A. Albright - 2018
But seeing as she's currently writing classified ads and obituaries, it would be foolish not to give it a shot.Riddler's Edge might be a small town, but it's definitely not boring. The train hasn't even pulled into the station, and already a woman has been murdered.According to the grumpy but gorgeous Detective Quinn, the passenger's death wasn't a murder at all. He insists that Bathsheba Brookes died of a nut allergy. Aisling doesn't believe it for a minute. She intends to discover the real story - a difficult challenge, considering the town's inhabitants seem to be keeping some very big secrets.Riddler's Edge is a town where people wear sunglasses after dark, and creatures howl in the woods. It's also a town where, despite the strange occurrences, Aisling feels right at home.But even if she gets to the bottom of Bathsheba's death, Aisling might not get to be the Daily Riddler's newest reporter. There's one final, mysterious test that she must pass - a test carried out by the newspaper's owner. And Aisling suspects he might be looking for more than just a journalist ...
Risky Relics
E.Z. Pennington - 2017
The strange thing is that Pauline had been gone for years, simply disappearing from the face of the earth. Then one day, Becky received a letter via her aunt's lawyer, telling her she'd inherited an antique shop. She wasn't a very impulsive person, but Becky took up the offer, packed up her life and moved to Rose Hollow. Rose Hollow was a tiny town in Maine, wildly wealthy and full of strange residents: there was always something going on. An uncomfortable chill runs just below the surface, belying a community that plays for keeps but plays it closer to the chest. The residents are nice, but nosy and Becky feels sort of out of place after she moves in and re-opens the store that that been closed for years. Then, after one late night, a dead body turns up in Becky's store, and it is up to her to find out who did it or risk losing her store and the new life she's just begun! This Cozy Mystery Novel is packed with quirky characters, rousing romps and a whodunnit that wraps up cleanly. No cliffhangers, no curse words and no obscenity.
The Silence of the Elves
Meg Muldoon - 2016
FREE for Kindle Unlimited subscribers. If there’s one thing that every elf in the North Pole knows, it’s this: Never get on Mrs. Claus’s bad side. Never. Ever. Ever... After getting reassigned from the North Pole by a jealous Mrs. Claus, misfit elf Holly Hopewell is sent to work in the worst place imaginable: The North Pole Emporium Department store in Mistletoe, Oregon. The elves call it Mistletoe Row: a place so devoid of joy and Christmas spirit, that many a curly-toed folk has lost their poor mind working there. But just when Holly thinks things can’t get any worse, the store’s manager, who also happens to be Mrs. Claus’s nephew, is found murdered in his office. And good-natured Holly Hopewell finds herself as the prime suspect in the local police’s investigation. Will Holly be sent to a row of a different sort for a crime she didn’t commit? Or will the handsome yet mysterious homicide detective assigned to the investigation find the real murderer before the gumdrops hit the fan for Holly?
The Naughty List
L.A. Kelley - 2013
Christmas had always been a magical time for Rosalie, but not this year. The new manager introduces idiotic rules, steals the affections of the cute temp Santa, and forces employees into butt-ugly elf hats. Then Rosalie meets a real E.L.F. (Elemental Life Form) named David and gets lassoed into a desperate hunt for the stolen Naughty and Nice List. Now the couple must stay one step ahead of the hell hounds, dodge a murderous invisible demon, and retrieve the List before the world tumbles into chaos.
Planting Pearls
Virginia King - 2021
Are there dark forces at work and is a child in danger? Or is something else going on?As Selkie gets caught up in something that’s way beyond her skillset, the disturbing events not only hint at secrets buried in her own past, but she unwittingly makes herself a target for the man she’s fleeing from.
Sugar And Spice And Not So Nice
Janet McNulty - 2012
She moved into a furnished apartment with her friend Jackie only to find that it already had a tenant: the ghost of a girl who was murdered a year earlier. Now it is up to Mellow to not only discover who the murderer is, but to prove it as well.With the help of the ghost Rachel, Mellow sets out to solve the year old mystery. She soon finds out that she may have taken on more than she can handle. Pursued by someone who wants the identity of the killer to remain a secret, Mellow will have to use all her resources to outwit him and help the spirit of Rachel move on.
One for Sorrow
Jen Pretty - 2019
Now I have some kind of extra special powers, a really annoying new pet bird, and everyone wants me to raise murder victims-- something I swore I would never do again. But, when evil lurking in the shadows starts jumping out to make itself known, I can't exactly keep turning my back on humanity.Day one of my new life sucks, but a hot vampire might make it suck a bit less. Err, whatever.
Mystic Springs Box Set: Books 1-4
Mona Marple - 2019
Welcome to Mystic Springs, where things definitely go bump in the night...
Read the first four books in the popular Mystic Springs paranormal cozy mystery series in this box set!If you like ghosts, witches, mediums and more mixed in with your cozy mystery murders, you'll love Mystic Springs!So come along and join the fun.We're dying to meet you.
Death & Decluttering
Nancy McGovern - 2020
From her life as a busy reporter to her brawling, coffee-obsessed Italian family, there’s nothing she loves more than her messy, little life. Then the weird, slightly out-of-this-world Aurora Sparks arrives, whose life seems to revolve around creating order out of chaos. The two of them have somehow ended up as roommates in the small Upstate New York town of Bent River, and the old adage that says “opposite attract” couldn’t be further from the truth! Sparks fly & tempers flare as each young lady tries to deal with the other’s eccentricities while not compromising their own values. Much easier said than done. But when a man is found dead and Joy’s father is the prime suspect, the two must put aside their differences if they want to help him. They soon find that Joy’s tough, no-nonsense demeanor and Aurora’s ordered, structured nature perfectly complement each other when it comes to ferreting out clues. And thankfully so, as the danger threatens to escalate unless they can sort through the facts and solve this mystery in a hurry! Death & Decluttering is the first cozy mystery adventure in Nancy McGovern’s new series, Sparks & Joy!
Witch Dust (Witch Series #1)
Marilyn Messik - 2017
Coerced into restoring her depressed Mother to the bosom of a family Sandra never knew existed, she’s sucked into a situation that even for her is unnerving.
From being without a single relative, she suddenly acquires several she’d rather do without. Ophelia, it appears, has not been entirely honest about any number of things. There’s no doubt in Sandra’s mind, the sooner she puts as much distance as possible between herself, the newly discovered nearest and dearest with their peculiar tendencies and failing hotel business, the happier she’s going to b.There are just a few things to sort first including a possessed chef; a hanged housemaid; a fly-on-the-wall documentary and a doppelgänger. Things slide swiftly from bad to farce and then get a hell of a lot darker. One minute she’s saving the family business the next, battling to save their lives. Turns out, some darknesses, once buried, are best left undisturbed.
The Dessert Corpse
Tracey Quinn - 2018
The Breezy Spoon is a big success, and when hunky and flirtatious fireman Mark Adams offers to rent Dani his downstairs apartment, things are really looking up.... until a dead body with a chocolate pie smashed in his face shows up in the dumpster behind the diner! Trying to get to the bottom of the mystery isn't easy when dealing with the quirky and eccentric residents of East Spoon Creek City, and it gets even harder when the body keeps disappearing and popping up around town! There's not a moment to lose when dark secrets threaten to come to light, and Dani discovers that one of her customers just might be a serial killer!
Bait & Switch
A.L. Tyler - 2018
Seven years ago a man was imprisoned for crimes he didn't commit. Three years ago Jette Driftwood decided to steal magic and break him out. One year ago she discovered that the magic she stole was going to kill her... Jette, talented witch with synesthesia and the Bleak's most wanted, is hiding in plain sight among humans. She's working in an evidence room at her local police station. After two years on the run from the cohort of thieves she cheated, things are finally starting to settle down. She can finally get back to her plan: using the magic she stole to free her accused father. Then a killer shows up. With one man dead in the town where she's hiding, Jette is the prime suspect when an attractive vampire shows up to collect the bounty on her head. To save her life, she'll make a deal: use her unique talents to help bring down a murderer, and maybe win a chance to avoid her execution. But things aren't that simple, because the body count is rising. The magic Jette stole is killing her faster than anticipated, and she has unfinished business. Only death can stop her now...