Book picks similar to
Halloween Hayride Murder by Linnea West


mystery
cozy-mystery
cozy-mysteries
halloween

Inn Over Her Head


Dixie Davis - 2018
     Lori Keyes is excited to settle into her perfect new life: a bed and breakfast owner in the sleepy resort town of Dusky Cove, North Carolina. Sure, her first guest is a little rude and hateful, but that just comes with the hospitality territory sometimes, right? Lori steels herself to endure one bad guest—until that guest turns up dead. The police investigation says it’s murder, and the evidence points to Lori. She’s instantly the prime suspect. Lori digs into the guest’s failing marriage and into rivalries in town, trying to figure out who could have killed her. To keep her dream job, her perfect life and the inn over her head, Lori will have to prove that she’s innocent—or she’ll go to jail for a murder she didn’t commit. A new cozy mystery series set in a Southern small town, featuring a historic inn! Read more of the Dusky Cove B&B Cozy Mystery series: 1. Inn Over Her Head 2. Inn Trouble 3. Inn Vain 4. Inn Dire Straits 5. Inn Danger (early 2019) Get recipes and a tourist's guide to the prettiest little town all up and down the North Carolina coast in the author's email group--offer inside!

Halloween Hijinks


Kathi Daley - 2013
    With the help of her best friends, Levi and Ellie, and her dog Charlie, she delves into a mystery as complex and multilayered as the feelings she develops for her ex-nemesis Zak Zimmerman. Halloween Hijinks is the perfect recipe, combining holiday fun with a touch of humor, a pinch of romance, and a dollop of murder. Zoe's Treasure Hunt: Zoe and Charlie meet a mysterious stranger at the hospital while doing therapy dog rounds. The man is in town to look for a 70 year old treasure. When he is unable to continue the journey into the past himself, Zoe and Charlie take over the quest with the help of Pappy and a few of his friends.

Marigolds and Murder


London Lovett - 2017
    With her pet crow Kingston and a tabby cat named Nevermore, she is settling right into her new life in the small coastal town of Port Danby. With a flower shop opening soon and a full cast of quirky neighbors and friends, her new digs are exactly what she's been looking for. Away from the hectic hustle and bustle of the city Lacey has found peace and happiness. However, her heightened sense of smell proves to be of use once again when a Port Danby neighbor turns up dead. Lacey finds herself caught up in an unexpected murder investigation alongside the handsome local detective, James Briggs. She’s determined to find the killer and solve the murder mystery before any more bodies turn up.Book 1 of the Port Danby Cozy Mystery Series. 1. Marigolds and Murder2. Carnations and Chaos (October 15, 2017)3. Mistletoe and Mayhem (November 2017)Full-length novel ~50,000 words.

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?

Death on the Danube: A New Year's Murder in Budapest


Jennifer S. Alderson - 2019
    Her luck has run sour for going on a decade, ever since she got fired from her favorite job as an investigative reporter. When her fresh start in Seattle doesn’t work out as planned, Lana ends up unemployed and penniless on Christmas Eve. Dotty Thompson, her landlord and the owner of Wanderlust Tours, is also in a tight spot after one of her tour guides ends up in the hospital, leaving her a guide short on Christmas Day. When Dotty offers her a job leading the tour group through Budapest, Hungary, Lana jumps at the chance. It’s the perfect way to ring in the new year and pay her rent! What starts off as the adventure of a lifetime quickly turns into a nightmare when Carl, her fellow tour guide, is found floating in the Danube River. Was it murder or accidental death? Suspects abound when Lana discovers almost everyone on the tour had a bone to pick with Carl. But Dotty insists the tour must go on, so Lana finds herself trapped with nine murder suspects. When another guest turns up dead, Lana has to figure out who the killer is before she too ends up floating in the Danube… Introducing Lana Hansen, tour guide, reluctant amateur sleuth, and star of the Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mystery Series. Join Lana as she leads tourists and readers to fascinating cities around the globe on intriguing adventures that, unfortunately for Lana, often turn deadly.

A Ghost for Christmas


J.D. Winters - 2014
    What she wasn’t expecting was finding a new guy… or that dead body on the doorstep! Could her sweet aunt really be involved? Or was it someone else near and dear to her? And then there was the handsome ghost from her Hawaiian childhood. Not what she'd bargained for – but sometimes you just have to deal with what the cat dragged in. Will she figure that out before the murderer finds a way to silence her forever? Yummy recipes for Hawaiian style cooking in each book – Chicken Hekka in this one. The books in this series have minor themes that run through them all, but each story can stand on its own.

Red Picket Fences


Daphne McLean - 2019
    As a stay-at-home mom, the only danger she comes across is in the true-crime novels she devours at night.But when a house fire results in the death of her two neighbors, Jennifer discovers that things are not always what they seem.By poking her nose in where it doesn’t belong, she puts herself up against a local police chief eager to close the case, a husband desperate to keep her safe, and a killer who wants her out of the way.This cozy mystery begs the question, “How well do you know your neighbors?”Get your copy today!Book One: Red Picket FencesBook Two: Body in the BegoniasBook Three: Death at a Dinner PartyBook Four: Death on Rugosa Bay

Miss Spelled


Morgana Best - 2015
    Her boyfriend dumps her when she inadvertently gives him food poisoning. Her workplace, a telecommunications center, fires all their staff as they are outsourcing offshore, and she is evicted due to smoke damage resulting from her failed attempts at baking. Amelia thinks her luck has changed when she inherits her estranged aunt’s store, two mysterious cats, and beautiful Victorian house.Yet has Amelia jumped out of the frying pan into the fire? To Amelia's dismay, the store is a cake store, and she discovers that her aunt was a witch. To add to the mix, the house has secrets of its own. When a man is murdered in the cake store, will Amelia be able to cook up a way to solve the crime? Or will her spells prove as bad as her baking? All Morgana Best books are clean cozy mysteries.

The Way the Cookie Crumbles: Ginger Burnet Cozy Mysteries Prequel


Clementine Moore - 2021
    Recently returned from big city life, and in an attempt to reconnect with her roots and restart her life, she takes up the job of school baker at the esteemed Chiswick Park Academy. Further turning her back on her recent past and following her true aspirations as an amateur baker, stars seem to finally align in Ginger’s life.When a mysterious invitation to a bake-off challenge for a new TV reality show comes up, Ginger takes the opportunity to further cement her presence in the small town. She still has a month until her new job starts, so what harm could possibly be done?As the contestants gather at the highly gated Manor, things take a bloody turn, and all of a sudden ten strangers will need to work together to get out of their host’s murdering sight.Can Ginger solve the mystery and save her life in time? Will her natural instincts protect her from the mansion’s death traps?Find out in this page-turning mystery full of wild turns and family secrets that will rock Little Chiswick to the core, and announce the arrival of a new amateur sleuth in town!*If you like quirky characters, witty dialogue, heart-wrenching twists and turns, and lots of mystery, then you’ll love “The Way the Cookie Crumbles”

Murder on the Hill


Kennedy Chase - 2014
    Until now she’s been know as many things: Thief, Bandit, The girl dressed like a ninja… When she’s offered an investigative position at the Silvers Finders Agency, she decides it’s time to go straight. But when a jewelry store break-in she’s investigating turns into a murder case, Harley will need all her skills to find the killer and avoid the attentions of a Russian crime boss. With the help of her new friends, and some from her underworld past, Harley faces a race against the clock. She’ll need to uncover the secret behind the artifact left at the jewelry store if she’s to catch the murderer. If she fails, it won’t just be the job she loses — but her life.

Mind Your Manors


CeeCee James - 2018
    She's got a lot on her plate, trying to figure out her crazy, stubborn family, the hidden secrets that caused her grandfather's estrangement from her dad, and starting out as a real estate agent. Throw in a dead body found in what used to be the town's "royalty" family manor, and she's neck deep in a mystery.She may be sweet, but she's pretty stubborn herself.As Stella's curiosity leads her from one town resident to the next, a dramatic tale of family secrets starts to appear, but is she getting too close to the truth? A scary car chase in the dark has her nerves on edge, but she won't give up until she finds out who the skeleton once was. She's so close... but someone... maybe more than one person... will do anything to stop her.

The Case of the Flashing Fashion Queen


N.L. Wilson - 2011
    firm where she's worked for years, Dix Dodd has hung out her own shingle at the ripe age of 40. There are plenty of cheating husbands to go around, and Dix has a knack for busting them. Problem is, it doesn't always pay so well. Conscious that the guys back at the old firm are laying bets about how soon she'll come crawling back, she figures she's got six months to make a go of it.The going gets even tougher when she hires Dylan Foreman. But when he told her about getting fired from his law firm and disbarred for putting common decency before the firm's interests, she hired him on the spot. In addition to being smart, he's gorgeous enough to remind her she's a woman. And at 28, young enough to make her feel like a total cougar.Things start looking up when Dix gets hired by millionaire businessman Ned Weatherby's wife Jennifer Weatherby, to tail Ned 24/7 for a week, for a cool ten grand. Easy-peasy, right? Wrong! The job lands Dix in the middle of a murder investigation - with her as the prime suspect and her arch-enemy Detective Richard Head (a.k.a., Dickhead, one of the cheating husbands she'd nailed) gunning for her.Dix will need all her ingenuity, as well as the help of Dylan and her oddball cast of supporters to extricate herself from this one.

The Sweet Smell of Murder


Cindy Bell - 2015
    She is planning on using the time off to get over her messy divorce and she is looking forward to spending time with her much-loved grandmother and relaxing making chocolates and anything chocolaty. But then… the delivery driver for her grandmother’s chocolate shop is found murdered. The detectives investigating the crime have a prime suspect, Ally’s high school sweetheart, Brent. Ally believes that Brent would never murder anyone, so with the help of her trusted feline friend, Peaches, she tries to uncover the truth. The search for the killer leads Ally straight into the line of danger. Will she be able find the murderer before she becomes a victim herself? Triple Chocolate Muffin Recipe Included!

Footprints in the Frosting


Laura Pauling - 2015
    When footprints in the frosting lead to a body facedown in one of her cheesecakes, Holly becomes a prime suspect.With her opening day delayed, Holly deals with a nosy no-good reporter and the local cop, the handsome Officer Trinket, as she puts her sleuthing skills to the test to save her business and her name. With the help of her dog, Muffins, she needs to find the real murderer, before the killer looks to frost someone else.

Death in Room 7


K.J. Emrick - 2015
     Adelle Powers, or Dell as she is known around the town of Lakeshore, is living her dream life. She and her best friend Rosie Ryan are owners of the wonderfully quirky Pine Lake Inn, a very popular Australian tourist destination. Running her own inn is the only thing she has ever wanted to do and it is her pride and joy. So when Dell's friend Jessica calls to say she's coming for a visit Dell is ecstatic and can't wait to show it off to her friend. Surprisingly Dell finds that Rosie is less than thrilled about the visit and can't understand why. They were all such good friends, or so she thought. It would seem that Rosie may know something about Jessica's past that Dell doesn't. Some sort of secret that Rosie is reluctant to share with her. When Jessica is found dead in her room the following day it would appear that her secret past may have finally caught up with her. Horrified by the death of her good friend in her very own inn, Dell soon gets drawn into the mystery. And things take a turn for the very weird when Jessica's ghost visits her, more than once, directing Dell to clues that have been overlooked by a very incompetent police investigation. Soon Dell finds her own life in peril as she gets further into the mystery surrounding her friends life, and death.