Book picks similar to
A Troll Walks into a Bar by Douglas Lumsden
fantasy
urban-fantasy
mystery
fantasy-urban
Red Hot Steele
Alex P. Berg - 2014
She's a powerful forensic psychic, and she's got sass oozing out of her boots.In a debut case teeming with fire mages, foundries, and a dead guy who's crispier than bacon, it's pretty clear Daggers isn't the only one getting a heaping helping of RED HOT STEELE.***This is book one of the Daggers & Steele mystery series. Book two, COLD HARD STEELE, is now available. Search for it above or use the following link: smarturl.it/chsamebook
Lost Souls ParaAgency and the Three Witches of Burberry
K.M. Waller - 2018
The Assignment—stop witches from creating magical chaos in the small town of Burberry, South Carolina. There’s no dead body… yet. And there won’t be if Lex Dimas takes this assignment. Forced to take on the occasional paranormal case by his manipulative grandfather, he’d prefer to spend his days striking deals in the boardroom. Instead, he’s stuck in small town Burberry searching out witches who intend to harm the unsuspecting townspeople. Only, he doesn’t come upon a group of hateful witches—instead he finds a sweeter-than-peach-pie tea shop owner who wouldn’t harm anyone. Amira Walker and her two sisters come from a long line of witches who harness the power of emotional manipulation. But the Walker girls aren’t interested in fulfilling their witchy destinies, much to the chagrin of their three powerful aunts. When Lex shows up, Amira mistakenly believes he's spelled by the aunts in a love match attempt. To her mixed delight and disappointment, she discovers he’s there to apprehend a paranormal villain. As Burberry becomes a hotbed of magical activity, Lex is sure Amira’s youngest sister is to blame. It’ll be up to Amira to prove her sister’s innocence and help Lex find the true culprit. Can they survive malicious witchcraft and come together as a paranormal investigative team before it’s too late?
One Word Kill
Mark Lawrence - 2019
And it isn’t even the strangest thing to happen to him that week.Nick and his Dungeons & Dragons-playing friends are used to living in their imaginations. But when a new girl, Mia, joins the group and reality becomes weirder than the fantasy world they visit in their weekly games, none of them are prepared for what comes next. A strange—yet curiously familiar—man is following Nick, with abilities that just shouldn’t exist. And this man bears a cryptic message: Mia’s in grave danger, though she doesn’t know it yet. She needs Nick’s help—now.He finds himself in a race against time to unravel an impossible mystery and save the girl. And all that stands in his way is a probably terminal disease, a knife-wielding maniac and the laws of physics.Challenge accepted.
Monster Exchange Program (MXP): A Choose All Fantasy Adventure
Mark Albany - 2019
Well, definitely not ordinary... and totally not average. You see, Nate’s a Troman—a nearly seven-foot-tall guy who’s half war troll, half human—and he’s working undercover as part of a secret government project, the Monster Exchange Program, to investigate crimes that involve the occult. Once on campus, Nate tries to lay low, struggling to navigate college life while also unraveling a mystery involving the disappearance of several beautiful co-eds. If he misses a clue, it could threaten the entire planet. No pressure, right? All Nate has to do to defeat the bad guys and save the world is harness powers he never knew he possessed, kick the crap out of demons—and find a way to satisfy a small army of sorority chicks. Harem amazingness
Spiked
C.P. Rider - 2019
My name is Neely and I'm a telepath-spiker. Not only can I read a person's thoughts, I can also spike deadly power straight into their brain.But don't worry, I have strict rules about that sort of thing.I'm hiding again. This time in a California desert truck stop town run by Lucas Blacke, a tiger shifter and alpha leader who's as handsome as Lucifer and twice as slippery. I've been running from alphas like him my whole life. They either want to own me or kill me—there is no middle ground.Now a homicidal alpha from my past is threatening everything I care about and I know I can't fight him alone. Lucas Blacke is dangerous, and his intentions are murky at best, but I've run out of options. If I want to live, I'm going to have to put my faith in a man I know I can't trust.If you like urban fantasy with a side order of romance, fast-paced action and slow-burn love, you'll love SPIKED.
2017 Best Banter Paranormal Award Winner
2017 Future, Fantasy, Paranormal On the Far Side Award Finalist
2017 Pages From The Heart Paranormal Romance Award Winner
Child of Fire
Harry Connolly - 2009
He's the driver for Annalise Powliss, a high-ranking member of the Twenty Palace Society, a group of sorcerers devoted to hunting down and executing rogue magicians. But because Ray betrayed her once, Annalise is looking for an excuse to kill him - or let someone else do the job.Unfortunately for both of them, Annalise's next mission goes wrong, leaving her critically injured. With the little magic he controls, Ray must complete her assignment alone. Not only does he have to stop a sorcerer who's sacrificing dozens of innocent lives in exchange for supernatural power, he must find - and destroy - the source of that inhuman magic.
Escalante
Andrew Vaillencourt
He may have wanted a quiet place to hide, but instead he will team up with the last good cop in Dockside to try to stop a gang war and protect the hard-working folks just trying to make an honest living.It's good cop vs, bad cop, gang leader vs. mobster, and Roland Tankowicz vs. everybody in a high-stakes contest for control of Dockside. He may be brand new to the job, but the smart money is on everybody's favorite Army surplus cyborg as he doubles down on the deadliest game in Dockside:ESCALANTE.
Dead Things
Stephen Blackmoore - 2013
He’s turned it into a lucrative career putting troublesome spirits to rest, sometimes taking on even more dangerous things. For a fee, of course.When he left L.A. fifteen years ago he thought he’d never go back. Too many bad memories. Too many people trying to kill him.But now his sister’s been brutally murdered and Carter wants to find out why.Was it the gangster looking to settle a score? The ghost of a mage he killed the night he left town? Maybe it’s the patron saint of violent death herself, Santa Muerte, who’s taken an unusually keen interest in him.Carter’s going to find out who did it and he’s going to make them pay.As long as they don’t kill him first.
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
J.L. Murray - 2012
They don’t often haunt people or places for revenge, and as far as I know they don’t befriend lonely children. Usually. If you could see them, you might not even know them from some of the living. Empty-eyed and looking around at the world like they can’t believe it’s all still there and going on without them. Or maybe they’re seeing it for the first time. This city is full of ghosts. I can see them all. Lucky me.”Niki Slobodian sees things – things that aren't supposed to be there. Labeled an Abnormal by New Government, her name is tacked onto the Registry, which seems to be getting longer these days. Now she can't work or she'll end up the same place as her father: in prison. But with no money coming in, Niki's getting desperate. So when a mysterious client offers to get her off the Registry in exchange for taking his case, Niki jumps at the chance. All she has to do is round up a homicidal Dark that's escaped from Hell and is cruising around the city in borrowed bodies. The murders are piling up, with Niki's notorious father somehow involved, and Niki's running out of time. And it seems the Dark isn't the only thing that escaped...
Tomes and Terriers
Hillary Avis - 2020
Actually, it has everybody’s secrets. In a hidden library on Rosemary Street, the memories of all the town's citizens are recorded on the pages of magical books.Every happiness. Every lie. Every crime.Allison Rye’s husband lost his memory overnight. They went to bed married and woke up strangers—twenty-five years of marriage gone, poof. He can’t remember her name, let alone the home they’ve shared for decades.Forced to sell the family bakery to pay for his care, Allison is left broke, unemployed, with no hope of recovering her old life. What choice does she have but to move in with her daughter in Portland?But when a resident at her husband’s care facility is murdered—and a sweet old lady is blamed—Allison finds herself drawn into the investigation. She knows something that police don’t…something she can’t reveal without becoming a murder suspect herself.With her intrepid foster dog, a Yorkshire terrier named Pogo, Allison sets out to prove that more than one person in Remembrance had it out for the victim. Too bad she only has a few days to dig up the evidence before she has to leave town.Hope comes in the form of a friend who offers Allison a place to live for free, with just one little catch. Allison must become the sworn guardian of library of memories.Reading the memory books is the perfect way for Allison to learn who committed murder at Golden Gardens Memory Care. But as she uncovers the true story of what happened that night, she learns other truths that make her question everything she knows about her own life.First in the Magic Library series, Tomes & Terriers is a bittersweet magical realism mystery that will change the way you think about memory and magic, fidelity and friendship.
Haunted And Hexed
Misty Bane - 2019
Probably. Instead, I'd been lured in by the cute little beach town, a handful of instant friends, and a hunky local. My name is Dru Rathmore Davis, and In my defense, my life had pretty much just fallen apart. So, after learning that I'd inherited a bookstore from a grandmother that I never even knew existed, I was desperate to make this my fresh start. I daydreamed of owning a quaint little bookstore and spending my weekends reading on the beach. Sounds great, right? And what could possibly go wrong? Turns out, everything. The bodies start piling up along with my arrival in town, someone may have murdered Granny… and that’s only the beginning. As a former private investigator, I really can't help but find myself drawn (or pushed) into doing a little investigating of my own. It also helps that the Police Sergeant is super hot… cliché, I know, but what's a girl to do? Things are much more complicated than they first appear though, and being new in town certainly has its disadvantages. No one is who they seem to be. Not even me.
The only ones I can trust are the dead. Well, and my cat. But none of them are talking. Or are they?
Familiar Territory
Sam Cheever - 2017
She’d made a promise to herself it would never happen to her. For centuries her family has worn the badge of Familiar proudly, serving a long line of powerful Witches and becoming as formidable as the ones they served. But LA doesn’t believe she needs a Familiar alliance to be strong. Until people she cares about begin disappearing…turning up dead. Until a powerful and handsome male Witch walks into her life and forges an inadvertent magic bond while trying to save her life. Now she finds herself in exactly the position she never wanted. But she quickly realizes she can’t save her friends and family alone. So it comes down to losing her independence or watching everyone she cares about die. Will LA find a way to keep her independence and still save the people she cares about most? Or will her burning need for freedom be the cause of their deaths?
My Sister's Grave
Robert Dugoni - 2014
She doesn’t believe that Edmund House — a convicted rapist and the man condemned for Sarah’s murder — is the guilty party. Motivated by the opportunity to obtain real justice, Tracy became a homicide detective with the Seattle PD and dedicated her life to tracking down killers.When Sarah’s remains are finally discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountains of Washington State, Tracy is determined to get the answers she’s been seeking. As she searches for the real killer, she unearths dark, long-kept secrets that will forever change her relationship to her past — and open the door to deadly danger.
Lost Girl
Colleen Vanderlinden - 2013
Determined to make something of her bizarre powers, she devotes herself to saving those who need her most. One night, she's followed by a powerful being in a pickup truck, and her world will never be the same. Finding herself thrust into a world full of supernatural beings she could have only imagined, Molly learns how powerful she really is, and how much she stands to lose.
Chasing Power
Sarah Beth Durst - 2014
Born with the ability to move things with her mind — things like credit cards, diamond rings, and buttons on cash registers — she has become a master shoplifter. She steals to build up a safety net, enough money for her and her mom to be able to flee if her dad finds them again. Well, that, and the thrill of using her secret talents.But her summer plans change when she's caught stealing by a boy named Daniel — a boy who needs her help and is willing to blackmail her to get it. Daniel has a talent of his own. He can teleport, appearing anywhere in the world in an instant, but he lies as easily as he travels. Together, they embark on a quest to find and steal an ancient incantation, written on three indestructible stones and hidden millennia ago, all to rescue Daniel's kidnapped mother. But Kayla has no idea that this rescue mission will lead back to her own family — and to betrayals that she may not be able to forgive... or survive.