Book picks similar to
The Telltale Turtle by Joyce Lavene


mystery
paranormal
cozy-mystery
mystery-cozy

Rings On Her Fingers


ReGina Welling - 2014
    Newly engaged with a photography career just starting to take off, her life is almost comfortable. The only thing she lacks is enough money to repair the family home. But, when her best friend, Gustavia, drags her to a visit with a psychic thinking it will be a fun engagement gift, things get really crazy. A ghostly encounter provides a cryptic clue to the location of the lost family fortune and a warning that her fiancé is not what he seems. Launched into a wild adventure, Julie must learn to listen to her heart, her intuition and the ghosts that will guide her in order to solve the mystery. Journalist, Tyler Kingsley gets drawn into the search. What red-blooded male could resist a treasure hunt? The idea gets his blood pumping and so does Julie. When he realizes that her fiancé might be dangerous, he decides to protect her at any cost, even if he loses his heart. This is a clean, sweet, romance that combines mystery and humor with the paranormal.

A Hiss-tory of Magic


Harper Lin - 2014
    They run the Brew-Ha-Ha café, and naturally, they’re witches hiding in plain sight along with their three magical cats, Treacle, Peanut Butter, and Marshmallow. When Brew-Ha-Ha's baker is burnt to a crisp, along with their beloved café, Aunt Astrid lets out a big family secret: a powerful spell book, a Greenstone heirloom from the Salem days, has been stolen from its secret hiding spot in the café. If it’s fallen into the wrong hands, black magic could destroy not only Wonder Falls but the world. A secret society… A new detective with a shady past… A once-bullied local returning to town as a multimillionaire. Who in town could know Cath’s family secret? Cath, Bea, and Astrid must use their witch powers to uncover the deadly truth. Cath communicates with their cats, also magically inclined, and they help uncover more than one secret lurking in wonderful Wonder Falls. The first novel in a new cozy mystery series featuring modern-day witches and their magic cats.

Roots of Murder


Janis Harrison - 1999
    But for the newly svelte Bretta, the flower business in River City, Missouri, is more than just wreathes, zinnias, or roses. It's about people, joy, grief, and love. And now, it is also about murder...Isaac Miller was a quiet Amish farmer found dead in his own field of carmine asters, baby's breath and statice. When Isaac's brother, suspicious of the authorities, asks Bretta to intervene in the investigation, she enters the world of the devout, isolated Amish, their not always-so-understanding neighbors, and a thorny patch of deals between flower growers and purveyors. Soon, Bretta knows that someone wanted something that Isaac had kept secret. But finding out what that is will mean weeding out some dangerous truths from some deadly lies-and cutting a killer down to size...

The Ghost of Mistletoe Mary


Sue Ann Jaffarian - 2015
    When a homeless veteran on LA’s Skid Row claims he’s seen the ghost of Mistletoe Mary, a down-and-out prostitute, private investigator Jeremiah Jones seeks the assistance of medium Emma Whitecastle and her great-great-great grandmother, the spirited Granny Apples, to determine if the woman is merely missing or if indeed someone has murdered her.

Murder's a Witch


Danielle Garrett - 2016
     Well, technically, she has lots of them. After a scandal uproots her entire life, she is forced to relocate to a halfway house for displaced paranormals. It’s her last shot for a fresh start. But keeping secrets isn’t easy in a town that goes through gossip faster than tissue paper, even for a powerful witch. When a grisly murder rocks the small town of Beechwood Harbor, Holly finds herself unwillingly entangled in the investigation. With everyone watching, Holly must solve the case before she’s forced to abandon her new-found home and live life as a witch on the run. But with a paranormal investigator tailing her every move, a civil war brewing between her vampire and shifter roommates, and her ghostly landlord on the edge of a breakdown, she can barely think in complete sentences. How is she supposed to track down a murderer? Holly has to make it work, or risk losing everything … again. Murder’s a Witch is a cozy witch mystery with a spunky twist. Come see what’s brewing in Beechwood Harbor in this first installment of The Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery Series.

Who Do, Voodoo?


Rochelle Staab - 2011
    But when her best friend finds a tarot card tacked to her front door-and is then accused of murder-Liz will have to find a way to embrace the occult if she wants to outwit the real killer...

Desolate Angel


Chaz McGee - 2009
    But ever since he was killed in a drug bust gone bad, Kevin fahey's been a lost soul in limbo, searching for a way out of his solitude and hoping for redemption. Now he'll have to prove to be a better ghost than he ever was as a man....After I died, I wandered my town, unseen, alone, and wondering why I'd been sentenced to linger in this world. Then Alissa, the victim in a long-ago murder case I'd worked, came to me. She led me to a body sprawled in the weeds, and the terrible truth dawned on me: I'd let Alissa's real killer escape. I'd imprisoned an innocent man - and now another young girl was dead.I know my redemption lies in righting this wrong. And the only way I can do that is to somehow forge a connection with my replacement on the force, Maggie Gunn. Now I'm haunted by the fear that dragging Maggie into this may turn out to be the biggest mistake of my afterlife....

Cat on the Edge


Shirley Rousseau Murphy - 1996
    First the large, powerful feline discovers that, through some strange, inexplicable phenomenon, he now has the ability to understand human language. Then he discovers he can speak it as well! It's a nightmare for a cat who'd prefer to sleep the day away carefree, but Joe can handle it. That is, until he has the misfortune to witness a murder in the alley behind Jolly's Deli -- and worse, to be seen witnessing it. With all of his nine lives suddenly at risk, Joe's got no choice but to get to the bottom of the heinous crime -- because his mouse-hunting days are over for good unless he can help bring a killer to justice.

Don of the Dead


Casey Daniels - 2006
    But a grave situation took a turn for the worse when a head-on collision with a headstone left her with an unwanted ability to communicate with the disgruntled deceased... and now Pepper has a whacked Mafia don demanding that she hunt down his killers — and threatening to haunt her until she does.

Pit Perfect Murder


Renee George - 2016
    . . and that’s no mystery! (previously published as Pit Perfect in 2016) When cougar-shifter Lily Mason moves to Moonrise, Missouri, she wishes for only three things from the town and its human population. . . to find a job, to find a place to live, and to live as a human, not a therianthrope. Lily gets more than she bargains for when a rescue pit bull named Smooshie rescues her from an oncoming car, and it’s love at first sight. Thanks to Smooshie, Lily’s first two wishes are granted by Parker Knowles, the owner of the Pit Bull Rescue center, who offers her a job at the shelter and the room over his garage for rent. Lily’s new life as an integrator is threatened when Smooshie finds Katherine Kapersky, the local church choir leader and head of the town council, dead in the field behind the rescue center. Unfortunately, there are more suspects than mourners for the elderly town leader. Can Lily keep her less-than-human status under wraps? Or will the killer, who has pulled off a nearly Pit Perfect murder, expose her to keep Lily and her dog from digging up the truth? Fall in love with Lily Mason, the shifter who only wants to live as a human, and her pit bull Smooshie, a rescue dog who in the end may be the one doing the rescuing! Pit Perfect Murder, Book 1 of the Barkside of the Moon Mysteries from USA Today bestselling paranormal cozy mystery author Renee George, is an exciting tale of mystery and suspense that will have you on the edge of your seat. A clean read full of humor and small town charm.

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.

Wish You Were Here


Rita Mae Brown - 1990
    Murphy--and her human companion, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen. Small towns are like families: Everyone lives very close together. . .and everyone keeps secrets. Crozet, Virginia, is a typical small town-until its secrets explode into murder. Crozet's thirty-something postmistress, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen, has a tiger cat (Mrs. Murphy) and a Welsh Corgi (Tucker), a pending divorce, and a bad habit of reading postcards not addressed to her. When Crozet's citizens start turning up murdered, Harry remembers that each received a card with a tombstone on the front and the message "Wish you were here" on the back. Intent on protecting their human friend, Mrs. Murphy and Tucker begin to scent out clues. Meanwhile, Harry is conducting her own investigation, unaware her pets are one step ahead of her. If only Mrs. Murphy could alert her somehow, Harry could uncover the culprit before the murder occurs--and before Harry finds herself on the killer's mailing list.

Millie on a Mission


Amanda M. Lee - 2019
    In truth, Millie doesn’t care about finding a ghost. She does have a specific form of payment in mind, though, and it’s something she’s itching to collect on. Since Millie can’t actually see ghosts, she calls in the only person she knows who can … Charlie Rhodes. Unfortunately for Millie, Charlie is a bit distracted with relationship issues of her own. Still, the gregarious psychic volunteers to pitch in. Before she found freedom, Millie was in a high-class world full of snooty and entitled people. That’s full on display now when she tries to track down the source of the ghostly disturbances … and comes up with a litany of human transgressions instead. Millie is determined to find answers, although not because she wants to help a friend. She wants payment, and she’s not going to stop until she gets it. She just needs to avoid trouble – which is easier said than done – while she’s searching for answers. Note: This is a 30,000-word short set in the Charlie Rhodes Universe. It is set between The Undead Uproar and The Incubus Impasse.

Who Killed the Ghost in the Library? (Ghost Writer Mysteries, #1)


Teresa Watson - 2014
    When she gets a reply and meets the client, she gets more than she bargained for. She's thrown into a 60-year-old mystery, but somebody doesn't want the truth to come out, and they are willing to go to any lengths to keep that from happening...even if it means killing Cam.

The Sweet Dreams Bake Shop


J.A. Whiting - 2015
    The building's new owners are not renewing the bake shop's lease and Angie is running out of time to find a new location. When one of the town's long-time residents is murdered, Angie finds herself on the suspect list. With the help of her three sisters and a huge orange cat, Angie works to uncover the killer's identity. A cozy mystery with recipes ! This story has some mild paranormal elements. The main mystery is solved in each book but you will enjoy the series more if the books are read in order as some story threads run from book to book. In The Sweet Cove Mystery series: 1. The Sweet Dreams Bake Shop 2. Murder So Sweet 3. Sweet Secrets 4. Sweet Deceit (Coming late July 2015) And more to come ! Thank you for reading