Louisiana Longshot


Jana Deleon - 2012
    Posing as a former beauty queen turned librarian in a small, bayou town seems worse than death to Fortune, but she's determined to fly below the radar until her boss finds the leak and puts the arms dealer out of play.Unfortunately, she hasn't even unpacked a suitcase before her newly-inherited dog digs up a human bone in her backyard. Thrust into the middle of a bayou murder mystery, Fortune teams up with a couple of seemingly-sweet old ladies whose looks completely belie their hold on the little town. To top things off, the handsome local deputy is asking her too many questions. If she's not careful, this investigation may blow her cover and get her killed.Armed with her considerable skills and a group of old ladies referred to by locals as The Geritol Mafia, Fortune has no choice but to solve the murder before it's too late.

Death by Didgeridoo


Barbara Venkataraman - 2013
    Rarely leaving the house, she shares most of her days with her late mother's cranky cat.But soon, Jamie is forced into action by a frantic call from her Aunt Peg, whose autistic son Adam is in police custody and suspected of murdering his music teacher, a once-famous rock star named Spike.It's up to Jamie to find the real killer. The problem is, Spike seems to have had more enemies than he had friends, and Adam had confessed to the murder already. Can Jamie piece together the evidence and bring the murderer to justice before it's too late?A delightful, light mystery set in the small town of Hollywood, South Florida, Death By Didgeridoo is the first book in Barbara Venkataraman's Jamie Quinn Cozy Mysteries series.

A Cutthroat Business


Jenna Bennett - 2010
    But Savannah doesn’t think she’s supposed to take the warning literally ... until an early morning phone call sends her to an empty house on the ‘bad’ side of town, where she finds herself standing over the butchered body of a competitor, face to face with the boy her mother always warned her about. Rafe Collier is six feet three inches of testosterone and trouble; tall, dark, and dangerous, with a murky past and no future—not the kind of guy a perfect Southern Belle should want to tangle with. In any way. But wherever Savannah turns, there he is, and making no bones about what he wants from her. Now Savannah must figure out who killed real estate queen Brenda Puckett, make a success of her new career, and avoid getting killed—or kissed—by Rafe, all before the money in her savings account runs out and she has to go back to selling make-up at the mall.

Sweet Masterpiece


Connie Shelton - 2010
    But her real dream is to open her own pastry shop, Sweet's Sweets.Life is a little crazy for Sam right now. At one of her break-in properties a dying woman insists that she take a small wooden box. Sam doesn't realize that the old woman was known locally as a bruja, a witch, until she begins to feel some strange effects from the box, herself.Meanwhile, at another property, she finds an unmarked grave and the authorities come to investigate. The property owner disappeared a few months earlier and Sam wonders--who is the body in the grave? A small mural in the house leads to a connection with a famous artist; a bogus will points to possible fraud; and the handsome deputy investigating the case seems completely enchanted with Sam.While Sam scrambles to fill bakery orders and keep her properties in order, she's equally intrigued with the idea of a new romance. It all makes for a delightful romantic mystery with elements of the paranormal.

Inn Keeping with Murder


Lynn Bohart - 2013
    Claire Inn, no one is surprised. After all, Martha had a heart condition. But when her death is ruled a murder, the inn’s owner, Julia Applegate, becomes the prime suspect. Julia recruits her “sixty-something” group of friends to launch their own investigation. Together with the inn’s resident ghosts, including Julia’s recently deceased mother who has learned to use a cell phone, they go after the truth. Add to that a talking parrot who likes to quote old movies, a Harlequin Great Dane, two miniature Dachshunds, a very handsome detective (or two), and get ready for a romp down mystery lane!WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THE 'OLD MAIDS'"This book had me riveted for hours.""I couldn't put my Kindle down until I finished the entire book.""Wonderful read. The characters soon become your neighbors.""I am not usually into paranormal books. But this one made me laugh out loud, often!"

Poison in Paddington


Samantha Silver - 2016
     After a car accident ended her medical career before it even started, Cassie moved to London on a whim, expecting to see the sights and live the typical tourist backpacker lifestyle. Instead she finds herself accompanying a French private detective, Violet Despuis, as they attempt to find out who poisoned four people in the middle of London. Cassie's life soon includes this crazy detective, an ancient landlady with a curious past, a mischeivous orange cat who likes going for walks on a leash, and a super hot pathologist that Cassie is sure is out of her league. And they haven't even found the murderer yet... The Cassie Coburn mysteries are a cozy mystery series featuring a Sherlock-holmes style sleuth. If you want a light, fun, modern mystery featuring a San Francisco girl totally out of her element in London, and a crazy French woman who happens to be very good at noticing things, then this is the series for you.

Better Off Wed


Laura Durham - 2005
    Annabelle knows that even her trusted wedding emergency kit won't be able to salvage their careers if she and Richard can't find the real culprit.It's no easy task since the slain matron was perhaps the most hated socialite in DC, but Annabelle navigates through the city's colorful wedding industry and powerful social scene on the deadly trail of a killer. Always the bridal consultant and never the bride, she's seen her fair share of bouquet tosses. But there's no telling what surprises a ruthless killer will throw her way if she gets too close.

Never Buried


Edie Claire - 1999
    Too bad his body didn't!Advertising copywriter Leigh Koslow doesn't pack heat--just a few extra pounds. And she doesn't go looking for trouble. When she moved into her cousin Cara's refurbished Victorian house, she wasn't planning on discovering a corpse--certainly not one that had been embalmed ten years before. But as anyone in the small Pittsburgh borough of Avalon could tell her, her cousin's house has a history attached. A history dating back to two mysterious deaths in the summer of 1949.Someone wants Leigh and Cara out of the house--someone who has something to hide. But that someone doesn't know Leigh's impetuous cousin, and when Cara digs her heels in, Leigh looks to her old college chum, local policewoman Maura Polanski, for help. But the answers the trio find only point to more questions. Were the scandalous deaths of fifty years ago really an accident and a suicide? Or were they murder?The nearer the women get to the truth, the more desperate someone becomes. Because some secrets are better off kept. Especially when they hit close to home!

Playing With Poison


Cindy Blackburn - 2012
    But when a body lands on her couch, and the cute cop in her kitchen accuses her of murder, even Jessie isn't sure what will happen next. Playing With Poison is a cozy mystery with a lot of humor, a little romance, and far too much champagne.

The Case of the Missing Finger: A Cruise Ship Cozy Mystery


Cheri Baker - 2021
    Two years later, with her children grown and the rest of her life ahead of her, she's ready to have the adventure she'd planned before her life was turned upside-down. She's excited to visit the U.S. Virgin Islands on her very first cruise.After boarding the most beautiful cruise ship she's ever seen, Ellie's surprised when she's assigned a cabin inside the cruise line's new singles club at sea, but she quickly sees that her new friends aboard could use some advice when it comes to romance. Unfortunately, Ellie's matchmaking efforts are interrupted when a fellow passenger finds a finger with a big diamond ring on it in her Sangria Surprise!Passengers are scandalized and tongues are wagging all around the ship. The ship's security chief seems eager to brush the crime under the rug while others are eager to point fingers at Ellie's favorite bartender. After thirty years married to a small town police chief, Ellie's picked up some sleuthing skills of her own, and she knows that justice demands honest answers to the questions rocking the ship. Who does the finger belong to? How did it end up in the boozy drink special of the day? And what other secrets lurk beneath the Caribbean sun?It's all hands on deck for adventure with this matchmaking sleuth.

Death by Chocolate


Sally Berneathy - 2011
    Suddenly Lindsay finds herself battling poisoned chocolate, a dead man who doesn't seem very dead and a psycho stalker. Her best friend and co-worker, Paula, dyes her blond hair brown, hides from everybody and insists on always having an emergency exit from any room. Secrets from Paula's past have come back to put lives in jeopardy. Determined to help Paula and to save her own life, Lindsay enlists the reluctant aid of another neighbor, Fred, an OCD computer nerd. In spite of his mundane existence, Fred possesses tidbits of knowledge about such things as hidden microphones, guns and the inside of maximum security prisons. Lindsay needs more than a chocolate fix to survive all this chaos. Lindsay Powell's only secret is the recipe for her chocolate chip cookies, but she is surrounded by neighbors with deadly secrets. Suddenly Lindsay finds herself battling poisoned chocolate, a dead man who doesn't seem very dead and a psycho stalker. Lindsay needs more than a chocolate fix to survive all this chaos.

Death in the English Countryside


Sara Rosett - 2014
    Afraid that Kevin has slipped back into some destructive personal habits he struggles with, Kate travels to England to salvage Kevin’s and the company’s reputation before word gets out that he is missing. Things go from bad to worse when Kate arrives in Nether Woodsmoor, a quaint village of golden stone cottages and rolling green hills, only to find no trace of Kevin except his abandoned luggage. Even the rumpled, easygoing local scout they consulted, Alex, doesn’t know where Kevin might be. Increasingly worried about Kevin and with an antsy director waiting for updates about the preproduction details, Kate embarks on a search that includes a pub-crawl and cozy cottages as well as stately country manors. But Kevin remains missing, and she begins to suspect that the picturesque village and beautiful countryside may not be as idyllic as they seem.

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.

Die Buying


Laura DiSilverio - 2011
    But there's no time to be bored when someone 'liberates' a 15-foot python from the Herpetology Hut, and a mannequin turns out to be a very real corpse.

Crime Chowder


Hillary Avis - 2018
    So when her real estate developer boyfriend offers her a sweet catering gig, she jumps at the chance to cook for his gala and rub elbows with the town’s elite. The problem? That fancy gala is only happening because her best friend’s home was burned down by an arsonist. And the more Bethany learns about her boyfriend’s planned development, the more she suspects that he might have had something to do with it.Determined to uncover the arsonist’s identity, Bethany cooks her way through the gala, listening to the secrets, lies, and gossip swirling around Hosanna Street. But when someone close to her is killed during the party—and the murder weapon is found in her pot of clam chowder—Bethany finds herself in more than a little hot water.---------------------------------------If you like smart culinary mysteries with quirky characters and quaint seaside towns, you’ll love the Death du Jour series that follows Bethany Bradstreet as she builds her career and solves crimes with the help of her friends. Crime Chowder is the first book in the Death du Jour series. This book has clean language and mild suspense with no cliffhangers. It contains depictions of an LGBT relationship.P.S. – There’s a dog in it.