Book picks similar to
Bittersweet Betrayal by Stephanie Damore
paranormal
mystery
cozy-mystery
ebook
Deadly Magic
Elisabeth Crabtree - 2012
None more so than Grace Holliday. After all, it's not every day she gets invited to the annual costumed bash at the Dragon's Lair, the premier magic theater in Manhattan.What promises as a night of magic and mystery, quickly turns into a night of mayhem and murder when the boss' equally tyrannical wife dies on stage.According to the police, it was an obvious suicide. Now it's up to Grace to discover which one of her co-workers pulled off the trick of the year before she becomes the killer's next victim.
How to Fake an Irish Wake
Eliza Watson - 2020
First she learns that her dad isn’t her biological father, a secret her mother took to her grave three years earlier. Then her beloved Irish grandmother passes away at Christmas while Mags is visiting her from the States. Now Mags must host her grandmother’s wake and sell her cottage. A cottage filled with cherished memories. A cottage Mags inherited but her odd jobs won’t enable her to keep.Shortly after the funeral, a young man, Finn O’Brien, arrives at the cottage with an old photograph. Finn believes the boys in the photo are a clue to his father’s identity. Mags can sympathize with him, and because she often helped her genealogist grandmother uncover skeletons in people’s closets, including herself, she agrees to assist Finn.But searching for Finn’s father stirs up trouble. Finn is in a near-fatal car crash that wasn’t an accident. So Mags and her childhood friend Biddy McCarthy investigate why someone wants to prevent Finn from finding his father. Questioning the quirky locals proves a wee bit difficult as several of the suspects were victims of Mags and Biddy’s childhood shenanigans.It might take a fake Irish wake to reveal Finn’s father and the would-be murderer.But what if the two turn out to be the same person?
Gone With The Ghost
Erin McCarthy - 2017
Except that’s exactly what happened. Ryan is very much dead, having shot himself with his own police-issued gun. Guilt and grief shouldn’t cause hallucinations though, but six months after Ryan went into the ground, Bailey is freaking out and swearing his ghost is standing in her kitchen. Which he is… Ryan claims he didn’t commit suicide, but was murdered, and he needs Bailey to help him find his killer so he can earn his ticket out of purgatory. Ryan’s counting on a stairway to heaven, as opposed to wings, since that might be a little unmanly for a cop, even a dead one. An expert in home design, with her own staging business, Bailey can tell you where to place a couch to improve flow and comfort, but solving a crime? Not her area of expertise. But with help from Ryan’s former partner, Marner, she is unraveling the mystery of what happened to Ryan that day… and unwittingly putting herself in grave danger. Murder By Design Series Book 1- Gone With The Ghost Book 2- Silence of The Ghost Book 3- Once Upon a Ghost Bestselling author Erin McCarthy offers her signature humor in this fun series about an uptight fashion-conscious home stager who finds herself stiletto-deep in murder...
The Case of the Love Spell
Amorette Anderson - 2018
Welcome to Hillcrest, a small box-canyon town snuggled high in the mountains of Colorado. It’s been Penny’s home for her whole life, and she’s always thought of it as a peaceful -- if boring -- place to live. All of that changes when the elderly Claudine Terra is killed, and a mysterious mountain pass behind her mansion opens up to through traffic. Could the new visitors to town, including a handsome vampire, have something to do with Claudine’s murder? Penny is intent on finding out. She wants to save her failing PI business, get her love-life in order, and prove the police department wrong, all in one fell swoop. But as Penny learns about her own witchy powers, things turn out to be a bit more complicated than she expected. For one thing, her ex boyfriend, Chris (a captain on the Hillcrest Police Department) is suddenly single. And then there’s the fact that her precious cat won’t stop throwing up. On top of that, Penny’s attempts at casting spells tend to go horribly wrong! This is the prequel to the Hillcrest Witch Cozy Mystery series. A full length, funny cozy mystery.
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!
A Pie To Vie For
Kathryn Lin - 2017
It is shorter than the rest of the books in the series which are all full length novels. Olivia planned on a summer road trip across the country, but she ends up stuck in her childhood home in Grand Arbor Township when her camper van breaks down. Good thing there's a $1000 grand prize in this year's Grand Arbor Cherry Festival Pie Baking Contest... The problem is--somebody is determined to make sure nobody wins. Can Olivia find out who's sabotaging the contest or will this year be the last cherry festival in Grand Arbor?
Witch Is When It All Began
Adele Abbott - 2015
Private investigator, Jill Gooder, has been hired to find a serial killer because, as usual, the police can't buy a clue. Jill, the not so proud owner of a crazy, one-eyed cat, probably can't expect too much help from her PA/Secretary, Mrs V, who spends all day knitting. And just in case all of that wasn't bad enough, Jill's just about to discover she's a witch. ...break out the custard creams.
Photo Bombed
Daria White - 2021
She’s determined to stand on her own two feet in Edenville, Texas after her bitter divorce. When the town’s wedding of the year stars her friend as the bride, Bianca can’t wait to celebrate the nuptials. Neither she nor the guests expect a corpse! When the police suspect the bride, Bianca's determined to prove her friend’s innocence.Lamar Sims, the new police detective in Edenville, is investigating the murder case. Bianca’s “interference” is not helping, but she won't stop when her friend's freedom is on the line. He makes it clear he wants her to let the police do their job, so she has to find ways around him.No one in Edenville is safe until the killer is behind bars. Bianca won’t let Detective Sims dismiss her hunches. They may have to work together before another dead body shows up.
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?
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.
Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole Truth
Holly Bell - 2018
After all, her family’s bus went over a Cornish cliff. Now the presentable but irritating Inspector Trelawney is dogging her footsteps as he investigates the unexplained deaths. But that’s the least of her problems. Amanda has just got a furniture restoration job at the old English Manor of Sunken Madley with its murky past. Armed only with a wand and Tempest, her grumpy reincarnated cat, she’s going in. A body, ghosts, hidden tunnels, chills and unexplained lights; can Amanda solve the mystery in time and save the village from the scandal of murder?Please note that to help the reader to be immersed in Amanda's world, this British-set story uses British English spelling, grammar and usage, and includes accents, dialects and a magical language.
Wicked for Hire
Lotta Smith - 2016
Being cleared of any wrongdoing didn’t stop the medical school from expelling her, and it didn’t rid her of the unfortunate nickname Grim Reaper. Luckily, having a rep as the harbinger of death isn’t a total resume killer. Rick Rowling, Special Agent for the FBI’s Paranormal Cases Division recruits her to work for the Bureau. But the sexy, brilliant, outrageous loose cannon proves to be just as untouchable as the mysterious creature or creatures that may be responsible for the seemingly unsolvable murder that becomes their first case together. Instead of treating patients, Amanda’s life becomes a test of her patience and a wild ride into the wicked paranormal world where her new boss runs the show. Together they face a ghoulish force that could destroy the entire city and a grueling family dinner that could leave Amanda contemplating harakiri. It’s a battle of life and debt [student debt, that is] and saving the world has never been so funny.
Mango Cake and Murder
Christy Murphy - 2016
One of them can't cook, they're short a catering van, and the guest of honor at their first party is murdered.That would be bad enough, but then, Christy's cousin, Celia, becomes the prime suspect.Solving a murder is no easy task, but when drunken death threats, a dashing detective, and terrifying taxidermy are added into the mix, the case becomes almost impossible to crack. Who knew a small town like Fletcher Canyon could be filled with so much craziness? Will the disaster-prone duo find the real killer before Celia's reputation is destroyed, or will Celia end up in prison for murder? Find out in this quick comedy cozy!This novella is the first book in the Mom and Christy's Cozy Mysteries series, and is a complete mystery that you can read in an hour or two. It does NOT contain strong language or graphic violence. But it does contain a cute cat!
Southern Spirits
Angie Fox - 2015
When out of work graphic designer Verity Long accidentally traps a ghost on her property, she’s saddled with more than a supernatural sidekick—she gains the ability see spirits. It leads to an offer she can’t refuse from the town’s bad boy, the brother of her ex and the last man she should ever partner with. Ellis Wydell is in possession of a stunning historic property haunted by some of Sugarland Tennessee’s finest former citizens. Only some of them are growing restless—and destructive. He hires Verity to put an end to the disturbances. But soon, Verity learns there’s more to the mysterious estate than floating specters, secret passageways, and hidden rooms. There’s a modern day mystery afoot, one that hinges on a decades-old murder. Verity isn't above questioning the living, or the dead. But can she discover the truth before the killer finds her?
Which Pie Goes with Murder?
Ruth Baker - 2021
A name that people would associate with excellence, creativity and fun. She thought she had found her calling in the big city and was on her way to becoming aworld-renowned food blogger...Until she got some tragic news that pulled her back to her small town.Can she still make a name for herself in a small town and survive the the suffocating attention of the citizens of Ivy Creek who think she's too big for her britches?Discover how Lucy navigates her way through a rollercoaster of emotions as she tries to resolve a murder mystery that has her as the prime suspect.She thought running a bakery would be a piece of cake, but she's in for a mighty shock as her fiercest competitior is found dead... in her backyard!Will she acquit her heself in the court of public opinion or become the killer's next victim?Book 1 in the Ivy Creek Cozy Mystery series! Perfect for a lunchtime read. If you want to enjoy a quick light-hearted read, with an amateur female sleuth, mouth-watering culinary desserts and a gripping murder mystery, then you'll love Lucy Hale and all the quirky characters in Ivy Creek.No cliffhanger, swearing or graphic scenes!Treat yourself or a loved one to a copy of Which Pie Goes with Murder to discover how events unfold in this cozy murder mystery