Book picks similar to
Decked in the Hall by J. New
mystery
cozy-mystery
cozy
first-in-series
Geared for the Grave
Duffy Brown - 2014
But after someone sends a prominent local on her final ride, it’s up to one resourceful visitor to get things running again… Hoping to shift her chances of a promotion in her favor, Evie Bloomfield heads to Mackinac Island to assist her boss’s father. Rudy Randolph has broken his leg and operating his bike shop, Rudy’s Rides, is too much to handle by himself. But Evie’s good turn only leads to more trouble… After Evie’s arrival, wealthy resident Bunny Harrington dies in what looks like a freak bike accident. Upon closer inspection, Bunny’s brakes were tampered with, and now the prime suspect in her murder is also Bunny’s number one enemy: Rudy. So if Evie hopes to stay on her boss’s good side, she’ll need to steer Rudy clear of jail. Now she must quickly solve this mystery so she can put the brakes on the real killer’s plan…
A Most Curious Murder
Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli - 2016
But the idyllic vision of her charming hometown crumbles when her mother's little library is destroyed.The next door neighbor, Zoe Zola, a little person and Lewis Carroll enthusiast, suspects local curmudgeon Adam Cane, but when he's suddenly found dead in Zoe's fairy garden, all roads lead back to her. Jenny, however, believes Zoe innocent, so the two women team up to find the true culprit, investigating the richest family in Bear Falls, interrogating a few odd townspeople and delving into old, hidden transgressions--until another body turns up.Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli's quaint and compelling series debut A Most Curious Murder will delight cozy mystery readers new and old.
A Wicked Yarn
Emmie Caldwell - 2020
But things quickly get knotty when Lia's daughter announces she's quit her job and Lia finds herself tangled up in the murder of her best friend's ex-husband. While Belinda's alibi quickly gets her off the hook, nasty rumors spread throughout Crandalsburg that shroud the entire fair in suspicion.Could the vendors be responsible for the murder of a man hell-bent on unraveling the fair just days before his death? Lia and her crafty group of Ninth Street Knitters must put down their needles to gather clues and save the crafting community they've grown to love.
Digging Up Bones
Aimee Gilchrist - 2016
Helen Harding is a genius at picking losers. Her exes run the gamut from merely lazy to legitimately criminal, making all the stops in between. After her fourth, and absolutely final, fiancé is carted off to prison for making time with the underage honeys, Helen is mortified and desperate to get out of town. The perfect solution seems to be a last minute call to arms from her aunt Penny, a beer swigging chain smoker from backwoods Texas who has three-inch press-on nails, a love of men from truck stops, and a life or death problem...that, unfortunately, ends in death before Helen even has a chance to arrive. Helen believes in atonement—or maybe it's revenge. Either way, she owes it to Penny to find out who ended her life in violence. Much to the annoyance of the local volunteer sheriff, Aodhagan MacFarley—who Helen is most definitely not getting involved with no matter how hot he may look in his fitted suit and polished wingtips. With or without his help, Helen vows to tracks a trail of suspects who may have more than one foul deed to account for. As the days drag on, the nights heat up, and the danger grows closer, if Helen isn't careful, she may just end up six feet under and the latest casualty of Birdwell, Texas! What critics are saying about Aimee's books: "Great characters and witty dialogue. There are enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end. I look forward to reading more." —A Cozy Booknook "An awesome, fun and funny read. Highly recommended for mystery readers, cozy readers...chick-lit, humor. Highly recommended!" —Bear Mountain Books "Clever, witty, and heartfelt! I was with Helen every step of the way, and I wish I could visit Birdwell, Texas myself. You know, without the dead bodies and stuff." —Gemma Halliday, New York Times bestselling author
Death by Dog Show
Arlene Kay - 2019
But when murder prances into the ring at a Massachusetts dog show, Perri must confront a cunning killer who’s a breed apart. Accompanied by her bestie Babette and four oversize canines, Perri motors down to the Big E Dog Show in high style. Perri hopes to combine business with pleasure by also spending time with sexy DC journalist Wing Pruett. Until a storm traps everyone at the exposition hall . . . and a man’s body is found in a snow-covered field, a pair of pink poodle grooming shears plunged through his heart. Turns out the deceased was a double-dealing huckster who had plenty of enemies chomping at the bit. But as breeders and their prize pets preen and strut, the murderer strikes again. Aided by her trusty canine companions, Keats and Poe, Perri must collar a killer before she’s the next “Dead in Show” winner. Praise for Arlene Kay’s Boston Uncommons Mysteries “Reminiscent of the comedy-mystery movies of the thirties…An entertaining first entry into the Boston Uncommons Mystery series.” —New York Journal of Books on Swann Dive “Highly entertaining . . . I can't wait for the next book in the series!” —Jaye Roycraft, author of Rainscape
Murder in Aspen Notch
Kathleen McKee - 2019
Now newlyweds, they’d decided to relocate to Aspen Notch, a small town in the Poconos, where they could enjoy the mountain vistas and a restful retirement. Out of the blue, Alan was offered an interim position as chief of police, Aspen Notch’s only cop. Thinking it would be an easy gig in a quiet town, Sue encouraged Alan to accept the job while she focused on the renovations to the home they bought. They were barely settled before Sue found a dead body, inherited an unruly puppy, and was sent a death threat. Would Sue be able to help Alan solve the crime before the killer made good on the warning? Murder in Aspen Notch, an engaging whodunit, is the first book of the Aspen Notch Mystery series.
Crime and Nourishment
Miranda Sweet - 2017
Neither does the island of Nantucket. A NEW RELEASE cozy mystery perfect for fans of Agatha Frost, Cynthia Ellingsen, Cindy Bell and CeeCee James When Agnes Mary Clarissa Christie Prouty, a.k.a. Angie, abandons her fiancé and her analyst job at a big Manhattan investment firm, she doesn’t expect to end up back where she started—the island of Nantucket. It’s not every day you get a chance to open a bookstore, complete with bookmark-eating cats and cantankerous great-aunts. Especially when your childhood friends agree to provide you with the world’s best pastries from their bakery down the street. Everything goes great until one of the locals turns up dead on the fourth of July, the sound of the gunshots covered by the local fireworks display. But did it have to happen right after Angie delivered a book to his home making her a prime suspect? Angie and every gossip on the island, including her great-aunt and her friends, are on the case. But trying to discover the truth is going to take more than a simple murder investigation. Someone’s guilty and the deadly secret might cut closer to home than anyone wants to admit.Being an amateur detective is harder than it looks, even when you’ve been named after the Queen of Crime.
This cozy mystery/amateur sleuth novel is book one in the Angie Prouty Nantucket Cozy Mystery Series
Organize Your Corpses
Mary Jane Maffini - 2007
Nothing is out of place in her closets-but her life's a mess. So she's dumped her cheating ex-fiancé, moved back home to Woodbridge, New York, and started making up to-do lists-some of which include solving the occasional murder.Charlotte's new job has her digging through years of accumulated junk to find some important documents. Instead she finds her client, the meanest teacher in town, dead under a pile of the debris that plagued her. And there's no end to the list of suspects-starting with Charlotte herself.
Murder is Binding
Lorna Barrett - 2008
When she moved to Stoneham, city slicker Tricia Miles met nothing but friendly faces. And when she opened her mystery bookstore, she met friendly competition. But when she finds Doris Gleason dead in her own cookbook store, killed by a carving knife, the atmosphere seems more cutthroat than cordial. Someone wanted to get their hands on the rare cookbook that Doris had recently purchased-and the locals think that someone is Tricia. To clear her name, Tricia will have to take a page out of one of her own mysteries-and hunt down someone who isn't killing by the book.
Powdered Murder
A. Gardner - 2015
But Patrick isn't back in town to mess with her head. He's in town with his celebrity tart of a fiancée for a secret wedding at the Pinecliffe Mountain Resort – the very establishment where Essie works. Essie is roped into becoming a stand-in bridesmaid by her sister Joy, the resort's Assistant Event Coordinator. But Essie has more than just her resurfacing feelings for the groom to worry about when she finds one of the bridesmaids dead at the hotel spa. Essie searches for the killer, and with a list of suspects ranging from an undercover reporter to the Mayor's gossipy wife, it isn't an easy feat. Especially with a nosy landlady, and a meddling ex in-law with a fondness for nudism. But after she becomes the killer's next target, Essie realizes all her evidence points to the most unlikely person. Will she get it right before the big ceremony, or will the fresh mountain powder become her permanent resting place? **Recipes Included**
Buried in a Book
Lucy Arlington - 2012
Being paid to read seems perfect to Lila, although it's difficult with the cast of quirky co-workers and piles of query letters. But when a penniless aspiring author drops dead in the agency's waiting room-and Lila discovers a series of threatening letters-she's determined to find out who wrote him off.
Murder is Elementary
Diane Weiner - 2014
What a joy to be able to attend the holiday concert without worrying about how her chorus will perform. But wait. Where's the principal? Susan offers to check, only to find the principal lying dead on her office floor. Of course, now that she's retired she has time to help the local police (one of whom is her daughter) solve the mysterious crime. Did the principal die of natural causes? The bruise on her face doesn't seem severe enough to be fatal. What about that funfetti cupcake sitting on her desk? Could she have been poisoned? Susan has just found the perfect retirement activity, much to her daughter's chagrin. And when the principal's teenage daughter, one of Susan's all time favorite students, asks for help - how can she say no? Little does she realize that this crime will take her far from the schoolhouse doors, as she investigates a mystery that extends back into one family's painful past.
The Key to Murder
Jen Pitts - 2020
Discover the places and people that make New Orleans unique through the eyes of newcomer, Samantha Richardson, in the first book in the French Quarter Mystery Series, The Key to Murder. Looking for a fresh start as well as clues to her past, Samantha is thrilled with her furnished apartment even with its strange diary and key left on the living room bookshelf. Sammy, as her new friends call her, explores the city’s French Quarter by following the riddles in the anonymous diary. It was fun until it led to a body. Now Sammy must find out who wrote the journal before the murderer strikes again. Sammy moved to New Orleans for answers and a new life, but is a murderer going to keep her from her future?
Crimes on Campus
Susan Harper - 2019
A cozy mystery from #1 Bestselling author Susan Harper Woodville is a small college town in the Smokey Mountains. When a murder shocks the community, long time friends Tori and Jordan must put their heads together and find a killer. Can they keep their beloved college focused on higher learning or will it be overcome by heinous crimes? Crimes on Campus is the first book in the College Town Cozy Mystery series. If you enjoy cozy mysteries with interesting characters, it’s time to go back to school to solve a mystery. Download Festivals and Fatalities and start solving your next mystery today! Always FREE on Kindle Unlimited
A Crafty Crime
Eryn Scott - 2018
When a cat-sitting job turns into a murder investigation, life no longer seems so perfect.Her twin brother, a deputy sheriff, is on the case but they've always done everything together and she can't help but get involved. Following a trail of crafty clues, the James twins learn that their sleepy town might be harboring more darkness than they could've imagined.