Book picks similar to
Tea is for Trouble by Karen Sue Walker


paranormal
cozy-mystery
mystery
cozy-mysteries

Love Sold Separately


Ellen Meister - 2020
    She dives right in and is stunned when she lands the job. Her keen eye for detail, knack for knowing what makes people tick and sheer bravado make her perfect for the role.Then the star host is found shot to death in her office. Dana can't help but involve herself in tracking down the killer. Never one to mind her own business, she winds up at the center of every drama. She also knows the prime suspect is innocent--they happened to have been together on the roof for some "alone time" when they heard the gunshot. His record may not be perfect, but she can tell the single father has a heart of gold. He may even be marriage material--something she'd focus on more if only Detective Marks wasn't so handsome and their chemistry so electric. Dana is so close to having it all if, just this once, she doesn't screw up. But trouble usually comes easier and is always a lot more fun...

Death Retires


Cate Lawley - 2017
    He’s retired. Geoff hadn’t planned on sunshine, margaritas, and women in skimpy bikinis. After hanging up his (metaphorical) hood, he had hoped to spend his afternoons reading at the local library. Unfortunately, his former position (as one of the deaths, not the death) was seeping into his current retirement and hijacking his restful plans. Bad enough that he’s stalked by ghosts, but his former bosses have also saddled him with the care and feeding of a possessed bobcat. And then he meets his beautiful neighbor Sylvie, and his world truly is turned upside down. Click to see how Geoff becomes involved in his first murder investigation and all of the antics that ensue. Death Retired is a humorous cozy mystery with no explicit sexual content or profanity, though the book does contain adult situations and some violence.

Designs On Murder


Gayle Leeson - 2019
    She didn't realize a ghost came with the property! But soon Maxine "Max" Englebright, a young woman who died in 1930, isn't the only dead person at the retail complex. Mark Tinsley, a web designer with a know-it-all attitude who also rented space at Shops On Main, is shot in his office. Amanda is afraid that one of her new "friends" and fellow small business owners is his killer, and Max is encouraging her to solve Mark's murder a la Nancy Drew. Easy for Max to want to investigate--the ghostly fashionista can't end up the killer's next victim! “As a sucker for a fun ghost story, I can say Gayle Leeson’s DESIGNS ON MURDER scores on many levels including a spunky entrepreneur and a charming setting. Now that I’ve read the first one, I’ll be counting the days until the next in the series arrives.” --Lorna Barrett, author of the New York Times Bestselling Booktown Mysteries In DESIGNS ON MURDER, Gayle Leeson sketches a stylish plot accessorized with a spectral fashionista sidekick. This series debut is a delight!" -Diane Vallere, national bestselling author

Spies and Spells


Tonya Kappes - 2016
    Soon Maggie gets entangled with a mysterious handsome stranger, Mick Jasper, and his secret U.S. organization, SKUL. Has she found her calling?

Nuts and Dolts


Marc Jedel - 2020
    See Marty before he becomes the super-sleuthing, crime-busting hero of the Silicon Valley Mystery series. In this short read, you’ll meet the lovable hero, an amateur sleuth who constantly frustrates and astounds everyone around him.Can Marty complete the retelling of a story without bumbling into yet another mystery? Nuts and Dolts is the humorous prequel novella in a refreshingly modern cozy mystery series set in Silicon Valley. If you like quirky sleuths, wacky side characters, and laugh-out-loud moments, you’ll love this offbeat whodunit.Try Nuts and Dolts to log in to a great mystery series today!

Touch of Light


April Aasheim - 2017
    I'd like to beat you with a switch." Baylee Scott has the gift of touch. Except it’s not a gift. Seeing other people's memories doesn't make her very popular in Reed Hollow. It was one of the reasons she left the small town as soon as she was able. But after losing her ghost-hunting husband, Baylee returns home to help her brother run the family business: a defunct antique shop and tea house. It’s a dull existence that leaves her dreaming of adventures elsewhere. Then, a mysterious jewelry case appears in her office, followed by a note detailing a connection between strange lights appearing in the sky and the disappearance of local women. Suddenly, Baylee’s life becomes more exciting. Aided by her animal-loving brother, her tarot-card reading cousin, and the ghost of her dead mother, Baylee must unravel the clues to stop the strange lights from taking yet another victim.

Rise and Die


Ginny Gold - 2014
    For two years, she’s been the sole breakfast spot in town so when culinary rival, Tessa Doyle, moves to the small town, Kori can’t help but think she’s just there to compete. Suddenly, Tessa’s Sunrise and Shine café is under attack, with a rock through the window on Monday morning. Kori knows she’s innocent, but still doesn’t feel much empathy for her breakfast nemesis. But when Kori gets arrested and grilled by Detective Gunn and childhood friend Lieutenant Zach Gulch, she can’t help but wonder if she’s the new target. And when things escalate to Tessa’s murder, Kori comes under more scrutiny. Will she and best friend Nora Farmer be able to crack the case before she’s on the receiving end of a deadly dish? Or is she in more danger than she realizes and should skip town to avoid the heated investigation? INCLUDED: In The Kitchen with Ginny Gold—Goat Cheese Omelets and The Early Bird Café’s menu! **Rise and Die is approx. 28K words and is volume 1 in the The Early Bird Café Cozy Mystery Series.

Pelican Cove Collection


Leena Clover - 2020
    At her aunt's urging, Jenny starts working at the Boardwalk Cafe, slowly rebuilding her life. Her delicious cakes and muffins make the town famous, drawing tourists from far and wide.Jenny will form lifelong friendships with the local women. And she might even dare to love again.This collection contains three standalone stories set in Pelican Cove.HAZELNUTS AND HALLOWEENWhen an unidentified body washes up on the beach the morning after the Halloween party, Jenny is hired to solve the murder. With a town full of people dressed in costumes, it's going to be hard to narrow down any suspects.CANDY CANES AND CHRISTMASIt's Christmas time and Jenny is trying to raise money for the local children's home. When a confused old man arrives on her doorstep, Jenny takes him in without a second thought.Is he a trickster like her boyfriend suspects, or just a lost soul looking for a warm haven?SORBETS AND SAILORS***Brand New story***When a cheerful young sailor is found dead in the marshes, Jenny's favorite customer becomes the top suspect. Can Jenny find a motive in the sailor's colorful past?*INCLUDES RECIPES FROM THE BOARDWALK CAFE

Inn Over Her Head


Dixie Davis - 2018
     Lori Keyes is excited to settle into her perfect new life: a bed and breakfast owner in the sleepy resort town of Dusky Cove, North Carolina. Sure, her first guest is a little rude and hateful, but that just comes with the hospitality territory sometimes, right? Lori steels herself to endure one bad guest—until that guest turns up dead. The police investigation says it’s murder, and the evidence points to Lori. She’s instantly the prime suspect. Lori digs into the guest’s failing marriage and into rivalries in town, trying to figure out who could have killed her. To keep her dream job, her perfect life and the inn over her head, Lori will have to prove that she’s innocent—or she’ll go to jail for a murder she didn’t commit. A new cozy mystery series set in a Southern small town, featuring a historic inn! Read more of the Dusky Cove B&B Cozy Mystery series: 1. Inn Over Her Head 2. Inn Trouble 3. Inn Vain 4. Inn Dire Straits 5. Inn Danger (early 2019) Get recipes and a tourist's guide to the prettiest little town all up and down the North Carolina coast in the author's email group--offer inside!

A Body on the Beach


Blythe Baker - 2018
    and the murder rate is climbing.When Piper Lane’s career and her office romance both die fiery deaths on the same day, she packs up her worldly goods and her French Bulldog, Jasper, and leaves Houston behind, setting sail for safer harbors – the welcoming golden shores of Sunrise Island, to be exact.But Piper, her pessimistic sister, Page, and her overly dramatic niece, Blaire, have no sooner rolled up their sleeves and taken over an old bed and breakfast on the island, than a dead body is discovered on the premises. With her B&B now adjacent to a crime scene, it looks as if Piper’s dream of reviving the business might be done for. Between the haunted house vibe of the ancient Victorian property and the creepy antics of Mrs. Harris, the crazy old lady living in the attic, can things get any worse?Propelled into the middle of the dangerous murder investigation, Piper soon makes it her mission to clear away the clouds of suspicion surrounding her B&B and shine the light of day on long-held secrets that some of the island’s inhabitants would rather keep buried. But the killer is only one step behind her, and if Piper doesn’t think fast, the only thing she’ll be getting to the bottom of is a shallow grave.

Death of a Kitchen Diva


Lee Hollis - 2012
    But as new food writer Hayley Powell is about to find out, the occasional murder can take a bite out of seaside bliss. . .Single mom Hayley Powell is barely keeping her leaking roof over her head when her boss at the Island Times gives her a new assignment--taking over the paper's food column. Hayley's not sure she has the chops--she's an office manager, not a writer, even if her friends clamor for her mouth-watering potluck dishes. But the extra income is tempting, and Hayley's chatty first column is suddenly on everyone's menu--with one exception.When rival food writer Karen Appelbaum is found face-down dead in a bowl of Hayley's creamy clam chowder, all signs point to Hayley. To clear her name, she'll have to enlist some help, including her BFFs, a perpetually pregnant lobster woman, and a glamorous real estate agent. As she whips up a list of suspects, Hayley discovers a juicy secret about the victim--and finds herself in a dangerous mix with a cold-blooded killer.Includes seven delectable recipes from Hayley's kitchen!"What a delicious debut mystery!" -Laura Levine"A delicious read that I ate up in one sitting." -Isis CrawfordMore Mouth-Watering Praise For Lee Hollis And Hayley Powell!"Sleuth Hayley Powell slides down as easily as one of her Lemon Drop Martinis (recipe included) and readers will be calling for a second round from author Lee Hollis." --Leslie Meier, author of Chocolate Covered Murder"Delicious and satisfying. Another course, please." -Carolyn HartMore Mouth-Watering Praise For Lee Hollis And Hayley Powell!"Sleuth Hayley Powell slides down as easily as one of her Lemon Drop Martinis (recipe included) and readers will be calling for a second round from author Lee Hollis." --Leslie Meier, author of Chocolate Covered Murder

A Twisted Riposte


Alyn Troy - 2021
    A fencer stabbed by her own blade. Can Twizzie untangle the twisted mystery?Twizzle Twist isn’t your normal real estate pixie. Nor is St. Maurice your normal Southern California town. The magic in the valley belches at the worst time. The faerock vein in St. Mo marks the local fae in uncomfortable ways. Twizzie’s mismatched wings and bum leg are the least of her worries when a showing becomes deadly.The house-hunting lunges off-target when the first showing comes with more than she bargained for. The owner is dead, stabbed in the back with her own sword.The seaside town of St. Maurice’s has one of the few remaining amusement piers on the west coast. And someone is twisting the town council to tear it down. If that happens, it will be the end of Twizzle's home above the carousel.With a murderer on the loose, a cute vampire she needs to sell a home to, and the imminent demise of her home on the pier, Twizzie has too many strikes to dodge all at once.Will Twizzie and her friends pull the right cord to untangle the twisted knot of intrigue in their sleepy SoCal town? Can they do so before the killer lunges again?If you love mysteries with a dash of quirky characters, a dose of warped magic, and snarky humor, you'll love Alyn Troy's new Paranormal Cozy Mystery series.

Ghost of a Chance


Cate Dean - 2016
    His search leads him to Holmestead, and a stubborn, fascinating American who has acquired the box that once contained the rare jar.When the missing jar turns up, clutched in the hand of the very dead local historian, Martin becomes the prime suspect. He and that dead historian were bitter rivals.With his future on the line, Martin turns to Maggie for help, and they join forces to find the real killer.Maggie Mulgrew Mysteries:Ghost of a ChanceWritten on the Wind - coming August 2016Check out all my books here: amazon.com/author/catedean

Retirement Can Be Murder: Every Wife Has a Story


Susan Santangelo - 2009
    Carol dreads Jim's upcoming retirement more than a root canal without Novocain. She can't imagine anything worse than having an at-home husband with time on his hands and nothing to fill it -- except interfering in the day-to-day activities of their household and driving her crazy. Until her plans to stall Jim's retirement result in Jim's being suspected of murdering his retirement coach.

Deadly Claws


Jenna St. James - 2021
    When she retires from capturing criminal supernaturals for the government, she figures her days of chasing bad guys is over. Little did she know her new job as the game warden on Enchanted Island would thrust her right back into harm's way...and she wasn't even officially on the clock yet! But when Sheriff Stone enlists her help to find out who killed an island resident, Shayla readily agrees. Between sorting through alibis, gathering clues, and mentoring a wayward teenager on how to be a witch...Shayla's life is hectic. If only her estranged dad--the King--wouldn't insist she take her bodyguard, Needles, with her everywhere she goes. Just when Shayla believes she's identified the killer, a new threat emerges...leaving her to make a snap decision that may cost her her life. This new paranormal cozy series with a twist on midlife discovery will leave you guessing and hungry for more!