Book picks similar to
Murder Can't Stop by W.T. Ballard


mystery
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The Knitty Kitties Mysteries Books 1-3


Tracey Drew - 2021
    Included are:Knitted & Knifed: I’m a former high school counsellor, middle-child peacemaker, and current curator of lots of squishy/fuzzy goodness at my granddad’s little yarn store. Temporary assistant. Until I decide what to do with the rest my life. There’s only one knotty problem to untangle first. The knife sticking out of the most unpopular man in town, and the police detective trying to pin the murder on the donkey—otherwise known as my younger brother. With a pair mischievous cats determined to be underfoot and a craft group of Serial Knitters and Happy Hookers wanting the inside scoop, a girl could lose her mind. And if the killer has their way, maybe even my life…Purled & Poisoned: The Serial Knitters and Happy Hookers in the store’s Craft for Calmness group have been busy creating booties and baby blankets for a christening fit for a prince. But when I stumble onto the little prince’s fatally poisoned mother, a right royal mess ensues. The kid’s paternity is in question and I’m tasked to sniff out the baby daddy as a favour for a frenemy—don’t ask. I did, and now the bodies are piling up and a killer just might use my cupcake addiction against me.Hanks & a Hitman: More exciting than a delivery of rainbow colored wool is the news of movie location scouts in the area, though not everyone believes all publicity is good publicity. Game on between landowners to secure such a lucrative deal. I can’t help being caught up in movie fever, until I stumble onto one of those landowners, face down in a kitty litter tray. Deader than dead thanks to an unknown assailant. With dating disasters aplenty both online and in-real-life and a hitman on the loose, things couldn’t get much more murderously crazy in Cape Discovery. If only that were true…

Black Jack Justice: Dead Men Run


Gregg Taylor - 2015
    When it comes to deeply unqualified guardians of the moral high ground, it would be tough to find many that equaled Black Jack Justice and his erstwhile partner, Trixie Dixon, girl detective. But they will learn the hard way just how serious the sender was, and that in the end, only Dead Men Run.The his and hers private detectives of Decoder Ring Theatre’s long-running radio mysteries return to two-fisted prose adventure, delighting long-time fans and new readers alike with the classic, hard-boiled feel of their exploits.

Lowlifes


Simon Wood - 2010
    This is only the beginning of his problems. Two blocks away, Hayes' informant, a homeless man named Noble Jon, lies dead, beaten and stabbed. The eerie pangs of guilt seep into Hayes. Is he Jon's killer? The mounting evidence says so. Hayes mounts his own investigation to stay one step ahead of murder charge and disappears amongst the city's homeless community.

Die Laughing: 5 Comic Crime Novels


Steve Brewer - 2014
     LOST VEGAS Steve Brewer Nick Papadopoulos used to be a button man for the Mob. Now he's the front man for an aging casino in Fowler, Nevada, an isolated backwater known as "Lost Vegas." Nick's stuck in a rut and deep in debt. Then he gets an idea: If someone would only rob his casino, he could collect on the insurance and get out from under. Tony Zinn runs a heist crew in San Francisco. He's never even heard of Fowler, Nevada. But Nick makes him an offer that's almost too good to be true. Neither man expects interference from rival casino owner Big Jim Kelton or his hired goon, a huge Samoan named Shamu. But once they're involved, it can only end in bloodshed. Filled with twists and double-crosses, LOST VEGAS is Steve Brewer at his best. FENDER BENDERS Bill Fitzhugh Eddie Long plans to be a country music star but he's stuck touring the college frat circuit. But after his nagging wife apparently dies at the hands of a serial killer, Eddie writes the best song of his life and it goes straight to number one. Eddie's friend, freelance writer Jimmy Rogers, senses a great opportunity and sets out to write the life story of Nashville's newest sensation. But Jimmy's research unearths some troubling facts about the death of Eddie's wife, facts that could ruin Eddie's burgeoning career—while making Jimmy a star of the publishing world. Throw in a beautiful and opportunistic country radio DJ, a pair of wily record producers, and a naive young singer-songwriter, and the stage is set. Everybody plans to make a killing—one way or another. It's murder on Music Row, where things don't always turn out as planned. Fender Benders won the Lefty Award (best humorous novel) at the Left Coast Crime Convention 2001. FAVOR (Stanley Hastings Mystery Book 3) Parnell Hall It was just a simple favor. Drive down to Atlantic City, check out Sergeant MacAullif's son-in-law, and see why his daughter wasn't happy in her marriage. Stanley Hastings started following the guy around, and quickly found himself involved with notorious loan sharks, sleazy private eyes, fat-cat casino owners, and crooked blackjack dealers, not to mention two dead bodies. Stanley had no idea who killed them, or why, but all the clues seemed to point to the son-in-law. Only the witness blew the ID and the cops arrested Stanley instead. Taking the fall for homicide is a hell of a favor. Stanley was in over his head, so he did the one thing he never thought he'd do in his life. He hired a private eye! HABEAS PORPOISE (Solomon vs Lord series) Paul Levine The love-hate relationship of Solomon & Lord continues. Sure, opposites attract, but they argue, too! This time, it starts with the kidnaping of two trained dolphins from Miami’s Cetacean Park. When one of the ecoterrorists behind the raid turns up dead, his partner in eco-crime is charged with homicide, even though he didn’t pull the trigger. It’s called “felony murder,” and Solomon thinks it’s a bum rap. What he doesn’t count on is his lover and law partner Victoria Lord being named a special prosecutor. Conflicts-of-interest abound, and Steve is up to his old tricks. At least, the mismatched legal duo agree on something...each one vows to win the case! GUILT TRIP (Blanco County Mysteries, Book 4) Ben Rehder Life in rural Blanco County, Texas, isn't what most folks would call exciting—and that suits game warden John Marlin just fine. But when the tequila-slamming, skirt-chasing treasurer of the local Rotary Club goes missing and his vehicle is found in the river the day after a flood, Marlin finds himself in charge of the search efforts.

Internal Threat


Ben Sussman - 2011
    But your success could take the life of your only child. What would you do?That is the agonizing dilemma faced by Matt Weatherly, Black Ops veteran turned top cyber security expert. A ruthless killer is using his son as a pawn to destroy the state-of-the-art web of security Matt's company has spent the last seven years creating. Racing against the clock, Matt is forced to navigate the deadly, night-cloaked streets of Los Angeles, staying one step ahead of the killer and the dogged pursuit of the police, before the deadline passes and consumes everything he loves.

Lycaon's Fire


Jeff Schanz - 2021
    People go missing, presumed dead, suspected eaten alive. Though the myth is considered silly superstition to most residents, someone or something is killing to protect the truth.A mild-mannered drifter named Merrick, a haunted man with his own brutal, deadly secret, passes through the town, accidentally setting in motion a chain of events that will bring the town’s bizarre mysteries to light. When a fearless and feisty young waitress named Kat offers her help, she and Merrick fall into the murderous crosshairs of entities who eliminate anyone that threatens their agenda.On a forested mountain, far from anyone who can hear them scream, Merrick, Kat, and their allies are hunted in an unholy ritual, where the game is survival and the prize is life. But not all who are hunted are easy prey. Something else that no one counted on, something powerful and savage that can kill with the swipe of its clawed hand, also stalks the mountain.In the light of the sacrificial fire, the bloodthirsty hunters will face an unfathomable killing machine in a showdown that pits monster against monstrosity.-- Book 1 of "Merrick, The Drifter" series --

The Milburn Big Box Set: Two Complete Series: "A Murder In Milburn" & "Return To Milburn"


Nancy McGovern - 2020
    

Losers Live Longer (Hard Case Crime #59)


Russell Atwood - 2009
    The death of legendary private eye George Rowell looked like an accident; but searching for the truth behind it will put down-and-out East Village detective Payton Sherwood on the corpse-littered trail of a runaway investment scam artist, a drug-addicted reality TV star, and the bewitching beauty whose appearance set it all in motion...

Dead on the Island


Bill Crider - 1991
    Galveston private investigator Truman Smith is asked to find a friend's missing daughter.

Revenge Ignited


Liz Bradford - 2021
    

Jericho Falls


Christopher Hyde - 1986
    He careens off the road, smashes his vehicle and is killed instantly. But his van holds no ordinary cargo. And soon the nearby picture-postcard village of Jericho Falls will be plunged into the most terrifying disaster imaginable. A powerful lethal virus has been leaked into the peacefully innocent town. Sheriff Jack Slater and other leading citizens turn to the outside for help that the true nightmare is revealed: Jericho Falls must be wiped off the face of the earth.

Gnome or Mr Nice Guy (The Rooks Ridge Series)


Rosalind Winter - 2009
    He strikes in broad daylight, yet no one ever sees him.His target?Garden gnomes ...

Murder on Cue


Jane Dentinger - 1983
    Well, something resembling a real offer. Her old friend Austin Frost has written a play for Broadway and cast the glamorous Harriet Weldon as the lead. Not wishing to leave his old friend Josh behind, he has invited her to be Harriet’s understudy. The role of understudy is a difficult one—and it becomes even more so when Harriet turns up dead and the police name Josh their prime suspect.With the NYPD breathing down her neck, Josh must find the people responsible while ensuring that the show will go on.

She's Missing


Cole Baxter - 2019
    She shouldn’t have trusted a stranger… When Ellen arrives at the Land’s Edge Bed and Breakfast with her baby and the man pretending to be her husband, she thinks she’s escaped her tortured past. But when her baby disappears two days later, a desperate search quickly involves the police, who become suspicious about her strained relationship with her “husband.” Daniel thought he was doing the right thing by helping the frantic woman and her baby and pretending she was his wife. The fact that he had ulterior motives was irrelevant, but the missing baby draws him into a deepening mystery with so many twists and turns, it makes his head spin. Who is Ellen and what is she running from? Did a monster from her past finally catch up with her and her child, or is there another suspect lurking in the shadows? When the truth finally surfaces, no one will be safe from the fall-out… A thrilling psychological thriller that you won't be able to put down!

A Countess So Eligibly Unmarried


Emma Linfield - 2020
    While she wants nothing more than to follow in her father's footsteps as a merchant, she is pressured to find a suitable husband and settle down.The scandals and debts his father passed down to him aren't the only things haunting Caleb Gillingham, Earl of Worcastle. With whispered accusations of killing his own betrothed, his only hope at redemption rests in the fiery eyes of Violet.Their happiness turns to ashes in their mouths when Violet's father goes inexplicably missing. Left with a letter promising nothing but doom, Caleb is desperate to protect Violet from a past mistake that nearly destroyed him. For a predator is most dangerous when wounded.