Book picks similar to
Playing with Matches by Julie Hyzy
mystery
ebook
fiction
first-in-series
Fatal Destiny
David DeLee - 2011
Track down Barry Keegan, a white collar defendant in a corporate embezzlement scandal who'd jumped bail. How hard could that be?But the case turns deadly when Keegan's co-defendant ends up murdered, and Grace's best friend, sheriff's deputy Suzie Jensen, is nearly killed.Drawn into a web of deception involving stolen mob money, old scores, and ruthless hit men, Grace must track down the elusive Keegan--a man who is far more dangerous than anyone could have guessed--while she tries to protect his wife and son from a past they thought was long dead and buried.
1st Shock
Misty Evans - 2019
When the local US attorney brings her the skull of a young murdered woman with similarities to one she’s already reconstructed—but not identified—she and her sister, Charlie, dive head-first into a chilling investigation. The twisted killer is clever, drawing closer and closer when he discovers the sisters on his trail. Another body turns up…and another… but his modis operandi points to a convicted murderer already behind bars. Together, Meg and Charlie must face the fact this copycat is taunting them, leading them on a gruesome quest. He’s picked up where his mentor left off—and he’s coming for one of them next.
The Marvell Crescent Murders: Dusty Kent's First Case
Brigid George - 2020
The next day, the house was silent.Thirty years later, Dusty Kent is called in to catch the murderer and solve her first case.The Marvell Crescent Murders is an intriguing short story of less than 5000 words set in Melbourne, Australia.
Marigolds and Murder
London Lovett - 2017
With her pet crow Kingston and a tabby cat named Nevermore, she is settling right into her new life in the small coastal town of Port Danby. With a flower shop opening soon and a full cast of quirky neighbors and friends, her new digs are exactly what she's been looking for. Away from the hectic hustle and bustle of the city Lacey has found peace and happiness. However, her heightened sense of smell proves to be of use once again when a Port Danby neighbor turns up dead. Lacey finds herself caught up in an unexpected murder investigation alongside the handsome local detective, James Briggs. She’s determined to find the killer and solve the murder mystery before any more bodies turn up.Book 1 of the Port Danby Cozy Mystery Series. 1. Marigolds and Murder2. Carnations and Chaos (October 15, 2017)3. Mistletoe and Mayhem (November 2017)Full-length novel ~50,000 words.
Code Blues
Melissa Yi - 2011
Hope Sze rolls into Montreal with three simple goals: 1) survive her family medicine residency, 2) try pain au chocolat, 3) go on a date sometime in the next two years.Then she discovers a doctor's body in the locker room.When she tries to uncover his killer, two men dive in to help her. The one man with charm to burn, the one man who makes her melt, has zero alibi.Code Blues. Because medicine can be murder. The first Hope Sze medical mystery. Written by an emergency physician trained in the crumbling corridors of Montreal, Canada.
The Milburn Big Box Set: Two Complete Series: "A Murder In Milburn" & "Return To Milburn"
Nancy McGovern - 2020
The Ninja Daughter
Tori Eldridge - 2019
But her mission is complicated. Not only does she live above the Chinese restaurant owned by her Norwegian father and inspired by the recipes of her Chinese mother, but she has to hide her true self from her Hong Kong tiger mom is already disappointed at her less than feminine ways, and who would be horrified if she knew what she had become.But when a woman and her son she escorted safely to an abused women’s shelter return home to dangerous consequences, Lily is forced to not only confront her family and her past, but team up with a mysterious―and very lethal―stranger to rescue them.
Ghostly Paws
Leighann Dobbs - 2014
At least that’s how it seems to former crime journalist, Wilhelmina Chance, whose near-fatal accident has given her a strange side effect ... she sees ghosts. After a messy divorce sends her fleeing back to her hometown of Mystic Notch, nestled in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Willa finds herself haunted by the tenacious ghost of the town librarian who insists Willa solve her murder. Luckily, she has lots of help, including a quirky cast of small-town characters, the cat she’s inherited from her grandmother, and her best friend, Pepper, who claims her herbal teas can work magic. But just when Willa thinks she’s discovered who the killer is, she finds out that things are not what they seem in Mystic Notch, and the case takes a strange turn that has Willa adding even some of her long-time friends to her suspect list. Can Willa find the real killer in time to keep the magical balance in Mystic Notch on the side of good, or will evil prevail?
A Berry Deadly Welcome
A.R. Winters - 2018
Only one problem: Kylie can’t cook to save her life, and the longtime chef walks out on Kylie’s first day. Answering the call for a new chef, in walks lovely Rachel Summers, a friendly local brownie-addict who immediately gets the job. But when Rachel is found dead a few hours later, all fingers point to Kylie and her killer brownies. Could Kylie have made a major kitchen blunder and poisoned the woman? Did a bitter former employee tamper with her pantry? Or was there more to Rachel than the kind smile and eager-to-please attitude she sported at the interview? With the help of the few remaining café regulars, Kylie sets out on a journey to uncover the truth behind who killed Rachel Summers!
Bed and Breakfast and Murder
Patti Larsen - 2017
Instead, I forced myself to smile and swallow and remind myself the elbow length yellow rubber gloves grasping the handle of the standard issue plunger were all that stood between me and Pooageddon.Suck it up, Fee. Big girl panties and adulting and all that."At what point," I waved the dripping plunger, wincing as droplets of yuck flew, "did I think owning a bed and breakfast was going to be glamorous and romantic?"Fiona Fleming hasn't lived in Reading, Vermont in over a decade, her escape from small town living leading her to New York City and a life of adventure. An adventure that has left her with no career, an ex who cheated on her and zero plans for the future. Her grandmother's death grants her a new chance--inheriting Petunia's, Iris Fleming's bed and breakfast, seems like the ideal fresh start. But when Fee finds out ownership of the property Iris willed her might be in question, she's drawn into the seedy underbelly of the cutest town in America after being singled out as the main suspect in a murder.
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...
Deadly Connections
Renee Pawlish - 2020
Sarah barely begins her investigation when a man who lived nearby is also discovered dead, an apparent suicide. Sarah continues to dig deeper, looking for a link between the two deaths, only to find the lies are piling up.Everyone has secrets they don’t want exposed, and she must unravel the deadly connections between her suspects to find a killer.
Involuntary Turnover
Cheri Baker - 2013
Whether it’s brawling employees, difficult bosses, or dress code drama, she knows how to handle a crisis. But when an employee is murdered at the Seattle hospital where Kat works, and the police try to blame the victim, playing by the rules won’t be enough to save the day. Fueled by an endless supply of coffee, and assisted by a colorful cast of coworkers, Kat is determined to bring the murderer to justice. But can she do it before the killer strikes again?This mystery is the first in the Kat Voyzey Series.
An Accidental Murder
J. New - 2015
Many years later she returned to the Island, discovered it was for sale and bought it on a whim. Or so she thought. She had no idea at the time how much it would change her life, nor that it was yet to reveal all it’s secrets. Ones that even Ella couldn't imagine. She purchased the cottage from an old lady, but this was no ordinary old lady. And she left her cat, but this was no ordinary cat. Ella soon realises that this isn't the only gift the old lady left. Having only been in residence a few short weeks, and still unpacking boxes, she receives a telephone call from her brother, inviting her up to London for Sunday lunch. This call sets in motion a series of events that puts Ella’s life, and those of the people closest to her in danger. ‘An Accidental Murder’ is a cosy amateur sleuth novella, with a difference. Set in 1930’s England, it is the first in the series of The Yellow Cottage mysteries. *Please note this is a novella of around 25,000 words.*
Fatal Exchange
Russell Blake - 2011
financial system.From the sweltering streets of Seoul to the sex-and-drug-driven underbelly of Greenwich Village, attempts at silencing a leak in an international counterfeiting operation leave a trail of butchery that leads inevitably to Wall Street, pitting a counter-culture heroine against a ruthless state-sponsored assassination team that will stop at nothing to achieve its lethal ends.As the body count climbs, Tess is assisted by Detective Ron Stanford, a NYPD homicide specialist tracking a brutal serial killer whose ritualistic cycle of murder and mutilation targeting bike messengers is escalating to fever pitch.Tess's battle to survive propels her into a deadly underworld where she must become judge and executioner, challenging her core beliefs about morality, justice and love.