Book picks similar to
Clothe My Villainy: A Violet Carlyle and Friends Mystery (A Smith Investigates Mystery Book 3) by Beth Byers
cozy-mysteries
cozy-mystery
fiction
historical-mystery
Act it Out (A Hailey Webb Mystery, Volume 2)
Deany Ray - 2021
Peridale Cafe 1-3
Agatha Frost - 2017
With a new smug Detective Inspector in town who underestimates her every move, Julia makes it her mission to discover the real murderer, before her village friends are dragged into the frame, and more bodies are discovered. LEMONADE AND LIES (Book 2) When the entire village is invited to a garden party for a mysterious ‘special announcement’, nobody expected that party to end with a man being thrown to his death from a window. The murder is committed at Julia South’s estranged father’s manor, so all eyes in Peridale turn to her to solve the case. In a race against the clock, Julia must juggle her blossoming romance with Detective Inspector Brown, and her young lodger, Jessie’s, sudden strange behaviour, to uncover the truth behind the man’s untimely death. With members of her own family in the frame, will Julia like what she discovers? DOUGHNUTS AND DECEPTION (Book 3) Julia never expected to be caught up in another murder investigation, but when she discovers that homeless people are dying suspiciously and the police aren't investigating, she can't sit back and do nothing. After promising her young lodger, Jessie, that she will do everything she can to help, Julia finds herself diving headfirst into the case, aided by her new Detective Inspector boyfriend, Barker. Sure there is a serial killer preying on the vulnerable residents of an old burnout warehouse, Julia must act quickly to get to the bottom of the mystery, but can she crack the case before more bodies turn up? The first 3 books in the Peridale Cafe series! Can be read as a standalones but will be enjoyed more as part of the series. A light, cozy mystery read with a cat loving and cafe-owning female amateur sleuth, in a small village setting with quirky characters. No cliffhanger, swearing, gore or graphic scenes! FULL PERIDALE CAFE READING ORDER: 1. Pancakes and Corpses 2. Lemonade and Lies 3. Doughnuts and Deception 4. Chocolate Cake and Chaos (OUT NOW!) 5. Shortbread and Sorrow (PREORDER)
Small Town Saboteurs
Hope Callaghan - 2021
“If you like clean mysteries that keep you guessing until the end, you’ll love the Garden Girls!”Garden Girls - The Golden Years is the brand new spin-off series of the Garden Girls Mystery series.You’ll enjoy the same fun-loving characters as they solve mysteries in the cozy town of Belhaven. Each book will focus on one of the Garden Girls as they enter their “golden years.”Small Town Saboteurs -Book 4 is Dot’s story.
Dead South
David Banner - 2018
When the body of the girl he loved in high school is found twenty years after her disappearance, Detective Ryan Devereux has a personal stake in finding the people responsible. With his personal life in shambles following the engagement of his ex-wife, Ryan throws himself headlong into the investigation. Things take a turn though when newly discovered evidence leads Ryan to believe that his ex’s new fiancé might have had a hand in the young girl’s murder. As secrets about the past are uncovered, Ryan realizes things were never as he saw them. This Lowcountry detective finds himself thrust down a rabbit hole of danger and deceit the likes of which he might never emerge from. And, when the truth comes out, he might find that the killer is closer to him than he ever imagined. Dead South is book one in the new Lowcountry Mystery Series from bestselling author David Banner. Do you enjoy reading books from Dawn Lee McKenna, Mark Stone, and Steven Becker? If so, come take a walk along the South Carolina Lowcountry. With its thick humidity, Spanish moss, and one-of-a-kind local flair, it’s sure to be a visit you won’t forget!
A Grave Gala (Sugar Martin Vintage Cozy Mysteries Book 2)
Shéa MacLeod - 2019
With some reluctance, she joins the rest of the glamorous attendees on the veranda for cocktails and dancing until the gala turns grave indeed when one of the guests is murdered. With the sure knowledge there’s a killer among them, Sugar sets out to unearth the secrets that led to the death of a peer of the realm. With the help of a grumpy corgi and a handsome Englishman, she’s on the hunt for a cold-blooded killer and she won’t stop until she gets her man! The second book in the Sugar Martin Vintage Cozy Mysteries set in post-WW2 England.
A Cowboy's Proposal: Country Brides & Cowboy Boots (Lime Peak Ranch, #3)
Lucy McConnell - 2017
Lime Peak Ranch is home to the Dumont and Ruggles families who raise cattle, train horses, and compete in PRCA rodeos. Life down the dirt road isn’t as perfect as it seems and secrets have roots deeper than the maple trees. Bonnie Ruggles has to leave the Lime Peak Ranch but her marriage is in pieces scattered from the house to the barn. Dallas isn’t speaking to her, his hurt bigger than any words. When tragedy strikes, Bonnie is called home to be with her husband. Their relationship is changing and only by revealing the truth can they start anew. Tearing up secrets with roots this deep can cause more damage than these two might be able to handle. Ellie Dumont Labrum should be living in wedded bliss, but with the death of his father, Logan pulls farther and farther away. Missing the closeness they’d barley glimpsed, Ellie tries desperately to pull her husband out of his grief, Porter Dumont is destined for greatness. He sells his plot on Lime Peak Ranch—his inheritance—and leaves the ranch and family behind to chase the music to Nashville. If he can make this work, he’ll be the biggest name to come out of the ranch. George and Carol Dumont struggle to make a new life out of the ashes of their old love. They want the same things, but Carol has to trust—a task that isn’t easy when she’s been singed. If she can find confidence in her new situation, their love can finally be free from the fears that hold them back. Olivia Dumont is falling in love with Dr. Robert Canton. They would be a perfect fit if it weren’t for the fact that he is leaving at the end of the month. Not wanting to give him an ultimatum, Olivia steps back from their budding relationship. But without incentive to stay, Robert struggles to decide if he and his son, Jax, should go back to Seattle or make a home on the ranch. Follow this family full of heart and love and loyalty as they work to navigate the revelation of long-buried secrets, bitter disappointments, new and old love, and trust in the third book in the Lime Peak Ranch series.
Claus For Alarm
Gretchen Allen - 2019
Charlotte Claus, not to be confused with the ever-popular Mrs. Claus, volunteers to house-sit for a friend of the family while he is out of the country on business. She arrives in Partridge Point on her own, as this time of year is a very big one for her husband, Kris, not to be confused with the even-more-popular, Santa Claus. Things heat up fast, when Charlotte finds herself in charge of the town’s prestigious cookie exchange. Baking one’s way into oblivion, while keeping track of all of the other cookie participants would set anyone in their right mind on edge. Anyone but Charlotte, that is. With the patience of a saint, she brings the Claus-doubting town of Partridge Point jingling its way right onto the nice list. Except, unfortunately, for her neighbor, Hannah, the mayor of Partridge Point, who is accused of murder. Refusing to let the sweet woman end up in jail, Charlotte promises to rein in the crowds of people that are positive that Hannah is a criminal. Partridge Point will never be the same, after Charlotte brings the joy and spirit of the season back to everyone’s hearts, even in the midst of the town’s largest scandal, and a murder that threatens to ruin the Christmas magic that she’s worked so hard to spread. Can Charlotte save the day and solve the crime of the season before the cookies burn, and goodwill goes up in smoke?
Savannah Martin Mysteries 10-12
Jenna Bennett - 2016
But when her perfect husband turns out to be a lying, cheating slimeball—and bad in bed to boot—Savannah kicks the jerk to the curb and embarks on life on her own terms. With a new apartment, a new career, and a brand new outlook on life, she’s all set to take the world by storm. If only the world would stop throwing her curveballs... UNFINISHED BUSINESS - #10 When Savannah wakes up alone on what is supposed to be her wedding day, she isn’t sure what to think. Did her fiancé—bad-boy TBI agent Rafe Collier—decide he couldn’t face being shackled to one woman for the rest of his life... or is something more sinister going on? Savannah’s mother Margaret Anne, in Nashville for the nuptials, is certain she knows the truth: her future son-in-law has always been an ill-bred cad, and leaving his pregnant girlfriend practically at the altar clinches it. But the people who know Rafe aren’t so sure. Wendell Craig with the TBI and Tamara Grimaldi with the Metro Nashville PD suspect foul play, and set out to prove it. Shortly, a dead woman turns up in Savannah’s house. Rafe’s son David goes missing from church camp on the Cumberland Plateau. And a shadowy figure from Rafe’s past is stalking them all—a knife-wielding serial killer who likes to hurt women, and who has a score to settle. Now Savannah must solve the murder, find David, and avoid getting herself killed... or she can kiss her happy ending—and Rafe—goodbye. ADVERSE POSSESSION - #11 Savannah Martin’s real estate career has been an uphill battle. As far as Savannah is concerned, her personal zenith was getting Aislynn Turner and Kylie Mitchell into their dream home, a Victorian cottage in the hip and happening historic district of East Nashville, last January. That was six months ago, and now the dream has turned sour. Someone is sending Aislynn and Kylie threatening letters, warning them to get out while they can. Aislynn is terrified and Kylie is ready to cut her losses. But finding a poison pen is only the beginning. When Kylie is attacked and the previous owner of the house is killed, the hunt is on for a murderer, and Savannah is determined to get to the bottom of what’s going on before Aislynn and Kylie have to give up their dream home, and maybe each other, in the process. UNCERTAIN TERMS – #12 Savannah’s husband, TBI agent Rafe Collier, is back in disguise and undercover, getting into the middle of a gang war. And since he wants to keep his pregnant wife out of harm’s way, Savannah agrees to spend a couple of days under her mother’s roof in her quaint and quiet hometown of Sweetwater, Tennessee. But out of harm’s way doesn’t necessarily mean out of trouble. When her brother’s receptionist asks Savannah’s help in looking for her birth parents, Savannah is happy for the distraction, even when the search takes them to places
The Scottish Doctor's Daughter
Jo Bartlett - 2018
DI Hannah Blair has returned to Scotland to head up a small team of detectives investigating the whole range of crimes that occur in the wild Highlands. When her team is asked to investigate a suspicious death in the rural town of Balloch Pass, Blair isn’t just looking for a potential killer, she’s also chasing the ghosts of her past. Dr Noah Bradshaw has only been in town for a year. But as one of three GPs in the small medical practice, he’s already well-liked in the community… until the finger of suspicion points at him, and some of his patients start to believe he really could be capable of murder. With a local priest also under suspicion, Blair is preoccupied by her strained relationship with her father and her unwanted attraction to one of the suspects, until the investigation seems to be slipping through her fingers. But when Noah reveals the secret that brought him to Balloch Pass, everything changes… Blair faces a race against time to stop the killer striking again, and grab her own chance of happiness with both hands.
Ghostly Dead (Haunted Everly After #7)
ReGina Welling - 2021
FINDING FRANKIE (A Tuper Mystery #2)
Teresa Burrell - 2019
But why? And how did Squirrely, a homeless man, acquire a duffle bag stuffed with thousands in cash, a pistol, and a 25-year-old newspaper?As Squirrely lies in a coma, Tuper’s techie sidekick, Lana, uncovers fifty-year-old secrets about his connection to the death of a high school classmate. The cold case pops to the front burner when a second classmate dies in the same manner.A Senator, his barren wife, and a long-ago illegal adoption heat up the complications. As Tuper and Lana dig deeper, lies, fraud, and blackmail bubble to the surface. When they get too close, the killer panics and tries to take them out too.The case reaches a boiling point—just as Tuper unties a fifty-year-old twist and the cold truth finally puts the fire out.
Murder Afloat: A Lottie Lindberg 1900's Cozy Mystery
Ruby Riverton - 2021
The voyage of a lifetime. An unfortunate sighting.Magnificence, intrigue & murder abound, in this twisty page-turning mystery!When Charlotte, who goes by Lottie, Lindberg witnesses what she thinks is a pickpocketing on the docks of the famous Titanic, she vows to track the culprits once onboard, and warn the others of the danger. But it looks like mystery-obsessed, amateur-sleuth Lottie is in for a lot more than she bargained for, when the simple incident of pickpocketing turns into full-fledged MURDER. Lottie and Little Dickens now find themselves running from a killer. As glamorous as Titanic appears, nefarious things are afoot. People are not who they seem.Eliciting the help from new best friends, Esme Loring, Margo Brown, and the dashing Inspector Stone, will Lottie be able to expose the culprits, and their secrets, in time to save herself? Or will the ill-fated Titanic that’s just hit an iceberg, go down before she has the chance?
Charles Fort and the Beast of Loch Ness (Charles Fort Historical Mysteries #2)
T.E. Scott - 2016
Together they must investigate a strange murder at Boleskine House on the banks of Loch Ness. But what dark creature lurks at the heart of the Loch? And what do the murders have to do with Boleskine’s most infamous resident, Aleister Crowley? Second in the Charles Fort Historical Mysteries series by TE Scott, for fans of Golden Age style detectives and historical mysteries.