Book picks similar to
Cupcakes and Conjures by Kat McGee
paranormal
mystery
cozy-mysteries
mcgee-kat
Seashells, Spells & Caramels
Erin Johnson - 2017
She travels to a bustling, medieval village off the coast of France and discovers an enchanting world of magic and mystery, and learns that she, too, possesses powers.Unable to so much as cast a spell, Imogen struggles to keep up with the other witches and wizards who have come from all over the magical world to the Water Kingdom's big competition. She juggles relationships with a sweet new friend, a snarky baking fire, and a brooding, handsome baker. As Imogen falls for this bewitching world, she fears she won’t master her magic in time to win the job of Royal Head Baker, and will be forced to return to the shambles of her non magical life.It only gets worse, when a competitor drops dead in the middle of the big white baking tent, and Imogen’s the prime suspect. Now, she’ll not only have to survive the vampire and psychic judges, but also clear her name by finding the real murderer, before they strike again.With a killer on the loose, a missing prince, and the Summer Solstice Festival fast approaching, Imogen will have to bake like her life depends on it- because it just might.
Bath Bombs & Beyond: A Fanny Doyle Cozy Ghost Mystery
Violet Patton - 2019
Opening a bath shop on Bathhouse Row wasn't fun, it was deadly. Patti swipes the shop's plate-glass window one last time. Tumbles off the stepladder and cracks her noggin on the sidewalk. She wakes with the ability to communicate with Fanny Doyle, Al Capone's former seamstress. Will Patti and Fanny must solve the poisoned bath bomb mystery and save the shop's budding reputation before it's too late? Bath Bombs & Beyond, is the first book in Violet's trilogy: A Fanny Doyle Cozy Ghost Mystery,. If you like ghosts, historical towns, and edge-of-your-seat mysteries, then you'll love this fun new series.
Death in the Park
London Lovett - 2018
Hoping to open a bed and breakfast, Sunni sets herself the task of refurbishing the rundown Cider Ridge Inn, a two-hundred-year-old house with a sordid past. In the meantime, she's stuck writing dull human interest stories for the Junction Times. But when Sunni decides to bend the rules on her first newspaper assignment, she soon finds herself in her favorite place—right in the center of a murder investigation. Now if she can just steer clear of the
cocky, irritating and far too appealing local detective
, Brady "Jax" Jackson.It isn't long before Sunni discovers that avoiding Jax is a piece of cake compared to staying clear of the equally
cocky, irritating and far too appealing two-hundred-year-old ghost
haunting the halls of the Cider Ridge Inn.
Death in the Park
is a full-length cozy mystery novel with a fun paranormal twist.Book 2,
Killer Bridal Party
is now available!
Cutthroat Cupcakes
Cate Lawley - 2021
Now, if only the wizard detective assigned to the case weren't such a distraction.Cutthroat Cupcakes is a magical witch culinary cozy with a touch of romance, the first of three books in the Cursed Candy Mysteries series!
Craks in a Marriage
Barbara Barrett - 2018
A few days later, the husband is found dead, his head bashed in. Fearing she’ll be considered the most likely suspect, the widow prevails upon Sydney and her three friends—Marianne, Kat and Micki—to find out who really killed him. Though none of these four fun-loving, take-charge retirees has any training as detectives, the women agree to launch a secret investigation. As they dig under the happy veneer of their community’s social life, they find more than enough suspects, from shady ladies to resentful golf buddies, to keep them looking over their shoulders. Could the murderer be lurking among the talent in a chaotic production put on by Sydney’s husband, who will do anything to keep busy in retirement? Could the sheriff, who may have more than a professional interest in chanteuse Kat, end up pinning the crime on the women instead? Each discovery during their investigations and their weekly mah jongg game keeps them running as they close in on the killer—but the killer may also be closing in on them. This cozy mystery, the first in the Mah Jongg Mystery series, features four retired amateur sleuths who live in the small Florida town of Serendipity Springs, all female and all friends who play the game of mah jongg together. Though they don't set out to investigate murder, after their first experience in this story, others start looking to them to help investigate subsequent homicides and questionable accidents. In this first book, Sydney Bonner takes the lead, although she turns to her three friends for help. Though this series features four protagonists, the others will take the lead in subsequent stories. Two are married, one is divorced and the fourth, who has been single all her life while she tended to her ailing mother, now finds herself the object of the sheriff's attention in this series. The four don't seek out murder; somehow the circumstances and those affected drag them in. Meanwhile, as they attempt to gather information, life goes on in their community in such activities as a women's club, a social group for those over 50, real estate transactions, numerous stops at the local coffeehouse, and even a shopping trip to Naples. Sydney's husband, Trip, and her friend Marianne Putnam's husband, Beau, are golf buddies who spend many a day on the course. When not there, Trip is busy seeking to build a new post retirement life, and Beau is often prevailed upon to join in Trip's latest activity, which in this first book is a town follies. Kat Faulkner has lived a frugal life until winning big in a lottery shortly after her mother's death; suddenly, Kat has money and doesn't know how to spend it. But her divorced friend and freelance writer, Micki Demetrius, does, even if it's to guide Kat through a makeover and wardrobe change for her lounge act. This cozy mystery is the first book in the Mah Jongg Mystery series. Barbara Barrett is already published in contemporary romance. She is a member of the Mystery/Romantic Suspense chapter of Romance Writers of America. Like her protagonists, she is retired and is a resident of Florida, although she spends her summers in her home state of Iowa. She spent over three decades as a human resource management analyst with Iowa state government. She can be contacted at barbarabarrett747@gmail.com. Check her website at barbarabarrettbooks.com.
Unbaked Croakies
Sam Cheever - 2020
It does not need to be read first to maximize the series. Enjoy.How in the name of the goddess’s favorite sports bra am I going to do this Magical Librarian job? I have no idea what I’m doing. And the woman who’s supposed to be training me is…well, let’s just say she’s distracted and leave it at that. I guess I’ll bumble through. It’s become something of a trademark move for me.My name is Naida Griffith and I’m a sorceress. I actually found that out not too long ago. I’ve lived with an undefined something burning in my belly for a while, feeling as if something wasn’t quite right under my skin. Then, on my eighteenth birthday I started getting headaches. Bad ones. And random stuff started following me around.Recently I was approached by a group called the Société of Dire Magic to become Keeper of the Artifacts. A magical librarian. Given that magical artifacts have taken to following me around, I decided I might have an aptitude for the job. So I said yes.But in the first few days, I’ve been flogged by flip flops, bludgeoned by gnomes, and discovered a corpse in a suitcase. Then there’s the woman who’s supposed to be training me. She’s…interesting.Will I survive the training long enough to get the job as an artifact librarian? You might as well ask me if a caterpillar gets manis or pedis. Who knows? But I know one thing for sure. This gig is hard.I’m going to do my best to succeed. Or die trying.
Hopeless Pocus
Rachel Rivers - 2021
What could go wrong?Witch out of water, Violet Vance, believes she’s run out of luck, when the truth is…she never had any in the first place. The poor girl’s not even a witch.Or so she thinks.Fired from her dream job as an investigator, Violet moves to the tiny town of Hex Falls seeking a new start where she discovers her somewhat-wacky, and terribly over-protective family has followed her. Being the only member of a paranormal family born without powers in the last hundred years, Violet has always been the anomaly. She was born human, never to become magical, but her family doesn’t seem to want to give up on that idea. Despite it all, she settles in, becomes an interior decorator, and right away strange things begin to happen. The winds of change begin to blow, and the waterfall next to her house flows backwards. But it’s when Violet’s fingertips begin to twitch, and her nose to itch, and a long-lost heirloom shows up out of nowhere that Violet begins to panic. But the slime really hits the cauldron when she’s followed by an overweight talking fox who claims to be her familiar. Could it be she has powers after all?Violet is then hired to restore a place called Murder Manor, to its former glory. She should have run screaming from the place when the house smelled like rotting corpse and the owner looked as white as a ghost… but, what can she say, she needed the money. Then a head rolled out onto the carpet of the blood-stained study, and well…what was an ex-investigator-turned-interior-decorator to do—just let a perfectly good murder lie there unsolved?Hex Falls Cozy Mysteries Series:Hopeless Pocus, Book 1, Now AvailableBedknobs & BroomHilda Sticks, Book 2, Now AvailableWitchity, Glitchy, Boo, Book 3, Now AvailableAbracastabra, Book 4, Now AvailableIn Charm’s Way, Book 5, Now AvailableWitchy, Glitchy, Glamour, Now AvailableThe Poof! Is In The Pudding ~ a special Christmas Novella to complete the series ~ Now Available
Greensmith Girls
Raven Snow - 2016
It’s an insular community and home to a lot of strange happenings. It’s also home to the Greensmith family. Rumor has it that they’re a family of witches. The rumors are right. Rowen Greensmith moved away to escape her crazy family. She has her own place and a job in tabloid journalism. Things aren’t perfect, but she’s hopeful they’ll improve. When Rowen’s Aunt Lydia calls her with news of a murder, all of that is turned on its head. During the annual Greensmith family yard sale, Rowen’s Aunt Nadine sold a chest that turned out to have a dead body in it. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the woman she sold it to has now turned up dead! It’s a juicy story, and once Rowen’s boss catches wind of it, Rowen is put on the case. Now Rowen is thrown back into the life she tried to escape. Everyone in the town of Lainswich remembers her, even the ones she rather wishes didn’t. The only total stranger is a handsome businessman who’s new to town. Unfortunately, he has motives all his own. If Rowen wants to save her family, she’s going to have to solve not one but two murders. First, though, she’s going to have to deal with the police, suspicious locals, and her crazy family. Knowing Lainswich, there’s a decent chance she’s going to have to deal with quite a bit of the supernatural as well. Rowen is about to be thrown into one of the most hectic weekends of her life. She’ll be lucky if she can make it out in one piece. The theme of this book is a Supernatural/Paranormal Witch Themed Cozy Mystery. It is a Novel, approx. 40,000 words in length which will typically take the average reader about two hours to read. It is the first volume of the Lainswich Witches Mystery Series. This book is a standalone, reading further volumes is not required to resolve or enjoy the book. Romance is clean.
Witch Is When It All Began
Adele Abbott - 2015
Private investigator, Jill Gooder, has been hired to find a serial killer because, as usual, the police can't buy a clue. Jill, the not so proud owner of a crazy, one-eyed cat, probably can't expect too much help from her PA/Secretary, Mrs V, who spends all day knitting. And just in case all of that wasn't bad enough, Jill's just about to discover she's a witch. ...break out the custard creams.
Massage & Murder
Jenn Cowan - 2018
A professional. A healer. Not a killer. When a client ends up dead on my massage table, I become the number one suspect. I have Means. Motive. Opportunity. But I didn't kill her. The clock is ticking, someone is stalking me, I have to find out who before I end up in jail or worse...dead.
The White Magic Five and Dime
Steve Hockensmith - 2014
Reluctantly traveling to Berdache to claim her new property, Alanis decides to stay and pick up her mother's tarot business in an attempt to find out how she died.With help from a hunky cop and her mother's live-in teenage apprentice, Alanis begins faking her way through tarot readings in order to win the confidence of her mother's clients. But the more she uses the tarot deck, the more Alanis begins to find real meaning in the cards ... and the secrets surrounding her mother's demise.Praise:2015 IPPY Award Bronze Medal Winner in Mystery/Cozy/Noir2014 ForeWord IndieFab Gold Winner for Mystery"Cozy readers with a taste for humor will welcome this hilarious series debut . . . [and] will eagerly await the next installment." --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW)"Hockensmith...and coauthor Falco deliver a charming comic mystery, which one hopes is the beginning of a series."--BOOKLIST"[A] clever and compelling tale filled with colorful and engaging characters and a whodunit plot." --FOREWORD REVIEWS"From the unique title to the cool cover, this book has it all . . . A+ across the board!"--SUSPENSE MAGAZINE"Fun and light."--ELLERY QUEEN'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE
Caught Dead Handed
Carol J. Perry - 2014
This October she's returned to her hometown--where her beloved Aunt Ibby still lives--to interview for a job as a reporter at WICH-TV. But the only opening is for a call-in psychic to host the late night horror movies. It seems the previous host, Ariel Constellation, never saw her own murder coming. Lee reluctantly takes the job, but when she starts seeing real events in the obsidian ball she's using as a prop, she wonders if she might really have psychic abilities. To make things even spookier, it's starting to look like Ariel may have been an actual practicing witch--especially when O'Ryan, the cat Lee and Aunt Ibby inherited from her, exhibits some strange powers of his own. With Halloween fast approaching, Lee must focus on unmasking a killer--or her career as a psychic may be very short lived. . .
Family Secrets
Shawn McGuire - 2017
A place for those who don’t belong. Sixteen years after a family feud drove her from the cozy Northwoods village of Whispering Pines, Wisconsin, former detective Jayne O’Shea returns to prepare her grandparents’ lake house for sale. Once there, not only does she find that the house has been trashed, her dog discovers a dead body in the backyard. Jayne intends to stay out of it, but when it becomes obvious the sheriff isn't interested in investigating the death, Jayne can't stop herself. Her list of suspects grows faster than the plants in the commons’ pentacle garden. Could it be the local Wiccan green witch with her stash of deadly plants? The shopkeeper who slips into trances and foretells death? The visitor determined to practice black magic? What Jayne knows for sure is that the closer she gets to solving this crime, the more the sheriff wants her to back off. And when a local fortune teller provides a crucial clue, Jayne knows it’s up to her to solve this murder.
The Witching Flour
Samantha Silver - 2021
All she has going for her are a minimum-wage job she hates, an uncanny ability to attract the biggest losers on her dating app, and a raccoon sitting in her kitchen sink eating her chips. So, when she finds out she's inherited a bakery in a small Washington town, Robin thinks this might just be the fresh start she desperately needs. Upon her arrival, however, Robin finds out she's inherited more than just a small business: she's also got her mother's magical powers.However, things start going south for Robin when a man dies at the local diner just after her arrival in town and she's fingered as the prime suspect. With half the town thinking she's a killer, Robin decides to take matters into her own hands. But between a ghost who desperately needs therapy, a snarky familiar who loves to quote literature, and a grandmother who walks to the beat of her own drum, Robin really has her hands full.Will she be able to navigate this new reality and find the killer, or will she crumble like an overcooked brownie?This is the first book in the Spellford Cove paranormal cozy mystery series.
Falling into Magic
Elizabeth PantleyElizabeth Pantley - 2020
A portal to an enchanted land. A mysterious family she never knew she had. Hayden's life is upended with the wonder of Destiny Falls. But it is tainted by the danger that brought her here and that threatens her newfound family. Can Hayden and her sassy sidekick remove the threat, so that she can begin her magical new life in this captivating world? …When Hayden was a child, she lost her cat. Adults told her the cat ran away, but she knew the truth. The mirror had taken her. She knew because the mirror gave her a glimpse of an alternate world and had nearly pulled her in, so she was certain the cat had suffered that fate.Twenty years later, Hayden discovers the secret of the mirror when she is thrust into it. She learns of an enchanted world she never knew existed, and a family she never knew she had.But danger brought her here, and it followed her. Now, Hayden is on a mission to remove the threat, so that she can begin her magical, meaningful new life in this enchanted world."Absolutely brilliant, delightful, magical story. This is one book that you cannot stop reading. More please, much, much more, please! ~ Carol, Goodreads "Oh my goodness this was SO GOOD!! Please do yourself a favor and read this book." ~ Prockish"A captivating read! A great story, full of interesting people and places, with surprises around every corner." ~ Linda C. Goodreads"This is no run-of-the-mill paranormal book! Unique ideas. You will be glad this is a series!" ~ Susan G. Amazon "A magical, delightful tale with a quirky cast of characters, engaging dialogue, a pleasantly appealing universe, and an intriguing plotline that I could not put down." ~ Dru Ann, drusbookmusing.comABOUT THE AUTHORElizabeth Pantley is the international bestselling author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution and twelve other books for parents. Her books are published in over twenty languages. She is also the author of the popular Destiny Falls Mystery & Magic series. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and is the mother of four and Nana to one. She hopes you have as much fun reading the Destiny Falls books as she enjoys writing them. Visit her & sign up for her mailing list at nocrysolution.com.