Book picks similar to
Death of a Radcliffe Roommate by Victoria Silver


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House of Darkness


Ellery Queen - 2010
    What better way to spend his time than at the newly opened amusement park called Joyland. But the park's designer pride and joy is his "House of Darkness". A haunted house that reminds Queen of the set of Dr. Caligari. But what terror does the darkness hold? Ellery Queen and Djuna is about to find out!

Greyhound at the Gravesite: A Humorous Cozy Mystery for Animal Lovers


Kyla Colby - 2018
     Samantha Hodges is ready to get as far away from crime reporting as possible — especially after what happened in Chicago. Writing for the paper in her pets-obsessed hometown will be easy. Except that she’s not really into animals. And her first interviewee turns up dead. Sam must solve the murder to clear her name — all while attending Dog Zumba class with a new four-legged sidekick like it’s no big deal. If Sam’s going to uncover the dark side of her hometown, she’ll have to embrace the lighter side of life to do it. “Greyhound at the Gravesite” is a new cozy mystery. This novel is lighthearted, fast-paced, and full of quirky characters you can’t wait to meet again. ☆ Free novella — “Catnip & Culprits” — included in purchase! ☆ Scroll up and click Buy Now!

Spirit Matters


Patrice Greenwood - 2017
     While trying to support her grieving Goth office manager, Ellen ponders the mysterious flashes of light she saw in another part of Santa Fe, wondering if they are related to Captain Dusenberry, the tearoom's resident ghost. She asks for help from the local spirit-tour guide, Willow Lane, who takes curiosity about the captain's unsolved murder to a new level, where Ellen finds herself exploring the very meaning of spirit. Will a séance in the tearoom finally provide the answers to her questions? (This is a novella, a short companion story to the Wisteria Tearoom Mysteries series. It is recommended that you read A Masquerade of Muertos before reading this story.)

Murder on Music Row


Stuart Dill - 2011
    Meanwhile, Ripley’s label, Galaxy Records, is preparing a secret merger agreement that would create the largest record conglomerate in the world. Trouble arises when rumors spread that Ripley and Simon are withholding Ripley’s new album in hopes of renegotiating his contract.When Simon and Judd are shot on the famed Grand Ole Opry stage during the filming of Ripley’s new music video, no one is more upset than Ripley—especially as everyone assumes the shots were meant for him. While Simon’s life hangs in the balance, Judd seeks help from Megan Olsen, Simon’s right hand and Ripley’s day-to-day manager. The two set off on a high-powered chase to disclose the real motive behind the shootings and spare Ripley from a second murder attempt.Not unlike John Grisham’s legal thrillers and Michael Crichton’s science-based thrillers, Stuart Dill’s “music industry thriller” can now be added to the literary lexicon. Murder on Music Row leads readers through a maze of twists and turns that connect Nashville, New York, Los Angeles, and London in a behind-the-scenes look at an industry where there are no limits in the pursuit of money, power, and fame.

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.

Desire Lines


Christina Baker Kline - 1998
    It's been ten years since then, but Kathryn still feels the conspicuous void in her life - and the nagging, guilty sense that she has failed her friend.When a divorce sends Kathryn reeling back to the Maine town where she grew up, the young journalist finds herself face-to-face with her past. At twenty-eight, she's been living for far too long on memories and questions; now she needs to take a hard look at her own life at the same time that she is delving into the mystery of what happened to her friend.As she explores the seemingly random series of events that led up to Jennifer's disappearance, a pattern slowly begins to take shape. All the puzzle pieces are at her fingertips - it's a matter of whether Kathryn can put them together in a way that makes sense. As she faces her own fear and grief, she is finally able to come to terms with the ways in which the loss of her friend has shaped her life and the lives of those who knew her. In the process, Kathryn realizes that if she is ever going to understand the circumstances of Jennifer's disappearance, she is going to have to expose herself to the same risks and dangers. Ultimately, Kathryn's quest to find out the truth becomes a quest to save her own life as she races against time to keep Jennifer's fate from becoming hers.

Bimbos & Zombies: Bimbos of the Death Sun / Zombies of the Gene Pool


Sharyn McCrumb - 1997
    Contents:* Bimbos of the Death Sun* Zombies of the Gene Pool

Death on Demand / Design for Murder


Carolyn G. Hart - 2008
    Hart delivers a novel approach to murder that is sure to enthrall you until the last killer is caught.. . .Death on DemandAt Annie Laurance’s Death on Demand bookstore in Broward’s Rock, South Carolina (“the finest mystery bookstore north of Miami”), murder suddenly isn’t confined to the shelves. An author’s abrupt demise during a gathering of famous mystery writers is proof positive that a bloody sword is sometimes mightier than a brilliant pen. But now Annie is in the unenviable position of prime suspect, which means that she and her wealthy paramour, Max Darling, must unmask a brutal and ingenious killer. For Annie, failing could mean prison . . . while success could mean her death.Design for MurderWhen Annie stages a Mystery Night for Chastain, South Carolina’s annual antebellum house tour, she finds herself the lead in a deadly drama wherein the curtain falls on a mean-spirited grande dame. But while fingers point at Annie as the murderer, the perpetrator lurks within the cast of Murder-Most-Make-Believe. Guilty until proven innocent, Annie hopes to clear her name with Max’s help—until her chief witness is killed. Now it will take all of Annie’s sleuthing skills to unmask the evil in the hearts of Chastain’s Beautiful People.

Wicked Stories


Lily Harper Hart - 2016
    Jack Harker is a big-city police officer searching for a quiet life in a small town. When they collide, sparks fly. Trouble follows pretty closely behind. This is a three-book omnibus in the Ivy Morgan mystery series. It includes Wicked Places, Wicked Warning and Wicked Fog.

A Touch of Stardust


Kate Alcott - 2015
    Although the young woman has dreams of becoming a screenwriter, the only job Julie's able to find is one in the studio publicity office of the notoriously demanding producer David O. Selznick —who is busy burning through directors, writers and money as he begins filming Gone with the Wind.     Although tensions run high on the set, Julie finds she can step onto the back lot, take in the smell of smoky gunpowder and the soft rustle of hoop skirts, and feel the magical world of Gone with the Wind come to life. Julie's access to real-life magic comes when Carole Lombard hires her as an assistant and invites her into the glamorous world Carole shares with Clark Gable—who is about to move into movie history as the dashing Rhett Butler. Carole Lombard, happily profane and uninhibited, makes no secret of her relationship with Gable, which poses something of a problem for the studio as Gable is technically still married—and the last thing the film needs is more negative publicity. Julie is there to fend off the overly curious reporters, hoping to prevent details about the affair from slipping out. But she can barely keep up with her blonde employer, let alone control what comes out of Carole's mouth, and--as their friendship grows - soon finds she doesn't want to. Carole, both wise and funny, becomes Julie's model for breaking free of the past.     In the ever-widening scope of this story, Julie is given a front-row seat to not one but two of the greatest love affairs of all time: the undeniable on-screen chemistry between Scarlett and Rhett, and off screen, the deepening love between Carole and Clark. Yet beneath the shiny façade, things in Hollywood are never quite what they seem, and Julie must learn to balance career aspirations and her own budding romance with outsized personalities and the overheated drama on set.

Detective Michael Angel: Books 1-7 (Yorkshire Murder Mysteries #1-7)


Roger Silverwood - 2020
    But where will it lead?BOOK 2: THE MISSING WIFELady Yvette, the beautiful wife of a local MP is found choked to death in a reservoir, robbed of her clothes and antique pearls. Inspector Angel is called in to investigate. But the evidence is scant and he has only his guile to rely on. Can he stop the choker before he strikes again?BOOK 3: THE MAN IN THE PINK SUITCelebrity art critic Frank P. Jones, aka “the Man in the Pink Suit”, shoots a wealthy industrialist. Jones strongly denies the charge, but he has the motive, the opportunity, a Walter PPK/S automatic, and no alibi. DI Angel must unravel the truth from the lies. Was Jones hypnotized, drugged, or is he simply a liar?BOOK 4: THE MORALS OF A MURDERERDuncan McFee is savagely murdered in a distillery where he was chairman. He’s found in one of the vats used to make gin. Yet none of the suspects is burly enough to have delivered the fatal blow. Detective Inspector Michael Angel is called in to unravel the mystery.BOOK 5: THE AUCTION MURDERSAt the auction of Lord Ogmore’s estate, a man is stabbed to death with a silver dagger. Before long, DI Angel finds himself on the trail of a serial killer who leaves behind no clues, no fingerprints and no DNA. Angel has only one eye-witness — and he’s blind. Will Angel solve his toughest case yet?BOOK 6: THE MISSING KILLERA masked man bursts into a quiet country club to confront a young couple. He says, “Your time is up. That girl is mine.” Then he kills one of them. Witnesses cannot identify him and DI Angel’s investigation seems doomed. Faced with vengeful gangsters, crooked police and mentally unstable young men, can Angel work it all out in time and walk away unscathed?BOOK 7: THE UMBRELLA MURDERSAn arsonist threatens to set fire to the luxury home of the local MP. DI Angel has two suspects. One has completely disappeared, the other is locked in a police cell. Will the umbrella man be able to execute his threat while still in police custody? DI Michael Angel must race against the clock to unravel this baffling mystery.

The Headmaster's Wife


Thomas Christopher Greene - 2014
    It is the place he feels has given him his life, but is also the site of his undoing as events spiral out of his control. Found wandering naked in Central Park, he begins to tell his story to the police, but his memories collide into one another, and the true nature of things, a narrative of love, of marriage, of family and of a tragedy Arthur does not know how to address emerges.Luminous and atmospheric, bringing to life the tight-knit enclave of a quintessential New England boarding school, the novel is part mystery, part love story and an exploration of the ties of place and family. Beautifully written and compulsively readable, The Headmaster’s Wife stands as a moving elegy to the power of love as an antidote to grief.

The Late Bloomers' Club


Louise Miller - 2018
    The people of Guthrie are divided–some want the opportunities the development will bring, while others are staunchly against any change–and they aren’t afraid to leave their opinions with their tips.Time is running out, and the sisters need to make a decision soon. But Nora isn’t quite ready to let go of the land, complete with a charming farmhouse, an ancient apple orchard and the clues to a secret life that no one knew Peggy had. Troubled by the conflicting needs of the town, and confused by her growing feelings towards Elliot, the big-box developer’s rep, Nora throws herself into solving the one problem that everyone in town can agree on–finding Peggy’s missing dog, Freckles.When a disaster strikes the diner, the community of Guthrie bands together to help her, and Nora discovers that doing the right thing doesn’t always mean giving up your dreams.

Commencement


J. Courtney Sullivan - 2009
    Celia, a lapsed Catholic, arrives with her grandmother’s rosary beads in hand and a bottle of vodka in her suitcase; beautiful Bree pines for the fiancé she left behind in Savannah; Sally, pristinely dressed in Lilly Pulitzer, is reeling from the loss of her mother; and April, a radical, redheaded feminist wearing a “Riot: Don’t Diet” T-shirt, wants a room transfer immediately.Together they experience the ecstatic highs and painful lows of early adulthood: Celia’s trust in men is demolished in one terrible evening, Bree falls in love with someone she could never bring home to her traditional family, Sally seeks solace in her English professor, and April realizes that, for the first time in her life, she has friends she can actually confide in.When they reunite for Sally’s wedding four years after graduation, their friendships have changed, but they remain fiercely devoted to one another. Schooled in the ideals of feminism, they have to figure out how it applies to their real lives in matters of love, work, family, and sex. For Celia, Bree, and Sally, this means grappling with one-night stands, maiden names, and parental disapproval—along with occasional loneliness and heartbreak. But for April, whose activism has become her life’s work, it means something far more dangerous.Written with radiant style and a wicked sense of humor, Commencement not only captures the intensity of college friendships and first loves, but also explores with great candor the complicated and contradictory landscape facing young women today.

One for the Rock


Kevin Major - 2018
    But when he leads a group of tourists along the cliffs of St. John's harbour, one of them ends up dead. Not only is there a murderer in his tour group, but the cop assigned to the case is sleeping with Sebastian's ex-wife. It seems like things can't get any worse, but as he's enlisted to help flush out the perpetrator, the trail leads deeper than expected, and Sebastian finds himself on the edge.