Book picks similar to
Death & Decluttering by Nancy McGovern


cozy-mystery
fiction
mystery-cozy
cozy-mysteries

Take the Monkeys and Run


Karen Cantwell - 2010
    Typical, that is until she sets out to find the missing link between a bizarre monkey sighting in her yard and the bone chilling middle-of-the-night fright fest at the strangely vacant house next door. When Barb talks her two friends into some seemingly innocent Charlie’s Angels-like sleuthing, they stumble upon way more than they bargained for and uncover a piece of neighborhood history that certain people would kill to keep on the cutting room floor.Enter sexy PI Colt Baron, Barb’s ex-boyfriend who would love to be cast as new leading man, filling the role just vacated by her recently estranged husband, Howard. When Colt flies in from out of town to help Barb, events careen out of control and suddenly this mini-van driving mother of three becomes a major player in a treacherous and potentially deadly FBI undercover operation. It’s up to her now. With little time to spare, she and she alone, must summon the inner strength necessary to become a true action heroine and save the lives of those she loves. The question is can she get them out alive before the credits roll?

Pancakes and Pleas


Gretchen Allen - 2019
     Joss Rockwell has been a waitress at the Day and Night Diner for fifteen years, and while she loves her job, she’s about to find out that there are some things in life that are more important than work. When an old friend is found murdered, Joss realizes just how fragile life is and how dear her friends are. Determined to get to the bottom of the tragedy, she jumps into investigating the crime. Her boss is a task-master, and it seems that everyone in her life depends on her for something, but she’s determined to move forward with the case, no matter what. This determined, and a little bit snarky, amateur sleuth will use her wit and wisdom to find out the truth, even if it puts her own safety in danger.

Murder Drama With Your Llama


Erin McCarthy - 2020
    what could possibly go wrong? Out-of-work actress, Sophie LaFleur is ready for a scene change. When she discovers she’s inherited both a house and pub in quaint Friendship Harbor, Maine, she’s thrilled. This is exactly what she needs— fresh start, fresh air and fresh faces. What she doesn't need is a trouble causing llama named Jack Kerouac or a hunky, disinterested pub manager who just so happens to live in her guesthouse. Just when you think it can’t possibly get worse, it does. Two words. Dead. Guy.Now the new girl in town is public enemy number #2. The honor of #1 currently belongs to her inherited ornery llama, which just so happens to be the suspect in the death of a well loved, elderly man. Except Sophie quickly learns he isn’t as well loved as she first thought. She also suspects that his death might not have been at the foot of her cantankerous llama. Sophie didn’t leave the theatrics of L.A. just to be caught up in llama drama... or a murder investigation.

The Maiming of the Shrew: A Pratford-upon-Avon bookshop mystery with amateur sleuth and bookshop owner, Beatrice Hathaway (Pratford-upon-Avon bookshop mysteries Book 1)


Hannah Clemson - 2019
    With another failed relationship under her belt, she arrives in the real home of Shakespeare, in search of the truth. Pratford-upon-Avon with its quaint Tudor cottages, cobbled streets, old English pub and a whole host of characters seems the perfect escape - so what could possibly go wrong? - When Charles Deverill, a newspaper tycoon and the owner of Deverill Manor is found poisoned, the night before his Daughter’s wedding, the finger of suspicion firmly points at the village’s newcomer - Beatrice Hathaway. With the help of Antony Marsden, an archaeologist from Egypt who’s been summoned to the Manor, and Beatrice’s only friend in town, they unravel the mystery of the Deverill dynasty, with devastating consequences.

A Death in Devon (Sugar Martin Vintage Cozy Mysteries Book 1)


Shéa MacLeod - 2019
    However, everything is not as it seems, and Sugar finds herself stuck in England for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, she’s also been offered a job. Unfortunately, that job means going undercover to solve a series of thefts at manor houses in Devon, England. Determined to prove her worth, Sugar sets out to find the thief amongst the glittering houseguests, and instead stumbles across a murder victim. With the dubious help of a grumpy corgi and a handsome Englishman, she’s on the hunt for a cold-blooded killer. From the author of the popular Lady Rample Mysteries comes the first book in the Sugar Martin Vintage Cozy Mysteries set in post-WW2 London.

Entangled


Barbara Ellen Brink - 2010
    One summer of her childhood is a mystery she intends to solve. But digging up her past also lays bare the skeletons of others, including her mother’s. Entangled between what she once believed and a new reality, will she be able to live with the consequences of full disclosure?

Cats and Catnapping


Julia Koty - 2021
    She moves out of her psychic sister’s house and is on the road to her new life. Her trip to Pennsylvania starts simply, even if her cat, Arnold, can’t stop backseat driving. She refuses to accept that she can hear his kitty voice, until the radio refuses to work. Then, at a rest stop she witnesses a catnapping of the sweet kitty that Arnold has a crush on. Mira promises to chase the catnapper across the northeast and find the cat’s owner all before she must meet her realtor at her new house. Antics ensue.

A Tell-Tale Treasure


Megan Marple - 2017
    With her talking pet raven, Poe, and a new kid in town named Bigfoot, she's on the hunt for a treasure that's sure to change their lives. Maybe then she can stick it to all the mean girls in school... Armed with her wits, a couple of shovels, and the map, Edie and Bigfoot try their best to uncover the clues hidden under the blazing Lowcountry sun. But trouble has a funny way of finding Edie, and the only thing that might save her from it is a friend of the ghost variety... *You're reading a prequel to the Tell-Tale Tavern Mystery series, which includes a bonus chapter of "GIN & GHOSTS" (book 1). This is a novella length book that can be read in any order with the other books in the series. It is a clean read, with no graphic violence, sex, or profane language.*

Maids of Misfortune


M. Louisa Locke - 2009
    Annie’s husband squandered her fortune before committing suicide five years earlier, and one of his creditors is now threatening to take the boardinghouse she owns to pay off a debt. Annie Fuller also has a secret. She supplements her income by giving domestic and business advice as Madam Sibyl, one of San Francisco’s most exclusive clairvoyants, and one of Madam Sibyl’s clients, Matthew Voss, has died. The police believe his death was suicide brought upon by bankruptcy, but Annie believes Voss has been murdered and that his assets have been stolen. Nate Dawson has a problem. As the Voss family lawyer, he would love to believe that Matthew Voss didn't leave his grieving family destitute. But that would mean working with Annie Fuller, a woman who alternatively attracts and infuriates him as she shatters every notion he ever had of proper ladylike behavior. Sparks fly as Anne and Nate pursue the truth about the murder of Matthew Voss in this light-hearted, cozy historical mystery set in the foggy gas-lit world of Victorian San Francisco. Maids of Misfortune is the first book in M. Louisa Locke’s historical mystery series, see also, Uneasy Spirits, and Bloody Lessons, as well as the two short stories based on the characters from the novels, Dandy Detects, and The Misses Moffet Mend a Marriage.

The Case of the Missing Finger: A Cruise Ship Cozy Mystery


Cheri Baker - 2021
    Two years later, with her children grown and the rest of her life ahead of her, she's ready to have the adventure she'd planned before her life was turned upside-down. She's excited to visit the U.S. Virgin Islands on her very first cruise.After boarding the most beautiful cruise ship she's ever seen, Ellie's surprised when she's assigned a cabin inside the cruise line's new singles club at sea, but she quickly sees that her new friends aboard could use some advice when it comes to romance. Unfortunately, Ellie's matchmaking efforts are interrupted when a fellow passenger finds a finger with a big diamond ring on it in her Sangria Surprise!Passengers are scandalized and tongues are wagging all around the ship. The ship's security chief seems eager to brush the crime under the rug while others are eager to point fingers at Ellie's favorite bartender. After thirty years married to a small town police chief, Ellie's picked up some sleuthing skills of her own, and she knows that justice demands honest answers to the questions rocking the ship. Who does the finger belong to? How did it end up in the boozy drink special of the day? And what other secrets lurk beneath the Caribbean sun?It's all hands on deck for adventure with this matchmaking sleuth.

On the Chopping Block


Jenny Kales - 2016
    The 36-year-old Greek-American proprietor of “Callie's Kitchen,” a meals-from-scratch business in an idyllic small town, has been busy creating a post-divorce life for herself, her young daughter and her Yorkie, Koukla. After a lot of hard work (including staving off her father’s continual advice), she’s got the locals and tourists clamoring for her delicious Mediterranean dishes and Midwest comfort food classics. Recently, she’s started a budding romance with a fellow foodie, the wealthy owner and chef of Crystal Bay’s most popular bistro. However, success is as fleeting as one of Wisconsin’s glorious autumn days. As local businesses begin to shut down due to a slow economy, Callie is struggling not to become another statistic. A contest with a hefty cash prize seems like the perfect chance to fix her financial woes, until a shocking murder threatens not only her livelihood – but her life. When she’s targeted as a prime suspect by an attractive expat British detective, Callie’s situation becomes more delicate than her Greek egg-lemon soup. She’s got to find the killer and fast if she wants to protect her daughter, save her business and stay alive.

One Summer: ...at Charlie's Diner


Mary Jane Forbes - 2014
    Seeing a help wanted sign in a window, she applies for the job as a waitress at the little diner near the Daytona Beach boardwalk. Tyler Jackman, a wannabe cartoonist, works at the diner as a waiter. He falls for the pretty blonde, coming to her rescue time and time again. But Star doesn’t see him as anything more than a new friend. Star is drawn to Ash, a handsome mystery man who frequents the diner. He begins to meet her after work, walks her home, and they share coffee on the beach. A summer romance? The three lives intertwine as they strive to make their dreams come true. Will love, jealousy, friendship help or hinder their struggles?

Hyde Park Heist


Bettie Jane - 2018
    A generation of lost youth. An elite women’s group determined to find their place in the world. Welcome to Piccadilly Ladies Club. Julia Barlow is an elite member of this all-female club for writers, illustrators, and daughters of accomplished gentleman. She is caught between her desire to prove herself as a respectable journalist in male-dominated 1920’s London and a carefree existence as one of the Bright Young People living life on her terms. When a scavenger hunt at Hyde Park goes badly and her dear friend Jimmie is accused of a heinous crime, Julia finds herself and her friends in the middle of a high-society scandal that could destroy their charmed way of life. Can she clear Jimmie’s name or will her stubborn determination to find her place in the world get her and her friends into even more trouble? Hyde Park Heist is the first book in Piccadilly Ladies Club Mysteries. Join Julia and her best friend Edith on rowdy treasure hunts, at exclusive, often garish house parties, and at speakeasies and jazz clubs where they dance and drink the nights away, challenging the standards of their birthright at every turn.

Murder She Typed


Sylvia Selfman - 2014
    She gets more than she bargained for, however, when her nemesis, sexy blonde bombshell, Sondra Sockerman disappears under suspicious circumstances. Izzy soon realizes she has a natural detecting ability when she and her friend, Flo, try to find the killer...who is now after them.

The Killer Outdoors


Jodi Linton - 2020
    With all her guided tours booked, it finally seems lady luck is on her side.But then Bucky is found dead. Not great.And she’s the prime murder suspect. Double not great.Being framed for murder sucks worse than a rabid chipmunk bite. Andie’s determined to clear her name, and this time her survival training skills won’t be used to fetch an ice pack. But how long can she stay one step ahead of a killer before she becomes the final victim?