Book picks similar to
Murder, Mayhem and Bliss by Loulou Harrington
mystery
cozy-mystery
mystery-cozy
ebook
Antiques Roadkill
Barbara Allan - 2006
Now they are in a race to find the murderer before he or she strikes again because they could very well be next!
Lady Rample Steps Out
Shéa MacLeod - 2017
Lady Rample finds herself at odds after the death of her husband until her best friend drags her to a hot new jazz club in the heart of London. As if being wooed by two handsome men isn’t enough, Lady R finds herself embroiled in the murder of one of the club’s owners. Bored with her aristocratic life and irked that the police have arrested the wrong suspect, Lady R decides to turn lady detective. With her eccentric Aunt Butty in tow, Lady R scours London for clues. If she’s lucky she’ll find the killer before the killer finds her. From the author of the Viola Roberts Cozy Mysteries comes the first book in the Lady Rample Mysteries set in jazz-era London.
Stilettos & Scoundrels
Laina C. Turner - 2020
Freelance journalists fight for their assignments, and Presley thinks she’s won the battle when she’s hired to interview pompous womanizer Senator Daniels. But when the senator turns up dead a day later, Presley climbs right to the top of the senator’s security team’s suspect list. A security team run by her high school ex-boyfriend. Can she prove her innocence and not fall for the one guy she swore she’d never look in the eye again, or will she wind up with a lifetime gig in prison?
Bubba and the Dead Woman
C.L. Bevill - 2010
His ex-fiancee is deader than a door nail and everyone thinks he dun did it. His house is haunted. His mother is running an illegal gambling ring. His dog likes to bite people too much. And he's got to find out who really did it before the sheriff throws him in jail...again.
Murder at the Snowed Inn (Claire Andersen Murder for All Seasons Cozy Mystery Series Book 1)
Imogen Plimp - 2020
She knew her fresh start would be exciting, but she never expected it to be tinged with enthralling adventure, romance that’s sweet as sweet can be … and murder!Adorable and resilient, former NYC chef Claire Andersen is no stranger to second chances. She and her stock trader husband George had decided long ago to trade in their life of ambition for one of quaint & quiet adventure—by opening up a cozy neighborhood coffee shoppe on the ground floor their Brooklyn brownstone. He was the coffee-connoisseur, she was the baker extraordinaire. Claire was so happy, she could just die. But fate had other plans—it came for her husband instead.After George’s passing, Claire decides (with a nudge from her doting foster daughter Al) to trade in her life of brews and baked goods for breakfast—bed and breakfast, that is! And what better setting in which to start over than Galway, Maryland—a charming, snowy mountain town (and favorite cross-county ski destination of Claire’s youth).All is well in Claire’s new B&B venture—and with her new oven constantly in use, it’s mouth-watering, even—until her first guest is murdered in-house. It’s not long until one of the suspects Claire questions about the murder winds up dead, too. Suddenly, Claire finds herself starting over yet again—and trading in her hostess hat (she’d just dusted it off, too!) for a secret life as an amateur sleuth.But it’s not all B&B business and bodies: Claire also finds herself in the throes of not one, but two potential romances—each more toe-curling and butterflies-in-the-stomach inducing than the other.Alongside her trusty new pal Evelyn (who’s feisty enough to make anyone blush) and her faithful bloodhound Rupert, Claire races the clock to get to the next victim—before the killer does. And she knows she’d better hurry. Because if the killer catches her first, she might run out of second chances.Author's Note: This book contains a non-binary character whose preferred pronouns are they/them. If the notion of a non-binary character (and its resultant use of grammar) is offensive, then this book is not for you!
Death on the Danube: A New Year's Murder in Budapest
Jennifer S. Alderson - 2019
Her luck has run sour for going on a decade, ever since she got fired from her favorite job as an investigative reporter. When her fresh start in Seattle doesn’t work out as planned, Lana ends up unemployed and penniless on Christmas Eve. Dotty Thompson, her landlord and the owner of Wanderlust Tours, is also in a tight spot after one of her tour guides ends up in the hospital, leaving her a guide short on Christmas Day. When Dotty offers her a job leading the tour group through Budapest, Hungary, Lana jumps at the chance. It’s the perfect way to ring in the new year and pay her rent! What starts off as the adventure of a lifetime quickly turns into a nightmare when Carl, her fellow tour guide, is found floating in the Danube River. Was it murder or accidental death? Suspects abound when Lana discovers almost everyone on the tour had a bone to pick with Carl. But Dotty insists the tour must go on, so Lana finds herself trapped with nine murder suspects. When another guest turns up dead, Lana has to figure out who the killer is before she too ends up floating in the Danube… Introducing Lana Hansen, tour guide, reluctant amateur sleuth, and star of the Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mystery Series. Join Lana as she leads tourists and readers to fascinating cities around the globe on intriguing adventures that, unfortunately for Lana, often turn deadly.
The Dessert Corpse
Tracey Quinn - 2018
The Breezy Spoon is a big success, and when hunky and flirtatious fireman Mark Adams offers to rent Dani his downstairs apartment, things are really looking up.... until a dead body with a chocolate pie smashed in his face shows up in the dumpster behind the diner! Trying to get to the bottom of the mystery isn't easy when dealing with the quirky and eccentric residents of East Spoon Creek City, and it gets even harder when the body keeps disappearing and popping up around town! There's not a moment to lose when dark secrets threaten to come to light, and Dani discovers that one of her customers just might be a serial killer!
Southern Spirits
Angie Fox - 2015
When out of work graphic designer Verity Long accidentally traps a ghost on her property, she’s saddled with more than a supernatural sidekick—she gains the ability see spirits. It leads to an offer she can’t refuse from the town’s bad boy, the brother of her ex and the last man she should ever partner with. Ellis Wydell is in possession of a stunning historic property haunted by some of Sugarland Tennessee’s finest former citizens. Only some of them are growing restless—and destructive. He hires Verity to put an end to the disturbances. But soon, Verity learns there’s more to the mysterious estate than floating specters, secret passageways, and hidden rooms. There’s a modern day mystery afoot, one that hinges on a decades-old murder. Verity isn't above questioning the living, or the dead. But can she discover the truth before the killer finds her?
The St. Valentine's Day Cookie Massacre
Elisabeth Crabtree - 2014
What begins as a run of the mill, albeit tasty, assignment turns into something much more dangerous when one of the Cookie Jar’s employees is poisoned. Now Kat is chasing the biggest story of her life, while trying to catch the eye of her handsome editor and avoid becoming the killer’s next victim. A cozy novella: approximately 44,000 words
Calamity Jayne
Kathleen Bacus - 2006
Crowned "Calamity Jayne" by Iowa Department of Natural Resources officer Rick Townsend, Tressa's out to gain a little hometown respect --or die trying. Unfortunately for Tressa, that may be the case. She's just been handed the perfect opportunity to get "Ranger Rick," the doubting Don Juan of the DNR, and a skeptical citizenry to finally take her seriously. How? By solving a murder no one else believes happened...No one, that is, except the killer.Yup, Calamity Jayne is in it up to her hot pink snakeskin cowgirl boots and matching rhinestone belt. Tressa would tell you her momma never raised no dummies, but the jury's still out on that one.
Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot
Sarah Osborne - 2018
So when a childhood friend asks Ditie to babysit her kids for a few days, she jumps at the chance. She never imagined she’d be solving a murder too . . . Despite growing up together, Ditie hasn’t seen Ellie Winston in two years, and she didn’t even know Ellie was living in Atlanta. But when Ellie asks her to take care of Lucie and Jason for the weekend, she thinks nothing of it. They’ll bake cookies together, play with her dog—it’ll be fun! Until the police call with terrible news . . . Ellie may not have been the best friend, but who would want her dead? Could it have something to do with the vague get-rich-quick scheme she mentioned to Ditie? Or the men in a black truck following her and breaking into her home? Not sure who to trust other than her best friend, Lurleen, Ditie’s buried maternal instincts kick in to protect the kids and find their mother’s killer—before they’re orphaned again . . . Includes Family-Friendly Recipes!
May Day
Jess Lourey - 2006
Due to a dead-end job and a cheating boyfriend, the Twin Cities have lost their charm, and Mira decides to begin a new life in rural Battle Lake. Right away she is offered jobs as an assistant librarian and part-time reporter, and falls into an unexpected romance with a guy who seems to be the perfect man until he turns up dead between the reference stacks her tenth day on the job. Anxious to learn more about the man who had briefly stolen her heart, Mira delves into the hidden mysteries of Battle Lake, including a old land deed with ancient Ojibwe secrets, an obscure octogenarian crowd with freaky social lives, and a handful of thirtysomething high school buddies who hold bitter, decades-old grudges. Mira soon discovers that unknown dangers are concealed under the polite exterior of this quirky small town, and revenge is a tator-tot hotdish best served cold.A hip, humorous, and gripping account of small-town murder, this novel is the first in a series of cozies featuring Mira James, an urban woman with rural Minnesota roots.
Photo Bombed
Daria White - 2021
She’s determined to stand on her own two feet in Edenville, Texas after her bitter divorce. When the town’s wedding of the year stars her friend as the bride, Bianca can’t wait to celebrate the nuptials. Neither she nor the guests expect a corpse! When the police suspect the bride, Bianca's determined to prove her friend’s innocence.Lamar Sims, the new police detective in Edenville, is investigating the murder case. Bianca’s “interference” is not helping, but she won't stop when her friend's freedom is on the line. He makes it clear he wants her to let the police do their job, so she has to find ways around him.No one in Edenville is safe until the killer is behind bars. Bianca won’t let Detective Sims dismiss her hunches. They may have to work together before another dead body shows up.
The Great Catsby (A NOLA Tail Mystery Book 1)
B.K. Baxter - 2020
I swear he’s judging me as I settle in and try to make new friends in my new small-town Louisiana neighborhood.And just when I start to settle into my new job and get back to reading my classic novels, I’m pulled chapters deep into a mystery. The Beauty Queen in the town has been offed. Someone has killed the darling. Wouldn’t you know it? An innocent man has been framed. I shouldn’t get involved, but somehow, my cat seems to have a way with finding clues in some of my favorite stories. Not that any of that makes sense. Why would it?The cat is the sleuth, I’m the amateur, and we have alligators in the backyard. Throw in a dead body, a book club that’s filled with suspicious characters, and you have my new life. And I thought being a librarian in Louisiana was going to be dull.
A Caffeine Conundrum
Angela Ruth Strong - 2018
Sassy city girl Tandy Brandt moves to the small town of Grace Springs to start a coffee shop, never imagining she'll be competing with local beauty queen Marissa Alexander and her dream of running a tea house. Unfortunately, the current store owner dies before selling the location to either of them, and they both become murder suspects. The unlikely pair team up in an attempt to discover the real killer, though with the secrets in Tandy's past and Marissa's infamous clumsiness, they could be their own worst enemies. Despite their differences, they follow clues to question a sweet, apple pie baking antique store owner, a GQ Santa in the retirement center, and a hipster millionaire with no social skills. Will they be able to figure out whodunit and prove their innocence before one of them goes to jail...or worse?