Book picks similar to
Rear-View Murder by Willow Monroe


cozy-mystery
cozy-mysteries
freebies
mystery

Death Wore Brown Shorts


Audrey Claire - 2015
    They enjoyed the view when he wore those brown shorts every spring and summer. But someone is less appreciative of Paul’s muscular legs. Annie Holloway, mystery writer and lover of a good challenge, finds Paul strangled to death in his truck. She is determined to finger the murderer. Annie enjoys the excitement of what she does for a living, especially when it comes to research. Nothing is better than the hands-on approach. The task is that much harder because of Annie’s dark family history. Then there’s the fact that she’s self-diagnosed as having borderline obsessive-compulsive disorder. Not that anything can stop Happy Holloway! A new cozy mystery series.

The Sinister Seminar


Sara Robbins - 2013
    She helped launch the Aspen Valley Inn and now she is getting her own story. She operates Enchanted Events which is getting the reputation that they host events to die for. It was a simple writing seminar booking. First someone tries to kill one of the students and next they come after Charlotte. Nothing can stop Charlotte from getting to the bottom of this because this time it's personal. Spend some time with the characters you loved in the Aspen Valley Inn Series and you'll also get to know more about Charlotte in this first book of the Events to Die For Series.This is a novella of approximately 25, 200 words.

The Death of Amelia Marsh


MaryJo Dawson - 2007
    When Sally Nimitz discovers the body of her charming eighty-year-old neighbor she is devastated by how close violence has come to the quiet life she leads as mother, grandmother, and nurse. Though still recovering from the death of her own husband, Sally can’t put the trauma of the murder behind her until she knows who could have done it and why. With the help of a close male friend and a quirky older lady, Sally begins looking into the life and past of her neighbor and soon discovers there was much more to Amelia Marsh’s life than anyone had ever guessed.

Rosemary's Gravy


Melissa F. Miller - 2015
    But then, plans have a way of going out the window when a girl learns her parents have skipped town, leaving behind a half-million-dollar debt. Rosemary makes the best of her situation, putting up with her boss's diva antics and halfheartedly fending off the advances of the impossibly sexy stepson who comes with the high-paying gig. Then someone decides to kill the miserable movie star. It's bad news for any chef when a client dies from an allergic reaction after eating your cooking. It's even worse news for Rosemary because the police are determined to charge her with murder. To restore her reputation (and stay out of prison), Rosemary has to find the real murderer--and fast. Her short list of suspects includes a womanizing race car driver, a powerful music producer, Hollywood's hottest leading man, and, oh yeah, Felix, the dead woman's stepson--which gets a little awkward when Rosemary starts dating him. Unfortunately, everything Rosemary thought she knew is wrong--dead wrong. After a romantic dinner with Felix ends in food poisoning, she finds herself unattached, unemployed, and once again on the wrong side of the LAPD. She knows how to salvage an oversalted sauce, but can she salvage the disaster that is her life? And will the hunky homicide detective help her--or book her? ROSEMARY'S GRAVY is the first book in the We Sisters Three series, the new romantic comedic mystery series from Melissa F. Miller, the USA TODAY Bestselling Author of the Sasha McCandless legal thriller series and the Aroostine Higgins legal thriller series.

A Cue to a Kill


Lilian Watts - 2015
    but can it, when one of the actors has a cue to a kill?Backstage at the last night performance of the murder-mystery play "Bone Chiller," a real life killer is stalking the corridors of the theater.The Goose Meadow Bay Players' Halloween production has been declared an artistic success by enthralled audiences, but onstage and backstage the cast and crew are just a little bit bored.On the last night, one of the actors has a great idea to liven things up and everything seems harmless enough, but then an attempt is made on one actor's life. Not long after that, another goes missing.With the audience's laughter ringing in their ears, the cast are more intent on stardom than finding the potential murderer lurking amongst them. Can Kath keep the show running, the cast safe and make sure the killer sticks to the script?This is a cozy mystery short read in the Stage Door series.

The Final Bet


Gillian Larkin - 2013
     Not all the visitors to ‘Second Hand Rose’ are alive. Rose owns a shop called ‘Second Hand Rose’. Not all of the customers are alive; some are ghosts that ask Rose to help them with their unfinished business. Kate works with Rose and doesn't know anything about the ghosts until Rose asks for her help. Kate has a young child and doesn't want ghosts hanging around her, so she says no to Rose. But then something happens and Kate has no choice but to help the first ghost that needs her assistance. In this first book, Kate helps a ghost who got into trouble because he just couldn't resist a final bet.

Murder Under Construction


Maddie Cochere - 2014
    She wants two things in life - a new career as a private investigator, and to lose the sixty pounds she packed on after her divorce.When she crashes her bike in a construction site, she lands on a girl with a large knife in her chest. Jo enlists her sister, Pepper, and their journalist friend, Jackie, to help solve the dead girl's murder. Things become creepy for Jo when the murdered girl appears in her dreams to offer unusual clues to her death.Murder Under Construction is a humorous mystery with Jo's family adding to the antics of the three women. Mama caterwauls, Jackie's two children offer sleuthing assistance, and her brother, Hank, laughs at all of them from the sidelines. Murder Under Construction is light, easy-breezy reading from Maddie Cochere.

Killer Dress


Nancy McGovern - 2017
    After years of living the fast life as a photographer in LA, she's heading back home to Innocence, California, with nothing but her old camera, a laptop, and $40 to her name. It’s time to pick up the pieces… Thankfully, there is one bright spot in her life. Her sister, Caroline, is about to be married and she’s asked Dani to photograph the event. It’s the perfect way to jumpstart into her future. Unfortunately, things don’t go according to plan. The groom-to-be’s ex-girlfriend is found dead the day before the wedding.  And, between their bitter history and the fact that the victim is somehow wearing her wedding gown, Caroline immediately becomes suspect #1. Can Dani do something to help her sister? The sheriff is confident it is an open & shut case against Caroline and doesn’t see the need to dig much deeper. But, of course, Dani knows she’s innocent. And, for some reason, she has a nagging feeling that there is something in the wedding photos that can clear Caroline’s name. Something that is hiding in plain sight. If she can only figure out what it is… Find out what happens in Killer Dress, the first book in Nancy McGovern’s new cozy mystery series, “Shot & Framed”! Nancy McGovern is also the author of the popular culinary cozy mystery series, “A Murder In Milburn” & “Slice of Paradise Cozy Mysteries”, featuring delicious recipes and even tastier whodunits, as well as the witch-based paranormal cozy mystery series, “Bluebell Knopps Cozy Mysteries”.  Follow the link in ANY of Nancy's books to join her mailing list and receive a FREE COZY MYSTERY just for signing up!

Murder in Hatterton Crow


Ormolu Mockingbird - 2013
    Her father is having one of his 'prescient turns' again, her mother is planning a trip to Spain with her informal ladies' society, and to cap it all the village baker, Ben Tonkins, has died, which means that Gretchen will be bereft of her favourite dense, jammy sponge cakes. And there is something entirely fishy about Ben's death that sits ill with the intrepid mortician.And what's worse is that Gretchen's solemn and sensible boss, the honey-voiced Carmel, seems to have come down with a case of the crazies, botching the embalming process on Ben, and getting wildly smashed on vodka before bashing both Gretchen and another villager, Rosie Tawber, with a cricket bat.But Gretchen knows Carmel, and she knows that cricket was never her game, so she sets out with the help and hindrance of the villagers to discover who, exactly, is the murderer in their midst - and what could be their motive in this sleepy corner of England.

Sunbaked Snowbird


Molly Dox - 2014
    One of her guests, a snowbird from Pennsylvania, just turned up dead at her family’s small, retro camper resort. Paradise Cove and Mini Golf was a quiet vacation destination, popular with retirees looking to get away from cold winters up north.As a one-time paramedic, Poppy missed the adrenaline rush of the challenging medic job. Channeling her unused energy, and with help from a friend, Poppy can't help but get herself involved in the case. Tangled in details, Poppy finds herself faced with multiple suspects and not enough clues.

The Hope Diamond


Julie Sarff - 2015
    It’s been three long years since her Italian husband cheated on her, and she is facing financial ruin. In desperation, she teams up with fellow housemaid, Francesca -- an irascible Italian fashionista and self-proclaimed psychic. Together they search Villa Buschi for some of the most famous gems in the world, the diamonds that were cut away from the French Blue to make the infamous Hope. But when Lily can’t find the diamonds, and nothing seems to go her way, she briefly contemplates running around ranting drivel and frightening the whole reserved population of Arona, Italy. Follow Lily and several rambunctious rescues kittens on her quest for precious antiquities; a journey which may lead to something far better than long lost gems. Learn more about Julie’s books at www.JulieSarff.com

Bed and Breakfast and Murder


Patti Larsen - 2017
    Instead, I forced myself to smile and swallow and remind myself the elbow length yellow rubber gloves grasping the handle of the standard issue plunger were all that stood between me and Pooageddon.Suck it up, Fee. Big girl panties and adulting and all that."At what point," I waved the dripping plunger, wincing as droplets of yuck flew, "did I think owning a bed and breakfast was going to be glamorous and romantic?"Fiona Fleming hasn't lived in Reading, Vermont in over a decade, her escape from small town living leading her to New York City and a life of adventure. An adventure that has left her with no career, an ex who cheated on her and zero plans for the future. Her grandmother's death grants her a new chance--inheriting Petunia's, Iris Fleming's bed and breakfast, seems like the ideal fresh start. But when Fee finds out ownership of the property Iris willed her might be in question, she's drawn into the seedy underbelly of the cutest town in America after being singled out as the main suspect in a murder.

Alas, She Drowned


Monica Knightley - 2016
    Betrayal. Tea and Scones. When ex-novice nun, turned steamy romance writer, Maggie O’Flynn moves to the charming village of Stratford Upon Avondale to open a tea room she expects plenty of murders, betrayal, and duplicity. On the stages of the town’s renowned Shakespeare Festival. But when a theater critic is found murdered on the town’s riverbank and the prime suspect turns out to be the sexy bookshop owner Maggie has had her eye on, she takes matters into her own hands. Will she be able to dig through the layers of betrayal and duplicity to find the true murderer before that handsome bookseller, Nate Larimer, finds himself behind bars? With the help of her loud, brash, spitfire of a friend, Gina Mattucci, Maggie plans to do just that. With a bit of Shakespeare, copious amounts of tea, and a faux-English setting to rival anything the real England has to offer, ALAS, SHE DROWNED is the first book in THE STRATFORD UPON AVONDALE mystery series. Lovers of cozy mysteries will find a cozy home in Stratford Upon Avondale.

Watered Down Death


Lucinda D. Davis - 2015
    Bill Whitehall dead in the churning waters of the mill at the bottom of his garden in Coppin’s Locks. But was he alone?Monica Goodwood and her business partner, Erin O’Malley, owners of Rocking Horse Antiques, dive into discovering the truth about the demise of the old curmudgeon, a man whose best bedside manner was reserved for animals in need and not people in pain.The idyllic village of Coppin’s Locks with its British style pub, cozy tea shop, trendy boutiques and colourful characters is abuzz with curiosity. Who wanted the grumpy old man dead? Was it one of the locals, who all seem to have alibis tinged with lies, or is the death linked to the past with hidden details kept secret for decades? And why does the old black and white photograph found in a bureau seem so important to somebody?At least one person in town knows the truth, but nobody is talking! And, the biggest fear in this quiet backwater is, will the killer strike again?This mystery is book 1 in the Coppin’s Lock Mysteries featuring Monica Goodwood and Erin O’Malley.

Shop and Let Die


Kelly McClymer - 2014
    But an online job suddenly has her questioning everything about her life, including whether it is wise to keep shopping when there is a serial killer targeting mall shoppers. When the FBI enlists her help to find the serial killer, Molly isn't sure she's ready to be more than a domestic-level spy.