Book picks similar to
The Marinara Murders by E.E. Bailes
mystery
fiction
cozy-mystery
storybundle
Mew Is for Murder
Clea Simon - 2005
Her sometime boyfriend's gone for good. The death of her beloved cat opened a bigger void. And the career leap she's made from copy editor to freelance writer has left her finances and her spirit flat. She desperately needs a headline to get her life back on track.One day, out for a stroll in her Cambridge neighborhood, Theda spies an adorable stray kitten. This charmer leads Theda to an old woman holed up in a decrepit house full of cats. Is this one of those "crazy cat ladies," a classic hoarder, or is the old woman a neighborhood do-gooder?More important, is this the story to catapult Theda out of the dumps?But when she returns to interview Lillian Helmhold, Theda finds her fascinating subject dead of an apparent accident. The neighbors are celebrating, the police aren't interested, and the cats are removed to a shelter. End of story. Not for Theda--one or two things don't compute. So Theda marshals her investigative journalism skills to turn gumshoe.
Death By Sarcasm
Dani Amore - 2011
She is asked to assist in finding the killer by both the police and family members. Mary quickly discovers that her uncle's death was just the opening act for a bloody rampage. As Mary investigates, she exposes a dark and deadly legacy with mysterious links to her own past.DEATH BY SARCASM careens through Hollywood, Catalina Island and the exclusive enclave of Malibu, with nonstop action and unforgettable characters.THis is the first novel by Dani Amore, who can be found at her website, deadlysarcasm.com"A welcome shot of estrogen into the private eye genre." --Bluffton Today"Mary Cooper is tougher than Stephanie Plum, smarter, and would reduce her to tears in under 30 seconds with her sharp tongue." --St. Augustine Record"Packed to the gills with hard-hitting action and a non-stop plot." --Jacksonville News"DEATH BY SARCASM cuts like a knife." --Savannah Morning News
The Third Girl
Nell Goddin - 2015
She’s looking for peace, beautiful gardens, and pastry—a slower, safer life than the one she’d been living outside of Boston. But you know what they say about the best intentions… Molly has barely gotten over jet-lag before she hears about a local student’s disappearance. In between getting her old ramshackle house in order and reveling in French food, Molly ends up embroiled in the case, along with the gendarmes of Castillac. And unlike the Nancy Drews she loved as a child, this mystery stirs up emotions she thought had been put to rest..and terrifies the residents of her beloved village.
Sea Change
T'Gracie Reese - 2013
Lucy is a sleepy little Gulf Coast community––and that’s the way its residents like it. Most of them generally ignore the monstrous old Robinson mansion that sits in the center of town, until one day, insane old man Robinson dies and leaves the house and its accompanying fortune to the town. The residents are ecstatic and begin planning improved schools and cultural centers. Local retired school teacher and village elder Nina Bannister is sent to the man’s funeral in New Orleans and to represent Bay St. Lucy at the reading of his will. However, Nina returns from her trip saddened to report that a long lost Robinson relative has appeared to claim the entire inheritance. Almost immediately, the new owner – flamboyant Eve Ivory – arrives and announces her own plans to turn Bay St. Lucy into a extravagant vacation resort, not plans that anyone in this small town like at all and ones that will quickly lead to murder.
Murder Undeniable
Anita Waller - 2018
She is happily married to Leon and her work is rewarding.
But everything changes when she discovers the body of a man and a badly beaten woman, Beth, in the alleyway behind her husband’s pharmacy.Drawn to the young woman she saved, Kat finds herself embroiled in a baffling mystery.When Beth’s house is set on fire, Kat offers the young woman sanctuary in her home and soon the pair begin investigating the murder, with some help from Beth’s feisty grandmother, Doris. But neither the police, nor Leon, nor the criminals want Kat and Beth looking into their affairs and the sleuths quickly find themselves out of their depth…
Can Kat and Beth solve the mystery and walk away unscathed?
Anita Waller is the bestselling author of multiple thrillers including 34 Days, Malignant and Captor. Murder Undeniable is a gripping cat and mouse mystery which will appeal to fans of authors like Faith Martin, J.R. Ellis, LJ Ross and Betty Rowlands.
Death by Chocolate
Sally Berneathy - 2011
Suddenly Lindsay finds herself battling poisoned chocolate, a dead man who doesn't seem very dead and a psycho stalker. Her best friend and co-worker, Paula, dyes her blond hair brown, hides from everybody and insists on always having an emergency exit from any room. Secrets from Paula's past have come back to put lives in jeopardy. Determined to help Paula and to save her own life, Lindsay enlists the reluctant aid of another neighbor, Fred, an OCD computer nerd. In spite of his mundane existence, Fred possesses tidbits of knowledge about such things as hidden microphones, guns and the inside of maximum security prisons. Lindsay needs more than a chocolate fix to survive all this chaos. Lindsay Powell's only secret is the recipe for her chocolate chip cookies, but she is surrounded by neighbors with deadly secrets. Suddenly Lindsay finds herself battling poisoned chocolate, a dead man who doesn't seem very dead and a psycho stalker. Lindsay needs more than a chocolate fix to survive all this chaos.
Dead on Demand
Daniel Campbell - 2012
Everything changes for Edwin when his wife files for divorce. On the brink of losing his home, his job and his little girl, Edwin orchestrates an intricate plan to eliminate his wife and regain his former lifestyle.The police are baffled when bodies begin to appear all over London with no apparent connection between them. Inspector David Morton must think outside the box as he investigates the deadly web of deceit behind the murders.
Arsenic in the Azaleas
Dale Mayer - 2019
… Controlling to chaos. … But murder … seriously? After her ex-husband leaves her high and dry, former socialite Doreen Montgomery's chance at a new life comes in the form of her grandmother, Nan's, dilapidated old house in picturesque Kelowna … and the added job of caring for the animals Nan couldn’t take into assisted living with her: Thaddeus, the loquacious African gray parrot with a ripe vocabulary, and his buddy, Goliath, a monster-size cat with an equally monstrous attitude. It’s the new start Doreen and her beloved basset hound, Mugs, desperately need. But, just as things start to look up for Doreen, Goliath the cat and Mugs the dog find a human finger in Nan’s overrun garden. And not just a finger. Once the police start digging, the rest of the body turns up and turns out to be connected to an old unsolved crime. With her grandmother as the prime suspect, Doreen soon finds herself stumbling over clues and getting on Corporal Mack Moreau’s last nerve, as she does her best to prove her beloved Nan innocent of murder.
In for a Penny
Kelsey Browning - 2013
Desperate to keep up the family name and give the man a decent burial, penniless Lil cooks up a shady deal that lands her smack-dab in the slammer.Burdened by her shameful secret and a crumbling family estate, Lil entrusts Summer Haven’s care to her best friend, Maggie, who recruits two more over-fifty ladies to help. But when Maggie discovers that Lil’s restitution is ten times the amount she “borrowed” from the federal government, she’s convinced Lil has taken the fall for someone else’s crime.Will these gals be able to get some vigilante justice for Lil, or will the swindler get away with hoodwinking a sweet little old lady?Recipes included!(Originally published as In for a Penny in the Granny/G Team series)
The Saints Go Dying
Erik Hanberg - 2010
Every two months, a new body turns up--and the world is left with one less good person.Against him is an unscrupulous reality TV show, whose sole premise is that the police are corrupt and incompetent. As the intensifying public reaction pushes all of Freeman's resources to the limits, he dusts off his old habits--computer hacking--to dig up evidence he couldn't find legally.But when he accidentally leaves a cyber-trail, he finds himself targeted by a member of his own department, who doesn't know the hacker she's tailing is in the office next door.It's a deadly cat-and-mouse game set against the lights of Hollywood.
Project Moses
Robert B. Lowe - 2012
He likes his new North Beach apartment, steps away from his Chinatown roots. Running, tai chi, women who are attracted to his exotic looks. Life is good. Then, Lee is ordered to cover the unexplained deaths of a local judge and prosecutor. Intrigued by the connection, and the judge’s attractive niece, Sarah Armstrong, Lee begins to uncover a biotech scandal whose perpetrators will kill to conceal. When Lee and Sarah become targets, the question becomes whether the pair can evade their hunters and piece together the story before their time runs out. By a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
Nobody's Sorry You're Dead
Jeri Green - 2016
She lives in a small town in the Southern Appalachians where nothing much happens. Nothing much, that is, until murder comes to town. And it isn’t until Hadley is given the job of cleaning out the victim’s house, an incredible hoarder of the first degree, that Hadley begins to unravel the mystery. When it's discovered that Eustian Singlepenny has been poisoned and a friend is arrested for his murder, Hadley dives head first into the muddy maze, searching for clues to the killer’s true identity. A humorous tale full of local color and wit, this is the first book in the NOBODY mystery series.
Murder at the Lighthouse
Frances Evesham - 2015
The body on the beach throws Libby Forest's new life into turmoil. Everyone in town knows the dead woman under the lighthouse, but no one seems to care how or why she died. Only Libby believes someone murdered the ageing rock-star. A woman talks to Libby. Then she, too, dies... Discover how Exham on Sea's first female sleuth, helped by an enormous dog called Bear and an aloof marmalade cat, unpicks the clues to solve the mystery. Amateur female sleuth Libby Forest arrives in the small town after years in a disastrous marriage, determined to build a new life making cakes and chocolates in Exham on Sea. She joins forces with the attractive but secretive Max Ramshore and risks the wrath of the townspeople as she pieces together the jigsaw to solve the mystery of Susie Bennett's death. The first short read in the series, set in the coastal resort of Exham on Sea, Murder at the Lighthouse introduces a cast of colourful local characters, including Mandy the teenage Goth, Frank the baker and Detective Sergeant Joe Ramshore, Max's estranged son. The green fields, rolling hills and sandy beaches of the West Country provide a perfect setting for crime, intrigue and mystery. For lovers of Agatha Christie novels, Midsomer Murders, lovable pets and cake, the series offers a continuing supply of quick crime stories to read in one sitting, as Libby solves a mixture of intriguing mysteries and uncovers the secrets of the small town's past.
Fashion, Lies, and Murder
Sibel Hodge - 2009
For starters, Amber accidentally shoots Chief Inspector Janice Skipper and gets thrown off the police force. The only one who knows the truth about the incident is Amber, but no one will believe her. After accepting a job as an insurance investigator from her ex-fiancé, Brad Beckett, it turns out that Brad thinks they've still got unfinished business and the job description includes sexual favours that come with a price. When fashion designer, Umberto Fandango, goes missing, Amber becomes embroiled in a complicated case. But Amber's arch-enemy, Chief Inspector Skipper, is also investigating his disappearance, and it's a race against time for Amber to solve the mystery before Skipper does and get her old job back. And just when Amber thinks things can't get any worse, she's being stalked by some crazy mobsters. Who is Umberto Fandango? Is he dead? And can Amber stay one step ahead and stay alive?