amateur sleuth

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Death of a Honeymoon by MK Scott

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Death of a Honeymoon by MK Scott

Detective Mark Taber and his new bride Donna, an amateur sleuth, are ready to take a much-needed break from crime-solving and finally enjoy their long-awaited honeymoon in the quartz-rich mountains of Arkansas, but unfortunately for them, crime never takes a break. When their car breaks down at the site of the first murder the county has seen in a century, they find themselves in a bind – no transportation and at the center of an overwhelming firestorm for an overworked sheriff. He needs their help. Will they temporarily forgo their plans to find a murderer or will the possibility of netting quartz clusters and county fair winning recipes pull them in another direction?

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A Murder for Christmas by P. C. James

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A Murder for Christmas by P. C. James

With her hometown awash with crime, a sleuth must solve a slaying. Can she save her family from a treacherous plot?

Yorkshire, England, 1962. Miss Riddell definitely isn’t having a merry Christmas. With her mother sick and brother pestering her to investigate a forged will, the worst winter in decades has her longing to return to regular life. And just as a series of ugly incidents in the village pushes the pressure to a boiling point, things take a deadly turn when her cousin is brutally murdered.

Convinced there’s a devious link between the fraud and the death, Miss Riddell puts her sharp mind to work uncovering clues. But with the unscrupulous culprit evading police, she’ll have to put everything on the line to corner the killer.

Can Miss Riddell wrap up the case without becoming the next frozen corpse?

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Miss Riddell and the Pet Thefts by P.C. James

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Miss Riddell and the Pet Thefts by P.C. James

If this pup doesn’t get found fast, her feisty younger sister could be on the hook for a life-threatening crime…

Manchester, England, 1960s. Miss Riddell has no taste for modern fashions. Which gives her yet another bone to pick with the youngest and wildest family member whom she blames for their father’s recent death. But the stern-minded amateur sleuth puts aside her grievances when her sibling is accused of stealing a murderous mobster’s dog.

Teaming up with her sister and a now-retired friend from the police force, Miss Riddell discovers that the former cop is hot on the tail of a vanished feline film star. And as this unlikely trio of investigators chases two sets of paw prints across the city, she and her partners run headlong into a dastardly plot.

Can youthful impetuosity combined with seasoned caution save the four-legged day?

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Sazerac, Sleuth & Slay, An Andi Anna Jones Mystery Book 2 by Mary Cunningham

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Sazerac, Sleuth & Slay, An Andi Anna Jones Mystery Book 2 by Mary Cunningham

It’s gonna be a great day! Or, so she thought.

Andi Anna Jones, so-so travel agent, amateur sleuth, doesn’t suspect her least favorite client, Stewart (The Pain) Payne, will set off circumstances that lead to disappearance and death.

After his wife doesn’t show for a convention in New Orleans, his threat to sue Graves Travel for “ten times more than it’s worth”, and Andi’s guilt over a long-overdue promise made to her dad, leads her to The Big Easy in search of Grace Payne.

Four unsolved murders, a body caught in a crawfish cage, and a mysterious candle, magic, and incense shop, leads Andi deep into the bayou on a hunt for clues. Will another victim be added to the serial killer’s list, or is the main suspect closer to Andi than she thinks?

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Royally Dispatched by P.C. James and Kathryn Mykel

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Royally Dispatched by P.C. James and Kathryn Mykel

A new series from best-selling authors P.C. James, and Kathryn Mykel–author of award-winning Sewing Suspicion.

A Duchess, her trusted butler and a nose-it-all furry sidekick. Can Lady Mary uncover the secret plan before she’s dispatched like her predecessor?

London, 1958. Lady Mary, Duchess of Snodsbury has received a royal dispatch to travel to London to prepare the last of the debutants for entrance into society. News of the demise of the previous trainer has Mary on high alert–as is her sharp nosed corgi, Barkley. Add in a gaggle of teenaged debutants, a protective butler, and a spirited cook and our heroine will be embroidered in a murder mystery of generations. Will the debutants prove helpful in uncovering secret plans or will she find out that the culprit is within her ranks?
Royally Dispatched is a fun first in series, cozy mystery with a historical nod. If you like crafty sleuths, animal sidekicks and a gang of amateur detectives, then you’ll love P.C. James and Kathryn Mykel’s Duchess of Snodsbury Series.

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Gemini Rising (Mischievous Malamute Series, Book 1) by Harley Christensen

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Gemini Rising (Mischievous Malamute Series, Book 1) by Harley Christensen

There’s a body in your alley…

Arianna Jackson—AJ to her friends—and her occasionally well-behaved Alaskan Malamute, Nicoh, live a normal, uneventful, admittedly mundane existence, where nothing out of the ordinary ever happens.

Until it does.

Early one morning, AJ stumbles upon a horrifying scene—a girl’s body lies broken in the dumpster behind her home, her face beaten and mutilated.

A secret reveals you’re living a lie…

As if that weren’t enough to upset the balance of normal, things go from bad to worse when she learns of her connection to the murdered girl. Suddenly, AJ realizes her entire life has been filled with secrets and lies.

A killer hunts for you…

Together with her trusty sidekick, Nicoh, and BFF, Leah, AJ must search for answers. But can she, when finding the truth proves to be more deadly than living the lie?

Would you search for the truth if you knew it could kill you?

Join AJ and her pals as they race to unravel the mystery of her past, where the pieces of the puzzle bring more questions than answers and the only certainty is the killer’s end game—AJ’s life.

Find your truth…

Grab your copy of Gemini Rising TODAY and join others who’ve enjoyed this suspense-filled page-turner that keeps you guessing to the end…and beyond.

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Ghost Mortem (Haunted Everly After Book #1)

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Ghost Mortem (Haunted Everly After Book #1)

By ReGina Welling & Erin Lynn
You might not believe in ghosts, but sometimes they believe in you…

Everly Dupree is having a bad day. The kick you in the teeth, set your pants on fire, make you question everything kind of bad day.

At the end of it, her marriage is over, she’s essentially homeless, and finds herself in a moving van headed back to her hometown of Mooselick River, Maine.

At least, she tells herself, things can’t get any worse.

But, of course, they can. The next things she knows, Everly’s staying at the Bide-A-Way motel with a deadline of a week to get her life in order, and it isn’t looking good.

Enter Martha Tipton who offers Everly the chance to buy the town’s haunted house for the ridiculously low amount owed in back taxes. Everly signs on the dotted line, but before she can move into her new place, the dead body of Hudson Montayne, her high-school sweetheart, turns up in the next motel room.

Just when Everly thinks she’s won the grand prize in the bad luck sweepstakes, her life takes a turn into the paranormal.
Hudson’s ghost comes haunting, and since she is the only one who can see him, refuses to leave until Everly solves the mystery of his death.

Will Everly bring a killer to justice? Or will the end of her story read, and she lived Haunted Everly After?

If you like plucky heroines, lovable characters, and ghost mysteries set in Maine, you’ll love this cozy, paranormal series.

Books in this series:
1. Ghost Mortem
2. Bargain Haunter
2.5. Found Haunting (a short story)
3. Christmas Presence
4. Ghost Haste
4.5. Teen Spirit
5. Fortune Haunter
6. Wedding Ghost
7. Ghostly Dead
8. Haunting Season
9. Ghost Writer

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Death by Chocolate by Sally Berneathy

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Death by Chocolate by Sally Berneathy

Over a thousand five-star reviews! USA Today Bestseller!
Lindsay’s only secret is the recipe for her chocolate chip cookies, but she is surrounded by people with deadly secrets. Book 1 in series of 8.
Come for the cookie chip cookies, stay for the murder, mayhem and fun!

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Then There Were … Two Murders? by P.C. James

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Then There Were … Two Murders? by P.C. James

‘Then There Were … Two Murders?’ is the second book in the Miss Riddell Cozy Mystery series. It follows directly after ‘In the Beginning, There was a Murder’ where, at the end, Miss Riddell receives a letter asking for her help.

The letter is from an elderly widow living out in the English countryside. It’s winter 1953/54 and England is still suffering from the after-effects of WW2 and the costs of the ongoing Korean War. Miss Riddell goes to meet the woman, arrives at her house only to find her dead, suicide apparently.

She tells the police why she was invited by the woman — the woman thought her friend had been murdered months before. However, the police and coroner rule this death to be suicide and dismiss the idea the earlier old woman’s death was anything but natural causes.

Miss Riddell sets out to prove them wrong with her friend Poppy and the old lady’s dog, Jem. Unfortunately, like the police, Miss Riddell can find no conclusive evidence and her supporters give up. Her only hope in the end is to put herself in harm’s way and hope the murderer takes the bait.

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In the Beginning, There Was a Murder: An Amateur Female Sleuth Historical Cozy Mystery by P.C. James

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In the Beginning, There Was a Murder: An Amateur Female Sleuth Historical Cozy Mystery by P.C. James

When her best friend is murdered, Pauline Riddell finds she must take the law into her own hands if she is to see justice done.

It’s northern England, 1953, rationing is still in place and the Cold War is heating up. Her fiancé is out in Korea, where thankfully that war is winding down, and she’s just setting out in adult life working at a local armament factory. She’s hard-up, everyone is, but Pauline can see better times ahead, a home, a family, a responsible job, and she’s preparing for that future. Then her friend, Marjorie, is stabbed to death.

At first, Pauline is only concerned with helping the police. She’s intelligent and resourceful but also inexperienced, just out of school and still believing the world runs in trustworthy ways.

Then she finds the police think they’ve caught her friend’s killer and they’re winding down the investigation. Pauline now realizes this is a world where you can’t always leave things to others, you have to get involved yourself. But, as she investigates and puts pressure on the police for more action, she finds the killer wants her out of the way and the police have come to suspect she killed her friend. Can she catch the killer before she either faces the same fate as Marjorie or is hanged for killing her?