Humorous Detective

Cedar Grove is abuzz with excitement as the Halloween Festival draws near, but for Lila Harrington, owner of the Harrington Inn, the holiday takes a chilling turn. Strange creaks echo from the empty upper floors, shadowy figures flit through the halls, and a mysterious history of tragic lovers haunts the property. When one of her guests is found dead under suspicious circumstances, Lila’s unease turns to determination. With her best friend Jane by her side and her clever beagle Barkley sniffing out clues, Lila dives into a mystery that blurs the lines between the supernatural and the all-...

I'm Tracy Belden, a single mom on my first solo case as a PI. Instead of creating crossword puzzles, I’m searching for my wealthy ex-husband’s second wife, missing for three days. I was hoping she ran off with his money. Then, I found her body. Now, the police are eyeing me as a suspect. To make matters worse, my precocious, 11-year-old son and my geriatric landlady are trying to solve the case without me, If my puzzle solving skills can't lead me to the killer, I'll be finishing my crossword puzzle in jail. If you like fast-paced, funny whodunits with smalltown adventures, you'll love ...

Getting in the middle of a longtime business feud is one of the stupidest things I ever agreed to do. And I once peed myself to catch a killer. The owner of a yarn store is all twisted up over her vacuum repair neighbor. She claims he’s a fake. He tells her to suck it. I'm trying to settle this while luring out the big bad targeting my family. But then the bodies begin to pile up. Time’s up for me to clean up the mess in Flamingo Cove. Or die trying. My name is Wysdom Ward. These are my case files. The Clean Sweep is the fourth story in the Wysdom Ward Case Files. These humorous ...

There’s a voodoo woman in New Orleans who knows your darkest secrets French Quarter paranormal investigator Wyatt Thomas learns he’s permanently linked to the spirit of a man with whom he’d fought a duel during another lifetime. The only person who can free Wyatt from his curse is long-dead voodoo queen Marie Laveaux. To seek her help, he must travel back to Antebellum New Orleans, succeed in his endeavor, or be trapped in the past forever. When Wyatt meets his former lover at the Mulatto Ball, he doesn’t know if he wants to return. While Wyatt is time traveling, detective Tony ...

When a killer strikes, single mom and PI, Tracy Belden and her friends put game nights on hold to solve a case of murder. Escape to Tahoe. Help a friend. No problems. No pressure. What could go wrong? I'm Tracy Belden, a rookie PI with a handful of cases solved, but when a fellow PI calls, I answer. Twelve hours later, my investigator friend is missing, the client is dead, and I'm at the murder scene. With the police eyeing me as a suspect, I have to find the killer if there’s any hope of completing my crossword puzzle. If you like fast-paced, humorous cozies, dive into the Crossword ...

Catching a killer is a piece of cake... Or is it? When Mindy Macbay moves back to her hometown of Santa Verona, and finds herself fighting crime with her best friend, she soon finds herself on the receiving end of anonymous threats, and even worse, unpleasant encounters with her high school nemesis and former paramours. Dessert, Diamonds and Deadly Secrets When Mindy investigates the death of an unpopular cafe owner, she uncovers a trail of diamonds and a secret life... Carrot Cake and Cryptic Clues Socialite Celeste Rocheford is murdered, and Mindy’s best friend Beth Miller finds herself...

It’s springtime in Provence! Trees are in bloom and critters are abuzz— including a murderer or two. Pastry chef Julie Cavallo is gearing up for the Easter weekend. Life is blissfully tranquil… until she learns of a wrongful conviction. Chiropractor Quentin Vernet was found guilty of fatal malpractice, stripped of his license and imprisoned for a year. And now he has lost all hope of clearing his good name. If only there was a way to help him! Unfortunately, Julie has nothing to go on. Her crew of amateur sleuths deems the case too cold and too sticky. Her gendarme boyfriend warns her...

You probably already know my name. Lucy Chase, the woman who doesn’t remember murdering her best friend. Even though they couldn’t find enough evidence to charge me, I know you all think I did it. That’s OK. I realise being found wandering the streets the next day covered in her blood wasn't a great look. Believe me, I’m as frustrated as you are. I’d love to know if I’m a murderer – it’s the sort of thing you really should know about yourself, isn’t it? And now, thanks to true-crime podcast Listen for the Lie, I finally have the chance to find out.

For Alice and her partner Joe, moving to the sleepy village of Penton is a chance to embrace country life and prepare for the birth of their first child. He can take up woodwork; maybe she’ll learn to make jam? But the rural idyll they’d hoped for doesn’t quite pan out when a dead body is discovered at their local prenatal class, and they find themselves suspects in a murder investigation. With a cloud of suspicion hanging over the heads of the whole group, Alice and her new-found pregnant friends set out to solve the mystery and clear their names, with the help of her troublesome dog, Helen.

In Undercover: Karma, Detective Carlo D'Scenzi finds himself stretched thin between two high-stakes cases and a ticking clock. Tasked with investigating the Michigan Patriots militia, he and his partner Big Lou must determine if the group poses a real threat or is simply exercising free speech. Meanwhile, they’re also assigned to track down the elusive duo of robbers, Benny and G, wreaking havoc across Detroit. Short on manpower, Carlo reluctantly brings in Red for backup, hoping it’s enough to get the job done while avoiding a mountain of follow-up work. But as the cases twist through ...

How far would you go, to save the ones you love? Kiku’s quest to rescue her lover has gone disastrously wrong. With the odds stacked against her, her enemies think she’ll run and hide to save herself. They’re wrong—dead wrong. Kiku decides to take the fight to them instead. Now the hunter, Kiku, will stop at nothing to protect those she loves. WARNING: If you have plans, cancel them! You won’t be able to stop reading, so get ready to strap in, buckle up, and hang on for an action-thrill ride of your life! Award-winning, Wall Street Journal bestselling author Christopher Greyson ...

“...a suspenseful, pitch-perfect novel with an unlikely lead detective: a fictionalized version of iconic Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges… An intelligent, original detective novel.” - Kirkus Reviews. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1967. The blind poet Jorge Luis Borges, visiting at Harvard, faces a crisis of conscience and identity as he and his young assistant Nick Martin grapple with an extraordinary series of crimes and the equally baffling conundrums of literature and philosophy. Forty-five years later, struggling with pain and grief, Nick Martin looks back with wonder at that ...

Charlie just wants a quiet life … Then he finds a human skull buried in the front yard. Mystery writer Charlie McGinley moves from L.A. to a small town in New Mexico. No more big-city hassles. No more big-city hustles. Guess again! Suddenly Charlie has to deal with disappearing bodies, crabby cops, crazed killers, and a very pregnant wife, while trying desperately to avoid ending up in an unmarked grave next to the mysterious stiff. Gold Medal Winner, Humor and Satire —2024 Global Book Awards “Proverbial skeletons in closets and actual ones buried in the yard help make this a bone-...

Albert and Rex are going to the palace. It’s the day the Kings' birthday honour list recipients get their knighthoods, but like everywhere else they go, there is trouble to be found. With his three children and youngest granddaughter, Apple-Blossom, in tow, Albert is a little embarrassed by the lavishness of the affair. Yet all that is forgotten when he spots a man he knows. A man guilty of murder. A man who can only be at the palace for one thing. But Albert is about to be presented to the king, now is not the time to be chasing criminals. I guess that's why he's Rex's sidekick. Step ...

The Headless Horseman. Everyone knows the legend. That’s all it is, right? When a third headless victim is found on Boston’s streets, Chloe Mayfield is tasked with finding the person behind the crime spree – no one else wants a case this weird. It would be easy to dismiss the murders as nothing more than the random acts of a madman with a cosplay fetish, but when her investigations lead her to the morgue, she comes face to face with an apparition she cannot explain. Throw in the stalker-like attentions of a deranged clown, dangerous interactions with the Salem witches, and an enemy ...

Move over Bond. Here comes Kiku! Get Ready to Strap in, Buckle up and Hang on for the ride of your life! Kiku has gone rogue. Now hunted by the Russian mob and the Yakuza, Kiku heads to Hong Kong’s underbelly to rescue her lover. Faced with impossible odds, Kiku must outwit, outfight, and outrun everyone trying to capture her and collect the two-million-dollar bounty. Rats fueled by greed and vengeance, driven by ruthless leaders, run rampant, all hoping to score. The mob, Yakuza, and Hong Kong’s black market all want to fight—so Kiku started a war. Award-winning, Wall Street Journal ...

In this dual collection of short stories, Alexander McCall Smith brings his trademark humor and warmth to inventive tales of spying and vengeance. In one story, a spy dropped deep into enemy territory manages to disguise himself—quite convincingly—as a nun. In another, an invitation to join the Vatican Secret Service sends a prospective operative down a rabbit hole of controversy and confusion. A third story finds an author, on the brink of public ruin, seeing the error of his ways after an act of kindness saves the day.

Charlie McGinley writes about tough guys…then he has to become one. Fed up with writing cheesy detective fiction, Charlie dreams of writing something serious. Unfortunately, his publisher insists that he keep cranking out hard-boiled Johnny Dent PI novels. When Charlie stumbles across an urban legend about Thomas Edison inventing a machine that could speak to the dead, he thinks he’s found the perfect gimmick to spice up his next book. That is, until he builds the "Ghost Machine" and accidentally uses it... And people in his small New Mexico town start dying. Suddenly, Charlie must ...

Discovering a body in my floral storage area was the last thing I expected. Sending flowers to funerals is one thing. But, encountering the deceased in person is quite another. My name is Grace Thompson and I own “Petals & Paws” in the small town of Bloomsville. Fate seems to have a peculiar sense of humor. Fortunately, my friend Chloe Sutton arrives, craving a vacation. Instead, she finds my chaos.Rosie won't stop barking. Wait, did she find a clue? Good girl! My curiosity pulls me deeper into danger, maybe I can blossom into an amateur detective. Chloe’s forensic skills uncover ...

If you like a little Veronica Mars mixed with your Nancy Drew check this book out! Sixteen year old Kait Lenox has a reputation as the weird girl in her high school, mostly because of her ex-best friend turned mean popular girl, Ariel, but maybe it has a little to do with the fact that Kait has a hobby crashing funerals. At one of these, Kait is outted by the most popular guy in school, Ethan Ripley. Yet, instead of humiliating her for all the world to see, he asks for her help, and Kait finds herself entangled in a murder mystery. Not only is the thrill of the mystery exciting, but more ...