Recommendations based on "Murder Gets a Life A Southern Sisters Mystery"

After a career working with rare books at the Boston Public Library, Addie Greyborne is back in her seaside New England hometown—where unfortunately, murder is not so rare . . .   Gossip columnists love a bold-faced name—but “Miss Newsy” at Greyborne Harbor’s local paper seems to specialize in bald-faced lies. She’s pointed a finger of suspicion at Addie after librarian June Winslow never makes it home from a book club meeting. And when June’s found at the bottom of a steep flight of stairs, Addie’s not only dealing with a busybody, but a dead body.   It’s a good thing the guy she’s dating is the police chief. But both the case and her love life get more complicated when a lanky blonde reporter from Los Angeles shows up. She’s trying her hardest to drive a wedge between the couple . . . as if Addie doesn’t have enough problems dealing with angry townspeople. Despite all the rumors, Addie doesn’t know a thing about the murder—but she plans to find out. And the key may lie in a book about pirate legends that June published. Now she just has to hunt down the clues before she becomes a buried treasure herself . . .

You could say my sisters and I are hot-blooded bluebloods with a flair for fashion—and for solving crimes. But things have NOT been going well for us Blackbirds: Emma has busted out of a very exclusive clinic. Libby’s hormones are in overdrive from selling paraphernalia for Potions and Passions, a company that promises its customers full satisfaction. And I’m still dating mobster’s son Mick Abruzzo, which keeps me in a permanent tizzy. At least, nobody in my vicinity has been knocked off lately. Oops—looks like I spoke too soon…A TEMPEST IN A C-CUPNora’s next journalistic assignment: the unveiling of the most miraculous bra in fashion history. But before Nora can hand in her uplifting story, her boss is found shot execution-style and trussed up in expensive panty hose—an Abruzzo family trademark. Now Nora must find the killer before her innocent lover takes the rap. That means shadowing the most glamorous suspects in Philadelphia—including a bad-boy designer, a former child star, a high-strung ad exec, and a pair of luscious twin models. Though Nora’s accustomed to upper-crust murder, cross your fingers for the Blackbird sisters, because this time, high society has never seemed so low-down dirty.

When a decades-forgotten car bobs to the surface of a local creek, with a body still in the driver’s seat, it’s up to Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen and her beloved cats and dogs to save the day, in this latest mystery from Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author, Sneaky Pie Brown.Spring is in full bloom, and everything is blossoming just right for Harry in Crozet, Virginia. Restorations to the long-shuttered local segregated school are nearly complete, and the school will be renamed to commemorate an important community member. To honor the former students, Harry and her friends are hard at work planning a reunion. It’s a big affair, and the crew spends their days hanging plaques at the gym, arranging food, and writing speeches.But the fifteen acres behind the school are enticing for more than just a school reunion. One realtor soon reveals plans to buy the land and build over it—unless the crew can find a way to stop the sale.In their search to prevent the purchase, they come across something unexpected: a dead body, which might not be the first to show up this season. With a little aid from Tee Tucker the corgi and Irish Wolfhound Pirate, as well as feline sleuths Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, Harry just might have a chance at solving this mystery and preventing the land purchase once and for all.

A dastardly murder and the kidnapping of a prize chicken threaten to ruin Caerphilly's state fair—fortunately, Meg Langslow is on the case of The Hen of the Baskervilles The newest mystery in Donna Andrews's gut-bustingly funny, award-winning, New York Times bestselling series is anything but elementary. Meg Langslow is helping Mayor Randall Shiffley organize the Virginia Un-Fair, Caerphilly's entry in the race to replace the old state fair (which has gone bankrupt). Before a line can even form outside the ticket booth, however, a pair of Bantam Russian Orloff chickens are stolen from their coop in the chicken tent. Soon, a rash of vandalism crops up at the fair, showing no heritage farm animal, prize vegetable, or artisanal craft to be safe. While patrolling the fairgrounds, determined to catch the perp, Meg runs into her friend Molly, who has been building a successful business making goat cheeses. Molly is terrified that she may lose her farm because her idle husband Brett has left her for Genette Sedgewick, a rich hobby winemaker, and is demanding his half of the land. Meg enlists Mother's help to find Molly a divorce lawyer, but later that night, Brett is found murdered and Molly is swiftly accused as his killer. Meg is convinced that her friend wouldn't so much as harm a fly, but can she find the real killer before it's too late? Will she track down the vandal who has been terrorizing—however creatively—the fair's participants? And will Michael be able to convince her to add members of his new favorite heritage breed to their growing menagerie? Meg's most hilarious caper yet, the curious incident of the hen in the nighttime will have readers rolling on the floor with laughter.

Life will never be the same for Meg Langslow after family secrets are revealed, introducing a whole new layer of intrigue in Donna Andrews's beloved series. Meg's long-lost paternal grandfather, Dr. Blake, has hired Stanley Denton to find her grandmother Cordelia. Dr. Blake was reunited with his family when he saw Meg's picture—she's a dead ringer for Cordelia—and now Stanley has found a trail to his long-lost love in a small town less than an hour's drive away. He convinces Meg to come with him to meet her, but unfortunately, the woman they meet is Cordelia's cousin—Cordelia died several years ago, and the cousin suspects she was murdered by her long-time neighbor.Stanley and Meg agree to help track down the killer and get justice for Cordelia. Grandfather even has perfect cover--he will come to stage a rescue of the feral emus and ostriches (escaped from an abandoned farm) that infest this town. He dashes off to organize the rescue—which will, of course, involve most of Meg's family and friends in Caerphilly. But then, the evil neighbor is murdered, and not only Cordelia's cousin but also the entire contingent of emu-rescuers, who have had conflict with the neighbor, are suspects. Only Meg and the cousin—who seems to share a lot of telling traits with Meg—can find the real killer and clear the air in The Good, the Bad, and the Emus, the newest beverage-spittingly funny installment in this uproarious series from the one-and-only Donna Andrews.

James Lilliefors's unlikely detective duo, Pastor Luke Bowers and homicide investigator Amy Hunter, return in a new murder mystery set in Maryland's picturesque Tidewater CountyTourists like Susan Champlain pass through the Chesapeake Bay region every year. But when Susan pays Pastor Luke Bowers a visit, he's disturbed by what she shares with him. Her husband has a short temper, she says, and recently threatened to make her "disappear" because of a photo Susan took on her phone.Luke is concerned enough to tip off Tidewater County's chief homicide investigator, Amy Hunter. That night, Susan's body is found at the foot of the Widow's Point bluff. Hunter soon discovers Susan left behind clues that may connect her fate to a series of killings in the Northeast, a powerful criminal enterprise, and to a missing Rembrandt masterpiece, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee.Whoever is behind the killings has created a storm of deception and betrayal, a deliberate "tempest" designed to obscure the truth. Now Hunter and Bowers must join forces to trace the dangerous secret glimpsed in Susan's photo. But will they be the next targets on a killer's deadly agenda . . . ?

USA Today recently hailed award-nominated author Amanda Flower for A Plain Death, calling it "the first Amish rom-com . . . bring on the next one!" As the enthusiastic reviews continue to mount, she's back with her third Appleseed Creek mystery, A Plain Disappearance. It's Christmastime in Amish Country, and Chloe Humphrey has begun settling into her life in Appleseed Creek excited to see where her new relationship with Timothy Troyer will lead. Unfortunately it leads to murder when the couple discovers the body of Amish teenager Katie Lambright while on their first date. Near the scene there is evidence that Timothy's friend and auto mechanic Billy Thorpe is involved with the crime. The police reveal Billy is not really who he said he was and has been living the last decade in Knox County under a stolen alias. Now, Chloe and Timothy must find Billy, bring him to justice, or prove his innocence.

Killers just want to have fun.Madison tries a new job running a dinner theater, but her mom needs her to moonlight as a PI for Fedora Cruz Investigations. What's a girl to do? Work both, of course! It's all fun, business and bodies, until the murder mystery clues are leading right back to the dinner theater. Someone is having too much fun with murder!A humorous mystery, laced with romantic comedy.

When a rash of poisoned pen letters envelops their sleepy English village, Beryl and Edwina, the delightfully mismatched friends and sleuths-of-a-certain-age, step up to stamp out the evil-minded epistles in Jessica Ellicott’s sixth historical mystery set in the wake of WWI. What began for two dear if very different friends—an American adventuress and a prim and proper Brit—as a creative response to the lean times following the Great War has evolved into a respectable private enquiry business. So much so that Constable Gibbs calls upon Beryl and Edwina to solve a curious campaign of character assassination. A series of anonymous accusations sent via post have set friend against friend and neighbor against neighbor. In her new position as magistrate, Edwina has already had to settle one dispute that led to fisticuffs. Even Beryl has received a poison pen letter, and while she finds its message preposterous and laughable, others are taking the missives to heart. Their headstrong housekeeper Beddoes is ready to resign and one villager has attempted to take her own life. The disruption of the peace goes far beyond malicious mischief when another villager is murdered. Now it’s up to the intrepid sleuths to read between the lines and narrow down the suspects to identify the lethal letter writer and ensure that justice is delivered . . .

Margaret Maron, New York Times bestselling author and Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, returns to Colleton County with an exciting new Deborah Knott mystery . . . LONG UPON THE LAND On a quiet August morning, Judge Deborah Knott's father Kezzie makes a shocking discovery on a remote corner of his farm: the body of a man bludgeoned to death. Investigating this crime, Deborah's husband, Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, soon uncovers a long-simmering hostility between Kezzie and the slain man over a land dispute. The local newspaper implies that Deborah's family may have had something to do with the murder-and that Dwight is dragging his feet on the case. Meanwhile, Deborah is given a cigarette lighter that once belonged to her mother. The cryptic inscription inside rekindles Deborah's curiosity about her parents' past, and how they met. For years she has wondered how the daughter of a wealthy attorney could have married a widowed, semi-illiterate bootlegger, and this time she's determined to find the answer. But why are Deborah's brothers so reluctant to talk about the dead man? Is the murder linked to Kezzie's illegal whiskey business? And could his courtship of Deborah's mother have something to do with the bad blood between the two families? Despite Deborah's promise not to interfere in Dwight's work, she cannot stop herself from doing everything she can to help clear her brothers and her father from suspicion . . .