Cozy Mystery Humor

Pool shark Jessie Hewitt usually knows where the balls will fall and how the game will end. But when a body lands on her couch, and the cute cop in her kitchen accuses her of murder, even Jessie isn't sure what will happen next. She also isn’t sure how to catch a killer, but she's about to learn.

This mystery novel lampoons the foolish pretentions of individuals caught up in the investigation of whether Sunny was murdered and, if so, where was her body. Two lonely people meet at the Happy Place Bar, where a swimsuit model, who isn’t one, seduces the anti-hero - a PI - who isn’t one, with hints of sex to assist her in finding murdered Sunny’s body.

Baylee Scott has the gift of touch. Except it’s not a gift. Seeing other people's memories doesn't make her very popular in Reed Hollow. It was one of the reasons she left the small town as soon as she was able. But after losing her ghost-hunting husband, Baylee returns home to help her brother run the family business: a defunct antique shop and tea house. It’s a dull existence that leaves her dreaming of adventures elsewhere.

Murder has come yet again to the seaside town of Crab Cove, testing the mettle of Detective Simon Grave, his “almost invisible” partner, Sergeant Barry Blunt, and his new assistant, Charlize, a simdroid (an android lookalike of a famous person) who fancies herself a match for Sherlock Holmes, in the simulated body of Charlize Theron. When a body is discovered on a deserted beach, alongside a deactivated Betty White simdroid, the game is afoot.

Just because a man cheats on his wife and makes Danny DeVito look tall, dark, and handsome, is that any reason to kill him? The reluctant and quirky PI, Lee Alvarez, doesn't think so. The 34-year old half-Latina, half-WASP and 100% detective has her work cut out for her when the man is murdered on her watch. Of all the nerve. For Lee, this has become personal. From San Francisco's famous Embarcadero to quaint Princeton-by-the-Sea, she is out to find the killer. And for the killer, this has become personal, too.

When a dead fisherman rolls up on shore, Madison cannot resist jumping into her new role as Private Investigator. But she soon discovers the people in The Cove who normally gossip about everybody's business are unusually tight-lipped. With the bad tenant radar still not working, the cottages continue to be full of riffraff. Madison gets arrested, shot at, and outsmarted. She teams up with her best friend, the Glock-carrying Fabiana. Together, they take on cases no other investigators would ever touch!

When snarky food critic, Josie Tucker, heads to Austin, Texas, to wax philosophical about the local barbecue joints, she stumbles on to a decades' old missing person case. With the help of a local reporter, a Goth ghost hunter, and a bunco-playing transvestite, she tries to unravel the heart-tugging, hidden history before the whole place goes up in smoke.

Bad news comes in . . . fours? For romance author and former pool shark Jessie Hewitt it does. She hasn't written a decent sex scene in months, she hasn't shot a decent game of eight ball all year, and don't even ask about her supposed love life. And just when Jessie thinks things can't get any worse, a body lands on her car. Uber-hunky and altogether infuriating cop Wilson Rye suggests she concentrate on solving her other problems and leave the murder investigation to the experts. But does Jessie agree? Take a guess.

Hollywood ghostwriter Stewart “Hoagy” Hoag has chronicled the rise, fall, and triumphant return of many a celebrity. At last he’s enjoying his own, very welcome second act. After hitting a creative slump, Hoagy has found inspiration again. Ensconced with his faithful but cowardly basset hound, Lulu, on a Connecticut farm belonging to his ex-wife, Oscar-winning actress Merilee Nash, he’s busy working on a new novel. He’s even holding out hope that he and Merilee might get together again. Life is simple and fulfilling - which of course means it’s time for complications.

Welcome to the Lost Souls ParaAgency, where agents work together to ensure the safety of humans and prevent exposure of the paranormal community. The assignment - stop a spooky spirit from terrorizing a reality television ghost hunter. Lex wants nothing more than to hang up his agent status and take Amira to a deserted island for a romantic getaway, but his manipulative grandfather has other plans. Once again coerced into taking an assignment he doesn’t want, Lex’s top priority is Amira’s safety - whether she appreciates his overly cautious behavior or not.

In all his travels across the state, there is one place that Hubie hasn’t been able to access: Trinity Site at the White Sands Missile Range, where the first atomic bomb was detonated. Deep within the range are ruins once occupied by the Tompiro people, whose distinctive pottery is incredibly rare and valuable. When an old associate claims to have a buyer interested in spending big money on a Tompiro pot, Hubie resolves to finally find a way into the heavily guarded military installation.

Before making a somewhat notorious name for himself as a salvager of antiquated pottery and other desert artifacts, Hubie Schuze was an eager student at the University of New Mexico - right up until they booted him out. Now, he’s back at UNM as a pottery teacher. It should be a breeze, but campus life has changed dramatically in the past 25 years. From cell phones to trigger warnings to sensitivity workshops, Hubie has to get up to speed fast or risk losing control of his class.

When Essie finds an over-the-top, flowery valentine from an unknown individual in her mailbox, she goes into detective mode. Who could this person be? Why would they send her such a card? Essie is determined to find out, even if she has to ask for help from her three friends - Opal, Marjorie, and Fay. When Essie’s snooping takes a dangerous turn, she finds herself thrust into the middle of a police investigation. Will Essie help the police solve this Valentine’s Day mystery, or will she strike out on her own against an unknown foe who has anything but romance in mind?

In the 1940s, Brian Lewis was called to war and his wife, Prudy, took over her husband's job as a private investigator. Brian never returned. Today Prudy wants Sandi Webster and Pete Goldberg to help her solve a 1943 murder, the case she couldn't solve. It's personal, and Prudy wants to be in the thick of things again. After investigating, Sandi believes she knows who the killer is, but he's dead. So who's threatening her and Prudy? And who tried to poison Sandi's half wolf/half Golden Retriever dog?

Jolene’s back in Kickapoo for her mother’s annual birthday bash at the DQ, which is trouble enough, but when her checkered high school past comes back to haunt her, the problems turn decidedly deadly. Thanks to her old sweetheart, Sheriff Jerry Don Parker, high school wasn’t that bad for Jolene, but with bodies turning up faster than beer cans in the river, they’re a darned sight worse now.

On the edge of the Navajo Nation, rookie paralegal Naomi Manymules pauses on a lakeside clifftop to enjoy a moonlit moment. She hears someone swimming in the darkness far below her, and a boat drifts out of the shadows. When she glimpses something that might be a naked butt shining in the moonlight, she decides to head for home. What she saw was the bare behind of a murdered local sleaze. His passing upsets exactly no one, but his wife can offer only a coyote for an alibi.

It's the day of Bubba and Willodean's wedding. The sun is shining. There isn't a cloud in the sky. The pergola is decorated in high style with baby's breath and ribbons streaming galore, and the preacher is ready. So what can possibly go wrong? Just about everything can go wrong. While 22 types of canapes are being served along with gallons of mimosas, Bubba finds the one thing that he well and truly did not want to find. There's a dead body in his house. Then the dead body disappears while Bubba goes for help. Then the body reappears.

Things aren't going well for private investigator and mom Margie Peterson. Her husband, Blake, is claiming his taste for drag queens is "just a phase." Her first-grade daughter isn't fitting in at her new posh elementary school, Holy Oaks Catholic School. And her hippie mother has swept into town and replaced the family's store of processed foods with seaweed snacks. To top it all off, a late-night phone call from her boss, Peaches Barlowe, has pulled Margie into a very strange murder case, one that involves the Holy Oaks headmaster, George Cavendish.

Eureka "Trinket" Truevine, the newest Diva, gets more than she bargained for when she finds her best Diva girlfriend Bitty Hollandale's ex-husband in Bitty's hall closet. He's dead. Very dead. Now Trinket and the Divas have to help Bitty finger the murderer and clear her name.

To Laurel McKay, there is nothing better than spending an autumn afternoon munching on caramel apples and cinnamon donuts. It's a good thing her daughter Jenna has landed a seasonal job at Apple Tree Farm and Bakery. Then Laurel stumbles over the bakery owner coated in powdered sugar. Axel Thorson was a well-respected member of the community. Who wanted to sweeten him up?