Books like 'The Key to Murder'
Readers who enjoyed The Key to Murder by Jen Pitts also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary romance mystery cozy culinary
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The Saint Paddy's Promise by Kathi Daley
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIf you love small towns, endearing relationships, food, animals, and a touch of murder, you will love this cozy mystery series. Sixty years ago a man made a promise to the woman he loved to meet her on Saint Patrick's Day. They were to meet in the park on the bench where they liked to sit and watch the world go by... -
Gossip in the Garden by Kathi Daley
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA heartwarming cozy mystery series about losing everything, taking a chance, and starting again... -
Answers in the Attic by Kathi Daley
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA heartwarming cozy mystery series about losing everything, taking a chance, and starting again... -
The Cat of Christmas Present by Kathi Daley
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWith less than two weeks until Christmas, Cait stumbles across a man who had been washed up onto the beach. The man is very much alive, but after suffering a blow to the head, he cannot seem to remember who he is or how he came to be on the island... -
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The 39 Cupcakes by Zara Keane
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn Irish cozy mystery. Ex-cop-turned-P.I. Maggie Doyle is stuck chaperoning a group of bratty summer camp kids to an archaeological dig on Whisper Island. After a day of fart jokes, fidget spinners, and fist fights, Maggie's regretting volunteering—and then one of her feral charges discovers a skeleton... -
The Halloween Haunting by Kathi Daley
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIf you love small towns, endearing relationships, food, animals, and a touch of murder, you will love this cozy mystery series. In book 7, Tess and Brady are planning a haunted house fundraiser so they can expand the shelter to include a top of the art training facility as well as a permanent residence for hard to place animals... -
Rebel Without a Claus by Zara Keane
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMakeup. Mannequins. Murder. When ex-cop-turned-P.I. Maggie Doyle scores a lucrative undercover job at the makeup counter at a fashionable Galway department store, she expects discounted lipstick and an easy paycheck. After an altercation with a customer leads to a dead body in Maggie’s bathtub, she and her assistant realize there’s more to the department store case than missing cash... -
Cold Blooded Brew by Tonya Kappes
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCharming. Southern. Mysteries. Welcome to Honey Springs where the gossip is as hot as the coffee served at The Bean Hive Coffee Shop!Meet Roxanne Bloom, ex-lawyer and who likes to be called Roxy by her close friends. She's the owner and operator of The Bean Hive coffee shop in Honey Springs. Kentucky... -
A Killer Latte by Tonya Kappes
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWelcome to the Bean Hive Coffeehouse where the coffee is as hot as the gossip! Light, camera, lattes! A film production crew is wrapping up a major movie filming in Honey Springs, Kentucky. Everyone is excited. The production crew has brought the bright lights to the tourist town and The Bean Hive has been supplying the production crew with unlimited treats and coffee... -
Fruit Cake and Fear by Agatha Frost
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe 8th book in the BESTSELLING Peridale Cafe Cozy Mystery series! A storm hits Peridale with disastrous effects. Barker's cottage is destroyed, forcing him to move in with Julia, but she has more to worry about than him leaving his socks around and not putting the toilet seat up... -
Holiday Roast Mortem by Tonya Kappes
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsChristmas is right around the corner.Fresh off the Christmas Pawrade and Central Park tree lightening, Honey Springs is buzzing with the excitement of the season.Roxy Bloom and Patrick Cane are hosting the ultimate Christmas Day Diner for all of their friends and family at The Bean Hive... -
Decaffeinated Scandal by Tonya Kappes, Christina Sagnimeni
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsListening time: 4 hours and 33 minutes.Maybe the killer drank decaffeinated. Corn maze, apple bobbing, and pumpkin carvings are a few of the things tourists, who are visiting Honey Springs Halloween Extravaganza, are expecting to see... -
Duty and the Beast by Chelsea Field
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIsobel Avery's first six months as an undercover poison taster haven't exactly been easy. But this week will be worse. Two people with nothing in common are found dead. Apparently poisoned by an artificial intelligence security system. Now Izzy needs to find out whether robots are taking over the world or if there's a geeky murderer on the loose... -
Haunting in the Hallway by Kathi Daley
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA heartwarming cozy mystery series about losing everything, taking a chance, and starting again... -
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Espresso and Evil by Agatha Frost
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe 6th book in the BESTSELLING Peridale Cafe Cozy Mystery series!When a coffee shop opens in the village, Julia is surprised when her customers flock to the new business, leaving her café almost empty... -
Shoot the Breeze by Gina LaManna
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWelcome to St. Paul, Minnesota—home to strong coffee, deadly winters, and Detective Kate Rosetti—a rising star in the local homicide department. When a young woman turns up dead along the Mississippi River in her latest assignment, Detective Rosetti quickly realizes it’s the work of a notorious cross-country serial killer... -
Count Catula by Kathi Daley
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCait and the gang set out to find a killer when novelist Amanda Lowman is found dead just an hour after speaking to the Mystery Lovers Book Club about her true crime novel: The Vampire Murders. As Cait delves into Amanda's death she finds a spider web of lies and half truths that could very well be tied to a series of murders that took place fifteen years prior... -
A Doggone Waterfront Shame by Rimmy London
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA new life. A clumsy stray. But when Megan decided to open a shop on the boardwalk of Seacrest... she never planned on murder.Start yourself off with USA Today bestselling author Rimmy London's all-new series. Tour the rugged northwest Pacific coastline from the very beginning, when Megan meets a gangly stray Great Dane, Fred... -
Frothy Foul Play by Tonya Kappes
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWelcome to Honey Springs where the gossip flows as freely as the coffee. and The Bean Hive Coffee shop was usually the magnet to where it all occurred.Honey Springs, Kentucky is abuzz with the opening of a new holistic health spa. There are all sorts of outsiders in town to visit and participate in the opening... -
Spoonful of Murder by Tonya Kappes
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWelcome to the Bean Hive Coffeehouse where the coffee and gossip are HOT!Sure, Honey Springs, Kentucky is a destination for summer time visitors but our annual Christmas Festival, which includes a PAW-rade (mmhmmm for furry friends) is giving the summer tourist season a run for its money quickly becoming a tourist favorite!Aunt Maxi is hosting a progressive supper for the community to raise... -
Ice Cream and Incidents by Agatha Frost
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJulia and her family head to the seaside town of Blackpool for a long weekend under the sun, but the trip is quickly disrupted when the B&B owner's son is found murdered! Can be read as a standalone but will be enjoyed more as part of the series. A light, cozy mystery read with a cat loving and cafe-owning amateur female sleuth, in a small village setting with quirky characters... -
Dead to the Last Drop by Tonya Kappes
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWelcome to the Bean Hive Coffeehouse where the coffee is as hot as the gossip!Maxine Bloom has always wanted to try her hand at acting and when Loretta Bebe is desperate for someone to fill a role in the local play she's directing for the Honey Springs Theater Company, she asks Maxi to fill in and Roxy knows Aunt Maxi's head will grow like the gossip... -
Vanilla Bean Vengeance by Agatha Frost
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe FIRST BOOK in a BRAND NEW cozy mystery series!Claire Harris loves nothing more than crafting homemade candles. She has always dreamed of one day opening a quaint candle shop in her home village of Northash, but at thirty-five, she still can't afford to take the risk. Stuck in a dead-end job at the local candle factory, and back living with her parents, Claire knows her life needs a shakeup... -
Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot by Sarah Osborne
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPediatrician Mabel Aphrodite Brown adores kids. So when a childhood friend asks Ditie to babysit her kids for a few days, she jumps at the chance. She never imagined she’d be solving a murder too . . . Despite growing up together, Ditie hasn’t seen Ellie Winston in two years, and she didn’t even know Ellie was living in Atlanta... -
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Macarons and Mayhem by Agatha Frost
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsExcitement blossoms through Peridale when a prestigious gardening magazine picks the village as the spotlight for their next issue, but that joy quickly turns to dread when members of the local gardening society, The Peridale Green Fingers, start dying one by one after their obituaries are sent to The Peridale Post the day before their murders... -
Chocolate Covered Death by Gemma Halliday
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom #1 Amazon, New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Gemma Halliday comes deliciously deadly decadence in wine country... In order to boost her struggling family winery's reputation, Emmy Oak throws a Wine and Chocolate party for the Sonoma Valley elite--featuring her delicious drinks alongside her friend Leah's decadently chocolaty desserts... -
Foreclosure Fatality by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsI made a promise, multiple times actually, to my husband, the Bramblett County Sheriff. I promised I wouldn't put my life at risk doing his job. But... when I find my potential client's son standing over her dead body, all bets are off. I just can't let it go, no matter how hard I try... -
Mostaccioli Murder by Nicolette Pierce
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMurder with a side of mostaccioli.Jade returns home to Chicago after being wrongfully fired from her dream job. When she had left a decade ago, she had made two promises to herself. One, never ever work for the family restaurant again. And, two, never ever see Kade, her cheating ex-boyfriend, again.Unfortunately, when the restaurant delivery driver is found murdered, Jade assumes his position...Categorized as:
cozy culinary mystery contemporary humor female-author amateur-sleuth action-adventure -
Big Bunny Bump Off by Kathi Daley
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSpring is in the air and with the warm weather comes an abundance of babies; human and otherwise. Things seem to be right on course until Jack Frost comes to town throwing the entire town of Ashton Falls into chaos. When Zoe sees the Easter Bunny running from a murder scene during a freak snowstorm she must track down the 'Cartoon Bandits' in order to catch a killer... -
Cupids Curse by Kathi Daley
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen Cupid comes to town it seems everyone’s relationship is in for a challenge. Not only does Zoe suspect that her dad’s new girlfriend is really a killer, but Zoe is the only one who believes that her soon-to- be evil stepmom is guilty of such a dastardly deed... -
Grimm's Furry Tail by Kathi Daley
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA cozy mystery series set on Madrona Island, a fictional island within the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State. As a fourth generation islander Caitlin Hart is struggling to make her way as the economy and culture of the island evolves toward a tourism based industry. Cait lives in a cabin on her aunt's oceanfront estate where she helps her aunt run Harthaven Cat Sanctuary... -
The Mad Catter by Kathi Daley
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA Whales and Tails cozy mystery series is set on Madrona Island, a fictional island within the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State. As a fourth generation islander Caitlin Hart is struggling to make her way as the economy and culture of the island evolves toward a tourism based industry... -
How to Murder a Millionaire by Zara Keane
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn alternative cover edition for this ASIN B072KFXK7R can be found here An Irish cozy mystery featuring murder, millionaires, and mankinis! Armed with her newly issued private investigator's license, Maggie Doyle is on the case…of a sheep that went missing twenty-two years ago... -
Mint Cookie Murder by Leslie Langtry
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom national bestselling author, Leslie Langtry comes another Merry Wrath Mystery that will leave you laughing 'til it hurts-scout's honor! Ex-CIA agent turned suburban scout leader, Merry Wrath, is just trying to live a normal, quiet life... -
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The Christmas Letter by Kathi Daley
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA cozy mystery series featuring family who are friends and friends who are family. Set in the small town of White Eagle Montana, the series features Tess and her dog Tilly, who spend their days delivering the latest gossip along with the daily mail... -
Premeditated Mortar by Kate Carlisle
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsContractor Shannon Hammer gets tangled up in murder at a spooky old asylum in the latest Fixer-Upper Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Kate Carlisle. . . .Shannon Hammer is about to embark on one of the biggest projects of her career... -
Mocha and Murder by Tonya Kappes
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWelcome to the Bean Hive Coffeehouse where the coffee is as hot as the gossip!“Fabulous fun and fantastic fried food! Kappes nails small town mystery with another must-read hit... -
Shortbread and Sorrow by Agatha Frost
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Julia’s gran, Dot, wins an all-inclusive spa trip to Scotland, Julia finds it difficult to refuse the offer of a relaxing week away from her café. Along with her sister, Sue, they pack up her tiny vintage car and drive all the way from Peridale to Seirbigh Castle, ready to be pampered... -
Prosecco Pink by Traci Andrighetti
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFor PI Franki Amato, New Orleans is anything but The Big Easy. Her best friend and employer has assigned her an unsettling investigation—the murder of a gorgeous cosmetics CEO at an allegedly haunted plantation... -
Brew or Die: A Java Jive Mystery by Caroline Fardig
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNashville’s perkiest private eye—coffeehouse manager Juliet Langley—goes undercover in the party-planning industry to solve a suspicious death in this thrilling cozy mystery from USA Today bestselling author Caroline Fardig. Inspired by her past sleuthing successes, Juliet Langley has officially joined the ranks of Nashville’s licensed private investigators... -
Deal Gone Dead by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMeet Lily Sprayberry.Selling homes is her career.Solving crimes, her calling.There's money buried somewhere on Myrtle Redbecker's property, and people are dying to find it.Literally... -
Banana Chiffon and Bad Deeds by London Lovett
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMeet London's newest amateur sleuth, Scottie Ramone, in Banana Chiffon and Bad Deeds—A prequel novella to the Scottie Ramone Cozy Mystery series.A missing grandmother, a murdered neighbor and a crush from the past are just a few of the surprises waiting for Scottie in the heart of the Rocky Mountains... -
Sweet Hearts by Connie Shelton
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWill there be Valentine wedding bells for Samantha Sweet and Beau Cardwell? (introduced in this mystery series opener Sweet Masterpiece) Sam's bakery, Sweet's Sweets is busier than ever this Valentine week, as she struggles to replicate the magical chocolate-making techniques of the enigmatic chocolatier who boosted her winter holiday sales into the stratosphere... -
Bitter Sweet by Connie Shelton
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn this fifth installment in the Samantha Sweet mystery series, it's the height of the wedding season at Sweet's Sweets and Sam has all she can do to stay ahead of the rush of bakery orders. Plus, her side job--breaking into houses--isn't allowing much summer time off either. Not to mention that her mother is pressuring Sam and Beau to set their wedding date... -
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Mug Shot: A Java Jive Mystery by Caroline Fardig
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFull of humor and suspense, the bestselling Java Jive series heats up as the irrepressible heroine of Death Before Decaf faces off against Nashville’s upper crust to solve a shocking murder. Former musician Juliet Langley has barely had a day off since taking over management of the coffeehouse owned by her best friend, Pete Bennett... -
The Kookaburra Creek Cafe by Sandie Docker
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWelcome to the Kookaburra Creek Cafe. THE PAST For Hattie, the cafe has been her refuge for the last fifty years – her second chance at a happy ending after her dreams of being a star were shattered. But will the ghosts of her past succeed in destroying everything she’s worked so hard to build? THE PRESENT For Alice, the cafe is her livelihood... -
Demise in Denim by Duffy Brown
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt’s springtime in Savannah, Georgia, in the newest Consignment Shop Mystery from the national bestselling author of Pearls and Poison . The azaleas and magnolias are in bloom—and Walker Boone is on the run. . .When Reagan Summerside turned the first floor of her old Victorian home into a consignment shop, she never imagined she’d be harboring a fugitive in her attic... -
Killer Words by V.M. Burns
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the seventh Mystery Bookshop novel from Agatha Award-finalist V.M. Burns, bookstore owner, mystery writer, and amateur sleuth Samantha Washington and her Nana Jo confront their own relationship with law enforcement when a local cop who’s unjustly persecuted their family is accused of killing a person in his custody. -
Heads Will Cinnamon Roll by London Lovett
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor amateur sleuth Scottie Ramone, the only thing better than a hot, fresh cinnamon roll is an intriguing new mystery to solve!Scottie recently made some life-changing decisions. (One might even call them rash.) She’s turned her whole world upside down and desperately wants to set it upright... -
Cream Caramel and Murder by K.E. O'Connor
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSweet treats, revenge, and murder. ‘I truly loved the characters in this book, they were so vivid and fun!’ Amazon review. Holly Holmes loves her new job working in the kitchen at Audley Castle, home to the eccentric and wealthy Audley family...
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