Animals Crime Fiction

Lorilee Riley has eight cats, a Florida home, and a large lot to maintain. That ought to be enough to keep a senior citizen busy, but when she finds a corpse in her flowerbed, Lorilee wants to know who put it there. Later, the question becomes why the police don't seem to be a hundred percent dedicated to finding out who killed Regina Dean.

La La’s world stops being whole when her mother, who never wanted a child, abandons her twice. First, when La La falls through thin ice on a skating trip, and again when the accusations of “unfit mother” feel too close to true. Left alone with her father - a locksmith by trade and a thief in reality - La La is denied a regular life. She becomes her father’s accomplice, calming the watchdog while he strips families of their most precious belongings. When her father’s luck runs out and he is arrested for burglary, everything La La has painstakingly built unravels.

"The cows moved away from him as he stepped into the mud. The stench of manure and wet soil wafted over the area as Hamid saw something lying on the ground before him. Pushing one beast away from the site, Hamid saw a foot and a black gumboot sticking out from the mud. There was a mound of dirt around the boot, and as Hamid pulled on the boot, it came away. Ted Lassiter's red wool sock stood out in contrast to the brown of the mud. Hamid pulled out his phone and called the police." Detective Inspector Linden McCoy is called out to investigate a series of murders in the farming communities ...

Some old grudges fester until they explode in dangerous ways. Pam and Paul Bigelow were excited and honored to be hosting the Sunrise Harbor Maine Animal Shelter’s annual Valentine’s Day charity event. They certainly didn’t anticipate their elegant Victorian mansion turning into a cold-hearted crime scene. We’re talking a man strangled with a string twinkling lights, the disappearance of a treasured family heirloom, and shelter dogs cowering in fear. All this happening in the span of a five minutes, all in complete darkness, and none of it making a bit of sense. Who’d want to ...

Threats. Robberies. Vandalism. Is Oscar really the mastermind behind the latest Happy Hills crime spree? Or is there something more sinister going on? As the Canine Detective Club works to save Oscar’s good name and crime fighting reputation, little do they realize they’re being drawn into an even more dangerous and potentially life-threatening mystery. On the other side of a padlocked gate are neighbors desperately calling out for help. Will Oscar be able to save them in time? Could this mysterious property somehow be linked to Oscar’s past? An Oscar look alike leads them on an ...

Two grisly murders are committed at a meatpacking plant by a person wearing a cow mask. Not long after, the CEO of a water park is brutally killed by someone wearing an orca mask. Interpol Agent An Chang believes these are the latest acts of a ruthless serial killer he has been chasing for more than 20 years...a killer who targets those who harm innocent animals.

They say small towns conceal big secrets—Holly’s learning the truth may be far more sinister… Moving to a coastal town got Holly away from the big city and corporate jobs. Little does she know she’s landed right in the middle of a mystery. As she pieces together information from the locals about the very rich Mongomery clan and their big house on the hill, the patriarch of the family dies. The suspicious circumstances regarding his death and rumors of the old man being cruel and arrogant paint a clear picture in people’s minds, despite the death being ruled natural causes. When an...

Tiffany Black is worried and guilt-ridden about her friend Stone - so Nanna convinces her to accept a new, strange case. A diamond thief has been murdered, and his girlfriend and co-conspirator wants Tiffany and Ian to investigate what happened. But when the client has secrets of her own, and the victim was obviously a criminal, how can Tiffany and Ian uncover the truth? Meanwhile, Ian has grand plans of his own...

It’s lambing season at Oak Tree Farm! When a little lamb loses his mother, Jasmine names him Lucky and steps in to bottle-feed him and patiently help him learn to walk. With a sheepdog to train and two helpless baby birds to raise, it’s hard work for Jasmine to juggle all of her animals, even with the help of her best friend, Tom. But when sheep rustlers strike her family’s flock, taking Lucky with them, Jasmine will have to summon the courage for her most daring rescue yet.

HO HO HOMICIDE? When the man who plays Santa for the Maycroft Christmas Festival goes missing, the committee turns to Deena Sharpe to find him. Her reputation for solving mysteries is legendary. But when the case becomes a kidnapping, she's worried something sinister has happened. Sharpe Claus has plenty of suspects and enough finger pointing to keep Deena on her toes. Follow along as she tries to solve the case of the missing Santa! This fun, cozy Christmas novella can be read as a standalone in the Maycroft Mysteries by USA Today Bestselling Author Lisa B. Thomas. Like all the books in ...

After the death of her husband, Helen Dexter is contemplating her future as the now-sole proprietor of the Seaview Hotel. There's an offer from a hotel chain developer to consider, but also a booking from a group of 12 Elvis impersonators, a singing troupe called Twelvis. Tom loved Elvis, and for Helen, this is a sign that she should stay. But the series of mysterious events that follows suggests that the developer is not going to give up easily. Then, shortly after Twelvis arrive, one of the group disappears. His body is found floating in a lake, with his blue suede shoes missing.

The clever little ladybird is off on a trip to the seaside, but those two bad men, Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len, are also back and they're up to their wicked ways again. This time they're planning to steal the mermaid's long, luscious hair and sell it to a famous star...luckily, the crime-busting ladybird has another cunning plan to stop the thieves!

On July 2, 2022, two criminals set out to rob a jewelry shop in Geneva. But even with a foolproof plan, their “perfect” heist will prove far from uneventful. . . .Twenty days earlier, on a luxurious estate along the shores of Lake Geneva, Sophie Braun prepares to celebrate her fortieth birthday. Her life seems perfect: she has a fairytale marriage, two perfect children, and lives in a stylish modern mansion surrounded by lush forest. But her idyllic world is about to crumble. Her husband is becoming embroiled in petty schemes.

Sometimes it is better leaving the past in the past… The Paul Madison PI cozy mystery series continues… A determined private investigator learns that even heroes aren’t perfect. A compassionate Medical Examiner must watch as the past begins to destroy the present. A vengeful crime boss systematically eliminates everyone who has wronged her. A shadowy spirit guide always shows up in the nick of time. A short read cozy filled with mystery, romance, and a touch of magic. Paul Madison finds himself facing family secrets that have the power to change his life forever. An unwelcome relative...

On July 2, 2022, two criminals set out to rob a jewelry shop in Geneva. But even with a foolproof plan, their "perfect" heist will prove far from uneventful. . . Twenty days earlier, on a luxurious estate along the shores of Lake Geneva, Sophie Braun prepares to celebrate her fortieth birthday. Her life seems perfect: she has a fairytale marriage, two perfect children, and lives in a stylish modern mansion surrounded by lush forest. But her idyllic world is about to crumble. Her husband is becoming embroiled in petty schemes.

A deadly murder, a missing artifact, and Rose with Rex in a race to catch a killer. Rose Dela Cruz thought she was finally getting a break. A few days aboard the Midnight Tide to escape the chaos of her private investigation business. But when a rude guest is found dead, her peaceful getaway quickly spirals into a nightmare. Security insists it’s a simple accident, but Rose knows better. She saw something—just a glimpse—but it’s enough to make her heart race. The more she digs, the more she realizes everyone on board is hiding something. With her loyal Beagle, Rex, and her sister ...

There once was a dog with a keen sense of smell. She was known far and wide as Detective Dog Nell. Peter's dog, Nell, has an amazing sense of smell. Whether it's finding a lost shoe or discovering who did a poo on the new gravel path, her ever-sniffing nose is always hard at work. But Nell has other talents, too. Every Monday she goes to school with Peter and listens to children read. So who better to have on hand when they arrive one morning to discover that the school's books have all disappeared?

How do you cope when the impossible happens? Poppy Parker's world is collapsing. Life was so safe and easy before her Grandma Beth had a stroke and ended up in a nursing home. Now she's desperately homesick and struggling to cope with life in a children's center. Worried her grandma may need help, Poppy runs away to visit her, never expecting to witness a serious crime that lands her under the temporary protection of the lead detective. Fearing that the police will return her to the children's center once she's no longer useful, Poppy hesitates to help them identify the suspect, focusing ...

When popular Bigfoot skeptic Kevin McNight is murdered, Jean Williams refuses to believe Detective Wheeler’s explanation that the killer was just a bear – she believes there was a human involved, and she’s determined to find justice for Kevin. With the local Bigfoot festival just days away, there many who stand to benefit from Kevin’s death - from the well-known Sasquatch believer Roy Turner, to the event organizers who profit from the festival each year, to the Bigfoot “researchers” who despised Kevin. In between working at her aunt’s bakery café, Jean finds time to slip ...

When a dead scuba diver is discovered during their road trip vacation to Monterey, CA, Zack, Jillian, and the two corgis, Sherlock and Watson, become embroiled in a race to discover what the diver had been doing when he died. Compounding their investigation is the presence of a group of playful otters, who just so happen to be using what appears to be gold coins as tools to open shellfish. Are the two events related? Could the deceased diver have located a sunken treasure ship off the coast of Monterey?