Books like 'Design for Dying'
Readers who enjoyed Design for Dying by Renee Patrick also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical heroine sleuth mystery sassy heroine
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The Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas
Charlotte Holmes, Lady Sherlock, returns in the Victorian-set mystery series from the USA Today bestselling author of A Conspiracy in Belgravia and A Study in Scarlet Women, an NPR Best Book of 2016.Under the cover of "Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective," Charlotte Holmes puts her extraordinary powers of deduction to good use. Aided by the capable Mrs... -
The Art of Inheriting Secrets by Barbara O'Neal
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsWhen Olivia Shaw’s mother dies, the sophisticated food editor is astonished to learn she’s inherited a centuries-old English estate—and a title to go with it. Raw with grief and reeling from the knowledge that her reserved mother hid something so momentous, Olivia leaves San Francisco and crosses the pond to unravel the mystery of a lifetime... -
Nature of the Crime by Cara Devlin
Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Bow Street Duchess Mystery series continues in January 2024 with the sixth Audrey Sinclair and Hugh Marsden investigation...When a fellow passenger is found dead on Audrey’s packet ship from France, a mysterious note on the body points to her as the killer... -
Watching the Detectives by Julie Mulhern
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEllison Russell wanted a decorator, not a corpse. Too bad she finds Mrs. White in the study killed with a revolver. Things go from bad to worse when she finds Mr. White in the dining room killed with a candlestick... -
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The Stationmaster's Cottage by Phillipa Nefri Clark
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsChristie is happy in her life... or so she tells herself. Despite the tragedy in her childhood, she has a satisfying career, a city apartment, and a long-term relationship. But deep down she yearns for a simpler life. Family. A garden. And a place to heal her heart.The decision to attend a funeral in a town she's never heard of throws her safe world into disarray, exposing the holes in her life... -
Masquerade in London by Emily L. Finch
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSuspected of murder, Samantha Kingston leaves behind the world she knows when she flees to the streets of London to discover the truth in this, the first book in a new historical mystery series.London, 1861. Samantha Kingston has lived under the control of her overbearing uncle since the death of her parents six years ago... -
Southern Storm by Terri Blackstock
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSequel to the #1 best-selling Cape Refuge First a dead stranger. Now a missing Police Chief. Did Chief Cade run off to elope . . . or has he met with foul play? The body in the morgue had no ID. No one knew who he was or where he came from when he walked out in front of Cade s car. And when Cade learns he had a gunshot wound before he was struck, finding his identity becomes even more urgent... -
A Deadly Affair by Carla Simpson
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLondon 1889 — Murder, mystery, and two people in a most unlikely partnership.She's an unconventional lady who has traveled the world, practices the art of self defense most excellently, and has an interesting tattoo in, ahem... a very unusual place... -
Distortion by Terri Blackstock
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Juliet Cole’s husband of fifteen years is gunned down in a dark parking lot before her eyes, she thinks it was a random shooting. Devastated and traumatized, she answers hours of questioning. When she’s finally allowed to return home to break the news to her boys, she hears a voicemail that takes the situation from a random shooting to a planned, deliberate attack. ‘Mrs... -
Murder Makes Waves by Anne George
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThose hilarious southern sisters, who prove that sibling rivalry never ends, are heading for a vacation at the beach... -
Lethal Remedies by M. Louisa Locke
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAnnie has a problem. She has a beautiful child, a loving husband, a well-run boardinghouse with a supportive circle of friends and family, but she’s feeling restless and unhappy.Dr. Charlotte Brown, the doctor who delivered Annie’s baby, has a different problem... -
A Wicked Conceit (A Lady Darby Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber
Soon-to-be new parents Kiera and her husband, Sebastian Gage, have been hoping for a respite from their inquiries, but murder and mayhem have a startling way of dropping into their laps in the all-new historical mystery in this national bestselling series.Edinburgh, Scotland. March 1832... -
The Dagger Dance by Elizabeth Bailey
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLady Fan returns in another twisty murder case! For fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Barbara Erskine and Jane Austen.Can Lady Fan unravel another mystery…?1793, EnglandAfter a not-so-relaxing holiday in Tunbridge Wells, Lady Ottilia and Lord Francis Fanshawe have returned to their home with a young orphaned girl, Pertesia ‘Pretty’ Brockhurst... -
A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas
The game is afoot as Charlotte Holmes returns in the atmospheric second novel in New York Times bestseller Sherry Thomas's Victorian-set Lady Sherlock series. Being shunned by Society gives Charlotte Holmes the time and freedom to put her extraordinary powers of deduction to good use. As “Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective,” aided by the capable Mrs... -
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A Brush with Shadows by Anna Lee Huber
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 22 ratingsSebastian Gage returns home to battle the ghosts of his past and prevent them from destroying his future with Kiera in the latest exciting installment in this national bestselling series.July 1831. It's been fifteen years since Sebastian Gage has set foot in Langstone Manor... -
An Inexplicable Woman: A Tabitha & Wolf Mystery by Sarah F. Noel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWho is this mysterious woman from Wolf’s past who can so easily summon him to her side?When Lady Arlene Archibald tracks Wolf down and begs him for help, he plans to travel to Brighton alone to see her. What was he thinking? Instead, he finds himself with an unruly entourage of lords, ladies, servants, children, and even a dog... -
An Inexplicable Woman: A Historical Romance Mystery by Sarah F. Noel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsStep into 1897 Victorian Unravel Love and Intrigue with The Tabitha & Wolf Historical Mystery Series, where Mystery meets Romance with a splash of Humour.Who is this mysterious woman from Wolf’s past who can so easily summon him to her side?When Lady Arlene Archibald tracks Wolf down and begs him for help, he plans to travel to Brighton alone to see her... -
Murder in Chelsea by Victoria Thompson
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSarah Brandt is shattered when she learns that a woman has inquired at Hope’s Daughters Mission for Catherine, the abandoned child she has taken as her daughter. The woman claims she was Catherine’s nursemaid, now acting on behalf of the girl’s mother to reunite them. Unwilling to simply hand Catherine over to a complete stranger, Sarah asks Malloy to investigate... -
The Unlikely Chaperone (Dorothy Mack Regency Romances) by Dorothy Mack
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsA captivating Regency adventure! Perfect for fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Jane Aiken Hodge and Jane Austen. Can Alexandra reach the end of the season without losing her heart? Regency England At twenty-eight, Alexandra Farrish has no hopes of marrying... -
The Vengeance Trail by Elizabeth Bailey
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJoin Lady Fan in her most dangerous case yet! For fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Barbara Erskine and Jane Austen.Is someone from her past trying to kill Lady Fan…?1796, EnglandWhen Lady Ottilia Fanshawe finds herself launched into a river and fighting for her life, she becomes convinced someone pulled her under the water... -
A Wicked Conceit by Anna Lee Huber
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSoon-to-be new parents Kiera and her husband, Sebastian Gage, have been hoping for a respite from their inquiries, but murder and mayhem have a startling way of dropping into their laps in the all-new historical mystery in this national bestselling series.Edinburgh, Scotland. March 1832... -
Beyond a Doubt by Colleen Coble
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNothing seems beyond a doubt when Bree opens a cold-case file with clues too close for comfort. Arson. Theft. Murder. When Bree Nichols discovers a corpse in her own basement, a whirlwind investigation ushers an unbidden danger to all she holds dear... -
The Candlelit Coffin by Elizabeth Bailey
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA thrilling mix of mystery and romance! For fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Barbara Erskine and Jane Austen. Murder lurks behind the scenes… 1791, England Lord Francis and Lady Ottilia Fanshawe have suffered a devastating blow. With Ottilia sunk deep into a depression, Francis is desperate to get his beloved wife back... -
The Mortal Blow by Elizabeth Bailey
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe intrepid Lady Fan is back! For fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Barbara Erskine and Jane Austen. Lady Fan is back to full health but can she solve the trickiest case yet…? 1791, England Lord Francis and Lady Ottilia Fanshawe are on their way home when their coach comes to a sudden stop. A woman is standing in the middle of the road — covered in blood... -
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Playing it Safe by Ashley Weaver
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAs the Blitz continues to ravage London, Ellie McDonnell—formerly a safecracking thief, but currently determined to stay on the straight and narrow to help her country—is approached by British Intelligence officer Major Ramsey with a new assignment. She is to travel under an assumed identity to the port city of Sunderland and there await further instructions... -
Guardian of the Horizon by Elizabeth Peters
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling Grande Dame of historical mystery (Washington Post Book World) returns with her latest novel featuring Amelia Peabody. This adventure covers the missing years before the Great War--a tale of adventure, bravery, and terror... -
The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA priceless relic has been delivered to the Emerson home overlooking the Nile. But more than history surrounds this golden likeness of a forgotten king, for it is said early death will befall anyone who possesses it. The woman who implores the renowned family of archaeologists and adventurers to accept the cursed statue insists the ill-gotten treasure has already killed her husband... -
Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsConvinced that the tomb of the little-known king Tutankhamon lies somewhere in the Valley of the Kings, eminent Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson and his intrepid wife, Amelia Peabody, seem to have hit a wall. Having been banned forever from the East Valley, Emerson, against Amelia's advice, has tried desperately to persuade Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter to relinquish their digging rights... -
Whom the Gods Love by Kate Ross
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAlexander Falkland hasn't an enemy in the world. Young, talented, charming, he shines in every field he enters: law, architecture, the investment market. But one night his luck runs out with a vengeance. In the midst of one of his famous parties, he is found in his study with his head smashed, a blood-stained poker beside him... -
Mission Impawsible by Krista Davis
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the "New York Times" bestselling author of "Murder Most Howl "comes another Paws & Claws mystery... In the pet-friendly town of Wagtail, Virginia, there's no love lost when Holly Miller meets her match in a murderer... Holly and her grandmother, Oma, are working their tails off to prepare the Sugar Maple Inn for an upcoming matchmaking event for pet owners... -
Crouchback by Sarah Woodbury
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings**Crouchback is a medieval word derived from crossed-back and indicates participation in a Crusade** April 1284. As a newly widowed lady-in-waiting to the very pregnant Queen Eleanor of England, Catrin never expected to return to Wales again... -
Death Drinks Darjeeling by Sigrid Vansandt
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMartha and Helen are having a spring to die for! Helen’s ex-husband, George, has arrived to stir up trouble, and Martha gets sentenced to anger management classes for her illicit gun wielding issues. Sounds like a pair of good reasons to get out of town, so when they’re invited to Germany to be guests on the beloved talk show, “Get Going with Gotts,” they happily accept... -
Poison at the Village Show: The start of a BRAND NEW cozy murder mystery series from Catherine Coles for 2022 by Catherine Coles
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWestleham Village 1947. It’s the Westleham village show and with the war finally over, everyone is looking forward to a pleasant day.But newcomer, Martha Miller doesn’t share the excitement. Because since her husband Stan left for work one day and never returned, Martha has been treated as somewhat of an outsider in Westleham. The village gossip is that Martha must be to blame…... -
The Unwanted Corpse by Elizabeth Bailey
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat do you do when a dead body lands on your doorstep…?1794, EnglandWhen a body is unceremoniously dumped outside her home, Lady Ottilia Fanshawe is once more drawn into a murder case.Ottilia is recovering from the birth of her first child and her husband, Lord Francis Fanshawe, is worried that she has finally taken on more than she can handle.But Ottilia will not be diverted... -
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The Corpse Played Dead by Georgina Clarke
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players…’ When an undercover assignment for the Bow Street magistrate sees prostitute Lizzie Hardwicke trade Ma Farley’s Bawdy House in Soho for life as a seamstress the theatre on Drury Lane, it becomes clear quite quickly - what goes on in the wings is much more intriguing than the theatrics being played out on stage…Soon Lizzie is... -
Death at the Crystal Palace by Jennifer Ashley
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsIntrepid cook Kat Holloway puts aside her apron to delve into Victorian London’s high society and catch a killer in this thrilling new mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Murder in the East End.While attending an exhibition at the Crystal Palace, young cook Kat Holloway is approached by a woman in distress... -
Death at the Falls by Rosemary Simpson
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsSet amidst the opulent mansions and cobblestone streets of 1800’s New York, this atmospheric new historical mystery brings the Gilded Age to life in a tantalizing tale of old money, new love, and grave suspicion, as newly-minted lawyer Prudence MacKenzie and ex-Pinkerton Geoffrey Hunter travel to Niagara Falls for a dangerous assignment…October 1890: As Prudence and Geoffrey settle into the most... -
On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service by Rhys Bowen
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsWhen royal sleuth Georgie Rannoch receives a letter from her dearest friend Belinda, who’s in an Italian villa awaiting the birth of her illegitimate baby, she yearns to run to her side. If only she could find a way to get there! But then opportunity presents itself in a most unexpected way—her cousin the queen asks her to attend a house party in the Italian Lake Country... -
A Fatal Illusion by Anna Lee Huber
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsNew parents Lady Kiera Darby and Sebastian Gage look forward to introducing Sebastian’s father to his granddaughter, but instead find themselves investigating an attempt on his life...Yorkshire, England. August 1832. Relations between Sebastian Gage and his father have never been easy, especially since the discovery that Lord Gage has been concealing the existence of an illegitimate son... -
Murder on Amsterdam Avenue by Victoria Thompson
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this Gaslight Mystery from the national bestselling author of Murder in Murray Hill, midwife Sarah Brandt and Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy investigate foul play in the secretive high-society world of nineteenth-century New York City… In the midst of Sarah and Frank’s wedding preparations, Sarah accompanies her mother on a condolence call to the Upper West Side, where Charles Fairfax, the... -
A Stroke of Malice by Anna Lee Huber
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsLady Kiera Darby and her husband Sebastian Gage are looking forward to relaxing with new friends at an exciting yearly soiree, but they soon learn that murder never takes a holiday in the latest riveting installment in this national bestselling series. Scotland 1832... -
The Mock Marriage by Dorothy Mack
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA beguiling Regency romance! Perfect for fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Jane Aiken Hodge and Jane Austen. A captivating actress takes on her most demanding role yet… Regency England Following the death of her debt-ridden father, Claire Yelland is forced to take to the stage to earn her living... -
Four Play by Cindy Blackburn
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBad 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... -
The Dead Cry Justice by Rosemary Simpson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFor fans of HBO’s The Gilded Age, explore the dark side of the alluring world of America’s 19th century elite in this gripping series of riveting mysteries…Heiress-turned-sleuth Prudence MacKenzie and ex-Pinkerton Geoffrey Hunter step out of the elite society of Gilded Age New York as they venture into the city’s crime ridden streets and most dangerous neighborhoods to search for two missing... -
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Flight Patterns by Karen White
The New York Times bestselling author of the Tradd Street novels tells the story of a woman coming home to the family she left behind—and to the woman she always wanted to be.... Georgia Chambers has spent her life sifting through other people’s pasts while trying to forget her own... -
A Child Lost: A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Novel by Michelle Cox
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA spiritualist, an insane asylum, a lost little girl . . .When Clive, anxious to distract a depressed Henrietta, begs Sergeant Frank Davis for a case, he is assigned to investigating a seemingly boring affair: a spiritualist woman operating in an abandoned schoolhouse on the edge of town who is suspected of robbing people of their valuables... -
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsLong retired, Sherlock Holmes quietly pursues his study of honeybee behavior on the Sussex Downs. He never imagines he would encounter anyone whose intellect matched his own, much less an audacious teenage girl with a penchant for detection. Miss Mary Russell becomes Holmes' pupil and quickly hones her talent for deduction, disguises and danger... -
Crowned and Dangerous by Rhys Bowen
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsNothing is simple when you’re thirty-fifth in line for the British crown, least of all marriage. But with love on their side, and plans to elope, Lady Georgiana Rannoch and her beau Darcy O’Mara hope to bypass a few royal rules.. -
The Opium Purge by Elizabeth Bailey
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA dark shadow has been brought from the West Indies to an English estate… 1790, England Lord Francis and Lady Ottilia Fanshawe are preparing for the birth of their first child. But Lady Fan won’t let a little thing like pregnancy get in the way of solving a local mystery... -
Plain Dead by Emma Miller
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen a newspaperman is murdered in the Amish community of Stone Mill, Pennsylvania, Rachel Mast digs up the dirt to find out who wanted to bury the lead… Although she left her Old Order Amish ways in her youth, Rachel discovered corporate life in the English world to be complicated and unfulfilling. Having returned to Stone Mill, she’s happy to be running her own B&B...
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