8 Charming and Clue-filled Southern Mystery Books

If every small town has secrets, every waitress knows exactly what they are. Daisy hears more than her fair share of gossip waiting tables at the H&P’s Diner.

But when a reclusive old man stops into the diner only to die a few minutes later, Daisy is about to learn that some secrets are far more dangerous than others. Especially when there’s money and moonshine on the line.

With a handsome ATF agent asking questions and plenty of locals pressuring her to stay quiet, Daisy isn’t sure who she can trust. All she knows is there’s more than whiskey brewing.

And by the time trouble passes, plenty more secrets will come to light.

Besides being a private investigator, Liz Talbot is a modern-day Southern belle, complete with a 9mm in her Kate Spade handbag. When her grandmother is murdered, Liz immediately heads to her South Carolina island determined to find the killer.

And when her brother-in-law police chief shuts her out of the investigation? She starts her own.

With more dead bodies popping up, Liz has to use her wits and charm in equal measure to catch the murderer and keep her family safe.

There aren’t many battles Detective Dave Robicheaux hasn’t fought. He fits right in with the other lost souls haunting New Orleans’ French Quarter.

 When a young prostitute’s body is found in a bayou, Robicheaux is thrown into the dark underground world filled with kingpins and pimps, dealers and smugglers.

He’s faced darkness before and survived, but if he can’t come to terms with his own bruised heart, this is one fight he just might lose.

When two rookie police officers are killed in a fiery crash, crime reporter Nichelle Clarke is sent to investigate. She’s covered many accidents before and assumes this one will be just as routine.

Only, this one is different. The more she digs into the case, the stranger things get. But when people and evidence both start to disappear, she knows someone is trying to cover their tracks.

And the closer she gets to the truth, the more danger she finds herself in. Can she unmask a killer before she becomes the next victim?

For sketch artist Cherry Tucker, commissions are scarce in Halo, Georgia. It doesn’t help that she’s known for her big mouth and small stature. So when the Branson family wants to memorialize their murdered son, Cherry jumps to outbid her local rival.

But making this deadline might be more complicated than Cherry ever imagined. Between ex-boyfriends, flaky family, and a gambling ring, she also has to evade a killer on the loose.

And after she makes a mistake, she’ll be lucky to make it out of this commission alive.

At twelve years old, on a quiet summer night in 1932, Joel Fitchett carried his brother Clancy into an East Texas diner. They were both badly beaten but claimed they couldn’t remember what happened.

Thirteen years later, the brothers find themselves accused of murder and make a decision that will change the course of their lives. Forty years later, Clancy’s grandson Garrison chases a rumor into Texas that his grandfather is alive.

But sixty years of secrets aren’t easy to sift through. And the truth just might be more than Garrison is prepared for.

Of all the things that Melanie Middleton will never admit, it’s that she can see ghosts. It goes against every practical fiber of her being. It’s also something she has to get used to.

Especially when she inherits a house complete with a family of ghosts. They have stories they want to share, but they also have plenty of secrets.

When a writer obsessed with unsolved mysteries is convinced diamonds from the Confederacy are hidden in the house, he tries to convince Melanie to let him try and find them.

But his search uncovers nothing but more questions. And if Melanie wants any peace from the ghosts, she has to unravel a mystery of passion, heartbreak, and murder.

73-year-old Imogene McGregor has more grit and spunk than her son Billy and his partner Jackson put together. Still, when they decide to visit a friend in New Orleans, they pack Imogene and her bulldog, Goose, into the car.

Only, their friend ends up murdered in his art gallery. The police don’t seem to want answers, so the three decide to tackle the case themselves. This was not the vacation Billy and Jackson envisioned.

But the only way Imogene will let them get back to catching beads and eating pralines is to find a killer.