Books like Chasing Cezanne by Peter Mayle

Bill Bryson humorously chronicles a two–person hike along the Appalachian Trail, mixing lively anecdotes with insightful looks at its history, ecology, and the people who live along the route.

A witty, nonfiction voyage that follows Eric Weiner from the U.S. to Iceland, India, Switzerland, Qatar, Bhutan, and Asheville as he seeks the source of happiness, blending travel, psychology, science and humor.

In Carl Hiaasen’s playful mystery, Honey Santana retorts to an obnoxious telemarketer by weaving a Florida real‑estate scheme that pulls in the agent’s mistress, Honey’s ex‑husband, and her 12‑year‑old son.

Paul Theroux’s 1973 four‑month train voyage across the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia becomes a vivid record of travel, railroads, and personal encounters.

Detective JJ Hooker and racer Barney Buck meet on a high‑speed adventure when a crashed NASCAR hauler contains a dead body and stolen cars. Their investigation takes them from hot Florida nights to North Carolina racing circuits.

After a career crash, investigative reporter Jack Tagger becomes an obituary writer in South Florida, yet his ambition drives him to solve the mysterious death of rock star Jimmy Stoma while battling jealous editors, a widow, and a ruthless editor-in-chief.

Lawyer Lady Victoria Wentworth faces a brutal murder that spirals into a high‑stakes art theft, while New York art expert Anna Petrescu battles intrigue in the Twin Towers as a Van Gogh masterpiece changes hands.

Grandmama Ellison, a sharp‑tongued relative of Charlotte Pitt, is forced to spend Christmas on Romney Marshes where she uncovers a murder and secrets about herself.

When blacksmith Meg Langslow and her fiancé settle into a new house in Caerphilly, Virginia, a buried corpse surfaces while the family digs a pool for penguins from the town’s failed zoo, with the keeper nowhere to be found.

Christmas, 1859. Just one month after the publication of On the Origin of Species, Darwin received a letter that deeply unsettled him. He had expected criticism. Letters were arriving every day like swarms, some expressing praise, most outrage and accusations of heresy. But the letter from the Reverend Powell was different.

Reverend Oughterard, after a grave mistake, is drawn into a dangerous art‑thief ring and hunted by the sharp‑witted novelist Maud Tubbly Pole, while his cat Maurice and dog Bouncer prank him through the intrigue.

A decaying palazzo on a hilltop near the Adriatic coast, and in the basement, cobwebbed and dusty, an archive unknown to scholars. Here, a young graduate student from Rome makes a discovery that inspires a search for a painting lost for almost two centuries. The artist was Caravaggio, a revolutionary painter beset by personal demons. Four hundred years ago, he drank and brawled in the taverns and streets of Rome, in and out of jail, all the while painting transcendent works. He rose from obscurity to fame and wealth, but success didn't alter his violent temperament. He died young, alone, and under strange circumstances. Caravaggio scholars estimate that between sixty and eighty of his works are in existence today. Many others--no one knows the precise number--have been lost to time. Somewhere, surely, a masterpiece lies forgotten. This quest is a synthesis of history and detective story.--From publisher description

A detective named Dortmunder is burglarized by a billionaire and must find a lucky ring to clear his name

Goldy Schulz, a Colorado catering entrepreneur, finds herself the prime suspect in a murder while her ex‑husband is recently paroled. Two detectives pursue her as she tries to protect her family and her business.

When Colorado caterer Goldy Schulz’s business is booming, a cocktail‑party disaster sparks a murder mystery that forces her to use her culinary instincts to catch a killer before another bite dies.

In Rome, a missing painting sparks a web of intrigue as Detective General Bottando embarks on a hunt for the elusive thief known as Giotto, aided by Flavia di Stefano and her art‑dealer boyfriend Jonathan Argyll.