Award Winner: 2018 Best Book Awards Fiction: Mystery & Suspense
Perfect for fans of Sandra Brown and Iris Johannsen.
In 1945, an Austrian girl discovers a priceless Nazi treasure near a remote alpine lake and sets in motion a decades-old secret that will change lives for generations to come.
Many years later, classical pianist Maggie O’Shea is preparing her return to the world of music. Instead, a nightmare of a haunting rhapsody and hundreds of roses from a deranged stalker propel her into a world of terror. Forces drive her to revisit the mystery of her mother’s death, her father’s startling disappearance, and a terrible secret from World War II. Maggie finds herself on a collision course with a brutal, disfigured killer who threatens those she holds dear—an aging pianist with a long-buried secret, a haunted cellist, a charismatic Maestro, and the crusty retired colonel she has come to love.
Chord by chord, Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody becomes the heart of this story of profound loss, courage and love. Music tells our stories...
Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards Fiction: Mystery & Suspense
The year is 1964 and Carl Gordon is an ill-prepared New York Assistant U.S. Attorney who has lied his way into a transfer to Stockville, Alabama, where he is supposed to monitor and enforce the Civil Rights Act. In a matter of days, the Ku Klux Klan takes aim at him, the outside agitator. Carl has agreed to represent Oleatha Geary, a black family matriarch who has inherited a mansion in an all-white, race-restricted neighborhood. Carl and Oleatha are engulfed in litigation that turns deadly. Meanwhile, Carl and Oleatha's daughter, Lenore, find themselves in a blossoming romance opposed by everyone, white and Black. Heroism for hatred, controversy in death, friendship and forbidden love fill the pages of this remarkable tale of societal ills, culture clashes and political change.
"As I read Black Hearts White Minds, I was reminded by turns of Harper Lee, Willie Morris, and John Grisham. Like Grisham, Mitch Margo is an attorney; like Morris, he's a former journalist, and like Lee, his writing is evocative with a moral center straight and true. With our new president publicly insulting Civil Rights icon John Lewis and the new administration looking to reverse 50 years of progress, this Civil Rights era page-turner is a must read." - Richard H. Weiss, Former Daily Features Editor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"At once magical and poignant and terrifying ...You will be enchanted by this powerful story." - Michael A. Kahn, Award-winning Author, Rachel Gold Mysteries Series
Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards Fiction: Mystery & Suspense
Psychologist and police consultant Dr. Pepper Hunt, struggling to deal with the murder of her husband, leaves the private practice they shared and relocates to Wyoming. There, in the stark landscape of the high desert, there is nothing to remind her of everything she lost and left behind. Then her new patient, Kimi Benally, goes missing in a Wyoming blizzard after her last therapy session—making Pepper the last person to see her. She knows the secrets Kimi shared in therapy hold clues to her mysterious disappearance, and she joins forces with Detective Beau Antelope to try to discover what’s happened to her. But as she follows the trail of Kimi’s obsession with the past, Pepper begins to fear the worst for her missing patient—and her own haunted memories surface.
Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards Fiction: Mystery & Suspense
Jessica Fletcher investigates a mysterious manuscript with deadly consequences in the latest entry in this USA Today bestselling series...
Jessica Fletcher has had plenty to worry about over her storied career, both as a bestselling novelist and amateur sleuth. But she never had any reason to worry about her longtime publisher, Lane Barfield, who also happens to be a trusted friend. When mounting evidence of financial malfeasance leads to an FBI investigation of Lane, Jessica can't believe what she's reading.
So when Barfield turns up dead, Jessica takes on the task of proving Barfield's innocence--she can't fathom someone she's known and trusted for so long cheating her. Sure enough, Jessica's lone wolf investigation turns up several oddities and inconsistencies in Barfield's murder. Jessica knows something is being covered up, but what exactly? The trail she takes to answer that question reveals something far more nefarious afoot, involving shadowy characters from the heights of power in Washington. At the heart of Jessica's investigation lies a manuscript Barfield had intended to bring out after all other publishers had turned it down. The problem is that manuscript has disappeared, all traces of its submission and very existence having been wiped off the books.
Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards Fiction: Mystery & Suspense
When the mayor’s daughter goes missing in Dallas, maverick police detectives Rob Soliz and Frank Pierce must race to find her alive in this thrilling procedural debut from a seasoned law enforcement officer.
When the 19-year-old daughter of the mayor of Dallas suddenly goes missing at the height of election season, the Chief of Police has a potential political firestorm on his hands. He assigns senior detectives Rob Soliz and Frank Pierce—partners known for their unorthodox approach to investigations—to investigate quickly and quietly. The girl’s family thinks she’s out on an irresponsible lark, but things start to escalate quickly when Rob and Frank find a mysterious Bible in her car with the word Wormwood highlighted beneath Revelation.
A DPD computer search turns up only one hit: a transient arrested years earlier had a full back tattoo with the word inked in bold letters at the bottom. As the detectives follow a trail that leads them deep into the woods of rural East Texas, they discover other girls have been kidnapped, all young blond women, and find evidence that suggests some of them may still be alive.
With political pressure mounting, the clock is ticking and Rob and Frank must crack the case and save Katrina before it’s too late in The Burial Place, Larry Enmon’s debut novel perfect for fans of Brian Freeman and Steve Hamilton.
Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards Fiction: Mystery & Suspense
Newly retired from the Ferndale Police Department, Martin Preuss passes his days quietly with his beloved son Toby. When a friend asks him to look for a boy who disappeared forty years ago, the former investigator gradually becomes consumed with finding the forgotten child. Meanwhile, ex-colleague Janey Cahill persuades him to help her locate the missing father of a troubled young girl. Juggling both cases, Preuss revisits the countercultural fervor of Detroit in the 1970s--and plunges into hidden worlds of guilty secrets and dark crimes that won’t stay buried.
Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards Fiction: Mystery & Suspense
When the top American diplomat in Tokyo, Bernard Mattson, is killed, he leaves more than a lifetime of successful Japan-American negotiations. He leaves a missing manuscript, boxes of research, a lost keynote speech and a tangled web of relations.
When his alluring daughter, Jamie, returns from America wanting answers, finding only threats, Detective Hiroshi Shimizu is dragged from the safe confines of his office into the street-level realities of Pacific Rim politics.
With help from ex-sumo wrestler Sakaguchi, Hiroshi searches for the killer from Tokyo's back alley bars to government offices, through anti-nuke protests to the gates of an American naval base. When two more bodies turn up, Hiroshi must choose between desire and duty, violence or procedure, before the killer silences his next victim.
The indomitable senior sleuth Imogene and her outrageously endearing Alabama family find themselves in hot water while on a family vacation at a mermaid convention in sunny Florida. When Imogene and her brood, including Goose the bulldog, encounter a dead body floating in the freshwater springs beneath their glass-bottom boat, the local police immediately arrest one of the Alabama visitors for the crime.
Now the aging amateur crime solver must exonerate her own family, but unearthing a killer among the park's past and present mermaids and employees promises to be no easy task, since so many of them are thrilled that the victim is sleeping with the fishes. And a decades-old curse that has deposited more than one dead body in the Bridal Chamber spring now seems focused on Imogene and her kin, who are wading into dangerous waters indeed. Witty and colorful, The Curse of the Bridal Chamber will keep you enthralled until the final surprising revelation.
A long time ago, Angelica Vicetti did some very bad things with some very bad men. Now she’s built a new life for her family, far from Las Vegas. Now it’s all about to come crashing down. Angelica Vicetti of Las Vegas has become Angela Cassetta of Poplar Bluffs, just outside Atlanta, Georgia. She's built a successful real estate agency, and the son she rescued from Vegas when he was a youngster is now a high school baseball star and destined for great things. But the mob bosses in Vegas who forced her underground haven't forgotten about her. A string of hit men come to town to kill her, but each time she saves herself and her son, with the help of her friends and Mike Eiser, a local Sheriff's detective who has seen far worse. Then things get even more complicated, when one of the hit men changes his mind and becomes strangely important to Angela in a whole new way … and a team of Federal agents come to town and ratchet up the odds. Suddenly, sleepy little Poplar Bluffs is awash in blood. Angelica will have to take it all the way to the edge and beyond – into murder, kidnapping, and lying to the Feds – to save herself and her son. But … can she survive the fight for her family's freedom?
Five bodies, five intersecting storylines, five lives . . . each searching for hope and redemption
Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office, Detroit, Michigan: October 31, 1999.
Five unidentified bodies lie in the Wayne County morgue on Halloween night. Although each character was on a separate journey, fate leads each of the five victims to cross paths on the streets of Detroit en route to their tragic demise.
Set against the backdrop of a Devil’s Night party at legendary Detroit concert venue and nightclub, Saint Andrew’s Hall, Awaiting Identification details the final night on earth for five lost souls.
The third entry in the Martin Preuss Mystery series finds Preuss called to search for a van that has disappeared along with the woman who was driving and her passenger, a young handicapped man. Working through layer upon layer of secrets, Preuss exposes a multitude of contemporary crimes with roots in the twentieth century’s darkest period. Complex, chilling, and compulsively readable, GUILT IN HIDING finds Preuss investigating the most disturbing and unforgettable crimes of his career.
Toby and Anna Miller were a perfect couple. Romantic, passionate and truly best friends. When he loses her after a car accident, he takes a leave of absence from work to carry out his promise to Anna and moves to the "Forever House" in the mountains of Tennessee. It's their dream come true carried out by one.
Soon after he settles in, he hears strange noises in the house but brushes them off until his realtor, Alex, shares a dark secret with him and he learns of her heartbreaking connection to the house. Over time, Toby and Alex become closer.
As a paranormal enthusiast, Toby no longer dismisses the strange noises and tries to connect with the entity in the house. His research begins with simple closed-ended questions and progresses to full conversations through EVPs and a Spirit Box. Toby's increasing obsession with the paranormal builds an obsession with the ghost, sparking a forbidden love triangle.
Will the entity keep Toby and Alex apart?
The Ghost Between Us is where paranormal romance meets suspense thriller. It will grab you from the very first page and won't let go until the last.
In this literary noir thriller, San Diego architect Michael Collwood must dodge the police and corrupt politicians to find the men who brutally killed his wife. His only ally is an eccentric, homeless old man who believes he is living in the 18th century.
"David Urban is a dark poet. With seductive grace and powerful prose, A Line Intersected transforms the postcard vistas of San Diego into a barren landscape of murder and betrayal. A terrific debut novel." - Tim Maleeny, bestselling author of Stealing the Dragon and JUMP
"David Grant Urban writes with grace...The protagonist is a deeply wounded man and his quest for revenge comes across just so naturally to readers." -Romuald Dzemo, Readers' Favorite (5-Star Review)
"Great plot, great character development, skilled writing - this book has all of that...I'm ready to nominate this one for an Edgar Award." - Don Houts, MenReadingBooks.com
Before the Thin Man: The Prequel to Dashiell Hammett’s “The Thin Man” is the prequel to the original Hammett masterpiece published in 1934 and the following Thin Man series of movies. This story is set in 1928 and answers the questions of who are Nick and Nora Charles, where did they come from, and how did they meet to eventually become the iconic couple created by Dashiell Hammett.
From all appearances, Dr. Lorenzo Giordano is living the perfect life. He has movie star looks, a thriving neurosurgical practice at a prestigious New York hospital, a beautiful home, a stunning wife, newborn twin sons, and a precious one year-old daughter. However his whole world begins to disintegrate when he finds himself unable to timely pay his secret gambling debt to "the Viper," the head of a Long Island organized crime family.
Given the threat of terrifying harm to his entire family, the doctor has to decide whether to accept the alternative solution offered by the Viper that would wipe his debt clean and ensure that his family would remain unharmed. But his acceptance of that offer would initiate a series of unimaginable consequences for innocent parties who would find themselves unwittingly entangled in this web of deceit. How far would the neurosurgeon go to eliminate his hefty debt and still be able to justify the unimaginable repercussions?
When Detective Ameena “AJ” Jardine goes out on her first solo assignment, she doesn’t know what to make of the number carved on a seashell in the victim’s hand: 55. The person died from a heroin overdose, nothing out of the ordinary considering the drug epidemic sweeping New England.
She also doesn’t know what to make of D.T.F. Agent Tony Aserbbo, a younger, very attractive man who catches her attention. As a middle-aged mother and widow with P.T.S.D., she can’t imagine what Tony sees in her, especially after he discovers her past.
A year later, another crime scene reunites AJ and Tony. Another victim has something unusual in her hand: a bouquet of daisies. The number of flowers? 34. That death is also ruled a heroin overdose. Only this time, there’s a person of interest leading them to a violent drug cartel called the Fasciata Order, an organization responsible for the heroin epidemic plaguing the region.
"The Van Gogh lights are coming, Mommy." Will she follow them?
Detective Ameena “AJ” Jardine doesn’t know who she can—or should—trust anymore. And that may kill her.
Can she trust her boss, Deputy Director Conrad McMillan, after he keeps sidelining her from her investigations? He tells her to back off some of her missing person leads. He doesn’t want her to contact Copernicus anymore, especially after the hacker uncovers details of a secretive operation. AJ’s never had reason not to doubt her boss, so why does she now?
Can she ever again trust her partner, D.T.F. Agent Tony Aserbbo, after she learns he knew about her father’s sabotaged car? His involvement almost cost the lives of her father and her son. And what about the fact she learns he’s a double agent working for the Fasciata Order, a highly sophisticated and violent heroin cartel? After all, the more they investigate their leads and track down missing persons, the more secrets he begins to keep from her.
AJ is not okay physically. She’s still recovering from the physical assault against her body at the hands of the Fasciata Order, a highly sophisticated and deadly drug organization. She was pumped full of the Order’s designer heroin, Prussian Black, and thrown into the river. The lingering effects of the drug are still evident months later. Will she fully recover?
AJ is not okay mentally. Too many events are happening all at once. Her best friend is getting married and AJ can’t share secrets with her anymore. Her step-father passed away months before her real father came back into the picture. Now her real father is dying. Her boss reveals a decade’s old secret that leaves her stunned beyond imagination. The serial killer continues his countdown as more bodies pile up, this time of the very men who tried to kill her. How does she handle the assault on her mind as her P.T.S.D. and anxiety increase to a feverish pitch?
Debt, Dating, and a Dead body... What's a girl to do? Twenty-five-year-old rookie Repo Agent, Andrea Sloan, doesn’t like accepting help from anyone – especially not arrogant musicians who are too charming for their own good. Even though she swore off men years ago, Andi finds herself drawn to handsome rockstar, Cooper Barnett, as he continually pops up in her life when she least expects it. Their budding relationship becomes even more complicated when Cooper talks Andi into letting him ride-along on one of her repos, and they come across a very naked, very dead body. Being charged with murder and spending a night in jail is bad enough, but when the police don’t seem to be making any headway on finding the real killer, Andi begins to do her own investigation – much to the frustration of the homicide detective in charge. The closer she gets to discovering the killer, the more her own life is in danger. Time is running out. Andi must figure out who the killer is before she goes to prison for a crime she didn’t commit or, worse, becomes the next dead body.
Not having seen each other in sixteen years, sparks fly immediately when April Chastain misrepresents herself and returns to her hometown of Magnolia Blossom, Mississippi, to work for Russell Dalton, a man she has adored since childhood. They find themselves caught up in a web of romance, mystery, and danger. Left for dead at the age of six, April was miraculously spared by a man-size teddy bear, a gift from Russell. As clues about the murder of April's parents trickle to light, evidence surfaces that points to trusted friends as possible murders. Several other deaths and a high number of cancer patients are linked to suspected illegal dumping of toxic, water-soluble cadmium. Through it all, the one constant is an inanimate teddy bear, which holds a secret. The world of investigative reporting proves to be a roller coaster of intrigue, secrets, and tumultuous relationships in Wilted Magnolias.
When a rich, handsome stranger named Samson Brodice walks through the door of Black Jack's Tavern, Mantha thinks her luck has finally changed. One night with Samson, and hello rent money, goodbye bills! But when Samson drops dead unexpectedly in his penthouse suite, Mantha must prove she's not a murderer! Mantha embarks upon a quest to learn all she can about the enigmatic Samson and, in doing so, makes several powerful discoveries about herself. Delving deep into her darkest memories to confront her distant past, Mantha must somehow learn from her mistakes. Only then can she unlock the clues to her survival. Please Don't Call Me Sam is a culturally diverse and soulful story featuring the strong, rich narratives of underrepresented voices. If you enjoy thoughtful, humorous tales that revel in the perplexity, absurdity, and sometimes beauty of the darker side of life, this novel is the perfect fit!
Inside Out, the OutSide Don't Count, God Look at the Heart, begins in McGee, Arkansas, where there aren't many industries, restaurants, or opportunities for young people. There's nothing but cotton and soy bean fields. However, one boy named Paul became tired of slopping the hog and feeding the chickens. His older brother lives in L.A., where he is a big shot in the L.A.P.D. Paul decides to go after his dream there and leave the small town behind.
In this novel, you will find love romance drama, suspense, thrills, action and success.
In the 1950s, the small, friendly town of Shelbyville, Tennessee, was most famous for being the home of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. Its citizens took pride living in “The Walking Horse Capital of the World.” But during the three-year period of 1955 to1958, Shelbyville became known as something much more sinister: “Kidnapper’s Paradise.” When the first teenage victim disappeared, the police initially believed she had run away from home. But when more children started to vanish, a cloud of fear and paranoia cloaked the town. This was especially true for Corbin and LorAnn Carter who feared their two young daughters—Dixie and Dollie—could be the next victims of the malevolent menace.
As two local detectives scrambled to solve and stop the mysterious disappearances, they struggled to fit all the puzzle pieces together. Suspicious of corruption within the city police department, the detectives faced countless roadblocks and detours during their relentless efforts to solve the open cases.
Miami Moon marks the return of uber sarcastic, classic car restorer and private eye Jose Castillo. A Cuban-American raised and based in Miami, Castillo is a throwback to the days when justice was handled mano a mano. He won't shy away from using his martial arts skills when needed, but he has a moral compass that he strictly adheres to--against conventional thinking and even the law if the need arises. Miami Moon offers a fully-developed cast of characters, which includes the vibrant streets, sights, sounds, and smells of the Magic City itself. Also along for the ride are Castillo's buddy, ally, and tech genius, Jim Gafford, who keeps Jose up on the latest security and surveillance gadgets; and his best friend Nate Devine, a homicide detective with the Miami PD who spends much of his time trying to decide whether to thank Jose for his help or throw him in jail for interfering with an investigation. As in Goyanes' first book, Miami Beat, Castillo peeks under the hood of Miami's seedy underbelly in Miami Moon where he goes up against the Russian Mafia, a ruthless criminal, and a serial killer targeting sex workers on the streets of Miami.
They were supposed to be safe! Three years ago, Adam and Joni Carmichael were declared legally dead. With the help of the Witness Protection Program, the couple relocated to a secluded ranch in Montana, where they have crafted a quiet existence for themselves. But the disappearance of a guest from their bed and breakfast, a wounded FBI agent, and his wife’s kidnapping, dashes any plans for a normal life. Retired CIA agent, Tony Jefferies, aka Adam Carmichael, doesn’t believe in coincidences. These events confirm someone from their past has entered their present. A terrified and desperate, Agent Jefferies will need to follow a convoluted trail of evidence, buried secrets, and hidden agendas to bring his wife home and the kidnappers to justice. What follows in this suspenseful romantic story is a series of events that can only be endured by the powerful bond of love. Extracting Honey is an enthralling and thoroughly satisfying read.
Just south of Tupelo, Mississippi on the Natchez Trace lies a place of mystery called Witch Dance.
When Thomas and Margaret Speedwell took their twins to Witch Dance for a weekend camping trip, they never imagined they would be pulled into a vortex of witchcraft, tragedy, and karma. One of the girls goes missing; the other won't say what happened on the other side of the hill.
The tragedy pulls together a cast of characters from Margaret's childhood and beyond - Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians, Toltec ancestors, the extinct Hopewell tribe.
With the help of a childhood friend, a concerned newspaper reporter, and visions by a strange old woman, a two-thousand-year-old mystery begins to unfold, uncovering missing children throughout generations. Who is taking them? Could it be the infamous witches of Witch Dance?
The Singularity Witness. What happens when a radical technology ushers in an ominous future? Governments and corporations will kill to control it. So murder and abduction are just the beginning.
When a clandestine research lab disposes of its test subject and kidnaps a U.S. Senator to protect its secrets, those events trigger a federal investigation. The covert program requires the services of Thomas Parker, a Princeton University professor and cutting-edge neurologist, to deliver its breakthrough achievement. And FBI Special Agent Kate Morgan needs Parker to help her infiltrate the secret lab.
What they don't know is that the senator's abduction was orchestrated by Stewart Richards, who is obsessed with creating The Frontier--neurological singularity. To Richards, no sacrifice is too great for a cause that brings him world-wide recognition and unravels the mysteries of the mind.
Together, Parker and Morgan are faced with the dilemma of advancing the revolutionary technology in order to solve the senator's abduction, save The Singularity Witness and others, and survive.
The Singularity Witness plays off "what if" scenarios facing current medical and biological research endeavors. Some of these initiatives may fundamentally change social and geopolitical landscapes forever.
What is neurological singularity? Who is The Singularity Witness? Read the book to find out.
Raeanne Mara has just returned to the beautiful and hard scrabble ranch that has been the Family Ranch for 5 five generations to grieve the deaths of her husband and daughter. Her cousin John who manages the ranch gives her a shoulder to cry on and hard work to help her heal, but he suddenly disappears after a fight at the Blue Dog bar. Shortly after, she finds a dead body in the nearby forest and the local sheriff and others think John may have killed the man and left town. Journalist Raeanne doesn't believe that is true so she starts a search. When the neighbor's teenage son arrives at her doorway and says John has sent him to tell Raeanne that he is okay and will be home in "a couple of days but don't tell anyone", Raeanne knows something is wrong and she and the local women nearby delve into the dark places in the forest to find what's going on.
For fans of Indiana Jones, or authors Dan Brown and Clive Cussler, with an added touch of magic: Get ready to journey into an action adventure filled with archaeology, mystery, and intrigue.
Midwest Book Review calls the first book in Joan K. Lacy's Alex Cort Action Adventures an "extraordinary and thoroughly entertaining read." Philly Life & Culture gives it a "high recommendation for adventure lovers," and The Nerdy Girl Express touts it as a "strong supernatural adventure" and a "delightful story of discovery."
When British archaeologist Andrew Seaton discovers a jewel-encrusted golden statue, he realizes he may have uncovered the key to the lost city of El Dorado. The statue disappears before he can verify his findings, and Andrew must rely on private detective Alex Cort to recover the prized artifact.
The two men find themselves caught up in a dangerous race against a corrupt colleague and a ruthless art thief who will stop at nothing to claim the statue for themselves.
As each new clue leads them up the Amazon River and deeper into the jungle, they soon discover things are not quite what they appear. When all seems lost, the mystical powers of a beautiful woman guide them out of danger and ultimately to the ruins of an ancient city, where Andrew must right the wrongs he committed in a past life and Alex discovers a secret of his own.
FBI Special Agent Samantha Wright inherits the case of her life when her mentor at the Bureau dies, leaving her compelled to finish the case in his memory. The case forces her to cross paths with Will Little Bear, a Cheyenne Indian guide who stumbled upon the latest victim, a young Native American boy, on his Reservation.
As an expert FBI Profiler, Special Agent Wright pursues the serial killer, forcing her to leave the comfort of her Washington DC office and travel to the wilderness of Montana during one of its most extreme winters. Her mission is to prevent more innocent boys from falling victim to the killer, but in order to do that, she needs the help of Will Little Bear and his knowledge of the vast landscape.
The journey for Sam and Will ensues with a blending of cultures, while enduring all the harsh Montana terrain can throw at them. Can Sam and Will track down the killer and bring justice to the Native American tribes? The determination to bring the case to fruition brings Sam and Will to the realization that anything worth having is worth waiting for.
A quirky widow in her early sixties takes her first job ever in a private investigator's office. Arriving early she discovers an agitated man waiting at the door. He insists he must see the PI immediately. In the midst of his anxious demands, he clutches his chest and collapse. Shocked, she runs for help. Upon returning, the man has disappeared. The police are skeptical dismissive of her story. To prove she's not a wacky woman, she attempts to find the missing man using only the cryptic note and he left in his place and his last words as her clues.
Meanwhile, the private investigator is onto something and tells her to retrieve a disc in his file cabinet which must be delivered to the police immediately.
When she enters her office the next morning, she's met by two men who usher her out at knife point and drag her into a waiting limo. Abducted and held hostage, she's drugged by her captors who are trying to get the mysterious disc.
As the story unfolds she finds herself embroiled in an international drug trafficking ring. Everything hinges on finding the man with the sand dollar face.
Early one gray November morning, retired Lighthouse Cove, NY police chief, Edmund DeCleryk, finds Emily Bradford's body on the beach at the base of the bluff where the local museum and historical society stands. At the same time, a break-in has been reported at the museum, and Emily's coat and purse are found hanging on a peg in the museum's gift shop where she worked. Was her death the result of a burglary gone bad or something more sinister?
When the police chief is called out of town for a family emergency, he hires Ed, now working as a criminal consultant, to assist deputy police chief, Carrie Ramos, with the murder investigation. After several leads don't pan out, the chief, now back in Lighthouse Cove, decides to close the case. Confident that with more time the murder can be solved, Ed is determined to continue investigating on his own, with encouragement from his wife, Annie the museum's executive director.
One morning while in the basement of the museum, the couple discovers a copy of a map dated 1785, and Ed's instincts tell him it may be connected to Emily's death. On a hunch, he and Annie travel to Toronto, Canada, where he learns of the original map and a manuscript written in 1847 that were unearthed during an archaeological dig. The manuscript contains information about a ship that capsized during a fierce storm on Lake Ontario -- in 1785. Now Ed has clues as to why the murder occurred, but he still doesn't know who committed the crime. Or does he?
In the stillness of the night the tree branches were full of noise from birds, squirrels and insects. Then all went silent. A slight jerk of Lee's head angled off to one side, signaled that he should leave. His nose still stung from the thick gun smoke hanging in the air. When Bert Grayson is murdered, it sets off a chain of events to apprehend a relentless killer who would not be stopped. Don't trust anyone, Lee and Miranda were warned! But, they risked their own lives in this heart stopping race against time. Lillian Grace, a woman with her own secrets, had loved Bert. Her rambling letters, written after his murder, are the only link 50 years later to what really happened in that alley the night Bert was found with his throat slit. 2016 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist. Crime Romance Murder Mystery Series.
Charlene Butler, a.k.a. Charlie, is beautiful, independent, and a successful pub owner in downtown Montreal, but prefers not to discuss her past, or the main reason for her success. When she anonymously receives strange letters and the police don’t show an interest in the case, she is convinced by Frank, her best friend, to hire a private investigator to help her solve the mystery. However, PI Simm seems to have a few secrets of his own.
Charlie and Simm join forces when the harassment escalates from letters to explicit threats. Their investigation leads them from the safety of her home, through Montreal’s underworld, to organized crime in Dublin, Ireland. What they discover contradicts Charlie’s most fundamental beliefs in herself and ultimately makes her doubt her own character.
Just when Beth thinks her life is finally in order she soon realizes it's not. Why does trouble follow her wherever she goes??? I thumb through the phone book to the letter B. I'll close my eyes and wherever my finger lands, will decide who dies next. Slowly I turn the front door knob and find it's locked. I creep around the house to the back door and bingo, it's unlocked. Why don't these people lock their doors knowing a serial killer is on the loose? I tip toe up the stairs and peek through her cracked bedroom door. She's sleeping peacefully, it's time to make my move.
He's so close I can hear him breathing. I hold my breath fighting the panic rising inside. It's so dark in these pines. I'm so terrified my feet won't move. I grab the knife from my pocket... After ten long years of abuse Beth is finally free of him. She finds herself drawn to a cabin at the top of a mountain. Strange things begin to happen, are they real or her imagination? Beth finds herself terrified and running for her life. Will her nightmare ever end?
1966. Washington, D.C. To survive in this town, sometimes a good girl has to be bad. Really bad. Longing to transcend her Midwest roots and strict religious upbringing, Judah Lundquist spends her days obediently typing insurance policies for Tom Lawrence of Standard Life Insurance. But Washington is not Peoria, and she finds herself caught up in a nightmare that threatens to subvert all the values she’s tried to uphold while exposing secrets from her past. A shameful one-night stand with neighbor Ralph Hicks lands Judah in a trap of her own doing. To protect what is left of her tattered reputation, Judah must become a seductress and a thief, betraying the only man who can possibly save her—a man with secrets that have nothing to do with crime and everything to do with the Cold War.
Michael Tiernan, a burned-out Boston lawyer, is contacted by the mysterious Irish historian Aedan Burns. He believes Michael's family history files contain a clue that will lead them to the only known portrait and missing treasure of the 16th-century Irish pirate Grace O'Malley. Aedan offers Michael and his artist wife Sara a partnership. Michael and Sara apply their different skills and solve the puzzle, or do they? In the process, they discover themselves, and that Grace O'Malley was more than just a pirate. And then they discover who Aedan is and what he was really up to . . .
Bernadette has almost everything a twenty- six year old model could desire. She has a great home, beautiful clothing, and a wonderful family. Yet, all she really desires is a decent man to share her life with. Against her sister’s wishes, Bernadette, joins the world of online dating. She can hardly believe her luck upon finding the profile of Martin Day, a handsome, successful businessman, who is moving to her hometown. The couple clicks instantly and their relationship is on the fast track to marital bliss, when suddenly a stranger brings unsettling news about Martin’s past. Despite the warnings, Bernadette continues seeing him, and quickly finds out that some relationship mistakes cannot be easily fixed. As her situation grows increasingly out of control, she realizes that it has come down to life or death and that she must put a stop to Martin’s reign of terror, at any cost.
This third book in the Henrietta and Inspector Howard series provides a delightful romp through the English countryside and back.
Anxious to be married, Henrietta and Clive push forward with their wedding plans despite their family differences, made worse now by Oldrich Exley’s attempts to control the Von Harmons. When the long-awaited wedding day arrives, there is more unfolding than just Clive and Henrietta’s vows of love. Stanley and Elsie’s relationship is sorely tested by the presence of the dashing Lieutenant Harrison Barnes-Smith and by Henrietta’s friend Rose—a situation that grows increasingly dark and confused as time goes on.
As Clive and Henrietta begin their honeymoon at Castle Linley, the Howards’ ancestral estate in England, they encounter a whole new host of characters, including the eccentric Lord and Lady Linley and Clive’s mysterious cousin, Wallace. When a man is murdered in the village on the night of a house party at the Castle, Wallace comes under suspicion—and Clive and Henrietta are reluctantly drawn into the case, despite Clive’s anxiety at involving his new bride and Henrietta’s distracting news from home.
Delicately attempting to work together for the first time, Clive and Henrietta set out to prove Wallace’s innocence, uncovering as they do so some rather shocking truths that will shake the Linley name and estate forever.
A mind-bending collection of paranormal tales based on harrowing legends and nightmares come true. These Seven Ghostly Spins will creep under your skin and stay with you long after you have read them.
Alison--The adage goes "no self-respecting theater house is without its ghost" Peery's Egyptian Theater; Ogden's historic movie palace, joined the ranks in 1924.
By the Iron Gate--A flight of fancy; triggered by a real nightmare, and a real walk in the moonlight.
She Caught a Ride--Gone but not Forgotten Night after night, young Florence awaits a secret signal.
Abiku--In this paranormal thriller, a seventeen-year-old boy unwittingly summons a demon from across the sea, setting off a heart-stopping countdown into madness.
A Curse Lifted--Experience the power of a parting gift.
205 1/2 25th Street--A haunting encounter featuring the legendary Rosetta Duccini Davie; seductive madam of the most elegant brothel on Two-Bit Street in the mid 1940's: The Rose Rooms.
Carolina Blue--Hundreds have heard the anguished scream or have seen the wisp of blue on the railroad tracks... only a precious few will overcome experiencing the lady's haunting cries.
When Lara dies at the hands of a Manhattan lawyer during a sex game, his defense attorney, Carl, hires Simone, a psychiatrist, professor and author of books on sexual behavior to help him buttress his argument that Lara’s death was accidental. To help his defense, Carl’s client has written a detailed account of his steamy, year-long relationship with Lara. Carl gives the text to Simone for analysis. While evaluating the presumed killer’s writing, Simone continues to receive psychiatric patients with sexual disorders and unusual fantasies, and to research strange sexual behavior for her next book. Meanwhile, Simone’s clinical partner, friend and research colleague, Edward, is working with the police to capture a serial killer who is torturing and killing women. From hot and unusual sex and interesting psychiatric patients, to the swing houses of New York and Paris, this fast-paced page-turner is a blend of mystery, suspense, humor, romance and erotica.
1995, Japan struggles with a severe economic crisis. Fate brings a number of people together in Hiroshima in a confrontation with dramatic consequences. Xavier Douterloigne, the son of a Belgian diplomat, returns to the city, where he spent his youth, to come to terms with the death of his sister. Inspector Takeda finds a deformed baby lying dead at the foot of the Peace Monument, a reminder of Hiroshima's war history. A Yakuza-lord, rumored to be the incarnation of the Japanese demon Rokurobei, mercilessly defends his criminal empire against his daughter Mitsuko, whom he considers insane. And the punk author Reizo, obsessed by the ultra-nationalistic ideals of his literary idol Mishima, recoils at nothing to write the novel that will "overturn Japan's foundations" …Hiroshima’s indelible war-past simmers in the background of this ultra-noir novel. Clandestine experiments conducted by Japanese Secret Service Unit 731 during WWII become unveiled and leave a sinister stain on the reputation of the imperial family and the Japanese society as a whole.
Aldo is a mystery/thriller/love story in which a brilliant and dangerous ideologue attempts to eliminate a university's genetics institute by holding the university's president hostage.
On the same day that Isabel Canto, associate director of Pembrook Atlantic University's Institute for Genome Modification, discovers she is pregnant with IGM post-doc Frank Marks's baby, Pembrook Atlantic University's president Mary Ellen Mackin receives a letter from "Aldo" threatening harm if she does not dissolve the institute and fire its director. Isabel recommends that Mackin refuse and not allow a terrorist to dictate what her faculty and students can research and discover, but this advice unwittingly sets off a chain of events that will change many lives forever--including hers.
Your life is a lie. The past you remember isn't yours. There is no one to Trust.
Kerry Stine’s plan to rebuild her life goes into freefall when a patient vanishes from San Francisco General Hospital on her watch, thrusting her down a rabbit hole that leads to a past from which she can no longer escape. Fired, frantic, and running from the police, she trusts no one and every step pushes her further away from logic and reality.
Three thousand miles away, scientist Adrian Calhoun has developed a cigarette that cures lung cancer, and he’s hell bent on distributing his miracle cure before the pharmaceutical mafia gets to him first. Kidnapped by his pursuers, he is held prisoner in exchange for the chemical formula to his invention. His redeemer holds the key to not only his life, but Kerry’s as well. And when the threads finally intertwine, Kerry discovers that what she and Adrian Calhoun have in common will return to her pieces of her past that she never knew she’d lost.
The mayor of the north Georgia town of Witherston and one of its prominent attorneys are being blackmailed by a mysterious Donna Dam, who threatens to expose the two men's shameful activities of forty years ago if they do not take a paternity test and pay a hefty sum of money, and if Mayor Rather does not withdraw his proposal to build a dam, creating a lake on top of a sacred Cherokee burial ground. Blackmail leads to murder, and when Detective Mev Arroyo and her two teenage twins investigate, they discover some dark secrets, putting all their lives in danger...
Dead birds raining from the sky. Poison in the water supply. Spies on the back porch.
A lifeless crow shatters the windshield as Rita Avery, her daughter-in-law, and her granddaughter arrive at Arizona’s Rim Vista Park. Rita dodges bird carcasses on the road home, where she finds her husband Cliff and son Travis gravely ill from a mysterious pathogen with no cure.
The CDC assembles a team to create a cure, but Rita doubts it will arrive in time to rescue Cliff, Travis, and dozens of her friends and neighbors.
In a race to save her family, her community, and potentially thousands more Americans, Rita launches her own investigation. She partners with a certified herbalist and a homeless war veteran dubbed Crazy Mary.
But the more clues Rita uncovers, the deeper she finds herself in the middle of a ruthless plot that could unleash a wide-ranging American disaster. And the culprits aim to stop her at any cost.
Before it’s too late for her loved ones, Rita must thwart the next attack on innocent civilians.
Murder, spine-tingling trips through Arizona’s rugged wilderness, and callous spies determined to spread havoc – this isn’t your average family outing!
On a cold winter evening in the small mountain town of Witherston, Georgia, antique dealer Hempton Fairfield auctions off rare Cherokee artifacts, Appalachian antiques, and a young African Grey parrot. Late that night, a blizzard stops traffic for a three-mile stretch of the Witherston Highway, prohibiting anyone’s arrival or departure and stranding an eighteen-wheel semi full of chickens. The next morning two bodies are discovered in the snow, the chickens are running free, and the parrot is missing, leaving a number of unanswered questions. What happened? Where’s the parrot? How did the chickens escape the stranded truck? Who rightfully owns the remnants of the thousand-year-old Cherokee civilization? Who killed the two men? And, most importantly, how many more bodies will turn up before the killer is caught?
Detective Roger Viceroy, divisional head of the Midwest Region Special Crimes Unit, awakes one morning to a bombing in a wealthy suburb of Milwaukee. As he and his team dive into the investigation, a mysterious clue launches a manhunt with scant other evidence to point them in the right direction. Over the coming weeks, the related murders unfold, each with a unique twist and the same clue left behind. Viceroy uncovers one other common thread – a seemingly random association with the small north woods town of Curwood, Wisconsin. As the death toll mounts, Viceroy has to connect the dots and stop the carnage before it reaches the final target, Governor Kay Spurgeon. Within a crowd of tens of thousands on a clear October day, one man hides. Viceroy must find him.
Penny Summers bones up on Renaissance garden design until she finds a dead docent and finds herself up to her tramp stamp unraveling a Civil War battle flag scam.
In North Carolina where "The Recent Unpleasantness" between the North and the South is still romanticized, the problem of a dead docent in a famous garden leads ex-Navy public affairs officer Penny Summers to a Civil War battle flag scam, a deadly reenactment, and a search for a man in black. With the help of Kalea, an eleven-year-old C.S.I.-wannabe, and Aaron, her handsome Navy friend working undercover, Penny discovers more than she bargained for. She thinks if she had studied psychology, it might have turned out differently. Probably not.
How did a request for a simple bloodhound search of a vineyard leapfrog into a murder investigation? Alice Tricklebank and her bloodhound Audrey awaken to gunshots only to find the body of Guthrie Huff in the main house and another body among the tendrilled grapevines. Like it or not, Alice is again entangled in a stiff-necked investigation with suspects holding secrets and scars close to their chests. But this time her dear friends, Lena and Julian, are not immediately available to cobble a story together. Alice is on her own in California.
The police begin their investigation by questioning Alice's presence. Did Guthrie believe Alice's dog could find her son's grave? Detective Joshua Galati follows with more questions: is there a link between Cade's seven-month disappearance and his mother's death. Galati is uneasy with Alice's amateur conclusion that Guthrie was the first to shoot. The police identify the second body as Xavier Nettle, a bartender at a biker bar called The Hungry Fool. But what was he doing at the vineyard in the middle of the night?
Newly retired publishing executive, Theo Phillips, and his wife, Liddy, decide to leave the shadows of Atlanta behind and return to their South Georgia roots in time-lost Shiloh. While making new friends, Theo’s interest in a memorial launches him smack dab in the middle of scandal and dark secrets. As Theo digs deeper into the mysterious fire that stole the town’s landmark courthouse and a town hero, he and Liddy’s retirement dreams take a turn that could unravel both them and the idyllic life they and many others look for in Shiloh.
