Book picks similar to
By Any Means by James Farner


historical-fiction
mystery
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Hail Storme


W.L. Ripley - 1993
    He reports violent incident confidentially to the local Sheriff...who is murdered the next day. Storme believes there's a connection and starts asking questions, unraveling a deadly conspiracy of corruption, drug-trafficking and organized crime... and making himself someone that just about everybody wants dead.

A Cross to Bear


Vince Vogel - 2017
    The discovery in woodland of a young woman nailed to a wooden cross sends Jack spiralling into a direct confrontation with that past when the woman is identified as the daughter of a murdered cop he once knew. With a serial killer the media are dubbing the ‘Crucifix Killer’ slaying working girls on his patch, Jack must face his own demons and uncover a series of terrible secrets if he is to find the twisted killer. On his way to the Tunisian border, Alex Dorring is informed that his sister has been murdered. Dorring is Agent 192 of Uriel, a clandestine assassins wing of MI6. With revenge on his mind, Dorring makes his way to London and begins investigating her death in his own special way. As he moves like a ghost through the underbelly of the city, he meets Chloe, a troubled nineteen year old trying to escape the very people Dorring has come to hunt. Could this girl be the key to leading him to the killer? As both men operate under entirely different rules, the death of one girl sees a bed of lies, sexual violence, murder and corruption come rising to the surface as East London descends into chaos.

Undertaking Irene


Pamela Burford - 2014
    To dead people.Life gets complicated for Jane and her Death Diva business when she’s hired to liberate a gaudy mermaid brooch from the corpse during a wake—on behalf of the rightful owner, supposedly. Well, a girl’s got to make a living, and this assignment pays better than scattering ashes, placing flowers on graves, or bawling her eyes out as a hired mourner. Unfortunately for Jane, someone else is just as eager to get his hands on that brooch, and he’s even sneakier than she is, not to mention dangerously sexy.Just when she thinks her biggest problem is grand theft mermaid, things take a murderous turn. But hey, when you’ve teamed up with a neurotic seven-pound poodle named Sexy Beast, how can you go wrong?

Sara's Game


Ernie Lindsey - 2012
    His car was found. He wasn't. Unbelievably, the police report said, "No foul play suspected." There were a few unreliable sightings over the following months, but little else.Now, on the last day before summer break, her three children have gone missing from their schools, all at the same time.And the note under her windshield wiper asks one simple question: Are you ready to play the game?

Hide in Plain Sight


Marta Perry - 2007
    At the same time, she is able to accept help and love from a handsome mystery boarder.

The Daemoniac


Kat Ross - 2016
    With taunting messages in backwards Latin left at the crime scenes and even more inexplicable clues like the fingerprints that appear to have been burned into one victim's throat, his handiwork bears all the hallmarks of a demonic possession.But consulting detective Harrison Fearing Pell is convinced her quarry is a man of flesh and blood. Encouraged by her uncle, Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry hopes to make her reputation by solving the bizarre case before the man the press has dubbed Mr. Hyde strikes again.From the squalor of the Five Points to the high-class gambling dens of the Tenderloin and the glittering mansions of Fifth Avenue, Harry and her best friend, John Weston, follow the trail of a remorseless killer, uncovering a few embarrassing secrets of New York's richest High Society families along the way. Are the murders a case of black magic—or simple blackmail? And will the trail lead them closer to home than they ever imagined?

Dark Illusion


Dana V. Moison - 2019
    Sharon's pursuit of the elusive killer leads her to the glamorous fashion world and threatens to unveil the dark secret of an influential socialite in New York’s elite. The more she investigates, mind-taunting discoveries begin to scratch the surface. Now there is another beauty gravely unaware of the great danger lurking. Will Sharon put together all the pieces of this deceptive puzzle in time to save the next victim? You think you have all the answers, but you won’t be able to see it coming . . . Revenge, love, and passion swirl together in this cleverly crafted crime thriller. This page-turner will keep you on your toes until the very end, unable to guess how this unpredictable mystery will be solved. Dana V. Moison is a young author, and Dark Illusion is her first thriller novel. It reached #1 best seller in Travel Adventure and multiple Mystery, Thriller & Suspense categories worldwide. Dark Illusion centers on desire, vengeance, strong, confident, often fearless women, and the deception that is beauty. If you like psychological thrillers with lots of suspense and a strong female sleuth as the protagonist - you won't be able to stop reading Detective Davis's adventures! Scroll up now to get your copy of Dark Illusion!

The Last Call


George Wier - 2011
    She has taken a North Texas quarter horse racer and liquor baron named Archie Carpin--the last of a dynasty of criminals from the 1920's--for a ride and cleaned him out of a neat two million bucks. And thus begins the adventure of Bill’s life.Ensues a chase north across Texas to recover the money and shake the pursuit of a couple of rednecks with a penchant for rifles and rigged explosives. Yet, through all this action the compelling tale of yet another mystery—an 80-year old missing person’s case—begins to unravel.

Love, Murder and a Good Bottle of Wine (Wagner & Callender Mystery Book 1)


Chris Phipps - 2014
    Now she is simply trying to hang on to the only family she has left: her husband Scott, who is escalating from emotional to physical abuse; her cousin Laura Thornton, her best friend since babyhood; Laura’s ex-husband Sam; and Caro, the much-loved and wealthy young aunt who took Sarah in as a teenager. When Caro’s lifeless body is discovered, Sarah’s problems escalate. The family has motive, and none of them have alibis, prompting a close-minded homicide detective to hone in on them as his only suspects. To protect her family, Sarah has to find the strength to put aside her mind-numbing grief so she can focus on unraveling the mystery of Caro's death. It will take a depth of courage Sarah’s not sure she possesses, especially when every move she makes seems to increase the odds that one of the people she loves is the killer.

An Uncollected Death


Meg Wolfe - 2014
    Finding her new boss battered and left for dead on her first day, however, was most definitely not in the job description. She turns amateur sleuth in an attempt to continue with her editing assigment but complications set in from the start. The notebooks that she needs are well hidden and the only clues to their whereabouts are extremely cryptic. To add to Charlotte's problems, she is not the only one with an interest in the notebooks. The town's criminal element will stop at nothing, up to and including murder, to get their hands on the prize.

Alas, She Drowned


Monica Knightley - 2016
    Betrayal. Tea and Scones. When ex-novice nun, turned steamy romance writer, Maggie O’Flynn moves to the charming village of Stratford Upon Avondale to open a tea room she expects plenty of murders, betrayal, and duplicity. On the stages of the town’s renowned Shakespeare Festival. But when a theater critic is found murdered on the town’s riverbank and the prime suspect turns out to be the sexy bookshop owner Maggie has had her eye on, she takes matters into her own hands. Will she be able to dig through the layers of betrayal and duplicity to find the true murderer before that handsome bookseller, Nate Larimer, finds himself behind bars? With the help of her loud, brash, spitfire of a friend, Gina Mattucci, Maggie plans to do just that. With a bit of Shakespeare, copious amounts of tea, and a faux-English setting to rival anything the real England has to offer, ALAS, SHE DROWNED is the first book in THE STRATFORD UPON AVONDALE mystery series. Lovers of cozy mysteries will find a cozy home in Stratford Upon Avondale.

Mark of the Loon


Molly Greene - 2012
    She struggles with the inability to put down roots years after the sudden death of her beloved parents. Madison and her three wise, hilarious friends all wonder if she uses her busy, work-centric lifestyle as an excuse to avoid connection with anyone but them.When Madison checks out a probate sale outside Healdsburg, California, she falls in love with the European-style house on a private tract of land overlooking Lake Sonoma. In fact, she likes the place so much she climbs in the window for a private tour. With help from lawyer and friend Genevieve Delacourt, Madison soon learns that the estate’s corrupt attorney has manipulated the sale and is attempting to steer the purchase to an anonymous client in a deceitful plan for personal gain.Good fortune enables her to purchase the Blackburne’s property, but far more than a new home and lush gardens await discovery during this renovation. As Madison works on the remodel, she’s drawn into an old love story with dangerous consequences. In the process, she discovers herself as she unearths buried secrets. The series of events both endanger Madison and lead her to love – and a permanent home. Mark of the Loon is the skillful combination of history, mystery, and romance in a novel that explores deep friendship, choices, and how individuals cope with loss.

The Highlander's Hope


Cali MacKay - 2012
    Catriona Ross discovers clues to a long lost highland treasure, her only hope of finding the jewels is to obtain the help of Scotland's most eligible bachelor and playboy, Iain MacCraigh.​Iain can't believe his luck when he finds out the jewels are hidden away somewhere on his land-- and it doesn't hurt that the historian looking for them has curves to go with her smarts. With his brother betting the family fortune, this is the life line he desperately needs.​The odds are against them, and with word getting out about the jewels, they're not the only ones on the hunt. Time's running out, but can they learn to trust each other, or will they lose the jewels and true love in the process?

Stone Devil Duke


K.J. Jackson - 2014
    To protect her family, to protect herself, she is determined to find the men before they find her. The last thing she wanted was an entanglement with a duke that threatens her very survival... Hardened long ago, the last thing the Duke of Dunway wanted was an entanglement with a chit of the ton. But in the flash of a pistol, his fate is altered as he finds himself honor-bound to protect Lady Augustine from, of all things, herself.

Bitter Roots


C.J. Carmichael - 2017
     On the surface Lost Trail is a picture-perfect western town, offering a simple way of life revolving around the local ranches and ski hill, but Zak knows the truth behind the façade. When his old school friend Tiff Masterson, whose family owns a local Christmas tree farm, moves back to town, the two of them join forces to get to the truth about the murder. Bitter Roots is the first of three Bitter Root Mysteries.