Book picks similar to
A Dangerous Dance by Pauline Baird Jones


mystery
sfr-brigade-books
suspense-thriller
very-good-narrator

The Reluctant Detective


Adrian Spalding - 2019
    He just wanted a quiet life. Something his mother was not going to allow. There again he never for one moment imagined he would have to look into the death of a 90-year-old lady who was gambling away her family fortune. The Hayden Detective Agency has no need of clients. The very existence of the Agency allows Martin Hayden to claim his large monthly allowance from the family fortune - without lifting a finger. Martin’s biggest problem is his interfering mother, who understands her idle son too well. She takes steps to find him not just clients but also a personal assistant to keep an eye on him. Under pressure from the women in his life, Martin agrees to take on his first client. How hard can it be to follow a 90-year-old woman who spends her time losing money at roulette tables? As it turns out harder than Martin ever thought possible, especially with the old lady dying in strange circumstances. Soon the Reluctant Detective is grappling with shady estate agents, an intellectual artist, missing charity money and an irritating Indian waiter. Luckily for Martin there is help in the form of Colin, a transvestite who, apart from having very good fashion sense, is an expert at breaking into houses.

Fortune and Fame


Mark Len Mayfield - 2016
    Shortly after a second murder in Sinful had been solved, Fortune believes she has recognized a woman, now going by the name Georgia Fame, who has been using her affections to prey on well-to-do elderly men, leaving them heartbroken, penniless and sometimes even... dead. Ingeniously clever, the woman has alluded authorities for decades and Fortune soon begins to understand why. With Ida Belle and Gertie at her side, the swamp team begin to build their case but the woman always covers her tracks and stays one step ahead of them. Fortune gets close but Georgia always manages to stay just out of reach. When she realizes her suspect may get away forever, she tries one last act of desperation. “Fortune and Fame” is fast-paced, filled with humor, romance, twists and turns. From KindleWorld’s Mark Len Mayfield, author of the Wayward Pines novel, “The Journey of Peter McCall.”

Old Habits


John Carson - 2019
    Women were being abducted and murdered, then their corpses were displayed in open shallow graves. Marshall's FBI partner, Jessie Kent, was taken. During the hunt for her, Marshall tracked the killer down, but he was shot five times and left for dead. Less than an hour later, the killer took his own life. None of the remaining victims were ever found. Until now. A female detective comes down to Marshall's home town to ask for his help. Somebody has found the decomposed victims and is displaying them. Despite no longer being with the FBI, Marshall sees this as a chance to find Jessie, and take her home for a proper burial. And to lay to rest the feelings of guilt he's been carrying for the past four years. He agrees to go back with Dani Fox, but it's soon clear somebody doesn't want him back in town. He's warned off, but he ignores it. Then the killings start. Somebody has just accelerated the game from displaying corpses to adding new victims. And this time, he's making it personal...

Bunburry - Lost and Found: A Cosy Mystery Series (Countryside Mysteries: A Cosy Shorts Series Book 13)


Helena Marchmont - 2022
    

The Russell House


Donna Foley Mabry - 2016
    The young military widow leaves dozens of messages for her father but receives no response. Looking for a copy of her mother’s obituary, Roxie reads an article in the newspaper and discovers her entire life is a web of lies, secrets, and deceit. The story sends her off in search of the truth about the man she idolized. She drives to her father’s birthplace—Manhattan, Kansas—and moves into her grandmother’s huge, three-story, hundred-and-fifty-year-old house. It’s been vacant for decades, but Roxie begins to believe she’s not the only occupant. She doesn’t know if there’s an intruder or if the spirit of her grandmother is watching over her. In only a matter of days, someone has made several attempts on her life. She calls in her best friend, Janice Tallchief—retired on a disability from the Kansas City Police Department—to act as her bodyguard. Can Jan and Roxie unravel the mystery before the killer succeeds?

The Nurse Agnes Mysteries: Part One (Agnes Carmichael Book 1)


Anthea Cohen - 2019
     Working in St. Jude's Hospital, our anti-heroine is often overlooked by her colleagues and patients as awkward and insignificant, but little do they know that behind her strict exterior is a woman on the verge, as dangerous as a black widow spider. Nurse Agnes is currently stuck on the children's ward and, not a naturally warm person, she is desperate to escape the little ankle-biters. Standing in her way is the cruel Superintendent Nurse, but not for long... Despite her morally questionable choices, it is impossible not to admire our ruthless nurse as she punishes wrongdoers in this addictive mystery series. Praise for The Nurse Agnes Mysteries: ‘Continues to be one of the most original chiller series around’ - Mail on Sunday ‘Distinctly unsettling portrait of a murderer among us … baleful and persuasive psychology projects the action from the criminal’s point of view. Anthea Cohen is doing something quite remarkable here’ - Literary Review ‘A medical shocker in the grand tradition of P.D. James’ - Chicago Sun-Times

The Andy Carpenter Series, Books 9-11: One Dog Night, Leader of the Pack, Unleashed


David Rosenfelt - 2015
    Here together for the first time in a fabulous eBook bundle are three of Rosenfelt's popular Andy Carpenter novels:ONE DOG NIGHTFive years ago, Matt Starks' drug addiction cost him everything, and he brought the golden retriever puppy he'd rescued, Tara, to a shelter, where defense lawyer Andy Carpenter adopted her. Now Matt has turned his life around-until charges of murder are brought against him. Is there anything Andy can do to save the man who saved Tara?LEADER OF THE PACKAndy has always known that Joey Desimone, a man convicted of murder years ago, was innocent. While there isn't much Andy can do for Joey while he serves his sentence, he can take his dog to visit Joey's senile uncle, who might hold the key to Joey's freedom after all this time.UNLEASHEDAndy's accountant, Sam Willis, is stunned to receive a phone call from his high school friend Barry Price, pleading for Sam's financial help and Andy's legal expertise. But before Sam can make it to Barry's home, Barry's already taken off on a private airplane. Then they learn that Barry's plane has crashed, and Sam was also supposed to have been killed on that plane.

The Trespassers (Kindle Single)


Elmore Leonard - 2013
    Told from the perspective of a young wife who’s become increasingly frustrated with her mild-mannered husband, “The Trespassers” begins as a quiet domestic drama and quickly escalates into a nightmare. When Evan refuses to confront men who are illegally hunting on the couple’s remote homestead, Chris takes matters into her own hands, with terrifying results. Written in 1958, when Leonard was working at a Detroit advertising agency and writing short stories on the side, “The Trespassers” shows the emerging talent of a man whose spare style and dark wit would redefine a literary genre. Filled with as much sexual menace as Sam Peckinpah’s classic thriller “Straw Dogs,” this timelessly relevant story delivers a sly surprise that could only come from the mind of Elmore Leonard. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Elmore Leonard wrote forty-five novels across his six-decade career, including the bestsellers “Road Dogs,” “Up in Honey’s Room,” “The Hot Kid,” “Mr. Paradise,” “Tishomingo Blues,” and the critically acclaimed collection of short stories “When the Women Come Out to Dance.” Many of his books have been made into movies, including “Get Shorty,” “Out of Sight,” and “Jackie Brown.” “Justified,” the hit series from FX, is based on Leonard’s character Raylan Givens, who appears in “Riding the Rap,” “Pronto,” the short story “Fire in the Hole,” and the novel “Raylan.” Leonard received the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the Lifetime Achievement Award from PEN USA, and the Grand Master Award of the Mystery Writers of America. He was known to many as the “Dickens of Detroit” and had lived in the Detroit area since 1934. PRAISE FOR ELMORE LEONARD “Elmore Leonard can write circles around almost anybody active in the crime novel today.” —The New York Times Book Review “There is no greater writer of crime fiction than Elmore Leonard, and no one who has more resplendent energy.” —The Guardian (UK) “Elmore ‘Dutch’ Leonard is more than just one of the all-time greats of crime fiction. He’s … an authentic American icon.” —The Seattle Times “People look on writers that they like as an irreplaceable resource. I do. Elmore Leonard, every day I wake up and—not to be morbid or anything, although morbid is my life to a degree—don’t see his obituary in the paper, I think to myself, ‘Great! He’s probably working somewhere. He’s gonna produce another book, and I’ll have another book to read.’ Because when he’s gone, there’s nobody else.” — Stephen King “The King Daddy of crime novelists.” —The Seattle Times “As crime fiction goes, Leonard has few living equals. His characters leap from the page with a few short keystrokes, like a form of bloodstained haiku.” —The Cleveland Plain Dealer “[Leonard’s] finely honed sentences can sound as flinty/poetic as Hemingway or as hard-boiled as Raymond Chandler. His ear for the way people talk—or should—is peerless.” —The Detroit News “A master of narrative … A poet of the vernacular … Leonard paints an intimate, precise, funny, frightening, and irresistible mural of the

Songbird (Daniel Trokic, #3)


Inger Wolf - 2018
    From an international best-selling and award winning author. On an early morning in May, the police find the heavily beaten body of Maja Nielsen in a public park in central Aarhus in Denmark.She has fallen from a great height and her right arm has been cut repeatedly. Everything points to a suicide, and as the police dig deeper into the world of Maja, they discover a young woman plagued by paranoia and violent nightmares. Something was tormenting her. The investigation leads Daniel Trokic and his team to a distinct blood profile with traces of an unknown drug, a tattooed Colombian, and a particularly uncompromising animal rights activist who has been run over in a hit-and-run accident. SONGBIRD is the third book in the bestselling Scandinavian mystery series about Police Inspector Daniel Trokic, his colleague Lisa Kornelius, and the rest of the investigative unit at Århus Police station. If you like Stieg Larsson and Scandinavian mysteries, then you’ll love Inger Wolf’s spine-chilling who-done-it. Buy SONGBIRD to guess the chilling plot today!

Her Mother’s Pendant: An Atlantica Universe Adventure


Michael Anderle - 2020
    Anything you do inside your own home is allowed. Those with obscene wealth find it a haven, while every major country of in the world craves the secrets they believe are buried in the mist.Where mystery happens, John Chambers can exist: ex-soldier, gritty realist, detective.It's whispered that John “Dick” Chambers is the man you go to when you need someone who can't be bought. Do ethics matter if one can steal the answers from his cold, dead fingers?John has accepted a job to find a pendant for a woman, a pendant that might uncover clues about Atlantica's past…if he doesn't die finding it.Do those who desire Atlantica's secrets really care?

The Daughter


Jasmine Cresswell - 1998
    The Daughter by Jasmine Cresswell released on Apr 25, 2006 is available now for purchase.

Krewe of Hunters Series, Volume 3: The Night Is Watching / The Night Is Alive / The Night Is Forever


Heather Graham - 2015
    Then more remains appear in the nearby desert. Agent Jane Everett from the Krewe of Hunters is on the case, working with local sheriff Sloan Trent. The Night Is Alive Abigail returns to Savannah to find her grandfather–owner of one of the most haunted places in Savannah, The Dragonslayer tavern–dead. Murdered. The FBI's paranormal investigation unit, the Krewe of Hunters, sends in Agent Malachi Gordon. Sparks immediately begin to fly–but the death toll continues to rise... The Night Is Forever Olivia Gordon works at the Horse Farm; her specialty is animal therapy. She's always loved her job, always felt safe…until now, because people are dying, starting with the facility's founder. And before every death, Liv sees a horse and rider, wearing a soldier's garb, in the night sky… Liv calls in her cousin Malachi and his Krewe to help her discover the truth. New Krewe member Dustin Blake, an ex–Savannah cop, knows they need Liv's involvement in the case, yet he's worried about her safety.

Absolution


Adam Croft - 2019
    All he wants is to get his work done and enjoy a quiet existence. But when he’s caught up in a terrorist attack on the London Underground, his life is turned upside down.As he lies recovering in his hospital bed, a shadowy figure visits him and tells Sam not only is he a key witness to the attack, but he has unique access to information which could blow open a huge conspiracy and bring down the British government.Will Sam risk everything he knows and loves to save his country?

Gold Team Box Set 1 (Special Forces: Operation Alpha)


Riley Edwards - 2019
    One look at her scarred flesh tells the tales of her time in captivity. But it's not only her skin that bears the marks of her failures, doubt and a healthy dose cynicism now clouds her vision. She's also mastered the fine art of deception. In her line of work it is a necessity. Former Navy SEAL Brooks Miller is living the good life working as a mercenary. Employed by the highly sought-after Z Corps, a private, special-ops company, there are no shortage of contracts sending him around the world. When the Gold Team's latest mission takes them to Bahrain, Brooks thinks it will be a quick in and out. That's until he walks into a shitstorm and comes face to face with the woman who's about to turn his world upside down. There was something working behind her intelligent eyes, and it looked a lot like pain. Not the physical kind, the emotional aftermath of heartache. It will take more than the Gold Team to bring down a Saudi Prince out for blood. Their only hope is the one and only, king of all things cyber, John "Tex" Keegan. Can Tex get a search and rescue team to them in time, or will it be a recovery mission? THADDEUS- There had been a time, I’d been happy—blissfully happy—then a single act of brutality tore Thaddeus Bench from my life. But not from my heart. I never thought I’d see him again. But I did. In a cantina in Mexico. And when he looked over at me with so much hatred in his stare, it pulverized what was left of my heart. Emerson Pierce was my own personal hell. The agony of her betrayal still as sharp as it was the day I’d come home and found her gone. I’d spent years doing whatever I could not to think about her. To stop myself from wondering where she was and why she’d left me. Now my team needs answers from her to stop a criminal mastermind and I can’t trust a damn thing that comes out of her pretty mouth. Emerson’s no longer the sweet girl I fell for, she’s the girlfriend of a notorious drug runner and dog fighter. Or at least that’s what I thought until her lies unravel and the truth explodes. Nothing about Emerson was what it seemed. Nothing about our latest mission was easy. But one thing is for sure...I will save Emerson Pierce, even from herself. KYLE- Anaya Baker knows pain—she got her first taste when she was orphaned and put into foster care. Then it was forever embedded into her soul when she was sold to a sex trafficking ring. Since being rescued, Anaya has dedicated her life to helping others, yet no amount of good she’s done has lessened her anguish. While on an assignment with the Peace Corps she learns of brothel posing as an orphanage and she cannot turn her back. Anaya has one mission: save the young girls for the horrors she herself had suffered. Kyle Smith couldn’t say no. Not when the beautiful woman with haunted eyes asked him and his teammate to escort her to a remote island to save a bunch of children. Her plan was crazy. The island was overrun with rebels and the unrest was at an all-time high. There was no stopping the woman, she was resolute and Kyle was just as determined to keep her safe. He had no business falling in love—but was helpless against her bravery and strength. But when the threat closes in and one of their lives hangs in the balance, Kyle has to make a choice. And the wrong one could mean death.

The Wreck


Marie Force - 2011
    The young couple plans to marry before they head to college, and their future seems bright with promise. Everything changes one spring night when their six closest friends, including Brian's younger brother, are killed in a fiery car accident that Carly and Brian witness. The trauma leaves Carly unable to speak, and Brian is forced to make unimaginable decisions about a future that once seemed so certain. With Carly incapable of going forward with their plans, Brian leaves home—and Carly—for good. Fifteen years later, disturbing new clues indicate the accident that wrecked so many lives wasn't an accident at all, bringing Brian home to face a past——and a love——he's never forgotten.