Book picks similar to
Lies of the Dead by Shauna Bickley


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First Deadly Conspiracy


Roger Stelljes - 2012
    PAUL CONSPIRACY, and DEADLY STILLWATER).Stelljes' vivid characters, his gift for GRITTY and REAL DIALOGUE (slang/jargon/behind the scenes dialog), as well as his uncanny sense of place and time, will put you in the middle of the action allowing you to feel the desperation of Mac McRyan and his fellow detectives.FIRST CASE - (12 chapter novella) the prequel to the McRyan Mystery Series. An emotionally charged investigation full of unexpected twists and turns, Mac McRyan will need to follow a convoluted trail of evidence, secrets, and hidden agendas to help solve a murder mystery that is his FIRST CASE.THE ST. PAUL CONSPIRACY - McRyan Mystery Series - a complex murder investigation with repercussions far beyond an ordinary serial killer case - national and political security concerns lie at the root of this tangled, fast-paced gritty crime novel. Merit Award Winner for Commercial Fiction for the Midwest Independent Publishers (MIPA) Book Awards and a Minnesota Book Awards Nominee.DEADLY STILLWATER - McRyan Mystery Series - A complicated brazen daytime kidnapping is just the beginning in a case of betrayal and revenge that will ultimately strike at the soul of the St. Paul Police Department. From the searing streets of St. Paul to the murky waters of the St. Croix River, Deadly Stillwater is a book you won't be able to put down until its last gripping minute. Midwest Book Awards Winner - Genre Fiction for the Midwest Independent Publishers (MIPA) Book Awards.

No Comment: A (Reluctant) Interview with Geek Girl Lexi Carmichael


Julie Moffett - 2017
    No question is off-limits! An exclusive interview by Angel Sinclair, the new star of the geeky, YA spin-off of the Lexi Carmichael series titled WHITE KNIGHTS by Julie Moffett.

Black Creek White Lies


Murray Bailey - 2017
    SECRETS AND LIES Eighteen months after being wrongly accused of her murder, Dan Searle returns to rebuild his life and forget. A MYSTERIOUS PAST But others won't let him forget. He is quickly drawn back into the case and a dark and violent mystery; one that involved another girl years before. OPEN YOUR EYES As the lies begin to unravel, Dan uncovers startling truths about the farm and its past. With dangerous people trying to keep their secrets safe, he must save those he loves - before time runs out…

An Invitation to Murder


Leighann Dobbs - 2017
    Not only to stop the killing but also to prove her skills at detection to her father and win her dowry and independence. There’s only one catch—she has to take one last matchmaking job to do it. Never mind that the match is impossible, all the better because if she fails, then no one will seek her services again. The job provides the perfect cover especially when her peculiar investigatory techniques are mistaken for unconventional matchmaking attempts. Things would go a lot smoother if she weren’t knee-deep in suspects and thwarted at every turn by a rival matchmaker. But when the killer strikes again, Katherine’s investigation leads down a dangerous path. Too late, she discovers that she has a lot more to lose than her dowry…

The Brambles


Leah Erickson - 2017
     Elizabeth Gray is found hanging from a tree. Her town is shocked to learn that Elizabeth had no birth certificate, no social security number, no record of education. Her mother, an independently wealthy woman, refuses to cooperate with authorities. But Elizabeth is not truly gone: she communicates in spirit with her three childhood playmates, driving them to investigate the true circumstances of her death. And in doing so, Mack, Lillian, and Vanessa discover the world of The Brambles, a mansion owned by the elderly movie star, Mitch Cooper. They meet John Leary, a defocked priest and Mitch's "caretaker." Drugs, a motorcycle gang, a corrupt medical doctor nicknamed "Honeybear." How are all of these things connected, and what is the secret to Elizabeth's true identity? Only three brave teenagers can find out. The Brambles is a more than a mystery, but an absorbing exploration of life, death, and how people navigate relationships around them. A book you don't want to put down, and when you do, your thoughts go back to it." — Ross Rojek, San Francisco Book Review Mature teens to new adults who want a story that begins with a ghostly presence and evolves into a much broader plot will find The Brambles creates a brooding set of circumstances that embrace everything it touches, making for an engrossing story that's thought-provoking and hard to put down. — Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review

Patchwork Man


D.B. Martin - 2014
    The QC with a conscience - privileged, reputable and emotionally frozen. The perfect barrister. But Lawrence hasn't always been who he is now. When he is glaringly in the public eye after his enigmatic wife is killed in an apparently random hit and run, he could do with his hidden past surfacing like a hole in the head. Unfortunately the past has a way of finding its way back to you, just like betrayal. His dead wife has helpfully left him a sinister resume of his, and she just keeps adding to it... Patchwork Man is a psychological thriller as fast-paced as any of Dan Brown's, whilst evocatively recreating the chaotic and poignant childhood that has led Juste, the patchwork man himself, to chaos. 'Gripping all the way through...' 'Compelling.' 'Patchwork Man' is the first in the Patchwork series. 'Patchwork People' - the second in the series - will be released in September 2014.

First Cut


J.T. Bishop - 2020
    But there’s a catch. She must return to the mindset that bound her to him. The mindset the killer still seeks from her.But choosing to help Daniels and Remalla will not only risk her life but also her heart, when she falls for one of them, drawing the attention of the man she’s driven to capture.After losing everything, can she find the courage to face the murderer who took it all away, and who is eager to do it again?First Cut is the first book in the new series from award-winning author J. T. Bishop featuring Detectives Gordon Daniels and Aaron Remalla. If you love gripping suspense, enticing romance, charismatic characters, and a story that will keep you up at night, then pick up First Cut today.

Area Zero


William Bowden
    Unfortunately, stumbling across such a something came close to getting Nathan fired. An innocent when it came to the discovery, to be sure, but it would nevertheless be fair to say that Nathan wasn’t entirely blameless in the matter, having run roughshod over all manner of military regulations. Despite the repeated screw-ups, Nathan remains an asset to the auditing firm, Mace Forensics. So, in a last ditch effort to keep him out of trouble, the firm banishes Nathan to a relic of the Cold War, a third-rate air base situated somewhere in the Nevada desert. Nathan is a forensic accountant, and he is to audit said base until every pencil, and every paperclip has been entered into the ledger. There he will be safely out of sight, and out of mind. Welcome to Area Zero, Nathan.

Plain Jane: Brunettes Beware


Cristyn West - 2010
    A Patterson-style thriller with a dash of Hannibal...A city paralyzed by a serial killer stalking the night, taking a most gruesome trophy.The only standing in the murderer's way is an FBI profiler...recently released from a mental institution.Plain Jane combines the swift action of Patterson with the macabre of Harris.Just remember to keep the lights on when reading this one!

Death Of a Temptress


P.F. Ford - 2014
    As he delves into the missing person case, Slater discovers there could be some link between a girl leading a double life and the police officers who made him a scapegoat for their own failings. When he is nearly pushed under a London bus, he realises the stakes are even higher than he had imagined. Joined by fellow scapegoat Norman Norman, Slater is plunged into a tangled web of corruption, blackmail, deception…and possibly the most cunning murder he has ever seen. But can he and Norman wade through the ever-widening pool of suspects to find the killer?

The Abomination


Jonathan Holt - 2013
    The victim is a woman, dressed in the sacred robes of a Catholic priest--a desecration that becomes known as the Abomination.Working her first murder case, Captain Kat Tapo embarks on a trail that proves as elusive and complicated as the city's labyrinthine backstreets. What Kat discovers will test her loyalties and remind her of a simple truth: Unless old crimes are punished, corrupt forces will continue to repeat their mortal sins.The Abomination is book one of Jonathan Holt's Carnivia Trilogy.

Tubby Dubonnet Mysteries Vol. 8-9


Tony Dunbar - 2017
    But a youthful Tubby chanced to see it happen, and the tragic event's haunted him throughout his life. Decades later, an established (but not exactly driven) lawyer, yet successful enough to have time on his hands, Tubby decides to conduct his own investigation into the forgotten crime. He quickly stirs up a hornets’ nest of far-reaching political feuds, police corruption, government agents, and old men with secrets to hide.But as in all Tubby Dubonnet novels, the plot takes a backseat to local color, colorful characters, odes to fine food, wry observations, and a whole lot of humor. It's a little like spending a weekend in da Big Easy, dawlin'--complete with three well-chosen meals a day!Vol 2 – FAT MAN BLUES – The NINTH installment in Tony Dunbar’s humorous, hard-boiled Tubby Dubonnet mystery seriesEx-con Angelo Spooner is trying to start a legit business, but he just can’t catch a break. Just as his healing Holy Water, “Angelo’s Elixir” is about to go upscale, the sticky strands of the Big Sleazy’s tangled web of crime and corruption reach out to ensnare him. What’s a law-abiding parolee to do? He can’t get caught with a gun, but maybe that axe in his shed could help him extricate himself. But when low-level creep Frenchy Dufour’s henchman turns up nearly beheaded, Angelo’s fate rests in the capable hands of laid-back lawyer Tubby Dubonnet.Tubby’s been trying hard to lay low, too. As those closest to him are targeted by frightening attacks, he suspects his dealings with the clandestine society of Cuban exiles who’ve plagued him lately are far from over. Tubby would love to have nothing further to do with “that crazy band of geriatric lunatics”. But the old Cuban revolutionaries have taught their sons well. Now their grandchildren, heirs to a substantial cache of weapons and money, burn with a dangerous zeal to prove themselves.Meanwhile … a man’s got to eat! The epicurean counselor does his best thinking when he’s well-fed. Our good luck! –as we vicariously sample our way across New Orleans’ culinary panorama on the hunt for an axe murderer. But sleuth does not live by bread alone—even in a Tony Dunbar legal thriller. Ignoring his own advice to his client to “keep your head on your shoulders”, Tubby’s lost his to the lovely Peggy O’Flarity. It’s about time Tubby had some steamy sex – and maybe a little happiness? But fortune teller Sister Soulace has her doubts.

Dead Before Morning


Geraldine Evans - 1993
    Then he lands the case from Hell, one involving a corpse with a mutilated face, a private psychiatric hospital and Dr Anthony Melville-Briggs, the suave, social-climbing owner, who thinks his money can buy everything, even the police.As if that isn't enough, his Ma, Kitty Rafferty, has another little problem for him: to get his distant cousin out of the cells in time for his wedding. Against his better judgement, Rafferty promises to get his cousin sprung, though he is careful not to give a time-scale for the Great Escape.Struggling, with no solution in sight, it is only when he is reminded of his forgotten promise and goes to see his jail-bird cousin, that Rafferty begins to put the case to bed.

The Adrian Hell Series: Books 1-3


James P. Sumner - 2016
    (Just copy and paste the website into your browser.) The first three books in the bestselling series that fans are saying is "a must-read for fans of Jack Reacher..."! With 100's of 5* reviews, and over 1,000 pages of action-packed, pulse-pounding thrills, this boxset includes Adrian's debut outing, TRUE CONVICTION, the blockbuster sequel, HUNTER'S GAMES, and the slick revenge thriller ONE LAST BULLET, together for the first time in one incredible collection. Plus, for a limited time, it now also includes the bonus prequel novella, A HERO OF WAR! *** MEET ADRIAN HELL. A deadly, unorthodox assassin who is plagued by the guilt he carries with him over the death of his family. Operating to his own moral standards, fueled by a passionate sense of what's right and wrong, he travels the country, taking out people he believes deserve his bullets. In TRUE CONVICTION, he takes a job in Heaven's Valley, Nevada, where a local crime family wants to send a message by killing a businessman who has gone back on a deal, costing the mob boss millions of dollars. But when Adrian arrives and tracks down his target, he quickly discovers a much larger threat looming in the shadows, and it isn't long before he finds himself in the crosshairs of multiple adversaries. With help from his best friend, Josh Winters, he uses his skills to learn more about the other players in this dangerous game. But when the stakes are raised, he’s pushed beyond his limits as he fights to prevent a terrorist attack that would act as a catalyst for another world war. In HUNTER'S GAMES, he travels to San Francisco, commissioned to take out a government official who’s found himself on the wrong side of the wrong people. The job goes as planned, but before Adrian can leave the scene, he’s taken into custody by the FBI. Grace Chambers, a straight-talking special agent, asks him to help bring down a terrorist known as The Shark, who's responsible for several recent attacks on the city. But things aren't what they seem, and when the truth behind Adrian's involvement is revealed, so too is the full extent of The Shark's horrifying plans. Forced into a deadly game of cat and mouse, our unlikely hero goes bullet for bullet with an unseen enemy, as the fate of thousands of innocent people hangs in the balance. With time running out, and the body count rising, Adrian must do whatever it takes to stop his adversary before it's too late. In ONE LAST BULLET, he decides it's finally time to go after the man who took away everything he ever loved. Having lived with the guilt over the death of his family for over a decade, he feels he must put his demons to rest and seek the closure he so desperately craves. But from the moment he arrives in Pittsburgh, his increasingly reckless attempts to destroy everything Wilson Trent has built only leads to further suffering. With his best friend by his side, and blinded by his thirst for vengeance, Adrian must take on Trent's entire criminal empire in order to have his revenge. BONUS CONTENT: A HERO OF WAR - The year is 1990, and an eighteen-year-old Adrian Hughes has joined the army. Showing a natural talent for combat, and for disobeying senior officers, this exciting novella documents Adrian's initial training, and his eventual involvement in the Gulf War. But his story is only just the beginning.

Solway Tide


Andy Jarvis - 2014
    Outspoken, sassy and determined to make it up through the ranks, she's assigned to follow the case of a body found in the sea only to find herself the one being pursued. Far from being a run-of-the-mill murder tale this gripping page turner takes the genre by the horns throwing it in a totally new direction. A nightmare of a tale that challenges the very philosophy and motivation behind genetic experimentation and what possibly could be the 'hidden agenda' behind modern medical research. A setting on the remote west coast of Cumbria provides an eerie, atmospheric, heath land backdrop to this imaginative, twisting story of murder, corruption and the darker side of human nature.