Book picks similar to
If Wishes Were Horses... by Tim Hemlin


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Murder in Paradise


Greg Wilson - 2013
    One of them is a murderer. An advertisement in a newspaper brings a disparate group of people to a tropical paradise. They will live together for a year, work and build a community, and film everything that happens for a documentary that will only see the light of day at the end of the trip. Almost at once, things begin to go wrong. They are meant to be strangers, but some of them have met before. They are meant to receive regular visits by the company funding the documentary, but nobody ever comes. And their only link with the outside world - a small portable radio transmitter - is incapable of transmitting anything...

Black Bird


Greg Enslen - 2003
    He's a drifter, leaving a trail of fear and death from coast to coast. Although he has always successfully avoided capture, he is haunted by the memory of the Sheriff of Liberty, Virginia. The man died nearly catching Jack--in fact, it was only by dumb luck that Jack had escaped. And that's always bothered him. Now, he's returning to the small town to settle the score. In Liberty, David Beaumont can't wait to leave his small hometown. He's grown so tired of listening to the endless stories about what a great man his father had been, how he had saved their town from a killer, sacrificing his own life to save them. David's got his money together, he's quit his job, and he's leaving town. He's leaving it all behind him.The only problem is the killings have started again...and David's the only one that can stop them. Should he return to the small town he despises? And if he does, will he end up the way his father did--dead?

Summertime on the Ranch


Carolyn Brown - 2021
    Once she arrives, she quickly gets hired at the O'Donnells' watermelon wine making business.Dalton Wilson has been the foreman on the O'Donnells' ranch for a couple of years now. He's thirty years old and has a reputation for being a bad-boy cowboy, but deep in his heart, he is more than ready to settle down. It's love at first sight for Dalton, but convincing Becca that he is ready to hang up his bad boy spurs is quite another thing—until the night they both have too much watermelon wine and open their hearts…

Killen


P.H. Figur - 2020
    Anyone wanting to know what it was like to live there, only had to read a small wooden sign on the outskirts of town: “Welcome to Killen…a little piece of Heaven.” Those words rang true for most of Killen’s first 200 years. But there was one exception. It was the time that Killen lived up to its name and a little piece of heaven...became...a little piece of hell. When Thomas Dalton was 13-years-old, a string of murders in a North Georgia received unwanted national attention. With the passing of time, facts got distorted, turning Killen into a macabre tourist destination. But for Thomas, it became personal when his own parents, suddenly disappeared and were subsequently declared dead. He goes to school to become an investigative reporter and gets a job at a national cable television station. Thomas then is assigned to a national case tracking down a serial killer. What Thomas doesn’t realize is the serial killer he is looking for, will not only solve a national mystery it will also solve his own mystery. Throughout Thomas’s journey he is driven to find out who killed his parents. But he also desperately wants to restore the reputation of Killen and rebuild the family business.The only question that remains is…can he make Killen a little piece of heaven once again?

Spider Silk (Sheriff Bud Blair Oregon Mystery Series Book 1)


Rod Collins - 2006
     A suspicious death leads to an investigation, a manhunt, and the capture of the self-confessed killer. But when Sheriff Henry "Bud" Blair reads the autopsy report, he begins to suspect that someone other than his prisoner is the actual murderer. Set in Oregon's high desert country, Spider Silk introduces you to a compelling cast of characters and sets you on a fast-paced, page-turning adventure to find out who is behind a string of (seemingly) unrelated murders. Moving from the backdrop story of a remote ranch and a lonely widower to the dark and pervasive reach of organized crime, Spider Silk is not only intriguing... it's an entirely believable saga. Surprising forensic evidence and sharp detective work keep your interest level high and the suspense palpable in this police procedural cliffhanger. Spider Silk is also a love story. Badly burned by divorce, Bud Blair steers shy of women. But his work makes it almost impossible to avoid contact with Nancy Sixkiller, the beautiful Yakima Indian woman who manages the Emergency Services Center in Lake County, Oregon. That contact is intensified when Bud is injured and Nancy takes on the role of caregiver. When you dive into this gripping western fiction tale, you'll enter the sparsely settled, high desert landscape blessed with the hot springs, big lakes, and timbered mountains Collins knows and loves.

Long Lost


S.S. Lange - 2014
    Though Jen Hayes seems to be everything Charlotte hoped for in a sister, the truth of Jen’s past and her menacing fiancé shatter Charlotte’s once sought out dream.Dragged into the dangerous world of drugs and prostitution by her sister, Charlotte is manipulated into becoming an unknowing pawn for an FBI investigation. With more than just her life on the line, Charlotte fights back, even after the ropes are cut.

Prescription: Murder! Volume 2: Authentic Cases From the Files of Alan Hynd


Alan Hynd - 2014
    So get ready for another deliciously dark sampling of some of the most fascinating true murder cases of the first half of the 20th Century. These stories, the SECOND of three short collections, are unified by a single theme: they all involve physicians. And not for the autopsy, but as perpetrators or accused perpetrators. You may never see your family care giver again in the same light. Told in the characteristic wry, anecdotal reportorial style that made Alan Hynd famous in his day (two wartime best sellers in 1943, contributions to The Reader's Digest, Colliers, Coronet, The Saturday Evening Post, True, Liberty, The American Mercury and almost every true detective magazine in print) these tales will have you cringing one minute, laughing the next, and gasping in shock a moment later. Truly, no one could make up classics like these. Take for example, the case of the man who used rattlesnakes to speed the demise of a fading relationship, a case where non-barking dogs pointed out a killer, and the Great Swope poison case, where a man's in-laws just couldn't wait for their inheritance. As a bonus, consider "Pretty: Louie Amberg, the Brooklyn, N.Y., psychopath of the 1920s and '30s, as well as an unusual couple in Southern California kept the neighbors up at night --- and gossiping. Pulp non-fiction? Maybe. True crime is always more macabre than any novelist could imagine. So sit back and enjoy these forays into some of the darkest aspects of human nature. (With illustrations)

At Their Own Game


Frank Zafiro - 2014
    But times are tough, so he decides to step up to the big money with a drug deal. Everything that can go wrong, does. The deal goes bad, a vengeful detective sets his sights on Jake, one of his crew might be a turncoat, and a woman from a long past affair suddenly reappears. All of this would be complicated enough on its own, but for Jake, it's even worse.The woman is the detective's ex-wife.And Jake Stankovic used to be a cop.Now Jake must face new problems and old vendettas in an all-in proposition with lives on the line. He has to find a way to get his money back, keep the girl, and beat everyone involved...At Their Own Game.

Purple Death


Brian L. Porter - 2010
     The victims, all unconnected to each other, are dispatched using a unique poison, previously associated with the notorious Borgia family. As the murders begin to multiply at an alarming rate, Connor finds clues hard to come by, and every lead takes him down yet another blind alley. The killer seems to be one step ahead of the police at every turn. Together with his assistant, Sergeant Lucy Clay, they must piece together the shreds of evidence that will lead them to the mysterious Chocolate Woman, and in turn to the brain behind the horrific murders that soon come to be known as the Purple Death.

The Quiet Village


T.J. Walter - 2017
    He discovers a quiet village deep in the countryside and settles there. He makes new friends and finds a new love, but there are undercurrents; events that threaten his newfound peace. Then a murder occurs and he finds himself drawn into the investigation, unsure of who among his new friends he can trust. How will he overcome this without losing all he has gained?

Finding Katrina: Mystery and Suspense


James Kipling - 2017
    Will she make the right choice? This novel is a police procedural mystery of crime and suspense - an absolutely gripping thriller with a jaw dropping twist. This is a mystery and suspense story that revolves around the kidnapping of a beautiful young girl named Katrina Radha. She is the daughter of a prominent international diplomat. The story takes place primarily in New York City, where Hassan Radha is conducting peace talks at the United Nations. There is an ironic twist to the story in which the reader is fully aware of who the kidnappers are, but the detectives at the FBI are convinced that terrorists are responsible. The story coincides with New York Fashion Week, which draws fashion and photography icons from all over the world. This is truly an international story at several levels. Katrina Radha wants to immerse herself in the fashion world while her father takes his place on the international diplomatic stage. The two main boroughs involved in the story are Manhattan and Brooklyn. Jimmy Nolan lives in Brooklyn and comes from the rougher side of town. Tango Cash is a criminal overlord who is based out of the notorious Marcy Housing Projects, which have been home to numerous criminal and gang-related incidents in recent years. There’s a dichotomy in play with this story between the international importance of New York City and the everyday criminal underworld that is always looking for opportunistic advantages. Katrina Radha gets caught up at the intersection of these two worlds. Can she be rescued?

Vendetta


Bradley Wright - 2017
    One kidnapping, one shoot-out, and several deceptions later, he is caught in the middle of a battle he was never supposed to be in. So he thought. With innocent lives at stake, including his own, Xander and his team will have to solve the puzzle before someone’s sinister plan is executed. Will the enemy pull the wool over this combat legend’s eyes? Or will Xander teach those that involved him that revenge isn’t always so sweet?

Influence


Daniel Hurst - 2020
    But shortly after Ivy’s untimely death she is contacted by a secretive businessman who offers her the chance at the fame and fortune she so desperately craves.While Emily initially gets to experience the things she has always wanted, it soon becomes clear that her new employer had sinister motives for approaching her and it isn’t long before she discovers that the life of her dreams comes with the kind of conditions that are the stuff of nightmares. Social media isn’t life or death. It’s more important than that.

The Masada Complex


Avraham Azrieli - 2010
    – President Barack Obama calls America’s alliance with Israel “unshakeable.” The Masada Complex questions this assertion with a realistic political thriller taking place in Arizona, Washington and Jerusalem.The Masada Complex unveils a chilling scenario. Its hero is Masada El-Tal, a beautiful Israeli expatriate, currently an investigative reporter in Arizona. Her exposure of a bribe payment causes a disgraced U.S. senator to commit suicide. Angered by Israel’s supposed culpability, an angry Congress moves to terminate all military aid to the Jewish state. At the same time, someone repeatedly attempts to assassinate Masada, whose relentless investigation becomes a race against time, leading to a shocking discovery and a spectacular climax.

The Sandy Bay Cozy Mysteries 14 Book Box Set


Amber Crewes - 2019
    Apple Pie and Trouble 2. Brownies and Dark Shadows 3. Cookies and Buried Secrets 4. Donuts and Disaster 5. Eclairs and Lethal Layers 6. Finger Foods and Missing Legs 7. Gingerbread and Scary Endings 8. Hot Chocolate and Cold Bodies 9. Ice Cream and Guilty Pleasures 10. Jingle Bells and Deadly Smells 11. King Cake and Grave Mistakes 12. Lemon Tarts and Fiery Darts 13. Muffins and Coffins 14. Nuts and a Choking Corpse APPLE PIE AND TROUBLE Meghan Truman always had a dream to become a Hollywood actress. Hollywood decided she wasn’t good enough. She left Hollywood broken but with a burning desire to start afresh in the Pacific Northwest, pursuing her second dream – opening a bakery. She never expected that the owner of a rival establishment would be found dead and all eyes would be focused on her as the prime suspect. As the new girl in town with a new bakery store, she’s determined to clear her name and find the murderer; otherwise she’ll have to leave Sandy Bay penniless and pitiful and possibly the murderer’s next victim. "I really enjoyed this and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series. Thanks for a great plot and interesting characters." BROWNIES AND DARK SHADOWS When Sandy Bay’s crème de la crème congregate to raise money for charity, Meghan Truman is proud to have her tasty desserts the talk of the party. She’s not so proud when the wealthiest couple in Sandy Bay are discovered dead and rumors circulate around town that her brownies are the cause of this tragedy. This murder case casts a dark shadow over Meghan’s budding romance with handsome Officer Irvin who’s disappointed that she’s once again at the center of another murder investigation. With everything to lose, Meghan must work hard to clear her name, restore broken relationships and solve this murder mystery before everything she’s worked so hard to build comes crumbling down. "I have so enjoyed this series! Book 2 was another short fun read. The ending was a complete surprise." COOKIES AND BURIED SECRETS When a beautiful stranger sashays into a birthday party, Meghan Truman, along with other guests, is surprised to discover her relationship to the birthday celebrant. This beautiful stranger attracts more shady characters to Sandy Bay. When one of these characters is found dead in an alley, the whole town is set on edge. Will Meghan’s attempt to link the owner of a golden antique gun to the murder prove helpful to handsome Officer Irvin’s investigation or will the discovery of a buried secret lead to more murders? "Another great book in this fun series. There was a twist really early on in the book that was definitely a surprise!" DONUTS AND DISASTER Meghan Truman’s relationship with her assistant is severely tested when she becomes prideful over a donut recipe she’s introduced to Truly Sweet’s menu. Matters are further worsened when a distant relative of this assistant, with selfish intentions and bad manners, is found dead in the town center.