Book picks similar to
Defy The Storm by Kate O'Donnell


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Call & Response


J.J. Salkeld - 2014
    Set in Carlisle - on the border between England and Scotland and much else besides - Call & Response introduces DS Samantha 'Pepper' Wilson and her North Division CID team. In this first episode Pepper struggles to cope with the madness and sadness of everyday policing, whist covering for an absent boss and adapting to a new Superintendent who's come straight from a supermarket's supply chain to British policing's chain of command. And matters take a serious turn when a case of 'revenge porn' is reported, involving members of a minority ethnic group, and one of Pepper's young DCs is assaulted, within spitting distance of Carlisle's shiny new Police HQ. Both cases are delicate and potentially inflammatory, and Pepper's short fuse is trimmed still more by the return to Carlisle of a dangerous career criminal with whom Pepper grew up, and whose reappearance could have dangerous implications for her, the city, and its now almost vanishingly 'thin blue line'.

A Christmas Baby to Heal his Heart: Amish Romance


Sarah Miller - 2020
    Neither Katie nor Levi were eager to wed a stranger but they agree. While Katie still hoped to find true love, Levi wants to avoid love at all costs. Katie's attempts to woo her husband fall flat, but the man is colder than winter snow. She is certain her life with Levi will be long and lonely and that she will never have the baby she so desires. Levi is fond of Katie but the scars of the past are huge walls he will never cross. A Christmas emergency drops a newborn baby boy in Levi ad Katie's home. The little boy opens both Katie and Levi's hearts. bringing them closer than they ever believed possible. Levi can feel this sweet angel healing the scars he has battled so hard to avoid. Soon, they must give the baby back to his true parents? Will the loss destroy their marriage forever or will their faith make them strong enough to weather all the storms life may toss at them? (the above is from Amazon's "About this Book")

Umbrellas and Undertakers (An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Book 21)


Diana Xarissa - 2022
    

DETECTIVES MERRY & NEAL BOOKS 1-3: three gripping crime mysteries box set


Janice Frost - 2018
    Meet DS Ava Merry & DI Jim Neal. If you like Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott, Ruth Rendell, or Mark Billingham you will be gripped by this series. You get THREE best-selling mysteries in this great value box set. BOOK 1: DEAD SECRET Who killed Amy Hill? Amy Hill, a nineteen-year-old student, is strangled and her body dumped on open ground in the city. New police partners, D.I. Jim Neal and D.S. Ava Merry are called in to investigate this brutal crime. The last person to see Amy alive was Simon, the son of a family friend, but before he can be properly questioned he disappears. Detectives Neal and Merry are led on a trail of shocking family secrets and crimes. Can this duo track down the murderer before anyone else dies? Stopping this tragic cycle of violence will put D.S. Merry’s life at risk in a thrilling and heart-stopping finale. BOOK 2: DARK SECRET Gray Mitchell’s body is found buried under fresh snowfall in the early hours of the morning outside Stromford Cathedral. D.I. Jim Neal and D.S. Ava Merry are called in to investigate. It seems that a number of people had motives to kill him, including his partner. Then another shocking act of violence occurs, also connected to the cathedral. Detectives Neal and Merry’s investigation reveals an intricate web of secrets connecting the crimes. But there is something the detectives have missed, the dark secret which can break open the case. BOOK 3: HER HUSBAND’S SECRET Two children sneak out on a freezing winter night, hoping to see a ghost. But instead they witness something far more terrifying. A man dumping a body . . . DS Ava Merry and DI Jim Neal are called in to investigate this perplexing murder. Eventually the dead man’s wife is identified. But Laura Cameron’s husband turns out to have kept many secrets from her. And when she goes to visit her old friends who live near where the murder happened, Laura enters a dark web of lies as she tries to dig into the past to discover the truth about what happened to her husband. Who killed her husband how does it tie into the past? In a thrilling climax, everything will be turned upside down in the twisting crime thriller. THE DETECTIVES DS Ava Merry is a young policewoman, recently promoted to detective sergeant. She is fitness fanatic with a taste for dangerous relationships. DI Jim Neal is single dad who juggles his devotion to his job with caring for his son. DS MERRY & DI NEAL SERIES Book 1: DEAD SECRET Book 2: DARK SECRET Book 3: HER HUSBAND’S SECRET Book 4: THEIR FATAL SECRETS Book 5: DIRTY SECRETS What readers are saying about Janice Frost’s books “Really enjoyable read.” Nerys A wonderful story of intrigue, mystery and murder keeps you reading. I actually completed it in one day much to my wife’s dismay!” Ron Harris “It had me gripped from the first word to the last. I will definitely be reading more Janice Frost books.” Jacqueline Flaherty “I just had to keep reading to see what was going to happen next.” Dawn

Shadows in the Valley


Elizabeth Haran - 2018
    Beautiful but destitute Abigail is forced to marry an old landowner who desperately needs heirs. But on their wedding night something terrible happens ... Abbey flees Martindale Hall. She has no memory of the previous night, but no one believes her. With no one to trust, she seeks refuge in the neighbouring town of Clare. There, her luck seems to change. She meets Jack Hawker, who is looking for someone to tend to his mother on the remote farm Bungaree Station. Jack hires Abbey for the job. But Abbey's respite is short-lived. Days later, a visitor from Martindale Hall turns up on the farm, accusing Abbey of a horrible crime ... Will Jack believe her? Or is she doomed to a life of penance? With an eye for detail, Elizabeth Haran is the author of numerous other romantic adventures including Island of Whispering Winds, Under a Flaming Sky, Dreams beneath a Red Sun, and River of Fortune, Staircase to the Moon, and Beyond the Red Horizon, all available as eBooks. For fans of sagas set against a backdrop of beautiful landscapes, like Sarah Lark's, Island of a Thousand Springs or Kate Morton's, The Forgotten Garden. About the author Elizabeth Haran was born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia and migrated to Australia as a child. She lives with her family in Adelaide and has written fourteen novels set in Australia. Her heart-warming and carefully crafted books have been published in ten countries and are bestsellers in Germany.

The Northminster Mysteries Books 4-6


Harriet Smart - 2019
    Here, young Scottish surgeon Felix Carswell and Chief Constable Major Giles Vernon are tasked to uncover the truth in three complex tales of murder and detection set in Early Victorian England. The Hanging Cage Summoned to the bleak market town of Whithorne in the midst of a winter storm, Major Giles Vernon and police surgeon Felix Carswell are embroiled in another challenging investigation. A beautiful young heiress has been found dead in her bed, and although suicide seems the most likely cause, the circumstances soon point to a tangle of illicit relationships and painful secrets. As Major Vernon pursues the truth behind Annabella Barker's death, further shocking events soon unfold, including another suicide At the same time, called in to deliver a son and heir, Carswell is drawn into the affairs of the eccentric Yardley family at Whithorne Castle, but it is no distraction from his anxieties about his troubled relationship with Sukey Connolly. Major Vernon, for his part, unexpectedly encounters an old acquaintance and is forced to question both his past and his future. When a partial skeleton is found in a culvert, events begin to take a still darker turn, and Vernon and Carswell must pursue an unimaginable evil. As November floods threaten the bridges of Northminster itself, dangerous enemies emerge close to home and the struggle for justice becomes a matter of life and death. The Hanging Cage is the fourth Northminster Mystery, featuring early Victorian detectives Vernon and Carswell. The Ghosts of Ardenthwaite Something is amiss at Ardenthwaite. Ghostly apparitions have been seen, so terrifying that the mistress of the house and the servants have deserted the place. Colonel Parham, the tenant, asks his landlord Felix Carswell and Major Giles Vernon to determine what is going on. But their investigations soon takes an unexpected turn, leaving them in confusion and doubting their own sanity. Shortly afterwards, a man dies in Northminster Infirmary, the victim of a brutal and systematic attack which seems to point to dangerous criminal forces hitherto unknown in the city. Vernon has his suspicions as to who is behind it, and with Carswell's assistance he begins to unpick a complex network of alliances and enemies. Yet, as their best witnesses meet brutal fates, they are forced to face the grim possibility of failure. Having been forced into unpleasant compromises to gain access to the truth, Giles is further unsettled by the return of Emma Maitland to Northminster, now engaged to another man. As she assists him with the case, he begins to realise all that he has lost. For Felix Carswell, a bizarre and other-worldly encounter with a beautiful, spirited young woman throws up the possibility of an extremely advantageous marriage. Eleanor Blanchfort is an heiress and Lord Rothborough's ward. Has destiny brought them together as she suggests, and can Felix find the will to resist such a dazzling temptation? The Echo at Rooke Court Felix Carswell returns from his blissful wedding journey and is at once called to the bedside of a young man fighting for his life.

When God’s Light Inspires the Lost Bride: A Christian Historical Romance Book


Chloe Carley - 2021
    

The Man (A Grady Lind Western)


Gerald Hartenhoff - 2014
    Woman can't keep their eyes off of him. Men are intimated by him. He's fast with a gun and good with his fists. When people are terribly wronged, and the law can't or won't help them out, they turn to Grady Lind.

The Long Paw of the Law: Cozy Mystery Boxed Set (Ashley Crane Mystery #1-2)


Laurie Anne Marie - 2016
    Ashley Crane is busy nursing a broken heart, working tirelessly as a cook, and hanging out with her family and best friends when her boss at the restaurant is murdered. At first the investigation is left to Nathaniel Thompson, the local handsome police detective. But when Thompson arrests the wrong suspect, Ashley takes the investigation into her own hands. Solving the case won't be easy. She'll need help from her parents April and Burt, her best friends Sean and Lara, and her cute and clever cat Charlie. It's up to Ashley Crane to find the real murderer in Comfortville before they strike again. The Long Paw Of The Law 2 The second book in The Long Paw of the Law series finds Ashley Crane putting her life back together after solving the crime at her old restaurant. But on the night of her first catering job, the owner of the company is murdered. When the local police detective arrests someone whom Ashley believes is the wrong suspect, she decides to find the real killer herself. Cracking the case is a puzzle, but with her clever cat Charlie, she turns up some clues that lead her down a dizzying path to uncover the truth. Will she find the real murderer before it’s too late and restore a sense of calm to Comfortville?

The Unlucky Wedding Guest: A Clara Fitzgerald Mystery (The Clara Fitzgerald Mysteries Book 23)


Evelyn James - 2021
    

The Heathcliff Lennox Series: Books 1 - 2: (The Heathcliff Lennox Series Boxset Book 1)


Karen Baugh Menuhin - 2020
    Major Heathcliff Lennox, ex-WW1 war pilot, six feet 3 inches, unruly dark blond hair, age around 30 - named after the hero of Wuthering Heights by his romantically minded mother - much to his great annoyance. Murder at Melrose Court is the first book in the Heathcliff Lennox series. It's 1920 and Christmas is coming. Major Lennox finds a body on his doorstep - why on his doorstep? Was it to do with the Countess? Was it about the ruby necklace? Lennox goes to Melrose Court home to his uncle, Lord Melrose, to uncover the mystery. But then the murders begin and it snows and it all becomes very complicated.... The Black Cat Murders is the second book in the Heathcliff Lennox series. Who killed Sir Crispin Gibbons? A wedding invitation and news of mischief that could be murder, takes Lennox to the Earl of Bloxford's country pile. He soon finds himself in a world of purloined artworks, forgeries and a priceless Bloxford Beauty. But who are the Bloxford Beauties? And why are they the focal point around which swirls death?Lennox must confront life-long friends, unscrupulous artists and dealers to finally unravel a plot so complex that even his old adversary, Chief Inspector Swift of Scotland Yard, is befuddled.

Detective Michael Angel: Books 8-14 (Yorkshire Murder Mysteries #8-14)


Roger Silverwood - 2021
    That is, until his body is found floating in the River Don. Who killed him and why?BOOK 9: THE MISSING THIEFTwo victims. One ultra-glamorous thief spotted fleeing the scene. Who is the mystery woman in the raincoat? And what is she running from? It’s up to DI Angel to piece it all together before the killer strikes again.BOOK 10: FIND THE LADYCan Angel find the lady in the blue dress? She’s already killed once. Witnesses swear they saw her at the grisly scene. But Angel knows that’s not possible. His prime suspect is in a portrait. And it’s over sixty years old.BOOK 11: THE MISSING MODELWigmaker Peter Wolff is found dead in his workshop. The place has been burned, leaving no clues, no DNA and no motive. Can Angel unravel the mystery of Wolff’s murder before anyone else pays the ultimate price?BOOK 12: MURDER IN BARE FEETMillionaire Charles Pleasant is shot dead in a scrapyard. Near the spent handgun shells, Angel finds one crucial clue: a print left by a bare foot. Who killed the playboy millionaire? And why ever weren’t they wearing shoes?BOOK 13: THE MISSING HUSBANDWealthy Selina Line marries a man she hardly knows. Then she vanishes. Who stands to gain from her demise if not her new husband? There’s just one complication. As Angel soon realises, Selina’s husband never existed.BOOK 14: THE CUCKOO CLOCK MURDERSA writer is murdered on a lonely retreat. In his bed, the killer left a shocking something . . . And that’s not all. Wherever Angel goes, there’s a cuckoo clock. An unlikely coincidence or a threat he shouldn’t ignore?

Highland Rogues


Tarah Scott - 2016
    Both need him… neither wants him. Groomed for a life amongst the English aristocracy, Lord Erroll Rushton is unexpectedly thrust back into his father’s Scottish world when the Englishwoman he compromises refuses to marry him. No gentleman breaks into a lady’s bedchamber...but then, no lady sleeps with a pistol under her pillow. Miss Eve Crenshaw will marry for love or won’t marry at all. When London’s most notorious rakehell breaks into Eve’s bedroom in the dead of night and compromises her beyond repair, she plans a daring elopement that shocks even the earl. Blurb, reviews snippets – Claimed Talbot expects to find a hostile woman in the Scottish heiress Edward commands him to marry. Instead, he discovers a Highland beauty worthy of a man’s respect...and love. Talbot will do anything to win her acceptance—except the one thing she demands: betray his king and embrace his Scottish heritage. My Highland Lord London Heiress kidnapped by the Marquess of Ashlund, read the headlines. Yet no one tried to save her. Phoebe Wallington was seven years old when a mass assassination attempt rocked Regency England. Her father was the only accused traitor to elude capture. Now as a grown woman and a British spy, she is no closer to learning what really happened that day. Phoebe's quest for the truth takes a sudden turn when she's kidnapped by suspected traitor Kiernan MacGregor, the Marquess of Ashlund. However, Kiernan may not live long enough to stand trial. Someone wants him dead…and Phoebe stands in the killer's way. The only way to save her reputation and protect Kiernan is to marry him. Lord Grayson's Bride Nicholas Spencer, Earl of Grayson, won’t make the same mistake twice and let Josephine Knightly go. She loves him. He felt it in their one kiss before he left, and in the single kiss she allowed since his return. But she’s doing everything in her power to sabotage the marriage even before it’s begun. Nicholas doesn’t care. If Hell is where he must live to have her, then she must stand by his side in the fire. Lord Ruthven's Bride Love is always sweetest the first time around… A harmless attraction leads to a friendship that forces Lady Annabelle to choose between the two men who love her. One saved her from a killer. The other is her future husband. James Waterson, newly titled Viscount Ruthven, is hunting a killer. When Lady Annabelle steps into the killer’s sights, James will do everything in his power to protect her. Even if that means letting her go.

Unexplained, Unsolved, Unsealed Mysteries of the World : Strange Disappearances, Paranormal Activities, Cold Murder Cases, Abnormal Occurrences


Gerald Burns - 2021
    

Body in Office: A cozy mystery novella


Wendy Cartmell - 2021