Book picks similar to
Coasts of Christmas Past: From the Tales of Dan Coast (From the Tales of Dan Coast - No. 3) by Rodney Riesel
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mystery-thriller-suspense
beach-mysteries
crime-fiction
The DCI Isaac Cook Thriller Series: Books 1 - 6: The Complete Series
Phillip Strang - 2017
Six Edge of Your Seat Thrillers. Six Books at a Discounted Price. Over One Hundred Five Star Reviews.
Murder is a Tricky Business (Book 1) -There’s a secret, that much is certain, but who knows?
The missing actress? The executive producer, his eavesdropping assistant? Or the actor who portrayed her fictional brother on the Soap Opera? Why has DCI Cook been taken away from more important crimes to search for the woman? It’s not the first time she’s gone missing, and why does everyone assume she’s been murdered?
Murder House (Book 2) - A corpse in the fireplace of an old house. It's been there for thirty years, but who is it?
It's clearly murder, and what connection does the body have to the previous owners of the house? It was bound to be discovered eventually but was that what the murderer wanted? The main suspects are all old and dying, or already dead. There's a motive, but what is it? Those who know are not talking out of an old-fashioned belief in that a family's dirty laundry is not to be aired in public, and certainly not to a policeman - even if that means the murderer is never brought to justice! Murder is Only a Number (Book 3) - Before she left she carved a number in blood on his chest. But why the number 2, if this was her first murder? And why is she keeping count? The woman prowls London. She kills at will. Her targets are men who have wronged her, or have they? DCI Cook knows who she is, at least after she has killed the first four, but the woman disappears in plain sight. The pressure’s on to stop her, but she’s always one step ahead.
Murder in Little Venice (Book 4) - A dismembered corpse floats in a canal in London. Isaac Cook is baffled as to why it’s there. Is it gang-related, or is it something more?
Whatever the reason, it’s clearly a warning, and Isaac and his team are sure it’s not the last body that they’ll have to deal with.
Murder is the Only Option (Book 5) - A man, thought to be long dead, returns to exact revenge against those who had blighted his life. His only concern is to protect his wife and daughter. He will stop at nothing to achieve his aim.
‘Big Greg, I never expected to see you around here at this time of night.’ ‘I’ve told you enough times.’ ‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,’ Robertson replied. He looked up at the man, only to see a metal pole coming down at him. Robertson fell down, cracking his head against a concrete kerb. The two vagrants, no more than twenty feet away, did not stir and did not even look in the direction of the noise. If they had, they would have seen a dead body, another man walking away.
Murder Without Reason (Book 6) - Before she left she carved a number in blood on his chest.
Jealousy Junction
Cathryn Grant - 2021
My organic grocery store was thriving; I had a charming and tender new guy in my life who was looking like he might be the real deal. And then my estranged sister reappeared in my life. I couldn’t have been happier.Until I wasn’t. Someone was stalking me. My sister was flirting with my boyfriend, and I was pretty sure he was flirting back.Someone was dead, and everyone might be lying.Welcome to Liar’s Island… a stand-alone series of interconnected, novella-length domestic thrillers set in the picture-perfect community of Liars Island. Here, nothing is quite as it seems.On this island, families and friendships are more than meets the eye … secrets, deceptions, and jealousies threaten to ruin everything these influential people have built. But it isn’t only the rich that live here … and power comes in all shapes and sizes.Everyone here is a liar … just how far would you go to get what you want?
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 Little Cottage by the Sea
A.L. Jambor - 2016
A short story by A.L. Jambor When Meg’s sister dies, she is devastated. The last of three children, Meg misses her siblings and has never felt so alone. She’s an author, but her emotional state hinders her ability to write, and she can’t sit in front of her computer without trembling. A trip to Port Revere, MA recalls memories of the summers spent there with her family when she was a girl, and Meg decides to buy the Christmas Cottage, an abandoned little house on a bluff near town. She refurbishes it, and with the help of her nephew Zack, starts to come out of her shell. But then the holidays, a time for families and celebrations, arrive, and Meg must again face her loneliness, and guilt over something she can't forgive herself for – she wasn’t there when her sister died and never had a chance to say goodbye. With the cottage almost completed, Meg has one last thing to do; she has to find out if her plumbing is up to snuff, and arranges for a plumber to visit the cottage. On Thanksgiving Day, she is sipping a cup of coffee when someone knocks on the door. She looks out the window and sees an old man, an old truck, and an old dog. Lettering on the truck announces that Angus O’Malley, Plumber Extraordinaire, is standing on her doorstep. What she doesn’t know is that Angus is on a mission and that his appearance heralds the beginning of something wonderful, and the best Christmas Meg has ever had. The Little Cottage by the Sea was formerly published as The Christmas Cottage. The content has not changed. It is a short book of 20,000 words.
Tense: Holiday Edition of When the Vows Break
Lakisha Johnson - 2019
They’ve experienced all kinds of things but with each other, their families, prayer, and God; they’ve made it through 2019, to the month of December. But not every relationship salvaged will make it to the future. In this Holiday Short Story, Special Edition of When the Vows Break, you’ll get to peek into the lives of these friends and see how they’re spending their Christmas holiday. Will the past they’ve endured affect their present, attempting to shatter their future? Or has the past given them instruction to treasure the present while preparing for the future? You’ll have to read to find out.
The Nantucket Estate (Haven Island Book 3)
Coral Harper - 2021
This beach front estate rests so close to the shore that the sea mist sprinkled the children and family dog, Bear as they played in the yard. At the end of each day, the family fell asleep to the sweet sound of water crashing the rocks. The Frost family created lifelong memories at the estate.The only problem is that no one is around to enjoy it anymore…Elizabeth Frost is the glue that held the family together for so long, but not even she could keep her kids and the family intact. A family secret splintered the family leading them to not speak to each other for years. This all changes when tragedy strikes once again and the siblings come home to Nantucket Island. What happens next, no one could predict.A mysterious encounter with an unexpected character…A journey to find love…The risk of losing it all…While on Nantucket island, you’ll meet some unforgettable characters who will feel like old friends and capture your heart right from the start.Join the Frost family as they discover that family matters most, everyone deserves a second chance, and love conquers all.
Skinner's Elves: A Bob Skinner Christmas Story
Quintin Jardine - 2017
Two pillars made them and supported them through their lives; now one is gone and the other is near to collapse. Can he be renewed, or has he been conquered at last? Major James Andrew Skinner, AKA Jazz Morgan, takes up the story. Quintin Jardine's 6,000 word short story is a glance into the future that was born from a joke, when he used its title as a throwaway line to a friend. 'A great title for a children's book,' she observed. This isn't a children's book, but in a real sense it's a take about children and the power they have to help us overcome, and emerge from, the deepest despair.
Theena's Landing
Gretchen Craig - 2011
Fearing the taint of her mother’s scandalous past, she strives to live a life of virtue and integrity, yet is pulled toward a love that can never be hers. From a girl too desperate to be wise she becomes, through pain and heartbreak, a woman who at last finds her honor and her dreams.Once again, Gretchen Craig presents a page-turning historical novel of insight and compassion. Theena and her sisters are flawed, engrossing, and totally believable.
Blue Waters
Eric Chance Stone - 2020
Never any good at holding down a steady job, Rick does whatever he can to make a living—searching for stolen cars or missing persons, catching and selling catfish from the bayou, or gambling in pool halls—whatever it takes to one day fulfill his dream: his very own fishing yacht and charter business.Little does Rick know, his latest foray into the bayou with his metal detector will forever change his life. From the bayous of southeast Texas to the seedier neighborhoods of Houston, from the sparkling beaches of the Virgin Islands to the Voodoo drug dens of Haiti, Rick’s quest to find a killer will take all of his wits and skill to stay alive and bring justice to a young woman’s killer. And if he’s lucky, he might find some treasure after all.Buckle up and enjoy the ride!
Engulfed
Kathleen Cosgrove - 2012
What she finds are dead bodies, a kidnapping, the mob and a certain Jewish Cuban detective that she has developed a school girls crush on.It's not long before she's engulfed in events that will either destroy her or prove to her that it's never too late to begin again and that life isn't over until it is.This book is filled with fun and unforgettable characters and situations that never leave a dull moment from page one to epilogue.
Florida Heat (Florida Heat Murder Mystery Series)
Rainy Kirkland - 2012
From the moment Probation Officer Jo Cazimer witnesses a murder her life is in jeopardy. Working with her best friend Detective Kate Snow they struggle to identify the killer. But in Florida the snakes slither, the gators are hungry and a serial killer is on the loose.
Setup on Front Street
Mike Dennis - 2011
Don Roy Doyle is back in town. Tough and quick-witted, he's fresh out of prison, where he served three years for a diamond swindle. Now he's back to collect his share of the proceeds, about $200,000, but the money has vanished. A local family dynasty which has controlled the island's politics for generations, a cop with a grudge, the FBI, and the Russian mob all have a stake in the action. They're convinced Cuba is on the verge of "opening up", and they all want Doyle gone. In this tightly-knit town, who can be trusted? And how long can Doyle stay alive? SETUP ON FRONT STREET is the first novel in Mike Dennis' Key West Nocturnes series. It takes you deep inside the world of Key West noir, behind the margaritas and the sunshine, way back in the shadows and the alleys, where the tourists never go.
Man Found Dead in Park
Margaret Coel - 2017
I love Margaret Coel’s writing because there’s never a misplaced step. She balances two opposing cultures with little room for compromise, which is good because this chick works without a safety net. It’s human nature, or certainly the nature of writers, to analyze another’s work when reading it, in an attempt to take the story apart like an acrobatic trick—kick off your shoes and try it out. Every once in a while you second guess them and follow them out onto that tightrope just to find where they might’ve slipped up, but Margaret never does and just when you think she has she’ll turn and wink, so keep reading. Like Catherine McLeod, the reporter protagonist of Man Found Dead in Park, Margaret embraces both the mainstream and native cultures, all the while maintaining the aspect of her writing that transcends the genre with a deep understanding of human nature. When a man is found dead in an Indian section of Denver where no one is talking, McLeod finds herself in conflict with Mexican drug cartels and an investigation that leads north into Wyoming's Wind River Reservation and what turns out to be her roots. Transformative for both McLeod and the reader, the width and breath of the story is easy to miss, because Coel’s writing has a heady narrative that holds a sense of wonder and romance—a place that a lot of other writers fear to tread. I sometimes wonder if she knows how good she is, but I think probably not. The humility of a few artists is what keeps them grounded, and even when she’s out there flying high, I’m pretty sure she has her head up but is feeling every twitch of the story through the soles of her feet. Navigating with the finesse of a Flying Wallenda, Coel never misses a thing, because the devil is in the details, and like her character, Detective Nick Bustamante, Margaret knows that these indiscernible little slights of hand are the thing that makes for great drama under the Big Top. So join Margaret Coel out onto that high wire where she works without a safety net. Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out there will be moments of insecurity, thoughts that will disconcert, and you might be tempted to look down, but don’t. If things get too hairy just reach out and take this daredevil performer’s hand, and she’ll grin that signature smile and make sure you make it back to safety. --Craig Johnson
The Price Of Freedom
Mary Jane Staples - 2007
She thought marrying would liven him up, but after twenty-five years he's just as boring as the day she married him , and now she wants to lead her own life. Her newly-married daughter, Olive, is shocked, but Hilda is adamant.
Meanwhile, a heavy East End gang has moved into the area from Shoreditch, and has established a lucrative protection racket, bringing drama and anxiety to this closely-knit neighbourhood.
The Consortium: Crime fiction from the heart of Wales (The Welsh crime mysteries Book 2)
Nicola Clifford - 2021