Foreign Deceit


Jeff Carson - 2012
    All that trouble falls to background noise, however, when Wolf learns his brother has just committed suicide in northern Italy. Devastation and resentment of his sibling's selfish act is short-lived, because Wolf knows one thing is for certain: his brother would never kill himself. Or would he? A nagging suspicion there's more to the story is enough to pull Wolf from his volatile life, to Lecco, Italy--a picturesque city along the shores of Lake Como, where danger lies amid the ancient cobblestone alleys.With the aid of a beautiful Carabinieri agent, can Wolf piece together what really happened to his brother without suffering the same fate?

Body In The Box


E.R. Fallon - 2016
    EVEN IN A HARD-EDGED TOWN USED TO DEADLY CRIMES, THIS TOUCHES A NERVE. New York Times bestselling author Da Chen has said E.R. Fallon writes the kind of stories that “. . . we stay up all night to finish.” Who dumped the boy’s body in this desolate part of the city and why? And why is he missing his spleen? BODY IN THE BOX is the first book in a gripping new mystery series featuring three very different homicide detectives. Detectives Dino Cooper and Terry Jackson have been partners and friends for years. Now a new detective is drafted in to join them: Rebecca Everhart. They must quickly learn to work together on the biggest case of their careers, the disturbing discovery of the ‘Body in the Box’, as it’s known by the captivated media and the city’s worried citizens. The case takes the three detectives deep inside the lives of Newark’s insular Eastern European immigrant community and the world of unlawful medical practices. It also brings back an eerie childhood memory of Dino’s, where a boy from his neighborhood vanished and was never seen again. What appears to be a straightforward, modern-day murder case has more to do with the past than the present, and the detectives come to a genuinely unnerving — and life-threatening — conclusion. This gripping detective novel following the work and relationship struggles of the detectives will appeal to fans of Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins, Dennis Lehane, or Lisa Unger. THE DETECTIVES Detective Rebecca Everhart is a tough and blunt top detective with a family background in law enforcement. She loves the surprised look on a criminal’s face when a woman arrests him. Detective Terry Jackson is a hardworking by-the-book detective, and a family man, but lately his family life has been anything but normal. Just what is that big secret his wife is hiding from him? There’s also the conflict he has with his highbrow father, who never liked cops even though his son became one. Detective Dino Cooper is a streetwise, old-school detective with a dark past and a brother who was murdered by the Irish mob. Dino’s good looks and charm allow him to sometimes bend the rules a little in the name of justice. THE SETTING Newark is the biggest city in the state of New Jersey, a gritty waterfront city with a large port. It’s a place that some call home but also somewhere many workers commute in to from the suburbs. It’s considered a dangerous city by some, but in recent years has been somewhat revitalized. One of the most diverse cities in the world, it’s a place full of life and great stories.

Burning Man


Alan Russell - 2012
    For their heroism, they were chosen to head up the newly formed Special Cases Unit. Now the duo tackles out-of-the-ordinary cases, anything deemed unusual or bizarre even by Hollyweird standards.When a teenager is found crucified in a city park, Gideon and Sirius are handed the bizarre case. Confronting the gruesome tableau and having to work the case worsens Detective Gideon’s PTSD, a condition he has tried to hide from others. Gideon’s burns may have healed, but the fire haunts him still...in more ways than one.Eerily prescient since that terrible night of the fire, Gideon has unusual insights into the crimes he investigates, a skill he and Sirius must learn to trust as much as they do each other if they are to solve—and survive—this case.

The Legend of Devil's Creek


D.C. Alexander - 2012
    More abductions and killings soon follow. Justin Riddley, recently transferred to the island’s small college, faces growing evidence that one of his new friends and fellow students may be the murderer. John Marshall, redemption-seeking captain of the local police force, leads the frantic murder investigation and struggles to figure out whether the killings are tied to the island's dark and violent past. Tormented by tragic wartime memories, and more convinced with each day that it is humanity’s fate to destroy itself, Marshall races against both the murderer and the specter of his own mental breakdown. As blood continues to spill, Riddley and Marshall wonder whether there may be a dark, universal force that drives evil deeds great and small, and whether the nature of one’s childhood might sometimes, in the end, be all that separates the saint from the psychopath.

Lost Hills


Lee Goldberg - 2020
    The sheriff, desperate for more positive press, makes Eve the youngest female homicide detective in the department’s history.Now Eve, with a lot to learn and resented by her colleagues, has to justify her new badge. Her chance comes when she and her burned-out, soon-to-retire partner are called to the blood-splattered home of a missing single mother and her two kids. The horrific carnage screams multiple murder—but there are no corpses.Eve has to rely on her instincts and tenacity to find the bodies and capture the vicious killer, all while battling her own insecurities and mounting pressure from the media, her bosses, and the bereaved family. It’s a deadly ordeal that will either prove her skills…or totally destroy her.

Busted


Karin Slaughter - 2013
    This electrifying eBook novella featuring Will Trent is a prequel to Slaughter’s upcoming novel, Unseen.   Detective Will Trent is standing in a Georgia convenience store, waiting on an obstinate Icee frozen drink machine. To the surveillance cameras and bored staff of the Lil’ Dixie Gas-n-Go, however, Will appears to be someone very different—the menacing ex-con Bill Black. Going undercover as Bill, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent is about to infiltrate the most corrupt town in the most corrupt county in the new American South. But first: his Icee.   Everything changes in one horrific instant, as all hell breaks loose at the Lil’ Dixie. A cop is shot. A bag of cash goes flying across the floor. A young woman disappears while a killer takes off in a battered pick-up truck. Within seconds, Will is in pursuit.  Includes an exclusive preview of Karin Slaughter’s thrilling new novel of suspense, Unseen.

The Hanging Shed


Gordon Ferris - 2010
    Now, the war is over but victory's wine has soured and Brodie's back in Scotland to try and save childhood friend Hugh Donovan from the gallows. Everyone thought Donovan was dead, shot down in the war. Perhaps it would have been kinder if he had been killed. The man who returned was unrecognizable: mutilated, horribly burned. Donovan keeps his own company, only venturing out for heroin to deaden the pain of his wounds. When a local boy is found raped and murdered, there is only one suspect...Donovan claims he's innocent but a mountain of evidence says otherwise. Despite the hideousness of the crime, ex-policeman Brodie feels compelled to try and help his one-time friend. Working with Donovan's advocate Samantha Campbell, Brodie trawls both the mean streets of the Gorbals and the green hills of western Scotland in their search for the truth. What they find is an unholy alliance of church, police and Glasgow's deadliest razor gang, happy to slaughter to protect their dark secrets. As time runs out for the condemned man, and the tally of murdered innocents rises, Brodie reverts to his wartime role as a trained killer. It's them or him.

Crime on the Fens


Joy Ellis - 2010
    Then a talented young female student goes missing on the marsh and Nikki and Joseph find themselves joining forces with a master criminal in their efforts to save her. They need to look behind the masks, but when they do, they find something more sinister and deadly than they ever expected . . .

The Drowned Girls


Loreth Anne White - 2017
    Then he disappeared ... But Detective Angie Pallorino never forgot the violent rapist who left a distinctive calling card—crosses etched into the flesh of his victim’s foreheads. When a comatose Jane Doe is found in a local cemetery, sexually assaulted, mutilated, and nearly drowned, Angie is struck by the eerie similarities to her earlier unsolved rapes. Could he be back?​Then the body of a drowned young woman floats up in the Gorge, also bearing the marks of the serial rapist, and the hunt for a predator becomes a hunt for a killer. Assigned to the joint investigative task force, Angie is more than ready to prove that she has what it takes to break into the all-male homicide division. But her private life collides with her professional ambitions when she’s introduced to her temporary partner, James Maddocks—a man she’d met the night before in an intense, anonymous encounter. Together, Angie and Maddocks agree to put that night behind them. But as their search for the killer intensifies so does their mutual desire. And Angie’s forays into the mind of a monster shake lose some unsettling secrets about her own past . . . How can she fight for the truth when it turns out her whole life is a lie?

Bleak Harbor


Bryan Gruley - 2018
    Deep down, they think they’re to blame. Summertime in Bleak Harbor means tourists, overpriced restaurants, and the Dragonfly Festival. One day before the much-awaited and equally chaotic celebration, Danny Peters, the youngest member of the family that founded the town five generations ago, disappears. When Danny’s mother, Carey, and stepfather, Pete, receive a photo of their brilliant, autistic, and socially withdrawn son tied to a chair, they fear the worst. But there’s also more to the story. Someone is sending them ominous texts and emails filled with information no one else should have. Could the secrets they’ve kept hidden—even from one another—have led to Danny’s abduction?As pressure from the kidnapper mounts, Carey and Pete must face their own ugly mistakes to find their son before he’s taken from them forever.

Deadly Aim


Patricia H. Rushford - 2004
    Featuring determined police officer Angel Delaney, the first episode is sure to have armchair sleuths turning the pages as fast as they can to discover whodunit? When a police shootout results in the death of a 12-year-old boy, Officer Angel Delaney is blamed, convicted, and condemned by the media and the Sunset Cove community before the case even goes to trial. Angel will have her day in court, but before she has the chance to defend herself, the situation spirals out of control. Key evidence is missing, evidence that could have verified her claim of firing only one shot in self-defense. In short order, the body count rises, and suddenly Angel is a suspect in more than one murder investigation. Heartsick about the young boy's death, and questioning her judgment as a police officer, Angel joins forces with Detective Callen Riley to fight the mounting charges against her.

Instinct


James Patterson - 2017
    Dylan Reinhart saves may be his ownDr. Dylan Reinhart wrote the book on criminal behavior. Literally--he's a renowned, bestselling Ivy League expert on the subject. When a copy of his book turns up at a gruesome murder scene--along with a threatening message from the killer--it looks like someone has been taking notes.Elizabeth Needham is the headstrong and brilliant NYPD Detective in charge of the case who recruits Dylan to help investigate another souvenir left at the scene--a playing card. Another murder, another card--and now Dylan suspects that the cards aren't a signature, they're a deadly hint--pointing directly toward the next victim. As tabloid headlines about the killer known as "The Dealer" scream from newstands, New York City descends into panic. With the cops at a loss, it's up to Dylan to hunt down a serial killer unlike any the city has ever seen. Only someone with Dylan's expertise can hope to go inside the mind of a criminal and convince The Dealer to lay down his cards. But after thinking like a criminal--could Dylan become one?A heart-pounding novel of suspense more shocking than any tabloid true crime story, Murder Games introduces the next unforgettable character from the imagination of James Patterson, the world's #1 bestselling author.

The Girl in the Motel


Chris Culver - 2018
    It’s merely forgotten. Detective Mary Joe Court sleeps with a shotgun beside her bed and a loveable bullmastiff at her feet. For the past twelve years, she’s hidden from a nightmarish past, but with every passing day, her scars fade, and her heart grows lighter. Now, for the first time in her life, she looks forward to her future. She’s happy. Then she finds the body. Someone shot the victim in her chest and left her to die in a cheap motel. Joe knew her well. She grew up with her. They were sisters, of a sort.Twelve years ago, the victim put a gangster in prison. Now that gangster’s out, and he’s looking to settle scores—Joe included.Joe has fought to leave her past behind. Now, she has to face it or lose everything she cares about. Because the killer hunting her will tear apart her carefully constructed life piece by piece until there’s nothing left.Unless Joe gets him first.

London Large - Bound by Blood (Detective Hawkins #2)


Roy Robson - 2016
    Inspector Harry ‘H’ Hawkins, only just back at work after a mental and physical breakdown, investigates the crime in the only way he knows how; he embarks on a full-blooded search for the truth. But the truth can be brutal As the murder investigation gathers pace H discovers his own son has been sucked into the dark world of organised crime. A traumatized young man; and a traumatized father H's hard-boiled instinct is to fight, to protect the things he loves. But when his son becomes his enemy his world view is shattered. How can son be turned against father? H’s gripping mission is no longer a search for a killer; but a quest to save his boy, and exact a terrible vengeance against the man who has corrupted him. And his search is a search for a deeper truth, a truth that will stretch family loyalty - and the love of a father for his son - to its very limits. Blood Is Thicker than Water…Or Is It?

Scraps of Paper


Kathryn Meyer Griffith - 2003
    It’s made her sympathetic to the missing and their families.Starting her new life, Abigail moves to small town and buys a fixer-upper house left empty when old Edna Summers died. Once it was also home to Edna’s younger sister, Emily, and her two children, Jenny and Christopher, who, people believe, drove away one night, thirty years ago, and just never came back.But in renovating the house Abigail finds scraps of paper hidden behind baseboards and tucked beneath the porch that hint the three could have been victims of foul play.Then she finds their graves hidden in the woods behind the house and with the help of eccentric townspeople and ex-homicide detective, Frank Lester, she discovers the three were murdered. Then she and Frank try to uncover who killed them and why…but in the process awaken the ire of the murderer. ***