Having had friends in high places, police must act quick to find the killer. But the judge also had lots of enemies in low places, and there is no shortage of suspects. Detective Inspector Robert Carroll is on the trail of the killer, aided by his rather intelligent assistant James Sayder who, much to the former’s consternation, is often one step ahead of the grumpy veteran detective. Detective Carroll’s efforts are confounded by Maggie, who is new in town and recently resurrected the defunct regional rag, The Crier. The newspaper seems to know all of Magnerstown’s bad news before the police, and Carroll wants to give the publisher the full arm of the law, despite finding her rather beguiling. The investigation stumbles forward even though Carroll is at loggerheads with just about everyone in town. But before long another body is found. What links the two victims, and can the Garda find the culprit before he strikes again? This book brims with Irish wit and it will transport the reader into semi-rural Ireland. If you like murder mysteries in the traditional whodunnit vein, like a laugh and a sprinkling of will they/won’t they romance, this book is for you.

    The only thing Maisey’s sure she’s gotten right is her relationship with her twelve-year-old daughter, Elle…until a phone call blows apart the precarious balance of their lives. Maisey’s mother is in a coma, and her aging father faces charges of abuse and neglect.Back at her childhood home, Maisey must make a heartrending life-or-death decision. Her confused father has destroyed family records, including her mother’s final wishes. Searching for answers, Maisey uncovers one unspeakable secret after another when she stumbles upon a shattering truth: a twin sister named Marley.Maisey’s obsession with solving the mystery of her sister forces her to examine her darkest memories and triggers a custody battle with Elle’s father. Will Maisey’s love for her daughter be strong enough to break a cycle of abuse and create a new beginning for them all?

    Twice divorced, with a bit of a drinking problem, he’s now dating Rory Roughton, a fiery sixth-generation Texan who’s as rich as she is beautiful—and hell-bent on keeping Steel on the straight and narrow. But then his best friend, Wes Stoddard, is nearly shot down flying in a load of pot, Rory is kidnapped by a Russian mercenary working for the most dangerous cartel in Mexico, and the Cuban Mafia decides they’d like the former DEA agent—dead. Steel is forced to take unsanctioned, unconventional—and mostly illegal—action in order to save himself and those closest to him . . .

    He meets a fan, an attractive woman, in a coffee shop and she plies him with compliments and a Mickey. The next morning he wakes up at a seedy motel naked, reeking of alcohol, alone, and confused. A blackmail ensues and he becomes entangled in a shadowy underworld involving strippers, prostitutes, gangsters, corrupt politicians, and cops. His wife and son leave him and he plunges into the mean streets of San Francisco seeking answers to the riddles at the heart of those seeking to destroy him.My main character in Between a Smile and a Tear, Jack Waters, a successful novelist, is a recovering alcoholic coming to terms with the damage his drinking has caused to his family and friends. He's trying his best to make amends, but is it too late? Is it impossible to right some wrongs?I've read a number of James Hall's antic thrillers set in Florida (primarily the Thorn books) with their wild and crazy bad guys and they inspired me to create my villain here: Wallace Unger. I tried to make him both humorous and scary, a counterpoint to the serious and darker action and themes of the novel.Wallace is wild and crazy, funny and dumb, but also unpredictable and a dangerous antagonist made even more fearsome by his employer, the amoral gangster boss, NIck Ravelli.This is a "bigger" novel than others that I have written, featuring multiple point-of-view characters, more subplots, a wider range including political and social forces impacting the characters, as well as a deeper attention to location and geography.I've tried to make San Francisco a major character in its own right here. I grew up in the city and know it well, but supplemented that knowledge with research and maps and a couple of trips back to the Bay Area. I think San Francisco, in all of its beauty and mystery, comes alive in the novel and I hope you agree.I put my heart and soul into this book and hope you feel that while you read.Thanks for taking the time.

    She’s wrong. He’s coming for her again.The body Detective Rose is looking at bears a striking resemblance to Emily, a woman who survived a horrific, sexually motivated abduction five years ago. Her fear is confirmed when Emily goes missing again.When another woman, Grace, is abducted, Detective Rose finds herself doubting the instincts that tell her the disappearance is the result of intimate partner violence. She connects the cases and recruits Grace’s partner, Ethan, to help in the search. Together they must find Grace and Emily before it’s too late.

    A party girl’s addiction gives birth to a monster within. Man’s best friend must fend off a woman’s greatest nightmare…Scare Street is proud to present eleven chilling tales of the supernatural, in one monstrous volume. Horror authors Ron Ripley, David Longhorn, Sara Clancy, and many more unite to bring you a terrifying collection of short stories, each one guaranteed to haunt your dreams. And each one more chilling than the last.Once you start reading you won’t be able to stop. Because when these authors sink their teeth into you, it’s already too late.The only way to escape from these nightmares… is to wake up screaming.

    A Presidential election. A Constitutional crisis. And a terrorist who may get away scott-free. It could happen again. Perpetrated by anyone, anywhere . . . at a financial cost of next to nothing! A short story -- the secret behind President Christopher Wall's rise to power two years before Loss Of Reason.

     Someone with the same habits, the same hobbies, the same interests. She wants The One. And she will do anything to find her. If you like a quick, little read with a touch of romance, a touch of spooky, then you will love KC Luck’s page-turning short story. Note: This is a short story and includes strong female characters in a lesbian relationship.

    When Sara Connely is asked what life is like today, she answers with the simple words, ‘life goes on.’ The life she and her boys enjoyed the last dozen years is gone. Sara struggles to cope with the death of her husband and doing so with two young boys, and no money, is almost too much to ask.Life does go on, but when Sara’s oldest boy becomes lost in Croatan National Forest, life comes to a stop.Twelve-year-old Kyle Connely doesn’t know the woods. He doesn’t know the wildlife. He doesn’t know how to get home. Lost in the wilderness, he faces dangers the likes of which he has never seen. Kyle’s time is running out. A hurricane is looming, and in its path is the coastal forest he is trying to survive. Jacob Hanson has a gift. An intuition. An insightfulness. And it has helped him find success. But his gift turns into a curse as he becomes an unwilling participant in Kyle's plight.What Jacob Hanson doesn't know is he also holds the key to Sara’s past and the lifetime she lost with her husband.

    But when Dasher disappears, children and parents alike are devastated, and the mayor fears an international incident.In desperation, the mayor turns to the Mallorys to save the town's Christmas, but the more Chris and Alicia investigate, the more they realize it isn't just Christmas that's in jeopardy.

    His father, Joseph Stanyer, has been struggling to cope with his wife Evie, whose dementia is rapidly worsening. When their bodies are found close to Blackwater Lake, a local beauty spot, the inquest rules the deaths as a murder-suicide. A conclusion that's supported by the note Joseph leaves for his son. Grief-stricken, Matthew begins to clear his parents' house of decades of compulsive hoarding, only to discover the dark enigmas hidden within its walls. Ones that lead Matthew to ask: why did his father choose Blackwater Lake to end his life? What other secrets do its waters conceal?A short (25,000-words) novella, Blackwater Lake examines one man's determination to uncover his family's troubled past.

    To be entertained. Then you find yourself in a school where a group of friends have brought something terrible to life. You meet a family whose extraordinary luck comes at a horrific price. You write a letter to yourself and get a reply that leads to death and madness. As you journey through these shrouded lands, you look back and can't make out where you started. Because once you're traveling through the darkness, the only way out is through. Read the collection of novellas and short stories that is being called "genius", "amazing", and "scary AF". But be prepared. You won't be the same when you come out the other side.

    A woman who can’t even kill a spider, Hadley soon finds herself pushed to the limits as she fights to protect her family.Grace, new mother of baby Miles, desperately wants to put her rough past behind her for good, but she finds it impossible when her path crosses with Hadley’s, and her quest for a new start quickly spirals out of control and turns into a terrifying flight for survival.Stronger together than apart, the two find their fates inextricably entwined, and as the danger closes in, each must decide how much she is willing to risk for the other.A powerful story of self-discovery, Hadley and Grace is the heart-racing tale of two women facing insurmountable odds, racing to stay one step ahead of the trouble that is chasing them, and discovering new kinds of love and family along the way.

     We see what we want to see, nothing more. When detectives Coughlin and Holzer investigate the disappearance of a successful young businessman, they’re both impressed by his beautiful wife. Slender, curvy, delicate—Michelle Fanning is not the kind of woman a man would choose to leave. Soon, a gruesome discovery leads the detectives to believe they’re investigating a murder. Reeling from the collapse of his own marriage, Detective Coughlin sees Michelle Fanning as a suspect. Detective Holzer, fascinated by her gentle femininity, sees her as a victim. Which cop turns a blind eye to the truth? Inspired by a true crime that occurred in New Jersey, this **short story** originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. The story introduces the character of Detective Sean Coughlin, who goes on to play a role in the full-length novels, ANOTHER MAN’S TREASURE and TREASURE OF DARKNESS, in the Palmyrton Estate Sale Mystery series. Please be aware that BLIND EYE is a short story, not a full-length novel. Chapter 1 of ANOTHER MAN’S TREASURE is also included.

    Will Madeleine Hart discover the horrors hidden below, before it's too late?Bestselling writer Madeleine Hart has run away from her life in London and abusive ex Connor. Crumbling Lakeview Hall in the Armboth Valley, abandoned decades earlier, is the perfect Lakeland hideaway for Maddy to make a fresh start, finish her book and disappear from the world.But strange things start to happen. The house is too big and the fear that Connor has tracked her down soon becomes a terrifying reality. Enlisting the help of Seth, who runs the village pub to help solve the mystery of what's happening in the unloved mansion, she doesn't realise that the past and the present are about to collide in a fight to survive.