Book picks similar to
Dead Pretty by Candy Denman
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crime
mystery-thriller
The Hour of Her Death
Rebecca Rane - 2020
But the horrific crime has gone unsolved for thirty years when a mysterious stranger begs a true crime podcaster to investigate.Kendra Dillon hosts The Cold Trail Podcast. She’s made it her mission to uncover new clues in old mysteries. She’s shocked that this brutal display of evil against an innocent nun has gone unchecked for decades. No suspects. No arrests. No justice.With police and church officials refusing to reopen the investigation, Kendra believes someone’s hiding a vile conspiracy. But right as Kendra gets close to the disturbing truth, another shocking crime derails her investigation. The Cold Trail may be leading Kendra straight into the path of a serial killer. With every podcast episode, Kendra gets closer to waking an evil that’s been lying in wait.And Kendra isn’t alone. A stalker is following her every move, ready to ensnare her in his own twisted fantasy.Can Kendra catch the culprit and serve up justice before she’s silenced forever?The Hour Of Her Death is the first book in the suspenseful Kendra Dillon Cold Case Thriller series. If you like engaging female sleuths, unexpected twists, and cold case crime podcasts, then you’ll love Rebecca Rane’s pulse-pounding tale.Enter the world of a true crime podcaster on the hunt for a serial killer!
Windfall: A Henry Lysyk Mystery
Byron T.D. Smith - 2021
A fifty-year old mystery could save him – or finish him off.Crossing fiction with a dash of true crime, Windfall: A Henry Lysyk Mystery is Byron TD Smith’s clever “What if…” solution to the most captivating unsolved heist of the twentieth century. Henry Lysyk’s life is a mess. With his marriage over and his accounting career marred by scandal, he retreats to the anonymity of a rented suite in a house shared with strangers. But the trail of a decades-old crime leads a murderous treasure hunter to his doorstep, and Henry is baffled by his neighbors’ cover-up.An unexpected visit from his adventure-hungry niece, Frieda, further complicates Henry’s efforts to lay low. With his houseguest refusing to stay away from the danger, Henry’s terrified they’re about to expose secrets someone would kill to protect. Not knowing who to trust, they must choose which parts of the past to uncover, and which to leave buried.A real-life ransom, a shadowy past, unlikely allies, and ruthless murder. Can Henry unravel this cold case before he and Frieda become its next victims?
The Rookie
Trina Riggle - 2012
That’s why when she sets her sights on the most brutal competition of all—professional athlete management—she has every intention of succeeding at it.But her aspirations suffer a setback when she finds her first client dead in the hot tub of his high-rise condo, and her prospective second client at the top of the suspect list.Determined to keep her shot at super agent stardom alive, Hale makes a play to find the real killer, and finds no shortage of people who wanted to see the rookie bad boy dead. Including her brother, the golden boy quarterback of the Denver Broncos.Pitted against the press, her own doubts, a pair of thugs hired by a less-than-ethical doctor, and the advances of her superstar ex-lover, Hale needs a Hail Mary of her own to keep her boys on the gridiron and herself from becoming the next victim.
Booking a Killer Vacation
J.R. Ripley - 2020
Think innkeeper Dick Loudon and mystery writer Jessica Fletcher. Put 'em together, flip 'em around and what do you get? Kelly Green and Harry Leland. One is the new owner of the Beach Lovers Inn in Myrtle Beach, SC. The other is a mystery writer staying at the inn who sees mysteries and murders everywhere.When Kelly’s aunt decides to retire, she jumps at the opportunity to run the inn. But soon after, a guest is murdered and Kelly and Harry are determined to find the killer before any more guests check out for good.First in a new cozy series by critically-acclaimed, bestselling author J.R. Ripley.
Dead Reckoning
Dawn Lee McKenna - 2017
If you listen closely, beneath the cries of hungry gulls and the rustle of wind through the palm fronds, you might hear it whisper its secrets.
Lieutenant Evan Caldwell is a man adrift, cut loose from a life he thought he knew. His wife has lain comatose for months, and the accident that put her there has raised questions that she’s unable to answer. Now, with his wife in a nearby hospice, Evan has moved to a boat in the quiet Panhandle town of Port St. Joe, where he works as an investigator with the local sheriff’s office.Evan’s hopes for peace and solitude are shattered when the current sheriff is found murdered. Worse, Evan’s put in the position of interim sheriff while he investigates the murder of his former boss.Evan keeps coming up with more questions than answers; questions about what really happened in the dark privacy of the swamp, and questions about what really happened to his marriage and his wife.As the answers begin to surface, he discovers secrets as deep and twisted as the roots of the ancient cypress trees that litter the landscape - secrets that no one wants revealed. *Page count of 320 pages will not be reflected until Amazon syncs paperback and ebook editions*
Payback
R.C. Bridgestock - 2019
Her hometown, the Yorkshire countryside, and her old friends all seem unchanged, but appearances can be deceptive. When a brutal murder is discovered, Charley is forced to question everything, and the interest of her ex - reporter Danny Ray - doesn't make it easier.
Drop Dead, Gorgeous
Mike Jastrzebski - 2016
She had to come back from the grave to convince him she was murdered. Oh, and she brought along the ghost of her mother.What was she thinking? Artie didn't get along with his mother-in-law when she was alive...why would it be any different now?If you like a great mystery and don't mind a couple of ghosts mucking things up, grab this book now. You won't regret it.
Real Dangerous Girl
K.W. Jeter - 2011
It's been replaced by Real Dangerous Girl (Lincoln Square Books, 2018), which actually includes both this book and the original second series book, Real Dangerous Job. All of the series books now have Lincoln Square editions, but these mostly each combine two of the original books into one volume No easy answers. No big international spy secret bank accounts. No superheroes or magic. Just her wits, guts…And a very large gun.All Kim wants is the job she’s worked hard for. But when her boss McIntyre throws her out on her ear, she begins dreaming of revenge. She hires Cole, a psychotic hitman who’s also been dispensed with by the same boss. Left crippled by McIntyre’s security guards, Cole tells Kim that the only way they’ll be able to pull off this hit is if she’s there with a gun in her hand as well. Before she knows what’s happening, Kim is training to be a professional assassin, with everything – including her own life – at stake. Because she’s only going to get one chance to pull it off...Noted sf and fantasy author K. W. Jeter takes a new turn in the thriller genre, building on the dark, gritty moods of his previous science fiction and horror novels. Fans of mystery and suspense novels with smart, tough females taking the lead, from A IS FOR ALIBI to THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO, will find a lot to like in the new Kim Oh Thriller series.
Open Season
Archer Mayor - 1988
Joe Gunther of the Brattleboro, Vermont police force has a serious problem: in a community where a decade could pass without a single murder, the body count is suddenly mounting. Innocent citizens are being killed—and others set-up—seemingly orchestrated by a mysterious ski-masked man. Signs suggest that a three year-old murder trial might lie at the heart of things, but it’s a case that many in the department would prefer remained closed. A man of quiet integrity, Lt. Gunther knows that he must pursue the case to its conclusion, wherever it leads.Open Season is the first of Archer Mayor’s twenty-three Joe Gunther novels, a series of gripping police procedurals set in New England, where small-town charm, stoicism and civility sometimes conceal brutal truths.
Inside The Whispers
A.J. Waines - 2016
Her confusion turns to horror when one by one, instead of recovering, they start committing suicide.When her partner, Conrad, begins to suffer the same terrifying flashbacks, Sam is desperate to find out what is causing them and a mysterious and chilling crime begins to unravel.Then the flashbacks begin for Sam…The first book in the Dr Samantha Willerby Series, INSIDE THE WHISPERS is a tense, haunting Psychological Thriller that will leave your nerves in shreds. It can easily be read as a stand-alone novel and will appeal to fans of authors like Gillian Flynn, Mark Edwards and Caroline Mitchell.
The Granite Key
N.S. Wikarski - 2011
Five objects buried beneath the rubble of lost civilizations point to the hiding place of the fabled Sage Stone. The real adventure begins when a secret society known as the Arkana deploys its agents to recover the relic. They find their quest hampered at every turn by members of a fanatical religious cult called the Blessed Nephilim. The cult's leader, Abraham Metcalf, believes that the Sage Stone can help him create a terrifying new world order.Although keeping the relic out of Metcalf's hands is important, it is even more critical to keep him from finding the Arkana's troves of archaeological treasure. This cache, which has taken centuries to amass, proves the existence of advanced matriarchal cultures on every continent predating patriarchy by thousands of years. The Nephilim would like nothing better than to destroy the cache and its guardians. The global treasure hunt for the Sage Stone has put the Nephilim and the Arkana on a collision course. The only question is whether anyone will survive long enough to claim the prize.Volume One - The Granite KeyIn a nightmare, nineteen-year-old Cassie Forsythe sees her sister attacked by a man in a cowboy hat who demands something called "the key." Her nightmare mutates into reality when she is called to identify her sister's body, murdered exactly as her dream foretold. Cassie dismisses her vision as a fluke until the night she catches the man in the cowboy hat ransacking her sister's apartment. He bolts with an odd-looking stone cylinder--the Granite Key. From that moment, Cassie's normal world evaporates.She learns that her sister led a double life retrieving artifacts for a secret society called the Arkana. Cassie's sister had the ability to touch a relic and relive its past. Cassie has now inherited this dubious gift. The leader of the Arkana wants the girl to take over her sister's role in the organization. She reluctantly agrees in the hopes that they might find her sister's killer. Teamed with librarian Griffin and bodyguard Erik, Cassie is sent to the Minoan ruins of Crete to decipher the key's code. Even as the trio rakes through megalithic tombs and Minoan palaces for clues, Nephilim operatives are closing in. Will Cassie And Company solve the mystery in time or fall victim to the religious cult's ruthless assassin? THE GRANITE KEY holds all the answers.
Deadly Homecoming at Rosemont
Connie Chappell - 2018
That expectation dies when she and Clay find Trey Rosemont murdered on the foyer floor. Across town, police officers race to Eastwood University. Priceless Egyptian artifacts were stolen from the history department safe. Wrenn's longtime love, Eastwood professor Gideon Douglas, heads the department. Only recovery of the artifacts will save his career. Life in Havens, Ohio, doesn't stop for this crime spree. Wrenn works for Mayor K.C. Tallmadge. He wishes Wrenn would stop searching down clues ahead of the police and pacify temperamental playwright Barton Reed. Barton's play is just days away from opening in the town's historic Baxter Theater. Amid murder, theft, or curtain calls, Wrenn's instincts prove sharp. But it's her stubborn one-woman approach that places her directly in the killer's path.
Moonlight, Murder, and Small Town Secrets
KC Hart - 2020
Katy and the band land their biggest gig yet at the annual Peanut Patch Festival, but things hit a sour note when she stumbles across a body during mic check. When the investigation strikes the wrong chord, Katy is determined to find the real killer before anyone else is forced to join the heavenly choir.Katy Cross is perfectly content to live her life and mind her own business, which is sometimes harder than you'd think in the small town of Skeeterville, where gossip and sweet tea are town staples. But when she finds the body of Jessa Williams, a newcomer to the area with the reputation of a troublemaking flirt, under the Peanut Patch Festival stage, she's compelled to step out of her comfort zone and snoop around.Since a murder has not occurred in their town in over three decades, the local sheriff is more accustomed to catching jaywalkers than killers. His arrest of a local easy-going, hard-working neighbor sets tongues a-wagging. Will Katy's sharp eye, keen wit, and a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time help the sheriff and his bumbling, good-natured deputy catch the real culprit before more lives are lost?This humorous cozy mystery has no graphic gore, bad language or sexual content, but is filled with lots of laughs, intrigue, and heart. Perfect for fans of amateur sleuths and small towns!
The Art of Danger
Stuart Doughty - 2020
Three men are murdered to get a dull, forgotten painting. A crazy, pointless heist? Or something far more sinister?In this action-packed crime-thriller, the tough ex-cop and firearms specialist Kite is up against a foreign spy who’s planning havoc and mayhem, not an art show. To complicate matters, Kite’s being followed by a kooky – and sexy – young woman. Where does she fit in? Even worse, Kite’s got a shameful secret in his past that he thinks is well hidden – until he realises someone’s on to it and the odds stack up to produce an action-packed thriller.What Kite is chasing down isn’t just a painting: it’s the most explosive art in the world. Can he stop the impending cataclysm?
Murder & Marble Cake
Nancy McGovern - 2018
So, ready for change and up for a challenge, she has decided to relocate to the beautiful coastal town of Swaddle, California to pursue her lifelong dream of opening her very own bakery! And, as a self-professed “Queen of Cakes”, she can’t wait to show the world what she can do!Sadly, not everyone shares her enthusiasm.While the majority of the locals are thrilled with her new Comfort Cakes Bake Shop, Rachel soon learns that the owner of a local café is determined to ruin her. Of course, business is business, and a bit of competition may even make things interesting. But when Rachel finds a dead body in her kitchen just before the Grand Opening and she is accused of the murder, she quickly realizes that this is more than a little friendly rivalry!Meet Rachel Rowan as she strives to prove her innocence in her first culinary cozy mystery adventure, Murder & Marble Cake!