Book picks similar to
The Complete Merry & Neal Mysteries by Janice Frost


crime
mystery
police-procedural
mysteries-thriller-suspense

The Magpie


Marrisse Whittaker - 2021
    A detective who is out of control. Meet DSI Wilde. Wilde by name. Wild by nature. DSI Billie Wilde is on a mission to catch the killer responsible for a horrific showcase of murders, in order to prove that she’s still at the top of her game. But when hidden skeletons come out of dark corners, she is forced to confront her past and face the truth - that she is the ultimate target, now firmly in the executioner’s sights.As Billie grapples with her past, and learns she isn’t who she thought she was, she uncovers devastating childhood links to each of the victims. The past refuses to stay buried and Billie soon finds herself wondering if she knows who’s behind the brutal murders.But can Billie solve the case and unravel the mystery of her own past before it’s too late?

THE INSPECTOR RAVENSCROFT MYSTERIES six captivating historical murder mysteries


Kerry Tombs - 2020
    

The Beatrice Stubbs Boxset Two: European Crime Mysteries


J.J. Marsh - 2017
     “If you like Kate Atkinson, Alexander McCall Smith or Dorothy L Sayers, you’re going to love Beatrice Stubbs.” COLD PRESSED “Two things people fear the most? Change and death.” Santorini. Turquoise seas, ancient ruins and beautiful sunsets. And a woman thrown from a cliff. The violent death shocks fellow passengers of the Empress Louise, a grand cruise liner packed with British tourists. For newly promoted Inspector Nikos Stephanakis, the case poses linguistic and cultural problems. His request for assistance yields unexpected results. DI Beatrice Stubbs, called in as support, flies to Greece. What with tension at home, the timing couldn’t be better. She anticipates a few days in the sun and a swift resolution. Yet an earlier death at sea proves suspicious and when another elderly lady is killed in her cabin, terror spreads like contagion. Murder is aboard. And someone has Beatrice in his sights. From the Cyclades to the Dodecanese, Nikos and Beatrice pursue the killer and unearth a secret. Revenge is a dish best served cold. HUMAN RITES “Judgement is in the eye of the beholder.” Adrian Harvey, London wine merchant, has lost the Christmas spirit. Someone is stalking him, stealing his post and vandalising his shop. When the police question him after an anonymous tip-off, he’s more than anxious. He’s scared. And who is that nun? Long time neighbour and friend DI Beatrice Stubbs is dispatched to Germany to investigate a series of apparently related art thefts, so Adrian seizes the chance to flee the city. He follows her to Hamburg to do some Christmas shopping and visit his ex. Yet the stalker is still on his heels. While Beatrice is on the trail of a violent gang of mercenary thieves, Adrian runs from danger to the remote island of Sylt. But danger follows and Adrian has run too far. From the icy streets of Hamburg, to the canals of Amsterdam, and the snowswept beaches of Sylt, Beatrice and Adrian discover how a virtue taken to extremes can lead to deadly sin. BAD APPLES “Some people are just rotten to the core.” Acting DCI Beatrice Stubbs is representing Scotland Yard at a police conference in Portugal. Her task is to investigate a rumour – a ghostwritten exposé of European intelligence agencies – and discover who is behind such a book. Hardly a dangerous assignment, so she invites family and friends for a holiday. Days at the conference and evenings at the villa should be the perfect work-life balance. Until one of her colleagues is murdered. An eclectic alliance of international detectives forms to find the assassin. But are they really on the same side? Meanwhile, tensions rise at the holiday villa. A clash of egos sours the atmosphere and when a five-year-old child disappears, their idyll turns hellish. From Lisbon streets to the quays of Porto, Parisian cafés to the green mountains of Gerês, Beatrice realises trust can be a fatal mistake.

Cavendish & Walker: Volume 1


Sally Rigby - 2020
    and winning.DCI Whitney Walker’s in trouble. She’s threatened with demotion if she screws up another case. So, when a killer starts murdering female students, it’s a chance to redeem herself.Forensic psychologist, Dr Georgina Cavendish, has spent her life inside the university walls, but when one of her students is murdered, she steps out from behind the text books and puts her skills to the test.The two headstrong women join forces to stop the killer. But sparks fly when real world policing meets academic theory, and it’s not a pretty sight.FATAL JUSTICEA vigilante’s on the loose, dishing out their kind of justice…A string of mutilated bodies sees Detective Chief Inspector Whitney Walker back in action. But when she discovers the victims have all been grooming young girls, she fears a vigilante is on the loose. And while she understands the motive, no one is above the law.Once again, she turns to forensic psychologist, Dr Georgina Cavendish, to unravel the cryptic clues. But will they be able to save the next victim from a gruesome death?DEATH TRACKCatch the train if you dare…After a teenage boy is found dead on a Lenchester train, Detective Chief Inspector Whitney Walker believes they’re being targeted by the notorious Carriage Killer, who chooses a local rail network, commits four murders, and moves on.Against her wishes, Walker’s boss brings in officers from another force to help the investigation and prevent more deaths, but she’s forced to defend her team against this outside interference.Forensic psychologist, Dr Georgina Cavendish, is by her side in an attempt to bring to an end this killing spree. But how can they get into the mind of a killer who has already killed twelve times in two years without leaving behind a single clue?

The Lt. Kate Gazzara Series: Books 4-6


Blair Howard - 2020
    Kate Gazzara. If you love whodunits, police procedurals, realism, fast-paced nonstop action, strong women detectives, it's time you met Kate Gazzara, a dedicated female detective in a world dominated by men.Kate's addictive - You can't read just one.

Skip Langdon Complete Set


Julie Smith - 2014
    Amant has been crowned Rex, King of Carnival. But his day of glory comes to an abrupt and bloody end when a parade-goer dressed as Dolly Parton guns him down. AXEMAN'S JAZZ What's the perfect killing field for a murderer? A place where he (or maybe she) can learn your secrets from your own mouth and then make friends over coffee. A supposedly "safe" place where anonymity is the norm. The horror who calls himself The Axeman has figured it out and claimed his territory—he's cherry-picking his victims in the 12-Step programs of New Orleans. JAZZ FUNERAL Skip Langdon just happens to be on hand when Ham Brocato, director if New Orleans Jazzfest, is discovered dead on the kitchen floor in the middle of his own party the evening before the Fest. To complicate the already murky case, the victim's sixteen-year-old blues musician sister has disappeared, and Skip suspects that if the young woman isn't the murderer, she's in mortal danger from the person who is. DEATH BEFORE FACEBOOK It’s a chilly November in 1994, and thirty-one-year-old Geoff Kavanagh surreptitiously splits his time between science fiction novels and cyberspace in his parents’ dilapidated, overgrown, uptown New Orleans mansion. Until his mother finds him dead from a suspicious fall off a ladder. Maybe he should never have posted about seeing his father murdered … HOUSE OF BLUES Sugar Hebert arrives home from a ten-minute errand to find her husband shot to death and the rest of her family missing—including her daughter Reed, heir apparent to the Hebert restaurant dynasty, and Reed's eleven-month-old daughter. THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS Politics makes the strangest bedfellows of all and in New Orleans, a psychopath’s running for mayor. Not just the usual harmless megalomaniac—a murderer and a monster. CRESCENT CITY CONNECTION Sure, New Orleans is known for corruption, but suddenly the good guys get a break—an honest police chief. And then someone guns him down. When a terrifying organization called The Jury takes out the cop-killer, Detective Skip Langdon’s on the case. And she suspects The Jury’s the brainchild of her old nemesis, self-described preacher Errol Jacomine 82 DESIRE It seems Councilwoman Bebe Fortier has misplaced her equally prominent husband, United Oil VP Russell Fortier. Across town, part-time detective/poet Talba Wallis has a simple wish--to find out what Russell Fortier's disappearance has to do with her.

A Question of Despair


Maureen Carter - 2011
    Two streets away, through the open window of an unmarked police car, and they could hear the screams.HER BABY IS SNATCHED OFF THE STREET.When a child goes missing, every minute’s precious. When a baby’s taken, every second counts.Detective Sarah Quinn is called in.Baby Evie’s mother is in pieces. But then she seems unwilling to help. What isn’t she telling them?Time is running out to find Evie alive.TWO WOMEN ON THE CASERuthless TV journalist Caroline King is a thorn in the side of career cop DI Sarah Quinn. Caroline’s emotional and impulsive. Sarah’s known at work as the Ice Queen.WILL SPARKS FLY? CAN THE THIN BLUE LINE HOLD?The investigation reaches a dead end. The clock is ticking. The two enemies must work together to get baby Evie back alive.A heart-pounding thriller you won’t be able to put down. Perfect for fans of Helen H. Durrant, Charlie Gallagher, Angela Marsons, DS Butler, Carol Wyer and Rachel Abbott.

Crash Point


John Carson - 2014
    As the investigation unfolds, a 25 year-old murder case is re-opened, and when Miller delves into the past, he finds that somebody had a secret that is costing people their lives. He also discovers the awful truth of who really killed his wife in a hit-and-run two years ago, and how his wife’s killer is coming after him…

Free to Burn (Katie Freeman Mysteries Book 8)


Julie Mellon - 2019
    The similarities between this scene and one from a month prior are too great to be ignored. And many questions linger. Aside from the horrific manner of death, what do these newlywed couples have in common? Were these crimes of opportunity, or were these couples targeted? As Katie and Michael dig to find answers to all their questions, they uncover ties to a long-since forgotten disappearance and a death strikingly comparable to their present-day murders. In the end, uncovering answers and capturing a killer might cost Katie more than she’s ready to sacrifice.

Slater and Norman Mystery Novels: Box Set One.


P.F. Ford - 2020
    If this was a TV series, it would be the perfect Sunday evening drama. The books in this UK based series have accumulated hundreds of reviews, with almost 90% of reviewers giving 4 and 5 stars. This collection includes the first four books in the series (and you get them for the price of two!): Book 1: Death Of A Temptress Ruth Thornhill went missing six months ago. According to the evidence, she ran off with another man, so the Met closed the case. However, Slater’s enquiries soon find inconsistencies in the original investigation, and after a near-fatal encounter with a London bus, he realises the stakes are far higher than he imagined. An unlikely ally, in the form of fellow scapegoat DS Norman Norman, helps him uncover disturbing connections between the missing woman, a Chinese businessman, a glossy magazine, an online escort agency, a top London banker and senior officers from London’s Serious Crime Unit. The two uncover a mire of corruption, blackmail, deception and possibly the most cunning murder ever seen. The evidence stacks up against one particular suspect and Slater and Norman close in, but as with most things in Slater’s life, nothing is ever simple. Book 2: Just A Coincidence In the sleepy Hampshire town of Tinton, major crime is rare, and DS Slater and colleague Norman Norman find themselves with nothing to investigate except a flasher and an illiterate counterfeiter. Things are so quiet Slater even arranges to go on his long-awaited date with bombshell waitress Jelena. But things can change in a matter of seconds, and a dog walker’s discovery of a battered body near a local woodland sends Slater and Norman hurrying to the scene. Before they know it, they have three dead bodies on their hands, and the victims are all related. But with 15 years between the murders, is this just a bizarre coincidence, or could the murders be linked? With tensions rising within their close-knit team, can Slater and Norman keep it together to solve their latest mystery? Book 3: Florence When a little old man is found dead in his home, DS Dave Slater assumes he was simply the victim of a tragic accident. He lived alone, after all, and didn’t seem to have any living relatives. But after some strange occurrences at the old man’s home, Slater finds himself probing deeper. He soon discovers that someone seems to be looking for something, but what was the lonely old man hiding, and why is someone so desperate to find it? And then there’s Florence, a ghost-like figure who is occasionally spotted around town in the early hours of the morning. Slater can’t shake off the feeling she is linked, somehow. But how, and why? Book 4: The Wrong Man When Diana Woods is found stabbed to death in her kitchen, DS Slater and DS Norman Norman are plunged into another major investigation. The finger of suspicion quickly points at Diana’s estranged husband, Ian, a bully who regularly abused his wife. But as Slater learns more, he begins to wonder if everything is as it seems. When a new suspect appears on the scene, it seems that Slater’s instincts were right. But the evidence seems just a bit too convenient, and Slater and Norman have to face the possibility that their suspect is being framed, and they could be back to square one.

Breaking Faith


Jo Bannister - 2005
    When she called her business “Looking for Something?” Brodie Farrell hoped to receive challenging commissions from interesting clients.  Even by her standards, though, demon rock musician Jared Fry is hard to please.  Fortunately his manager, the charismatic Eric Chandos, is easier to like, and it’s with him that Brodie works to find a new home for the rock star.An old coaching inn on the Downs seems the perfect choice.  Though the locals are appalled---and their teenagers thrilled---at the arrival of the self-styled Satanist, Fry’s primary concern is his new swimming pool.  And that’s when he realizes that the protestors outside are the least of his problems.Brodie’s troubles are only just beginning, too.  She has a long-term relationship with gruff, hardworking Detective Superintendent Jack Deacon and an important platonic friendship with Daniel Hood, a quiet young teacher with hidden depths.  So why does she find herself so drawn to Chandos?  And how much is she going to risk before the real trouble starts?

The Surrey Stalker


B.L. Pearce - 2019
    An ambitious young detective. A case that could destroy everything he holds dear.When a young woman is found raped and strangled along the Thames River path, it looks like a personal vendetta by an enraged ex-lover. Then two more women die in the same manner and it becomes clear that a deranged serial killer is on the loose. All three women were engaged to be married. Could this be the link between them?The case is assigned to DI Rob Miller, a young, ambitious detective, whose job it is to catch the killer before any more women are murdered. Rob throws himself into the investigation to the detriment of his own fiancé who is planning their wedding. When Rob begins to hone in on the killer, his fiancé disappears, and Rob knows it's only a matter of time before the killer makes this personal.

A Deadly Dividend


David Pearson - 2020
    Two very different detectives try to find the murderer.A night out turns into a nightmare for a young man who is killed in Dublin’s city centre. Once a street brawl or mugging is ruled out, it begins to look like he was targeted. But why?DI Aidan Burke struggles to get anything useful out of the man’s friends and family, so the investigation leads to his workplace. It is here that they establish he was in a relationship with a co-worker.And when his girlfriend is attacked in her home and narrowly escapes with her life, detectives become certain the death was not random.The inquiry meets a brick wall of financial secrecy. To no avail, DI Burke tries unconventional methods to break it. Could the softer touch of his sergeant, the unassuming DS Fiona Moore, provide the key?What did the victim know that required his death? And just how far will the criminals responsible go to protect their secrets?

Justice Series Box Set #7-9


M.A. Comley - 2018
    some cups spilleth over...A crime like no other...Lorne arrives at a scene where the victim has been killed by an unusual weapon.Two brothers are reported missing a stone's throw away from the murder scene.Coincidence or is something far more disturbing afoot?With clues descending on her like apples in the autumn breeze, will Lorne track down the killer before the brothers' fate is set in stone?There are many forms of justice but will lawful justice prevail in the end?Get your copy of this unputdownable thriller today if you're a fan of Rachel Abbot, Joy Ellis or Faith Martin.Other books in this series are:  Cruel Justice #1 in Police Procedurals and1# Women Sleuths.  Impeding Justice #1 in Police Procedurals Final justice #1 Action and Adventure Foul Justice #1 Hard-Boiled Mysteries Guaranteed Justice #1 Women Sleuths Ultimate Justice - #2 Women Sleuths Virtual Justice - #1 Hard Boiled/#2 Psychological ThrillersHostile Justice - #1 Police ProceduralTortured Justice - #1 Vigilante JusticeRough Justice - #1 Women SleuthsDubious Justice - #1 British DetectivesCalculated Justice -  #2 Action and AdventureTwisted Justice -  #1 Women SleuthsPrime Justice - #2 Police ProceduralHeroic Justice - out now.ShamefulJustice - out now Immoral Justice - new releaseShort stories to accompany the series involving Lorne and Pete are:Blind Justice - introduction novella to the series.

Joffe Books Murder Mystery & Suspense Short Story Collection


JOFFE BOOKS - 2021