Book picks similar to
The Case-Book of Jimmy Lavender by Vincent Starrett
category-f-mystery
crime
digital
mystery-thriller-crime
The Reluctant Detective
Adrian Spalding - 2019
He just wanted a quiet life. Something his mother was not going to allow. There again he never for one moment imagined he would have to look into the death of a 90-year-old lady who was gambling away her family fortune. The Hayden Detective Agency has no need of clients. The very existence of the Agency allows Martin Hayden to claim his large monthly allowance from the family fortune - without lifting a finger. Martin’s biggest problem is his interfering mother, who understands her idle son too well. She takes steps to find him not just clients but also a personal assistant to keep an eye on him. Under pressure from the women in his life, Martin agrees to take on his first client. How hard can it be to follow a 90-year-old woman who spends her time losing money at roulette tables? As it turns out harder than Martin ever thought possible, especially with the old lady dying in strange circumstances. Soon the Reluctant Detective is grappling with shady estate agents, an intellectual artist, missing charity money and an irritating Indian waiter. Luckily for Martin there is help in the form of Colin, a transvestite who, apart from having very good fashion sense, is an expert at breaking into houses.
Wade Garrison's Promise
Richard Greene - 2010
When Emmett Spears is gunned down by four killers in cold blood in a saloon in Harper, Colorado, his best friend makes a promise at Emmett's burial to get revenge. Sarah Talbert loves Wade and begs him not to go, but Wade made a promise he has to keep. Armed with a pistol, and a Sharps .50 caliber rifle, he sets out to find the four men. The journey takes him, two aging sheriffs and an Indian across Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and into Mexico following a trail of violence and death that Wade may never recover from.
Old Habits
John Carson - 2019
Women were being abducted and murdered, then their corpses were displayed in open shallow graves. Marshall's FBI partner, Jessie Kent, was taken. During the hunt for her, Marshall tracked the killer down, but he was shot five times and left for dead. Less than an hour later, the killer took his own life. None of the remaining victims were ever found. Until now. A female detective comes down to Marshall's home town to ask for his help. Somebody has found the decomposed victims and is displaying them. Despite no longer being with the FBI, Marshall sees this as a chance to find Jessie, and take her home for a proper burial. And to lay to rest the feelings of guilt he's been carrying for the past four years. He agrees to go back with Dani Fox, but it's soon clear somebody doesn't want him back in town. He's warned off, but he ignores it. Then the killings start. Somebody has just accelerated the game from displaying corpses to adding new victims. And this time, he's making it personal...
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 Red Riley Adventures Box Set, #1-3
Stephanie Andrews - 2018
She's not going down without a fight!If you like fast-paced crime novels, and female characters who are strong, funny, and real, then you're going to love Kay Riley, a Chicago cop wrongly accused and on the run for her life.Being a cop was never something that Riley was very good at. But now, as she must become a vigilante to clear her name, she finds new reserves of strength and courage, all with a healthy dose of sarcasm.With her name and photo splashed across the nightly news, Riley should leave the city ASAP. Instead, she decides to stay undercover and track down the real killer.But somebody knows that Riley is still in the game, and soon the police are the least of her worries as a sexy assassin starts closing in.Can she become the hero the city needs without getting herself killed? Probably not...
The Tiger Gets New Teeth
Amit Bagaria - 2021
The NP had done remarkably well in elections in four states. It was the party’s heroic return. It was an even larger triumph for the Dalal family, who had survived several calls for their ouster from party leadership. The fireworks started at 11:59 and four bottles of champagne were uncorked, as the ‘Nationalists’ and few staff members watched the night sky from the garden below.BOOM. Huge explosions razed most of 10, Lokpath, the entire Dalal lineage reduced to body parts and blood splatter on the grass. Though the explosion was restricted to the property, the tremors would soon be felt throughout the country.Naresh Mistri was woken up at 1:08 a.m. His national security team had reached his residence. The PM saw the news on TV. Even BP’s staunchest supporters would suspect the party. First the dreadful electoral performance and now this! It could be the biggest threat to his political career. As the world’s gaze would firmly be on Mistri, would he lose his greatest asset of all, public opinion?The IB and RAW had more often than not failed to provide intelligence on such attacks. And there was no ‘national’ police force that could investigate and solve this crime and bring the culprits to justice quickly. No, the PM had to turn to someone else. He said, “I want ISSCO to investigate this.”Realising that India needed an agency like the USA’s FBI, Russia’s FSB, and UK’s MI5, which could work with surprise, speed, and intensity, Mistri had three months ago approved ISSCO, a covert, privately run but government-funded intelligence and security organisation. He had told ISSCO they were to do everything that IB, RAW, DIA, NIA, and NSG said couldn’t be done, and do it better, faster, and quieter.
Samaritan
Estelle Ryan - 2022
That is until she opens her front door to find the corrupt woman who publicly outed Bree as transgender—the same woman now begging for Bree’s help.Petra Keller is a despicable person, uncaring whose reputation she tramples on her way to the top of the corporate ladder. Or is she? Could she be telling the truth that she’s changed? The more Bree looks into Petra’s shocking claims, the more she uncovers facts leading her to a chilling connection between highly respected companies, their owners and an unthinkable crime.Her investigation becomes even more muddied by cryptic emails, her overprotective brother convincing his enigmatic friend to keep an eye on her and a bombing that lands her in hospital. Instead of being intimidated, Bree’s resolve is strengthened. These powerful men can’t continue to get away with profiting from actions that already resulted in the loss of countless innocent lives—actions that would cost more lives unless Bree gets to the truth. And exposes it.Samaritan is the first book in The Duchess Report trilogy, continuing with Sentinel and concluding with Maecenas.
Promotions & Poisons
Laina C. Turner - 2020
Presley has to clear her name before not only does she lose out on this big promotion, but even worse - she ends up in jail!Do you love cozy mysteries with a quirky, strong female lead that just can’t keep her nose out of police business? Do you enjoy a touch of romance with your cozies? Then the Presley Thurman series is for you!
The Presley Thurman Cozy Mystery Series
Prequel: Promotions & Poisons (listed as Book 14)Book 1: Stilettos & ScoundrelsBook 2: Necklaces & NoosesBook 3: Handbags & HooligansBook 4: Mistletoe & MurderBook 5: Gems & GunshotsBook 6: Tiaras & TexansBook 7: Cupids & CrooksBook 8: Vows & VictimsBook 9: Romance & RevengeBook 10: Accessories & AlibisBook 11: Bats & BlingBook 12: Weddings & WeaponsBook 13: Diamond & DisguisesBook 15: Keys & Kidnappers Book 16: Icicles & Icepicks
Other cozy mystery series by Laina Turner:
The Spencer University Cozy Mystery SeriesThe Read Wine Bookstore Cozy Mystery Series
Long Man's Shadow
Anne Wilkinson - 2016
This is useful as she has ‘downsized’ to a flat in Stoke Newington and needs to organise her ‘tat’. While sorting through her boxes, she comes across one containing photos, labelled the Brittan albums, which she had bought with her late husband at a car boot sale in Essex 10 years earlier. The photos were taken in the 1930s. On a foray to Sussex to stay with her sister, a body is discovered. It is in a well at Willmans House, Fairlingly, where renovation work is being carried out. Apparently the female body has been there some time. Our amateur detective realises that this is where the photographs in the albums were taken. Using her new-found skills from her evening classes on family history, she begins to research the families in the photos, the Brittans and, their close neighbours, the Jeavingtons. Gradually their profiles begin to emerge. However, in Sussex, despite the help of her sister and the local vicar in unravelling the mystery, there is unexpected local opposition to her enquiries. Why so many years after a murder had been committed should there be so much local interest? As Mrs Stonier digs deeper, the questions multiply… Anne Wilkinson is a retired marine lawyer with a PhD in the history of amateur gardening, on which she has written three books. She has had a life-long interest in crime fiction and true crime stories, and in her own fiction she combines her experience of genealogical research with rediscovered crimes in a unique way. Anne's other interests include gardening, cooking and vintage and retro antique collecting, all of which have appeared, or will soon appear, in her books.
Absolution
Adam Croft - 2019
All he wants is to get his work done and enjoy a quiet existence. But when he’s caught up in a terrorist attack on the London Underground, his life is turned upside down.As he lies recovering in his hospital bed, a shadowy figure visits him and tells Sam not only is he a key witness to the attack, but he has unique access to information which could blow open a huge conspiracy and bring down the British government.Will Sam risk everything he knows and loves to save his country?
The Best Short Stories of All Time - Volume 1
Jack LondonEdgar Allan Poe - 2011
Ranging from the 19th to the 20th centuries, writers include James Augustine Aloysius Joyce, Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, Richard Edward Connell, Henri Nathaniel Hawthorne, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Jack London, Henri Ringgold Wilmer Lardner, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant and Edgar Allan Poe.
True Crime: 12 Most Notorious Murder Stories
Scott Black - 2014
Brilliantly written, well organised gripping page turner. A must add Mystery/thriller true crime book.
A Lesson in Murder: A DC Oliver Cole Mystery (Book 4)
Alan Fisher - 2018
Under pressure from Superintendent Fox, Oliver agrees to stage a week-long puzzle solving course for final year Hendon College graduates, showing them how he looks at the types of clues he’s had to deal with and setting some puzzle solving problems for the class. But minutes before the first session is held, the body of a young woman is fished out of the River Tyne. Torn between the responsibility of running the training course and helping with the case, Oliver struggles to focus on either. As a second body is found, fears of another serial killer on the loose force DCI Jack Collier to enlist Oliver’s help. But when a 3rd body is found in a familiar graveyard, Oliver begins to wonder if the killer is toying with him
Deadly Webs: Trapped- A Riveting Mystery Book 1
James Hunt - 2017
Abduction cases are taken very seriously by all of the parties involved. None more so than by Chase Grant, a detective in Seattle’s eighteenth precinct. The clock starts the moment he gets the call from a parent, and the first twelve hours are crucial. Every move counts, and every choice matters. If he missteps, then a child might not come home. But today was different. He got a call about a missing child. And then another, and another, and another…
The Red-Headed League / A Scandal in Bohemia / The Adventure of the Speckled Band / The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
Arthur Conan Doyle - 1913