Daughters of the Lake


Wendy Webb - 2018
    Tucked in the folds of the woman’s curiously vintage gown is an infant, as cold and at peace as its mother. No one can identify the woman. Except for Kate. She’s seen her before. In her dreams…One hundred years ago, a love story ended in tragedy, its mysteries left unsolved. It’s time for the lake to give up its secrets. As each mystery unravels, it pulls Kate deeper into the eddy of a haunting folktale that has been handed down in whispers over generations. Now, it’s Kate’s turn to listen.As the drowned woman reaches out from the grave, Kate reaches back. They must come together, if only in dreams, to right the sinister wrongs of the past.

The Bookmaker


Chris Fraser - 2011
    It wasn’t Sirhan Sirhan in the Ambassador kitchen. It wasn’t a massive conspiracy or government cover-up. It was one man with one agenda. For small-time Huntington Beach bookmaker and wanna-be writer Trent Oster, it all started with a chance to collect a debt. Instead he’s offered an opportunity of a lifetime. Days later he finds himself on a sprawling southern estate in Oxford Mississippi, balancing the roles of houseguest and biographer for town legend Preston Walker—the man responsible for the most controversial murders in American history; and he’s finally ready to talk.

Fifth Avenue


Christopher Smith - 2010
    In the thriller Fifth Avenue, each intermingles within a revered society that is unprepared for what's in store for it when one man finally strikes in an effort to destroy another man for murdering his wife thirty-one years ago. Louis Ryan is that man. George Redman, his wife, two daughters and their close friends are his targets. Both men are self-made billionaires who came from nothing to stake their claim to Fifth Avenue. But when Louis Ryan hires an international assassin to literally rip the Redman family apart, a series of events that can't be stopped catapults them all through a fast-paced, hard-edged thriller in which nobody is safe. Secrets are revealed. The Mafia get involved. And George's two daughters, Celina and Leana Redman, come to the forefront. More than anyone, it's they who are caught in the throes of their father's past as Louis Ryan's blind desire to kill them all takes surprising turns in his all-out effort to see them dead.

Grayson Manor Haunting


Cheryl Bradshaw - 2013
    For Addison, it seems like she’s finally found the house of her dreams…until the spirit of Roxanne “Roxy” Rafferty comes to call. Who is Roxanne, why is she haunting Grayson Manor, and how will Addison’s connection reveal a key to her own past that she thought no longer existed?

Hope To Escape


Jack Parker - 2015
     Ess wasn't aware that a momentary encounter during her childhood had made her the object of obsession nearly twenty years later. Not just the artist’s obsession, but also the art collector’s. The artist had to kidnap her to keep her safe. The truth doesn't always set you free. How do they go on?

Lies We Bury


Elle Marr - 2021
    At twenty-seven, Marissa’s moved beyond the trauma and is working under a new name as a freelance photographer. But when she accepts a job covering a string of macabre murders in Portland, it’s impossible for Marissa not to remember.Everything is eerily familiar. The same underground lairs. Sad trinkets and toys left behind, identical to those Marissa had as a child. And then there is the note meant just for her that freezes Marissa’s blood: See you soon, Missy.To determine the killer’s next move, Marissa must retrieve her long-forgotten memories and return to a past she’s hidden away. But she won’t be facing her fears alone. Someone is waiting for her in the dark.

Rebecca Schwartz Series: Complete Set


Julie Smith - 2014
    You can't read just one, they're like chocolates! DEATH TURNS A TRICKA rollicking tale of murder, romance, and bordellos…Rebecca Schwartz, nice Jewish lawyer with a few too many fantasies, is happily playing the piano in a whorehouse when she suddenly finds herself assigned to make sure a near-naked state senator escapes a police raid. That dirty job done, a lovely evening turns even more delightful when she’s picked up by the cops and spends the next two hours at the Hall of Justice. Could this day get any worse? Of Course! Guess who arrives home to find a dead hooker on her living room floor? Fans of Janet Evanovich, Joan Hess, and Elizabeth Peters will get a kick out of this one.THE SOURDOUGH WARSTO YOU, IT’S JUST A FROZEN LUMP OF DOUGH; BUT TO SOME, IT’S LIFE AND DEATH…Especially to handsome Peter Martinelli, who wants to auction off the fabled sourdough starter from his family’s famous bakery. But who’d buy a frozen hunk of flour and water? Only, it turns out, every bakery in San Francisco, a national food conglomerate, and an upstart ringer with a mysterious backer.Someone would even kill for it. And does.A tasty treat of a San Francisco mystery. A crisp, tangy story you’re sure to get a rise out of. You won’t find it a bit crumb-y. TOURIST TRAPFear stalks the streets! reports the San Francisco Chronicle. It also stalks these pages, and so do a lot of laughs.You just know the Easter sunrise service is going to be a bummer when the San Francisco fog lifts to reveal a body nailed to a landmark cross. Next: mass shellfish poisoning at Pier 39. A very different kind of serial killer is operating here—one who seems to have a grudge against the whole city.And this is a very different kind of serial killer tale—a funny one. Well, actually, what serial killer’s funny? But lawyer sleuth Rebecca Schwartz is warm and witty, never takes herself too seriously, and on one occasion offers closing testimony with green hair.DEAD IN THE WATERTHAR SHE FLOATS! Deader than flotsam, right in the thirty-foot kelp tower at the Monterey Aquarium.She’s the aquarium director herself, beloved by all except Marty Whitehead, lawyer Rebecca Schwartz’s weekend hostess, now cooling her heels in the county clink.

A Dangerous Harbor


R.P. Dahlke - 2011
    Now, alone and isolated in the Mexican port’s police station for the last six hours, she’s convinced that reporting the body of a floater to authorities was a mistake. Even the arrival of a handsome, if somewhat dour, Mexican/Italian investigator, does nothing to dispel her growing anxiety that she’s about to be charged with the murder.Chief Inspector, Raul Vignaroli, is as surprised by the attractive solo-sailor as he is to find that she’s a respected member of the San Francisco police force, and after some well-placed phone calls he’s sure that he’s found the perfect partner to help him solve a murder, if not the cure for his broken heart.Released, she's free to go. But leaving the police station hits a snag when two policemen march in, dragging a listless prisoner between them. But before Katy can dodge them for the exit, the prisoner raises his head and a startling pair of aquamarine eyes meet hers.He straightens his back, wincing at the angle of his cuffed wrists. “What the… Whisper?”Suddenly, the sound of the ceiling fan is terribly loud. Blood pounds in her ears, her mouth goes dry, her palms are damp and her feet are nailed to the floor. In a knee jerk reaction, she hisses, “Don’t call me that!” A mermaid, a bald parrot, the past she'd hoped to leave behind and perhaps the love of her life… all in A Dangerous Harbor.

Don't Mess With Mrs. Sedgewick: A Caper Story


Marie F. Martin - 2016
    She convinces her three golfing buddies, all in their seventies, to sell their homes and buy adjoining condos. The widows intend to spend the rest of their days golfing, gambling at the casino, and having fun. Oh, the heaven of it. But then they all hire the same maid who uncovers long-hidden criminal secrets kept by each woman. Oh, the horror of it. The reputations of their deceased husbands, a banker, a minister, and a respected farmer, will be tarnished forever. Three of the widows could face jail time, and the fourth fears for her life. Whatever will they do with the conniving, blackmailing maid? If you grew to love the characters in Marie F. Martin’s previous novels Maternal Harbor, Harbored Secrets, and Ratham Creek, you will treasure Roberta and her friends in the mystery Don’t Mess With Mrs. Sedgewick.This is a caper story where the not so pure put their lives at risk to catch the real bad guys and save their little town.

The Song of the Mockingbird


Bill Cronin - 2013
    Only one problem: Jack cannot write a single word. Devastatingly depressed and hopelessly blocked Jack embarks on a personal journey back to the summer of 1961 when three childhood events created a psychological time-bomb that, thirty-five years later, threatened to destroy his marriage and end his writing career. Vibrant characters, settings like Charleston, Savannah and Key West and a tightly wound plot make this novel a “must read.” The Song of the Mockingbird is Bill Cronin’s second novel following five-star reviews for his first novel “Dial Tone.”

Judgment Call


J.C. Ryan - 2016
    After ten years inside he had abandoned all hope and resigned himself to the fact that he would remain there for the rest of his life. But the fact that Andy has admitted defeat and thrown in the towel didn’t mean his wife, Jamie, did. Disillusioned and worn out by the justice system, the Honorable Judge Regan St Clair was just about to pack in too when a letter from Jamie Gibbons arrived on her desk… Before long Regan St Clair and Jake Westley, a former Special Forces operator, stumble into a quagmire world of deceit and menace. A world where nothing is as it seems, and no one and nothing can be trusted. Is Andy Gibbons really innocent? Can he be exonerated? At what price? ~~~ JUDGMENT CALL is a full-length novel, a crime suspense-thriller about a corrupt organization with a sinister agenda that exploits every weakness and every dark corner of the fallible justice system. This fast-paced legal thriller is the first book in J C Ryan’s Exonerated Series.

The Hand of Christ


Joseph S. Nagle - 2010
    Another is discovered. Middle East peace talks at the Umayyad Mosque in Syria are attacked and CIA Officer Dr. Michael Sterling is caught in the middle. Along with the ambassadors of each nation in attendance, a Syrian agent is fatally wounded but, before dying, passes shocking intelligence to Michael - intelligence that outlines the planned assassinations of the Ayatollah of Iran and of the Pope and more: the intelligence outlines the history of an esoteric organization that traces their lineage to the truth of the Crucifixion – to Christ himself. Known only as the Order, their charter and goal throughout history has been to infiltrate governments with pawns of their own; to reclaim their right to rule. To make matters worse, the Order has framed Michael for the Ayatollah's assassination and a Presidential backed, but botched CIA mission – codenamed Merlin – made Iran nuclear capable and they want revenge for the killing of their beloved leader. Iran has aimed its full nuclear arsenal at the United States and has issued an ultimatum: hand over Michael in forty-eight hours or it will be war – exactly as the Order had planned. Attacked by his own agency, manipulated by the Order, and wanted by the Iranians, Dr. Michael Sterling carries the reader on a mesmerizing and fast-paced journey through Syria, the US, and Rome to stop the Pope's murder and to avert a manufactured war.About the Author:JS Nagle began his career in Intelligence as an Interrogator and was cross-trained in Counter Intelligence. A Paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, JS Nagle spent many a night preparing to jump into the darkness with only a parachute strapped to his back and his weapon at his side. JS Nagle has received training at the prestigious Defense Language Institute for both the German and Spanish languages, and he holds an expert qualification with a number of weapons. In his private life, he has earned degrees in Economics and an MBA in Organizational Management; he spends his spare time training for Ironman triathlons, chasing his entirely too fast toddler-daughter; loving his brilliant, clinician wife whilst bragging incessantly about his son who is a cadet at an unnamed private University in Washington DC.Follow the Author:Twitter: @SterlingNovelsBlog: SterlingNovels.blogspot.comEmail: JMScott@SterlingNovels.com

Back on Murder


J. Mark Bertrand - 2010
    Roland March is a homicide cop on his way out. But when he's the only one at a crime scene to find evidence of a missing female victim, he's given one last chance to prove himself. Before he can crack the case, he's transferred to a new one that has grabbed the spotlight--the disappearance of a famous Houston evangelist's teen daughter. With the help of a youth pastor with a guilty conscience who navigates the world of church and faith, March is determined to find the missing girls while proving he's still one of Houston's best detectives.

Chill Waters


Joan Hall Hovey - 2004
    It is the one place where she had always felt safe and loved. Devasted and lost, Rachael longs for the simplicity of her childhood. But Jenny’s Cove has changed. From the moment of Rachael’s arrival, a man watches. He has already killed, and mercilessly will do so again. Soon Rachael becomes a target for a vicious predator whose own dark and twisted past forms a deadly bond between them. And sets her on a collision course with a crazed killer. "...Joan Hall Hovey is a female Stephen King... a stunning, multi-layered, modern-day gothic, told with the unforgettable style and grace of a true master of suspense..." Rendezvous Magazine * * * Bloody Dagger Award Winner MIDWEST REVIEW by Cynthia Penn Chill Waters Joan Hall Hovey Evil stalks the unsuspecting --Recommended. Memories of idyllic summers spent with her grandmother motivate Rachael to buy the house in Jenny's Cove. Tired of the arguments and silences, she had tried to breath fire back into the dying embers of her marriage, only to discover her husband warming someone else's bed. Now at age forty-five and in the process of a divorce, Rachael longs for the simplicity of her childhood. Iris Brandt recognizes the arrival of evil, chilled by the malevolent energy that follows Rachael. The practical, no nonsense proprietress of local gas station feels compelled to warn her. Indeed, Iris would be correct, because from the moment of Rachael's arrival, a man watches. He has already killed, and mercilessly will do so again. And his stalking of Rachael has only just begun. Author Joan Hovey creates a taut thriller in CHILL WATERS. Woven with an uncanny magic, CHILL WATERS is rich in sensory imagery and dense with the darkness that lies in the heart of a madman. Hovey creates a rich cast of characters, each uniquely realized and memorable. At age forty-five, heroine Rachael provides a refreshingly mature viewpoint who still manages to grow and change with the flow of the novel. She has raised her children and fled a failed marriage to take control of her life only to confront a madman. With believable vulnerabilities

The Entrepreneurs


Patrick Kelly - 2014
    . . Amateur boxer turned executive Joe Robbins moves his family to Austin, Texas, to join a startup and get rich. At his first company party, Joe witnesses a young woman commit suicide. She leaves no note . . . no motive . . . and the image haunts his dreams.But the company is busy writing software and making sales and everyone is going to get rich! Employees careen around Austin like bats.When the market crashes, the company falls apart, and the paper riches evaporate. Then a director is found murdered, and the police figure Joe for a prime suspect. Two more executives are murdered, and Joe might be next.Forced into the role of an amateur detective, Joe falls back on what he knows: facts, logic, and analysis. If the going gets rough, he’ll use his fists. Whatever the approach, he’d better work fast because he’s facing a long stay in prison or a short trip to the morgue.