Book picks similar to
Blu Heat by David Burnsworth


mystery-series
southern-mystery
mystery
murder-mystery

Pretty Girls Dancing


Kylie Brant - 2018
    The tragedy left her family with a fractured life—a mother out to numb the pain, a father losing a battle with his own private demons, and a sister desperate for closure. But now another teenage girl has gone missing. It’s ripping open old wounds for the Willards, dragging them back into a painful past, and leaving them unprepared for where it will take them next.Bureau of Criminal Investigation agent Mark Foster has stumbled on uncanny parallels in the lives of the two missing girls that could unlock clues to a serial killer’s identity. That means breaking down the walls of the Willards’ long-guarded secrets and getting to a truth that is darker than he bargained for. Now, to rescue one missing girl, he must first solve the riddles that disappeared with another: Kelsey Willard herself. Dead or alive, she is his last hope.

Twisted


Steve Cavanagh - 2019
    The police are looking to charge me with murder.2. No one knows who I am. Or how I did it.3. If you think you've found me. I'm coming for you next.After you've read this book, you'll know: the truth is far more twisted...

Blind Spot


Laura Ellen - 2012
    She lives with macular degeneration, an eye disease that robs her of her central vision. Every day, Roz has to piece together fragments to make sense of the world around her. She's always managed to get along fine without help, but when she's placed in a special needs class, Roz begins a desperate attempt to prove she's "normal" - and soon her world spins out of control.A classmate's body floats to the surface of Alaska’s Birch River six months after the night she disappeared. The night Roz Hart had a fight with her. The night Roz can’t remember. Now only Roz's ability to piece together what she missed that fateful night can clear her name.

And Then She Was Gone


Christopher Greyson - 2016
    Only a few more steps and she’d be within its grasp. Stacy Shaw has her whole life ahead of her. New job, new house and now a baby on the way—everything she’s ever hoped for is finally coming true. But on a warm summer night on the way home from work, she vanishes. The police race to find her, but the clues don’t add up. Conflicting facts emerge as her story twists and turns, sending the trail spiraling in all directions. A hometown hero with a heart of gold, Jack Stratton was raised in a whorehouse by his prostitute mother. Jack seemed destined to become another statistic, but now his life has taken a turn for the better. Determined to escape his past, he's headed for a career in law enforcement. When his foster mother asks him to look into the girl’s disappearance, Jack quickly gets drawn into a baffling mystery. As Jack digs deeper, everyone becomes a suspect—including himself. Caught between the criminals and the cops, can Jack discover the truth in time to save the girl? Or will he become the next victim?And Then She Was Gone is part of the Detective Jack Stratton Mystery Series

Goode Over Evil


Leslie Marshman - 2019
    Now she’s back to avenge a death. Years ago, Samantha Goode was driven away from love, her family, and her past. Now the Texas Ranger is back in Crystal Creek for her estranged grandmother’s funeral, even though it means coming face to face with everything, and everyone, she’d left behind. When a brutal murder shatters her world, Sam is determined to stay until she solves it. Soon she’s knee-deep in suspects, including the family of the man she once loved but was forced to betray. Rancher Clayton Barnett will do anything to keep his autistic younger brother out of an institution, including sidelining his life to work for their powerful, manipulative father. When tragedy brings Sam back into his life, instead of rekindling their romance, Clay finds himself embroiled in a dangerous murder investigation. Will old secrets pull Sam and Clay apart once more, or can they rise above their past? And with a ruthless killer on the loose, will Sam’s hard-earned Ranger skills be enough to ensure that Goode triumphs over evil? Praise for Goode Over Evil "Meet the exciting new voice in action-packed romance. Leslie Marshman delivers a fast-paced, well-plotted story infused with intense family drama and chilling small town secrets." – Jayne Ann Krentz, NEW YORK TIMES Bestselling Author “Goode Over Evil has everything a reader could want: a tough-as-nails, thoroughly believable female Texas Ranger who refuses to be defined by the opinion of the small town that once shunned her, the son of her worst enemy, who's never gotten over the poor girl who left him cold, and a murder mystery with a twist that left me gasping. With her fast pacing and characters who'll make you laugh, cry, and fall in love, Leslie Marshman's debut marks her as an author to watch!” – Colleen Thompson, Author of The Off Season, Montlake Romance “A kickass Texas Ranger, an old flame, and a murder. You don’t want to miss Leslie Marshman’s debut novel, Goode Over Evil. Leslie Marshman is a new author on the rise to stardom. Her debut novel, Goode Over Evil is romantic, riveting, and wowing. Characters you’ll care about, and a plot that keeps you glued to the page. – Christie Craig, NEW YORK TIMES Bestselling author of the Texas Justice series

Nichelle Clarke Crime Thriller Series, Books 4-6: Box Set: Devil in the Deadline / Cover Shot / Lethal Lifestyles


LynDee Walker - 2018
    DEVIL IN THE DEADLINEA human sacrifice unlocks a chilling mystery, and leads Nichelle Clarke into a world of unimaginable danger."...You won't be able to read fast enough..."When Richmond Police find a young woman's bloody remains spread across a candle-lit altar in an abandoned power plant on the banks of the James River, they give crime reporter Nichelle Clarke an all-access pass in exchange for her help.But the information Nichelle gets from the victim's friends only draws her deeper into the mystery. Where did Jasmine come from? How did she end up on the streets of Shockoe Bottom? And why doesn't she have any dental records?The answer trail stops at the front doors of a sprawling compound in the foothills of the Blue Ridge, where Nichelle finds a secretive cult leader and his devoted following. It is a world where lies becomes truth, and money is the true idol. Money some people would do anything to keep collecting...Even if it means murdering a nosy reporter.----------------------------COVER SHOTCryptic online messages and a murder in a swanky condo complex don't strike crime reporter Nichelle Clarke as related--until a gunman sends a hospital into chaos."...if you're a fan of mystery, you simply must read this series..."When a body is discovered in a high-rise in Richmond, Virginia, crime reporter Nichelle Clarke races to the scene. The victim is a brilliant doctor with an unusual past. But before Nichelle can decide what to make of the murder, the local police radio is filled with a dreaded distress call.There is an active shooter at a nearby hospital.The gunman has taken hostages on a patient floor, and gives the police a single demand.He wants to speak with Nichelle.In person.----------------------------LETHAL LIFESTYLESThe groom is the prime suspect in a murder at his own rehearsal dinner. Crime reporter Nichelle Clarke doesn't believe he's the killer-but now it's up to her to find out who is.When Nichelle Clarke is invited to be the maid of honor in her friends' Virginia Vineyard wedding, she looks forward to the celebration.

Just Between Us


Rebecca Drake - 2018
    Four friends living the suburban ideal. Their jobs are steady, their kids are healthy. They’re as beautiful as their houses. But each of them has a dirty little secret, and hidden behind the veneer of their perfect lives is a crime and a mystery that will consume them all. Everything starts to unravel when Alison spots a nasty bruise on Heather’s wrist. She shares her suspicions with Julie and Sarah, compelling all three to investigate what looks like an increasingly violent marriage. As mysterious injuries and erratic behavior mount, Heather can no longer deny the abuse, but she refuses to leave her husband. Desperate to save her, Alison and the others dread the phone call telling them that she’s been killed. But when that call finally comes, it’s not Heather who’s dead. In a moment they’ll come to regret, the women must decide what lengths they’ll go to in order to help a friend.Just Between Us is a thrilling glimpse into the underbelly of suburbia, where not all neighbors can be trusted, and even the closest friends keep dangerous secrets. You never really know what goes on in another person’s mind, or in their marriage.

Black Pearl: A Cold Case Suspense


Donnell Ann Bell - 2019
    The connection? A calling card—a single black pearl—is found on the newest victim. Is the murder a copycat? Or has a twisted serial killer, thought dead or in prison, returned to kill again?The hunt for a multi-state killer is on and brings together an unexpected team: a Denver Major Crimes police lieutenant; an FBI special agent who investigated the previous murders, a rookie FBI agent with a specialty in psychology; and the only living victim of the Black Pearl Killer is now a cop.For Special Agent Brian DiPietro, the case is an opportunity to find answers. For Officer Allison Shannon, the case will force her to face down the town that blamed her for surviving when another did not. And for both DiPietro and Shannon, it’s a chance to find closure to questions that have tormented them both for years.

Only Ever Her


Marybeth Mayhew Whalen - 2019
    Preparations are in order. Friends and family are gathering in anticipation. Everything is going according to plan. Except that Annie herself has vanished. Did she have second thoughts?Or has something much worse happened to the bride-to-be?As the days pass, the list of suspects in her disappearance grows. Could it be the recently released man a young Annie misidentified as her mother’s killer? Could it be someone even closer to her?While her loved ones frantically try to track her down, they’re forced to grapple with their own secrets—secrets with the power to reframe entire relationships, leaving each to wonder how well they really knew Annie and how well they know themselves.

The Brutal Telling / Bury Your Dead


Louise Penny - 2017
    Everybody goes to Olivier's Bistro―including a stranger whose murdered body is found on the floor. When Chief Inspector Gamache is called to investigate, he is dismayed to discover that Olivier's story is full of holes. Why are his fingerprints all over the cabin that's uncovered deep in the wilderness, with priceless antiques and the dead man's blood? And what other secrets and layers of lies are buried in the seemingly idyllic village?Gamache follows a trail of clues and treasures―from first editions of Charlotte's Web and Jane Eyre to a spiderweb with a word mysteriously woven in it―into the woods and across the continent, before returning to Three Pines to confront the truth and the final, brutal telling.It is Winter Carnival in Quebec City, bitterly cold and surpassingly beautiful. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has come not to join the revels but to recover from an investigation gone hauntingly wrong. But violent death is inescapable, even in the apparent sanctuary of the Literary and Historical Society--where an obsessive historian's quest for the remains of the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain, ends in murder. Could a secret buried with Champlain for nearly four hundred years be so dreadful that someone would kill to protect it?Meanwhile, Gamache is receiving disquieting letters from the village of Three Pines, where beloved Bistro owner Olivier was recently convicted of murder. "It doesn't make sense," Olivier's partner writes every day. "He didn't do it, you know."As past and present collide in this astonishing novel, Gamache must relive a terrible event from his own past before he can begin to bury his dead.

Big Woods


May Cobb - 2018
    Her parents, the police, and the community all brace for the worst, assuming her body will soon be found in Big Woods. Just like the other unsolved kidnappings.But then Lucy’s fourteen-year-old sister, Leah, starts having dreams about Lucy—dreams that reveal startling clues as to what happened. Leah begins her own investigation, and soon she meets a reclusive widow who may hold the key to finding Lucy . . . if only she can find the courage to come forward.Delving into the paranoia surrounding satanic cults in the 1980s, Big Woods is an emotionally wrought, propulsive thriller about the enormity of grief, the magical bond between sisters, and a small town's dark secrets.

Fancy Gap


C. David Gelly - 2012
    But when a madman abducts two children and disappears into the wisps with the young brother and sister, the landscape becomes a nightmare for the children’s parents and local residents. The county sheriff remains under intense pressure to track down the predator, yet all leads come up cold and the officers are sickened when a horrific act at the Devil’s Den challenges them all to act quickly. To solve the crime before the Labor Day Flea Market and Gun Show, sleuths Quinn McSpain and Louisa Hawke are drawn into the mystery and head into the hills and hollows of the southwestern Virginia mountains. Quinn is an ex-corporate security operative, and until recently, Louisa headed the FBI criminal division. The athletic, hard-bodied sexagenarian twosome has been experiencing a blossoming romance on kayaking trips and mountain climbing excursions as well as hard mountain bike rides. Now their sleuthing skills and physical prowess will be put to the test as they must capture the killer before the unthinkable takes place. . An adrenaline-producing adventure to capture a demented killer through the Blue Ridge Mountains, C. David Gelly’s mystery thriller is steeped in the lore and legends of Virginia’s upland country. It is the first in a series of five “Gap” novels that will take the reader through the vistas and hairpin turns of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Parkway and mountains.

The High Tide Club


Mary Kay Andrews - 2018
    Everybody in the South has heard about the eccentric millionaire mistress of Talisa, but Brooke has never met her. Josephine’s cryptic note says she wants to discuss an important legal matter with Brooke, who is an attorney, but Brooke knows that Mrs. Warrick has long been a client of a prestigious Atlanta law firm.Over a few meetings, the ailing Josephine spins a tale of old friendships, secrets, betrayal and a long-unsolved murder. She tells Brooke she is hiring her for two reasons: to protect her island and legacy from those who would despoil her land, and secondly, to help her make amends with the heirs of the long dead women who were her closest friends, the girls of The High Tide Club—so named because of their youthful skinny dipping escapades—Millie, Ruth and Varina. When Josephine dies with her secrets intact, Brooke is charged with contacting Josephine’s friends’ descendants and bringing them together on Talisa for a reunion of women who’ve actually never met.The High Tide Club is Mary Kay Andrews at her Queen of the Beach Reads best, a compelling and witty tale of romance thwarted, friendships renewed, justice delivered, and true love found.

The Cuban Affair


Nelson DeMille - 2017
    At age thirty-five he’s living in Key West, owner of a forty-two-foot charter fishing boat, The Maine. Mac served five years in the Army as an infantry officer with two tours in Afghanistan. He returned with the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts, scars that don’t tan, and a boat with a big bank loan. Truth be told, Mac’s finances are more than a little shaky.One day, Mac is sitting in the famous Green Parrot Bar in Key West, contemplating his life, and waiting for Carlos, a hotshot Miami lawyer heavily involved with anti-Castro groups. Carlos wants to hire Mac and The Maine for a ten-day fishing tournament to Cuba at the standard rate, but Mac suspects there is more to this and turns it down. The price then goes up to two million dollars, and Mac agrees to hear the deal, and meet Carlos’s clients—a beautiful Cuban-American woman named Sara Ortega, and a mysterious older Cuban exile, Eduardo Valazquez.What Mac learns is that there is sixty million American dollars hidden in Cuba by Sara’s grandfather when he fled Castro’s revolution. With the “Cuban Thaw” underway between Havana and Washington, Carlos, Eduardo, and Sara know it’s only a matter of time before someone finds the stash—by accident or on purpose. And Mac knows if he accepts this job, he’ll walk away rich…or not at all.Brilliantly written, with his signature humor, fascinating authenticity from his research trip to Cuba, and heart-pounding pace, Nelson DeMille is a true master of the genre.

Remember Mia


Alexandra Burt - 2015
    Then a terrifying reality sets in: her daughter is missing.Days earlier, Estelle discovered her baby’s crib empty in their Brooklyn apartment. There was no sign of a break-in, but all traces of seven-month-old Mia had disappeared. Her diapers, her clothes, her bottles—all gone. Frustrated and unable to explain her daughter’s disappearance, Estelle begins a desperate search. But when the lack of evidence casts doubt on her story, Estelle becomes the number one suspect in the eyes of the police and the media.As hope of reuniting with Mia becomes all she has left, Estelle will do anything to find answers: What has she done to her baby? And what has someone else done to her?