Black Diamond Death


Cheryl Bradshaw - 2011
    "In a panic I gasped for air, but there wasn't any. I tried to cry out, but I was alone. And in my hysteria it hit me: I had felt a similar feeling before - like my body was giving out on me, and I knew what it meant. I was dying."Enter the world of Sloane Monroe in Black Diamond Death...A SKIER CRASHES On the slopes of Park City, Utah's newest ski resort a woman is found dead. At first glance, it has all the makings of an accident. But what if wasn't? What if she was murdered? A SECOND BODY IS FOUND Just as Private Investigator Sloane Monroe feels she's close to solving the case, a second dead body is found. With the killer aware that Sloane will stop at nothing to find him, her life is in danger, her every move being tracked. Will Sloane uncover the truth before he strikes again?

The Hearse You Came in On


Tim Cockey - 2000
     "I was going along just fine, solemnly chaperoning the dead into their graves and pretty much otherwise minding my own business when the woman calling herself Carolyn James stuck her halfway pretty face into my life and scattered all hell to the wind."What self-respecting undertaker would allow himself to get involved in a murder investigation, a series of dirty videos, a case of political blackmail, and police corruption, as well as one of the worst amateur theater productions in recent memory? None, unless your name happens to be Hitchcock Sewell, the most charming suspense hero to come along in years. And who knew an undertaker could look so good? In this fast-paced and enormously entertaining mystery, Hitch has gotten himself into more trouble than any self-respecting undertaker should. This funny, offbeat new mystery series is bound to delight fans of Elmore Leonard and Janet Evanovich.About the Author:Tim Cockey, who spent his formative years in Baltimore, has been a story analyst for many major film and television companies, including American Playhouse, ABC, and Hallmark Entertainment. This is his first novel. He lives in New York City

Burning Time


Leslie Glass - 1993
    A serial killer leaves a college coed to die in the California desert, his signature of fire seared into her flesh....A beautiful Chinese-American detective, recently transferred from Chinatown to the Upper West Side, is assigned a routine missing-persons case...A famous doctor returns home from a lecture to discover that his actress wife has been living a secret life....Now, the paths of the cop, the killer, and the psychiatrist are about to converge....A savage killer is on the loose in New York City.  His calling card is a tattoo of flames; his trail of victims leads from the scorched sands of Californa tothe blistering heart of Manhattan.Only Detective April Woo can block this vicious madman's next move.  And with the help of psychiatrist Jason Frank, this NYPD policewoman will prove that the predator she's hunting is no ordinary killer--but then, April Woo is no ordinary cop.

The Death of an Irish Politician


Bartholomew Gill - 1976
    Now, here is the novel that started it all--the Chief Inspector's very first appearance. It was twilight on Killiney Bay when they pulled the Yank out of the water, his head split open by a violent blow. For McGarr, the case was a welcome chance to escape the gloom of Dublin. But from his first moment at the injured man's yacht club, McGarr realizes getting at the truth will require fitting together a number of jagged pieces: the world-class sailor who ran both his boat and his life aground; the beautiful woman who paid his bills; and the politician who was uncharacteristically involving himself in a homicide investigation. Suddenly, McGarr must face a malevolent plot of IRA gunrunning, betrayal, and conspiracy--all aimed at not just killing one unhappy sailor, but framing a certain Chief Inspector, and keeping him away from secrets even more dangerous than murder.

The Day the Music Died


Ed Gorman - 1998
    But for P.I. Sam McCain, bad news hits even closer to home. A local couple turns up dead, and the investigation teaches him that behind the white picket fences of smalltown Iowa, there's a flip side to the American dream.

Goodnight, Irene


Jan Burke - 1993
    When a veteran reporter is killed while trying to solve a murder that occurred in 1955, Irene Kelly attempts to find out who silenced her comrade--and quickly becomes the killer's next target.

Murder in the Manor


Fiona Grace - 2019
    She needs to quit her job, leave her horrendous boss and New York City, and walk away from the fast life. Making good on her childhood promise to herself, she decides to walk away from it all, and to relive a beloved childhood vacation in the quaint English seaside town of Wilfordshire.Wilfordshire is exactly as Lacey remembers it, with its ageless architecture, cobblestone streets, and with nature at its doorstep. Lacey doesn’t want to go back home—and spontaneously, she decides to stay, and to give her childhood dream a try: she will open her own antique shop.Lacey finally feels that her life is taking a step in the right direction—until her new star customer turns up dead.As the newcomer in town, all eyes are on Lacey, and it’s up to her to clear her own name.With a business to run, a next-door neighbor turned nemesis, a flirty baker across the street, and a crime to solve – is this new life all that Lacey thought it would be?

Death on Tap


Ellie Alexander - 2017
    Sloan has spent her life in Leavenworth, Washington becoming an expert in brewing craft beer, and she doesn’t have time to be held back by her soon-to-be ex-husband. She decides to strike out on her own, breaking away from the Krause family brewery, and goes to work for Nitro, the hip new nano-brewery in the Bavarian-themed town. Nitro’s owner, brewmaster Garrett Strong, has the brew-world abuzz with his newest recipe, “Pucker-Up IPA.” This place is the new cool place in town, and Mac can’t help but be green with envy at their success.But just as Sloan is settling in to her new gig, she finds one of Nitro’s competitors dead in the fermenting tub, clutching the secret recipe for the IPA. When Mac, is arrested, Sloan knows that her ex might be a cheater, but a murderer? No way. Danger is brewing in Beervaria and suddenly Sloan is on the case.

An Appointment with Murder


Jennifer L. Jennings - 2011
    She checks her room. Everything is ready as she waits for her client Jeff Gardner to arrive. However, the night does not proceed as planned when Sarah discovers a shocking reality. A dead body. Terrified, Sarah finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. But, who can she trust when it becomes apparent that the crime is not what it seems.

Gone the Next


Ben Rehder - 2012
    He's working a routine case, complete with hours of tedious surveillance, when he sees something that shakes him to the core. There, with the subject, is a little blond girl wearing a pink top and denim shorts—the same outfit worn by Tracy Turner, a six-year-old abducted the day before. When the police are skeptical of Ballard's report—and with his history, who can blame them?—it's the beginning of the most important case of his life.

Deadly Scandal


Kate Parker - 2016
    Then her world is shattered with the violent death of her husband, Reggie. The police want to call it a suicide and close the case, but Olivia knows Reggie couldn't possibly have fired the fatal shot. Further mysteries surface surrounding her husband's death. Did the trustworthy Foreign Office employee betray government secrets? Was his murder linked to the death of a German embassy clerk the same night? And who searched their flat? Her desire for answers and her need to support herself cause her to break away from the pampered life she's known and take a job. But with the much-needed paycheck as a society reporter for a newspaper comes a secret secondary assignment - one that involves her in the increasingly dangerous world of European politics as the continent slides toward war.

Dark Of The Moon


P.J. Parrish - 1999
    Taking a temporary job with the sheriff's department, he investigates a murder and lynching that is tearing the town apart. In the process, he must confront racial prejudices. A promising debut.--Publishers Weekly.

Fire and Ice


Dana Stabenow - 1998
    But that was before his life unraveled. Transferred in disgrace to this rough-and-tumble fishing town on the shores of Bristol Bay, Liam knows Newenham is the end of the line. It's also his last shot at getting his life back.. He's about to come in for a very rough landing. Stepping onto the airstrip at Newenham, Liam walks into a crime scene: a body torn apart by the propeller of a Piper Super Cub. As if that isn't enough of a welcome, the woman bending over the corpse is Wyanet Chouinard, the only woman Liam ever truly loved - and soon to be his prime suspect. Next, a man is held hostage in the town's only decent burger joint--held for shooting out a jukebox that was playing Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. And Liam still doesn't have his uniform on.

A Rumor Of Bones


Beverly Connor - 1996
    The heroine, Lindsay Chamberlain, is a forensic anthropologist who uses her skills to assist in tracking down the murderer of several prepubescent girls. In the process she discovers an old crime that has escaped detection for decades.

Samson's Deal


Shelley Singer - 1983
    Ex-Chicago-cop Jake Samson is tired of the rat race. He's living in laid back Oakland, California with a couple of cats and just enough savings to eat canned oysters and accept collect calls from his bemused parents, when an old friend--a progressive political science processor--calls with an enticing offer. Seems the professor's wife was found dead in the backyard of their Berkeley home, and he wants to pay Jake ten thousand dollars (plus expenses) to figure out whodunit. The police pick up the usual leads; jealousy, dirty politics, and an estate worth killing for. Naturally, since the professor is the dead woman's spouse, he's the primary suspect. Samson doesn't like the guy much, but the case heats up—quite literally—when the professor's office is set afire by a radical right wing activist group, of which, it turns out, the wife was a member. With his good friend Rosie, and her justice-dispensing two-by-four, Samson follows a twisted trail leads through the Bay Area's bizarre cultural labyrinth; from pop meditation ashrams to neo-Nazi rallies, to the startling, but all too human truth.