Book picks similar to
The Fireraisers by Malcolm Archibald
mystery
historical-fiction
not-interested
historic-fiction
The Girl from Moscow's Edge
Nadya Frank - 2021
But her partner in crime is dead.Zoya Volkova finds him at the garage icy floor. Her friend and accomplice, in a puddle of his own blood. Maybe it was one of the rich Muscovites they scammed for a car repair in that very garage. Maybe it has to do with a heist they’ve planned, the job that would change their lives.Her boyfriend wants to go on with the rip-off. Her bestie talks her out of it. Caught up in a whirlwind of mistrust, Zoya learns about terrible things her estranged mother had done to Zoya’s siblings. Now she needs this money to mitigate the damage, but is it safe when she suspects everyone?Racing against the time, at odds with the police, a local crime boss and her own conscience, Zoya needs to find out who murdered her partner. Will she fix her life or will she lose everything?An unputdownable prequel novella to the Zoya Volkova thriller series.
Ye Olde Antique Shoppe: Complete Series
Margaret Brazear - 2019
But when she and her friend, Peter, find a valuable coin and try to take it out of the shop, they find themselves in the fifteenth century. But that is only the beginning. The Edward V Coin The discovery of the coin from the short lived reign of Edward V, prompts Peter to want to find out what really happened to the princes in the Tower. The Anne Boleyn Necklace When Peter finds the famous B necklace worn by Anne Boleyn in many portraits, he is eager to use it to go back and see her in the flesh. But Rachel has sworn she'll never time travel again, until she finds a journal which reveals a cousin, stranded in the fifteenth century. She feels she must rescue her, but she doesn't stop to wonder if the cousin wants to be rescued. The Ripper Rings Jack the Ripper took souvenirs in the form of organs from his victims. But from one victim he took three rings and when they turn up in the antique shop, both Peter and Rachel are keen to find out how they got there.
Death's Door: A Palm Court Detectives thriller
David Reichart - 2015
But he’s not a regular guy. He’s an elite warrior, battle tested to the max in Iraq and Afghanistan, first in Marine Special Ops and later as a Navy SEAL. When he finally decides to walk away from the military, Yates isn’t planning on making further use of his extreme training and lethal skills. But somebody else is. Palm Court Detectives, a skyrocketing new agency run by a laicized Jesuit priest in a refashioned vintage motel, needs a guy exactly like Yates to add clout to its roster. His first assignment for the detective agency based in Mobile, Alabama, takes Yates under cover at a trucking company that has been targeted by hijackers. Jesse’s civilian naiveté allows him to be drawn quickly into a turf war between hijackers who he likes, outlaw bikers who like him (or what he can do for them), and a drug cartel renegade who has a severe Jesse Yates problem and a chilling plot in the works. Joining the eclectic, fun-loving team at Palm Court Detectives as a private investigator in training turns out to be everything Yates had hoped for and more—more excitement, more camaraderie, and more chances to die.
Merry Bloody Christmas
Ellie Scott - 2018
A chocoholic grizzly bear, a talking Christmas tree, mince pie overdoses and a very bloody murder. Will poor old Saint Nick make it out alive? Sad, strange, funny and gruesome, this overlapping, multi-genre collection of tales has a little something for every reader. Curl up with a mulled wine and some fictional festive misery, and discover what Father Christmas really likes to drink when he wriggles down your chimney. Spoiler: it isn’t milk.
Badge Without Honor
Emily Kendricks - 2017
Making matters worse, his new love interest, Dianne Lawson, becomes the next target, forcing Bocello to go head-to-head with the most diabolical killer of his career, who has been hiding in plain sight. Unable to trust anyone around him, he tracks the killer who seems to always stay one step ahead of the investigation…until everything comes to a heart-pounding climax as Bocello races against time to reach his love before it’s too late.
The Point of Death
Peter Tonkin - 2001
The opening night of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. But it is not just the young lovers in the play who are star-crossed. Mercutio is found murdered in the middle of the play - but it is real, not stage, blood that flows from his body. Tom Musgrove, is hired by the theatre owners to solve the murder case as quickly and quietly as possible. The theatre has only just reopened after two years of plagues, and they can’t afford a scandal on their doorstep. As Tom plunges into the mean streets of Elizabethan London he soon realises he has jumped blindly into a web of murderous intrigue, which has already claimed the lives of Kit Marlowe and Francis Walsingham. As the shattered remnants of England’s first Secret Service split into two lethally opposed camps, the blood begins to flow from the stinking sewers of Southwark to the gilded halls of Westminster. Can Musgrove track down the murderer and solve the mystery? Or will he end up being the one hunted to The Point of Death? ‘The Point of Death’ is a thrilling Elizabethan murder mystery, full of intrigue and suspense.
Ever Told
Benjamin Bremasi - 2018
The victims were brutally killed in their locked bedroom with seemingly no way for the killer to enter or leave undetected. The list of suspects is endless. And the possible motives are even more disturbing. As the case evolves, the investigation becomes even more complex as secrets are revealed and betrayals come to light. Aided by her partner Caiden and her bedridden father Tony, Jill continues to unearth clue after clue as she desperately tries to solve the mystery and identify the killer. But the more she digs, the more she comes to realize that someone is out to get her as well. Is her unknown assailant connected to the investigation, or does the answer lie much closer to home? Once she discovers that the case may even have personal connections to a horrific event in her own sordid past, Jill will stop at nothing to complete the puzzle and finally put to rest the multiple acts of deception that have all converged into one unforgettable nightmare. For fans of suspenseful thrillers and mysteries filled with stunning twists and gut – wrenching reveals, Ever Told will show you just how easily lies can spiral out of control and how secrets can ultimately lead to our own demise. From the thrilling first page to the jaw – dropping surprise ending, you’ll never trust another word you hear again – even your own.
The Butchered Man
Harriet Smart - 2010
When workmen make the shocking discovery of a mutilated corpse in a ditch outside the ancient walls, Giles Vernon and Felix Carswell are charged with solving the case. Intelligent and practical, Chief Constable Major Vernon has transformed the old city watch into a modern police force, and he throws himself into the investigation with the same energy. But as he probes a murky world of professional gamblers and jilted lovers, he is drawn into a dangerous emotional game that threatens to undermine his authority. Newly-qualified police surgeon Felix Carswell is determined to make his way in the world on his own terms despite being the bastard son of prominent local grandee Lord Rothborough. Called to treat a girl in an asylum for reformed prostitutes, what he uncovers there brings him into conflict with his new employer, Vernon, and throws the case into disarray. Together they must overcome their differences and find the brutal truth behind the mystery of The Butchered Man. The Butchered Man is the first Northminster Mystery featuring intrepid early-Victorian detectives Vernon and Carswell.
The Man in the Park (Joe Court Book 6)
Chris Culver - 2019
A man’s body was found beside the picnic tables in a local park. He has abrasions on his knuckles and several cuts on his palms and forearms. The victim defended himself, but his opponent brought a gun to a fistfight. At first, it looks like a simple case, but as Joe quickly discovers, it’s not.The victim lives almost a thousand miles away. His wife says he’s in town to fish and camp, but he didn’t bring fishing tackle or a tent. He came for an altogether different purpose. As Joe investigates, she finds herself drawn into a dangerous world steeped in lies and deception. With every insight she gains and every clue she finds, she comes closer to solving her case. But with every second that passes, the people she’s hunting draw closer to their prey.It’s a race with innocent victims as the prize. If Joe wins, she saves the day. If she loses, many will die…including her.The Man in the Park is a gripping thriller with twists and turns galore. If you like Michael Connelly, James Patterson, or Lisa Gardener, you’re going to love Chris Culver’s Joe Court series. Check it out!
Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder
T.A. Willberg - 2020
A name, a time, a place.Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder plunges readers into the heart of London, to the secret tunnels that exist far beneath the city streets. There, a mysterious group of detectives recruited for Miss Brickett’s Investigations & Inquiries use their cunning and gadgets to solve crimes that have stumped Scotland Yard.Late one night in April 1958, a filing assistant for Miss Brickett’s named Michelle White receives a letter warning her that a heinous act is about to occur. She goes to investigate but finds the room empty. At the stroke of midnight, she is murdered by a killer she can’t see—her death the only sign she wasn’t alone. It becomes chillingly clear that the person responsible must also work for Miss Brickett’s, making everyone a suspect.Almost unwillingly, Marion Lane, a first-year Inquirer-in-training, finds herself being drawn ever deeper into the investigation. When her friend and mentor is framed for the crime, to clear his name she must sort through the hidden alliances at Miss Brickett’s and secrets dating back to WWII. Masterful, clever and deliciously suspenseful, Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder is a fresh take on the Agatha Christie—style locked-room mystery with an exciting new heroine detective at the helm.
The King's Spy
Andrew Swanston - 2012
King Charles I has fled London, his negotiations with Parliament in tatters. The country is consumed by bloodshed.For Thomas Hill, a man of letters quietly running a bookshop in the rural town of Romsey, knowledge of the war is limited to the rumours that reach the local inn.When a stranger knocks on his door one night and informs him that the king's cryptographer has died, everything changes. Aware of Thomas's background as a mathematician and his expertise in codes and ciphers, the king has summoned him to his court in Oxford.On arrival, Thomas soon discovers that nothing at court is straightforward. There is evidence of a traitor in their midst. Brutal murder follows brutal murder. And when a vital message encrypted with a notoriously unbreakable code is intercepted, he must decipher it to reveal the king's betrayer and prevent the violent death that failure will surely bring.
The Chair Man
Alex Pearl - 2019
But on 7 July 2005, his life is transformed when he steps on a London underground train targeted by Islamist suicide bombers. While most passengers in his carriage are killed, Michael survives the explosion but is confined to a wheelchair as a result. Coming to terms with his predicament and controlling his own feelings of guilt as a survivor conspire to push him in a direction that is out of character and a tad reckless. In a quest to seek retribution, he resorts to embracing the internet and posing as a radical Islamist in order to snare potential perpetrators. Much to his surprise, his shambolic scheme yields results and is brought to the attention of both GCHQ and a terrorist cell. But before long, dark forces begin to gather and close in on him. There is seemingly no way out for Michael Hollinghurst. He has become, quite literally, a sitting target. "'The Chair Man' would make an excellent book club choice, stimulating discussion and lively argument. It contains masses of detailed information, selection from which can justify a wide range of interpretations. Many readers will admire Hollinghurst. He is a good father, particularly to his daughter Natasha, who considers him "the best frigging dad in the world", and he possesses "in spades" the "primal need to feel and protect your own flesh and blood." His son Ben thinks he "could always see the good in others." But that is exactly how many terrorists are remembered by almost all who knew and loved them."The nearest I ever got to a "terrorist incident" was in East London, when I heard the IRA bomb go off in Docklands in 1996. I cannot predict my reaction were I to be caught up personally in such events, but I hope I would not go the same way as Michael Hollinghurst, the central figure in this entertaining and elaborately-plotted novel. It is a gripping thriller that repays careful and close reading (and I will certainly read it again)." Graham Smith, 2020
The Lion's Courtship
Annelie Wendeberg - 2014
New and revised edition. Anna Kronberg lives in Victorian London’s worst rookery, offering medical treatment to prostitutes, vagrants, and criminals. To her, plugging holes and mopping up blood is normal. Stitching the slashed face of a young prostitute is not. Witnesses refuse to talk. The police can’t be bothered with yet another injured whore. But whispers are spreading about a man who pays well for a few harmless knife marks. No one dares reveal the man’s identity. Only Garret O’Hare - a thief Anna barely knows - reluctantly agrees to help her investigate the assault. But when the injured girl disappears, a veil of silence descends upon the slum. And Anna learns that she is no longer the hunter, but the hunted. Warning: medical procedures, poverty, and prostitution are depicted without apology. For fans of Caleb Carr, Louise Penny, and Anne Perry.