Another Man's Treasure


S.W. Hubbard - 2012
    But the shabby home of an elderly widow holds alarming surprises: street drugs in the silverware drawer, a trunkful of jewels in the attic, and the distinctive ring Audrey’s mother was wearing the night she disappeared. Believing the truth will bring her peace, Audrey relentlessly pursues clues to her family’s troubled history. But each fact Audrey uncovers drags her further away from the love she craves, and puts her on a collision course with people more determined, more ambitious, and more dangerous than she can fathom. Ultimately, some truths are too awful to bear, and too terrible to share.

Black Dog


Stephen Booth - 2000
    And when her body is found in the woods, Cooper's investigation begins with a short list of markedly uncooperative suspects: retired miner Harry Dickinson, whose black Labrador discovered Laura's body, and Laura's wealthy parents. Uneasily teamed with ambitious newcomer Detective Constable Diane Fry, Cooper tests a town's family ties, friendships, and loyaties -- and finds that in order to understand the present, they must unearth the past.

Crooked Man


Tony Dunbar - 1994
    His clients are all renegades from the asylum, including a transvestite entertainer with curious medical issues, a buxom deadbeat blonde, a doctor who refers his own patients to a malpractice lawyer, and the driver of a Mardi Gras float shaped like a giant crawfish pot. He also has his hands full with an ex-wife and three teenage daughters, who are experts in the art of wrapping Tubby around their little fingers. And somehow, between work and family, Tubby finds time to sample the highs and lows of idiosyncratic Crescent City cuisine, from trout meuniere amandine and French roast coffee with chicory to shrimp po-boys and homemade pecan pralines. Tubby is asked to take on a new client: Darryl Alvarez, the manager of a local nightclub, who has been caught unloading fifteen bales of marijuana from a shrimp boat. At their first meeting, Darryl entrusts Tubby with an ordinary-looking blue gym bag. But when Darryl is later found shot at the nightclub, Tubby realizes he must tighten his grasp on the gym bag - and its million-dollar contents. Tubby can't just give up the cash. But if he gets caught, he'll be in jail. And if the wrong people catch him, he'll wish he was.

Absolution


Susan Fleet - 2008
    . . GETS WORSEVulnerable young women let a serial killer into their homes because they trust him.The killer tortures them, kills them and takes a gruesome trophy. IS THE KILLER A PRIEST?Everyone has something to hide. Some of the darkest secrets reside in a parish church. A tip from a prostitute leads New Orleans Detective Frank Renzi to believe the killer may be a priest. A ruthless stalker, the serial killer uses his position to snare more women. With Renzi hot on his trail, he persuades a teenaged girl to help him escape. Will Renzi be able to save her? Who would YOU trust? A police officer or a priest?

Don't Lie to Me


Willow Rose - 2019
    She's the town's most beloved surf idol, and it was believed that she could be the next Kelly Slater.As another child, the son of a well-known senator is kidnapped, and the parents receive a disturbing video, FBI profiler Eva Rae Thomas — who has just returned to her hometown, divorced and out of a job — plunges into the investigation, breaking her promise to her children not to do police work again.Local law enforcement, with her old flame Matt Miller in charge, are the ones who ask for her help in a case so unsettling that only she can solve it. But the deeper they dig, the deadlier it becomes for Matt and Eva Rae. Soon, everyone she holds dear is in grave danger as this case hits a little too close to home. DON’T LIE TO ME is the first book in the Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Series and can be read as a standalone.

Dark Path


Melissa F. Miller - 2017
    But death keeps finding him. After solving a series of unexplained deaths and exposing a sordid political scandal, Bodhi retreated from the limelight. Permanently, he thought. But now he's called out of early retirement to help investigate a death cluster on a private island in the Florida Keys. Healthy residents of a ritzy assisted living facility are dying in the middle of the night ... their faces frozen in terror. Bodhi arrives on Golden Island to find a community gripped by fear. And beneath the surface, conflict simmers, threatening to boil over. The charismatic leader of the Golden Island Church, the dying Cuban-Americans, and the local Catholic priest all have secrets to protect.It's up to Bodhi to bring the truth to light ... before another resident dies.
Dark Path is the first book in an intriguing, engrossing new forensic thriller series by USA Today bestselling author Melissa F. Miller. Lonely Path (Book 2), Hidden Path (Book 3), and Twisted Path (Book 4) are available now!What Readers Are Saying:"[A] very enjoyable read--a forensic thriller crossed with cozy mystery, with a cast of entertaining characters confined in a remote location. ... [I]n Miller's books there are always interesting themes alongside the thrill of a fast-paced plot, and 'Dark Path' is no exception.""I fervently enjoyed the twists and turns as one by one, the clues to the puzzle are discovered.""[A]n excellent, tightly woven tale that hooked me quickly and kept me reading until the conclusion.""Melissa Miller's writing is strong, with good character development, lots of action and a mystery that keeps you guessing until the end."Other Thriller/Mystery Series by Melissa F. Miller:The Sasha McCandless Legal Thriller SeriesThe Aroostine Higgins Thriller SeriesThe We Sisters Three Mystery Series

Next to Disappear


Malcolm Richards - 2015
    Until disgraced ex-teacher Emily Swanson moves into the couple’s former home.Emily’s life is in ruins and she’s meant to be making a fresh start. But when she learns about the missing nurse, she sees a chance for redemption. Because finding Alina could help right the wrongs of Emily’s past. It could even mark the start of a new career in private investigation.But what Emily doesn’t know is that Alina had a horrifying secret. One about the care foundation where she worked. And the closer Emily gets to uncovering the truth, the closer she gets to terrible danger.Inspired by a shocking true crime, Next To Disappear introduces a thrilling, twist-filled series and a refreshingly different take on the private investigator genre.Revised edition: Previously published as Lost Lives.

The Department of Sensitive Crimes


Alexander McCall Smith - 2019
    There is nothing noir about the world of Ulf Varg, Detective Inspector in the Sensitive Crimes Department of the Criminal Investigation Authority for the city of Malmö, Sweden. Ulf is concerned with odd, but not too threatening crimes, such as a stab wound to the back of the knee caused by an unknown hand, young women who allow their desperation for a boyfriend to get the better of them, and peculiar goings-on in a spa on Sweden's south coast.Of course, Ulf is a Swedish detective, and Swedish detectives, by convention, lead lives beset with problems of one sort or another. For a start, there is his name: Ulf means “wolf” in modern Swedish, and Varg derives from the Old Norse word for “wolf”. But his character is far from vulpine: Ulf is a sympathetic, well-educated, and likeable man, with a knowledge of and interest in Scandinavian- and modern art. He has a dog named Marten, the only dog in Sweden capable of lip-reading (but only in Swedish). Martin becomes depressed and needs treatment. Dogs in Sweden are apparently particularly prone to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). But this is summer—so there must be something else going on.Ulf has a number of colleagues into whose lives we gain insight. There is Anna, married to an anaesthetist, but very fond of Ulf; Erik, whose sole interest is fishing; Carl, whose father is a famous Lutheran theologian who has written a book on Danish philosopher Kierkegaard; then there is Blomquist from the uniformed branch, who goes on and on about his health problems but seems to have extraordinary luck in investigations. There is also Ulf's psychotherapist, Dr. Svensson, whose observations on Ulf's life—and many other topics—enlightens...or possibly confuses.The Department of Sensitive Crimes is the first full-length novel in the Detective Varg series.

Impostor


L.J. Ross - 2019
    Forensic psychologist Doctor Alexander Gregory has a reputation for being able to step inside the darkest minds to uncover whatever secrets lie hidden there and, soon enough, he finds himself drawn into the murky world of murder investigation.In the beautiful hills of County Mayo, Ireland, a killer is on the loose. Panic has a stranglehold on its rural community and the Garda are running out of time. Gregory has sworn to follow a quiet life but, when the call comes, can he refuse to help their desperate search for justice?Murder and mystery are peppered with dark humour in this fast-paced thriller set amidst the spectacular Irish landscape.“LJ Ross keeps company with the best mystery writers” – The Times“A literary phenomenon” – Evening Chronicle“LJ Ross is the Queen of Kindle” – Sunday Telegraph

Cop Hater


Ed McBain - 1956
    But when his partner becomes victim number two, it looks like open-and-shut grudge killings. That is, until a third detective buys it.ED MCBAIN'S FIRST 87th PRECINCT NOVEL

Busted


Karin Slaughter - 2013
    This electrifying eBook novella featuring Will Trent is a prequel to Slaughter’s upcoming novel, Unseen.   Detective Will Trent is standing in a Georgia convenience store, waiting on an obstinate Icee frozen drink machine. To the surveillance cameras and bored staff of the Lil’ Dixie Gas-n-Go, however, Will appears to be someone very different—the menacing ex-con Bill Black. Going undercover as Bill, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent is about to infiltrate the most corrupt town in the most corrupt county in the new American South. But first: his Icee.   Everything changes in one horrific instant, as all hell breaks loose at the Lil’ Dixie. A cop is shot. A bag of cash goes flying across the floor. A young woman disappears while a killer takes off in a battered pick-up truck. Within seconds, Will is in pursuit.  Includes an exclusive preview of Karin Slaughter’s thrilling new novel of suspense, Unseen.

The Crossing Places


Elly Griffiths - 2009
    Ruth Galloway is in her late thirties and lives happily alone with her two cats in a bleak, remote area near Norfolk, land that was sacred to its Iron Age inhabitants—not quite earth, not quite sea. But her routine days of digging up bones and other ancient objects are harshly upended when a child’s bones are found on a desolate beach. Detective Chief Inspector Nelson calls Galloway for help, believing they are the remains of Lucy Downey, a little girl who went missing a decade ago and whose abductor continues to taunt him with bizarre letters containing references to ritual sacrifice, Shakespeare, and the Bible. Then a second girl goes missing and Nelson receives a new letter—exactly like the ones about Lucy. Is it the same killer or a copycat murderer, linked in some way to the site near Ruth’s remote home?

A King of Infinite Space


Tyler Dilts - 2009
    When Danny arrives at the school, the blood-spattered crime scene turns even his veteran stomach. What could this young woman have done to make her the target of such a violent attack? And what is the significance of the victim’s left hand, taken by the killer as a grisly trophy? Beckett delves into the case with his usual tenacious cool, yet as he pieces together the facts, long-suppressed anguish from his own past rises up with stunning force. His hunt for the murderer soon morphs into a personal quest for atonement as he struggles to come to terms with the loss of his wife and family. A King of Infinite Space is a riveting crime novel that serves as a memorable introduction for Danny Beckett to the ranks of fiction’s favorite hardened detectives.

The Calling


Inger Ash Wolfe - 2008
    Dead faces set in grimaces and shouts. Faces howling, whistling, moaning, crying, hissing. Hazel pinned them to the wall and stood back. It was a silent opera of ghosts. Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef has lived all her days in the small town of Port Dundas and is now making her way toward retirement with something less than grace. Hobbled by a bad back and a dependence on painkillers, and feeling blindsided by divorce after nearly four decades of marriage, sixty-one-year-old Hazel has only the constructive criticism of her old goat of a mother and her own sharp tongue to buoy her. But when a terminally ill Port Dundas woman is gruesomely murdered in her own home, Hazel and her understaffed department must spring to life. And as one terminally ill victim after another is found—their bodies drained of blood, their mouths sculpted into strange shapes—Hazel finds herself tracking a truly terrifying serial killer across the country while everything she was barely holding together begins to spin out of control.Through the cacophony of her bickering staff, her unsupportive superiors, a clamoring press, the town’s rumor mill, and her own nagging doubts, Hazel can sense the dead trying to call out. But what secret do they have to share? And will she hear it before it’s too late?In The Calling, Inger Ash Wolfe brings a compelling new voice and an irresistible new heroine to the mystery world.

A is for Alibi


Sue Grafton - 1982
    A tough-talking former cop, private investigator Kinsey Millhone has set up a modest detective agency in a quiet corner of Santa Teresa, California. She's a twice-divorced loner with few personal possessions and fewer personal attachments but with a soft spot for underdogs and lost causes.A IS FOR ACCUSED. That's why she draws desperate clients like Nikki Fife. Eight years ago, she was convicted of killing her philandering husband. Now she's out on parole and needs Kinsey's help to find the real killer. But after all this time, clearing Nikki's bad name won't be easy.A IS FOR ALIBI. If there's one thing that makes Kinsey Millhone feel alive, it's playing on the edge. When her investigation turns up a second corpse, more suspects, and a new reason to kill, Kinsey discovers that the edge is closer--and sharper--than she imagined.Librarian's note: there are 25 titles in this extraordinary series: "A" Is for Alibi (1982); "B" Is for Burglar (1985); "C" Is for Corpse (1986); "D" Is for Deadbeat (1987); "E" Is for Evidence (1988); "F" Is for Fugitive (1989); "G" Is for Gumshoe (1990); "H" Is for Homicide (1991); "I" Is for Innocent (1992); "J" Is for Judgment (1993); "K" Is for Killer (1994); "L" is for Lawless (1995); "M" Is for Malice (1996); "N" Is for Noose (1998); "O" Is for Outlaw (1999); "P" Is for Peril (2001); "Q" Is for Quarry (2002); "R" Is for Ricochet (2004); "S" Is for Silence (2005); "T" Is for Trespass (2007); "U" Is for Undertow (2009); "V" Is for Vengeance (2011); "W" Is for Wasted (2013); "X" (2015), and lastly, “Y” Is for Yesterday (2017). Work on "Z" had not begun at the time of the author's death in late 2017.