Thirteen years ago, NYPD Detective, Frank Pavlicek quit the force after a controversial shoot-out that left an unarmed African-American teenager dead. The divorced father of a teenage daughter, Pavlicek now works as a private investigator and hunts with a trained falcon. While hunting, he discovers the corpse of a black, teenage drug dealer with ties to his daughter. Unable to ignore the connections to his family or the shooting that cost his career, he goes after the killer to find the truth, save his daughter …and free himself from the shackles of his past. The first novel in the blockbuster Frank Pavlicek series. An Anthony, Shamus, and Agatha Award nominee. "Pavlicek is a breath of fresh air in the field of private eye fiction." Jeffery Deaver "Highly recommended. I dare you to tell me I’m wrong," Michael Connelly "A book this good, and this original, helps remind me why started reading mysteries in the fist place," Steve Hamilton "Storytelling as sharp and strong as talons," Rick Riordan

    . . Is the rising number of abused women who've gone missing a statistical anomaly? Or is a serial killer targeting this vulnerable group of women? When the Milwaukee Police Department refuses to investigate because no bodies have been discovered, Lisa Rayburn, the clinical psychologist who discovers the anomaly, is drawn into an investigation to discover the cause after one of her own clients goes missing. She finds herself forming an unlikely alliance with a former policewoman turned security consultant, TJ Peacock, and the husbands of two of the missing women who may themselves be murderers. When TJ is attacked, and a woman looking remarkably like Lisa is found murdered, they know . . . someone is willing to kill to protect his secret. Can they reveal the killer before he gets to them?

    So, ready for change and up for a challenge, she has decided to relocate to the beautiful coastal town of Swaddle, California to pursue her lifelong dream of opening her very own bakery! And, as a self-professed “Queen of Cakes”, she can’t wait to show the world what she can do! Sadly, not everyone shares her enthusiasm. While the majority of the locals are thrilled with her new Comfort Cakes Bake Shop, Rachel soon learns that the owner of a local café is determined to ruin her. Of course, business is business, and a bit of competition may even make things interesting! But when Rachel finds a dead body in her kitchen just before the Grand Opening and she is accused of the murder, she quickly realizes that this is more than a little friendly rivalry! Book 2, Guilt & Galaxy Cake: Rachel’s newest assignment is to create an enticing galaxy cake to celebrate the latest release from popular science fiction author, Stan Stickman. But when the legendary scribe is killed in a manner eerily reminiscent of a murder found in his own book, Rachel finds herself sucked into a vortex of mystery & deceit from which she seems unable to escape. Now, if she hopes to get out with her own life intact, she must figure out who is to blame for the deadly deed. And with a cast of suspects including an astronaut-turned-senator, an obsessed fan and even her own ex-boyfriend, she is in for a wild ride! Book 3, Strangulation & Strawberry Cake: When Rachel is hired to bake a special strawberry cake for Sheriff Scott’s grandmother’s 90th birthday, she works extra hard to make it as perfect as possible. After all, the sharp-eyed millionaire is known to have a hot temper & a short fuse. But, despite all of her hard work, there’s no way Rachel could have prevented this party from going awry. Not when someone is murdered right before dinner! Grandma Mallory’s accountant is the victim. It seems he’d learned something that someone wished to keep secret and, with nobody at the party other than members of the family, one of them must be the killer. Unless, that is, it’s the ghost in the attic… Book 4, Bodies & Bundt Cake: How exciting! Rachel is off to spend a weekend serving as a judge for a baking contest! She’s ready to fill her belly with delicious desserts and clear her mind of everything to do with work. But there’s just one problem… Someone has just been murdered, and one of the contestants just may be the killer! And there’s reason to believe that one of Rachel’s closest friends may be next on the criminal’s list! Now, all thoughts of selecting the most talented baker have been replaced by trying to catch the culprit before he or she strikes again! And the clock is ticking… Book 5, Weddings & Wine Cake: Rachel wants nothing more than for her father to be happy.

    So why is she caught up in the business of murder?When Jill's elderly friend, Miss Emily, calls in a fit of pique, she already knows the city council is trying to force Emily to sell her dilapidated old house. But Emily's gumption goes for naught when she dies unexpectedly and leaves the house to Jill—along with all of her problems. . .and her enemies. Convinced her friend was murdered, Jill is finding the list of suspects longer than the list of repairs needed on the house. But Jill is determined to uncover the culprit—especially if it gets her closer to South Cove's finest, Detective Greg King. Problem is, the killer knows she's on the case—and is determined to close the book on Jill permanently. . .

    But now she’s not so sure. She’s been getting cryptic threatening messages ever since her teenage daughter, Ballad, did a school report about her journalist grandfather. It turns out someone has a dark secret and doesn’t like Ballad digging into the past. But Nova has a dark secret of her own. One that she can’t let anyone - especially not Ballad - find out about.Too bad she’s not the only one who wants the past forgotten. And the other person will stop at nothing to silence the most precious thing in Nova’s world - her daughter Ballad.Nova did what she had to do to protect her daughter once, will she be able do it again?Welcome to Liar’s Island… a stand-alone series of interconnected domestic thrillers set in the picture-perfect community of Liars Island. Here, nothing is quite as it seems.On this island, families and friendships are more than meets the eye … secrets, deceptions, and jealousies threaten to ruin everything these influential people have built. But it isn’t only the rich that live here … and power comes in all shapes and sizes.Everyone here is a liar … just how far would you go to get what you want?

    But as she and her daughter, Penelope, eagerly pursue their genealogical interests, they are also being pursued - by Callum MacGregor, an English police inspector who thinks he is cornering two art thieves, and by a pair of mysterious characters with more sinister motives. Who are the real thieves? Is anyone who she seems? Set among the ancient ruins, bustling city streets, and wild beauty of 1920s Scotland, Who Goes There? is full of intrigue and surprises. Best-selling author Susan Evans McCloud delivers again in a thriller that will keep readers entranced until the final page.

    Already deep into the investigation of a multimillion-dollar NFL gambling scandal and the unsolved slayings of eighteen schoolgirls, he learns his best friend's wife, Jack's former lover, has been killed. The secrets of the most influential men and women on the planet come to Jack daily—and his staff of investigators use the world's most advanced forensic tools to make and break their cases. But Jack doesn't have to play by the rules.

    In a dusty back room of the old house, she discovers the crumbling photo of a handsome World War II medic - Samuel Riordan, the homestead's former occupant - and soon finds herself becoming obsessed with him. But as Audrey digs deeper into Samuel's story, she discovers he was accused of bashing to death a young woman on his return from the war in 1946. When she learns about other unexplained deaths in recent years - one of them a young woman with injuries echoing those of the first victim - she begins to suspect that the killer is still very much alive. And now Audrey, thanks to her need to uncover the past, has provided him with good reason to want to kill again.

    At least, it feels that way until a serial killer starts dicing up women from the shelter where she volunteers. Despite the ever-present tingling at the nape of her neck, Hannah manages to convince herself that the killings have nothing to do with her brutal past—until her boyfriend is murdered in the same ruthless manner as the others. It doesn’t help that the police think she might have done it. But the cops are right about one thing: Hannah is responsible. Because she knows who the killer is. Now she must face the fact that she brought a monster with her to Ash Park—and his appetite for blood is insatiable. Everyone's hungry for something. Some are more famished than others.

    It is now part of the Miss Fortune World published by J&R Fan Fiction. I wish to thank Ms. DeLeon for graciously allowing other writers to explore their own writing in a most Sinful way.Sinful Stories is a series of stories written by Shari Hearn within the Miss Fortune World featuring Fortune, Gertie and Ida Belle. They may be read in any order; however, they do follow the timeline of Jana DeLeon's Miss Fortune series with regard to Fortune's relationship with Carter. With the earlier books in the series, Carter doesn't know Fortune's true identity. As Jana DeLeon's series changes with regard to Fortune's continued threat from Ahmad, future stories within Sinful Stories will reflect those changes.Currently, the stories within Sinful Stories include:Nearly DepartedMutiny on the BayouOverdueNearly BelovedRematchLeaving SinfulMurder on the Sinful Express

    Just before the Closing Speeches, the young man sacks his lawyer, and decides to give his own defence speech.He tells us that his barrister told him to leave some things out. Sometimes, the truth can be too difficult to explain, or believe. But he thinks that if he's going to go down for life, he might as well go down telling the truth.There are eight pieces of evidence against him. As he talks us through them one by one, his life is in our hands. We, the reader - member of the jury - must keep an open mind till we hear the end of his story. His defence raises many questions... but at the end of the speeches, only one matters: Did he do it?

    5 books and NO cliffies! Boiling Point Every time the Army Corps of Engineers goes into a town to do a project, they send someone like me in to assess the possible reaction of the locals. From the first minute I tried to talk to these people it was like hitting my head against a wall! Then there’s resort owner Chase Kingston of course. The guy looks like an underwear model wandering around in the wilderness. He hunts snakes and works part time as a fishing guide and he’s completely the wrong kind of man for someone like me. But if he can help me get the people in this town to cooperate, I’m willing to spend a little extra time with him. It’s not like that would be a hardship. Absolute Zero One of the things I like best about the military is the complete lack of gray area. Things are black and white. I like absolutes and I like order. So when I get stuck on this job in Wilson Hollow I figure I’ll use my brand of law and order to make this project a fast success. Of course that was before I met Reese Coburn. The woman seems to take great pleasure in irritating the crap out of me and questioning my every decision. Center of Gravity I’m not entirely sure that anyone has luck as bad as Kelsey Kingston’s. The woman has been trapped on her brother’s resort for years while she waits for him to buy her out. She’s had a tough time finding a job because there aren’t that many businesses in a small town, and now she’s been fired from her job and accused of murder.I know Kelsey didn’t kill that man and I aim to prove it. Pendulum The army has been accused of murder and so they’ve brought in their own investigator. Lieutenant Buck Colson is the most arrogant man I’ve ever met! Unfortunately he’s also the best looking, which is totally distracting when I’m working so hard not to notice him. He’s on my turf, he’s poking around, and he’s starting to reveal some things that have been wrong in Wilson Hollow for a long, long time. Melting Point Alison Thomason was the one who got away. That much has always been true for me. I never really understood what happened when we were kids, but then we were from very different families. Now I’m back in Wilson Hollow on army business and Alison is doing everything she can to poke at me. I wonder if she realizes that we’re on the same team.

    Within minutes, she and her family hastily pack up their belongings and abandon their home. Where did the family go and why? Det. Roberta Hobbs has been assigned to uncover the family's whereabouts. Hobbs is a confident, intelligent police veteran. However, each passing day brings her closer to her unresolved past. When Hobbs digs deeper into the mystery, all leads point to her own longtime ex-boyfriend - a former drug dealer turned philanthropist named Steven Vance -- as the primary suspect. This riveting dual-timeline suspense novel takes us back to 2004 -- the year Greta Carpenter first realizes something is wrong with her young son, John. Over the course of his childhood, John's learning disabilities become apparent. Greta's unfaltering advocacy on his behalf puts her at odds with the school system and strains her relationship with her husband Griffin. Eventually Greta and Griffin's marriage falls apart, and during the divorce trial, Greta reveals that she was a teenage runaway, and a local entrepreneur named Steven Vance rescued her from the streets. Vance is certainly a man of many shades - a local celebrity for his philanthropy, a cunning CEO who sits atop a questionable mini-empire, a benevolent former father figure to Greta and a lying, evasive former companion to Hobbs. It seems that only Vance has the power to make people disappear in this small town and he emerges as the most obvious suspect...but Hobbs remains uncertain of his role. While her colleagues question whether she can truly be impartial, Hobbs realizes she has a reason to suspect them as well. Nothing is obvious in this thrilling mystery...except that Hobbs must race to solve the mystery before it's too late.

    A beautiful wife at home, a successful business, and all the trappings that come with money. After a brutal attack that leaves him bloodied and bruised, Simon is approached by a woman he has not seen in twenty years. What he discovers will changes his life forever.Detective Helen Sloan is months away from retirement. She wants nothing more than to wrap up one last case before she hangs up her badge and gun. A simple investigation of a dead body found next to a bus shelter leaves Helen with more questions than answers.Can a single lie change the course of so many lives? And who is the mysterious man that connects Simon and Helen to a crime that happened years ago?SON OF SIMON is a jaw-dropping page-turner about revenge, loss, and redemption. Fans of James Patterson, Harlan Coben, and David Baldacci will love this book!

    Lucian prison, and reaches out to filmmaker Sidney Ryan in a last, desperate attempt to prove her innocence.As Sidney begins researching, she uncovers startling evidence overlooked during the original investigation. Before the series even finishes filming, public outcry leads officials to reopen the case. Delving into Grace’s past, Sidney peels away layer after layer of deception. But as she edges closer to the real heart of the story, Sidney must decide if finding the truth is worth risking her newfound fame, her career … even her life.