Book picks similar to
The Golden Merra by Kevin Moore
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The Grove of Eagles
Winston Graham - 1963
Men like John Killigrew, commanding a key position on the Cornish coast, were vital to the survival of the country, and it is through the eyes of his eldest son, Maugan, that the story unfolds. Rich in action, it is also crowded with unforgettable characters, many of them based on actual historical figures. Maugan Killigrew himself emerges, through his loneliness and his love, his physical suffering in a Spanish gaol, as a touchingly honest and believable character who is, above all things, a man of his time.
You Can't Catch Me
Catherine McKenzie - 2020
Thanks to the private detective who rescued her, she reintegrated into society, endured an uncomfortable notoriety, and tried to put it all behind her. Then, at an airport bar, Jessica meets a woman with an identical name and birth date. It appears to be just an odd coincidence—until a week later, when Jessica finds her bank account drained and her personal information stolen.Following a trail of the grifter’s victims, each with the same name, Jessica gathers players—one by one—for her own game. According to her plan, they’ll set a trap and wait for the impostor to strike again. But plans can go awry, and trust can fray, and as Jessica tries to escape the shadows of her childhood, the risks are greater than she imagined. Now, confronting the casualties of her past, Jessica can’t help but wonder…Who will pay the price?
Under the Skin
James Carlos Blake - 2003
Raised on an isolated West Texas ranch that he was forced to flee at age eighteen following the violent breakup of his foster family, Jimmy has found a home and a profession in Galveston -- and a mentor in Rose Maceo.Looming over Jimmy's story like an ancient curse is the specter of his fearsome father. Their ties of blood, evident since Jimmy's boyhood, have been drawn tighter over time. Then a strange and beautiful girl enters his life and a swift and terrifying sequence of events is set in motion. Jimmy must cross the border and go deep into the brutal and merciless country of his ancestors -- where the story's harrowing climax closes a circle of destiny many years in the making.
Vine Street
Dominic Nolan - 2021
SOHO, 1935.SERGEANT LEON GEATS' PATCH.A snarling, skull-cracking misanthrope, Geats marshals the grimy rabble according to his own elastic moral code.The narrow alleys are brimming with jazz bars, bookies, blackshirts, ponces and tarts so when a body is found above the Windmill Club, detectives are content to dismiss the case as just another young woman who topped herself early.But Geats - a good man prepared to be a bad one if it keeps the worst of them at bay - knows the dark seams of the city.Working with his former partner, mercenary Flying Squad sergeant Mark Cassar, Geats obsessively dedicates himself to finding a warped killer - a decision that will reverberate for a lifetime and transform both men in ways they could never expect.
A Brutal Hand: There's No Escape (SHORTZ)
Ravi Subramanian - 2020
Erased
Jordan Marshall - 2011
They programmed her to forget everything. She was supposed to be the perfect patsy, until something went wrong… When Sara wakes up on the roof of a Union Square department store with a sniper rifle in her arms and the body of a political activist in the street below, she can’t even remember how she got there. A mysterious stranger calls and instructs her to turn herself in. He warns that her life has been erased and she’ll never see her family again if she doesn’t cooperate. Sara is terrified, and in a desperate attempt to sort out her past and prove her innocence, she goes on the run. Sara quickly finds herself one of America’s most wanted criminals. The police and the FBI are convinced she’s a known terrorist. The black ops team that framed her is out to kill her before she can expose them. Her only hope lies in rookie FBI agent Brandy Jackson. Unfortunately, Brandy and her partner have every reason to believe Sara is the real killer and they’re being pressured from above to close the case as quickly as possible. As the evidence mounts, Sara even begins to question her own memories. What if she’s not the dedicated mother and hardworking attorney she thinks she is? What if she really is the killer?
Witch Way: Books 1-3
Jane Hinchey - 2019
When local witch Harper Jones returns to her magical hometown of Whitefall Cove she keeps finding herself in the middle of murder mysteries. It all starts when her high school nemesis turns up dead and Harper’s determined to bring the killer to justice. Together with her familiar – an orange furball named Archie – and her hilarious Gran who thinks bedazzled Ugg boots are the height of fashion, Harper sets out to solve the mystery; and that’s just the start of her adventures. If you love witchy sleuths with a knack for finding out whodunit, then you don’t want to miss this bestselling series and your chance to binge read the first three books in this special boxed collection! WITCH WAY TO MURDER & MAYHEM - Book 1 To call Gran eccentric is somewhat of an understatement. She has questionable fashion sense, cough, can anyone say bedazzled Ugg boots and a tutu? But my Gran? She is awesome. So when she suggested I buy The Dusty Attic Bookstore I was all in, after all, what could go wrong? Try finding my high school nemesis dead on the floor of my newly acquired store for starters. Now I’m on the suspect list! WITCH WAY TO ROMANCE & RUIN - Book 2 To win the Decadent Dessert’s competition, you have to crack a few eggs. Gran is gearing up to finally take down the reigning winner of Whitefall Cove’s annual Decadent Dessert’s competition, only the former victor turns up dead, and Gran is the number one suspect. Now all eyes are on us. How on earth do I keep two feuding covens from outright war, prove Gran’s innocence, and keep my new bookstore afloat? WITCH WAY DOWN UNDER - Book 3 Tick Tock. Time is running out. My parents are missing in outback Australia. Only they’ve left me clues. Clues that tell me they were close to a significant discovery – the location of a copper scroll that leads to untold treasures. A scroll that treasure hunters would kill for. ★ WHY READERS LOVE THE WITCH WAY SERIES ★ “I fell in love with the characters from the first page of WITCH WAY TO MURDER & MAYHEM. Gran! I wish I had a gran like her. I didn't figure out who the culprit was until the author wanted me to. I couldn't put this book down, it has all the elements you'd expect with extras that fit seamlessly into the genre. Cannot wait for more in the series!” ~ Angie “I loved the characters in WITCH WAY TO MURDER & MAYHEM so much! Harper Jones comes home to Whitefall Cove after losing her magic, fiancee and job. While home living with Gran, who by the way is a hoot! Harper decides to buy The Dusty Attic Book store. This is when the Mystery begins! A murder and a whole bunch of suspects and one very hot detective! I highly recommend this book!” ~ Donna “WITCH WAY TO MURDER & MAYHEM is a great book! I had so much fun reading this! Gran is a hoot, I want to be like her!! Harper is amazing, even after going through such a horrible break up with a cheating McDouche, as Gran calls him, and losing her magic, she still pulls herself up and comes out ahead of it all. Such a great inspiration. I can’t wait until the next book comes out to see what happens!” ~ Jodi “WITCH WAY TO MURDER & MAYHEM - Gran had me rolling on the floor with belly laughs; I love that clotheshorse hussy. This is not your typical cozy murder mystery; there's actually interesting storylines, funny dialog, an interesting variety of characters, almost all likable. This clean story moves at a fast pace and there's plenty of intrigue.” ~ Texas
Black Rock
John McFetridge - 2013
The “Vampire Killer” has murdered three women and a fourth is missing. Bombs explode in the stock exchange, McGill University, and houses in Westmount. Riots break out at the St. Jean Baptiste parade and at Sir George Williams University. James Cross and Pierre Laporte are kidnapped and the Canadian army moves onto the streets of Montreal.A young beat cop working out of Station Ten finds himself almost alone hunting the serial killer, as the rest of the force focuses on the FLQ crisis. Constable Eddie Dougherty, the son of a French mother and an Irish-Canadian father, decides to take matters into his own hands to catch the killer before he strikes again.Set against actual historical events, Black Rock is both a compelling page-turner and an accomplished novel in the style of Dennis Lehane.
The Lavender Witch
Elizabeth Andrews - 2012
Accused of being a witch by a wealthy farmer in the small remote village where she lived in the early 1800's.One hundred and seventy years later these strange events, now only remembered by a few, come to light when Kitty and Gordon move back to the Devon village where they were born. They buy an old orchard from a neighbouring farm and build a small house, all is fine until they move in.Over the course of their first week in the house chilling apparitions appear and events spiral out of control, bringing the past and present together until the shocking truth emerges as to what really happened to Hannah.The Cunning Man is the second book in the series featuring the psychic sisters Queenie and Sybil.
The Hidden
Jo Chumas - 2013
As Aimee tries to unravel the web of lies and secrets surrounding her husband’s death, she unwittingly becomes a pawn in a revolutionary plot against Egypt’s king. With the discovery of a twenty-year-old diary, the mystery only deepens. As Aimee gets ever closer to the truth, she discovers startling parallels between her own life and that of the mother she never knew. Unfolding in the city’s brothels, hashish cafes, and jasmine-scented colonial mansions, The Hidden is a gritty, sensual tale of revolution, betrayal, and the lengths we will go to for love—and truth.
A Certain Age
Beatriz Williams - 2016
Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: she's fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War. An intense and deeply honorable man, Octavian is devoted to the beautiful socialite of a certain age and wants to marry her. While times are changing and she does adore the Boy, divorce for a woman of Theresa's wealth and social standing is out of the question, and there is no need; she has an understanding with Sylvo, her generous and well-respected philanderer husband.But their relationship subtly shifts when her bachelor brother, Ox, decides to tie the knot with the sweet younger daughter of a newly wealthy inventor. Engaging a longstanding family tradition, Theresa enlists the Boy to act as her brother's cavalier, presenting the family's diamond rose ring to Ox's intended, Miss Sophie Fortescue—and to check into the background of the little-known Fortescue family. When Octavian meets Sophie, he falls under the spell of the pretty ingénue, even as he uncovers a shocking family secret. As the love triangle of Theresa, Octavian, and Sophie progresses, it transforms into a saga of divided loyalties, dangerous revelations, and surprising twists that will lead to a shocking transgression ... and eventually force Theresa to make a bittersweet choice.Full of the glamour, wit and delicious twists that are the hallmarks of Beatriz Williams' fiction and alternating between Sophie's spirited voice and Theresa's vibrant timbre, A Certain Age is a beguiling reinterpretation of Richard Strauss's comic opera Der Rosenkavalier, set against the sweeping decadence of Gatsby's New York.
The Vatican Cameos: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure
Richard T. Ryan - 2016
After learning from the pontiff that several priceless cameos that could prove compromising to the church, and perhaps determine the future of the newly unified Italy, have been stolen, Holmes is asked to recover them. In a parallel story, Michelangelo, the toast of Rome in 1501 after the unveiling of his Pieta, is commissioned by Pope Alexander VI, the last of the Borgia pontiffs, with creating the cameos that will bedevil Holmes and the papacy four centuries later. For fans of Conan Doyle's immortal detective, the game is always afoot. However, the great detective has never encountered an adversary quite like the one with whom he crosses swords in "The Vatican Cameos.."
Instinct: A Novel
Jason M. Hough - 2021
Welcome to Silvertown. Population: 602 (for now). Officer Mary Whittaker has yet to be fully welcomed by the residents of this tiny, quirky mountain town which seems to be home to more conspiracy theories than any other place in America. But with the chief of police on leave, she is left alone to confront a series of abnormal incidents—strange even by Silvertown standards. A teenager dies tragically after eating obviously poisonous mushrooms from his lawn. A hiker found dead on a trail, smiling serenely after being mauled by a bear. A normally doting mother leaving her toddler twins behind without noticing. Other residents seem to have lost all sense of self-preservation as they walk out in front of Mary’s moving cruiser or sit placidly in the middle of a sharp bend in a mountain road. It’s almost as if the townsfolk are losing their survival instincts, one by one. As she digs deeper into her investigation and uncovers a larger conspiracy lurking below the surface of Silvertown, Officer Whittaker finds herself on the brink of falling prey to whatever has possessed the town and she must distinguish the truth from paranoia-fueled lies before she ends up losing her own instincts…and her life.
The Lives of Diamond Bessie
Jody HadlockJody Hadlock
When the nuns take her baby, Annie escapes, determined to find a way to be reunited with her daughter. But few rights or opportunities are available to a woman in the 1860s, and after failing to find a respectable job, she resorts to prostitution in order to survive. As a highly sought-after demi-mondaine, Annie—now Bessie—garners many expensive gifts from her admirers and eventually meets and marries the son of a wealthy jeweler, a traveling salesman with a gambling problem. With her marriage, she believes her dream of returning to proper society has finally come true. She’s proven wrong when she suffers the ultimate betrayal at the hands of the man she thought would be her salvation. But Bessie doesn’t let her story end there. Set against the backdrop of the burgeoning women’s rights movement, The Lives of Diamond Bessie is a captivating tale of betrayal and redemption that explores whether seeking revenge is worth the price you might pay."As fascinating as it is riveting as it is original, The Lives of Diamond Bessie is a compelling novel of historical suspense. Bessie is a character who will haunt you for all the right reasons—for her determination, her heart, and her soul. I was enthralled." NYT bestselling author M.J. Rose, The Last Tiara
The Haunting of Thores-Cross: A Yorkshire Ghost Story
Karen Perkins - 2012
A haunting historical thriller set in Britain's North Yorkshire Moors about isolation, superstition and persecution, The Haunting of Thores-Cross explores 18th century life in a picturesque but isolated village in the North Yorkshire Moors. When a vulnerable young girl is ostracised within her community and accused of witchcraft, the descendants of her neighbours will suffer for centuries to come.*Silver Medal Winner, European fiction - 2015 IPPY Book Awards *#1 Bestseller in 6 Amazon Categories, including Ghost Suspense, British Horror and Gothic Romance*Top 10 Bestseller in 8 more, including Historical Thrillers and Occult Horror*Over 100 5-STAR reviews on Amazon.com Likened by independent reviewers on Amazon to the Brontë sisters, Edgar Allen Poe, Barbara Erskine and Nathaniel Hawthorne, Karen Perkins' novels are filled with unflinching honesty and an acute understanding of human nature. She explores not only the depths of humanity, but the depths of human motivation behind the actions and pain people inflict upon each other, as well as the repercussions of these actions not only in the short term, but also the later generations who live with the implications of the past. Emma Moorcroft is still grieving after a late miscarriage and moves to her dream house at Thruscross Reservoir with her husband, Dave. Both Emma and Dave hope that moving into their new home signifies a fresh start, but life is not that simple. Emma has nightmares about the reservoir and the drowned village that lies beneath the water, and is further disturbed by the sound of church bells - from a church that no longer exists. Jennet is fifteen and lives in the isolated community of Thores-Cross, where life revolves about the sheep on which they depend. Following the sudden loss of both her parents, she is seduced by the local wool merchant, Richard Ramsgill. She becomes pregnant and is shunned not only by Ramsgill, but by the entire village. Lonely and embittered, Jennet's problems escalate, leading to tragic consequences which continue to have an effect through the centuries. Emma becomes fixated on Jennet, neglecting herself, her beloved dogs and her husband to the point where her marriage may not survive. As Jennet and Emma's lives become further entwined, Emma's obsession deepens and she realises that the curse Jennet inflicted on the Ramsgill family over two hundred years ago is still claiming lives. Emma is the only one who can stop Jennet killing again, but will her efforts be enough? The Haunting of Thores-Cross was previously titled Thores-Cross.The Yorkshire Ghost Stories are all stand-alone, complete books, and can be read in any order