Book picks similar to
Servant of the Skull by Edita A. Petrick


crime-murder-mystery-thriller
realistic-fiction
review
supernatural

The Silence


Katharine Johnson - 2017
     When human remains are discovered in the grounds of an idyllic Tuscan holiday home she is forced to confront the memories she has suppressed until now and relive the summer she spent at the villa in 1992. A summer that ended in tragedy. The nearer she gets to the truth the closer she comes to losing her sanity. In order to hold onto the people she loves most, she must make sure they never discover what she did. But the reappearance of someone else from that summer threatens to blow her secret wide open.

Southern Heat


David Burnsworth - 2014
    Brack Pelton, an ex-racecar driver and Afghanistan War veteran, witnesses the murder of his uncle, Reggie Sails. Darcy Wells, the pretty Palmetto Pulse reporter, investigates Reggie's murder and targets Brack.The sole heir of his uncle's estate, Brack receives a rundown bar called the Pirate's Cove, a rotting beach house, and one hundred acres of preserved and valuable wetland along the Ashley River. A member of Charleston's wealthiest and oldest families offers Brack four million dollars for the land. All Brack wants is his uncle's killer.From the sandy beaches of Isle of Palms, through the nineteenth-century mansions lining the historic Battery, to the marshlands surrounding the county, Southern Heat is drenched in the humidity of the lowcountry.

Forgotten


Heleyne Hammersley - 2016
    The doctor names her Kai, the Thai word for fever.Unable to recall what led her to end up at the bottom of a cliff, Kai’s only clue to her identity is a diary. Stuck in a foreign land with no memory, she begins to unpick the truth about her past. And she will discover who she and why she is in danger…This is Kai’s story.

Killer Moves


Varsha Dixit - 2018
    Aisha Khatri has many! Aisha’s life is seemingly mundane on the surface-she writes for television and takes care of her niece Kiara and her retired father. But when Kiara’s life is threatened during a modeling assignment for the famous Kabir Rana, once a suspect for his wife’s murder, the only way Aisha can save Kiara is by accepting the unique ability she has aggressively resisted all her life. But Aisha is not the only one with secrets. There are others who have secrets and will kill to keep them. Aisha is determined to protect Kiara even if it means placing herself in the crosshairs of a depraved killer who butchers beautiful girls and leaves them as grotesque displays. Is Kiara a target of a serial killer or is the killer closer to home-and Aisha’s heart? Who is Kabir Rana? An elusive and moody fashion photographer burdened with a dark past or a murderer who got away? How will Aisha save Kiara from a killer who is several steps ahead of an entire city’s police force? When the dead come calling, will Aisha answer? From the bustling streets of Goa to the beautiful palaces of Sirsa, Killer Moves is a fast-paced, gripping, romantic suspense tale with strong thriller and supernatural elements.

The Darklands


Dale J. Young - 2016
    As he sits on the side of the road trying to calm his nerves, a man driving a red El Camino pulls up and invites him to have a drink at a saloon just up the road. At first Barlow doesn’t think much about the man in the meticulously-restored classic car, but when he gets back on the road and continues his journey into the mountains he starts to get the sinking feeling that something is just not right.On his way to the saloon he stops at a gas station that appears to be from a bygone era. There he meets Velton, the gas station attendant who rides a 1947 Knucklehead Harley. But there is something strange about Velton that he can’t quite put his finger on. And later, when he arrives at the saloon and meets Lucy, the bartender and driver of the El Camino, Barlow begins to realize that despite what he might have thought, the near-miss he had with the truck might not have been such a near-miss after all.***Infused with healthy dose of dark humor and set against a vivid backdrop of the author’s version of Hell, The Darklands is a haunting tale of the afterlife played out in a bizarre landscape populated by the souls of the damned. Follow along the winding backroads with Barlow and Candy, a sexy hitchhiker he meets along the way, as they ride through the eternal night while searching for the reason both of them have been dealt such a horrific twist of fate.Will they find a way out? Or will they suffer the same fate as the rest of the condemned souls and be forced to ride the haunted roads of The Darklands forever.

Tomb of the Lost


Julian Noyce - 2011
    In four parts.Tomb of the Lost is an action/adventure novel that spans 2300 years.Babylon, Persia 323bc.On a bed a man lays dying. Alexander the great, King, the Lion of Macedon has a mysterious fever. He became king at twenty, dying at thirty three, having conquered the known world. Following his death his General and friend Ptolemy takes the body and inters it into a magnificent tomb in Alexandria, Egypt. The very city Alexander founded.Two thousand three hundred years later and the leader of Germany Adolf Hitler who is a great collector of antiquities orders the sarcophagus, lost two thousand years before by Julius Caesar's legionaries, to be found and brought to Berlin.Hitler assigns a team of his Wehrmacht commanded by a General and his Colonel and a team of SS led by a fanatical Major to locate it.With their mission a success the Germans descend on the port town of Gabes, Tunisia just as the town is about to be over run by the British and as the battle for North Africa reaches its brutal climax the sarcophagus is lost once again leaving only one man alive to tell the tale.That man is Alfred Dennis.Nearly seventy years later and marine archaeologist Natalie Feltham and her team with the help of Peter Dennis, a journalist and grandson of Alfred Dennis, make the greatest discovery in modern archaeology.Now it's a race against time for Natalie and her team as dark powers from Germany's Nazi past try to take what is rightfully hers.

Her Final Mistake: An addictive murder mystery with a shocking twist


Amy Waeschle - 2021
    A twisted truth. A fight for survival.Investigative journalist Meg Dawson is about to be demoted to the graveyard shift unless she can score a big scoop. But she gets more than she bargained for when a murder case lands in her lap—the victim was her good friend, Sam Vargas. Just when Meg starts building momentum to uncover the truth about Sam’s death, her boss at the Times hands her story to her archrival. What’s worse, the police are asking all the wrong questions, both about Sam and her dark past. Meg continues her investigation in secret, uncovering one ugly deed after the next, until she comes face to face with a devastating truth. Can Meg outsmart a killer who always seems to be one step ahead? Fans of Melinda Leigh’s Bree Taggart series and Kendra Elliot’s Columbia River mysteries will devour this page-turning whodunnit. Start the thrilling Meg Dawson mystery series with Her Final Mistake today!

Engulfed


Kathleen Cosgrove - 2012
    What she finds are dead bodies, a kidnapping, the mob and a certain Jewish Cuban detective that she has developed a school girls crush on.It's not long before she's engulfed in events that will either destroy her or prove to her that it's never too late to begin again and that life isn't over until it is.This book is filled with fun and unforgettable characters and situations that never leave a dull moment from page one to epilogue.

A Hillcrest Witch Mystery Collection


Amorette Anderson - 2019
     Add a hot vampire, a few werewolves, and a ghost or two to the mix, and that spells trouble! When she's not learning magic, she's attempting to solve crimes. Thank goodness she has the help of her knitting circle and furry friends!  This boxset includes four Hillcrest Witch Cozy Mysteries: Book #6: The Case of the Voice Spell Book #7: The Case of the Earth Spell Book #8: The Case of the Water Spell Book #9: The Case of the Air Spell

Ghostly Paws


Leighann Dobbs - 2014
     At least that’s how it seems to former crime journalist, Wilhelmina Chance, whose near-fatal accident has given her a strange side effect ... she sees ghosts. After a messy divorce sends her fleeing back to her hometown of Mystic Notch, nestled in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Willa finds herself haunted by the tenacious ghost of the town librarian who insists Willa solve her murder. Luckily, she has lots of help, including a quirky cast of small-town characters, the cat she’s inherited from her grandmother, and her best friend, Pepper, who claims her herbal teas can work magic. But just when Willa thinks she’s discovered who the killer is, she finds out that things are not what they seem in Mystic Notch, and the case takes a strange turn that has Willa adding even some of her long-time friends to her suspect list. Can Willa find the real killer in time to keep the magical balance in Mystic Notch on the side of good, or will evil prevail?

A Season to Kill


Michael Mucci - 2017
    With the small town of Macon, Pennsylvania now in a panic, will DeAngelo uncover the clues in time to prevent another murder? Or will his attempt to stop the killer make him the next victim?

The First Time I Died


Jo Macgregor - 2018
     When Garnet McGee returns to her small Vermont hometown for the holidays, she vows to solve the mystery of the murder which shattered her life ten years ago. But then the unexpected happens — she dies in an accident and gets brought back to life by paramedics. Now she’s hearing words, seeing visions and experiencing strange sensations. Are these merely symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and an over-active imagination, or is she getting messages from a paranormal presence? Garnet has always prided herself on being logical and rational, but trying to catch a killer without embracing her shadow self is getting increasingly difficult. And dangerous, because in a town full of secrets, it seems like everybody has a motive for murder.Fast-paced and riveting, The First Time I Died is a suspenseful and haunting crime story with an supernatural twist.

Green River Blend


Armand Rosamilia - 2015
    Augustine. Free from corporate businesses and a slew of tourists descending upon the quaint former fishing village, Hammond Beach is like a painting. Locals run the businesses on Main Street. Even when a new coffee shop opens, the owner hires only Hammond Beach locals, including manager Betty. She’s born and raised in Hammond Beach and knows everyone. But when the latest and greatest coffee is put out, Green River Blend, strange things begin to happen to the residents of Hammond Beach…

The Forbidden City


Alexander Grant - 2017
    Stack, author and historian)GRIPPING EPIC FANTASY It was the perfect plan. Murder the King and use his legions to restore the Empire. Only flaw; the man who created the legions managed to escape. No big deal. He was only one man, right?Immerse yourself within the magical world of the Eagle Empire through the first book of the King's Lion Tales. Spectacular battles, high level strategy, romance, Gods, shamans, magicians and miraculous spices are making a truly entertaining read. They sent his own legions to hunt him down. Assassins lurk behind every corner. The woman he loves is in danger. As if these are not enough, they plan to unleash a terrible ancient evil to plunge the world into warfare and bloodshed. But he is not an ordinary man. He is a legend. General Leandros, the undefeated King's Lion. Now he is coming back armed with steel and magic. In a world full of intrigue, sorcery and enchantment, where Gods and humans play lethal power games, the King's Lion fights one breath-taking battle after another across an entire continent. The future of the Empire and of the woman he loves depends on him. Will his genius manage to save the world?

Witch Way to Nightshade


Penny Brooke - 2021
    But she hadn’t perceived the extent of her powers…or the fact she was a witch.An elderly woman moving in across the street sets off a series of events that leads to Salem attending Nightshade Village, a college for women with “special abilities.”But upon arrival at the bizarre school, just as Salem’s true purpose reveals itself, tragedy strikes, and one of their own dies mysteriously.Will Salem be able to use her growing powers to solve the mystery surrounding the witch’s death? Or will her own life be in jeopardy before she can realize her full potential?Join Salem Donovan in the Nightshade Village series, a paranormal cozy mystery featuring a witch sleuth, magic and mayhem, and a mystery to solve.