True-Life Adventure


J. Paul Drew - 1985
    It wasn’t much, but it would keep Spot the cat in Kitty Queen tidbits.But then somebody poisoned Jack in Paul’s own living room. A day that begins with a body in your house really ought to get better, but next comes burglary and after that, assault-by-cop. And Paul’s got a feeling that’s just the beginning. There must have been something someone didn't want him to know in one of those client reports. But what?The wise-cracking, funny, but slightly depressed ex-journalist better become an ace private investigator in about two seconds—or end up like his detective mentor.Birnbaum's last report concerned a kidnapped child, so Paul begins there. The trail leads him to the laboratory of a Nobel laureate geneticist, and then to San Francisco City Hall, where an extremely nasty surprise awaits. But there’s an upside—lovely witness Sardis Kincannon. Nothing like falling in love while you’re running for your life!

Baking is Murder


Kathy Cranston - 2016
     Luckily for Jessie, Springdale is every bit as quirky and idyllic as she remembers, and Bee’s baking is just as mouth-watering. Then the unthinkable happens and there’s a murder on the outskirts of town. Worse still, Jessie’s new friend is the prime suspect. The cops think the case is cut-and-dry, but Jessie’s gut tells her there’s more going on than meets the eye. Can she get to the bottom of it? Baking is Murder is the first book in the Bee’s Bakehouse Cozy Mystery series. Each book is a standalone mystery.

Open and Shut


David Rosenfelt - 2002
    I know, I know, it's a big planet with a lot of wonderful things, but golden retrievers are the absolute best. Mine is named Tara . . . The only problem she has ever caused is that I spend so much time with her in the mornings that I am almost invariably late for work." Whether dueling with new forensics or the local old boys' network, irreverent defense attorney Andy Carpenter always leaves them awed with his biting wit and winning fourth-quarter game plan. But Andy prefers the company of his best friend, Tara, to the people he encounters in the courtroom. Tara, a golden retriever, is clearly smarter than half the lawyers who clog the courts of Passaic County. However, just as it seems Andy has everything figured out, his dad, New Jersey's legendary ex-D.A., drops dead in front of him at a game in Yankee Stadium. The shocks pile on as he discovers his dad left him with two unexpected legacies: a fortune of $22 million that Andy never knew existed . . . and a murder case with enough racial tinder to burn down City Hall. Struggling to serve justice and bring honor to his father, Andy must dig up some explosive political skeletons - and an astonishing family secret that can close his case (and his mouth) for good.

Rhapsody in Red


Donn E. Taylor - 2008
     Preston Barclay is a self-made recluse (and he likes it that way). Teaching college history allows him time to grieve the loss of his pianist wife and find relief from the musical hallucinations that have been playing in his head since her death. But when he and a headstrong colleague, Mara Thorn, discover the body of another instructor on campus, Press's monotonous solitude is shaken up. The preliminary evidence points to Press and Mara. Now they must take some chances, including trusting each other (and bending the rules) to build their own defense. With their unlikely alliance, they must stay ahead of the police, the college's incompetent administration, and whoever is trying to get away with murder. If not, they might end up unemployed, behind bars, or worse . . .

The Cannibal's Daughter


Mitchell Nelson - 2014
    She’s a nobody. And that’s the way she likes it. Her father, on the other hand — Hank Keeling, the serial killer and occasional cannibal better known as the Pork Chop Killer — has just gone viral. Thanks to a prison guard’s error, a cell phone video of Keeling’s botched execution is quickly becoming an internet sensation. After watching her father die in all his pixelated glory, Caroline is taken off-guard when Keeling himself shows up at her front door, looking very much not dead. And he has a plan. A plan involving Caroline. A plan Caroline is going to take part in whether she wants to or not. Success means wealth beyond her dreams. Failure means death. Soon Caroline is whisked away from her bland life to face down killers, gangsters and a well-meaning cop in a hunt for long-lost fortune. Deceit, avarice and unrelenting violence collide in a coming-of-age story like none you’ve ever read.

White Gold


Rachel Amphlett - 2011
    A murdered friend. A deadly enemy.Dan Taylor’s career as a bomb disposal expert in the British Army ended when an IED killed three of his team and left him scarred for life. Years later, and on the brink of self-destruction, Dan struggles to cope with the nightmares that haunt him.Until the day an estranged friend leaves a voicemail message for him, moments before he is assassinated in cold blood.Plunged into a global conspiracy, Dan must unravel the research notes that Peter Edgewater left behind to locate an explosive device that is being smuggled towards London by a secretive organisation hell-bent on protecting its assets – and time is running out.

Ben's Story


Andrew M. Stafford - 2015
     Ben’s body lay alongside Liz, who was unconscious and barely alive at the bottom of Mill Tut, a Bronze aged burial mound in the beautiful Badock’s Wood in Bristol. DCI Markland Garraway, who at the last moment is brought in to lead the investigation into Ben’s murder has a reputation of being a maverick detective who thinks outside the box. The mystical powers of the ancient burial mound begin to influence Garraway’s attitude towards the case and soon he is alienated by his colleagues. Mill Tut, or The Hill as Garraway refers to it, opens up a Pandora’s Box of supernatural happenings which infiltrate his waking and sleeping life, creating a host of mental demons which the Scottish detective must learn to deal with. Daniel Boyd has fled Bristol to evade capture for the crime he has committed. To those who know him, he’s vanished off the face of the earth. But can he escape the mystical powers of The Hill? The power of The Hill does not only affect Garraway. It reaches out to many, including Christopher Jameson, who was born at the precise moment Ben’s life ended. The Hill reveals to Garraway and the others who are affected by its influence, the world for what it is; a place where the impossible is real, and the dead speak with the living.

314


A.R. Wise - 2012
    She has a good life as a music teacher now, and might rekindle her relationship with her one true love. However, the number 314 haunts her, and threatens to bring her back to the day that her brother disappeared. When a reporter shows up, just days before March 14th, Alma realizes that her past is coming back to haunt her. What happened on March 14th, at 3:14, 16 years ago? No one but The Skeleton Man can remember.

Private Eye: Cameron Caldwell Mystery


Jason Deas - 2014
    But, after getting a DUI in his police cruiser it isn’t really an issue. The real issue now is staying alive. Cameron knows secrets that could cost him his life and flees to what he hopes is a quiet mountain retreat. Launching a detective agency in the town of Miner’s Bluff, he unknowingly stumbles into a world of murder, moonshine, shifty characters, and even deeper secrets. But the biggest secret belongs to him. It’s the cornerstone of all his troubles. Cam can look into another’s eyes and see their darkest sin—their most evil act. And it’s beginning to take a toll on his sanity. The murder investigations of his past and present collide as Cam tries to keep his life from unraveling and his eyes from tearing him apart.

Front Page Fatality


LynDee Walker - 2013
    She assumes it will be routine, a scene like many other accidents she's covered.She's wrong.This was no ordinary accident.And as Nichelle digs deeper into the case, people and evidence begin to disappear. Someone is one step ahead of her, desperate to cover their tracks. A master criminal with a deadly secret, who will stop at nothing to keep the truth hidden...But as she draws closer to unraveling the mystery of two dead cops, Nichelle realizes she's become the next target. Can she survive this murderous game of cat and mouse long enough to solve the mystery? Or will Nichelle fall prey to a killer?

Mornings in Two Pan (Two Pan #1)


B.K. Froman - 2014
    For Jiggs Woolsey, the most disturbing mystery is the identity of the buried skull he digs up on his Oregon ranch. Warned not to turn it in, he seeks answers about the five generations of his family who’ve previously worked the acres. His father and the cantankerous old-timers of the fizzled-out community of Two Pan will teach him the hard way that they’re not ready to give up their secrets yet.

Ghost Shadow


Heather Graham - 2010
    They seek retribution…vengeance…to warn. Among the living, few intuit their presence.Katie O'Hara is one who can.As she’s drawn deeper and deeper into a gruesome years-old murder, whispered warnings from a spectral friend become more and more insistent. But Katie must uncover the truth: could David Beckett really be guilty of his fiancée’s murder?Worse – the body count’s rising on the Island of Bones, and the dead seem to be reenacting some macabre tableaux from history. The danger is increasing by the moment – especially as Katie finds herself irresistibly drawn to David, who may be responsible for more than just one killing….

Safe Harbor


Rosemary McCracken - 2012
    Stunned by the revelation of her husband's affair, Pat is even more shocked when the woman bolts from the office, leaving young Tommy behind.When Tommy's mother is murdered, police tell Pat that the boy may be the killer's next target. In a desperate race to protect Tommy, Pat's searches for the truth and uncovers a deadly scheme involving illegal immigrants, trafficking in human body parts and money laundering.And Pat discovers that she'll do just about anything to keep her family safe.

Color of Danger


Alexa Verde - 2014
    Dallas surgeon Dr. Luke Goodman turns her world upside down with terrifying news. A recent murder has her late brother's - aka the Smiling Killer - signature and MO. When attacks on her escalate, Mari fights her growing attraction to the good doctor as fiercely as she fights for her life. To rescue herself and those she loves, will she be able to stop the murderer before he strikes again? Luke couldn't save his fiancée from the Smiling Killer, but he'll do anything to prevent more murders, even ask help from the serial killer's sister. Finding a kindred tortured soul and the perpetrator's next target in Mari, Luke is determined to protect the stubborn ex-rebel. But Mari would rather face danger than risk the safety of the man she comes to love.

Twelve Slays of Christmas


Jacqueline Frost - 2017
    Lucky for her, home in historic Mistletoe, Maine is magical during Christmastime--exactly what the doctor prescribed. Except her plan to drown her troubles in peppermints and snickerdoodles is upended when local grouch and president of the Mistletoe Historical Society Margaret Fenwick is bludgeoned and left in the sleigh display at Reindeer Games, Holly's family tree farm. When the murder weapon is revealed as one of the wooden stakes used to identify trees on the farm, Sheriff Evan Grey turns to Holly's father, Bud, and the Reindeer Games staff. And it doesn't help that Bud and the reindeer keeper were each seen arguing with Margaret just before her death. But Holly knows her father, and is determined to exonerate him.The jingle bells are ringing, the clock is ticking, and if Holly doesn't watch out, she'll end up on Santa's naughty list in Twelve Slays of Christmas, Jacqueline Frost's jolly series debut.