Prepped to Kill


M. Lee Prescott - 2011
    While she pretends to be an ace private investigator, the niece of Massachusetts’ governor goes missing and a murderer terrorizes the campus. Ricky enlists the aid of her former roommates and together, the three create mayhem during Whitley School’s reunion weekend, bungling along in search of the truth. Join Ricky on her first caper and see how this humorous rollicking mystery series got its start.

It Never Goes Away (Brighton's No.1 Private Detective, #3)


Tom Trott - 2019
    But Joe is too late, someone else has got there first: his friend is dead, and all the evidence points to him. Ten years ago the farmhouse was the scene of three infamous murders when a young boy killed his mother, father, and little sister. Now an adult, he was released from prison with a new identity. Could he be involved? The farmhouse also sits on valuable land, fought over in a struggle between building houses and drilling for shale gas. But could it really be worth killing for? Whatever is going on, Joe knows one thing for sure: his friend’s murder is just a tiny part of it. To bring the killer to justice Joe must dig up the past, and reckon with his own, because no matter how hard you work, it never goes away. Warning: this book contains adult language, sex, violence, and drug use (basically, all the good stuff).

Three Seconds to Rush


Danielle Stewart - 2016
    She’s positive she’s a good mother and hard worker. So why is she in an alley with a needle in her arm? Waking up in the hospital without her son is terrifying. Being told she can’t have him back nearly crushes her. With her memory spotty and the circumstances incriminating, Tara must fight to learn the truth and wrestle with the idea that maybe her son is better off without her. Reid Holliston defends guilty people for a living and it's slowly killing him. He’s certain there is no such thing as a truly blameless client anymore. When his phone rings with a voice from his childhood his jaded views make him certain Tara is just one more criminal claiming innocence. But even his skepticism isn’t enough to keep him away. Best friends from a lifetime ago, the two must find a way to trust each other again in spite of how the years apart have changed them. Can a promise made in childhood be enough to save them both?

DCI Yorke Boxset #1-3


Wes Markin - 2019
    This terrific boxset brings together Wes Markin's first three bestselling novels in the terrifying and shocking DCI Yorke series. Book 1: One Last Prayer for the Rays. School should be the safest place in the world. Not this winter. Detective Michael Yorke faces his most harrowing case yet. When 12-year-old Paul disappears from school, Yorke’s only clue is a pool of animal blood. Fearing the worst, he turns toward the most obvious suspect, recently released local murderer, Thomas Ray.But as the snow in Salisbury worsens, Ray’s mutilated body is discovered, and Yorke is left with no choice but to journey into the sinister heart of a demented family that has plagued the community for generations. Can he save the boy? Or will the evil he discovers change him forever? Book 2: The Repenting Serpent A vicious serial killer slithers from the darkness, determined to resurrect the ways of a long-dead civilisation.When the ex-wife of one of DCI Michael Yorke’s closest allies is left mutilated and murdered, Yorke and his team embark on their greatest test yet. A  deeply personal case that will push them to their very limits. And as Yorke’s team are pulled further into the dark, the killer circles, preparing to strike again.  Book 3: The Silence of Severance Your wedding day should be the most unforgettable day of your life. And this is one wedding that will never be forgotten. When a police officer’s wedding day ends in brutality and chaos, DCI Michael Yorke is pulled away from his own wedding and into the bloodiest chain of events Wiltshire has ever seen.As a heatwave tightens its grip on Salisbury, Yorke and his team face a race against time to find the most sinister and intelligent adversary they have ever faced. Christian Severance. But as the team chase Severance into the shadows of a dark past, Yorke’s own history starts to drag itself into the present. Can they stop Christian Severance before he achieves the unthinkable? And will Yorke survive the revelations that claw at him from the darkness? Praise for One Last Prayer for the Rays: "An explosive and visceral debut with the most terrifying of killers. Wes Markin is a new name to watch out for in crime fiction, and I can't wait to see more of Detective Yorke."  – Bestselling Crime Author Stephen Booth ‘A pool of blood, an abduction, swirling blizzards, a haunting mystery, yes, Wes Markin’s One Last Prayer for the Rays has all the makings of an absorbing thriller. I recommend that you give it a go.’ – Bestselling Author Alan Gibbons  ‘Wes Markin has created a really high energy novel that I just want to rave about everywhere.

Stateline


Dave Stanton - 2013
    The groom is dead. When a tycoon’s son is murdered the night before his wedding, the grief-stricken father offers private detective Dan Reno a life-changing bounty to find the killer.Reno, nearly broke, thinks he’s finally found himself in the right place at the right time. But when a band of crooked cops get involved, Reno finds himself fighting for his life.Who committed the murder, and why? Which cops can he trust, if any?Haunted by his murdered father and a violent past, Reno wants no more blood on his hands. But a man’s got to make a living, and backing off is not in his DNA.Traversing the snowy alpine winter in the Sierras and the lonely deserts of Nevada, Reno must revert to his old ways to survive. Because the bounty won’t do him much good if he’s dead.

A Reason to Live


Matthew Iden - 2012
    Twelve years later, the victim's daughter begs for help: the killer is stalking her now. But Marty has retired to battle cancer. A second shot at the killer - and a first chance at redemption - Marty has A Reason to Live.

Fire and Ice


Dana Stabenow - 1998
    But that was before his life unraveled. Transferred in disgrace to this rough-and-tumble fishing town on the shores of Bristol Bay, Liam knows Newenham is the end of the line. It's also his last shot at getting his life back.. He's about to come in for a very rough landing. Stepping onto the airstrip at Newenham, Liam walks into a crime scene: a body torn apart by the propeller of a Piper Super Cub. As if that isn't enough of a welcome, the woman bending over the corpse is Wyanet Chouinard, the only woman Liam ever truly loved - and soon to be his prime suspect. Next, a man is held hostage in the town's only decent burger joint--held for shooting out a jukebox that was playing Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. And Liam still doesn't have his uniform on.

The Killing Game


Kate Bold - 2021
    Haunted by all the serial killers she caught, she left a stunning career behind to join the U.S. Marshals. As a Deputy Marshal, Alexa—fit, and as tough as she is brilliant—could immerse herself in a simple career of hunting down fugitives and bringing them to justice.But when a notorious serial killer escapes from a prison transport, it crosses the jurisdictions of the U.S. Marshals and the FBI’s BAU. The two departments are forced to come together on a new joint task force to hunt down the fugitive serial killer and bring him to justice. Alexa, to her dread, finds herself forced to confront the thing she fears the most—entering a killer’s mind. Doing so again, she knows, may just drag her down for good.Alexa and her new partner, each territorial, don’t take well to each other. Between their tension and all the clues leading to dead ends and the bodies piling up on the killer’s spree, Alexa knows that she, up against a ticking clock, can’t afford to get this wrong. Especially when she realizes that she herself may be the next target.To find this diabolical killer, Alexa will have to do what she fears most—enter his twisted mind, before he can strike again. It’s a life-and-death game of cat and mouse, and it’s winner takes all.But will the darkness swallow her whole?A page-turning and harrowing crime thriller featuring a brilliant and tortured Deputy Marshal, the ALEXA CHASE series is a riveting mystery, packed with non-stop action, suspense, twists and turns, revelations, and driven by a breakneck pace that will keep you flipping pages late into the night.

Bennett Sisters Mysteries Volume 5 & 6


Lise McClendon - 2019
     That’s the delicious underpinning of this sprawling, exuberant, generous-spirited cozy mystery series with a yummy side of international adventure. A little bit chick lit, a touch of cozy mystery, a whole lot of humor, romance, suspense—all in one box set! These two books continue the adventures of the five lawyer sisters that started with Blackbird Fly. On to The Girl in the Empty Dress, Give Him the Ooh-la-la, and The Things We Said Today... (also available in box sets) to these two stories that follow Merle Bennett's journey from the US to France, with her French boyfriend, Pascal. THE FRENCHMAN Ooh-la-la, who doesn't love a Frenchman? Merle Bennett goes back to France -- and her Frenchman -- in this fifth installment of the Bennett Sisters mysteries. Sure that La Belle France will cure all her ills, and help her write a novel about the French Revolution, she sets out to prove her theory correct. Pascal, her Frenchman, scoffs at this. As a policeman he knows France is pretty to look at but not all that pretty under the surface. While Merle writes and renovates her stone cottage, Pascal encounters an old enemy, a man he put in prison years before. When Pascal disappears Merle isn't sure if their relationship is over, or something terrible has happened. A soupçon of danger, a brush with 'madame guillotine,' and the quirky characters of the French countryside, all collide in this installment of the Bennett Sisters Mysteries, set in la belle France-- where, obviously, wine, sunshine, sunflowers, and Frenchmen cure all ills. Or do they? ODETTE AND THE GREAT FEAR A Gothic Romance by 'Merle Bennett' Deep in the French countryside-- as the country reels through rebellion, beheadings, and starvation-- a goat-herder named Odette is trying to survive. Just that-- survival is on her mind. Since she marched to Versailles with a group of Parisian women to protest the high prices of wheat, her life has spun out of control. She's fled the capital for the countryside. But what will happen to her? Can she stay in the Dordogne where the kindly farmers have taken pity on her? 'Odette and the Great Fear' is a novella from the novel, 'The Frenchman,' by Lise McClendon. Merle Bennett, the main character, is writing a novel. Here the story is fleshed out, characters come into focus, and outcomes are decided. Will Odette and her handsome stranger find each other? How did the Count get his horrible scar? Will the villagers burn out the nobles for good? All these delicious details, mixed with a terrifying and exhilarating time in history, make 'Odette and the Great Fear' a quick but intriguing read. Next up in the series is 'Blame it on Paris,' Bennett Sisters Mystery #8, after the Sister's French Cookbook, filled with delicious recipes inspired by the series. Get the cookbook for free by signing up for the newsletter at the author's website: LiseMcClendon.com - I hope you enjoy the books.

The Forgotten Girls


Alexa Steele - 2014
    That doesn’t happen in Greenvale, with its immaculate lawns, exclusive yacht clubs and multi-million dollar mansions. But behind its perfect façade, its trimmed hedges and luxury cars, a darkness lies. Girls, dependent on Adderall, outmaneuver each other to get into top colleges, while the mothers’ need to live vicariously only makes it worse. Bella DeFranco is one of the Bronx’s top SVU detectives. At only 37, she disarms everyone with her stunning good looks, yet she is as tough as most men—and a lot smarter, too. Yet when is summoned to Greenvale, she finds herself getting lost in a case that even she can’t comprehend. She stumbles into a land of secrets, a place where husbands hide their pasts from their wives, where friends are not what they seem, and where no one wants to know too much. As she digs deeper into layers of suburban dysfunction, she comes to learn that, behind all the fake smiles, there is a subtle violence--rivaling even her crime-ridden streets of the Bronx. With a killer on the loose, time running out, and a new partner who never recovered from his washed-up alcoholic days, the odds are stacked against Bella. She is determined, though, to save these girls, whatever the cost. Yet as she gets close, the depth of psychosis she discovers shocks even her….

Salt in the Wounds


Mark Richards - 2020
    Going back to his old life.The one that cost him his wife…Michael Brady was a high-flying detective, working on a high-profile case.And much too close to the truth.Someone arranged a hit-and-run.But they missed Brady. And hit his wife.And after six months sitting by her bed, he took the only decision he could take. He turned the machine off.Now he’s back home in Whitby. Trying to rebuild his life. And be a good dad to his teenage daughter.But when his best friend is murdered Brady – unwillingly at first – is drawn into the investigation.And when the only people he has left are threatened, he finds there’s only one answer.Going back to his old life…

Hollow Crib


B.J. Bourg - 2020
    The electronic rights have reverted to the author and it has been re-released with a new cover. Detectives Brandon Berger and Dawn Luke are investigating a mysterious death that leads to the doorsteps of the Magnolia Faith Church. Tight-lipped parishioners and lack of evidence stop this case in its tracks. Further north, William Chandler takes his wife and their infant daughter on a camping trip to the Skybald National Forest. After a series of strange events, William is arrested for murder. He swears he’s innocent, but the evidence is so damning, even his wife thinks he’s guilty. The Magnolia Faith Church might be the key to proving William’s innocence, but making the 251-mile connection could be deadly. Told from two points of view, HOLLOW CRIB is fast-paced and suspenseful, taking readers down separate paths toward a single unexpected and explosive conclusion.

The Game You Played


Anni Taylor - 2016
    International visitors surge into Sydney's Darling Harbour. Two-year-old Tommy is sailing his toy boat in the park when he vanishes. Six months later, taunting notes written as nursery rhymes begin arriving at his parents' home.Little Boy Blue, where did you go? Who led you away? Only I know . . . . The police believe the messages are just a cruel prank. But Tommy's mother Phoebe becomes obsessed with tracking down the writer of the rhymes. Her life and marriage shatters.When the shocking identity of the message-writer is discovered, Phoebe's desperate race for the truth has only just begun."I love love love this author! This is the sort of book I love but never find very often!" - reviewer

Twelve Years Gone


K.J. Kalis - 2021
    She never came back.In the twelve years she’s been gone, the local police have done little to help the family, leaving them with the desperate knowledge that Sarah could still be alive, somewhere, somehow...The family hasn’t given up their hope for revenge, or at least answers.Emily Tizzano, a former Chicago PD cold case detective suffering from her own skeletons holds the hope of the family in her hands. Can she overcome her own past in order to help them find Sarah and get the justice they need?Twelve Years Gone is the first novel in the Detective Emily Tizzano vigilante justice thriller series. If you like Dean Koontz, Robin James and L. T. Ryan, you are going to love this fast-paced suspense thriller series.

The Last Call


George Wier - 2011
    She has taken a North Texas quarter horse racer and liquor baron named Archie Carpin--the last of a dynasty of criminals from the 1920's--for a ride and cleaned him out of a neat two million bucks. And thus begins the adventure of Bill’s life.Ensues a chase north across Texas to recover the money and shake the pursuit of a couple of rednecks with a penchant for rifles and rigged explosives. Yet, through all this action the compelling tale of yet another mystery—an 80-year old missing person’s case—begins to unravel.