Book picks similar to
Matanzas Bay by Parker Francis
mystery
fiction
florida
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Back to Lazarus
Judy K. Walker - 2014
He beat and choked her to death. I'm told that he was found hanging from a homemade noose in his cell. I want to know why he waited so long to do it." Sydney Brennan isn't sure how to answer her client's question, short of holding a séance, and the Tallahassee detective has some questions of her own. Why does Noel Thomas remember so little about her childhood? Why is she delving into her father's suicide now? And, most importantly, why isn't Noel telling her the truth?Sydney crisscrosses the Florida Panhandle, reconstructing the tragic Thomas family history. The violence that destroyed the Thomas family connects to a present-day web of deceit and corruption through a desperate man willing to do anything to keep his secrets safe. To discover his identity, Sydney must go Back to Lazarus, back to the town where Noel's beautiful but troubled mother began her inevitable descent over twenty years ago. But by following in the footsteps of the murdered woman, does Sydney risk sharing her fate?Rooted in bars and back roads and Panhandle prisons, forgotten towns and forgotten people, at its heart Back to Lazarus is about stories: the stories people tell us, the stories we tell ourselves, and what happens when we realize it's all a lie.
The Prophet Motive
Eric Christopherson - 2010
As a boy he'd lost his parents to cult-instigated mass suicide. The memories come flooding back when he investigates the bizarre suicide of a former member of Earthbound, a New Age cult--and suspects murder instead. To uncover the truth he infiltrates the group, along with police psychologist Marilyn Michaelsen.The new recruits find themselves pushed to their physical and mental limits by a series of sophisticated brainwashing techniques as well as by a cult leader, known only as The Wizard, who appears to possess psychic and paranormal powers. Even the psychologist's expert knowledge of cults can't explain The Wizard's feats, and it isn't long before John, like his parents before him, surrenders his independence to another . . .
Fifth Avenue
Christopher Smith - 2010
In the thriller Fifth Avenue, each intermingles within a revered society that is unprepared for what's in store for it when one man finally strikes in an effort to destroy another man for murdering his wife thirty-one years ago. Louis Ryan is that man. George Redman, his wife, two daughters and their close friends are his targets. Both men are self-made billionaires who came from nothing to stake their claim to Fifth Avenue. But when Louis Ryan hires an international assassin to literally rip the Redman family apart, a series of events that can't be stopped catapults them all through a fast-paced, hard-edged thriller in which nobody is safe. Secrets are revealed. The Mafia get involved. And George's two daughters, Celina and Leana Redman, come to the forefront. More than anyone, it's they who are caught in the throes of their father's past as Louis Ryan's blind desire to kill them all takes surprising turns in his all-out effort to see them dead.
Remembrance
T.K. Eldridge - 2019
Now I'm back in Muckle Cove digging into her murder. They say coming home is never easy, but what I'm finding goes so much deeper than anyone could have imagined. Ancient magic, modern politics, and my mother's ghost all point to some truth in the past that could change my present forever. If it doesn't kill me first...
Black Beast
R.S. Guthrie - 2011
The death of his partner; the loss of his own leg in the line of duty; the companionship of his beloved wife to cancer; his faith in God to his inner demons.After the man who ruined his leg and killed his first partner is executed, Macaulay becomes the lead detective investigating the Sloan's Lake murders. The method of killing in this double-homicide is so heinous it leads Macaulay and his partner down an ever-darkening path—one that must be traversed if they are to discover the evil forces behind the slaughter. Just when Bobby Macaulay is questioning the very career that has been his salvation, he will discover a heroic history buried within his own family roots: The Clan MacAulay—a deep family lineage of protectors at the very core of a millenniums-long war against unimaginable evil."Black Beast" is the first in a series of Clan of MacAulay novels—a stellar first outing for new author R.S. Guthrie. The book is a page-turner that avoids meandering, written with tight prose that keeps the action flowing. The reader is taken inside the heart and mind of a common hero who will make you believe in good again—Macaulay is a believable, flawed character with whom each of us can relate and for whom each of us will cheer.
The Ragtime Kid
Larry Karp - 2006
It’s destiny calling. Asking for ragtime lessons, he’s told, “No, Ragtime is colored music.” So Brun runs away from the family farm to Sedalia, Missouri, to persuade Joplin to take him on as a pupil. What Brun doesn’t expect is to trip over the body of a young woman. He thoughtlessly picks up a couple of items before he rushes away from the murder scene.When Edward Fitzgerald, a man who befriended Brun his first night in town, is arrested for the woman’s murder, Brun is certain he’s innocent. But if the boy shows anyone the things he pocketed at the scene—things he now knows belonged to Scott Joplin—he’ll point the finger at the composer...and himself. Brun decides to get Fitzgerald, Joplin, and himself off the hook by finding the real killer, but for that he eventually needs some help from Dr. Overstreet, the alcoholic town mayor; and John Stark, a man pushing sixty, who’s been employing Brun at his music store.Sedalia is rife with suspects, some of them opportunists bent on stealing Joplin’s music. And then there are the girls and women—mysteries to Brun—like a teenager seized with religious fever, a couple of mischievous prostitutes, and an attractive, ambitious young woman with a hint of scarlet in her past, who further complicate his pursuit of the killer.
This Time You Lose
Chris Stralyn - 2011
Lisa Kaamp operates a small childcare business out of her home in Nogeksum, Michigan. Highly respected and known for going the extra mile for her daycare kids, she thinks she's handled every daycare emergency possible. But nothing prepares her for the horror she now faces. Lisa finds herself bound and gagged, four strange men in her home, and the daycare children held hostage in the next room. Terrorized by her captors as the authorities work to meet the ransom deadline, she tries negotiating with the men for the release of the children, but soon realizes they have no intention of letting anyone go. With the deadline approaching, Lisa must do the unimaginable to protect the children and get everyone out alive. In 2008 This Time You Lose was named a finalist in the TNBW Strongest Start Novel Competition. Four months later it earned the distinction of being a TNBW Readers Choice Top Ten Novel, and has remained on the Top Ten list ever since.
Hollywood Assassin
M.Z. Kelly - 2014
Okay, so her ex-husband cheated on her and the DVD of his indiscretions made the rounds of the entire department, she’s broke and living above an appliance store with her canine partner Bernie who is a sexual predator, her British friend Natalie has a vocabulary that would make Howard Stern blush, and her mother is hallucinating about having sex with a dead president. But things could be worse . . . like Kate could be stalked by a sadistic serial killer while she tries to solve a thirty year-old murder and save the life and reputation of a cop wanted for the crime. Come to think of it, maybe things couldn’t get any worse because this is Kate’s life. Can Kate Sexton elude the killer, solve the cold case, keep Bernie's sexual wanderlust in check, keep her best friend under control, save a cop from death row, and find love again? Only time, loads of trouble, and tons of laughs will tell. Hollywood Assassin has more twists and turns than a car chase on Sunset Strip with a Hollywood starlet at the wheel. WARNING: The Hollywood Alphabet Series contains adult language and laugh out loud situations not for the faint of heart! If you think you can handle Kate Sexton’s crazy life . . . order Hollywood Assassin today. Hollywood Assassin is the first book in the Hollywood Alphabet Series. Other books include Hollywood Blood and Hollywood Crazy.
Gone With The Ghost
Erin McCarthy - 2017
Except that’s exactly what happened. Ryan is very much dead, having shot himself with his own police-issued gun. Guilt and grief shouldn’t cause hallucinations though, but six months after Ryan went into the ground, Bailey is freaking out and swearing his ghost is standing in her kitchen. Which he is… Ryan claims he didn’t commit suicide, but was murdered, and he needs Bailey to help him find his killer so he can earn his ticket out of purgatory. Ryan’s counting on a stairway to heaven, as opposed to wings, since that might be a little unmanly for a cop, even a dead one. An expert in home design, with her own staging business, Bailey can tell you where to place a couch to improve flow and comfort, but solving a crime? Not her area of expertise. But with help from Ryan’s former partner, Marner, she is unraveling the mystery of what happened to Ryan that day… and unwittingly putting herself in grave danger. Murder By Design Series Book 1- Gone With The Ghost Book 2- Silence of The Ghost Book 3- Once Upon a Ghost Bestselling author Erin McCarthy offers her signature humor in this fun series about an uptight fashion-conscious home stager who finds herself stiletto-deep in murder...
Two Shots
Joe Albert - 2012
Content to spend his days in the woods and on the water enforcing fishing and hunting laws, he thought he'd left violent crime behind when he left the city. But a single call from dispatch two days before the deer-hunting season opens changes that. Now, he's pushed into working a case he really shouldn't be involved with, and digging for the truth in the death of a noted political operative that some high-powered people would prefer remain buried in the northern Minnesota woods. As Leach pursues those responsible, he finds people and things aren't exactly what they seem. And as the investigation goes on and the web unravels, it becomes increasingly clear the only way for it to end is with a killer's - or his - demise.
Irrefutable
Dale Roberts - 2011
Now he is raising his teenage daughter alone. The demands of his job and the fact that his wife’s case remains unsolved have been a strain on both of them, but now a new case threatens not only what’s left of their fragile relationship, but their very lives. When three local women are brutally raped, the case consumes Alex. His daughter, feeling abandoned, unknowingly befriends a looming shadow from Alex’s past. DNA evidence found on the first two victims leads Alex to his suspect. It looks like an open and shut case until DNA from the third victim is matched to Alex. Now, to clear his name he must face the demons from his past and reveal a long kept secret that could disprove the evidence against him, but doing so would not only devastate his daughter, it could destroy them both.
Blizzard Ball
Dennis Kelly - 2011
The jackpot has run up to a red-hot $750 million, the world's richest prize. A bungled convenience store heist triggers a happenstance theft of winning lottery tickets and trips up an insider's scheme to rig the results.Agent Kirchner, an old-school cop reluctantly teams up with a young tech-savvy analyst on an investigation that propels them into the world of numerical probability, conspiratorial politics, international ticket scalpers, counterfeiters, disgruntled players, and illegal immigrants looking to grab the brass ring. Caught in the crosscurrents of those in deadly pursuit of the winning ticket, the investigators are buffeted by unsolved murders, a bomb blast-and the curious giveaway of winning lottery tickets: acts of charity or criminal subterfuge?The whereabouts and redemption of the $750 million jackpot lottery ticket remains a mystery throughout, stirring anger and resentment among the lottery-playing public. The winning ticket, finally, surfaces but before the prize can be claimed a Faustian bargain puts Kirchner's job on the line.
What You Did
Claire McGowan - 2019
A devastating accusation. Who should she trust, her husband or her best friend?It was supposed to be the perfect reunion: six university friends together again after twenty years. Host Ali finally has the life she always wanted, a career she can be proud of and a wonderful family with her college boyfriend, now husband. But that night her best friend makes an accusation so shocking that nothing will ever be the same again.When Karen staggers in from the garden, bleeding and traumatised, she claims that she has been assaulted—by Ali’s husband, Mike. Ali must make a split-second decision: who should she believe? Her horrified husband, or her best friend? With Mike offering a very different version of events, Ali knows one of them is lying—but which? And why?When the ensuing chaos forces her to re-examine the golden era the group shared at university, Ali realises there are darker memories too. Memories that have lain dormant for decades. Memories someone would kill to protect.
Serenity
Craig A. Hart - 2016
A woman dies in his arms...a drug dealer offers him $10,000...a gunman is determined to kill him. And then everything goes to hell.
Shelby Alexander is an aging ex-boxer and retired fixer, whose activities often flirted with the wrong side of the law. Looking for a little peace and a slower pace of life, he moved to Serenity, the small Michigan town where he grew up. But trouble follows men like Shelby, and he finds himself embroiled in an underworld of drugs and violence that may prove to be his undoing. The first book in the new Shelby Alexander Thriller Series, Serenity is an action-packed read with a lovingly rendered cast, witty dialogue, and a main character who doesn't know when to quit.
Final Passage
Timothy J. Frost - 2009
Twenty-five years later, Martin discovers hidden logbooks in his mother's attic, and vows to find out the truth. His quest takes him racing across the Atlantic in the Columbus Cup, the world's largest-ever regatta, an event that becomes a personal voyage of discovery and disaster. On the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, with his enemies closing in, Martin must make one desperate final sea passage to discover the shocking truth about his family - and himself.