Book picks similar to
The Private Face of Murder by John Bonett
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Johnny Revenge
Remington Kane - 2019
Jude claims he's innocent, even as the evidence against him keeps piling up.FBI Special Agent Erica Novac focuses on Jude even as she finds herself wanting to believe in his innocence. Is Jude Rowland a devious murderer playing a game only he knows the rules to, or is there an unseen hand framing Jude in an attempt to seek vengeance?This is Book One in The Revenge Series
Five Knives
D.F. Bailey - 2018
Three Dead. Five Knives. FIVE KNIVES welds the intensity of Jack Bauer’s “24” to the scorching heat of THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST. “The author is a great talent.” — Aaron C. Brown, Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer When a man plummets to his death from an apartment tower, Will Finch’s shock soon becomes a nightmare. As he studies the open windows above the corpse, Finch notices a lamp blinking erratically behind a drawn curtain on the eleventh floor. When he investigates the distress signal, Finch discovers a woman handcuffed to a bedpost. Over the following week, he uncovers a conspiracy that ties the murder to a series of bombshells. The victim’s bankruptcy. A global stock fraud. A murder spree that began in Baghdad and is now haunting the citizens of San Francisco. Is this the work of a serial killer, a copycat — or both? But before he can file his report for The San Francisco Post, Finch’s leads evaporate. Within days, three victims are dead. Does a pattern of five knife wounds provide a clue? Can he unravel the mystery before he — and his fiancée — are caught up in the web of murder? Five Knives is the prequel thriller in the Will Finch crime series — a novel that opens on the first day of Will Finch’s journalism career. Everything that Finch learns about crime reporting begins with Five Knives. *** Dear Reader, If you're like me, then you love reading novels by Michael Connelly, David Baldacci, Nora Roberts, Jeffery Deaver, John Sandford, Philip Kerr, Martin Cruz Smith, Patricia Highsmith, Stieg Larsson, Elmore Leonard and Jo Nesbo. Among many others. And if you like those writers, then I invite you to have a look at my crime series. You can buy them all on Amazon, or pick up a free / discounted novel at my website, dfbailey.com. Writing crime fiction isn't always easy, but it's always a thrill. When you read my novels I hope you'll share the buzz, the excitement and the adrenaline rush with me. Like all writers, I love readers who enjoy my books, especially those who are kind enough to leave a review. Hopefully, you will, too. Happy reading, D. F. (Don) Bailey
Burying Ben
Ellen Kirschman - 2013
Overnight, her promising new start becomes a nightmare. At stake is her job, her reputation, her license to practice, and her already battered sense of self-worth.Dot resolves to find out not just what led Ben to kill himself, but why her psychologist ex-husband, the man she most wants to avoid, recommended that Ben be hired in the first place. Ben’s surviving family and everyone else connected to him are determined to keep Ben’s story a secret, by any means necessary. Even Ben, from the grave, has secrets to keep.Right from the start, Dot’s investigation efforts get her into trouble. First she alienates Ben’s training officer, who is barely managing to hold onto his own job. With the police chief watching over her shoulder, she tries to help the officer with disastrous consequences. After reaching out to console Ben’s pregnant—and slightly sociopathic—widow, Dot winds up embroiled in the affairs of her incredibly dysfunctional family. Dot’s troubles are compounded by a post-divorceromance, the ex who still has a hold over her, and an unwelcome visit from his new wife. By the time she uncovers the real reasons behind Ben’s suicide and brings the people responsible to justice, Dot has not only resurrected belief in herself, she has also acquired some surprisingly useful new skills: impersonating a public official, burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon.
The Burnside Mystery Series, Boxed Set #1
David Chill - 2016
His family turns to Private Investigator Burnside, a former football star himself, who has recently left the LAPD. As he battles his way through the investigation, Burnside's own life is repeatedly placed in jeopardy, and the body count starts to pile up. Burnside encounters beautiful girls, wayward athletes and overworked cops on his way toward finding a killer who knows he's looking for them. And as he navigates this perilous path, Burnside also comes to grips with a betrayal from his past, one that keeps returning to him, no matter how hard he tries to avoid it. Set against the sun drenched backdrop of a hot Los Angeles summer, Post Pattern provides readers with an engaging, action-packed story. The novel delivers a smart, sexy plot with crackling dialogue and fascinating characters. FADE ROUTE (Book 2): A candidate for mayor has been murdered and there's one obvious suspect. But Burnside, the former football star turned private investigator, pushes forward into a harrowing investigation that reveals more and more possible culprits, all with their own motives. As the action intensifies, Burnside himself becomes embroiled in a case which goes beyond just one murder. And when the police suspect he's a person of interest, Burnside must race against time to find the killer. With little more to go on than his gut feeling, Burnside pokes at everything around him. Desperately trying to untangle a web of deceit that threatens to destroy him personally, he is also faced with a scenario that could take down an entire community.. BUBBLE SCREEN (Book 3): It starts with some missing warehouse inventory, but the case quickly moves beyond simple larceny. And when theft turns to murder, the stakes rise dramatically, and the action intensifies. The story leads Private Investigator Burnside onto the trail of some people who will do anything to acquire money -- and they will use any means necessary to keep it. And as he plunges into the investigation, Burnside also has to make a life altering decision about his own future. Interweaving the world of business with the world of football, Bubble Screen is set in the heart of Los Angeles. It is a captivating thrill ride that combines fascinating characters, wry humor, and an explosive ending that is both stunning and unexpected. Read the entire Burnside Mystery Series: Book 1: POST PATTERN Book 2: FADE ROUTE Book 3: BUBBLE SCREEN Book 4: SAFETY VALVE Book 5: CORNER BLITZ Book 6: NICKEL PACKAGE Book 7: DOUBLE PASS
Lies Come True
Emerald O'Brien - 2015
Ten years later... The body of a young woman is discovered along the path of a park in the same town. The killer is cunning and ruthless, but even the best killers make mistakes. Fiona Wolfe, the second woman to be attacked, survives and reveals a potential link between the current killer and the attack on Avery Hart. Noah Cotter, an ambitious new inspector, becomes drawn to the case when his curiosity combines with his attraction to Avery. The dangerous search for truth appears to be muddied with each shocking secret brought to light, as Avery, Fiona, and Noah realize that when someone is deceived for too long, sometimes... Lies Come True*Free with sign up to Emerald O'Brien's newsletter http://eepurl.com/4YHaX
Close to Home
Nolon King - 2019
Lately he’s been having the sense that the only thing keeping him from that path is his wife, Selena, who understands the mind of serial killers rather better than the general public. So when a rash of murders disturbs the sleepy town of Almond Park, California, and Selena is asked to help with the investigation, Adam is not sure he won’t be found out. If he is, he’ll lose everything that truly matters to him. Close to Home is Nolon King’s new book, an intense psychological thriller. Pick up your copy today!
Chloe - Lost Girl (Carl Sant Murder Mysteries, #1)
Dan Laughey - 2019
A gunned-down detective. A woman in fear for her life. All three are connected somehow.Detective Inspector Carl Sant and his fellow officers get on the case. But what links the disappearance of a university student, the death of an off-duty police sergeant, and a professor reluctant to help them solve the case?Their only clue is a sequence of numbers, etched by the police sergeant Dryden on a misty window moments before he breathed his last. Soon it becomes clear that Dryden's clue has brought the past and present into a head-on collision with the very heart of Sant’s profession.Racing against time, D.I. Sant must find out what's behind the mysterious events - before the bodies start piling up.
Watch Me Run (Watch Me Series Book 1)
Avery Holt - 2014
When she goes missing, her father calls in a favor from former Black Ops agent Nick Tremaine. Nick is the owner of Phoenix, an exclusive private investigation firm that specializes in solving difficult cases for the wealthy and powerful. As Nick digs deeper into Cate’s luxurious life, he uncovers a web of secrets the Bancroft family will do anything to protect. But when Nick discovers that Cate’s disappearance is somehow tied to his own dark past, he’ll have to risk it all before time runs out for Cate and her family.Look for the other books in the Watch Me Series:Book One - WATCH ME RUNBook Two - WATCH ME LIEBook Three - WATCH ME KILLBook Four - WATCH ME CRY (Available early 2016)
Dead Game
Gerald Hammond - 1980
He is also a rascal with a total disregard for the law, a skilled and dedicated poacher of birds of both varieties. Calder is a guest at a shoot in the Scottish Borders when one of the syndicate members dies—apparently by accident, but a bullet is found in his body. Calder has a personal interest in the case, which deepens when the brother of his current girlfriend is arrested and charged with the murder. Calder begins to makes his own enquiries but he and Molly find themselves in danger . . . Praise for Gerald Hammond ‘A gruesome, lightheartedly complex caper in the Scottish lowlands… the whole tangled romp has a what-ho!, outdoorsy energy that's undeniably appealing.’ – Kirkus Reviews ‘With his expert knowledge of guns and his love of the Scottish countryside, Gerald created marvelous backgrounds against which he set puzzling, credible, and thoroughly entertaining whodunits. His books were not long tedious, padded, thrillers. Instead they are almost of another age, ingenious plots, characters with whom you want to spend time, and a world to which you eagerly anticipate returning.’ – Paul Bishop, author of Deep Water and A Bucketful of Bullets. Born in 1926, Gerald Hammond lived in Scotland, where he retired from his profession as an architect in 1982 to pursue his love of shooting and fishing and to write full time. After his first novel, Fred in Situ, was published in 1965, Gerald became a prolific author with over 70 published novels. His last title, The Unkindest Cut, was published in 2012. Most of his novels were published under his own name, but he also wrote under the pseudonyms Arthur Douglas and Dalby Holden.
BULLETS (Jon "Big Slick" Elder Book 1)
Elijah Drive - 2015
Professional poker player Jon "Big Slick" Elder was minding his own business in a diner when an Arizona sheriff walked in and killed the man sitting next to him, a Mexican day laborer accused of murder. The law officer then arrested Slick simply because the sheriff didn't like the color of Slick's skin. Slick knew that the stranger who had been sitting next to him at the diner was no murderer because, in addition to cards, Slick also kills people for money. The poor man didn't have the look, but Slick does, and with the help of a Latina assistant district attorney, a Navajo state trooper and a homegrown federal agent, Slick sets out to prove the dead man's innocence. What he discovers, as he digs deeper, is a deadly mystery that threatens not only him, but his newfound friends as well. But Slick hates to have anyone… ANYONE… toss him his shoes and tell him to get out of town. "This is an exciting, intriguing, and thrilling book with twists and turns that are unexpected but all too believable. Dear author: please write another one like this." - Book Angel "Tense, thrilling and with a lot of twists, this is an edge-of-your-seat-read with some great action scenes. An excellent debut novel by Elijah Drive." Croydon Citizen BULLETS - mystery thriller by Elijah Drive
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.
Cold Betrayal
A.J. McCarthy - 2018
She drove the length of the east coast in a quest to find Danny Wilcox, intending to convince him to return to Florida with her. The drug lord, the most wanted criminal in the Province of Quebec, has other plans.Tori is nothing if not loyal. She unflaggingly defends Danny and refuses to believe he’d harm her, despite several attempts on her life. Others befriend her, even as they covertly advance their own agendas. Tori’s devotion is tested at every turn, not knowing who she can trust, or the consequences of her ultimate decision.
Wisdom Spring
Andrew Cunningham - 2013
Jessica Norton is a woman on the run, a sensational lead item on the nightly news, accused of the murders of four staff members of a U.S. Senator. Jon Harper is a grieving father whose life has crumbled over the death of his young daughter. When Jon picks up Jess hitchhiking on a deserted Texas highway one rainy night, it pitches him into the middle of a massive conspiracy, one that threatens the very future of the United States. From having nothing to live for, Jon suddenly finds himself the protector of someone with everything to live for, someone desperate to uncover the conspiracy that has ruined her life. Staying two steps ahead of the police, and barely one step ahead of the powerful organization that wants Jess dead, Jon discovers that Jess is harboring a secret of her own, a strange inner "voice" providing cryptic clues for them to follow. Part political thriller and part chase novel, Wisdom Spring takes readers on a fast-paced, suspenseful ride along the highways of the U.S. and Canada, into the far reaches of the Alaskan wilderness. Along the way, the two unlikely heroes transition from helpless prey into proficient hunters as the mysterious clues eventually lead them to a violent final confrontation with corrupt forces at the highest levels of government.
Emma Frost: Volume 7-9
Willow Rose - 2015
They are ready to take on the world starting with their honeymoon to Egypt. Two years later, Mads is in a coma and Signe has vanished from the face of the earth.Meanwhile, Emma Frost is looking for her daughter whom the police believe is guilty of the hit and run that left Mads Schou brain dead. But was it really an accident, or is there more to the story than they first thought? Emma believes so but can't convince the police. To help her, Emma receives help from a couple many of Willow Rose's readers will recognize.˃˃˃ THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME:What is the worst that can happen?Maria and Jonas Boegh asked themselves that very question when deciding to sign the papers for their new house. It might be expensive. They might be in over their heads a little financially, but they were never happier than on the day they moved in. Everything was perfect. It was the house of their dreams. They had their entire life ahead of them.They were untouchable.When the couple’s bodies are found the very next morning by their next-door neighbor, Emma Frost, a series of strange things start to happen on the small Danish island. More people are killed, and soon, Emma is chasing a serial killer about whom she only knows one thing. He’s obsessed with the old classic movie, The Wizard of Oz.There’s No Place Like Home is the eighth installment in Willow Rose’s popular mystery series about the author Emma Frost and her friends and family on Fanoe Island.˃˃˃ SLENDERMAN:Ever Heard of Slender Man?They say he is always there. They say he is always watching. A tall guy in a suit and tie, with no face, and arms like tentacles.Some say he is an online myth; others will go very far to prove he is real, so far that they might even kill for him.Fanoe Island is busy with the mayoral election coming up, when suddenly, the sitting mayor is found killed. Rumors tell that a faceless man dressed in a suit and tie did it.In Emma Frost's house that she inherited from her grandmother, a box of letters is found that tells a story from a long time ago. A terrifying story revealing a painful chapter in the life of her own family half a century ago.Slender Man is a spine-chilling mystery from the bestselling author Willow Rose. It is the ninth in her Emma Frost-series.
Kiss My Assassin
Dave Sinclair - 2019
He’s on the hunt for a mysterious and powerful arms-dealing organisation named Kali—and they have him squarely in their sights.Along the way he falls for a mysterious woman who may just be the death of him.Fast-paced with whip-smart dialogue and twists at every turn, Kiss My Assassin is the very definition of unputdownable.Note to the reader: Although the Bishop novels can be read in any order, the events described take place before those in the Eva Destruction novels.