Book picks similar to
Bourbon & Blood by Garrard Hayes
thriller
mystery
fiction
crime
A Bustle in the Hedgerow
Ben Miller - 2013
The local authorities' only clue lies in a scrap of paper left in her front pocket, with a short phrase printed on it in an unfamiliar language.Jackson Byrne, an FBI agent who specializes in investigating crimes against children, has just completed a book tour promoting his best-seller about solving his most recent high-profile case--the abduction and murder of a celebrity's young daughter. Unexpectedly, Jack receives an invitation from an old family friend and powerful political insider urging him to run for the U.S. Senate. At the same time, his FBI division learns of the murder of another child with a similar mysterious message, launching them into a search for a serial killer given the moniker The Playground Predator. As Jack becomes torn between his excitement about a new career and others' expectations of a celebrated investigator, he must also continue to deal with demons from his past. While Jack's devoted wife, a sycophantic young FBI colleague, and an ambitious and attractive female reporter all try to influence his path, none of them pulls the strings as effectively as the enigmatic Randall, the psychologically disturbed but brilliant Playground Predator himself, who orchestrates his own master plan, eventually dragging Jack into an inevitable showdown.
Don't Make a Sound
T.R. Ragan - 2020
Now, after finally getting promoted at work, she is forced to return home and face her past.River Rock is where she’d been abandoned by her two older sisters to suffer alone, and in silence, the unspeakable abuses of her family. It’s also where Sawyer’s best friend disappeared and two teenage girls were murdered. Three cold cases dead and buried with the rest of the town’s secrets.When another girl is slain in a familiar grisly fashion, Sawyer is determined to put an end to the crimes. Pulled back into the horrors of her family history, Sawyer must reconcile with her estranged sisters, who both have shattering memories of their own. As Sawyer’s investigation leads to River Rock’s darkest corners, what will prove more dangerous—what she knows of the past or what she has yet to discover?
Abel's Revenge
Ross Greenwood - 2018
As with all others, it’s a place of violence. There are murderers, and they live among us. This is also a tale about a couple — sometimes friends, occasionally lovers, but always partners. Dan and Olivia are fighting modern battles; the ones parents have over a lack of money, time or peace. An escalating serial killer terrifies the streets and homes. The body count rises as their relationship crumbles. Society reveals its dark side, and no one is safe. Dan and Olivia experience this first-hand as danger closes in. Will Abel’s reign of terror ever end? Who will live, and who will die?
Death by a Honeybee
Abigail Keam - 2010
They are not cozy or fuzzy, but they do try to be humorous and witty. Sometimes they succeed. Each novel/novella has a stand-alone mystery, but the stories are also about the continuing life saga of a middle-aged Southern woman as she faces many serious obstacles. Josiah faces the world with sarcastic humor and a number of quirky, oddball friends that can only be found in the Southern town of Lexington, the heart of the Kentucky horse country. Some mysteries end with a bang, some are not solved at all and the first one ends with a cliff hanger, but they always entertain in the sassy, humorous and suspenseful world as Josiah goes about sleuthing. The Josiah Reynolds Mystery Series is just like fried chicken . . . finger-licking good! Add some sweet tea and a piece of chocolate pecan pie with a scoop of ice-cream and you got yourself some tasty reading. Description Josiah Reynolds is a beekeeper trying to stay financially afloat by selling honey at the Farmers' Market. She finds her world turned upside down when a man is found dead in her beeyard, only to discover that the victim is her nemesis. The police are calling the brutal death murder and Josiah is the number one suspect! Josiah makes the rounds of quirky characters that can only be found in the lush Bluegrass horse country. Fighting an unknown enemy in the glamorous world of Thoroughbreds, oak-cured bourbon and antebellum mansions, Josiah struggles to uncover the truth in a land that keeps its secrets well. Death By A HoneyBee is the first of an episodic series and as such ends in a cliff-hanger which is crucial to the rest of the series. Attached to HoneyBee is a bonus chapter from Death By Drowning which continues our heroine's story in linear time. I hope you enjoy reading Death By A HoneyBee as much as I have enjoyed writing it. It was a labor of love.
The Other Girl
Erica Spindler - 2017
One witness—a fifteen year old girl from the wrong side of the tracks, one known for lying and her own brushes with the law.Is it any surprise no one believed her?Officer Miranda Rader of the Harmony, Louisiana PD is known for her honesty, integrity, and steady hand in a crisis—but that wasn’t always so. Miranda comes from the town of Jasper, a place about the size of a good spit on a hot day, and her side of the tracks was the wrong one. She’s worked hard to earn the respect of her coworkers and the community.When Miranda and her partner are called to investigate the murder of one of the town’s most beloved college professors, they’re unprepared for the brutality of the scene. This murder is unlike any they’ve ever investigated, and just when Miranda thinks she’s seen the worst of it, she finds a piece of evidence that chills her to the core: a faded newspaper clipping about that terrible night fifteen years ago. The night she’d buried, along with her past and the girl she’d been back then. Until now that grave had stayed sealed…except for those times, in the deepest part of the night, when the nightmares came: of a crime no one believed happened and the screams of the girl they believed didn’t exist.Then another man turns up dead, this one a retired cop. Not just any cop—the one who took her statement that night. Two murders, two very different men, two killings that on the surface had nothing in common—except Miranda.
Just Evil
Vickie McKeehan - 2011
No one cared. But a stranger, bent on revenge, is out to change all that. Kit Griffin has finally overcome a painful childhood at the hands of her mother, former actress Alana Stevens. No longer living in the grasp of the cold, tyrannical woman, Kit has found a new life tucked away in little San Madrid, California, running a business she loves, surrounded by friends she considers family. For the first time her life is on track. That is, until Alana is found brutally murdered on Mother’s Day, pulling Kit back in to the dark horrors of her past. To make matters worse, the police consider her the prime suspect.Jake Boston, an old family friend and the man Kit has loved since she was a teen, is fighting his own demons as a suspect in his wife’s murder two years earlier. Despite his past, he’s determined to win Kit over once and for all. But before that can happen they need to convince the police there’s a killer working his way down a list with cold-hearted vengeance in mind. Forced to delve into Alana’s dark past, it becomes clear someone is out to settle a score. When Jake and Kit uncover a forty year old double murder that leads them straight to the door of a legal dynasty, they soon find out just how far the heirs will go to keep the past buried and eliminate all the loose ends to protect their empire. Will Jake and Kit become the next victims or will they find an unexpected guardian angel?
First, Kill All The Lawyers
Patricia M. Clark - 2010
At least that’s what Sgt. Edward Pulaski secretly believes when attorneys start popping up dead all over Washington, D.C. in the thriller, First, Kill All The Lawyers. If reporters could be next on the hit list all his dreams would be fulfilled. An obscure poison, no suspects, and no forensic evidence hinder the investigation until a federal judge is the target and Pulaski’s friend, FBI agent Shawn Cleary, joins the task force. Shawn, fresh from a shootout that may leave her partner a quadriplegic, throws herself into the investigation to assuage her guilt and stop the horrible flashbacks of the event. As the body count rises and crosses state lines, lawyers from across the country begin to panic and demand action. Patterns emerge as pieces of the puzzle begin to come together. The breakneck pace accelerates until Sgt. Pulaski reluctantly realizes all the clues lead to Shawn Cleary as the main suspect. She does nothing to dampen his suspicions when she flees instead of turning herself in. Worlds collide when powerful people in Washington seem more interested in a shoot to kill order than capturing Shawn alive. Pulaski is torn when Shawn calls him professing her innocence. Working both inside and outside the system, Pulaski and Shawn continue to connect all the dots until the killer’s next move becomes obvious. Aware her life hangs in the balance, Shawn tells Pulaski she is determined to save someone she loves and capture the killer before he gets away. Pulaski must choose between trusting a friend and doing what his bosses want. As Shawn races to the historic theater where the climax awaits, she prays she can make it in time while Pulaski wonders if he made the right choice.
Cross Her Heart
Sarah Pinborough - 2018
Maybe she’s ready now. Maybe she can trust again. Maybe it's time to let her terrifying secret past go. Then her daughter rescues a boy from drowning and their pictures are all over the news for everyone to see. Lisa's world explodes, and she finds everything she has built threatened. Not knowing whom she can trust, it's up to her to face her past to save what she holds dear.