The Long Dead


John Dean - 2006
     When an archaeological investigation of an old prisoner of war camp turns up several bodies in unmarked graves, it should be an open and shut case for DCI John Blizzard. But, on a foggy November morning, his instinct that something is not quite right is confirmed when forensics show that while most of the victims died during a flu epidemic after the Second World War, one of the deaths was far more recent. Who is this man? Why was he killed? As Blizzard and his team investigate, they begin to uncover a cruel crime, and a promise of revenge that goes back generations. Worse, the killer is at large and now motivated to strike again. Can Blizzard piece together the puzzle and let old wounds finally heal? Set in the fictional port of Hafton in northern England, THE LONG DEAD is a contemporary British whodunnit. If you are a reader who likes having to guess the identity of the murderer, you’ll enjoy picking up on the various clues. With snappy dialogue and convincing characters, this is a page turner that the whole family will appreciate.

What Has Mother Done? (Thea Browne Mystery, #1)


Barbara Petty - 2015
    Somewhere, Hitchcock is smiling. And to think, this is just the first of the Thea Browne Mysteries.” —J.M. LeDuc, author of the Sinclair O’Malley series “A gripping drama unfolds as Barbara Petty explores the tensions between a woman with Alzheimer’s accused of an unspeakable crime, and her daughter, an investigative reporter determined to clear her mother’s name. Well worth the read.” —Sheila Lowe, author of the Forensic Handwriting Mystery series In a small Midwestern town, on a cold, blustery March day, a man plunges to his death off a high, rocky cliff, setting in motion a string of events that lead to murders and rips open the long-hidden secrets of the town’s most prominent family… The man is George Prentice, and the woman the police suspect of murdering him is his wife, Daphne. But Daphne has Alzheimer’s and, as she is likely to be incompetent to stand trial, has not been arrested. Daphne’s daughter, Thea Browne, is a trained investigative reporter, who is furious that the police haven’t bothered to look any further for a culprit other than her mother. She suspects her stepfather made enemies when meddling in local politics and, according to one of his cronies, George wrote a memoir threatening to “blow the lid off this town.” As Thea follows her own investigation, she discovers a widening circle of suspects, some much closer to home than she expected. Even her best friend from childhood, Annie Biggs, seems to be keeping a deep dark secret that she refuses to share with Thea. More murders push Thea to the point where protecting her mother forces her to put her own life on the line to track down a diabolical killer. “Thea Browne returns to her small hometown to discover nothing is at it seems. Struggling with the death of her beloved stepfather and her mother’s Alzheimer’s, she becomes caught in a web of intrigue as events from the past lead to danger in the present. A must read.” —Mike Befeler, author of “Mystery of the Dinner Playhouse” and the Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery series “Petty builds a strong character and supporting actors in this compelling story.” —Peg Brantley, award finalist for “The Sacrifice”

Let Us Prey


Jamie Lee Scott - 2011
    Though Mimi is hired to act as bodyguard for Lauren’s upcoming book tour, plans change when Lauren's assistant is murdered and the slaying is a replica of a scene from Lauren’s newest novel. A novel that hit bookstores the same day as the killing. Now instead of playing bodyguard, Mimi is cracking computer code, and chasing down vampires. These vampires come alive on the streets of Santa Cruz, as part of a live-role-playing game. Mimi must find the connection between the vampires and the author to track down the killer. This would be much easier if Detective Nick Christianson wanted her investigating the case.Nick, Mimi’s old college fling, is the lead homicide investigator. Though he wants her off the case, he also wants to pump her for information. Nick may have used her in the past, but this time she’ll use him to try to catch the murderer first.

The Girl on the Burning Boat


Gregg Dunnett - 2018
    But they didn’t bury his secrets… Alice is the smart and beautiful daughter of a powerful businessman. She lives a charmed life - until her father is killed in a tragic accident. Then she meets Jamie, a young man from a very different background, who has evidence that her father met a much darker end. Together they embark upon a search for the truth, delving into the murky background of Alice’s family fortune. What they discover leads Alice to question everything about her father - and herself. But it also turns them into targets. Because whoever put Alice’s father in his grave, meant his secrets to die with him. And now they’re scrambling to bury them deep. Along with anyone who gets in their way. Can Alice unearth the truth before it’s too late? Or will her judgement be clouded by her increasingly strong attraction to Jamie? With everyone around her lying, she must pick someone to trust. But get it wrong, and her next move will be her last. The Girl on the Burning Boat is a gripping psychological thriller from British author Gregg Dunnett. His previous books have all been UK and US Amazon bestsellers with thousands of five star reviews, and people are calling this one ‘his best yet!’ Start reading today and find out if Alice can avenge her father’s death. Or if she will become his killer’s next victim…

Death By Honeymoon


Jaden Skye - 2011
    Cindy finds her newly beloved taken away from her, drowned in a freak accident in the ocean. The local police are quick to declare it an accident, to insist that he was caught in a sudden riptide. But Cindy, left all alone, is not convinced.Cindy must return to her and Clint’s now-empty home in New York and face her in-laws, who never wanted Clint to marry her, and who did everything to make her engagement and wedding hell. She must deal with all of these women’s backbiting, gossiping and unspoken accusations, while she tries to get a handle on her own grief and to get clear on what really happened to Clint.Cindy is mailed an anonymous photo of a woman she had never met, addressed to Clint. As she tries to unravel the mysterious package, as she begins to dig deeper into Clint’s emails and files, she realizes how many secrets Clint had been hiding from his past. She realizes that she didn’t really know the man she loved. And she also realizes that Clint was murdered.She digs deeper, into the depths of Clint’s massive corporation, DGB oil, and as she starts to unearth information she shouldn’t, she goes too far. Soon her own life is in peril. On the run, she realizes that the only way to get answers, and to save her own life, is to return to where it all began: Barbados. As she heads into the dark underside of the island, into the heart of the local villages, she is shocked to discover what really happened to her husband on their honeymoon.But by then, it may already be too late.Books #2--#7 in the Caribbean Murder series (DEATH BY DIVORCE) are now also available!

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.

Their Last Words


Steve Parker - 2018
     A VICTIM. A MUTILATED BODY. A SINGLE WORD. A young woman is found dead on the streets of London. Her throat slashed, her body mutilated, and one word carved into her flesh: “DON’T.” Detective Superintendent Ray Paterson is assigned to the case. Young, handsome, and from a wealthy background, he’s tipped for the top. He joins a team based out of Bermondsey, South London. It’s meant to be a stepping stone to his next promotion, but this case will threaten to bring down his career and everything he thought he knew about policing. Paterson is put in charge of the dead girl's investigation and quickly discovers he must rely on his friend and mentor, Detective Sergeant Dave Jordan to guide him through. THEN ANOTHER BODY IS DISCOVERED. ANOTHER WORD CUT INTO THE VICTIM’S CHEST. The police realise they may have a depraved serial killer on their hands. The murderer is trying to send them a message carved in his victims’ bodies. But who’s the message for? How many more must die? Detective Paterson may be the only man who can stop this vile killer ... if he can survive long enough. This is the first in a series of action-packed, edge-of-your-seat crime thrillers, with an ending that will have your heart in your mouth. Perfect for fans of Kimberley Chambers, Damien Boyd, Rachel Abbott, Patricia Gibney or Martina Cole. PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A HEAVILY REVISED EDITION OF A BOOK FIRST PUBLISHED AS “THE SKY IS CRYING.” What readers are saying about THEIR LAST WORDS “There is also a totally unexpected twist that leaves you gasping with shock.” Maggie “Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.” Nerys “A fast-paced, at times almost heart-stopping mystery. I couldn’t put it down.” Barbara “The end was brilliant.” Carole “I cannot recommend this book highly enough a true one-sitting read.” Lesley TWO DETECTIVES WHO HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT EACH OTHER MUST WORK TOGETHER. Detective Superintendent Ray Paterson is a young and (thanks to family money) wealthy womaniser, separated from his model wife and tipped to be the youngest ever commissioner of police. He knows he’s weak when it comes to practical policing and struggles to find a place among his peers, desperate to be a good policeman and not just a 'climber'. Detective Sergeant Johnny Clocks is a foul-mouthed, working-class officer. He grew up surrounded by rogues and villains to become a first-class thief taker with the Met police. However, his childish attitude has short-circuited his career and he spends his days antagonising as many people as he can. Detective Sergeant Dave Jordan is an old-school copper who trusts his instincts but relies on evidence. He is typical in that his marriage has broken down and he's been unable to form a relationship since. THE AUTHOR Steve Parker is a retired police officer who served for 20 years in numerous high-profiles squads.

Hushabye


Celina Grace - 2013
    A murdered girl. A case where everyone has something to hide...Hushabye (A Kate Redman mystery) is the new novel from crime writer Celina Grace, author of Lost Girls and The House on Fever Street.On the first day of her new job in the West Country, Detective Sergeant Kate Redman finds herself investigating the kidnapping of Charlie Fullman, the newborn son of a wealthy entrepreneur and his trophy wife. It seems a straightforward case... but as Kate and her fellow officer Mark Olbeck delve deeper, they uncover murky secrets and multiple motives for the crime.Kate finds the case bringing up painful memories of her own past secrets. As she confronts the truth about herself, her increasing emotional instability threatens both her hard-won career success and the possibility that they will ever find Charlie Fullman alive...

Hush


Adam Nicholls - 2015
    until obsession with a killer drove him further from his family. That life was left behind, until today. Now a part-time PI, a familiar string of murders is pulling him back into the cycle. Mason must choose between bringing the killer to justice or remaining a humble family man. With his marriage on the line, the police seek his knowledge of the unsolved case, to help identify and track down the psychopath. But now he's too close to the Lullaby Killer, who is driven to have a little fun... at Mason's expense.

Cry From The Grave


Carolyn Mahony - 2013
    Now her fragile existence is threatened by a macabre discovery. The truth will come out - but is it one that Hannah can bear to confront? Three people are drawn together by a crime, three lives are torn apart by the chilling consequences. Secrets cannot stay buried for ever...

From Garden To Grave


Rickie Blair - 2017
    It’s a perennial problem. Verity Hawkes is a shut-in. After two years bunkered in her apartment, the only thing that gets her out is the disappearance of her beloved but eccentric aunt. As she takes over her aunt’s landscaping shop, she’ll need to go from hoarder to horticulturist in a hurry…Her new home of Leafy Hollow is quaint, except for her most obnoxious client. When a series of freak accidents kills the customer, all signs point to Verity as the killer. The hunt for answers is on, and Verity must question a tipsy carpenter, a bacon-peddling vegan baker, and her dreamy landscaping competitor to keep her new life afloat. Failure to find the truth could put her back in a confined space for much more than two years…If you like lovably quirky characters, deceptively idyllic Canadian villages, and twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love Rickie Blair’s Leafy Hollow Mysteries series.

A Shroud for Delilah


Anthea Fraser - 1984
    Moving to the small town of Broadminster with her young son was a fresh start. Closer to her best friend, with a good job, a new flat, it was a chance to start again. But a killer is attacking divorcees... At the scene of each crime, the name ‘Delilah’ is scrawled in lipstick on the victim’s mirror. The danger is coming closer to home. Kate starts receiving strange ‘gifts’, a dead pigeon, a dismembered moth - she fears she may be the next target Chief Inspect Webb and Sergeant Jackson are in a race against time to unravel this seemingly impossible mystery and find the culprit before the next dead body found is Kate Romilly’s. ‘A Shroud for Delilah’ is a fast-paced crime novel featuring Anthea Fraser’s popular detective David Webb. Praise for Anthea Fraser: “A superbly crafted, riveting, page-turner of a read" - Booklist “Ms Fraser is her dependable elegant, guileful self withholding the killer's identity till a dying fall" - Sunday Times 'A well-mannered, well-plotted and well-told story' - Birmingham Post 'Sympathetic, well-executed book, in which full attention is paid to human feelings and failings' - Yorkshire Post ANTHEA FRASER has written all her life but did not begin to take it seriously until after marriage, when she found herself at home with two small daughters and embarked on a correspondence course with the London School of Journalism. She wrote short stories before turning to novels of the supernatural, and then to crime. Her other books include ‘Pretty Maids all in a Row’, ‘Eleven Who Went Up to Heaven’, The Ten Commandments’, ‘The Seven Stars’ and ‘One is One and All Alone’. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.

New Orleans Mourning


Julie Smith - 1992
    Amant has been crowned Rex, King of Carnival. But his day of glory comes to an abrupt and bloody end when a parade-goer dressed as Dolly Parton guns him down. Is the killer his aimless, promiscuous daughter Marcelle? Homosexual, mistreated son Henry? Helpless, alcoholic wife Bitty? Or some unknown player? Turns out the king had enemies...Enter resourceful heroine Skip Langdon, a rookie police officer and former debutante turned cynic of the Uptown crowd. Scouring the streets for clues, interviewing revelers and street people with names like Jo Jo, Hinky, and Cookie, and using her white glove contacts, the post-deb rebel cop encounters a tangled web of brooding clues and ancient secrets that could mean danger for her—and doom for the St. Amants.

Walk Into Silence


Susan McBride - 2016
    Did she simply run off, or is something darker at play?When Patrick Dielman shows up at Detective Jo Larsen’s desk insisting that his wife, Jenny, is missing, Jo wonders if it’s a case of a bored housewife running away.But as she digs deeper into Jenny’s life, Jo learns that Dielman keeps a stranglehold on the family finances, down to the last nickel, and that Jenny’s first marriage dissolved following the death of her young son. By all accounts—including her doctor’s—she never recovered from the loss. Between a controlling husband, a tragic past, and a callous ex-husband, Jo can’t be sure if she should suspect foul play or accept that the woman may have wanted to disappear.For Jo, whose own demons are shadowing her every step, finding Jenny becomes more than the typical protect-and-serve.

She's Not There


Marla Madison - 2011
    . . Is the rising number of abused women who've gone missing a statistical anomaly? Or is a serial killer targeting this vulnerable group of women? When the Milwaukee Police Department refuses to investigate because no bodies have been discovered, Lisa Rayburn, the clinical psychologist who discovers the anomaly, is drawn into an investigation to discover the cause after one of her own clients goes missing. She finds herself forming an unlikely alliance with a former policewoman turned security consultant, TJ Peacock, and the husbands of two of the missing women who may themselves be murderers. When TJ is attacked, and a woman looking remarkably like Lisa is found murdered, they know . . . someone is willing to kill to protect his secret. Can they reveal the killer before he gets to them?