Book picks similar to
Easy Rider by J.R. Rain


mystery
short-story
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Dirty Little Secrets


Liliana Hart - 2011
    Graves has seen a lot of dead bodies in her line of work...She's not only in the mortuary business, but she's also the coroner for King George County, Virginia. When a grisly murder is discovered in the small town of Bloody Mary, it's up to J.J. and her best friend, Detective Jack Lawson, to bring the victim justice.The murders are piling up...The residents of Bloody Mary are dropping like flies, and when a popular mystery writer shows up on J.J.'s doorstep with plans of writing his new book about the Bloody Mary Serial Killer, J.J. has to decide if he might be going above and beyond the call of duty to create the spine tinglers he's so well known for. It only clouds the issue and puts her reputation on the line when the attraction between them spirals out of control.And passions are rising...J.J and Jack are in a race against time. They discover each victim had a shocking secret, and the very foundation of J.J.'s life is in danger of crumbling when it turns out she’s harboring secrets of her own—secrets that make her the perfect victim in a deadly game.

Death’s Door


Paul Finch - 2018
    . . When a stalking case lands on DS ‘Heck’ Heckenburg’s desk it seems pretty straightforward.But when Heck discovers that the victim lives in the same house that a young woman was brutally murdered in six years earlier, instinct tells him that it’s not so simple after all.Before long Heck is entangled in something far more dangerous than he had expected. In a race against the clock, can Heck and Gemma stop history from repeating itself – or will they end up getting caught in the crossfire? The Sunday Times bestseller returns with a heart pounding short story that fans of M.J. Arlidge and Stuart MacBride won’t be able to put down.

Unmasked: Volume One


Cassia Leo - 2014
    I have a night job that pays the bills. Every night, I put on my mask and walk to work.Then one night, I hear and see something that will change my purpose in life... forever: a murder that will bring him to me.He says he wants to protect me. And, through a series of events I can’t fully make sense of, I find myself believing him. But our nightly visits are always cloaked in darkness. I don’t know his face and he will never know mine. I was born into this world unwanted. I will leave this world unmasked.

65 Proof


J.A. Konrath - 2009
    Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels thrilller series (Whiskey Sour, Bloody Mary, Rusty Nail, Dirty Martini, Fuzzy Navel, Cherry Bomb, Shaken, Stirred, Rum Runner, Last Call) offers a gigantic 180,000 word collection of sixty-five previously published short stories from the thriller, horror, and comedy genres, including many from his award-winning series.Stories to make you laugh, scream, cringe, think, scratch your head, and roll your eyes. This collection has something to please every type of Kindle reader, and is an inexpensive way to get introduced to the author and his work.Contents include:INTRODUCTION by JA KonrathJACK DANIELS AND FRIENDSOn the Rocks - Jack Daniels solves a locked room mysteryWhelp Wanted - Harry McGlade becomes a dognapperStreet Music - Phineas Troutt hunts a prostituteThe One That Got Away - The Gingerbread Man's last victimWith a Twist - Jack Daniels solves an impossible crimeEpitaph - Phineas Troutt avenges a deathTaken to the Cleaners - Harry McGlade goofs offBody Shots - Jack Daniels at a school shootingSuffer - Phineas Troutt as a hitmanOverproof - Jack Daniels discovers what is stopping trafficBereavement - Phineas Troutt as hitmanPot Shot - Herb Benedict gets shot atLast Request - Phineas Troutt meets his matchPlanter's Punch - Jack Daniels meets Tom Schreck's Duffy DomborwskiTruck Stop - Jack Daniels meets Taylor from AFRAID and Donaldson from SERIALCRIME STORIESThe Big Guys - flash fictionThe Agreement - very nasty noirA Fistful of Cozy - a satire of the cozy genreCleansing - a crime of biblical proportionsLying Eyes - solve it yourselfPerfect Plan - solve it yourselfPiece of Cake - solve it yourselfAnimal Attraction - solve it yourselfBasketcase - hardboiled horrorUrgent Reply Needed - how to deal with spammersBlaine's Deal - parody of hardboiled noirThe Confession - horrific noirHORROR STORIESFinicky Eater - nuclear holocaust and cannibalsThe Screaming - Van Helsing livesMr. Pull Ups - body modification horrorThe Shed - some losers find the door to hellThem's Good Eats - rednecks vs. aliensFirst Time - a tender coming of age storyForgiveness - the genesis of evilRedux - ghost story noirThe Bag - what's in the bag?Careful, He Bites - lyncanthrope flash fictionSymbios - sci-fi horrorA Matter of Taste - zombie flash fictionEmbrace - gothic fictionTrailer Sucks - gross out goreMarkey - psychological horrorPunishment Room - horrific suspenseShapeshifter's Anonymous - funny paranormalSERIAL - with Blake CrouchDear Diary - a dip into madnessThe Eagle - early horrorA Sound of Blunder - with F. Paul WilsonFUNNY STUFFLight Drizzle - parody of hitman storiesMr. Spaceman - science fiction satireDon't Press That Button! - essay on James BondPiranha Pool - comedy about writingWell Balanced Meal - gross out humorA Newbie's Guide to Thrillerfest - essay on writing conventionsInspector Oxnard - parody of mysteriesAppalachian Lullaby - radioactive monkeysOne Night Only - humorous sto

Hush


Anne Frasier - 2002
    None haunts her dreams more than the killer who took her son's life sixteen years ago, then silently disappeared into the dark. Now an urgent request for help from the Chicago police has reawakened Ivy's greatest nightmare. The Madonna Murderer has returned to fulfill his calling. This time Ivy understands the killer instinct. She knows what man is capable of. This time she's ready to confront her deepest fear, face-to-face. For the very last time...

Lamb to the Slaughter


Karen Ann Hopkins - 2014
    To solve the murder, she must investigate the nearby Amish community with the help of a man who was shunned years ago. Lamb to the Slaughter is a story about the intertwining lives of three unlikely people in an Indiana Amish Community and the devastating results when a rebellious teenage girl is found shot to death in a corn field during the harvest. Serenity Adams is the newly elected young sheriff in the country town of Blood Rock and besides dealing with the threatening behavior of her predecessor, she now has a dead Amish girl on her plate. At first glance, the case seems obvious. The poor girl was probably accidentally shot during hunting season, but when the elders of the Amish community and even the girl’s parents react with uncaring subdued behavior, Serenity becomes suspicious. As she delves deeper into the secretive community that she grew up beside, she discovers a gruesome crime from the past that may very well be related to the Amish girl’s shooting. Serenity enlists the help of the handsome bad-boy building contractor, Daniel Bachman, who left the Amish when he was nineteen and has his own dark reasons to help the spunky sheriff solve the crime that the family and friends who shunned him are trying desperately to cover up. Serenity’s persistence leads her to a stunning discovery that not only threatens to destroy her blossoming romance with Daniel, but may even take her life in the end.

An Ace and A Pair


Blake Banner - 2017
    But he’s a dinosaur who belongs to another age. Detective Carmen Dehan has such a bad attitude that nobody at the precinct can stomach her. Captain Jennifer Cuevas wants them both out of the way and thinks they make a perfect pair. So she gives them the Cold Cases file – the cases nobody gives a damn about.She has no idea just how hot a cold case can get.Ten years back Nelson Hernandez and his four cousins were playing poker in a dive at Hunts Point. Somebody came in, blew them away and beheaded and castrated Nelson, leaving his head and his balls on the table. There was no shortage of suspects, the Jersey Mob, the Triads from Manhattan, or the 43rds own bent cop, Mick Harragan. But nobody was ever charged, and the night of the murder Mick Harragan went missing with Nelson’s wife, Maria.Now Stone and Dehan plan to find him – whatever the consequences…

Invisible


Lorena McCourtney - 2004
    So when vandals romp through the local cemetery, she takes advantage of her newfound anonymity and its unforeseen advantages as she launches her own unofficial investigation.Despite her oddball humor and unconventional snooping, Ivy soon becomes discouraged by her failure to turn up any solid clues. And after Ivy witnesses something ominous and unexplained, she can't resist putting her investigative powers to work again. Even the authorities' attempts to keep Ivy out of danger and her nosy neighbor's match-making schemes can't slow her down. But will the determination that fuels this persistent, quirky sleuth threaten her very safety?

Bah, Humbug!


Heather Horrocks - 2011
    He digs into the snowman to discover two things: the weapon fits into the body just under the head, and the snowman was supposed to be the back drop for Lexi's next show.From this improbable beginning comes friendship. Can there be more for a woman who is afraid to get close again and a man who has shadows from his childhood?Families join together and hearts are healed as this couple goes walking in a winter wonderland.

To Catch a Bad Guy


Marie Astor - 2012
    When she lands a job at one of New York’s premier boutique investment firms, Janet begins to hope that her luck is finally turning for the better. Not only is she happy with her new paycheck, but things also seem to be looking up on the personal front, as the company’s handsome attorney expresses keen interest in Janet. However, her euphoria is short-lived, as Janet soon discovers alarming facts about her new employer’s business tactics. When her boss dismisses her suspicions as groundless, Janet finds herself confiding to a cute IT engineer, Dean Snider. The closer she gets to Dean, the more Janet is tempted to break her rule of not dating co-workers, but what she doesn’t realize is that everything she knows about Dean, including his occupation and even his name, is a lie.Dennis Walker is a top-notch white collar crime investigator who will stop at nothing to put culprits away. When an opportunity for an undercover assignment at one of New York’s premier boutique broker dealers comes up, Dennis jumps at the chance, adopting a persona of geeky IT engineer, Dean Snider. While he may be an ace at his job, years of experience fail him when Dennis meets Janet Maple and finds himself torn between his professional obligations and his personal desires. Will he have to choose between his feelings and duty, or will he find a way to satisfy both?

The Night Bird


Brian Freeman - 2017
    When a series of bizarre deaths rock San Francisco—as seemingly random women suffer violent psychotic breaks—Frost looks for a connection that leads him to psychiatrist Francesca Stein. Frankie’s controversial therapy helps people erase their most terrifying memories…and all the victims were her patients.As Frost and Frankie carry out their own investigations, the case becomes increasingly personal—and dangerous. Long-submerged secrets surface as someone called the Night Bird taunts the pair with cryptic messages pertaining to the deaths. Soon Frankie is forced to confront strange gaps in her own memory, and Frost faces a killer who knows the detective’s worst fears.As the body count rises and the Night Bird circles ever closer, a dedicated cop and a brilliant doctor race to solve the puzzle before a cunning killer claims another victim.

A Higher Duty


Peter Murphy - 2012
    Underneath a profession which proudly flaunts its integrity and traditions lies a world of hypocrisy and ruthless self-interest. When scandal threatens, self-preservation is the only goal and no one is indispensable. Ben Schroeder, a talented young man from an East End Jewish family, has been accepted as a pupil into the Chambers of Bernard Wesley QC. But Schroeder is an outsider, not part of this privileged society, where wealth and an Oxbridge education are essentials. He encounters prejudice, intrigue and scandal. Kenneth Gaskell, a rising star of Wesley's Chambers has become involved in an affair with a high-profile client and the relationship, if known, could ruin his career, and the careers of all those around him. But Bernard Wesley has some information - he knows about a student prank that went terribly wrong - but can he use this knowledge in a desperate gamble to save his Chambers and turn the tables on his old rival, Miles Overton QC?

The Magpies


Mark Edwards - 2013
    The future, in which they plan to get married and start a family, is bright. The other residents of their building seem friendly too, including the Newtons, a married couple who welcome them to the building with open arms.But then strange things start to happen. Dead rats are left on their doorstep. They hear disturbing noises, and much worse, in the night. After Jamie's best friend is injured in a horrific accident, Jamie and Kirsty find themselves targeted by a campaign of terror.As they are driven to the edge of despair, Jamie vows to fight back—but he has no idea what he is really up against . . .The Magpies is a gripping psychological thriller in which the monsters are not vampires or demons but the people who live next door. It is a nightmare that could happen to anyone.

The Shell Game


Janet Evanovich - 2014
    Find out how FBI Special Agent Kate O’Hare and con artist Nicolas Fox first met in this exclusive eBook original short story! Con man Nick Fox is after Garson Klepper’s golden Peruvian relics. For Fox, convincing Klepper to hire him as security for the relocation of the relics to the Getty museum in L.A. was easy. Problem is, Fox wasn’t planning on Klepper also enlisting the help of the FBI. Fox also wasn’t planning on being paired up with rookie special agent Kate O’Hare. She’s smart, she’s tenacious, and when she’s conned, she holds a grudge. Life for Fox and O’Hare will never be the same again. The Shell Game is a prequel to the riveting series from Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg.

Perfect Gentleman


Brett Battles - 2011
    He’s not their uncle. He’s not even related to them. In fact, he was born thousands of miles from the Philippines, the place he now calls home. No, Wade’s none of those things. He’s their Papasan. He runs the go-go bar where the girls dance and entertain. But that doesn’t make them any less than a family.And rule number one: don’t mess with the family.PERFECT GENTLEMAN is a 6000 word short story that originally appeared in the KILLER YEAR: STORIES TO DIE FOR anthology edited by Lee Child.