What Happened at the Lake


Phil M. Williams - 2018
    Not everyone made it back.The Palmers went to the lake for a week of fun in the sun. But Alex Palmer had an agenda. He wanted his brother to reconcile with their hypercompetitive father. He wanted his daughter to break up with her shady boyfriend. Most of all, Alex wanted them to be a family one more time before he faced his predicament at home.Evil incarnate and a brutal double murder shifted Alex's focus from wants to needs. He needed to keep his family safe. He needed to find her. He needed to know what happened at the lake.His pastor often said, "God won't give you more than you can bear."This had nothing to do with God.NOTE TO THE READER: This is a dark psychological thriller that delves into depraved acts of humanity. For adult readers only who can handle these subject matters. Adult language and explicit sexual violence.

Shaking the Tree (The Man with Three Names)


Michael Donohue - 2011
    Out of prison, but still on parole, the only thing he wants is to keep his head down, go to work and maybe grab a cold beer at the end of his shift. He doesn't even care that the program stuck him in Essex - a nice, but nowhere small town. With his head already full of bloody and painful memories, he'd like it just fine if his past and future stayed nice and quiet.Too bad the present just got really messy.A body in a tree. A missing briefcase. A Russian hit man. A DEA agent bent on revenge. A corrupt mayor. Not to mention a sheriff with dangerous ambition. A meth lab in the woods. And some pissed off bikers. Things are suddenly very interesting in sleepy Essex county. Bodies are turning up. Secrets are coming out. Questions are being asked. Fingers are being pointed. It's not good being the new guy in a small town.

The Stakes


Ben Sanders - 2018
    The latest from Ben Sanders, following his novels American Blood and Marshall’s Law.Rip-offs are a dangerous game, but heist man Miles Keller thinks he’s found a good strategy: rob rich New York criminals and then retire early, before word’s out about his true identity. New town, new name, no worries. Retirement can’t come soon enough, though. The NYPD is investigating him for the shooting of a hitman named Jack Deen, who was targeting Lucy Gates—a former police informant and Miles’s ex-lover. Miles thinks shooting hitmen counts as altruism, but in any case a murder charge would make life difficult. He’s ready to go to ground, but then Nina Stone reappears in his life. Nina is a fellow heist professional and the estranged wife of LA crime boss Charles Stone. Miles last saw her five years ago, and since then her life has grown more complicated: her husband wants her back, and he’s dispatched his go-to gun thug to play repo man. Complicating matters is the fact that the gun thug in question is Bobby Deen, cousin of the dead Jack Deen—and Bobby wants vengeance. The stakes couldn’t be higher, but Nina has an offer that could be lucrative. Maybe Miles can stick around a while longer…

The Quiet Streets of Winslow


Judy Troy - 2014
    Nate Aspenall, with whom the young woman had been involved, is forced to confront the facts of her life and his own, and what he may have become with her. Sam Rush confronts the degree to which he is hindered by his assumptions about the Aspenall family, and by the knowledge of his own isolation. And Travis Aspenall, Nate’s fourteen-year-old stepbrother, must come to grips with what love and sex do to people, what choices they make when threatened with loss, and how to figure out what you’re left with when what you thought you knew and trusted has been thrown into question. As the investigation takes Sam north to Winslow and Holbrook and brings Nate home, temporarily, to Black Canyon City, solving the mystery becomes more complicated. Additional suspects emerge. Nobody tells the truth. The victim’s haphazard life was dangerous, and her relationship with Nate anything but straight-forward. As for Nate, his time in Black Canyon City is running out. His family is no longer certain of his innocence. In the midst of this, Travis struggles to grow up.Set in the gorgeous setting of Winslow, Arizona – where the place becomes a fully realized character in this beautiful story – Judy Troy offers a murder mystery infused with inter-woven love stories and unforgettable voices, a masterful return for this wonderful writer.

Natasha Mehra Must Die: Book One of the Doomsday Trilogy


Anand Sivakumaran - 2018
    Someone is slaughtering every woman, girl and child named Natasha Mehra . . .Which is what Natasha Mehra, the most unpopular girl on campus, discovers. Though she’s always hated her name, she would’ve never imagined that it would be the reason she would be on the run from a gruesome death. But these murders aren’t random acts of madness. Rather, they are part of a conspiracy hatched by the Kul, an all-powerful secret organisation with tentacles everywhere. And the success or failure of this 2000-year-old mission will determine the future of humankind . . .About the AuthorAnand Sivakumaran has been telling stories since he was five. After passing out of IIT Bombay, he did stints in journalism, advertising, event management and youth marketing, before landing up in the entertainment business. His credits include films like Kalyug and Nazar and TV shows like The Buddy Project, Sadda Haq, Miley Jab Hum Tum, Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin, Rishtey, Adhafull, etc. He has directed two films as well—Detour and Money Devo Bhava (awaiting release).He currently runs CROCTALES, a creative shop that makes and runs web series, films and TV shows.Anand also does live, interactive storytelling which involves making up stories on the spot in front of a live audience using their words. He also has a storytelling podcast—The Croc’s Tales—again telling stories using listener’s prompts.Mumbai is his base in between exploring the world.

A Precarious Homecoming: An Arabella Stewart Historical Mystery


D.S. Lang - 2021
    An immediate impediment arises when she becomes involved in a murder investigation. Helping solve the crime is crucial, but Bella must work with Constable Jackson Hastings. Once part of her life, Jax turned his back on Bella after her brother, his best friend, died in the trenches. His cold attitude hasn’t softened, but she can’t let that stop her. Both her hometown and family resort, once popular tourist destinations, may not survive if the crime isn’t solved quickly.Jax, a war veteran, faces his own challenges. Wounded in body and spirit, his dreams shattered, he finds himself doing what he said he’d never do—follow in his father’s footsteps as constable. When a wave of crimes hit the town, culminating in murder, his competence is questioned. In a struggle to find the killer and save his job, Jax needs all the help he can get—but he doesn’t want assistance from Bella. Not when he feels responsible for her brother’s death. But more is at stake than his job. He can’t stand by and let Moreley become a ghost town. Nor can he watch while Bella loses Ballantyne.Working together is the only way to solve the crime and offer hope—to their community and for themselves. Will their efforts succeed, or will it be a precarious homecoming?

Hush Little Children.


Anthony Hulse - 2017
    Her obsession with the case intensifies with the abduction of her five-year old son. Ben Orton, an ex-SAS soldier metes out revenge on former members of the IRA who murdered his brother and are released as part of the Good Friday agreement. Living in a secluded location in Scotland, a stranger approaches Orton and blackmails him into joining The Disciples of Retribution, a select band of vigilantes. The abductors of the children share an unusual fantasy, their frightening and abnormal behaviour provoking punishment for the youngsters. Hush Little Children, a tale of revenge and indignity, will frighten and captivate you.

Every Dead Thing / Dark Hollow (Charlie Parker, #1-2)


John Connolly - 2003
    

Hawaiian Rumble


Matt Lincoln - 2020
    But, when a couple asks him about an intricately carved table in his store, it brings back memories of a case that almost tore apart the islands in a gang war.

The 13th Tablet (A Mina Osman Thriller)


Alex Mitchell - 2012
    Lawlessness is spreading throughout the country and looters have plundered the museums and historical sites. Mina Osman, a young American archaeologist of Iraqi descent, is fighting to preserve the country's antiquities. When she stumbles upon an ancient cuneiform tablet, it proves to be of unimaginable significance - its cryptic language holds a secret that will play a part in a series of earth-shattering events. Aided by ex-US Army Major Jack Hillcliff, Mina travels across the world to unlock the secrets of the 13th Tablet but at each step she is pursued by deadly enemies who will stop at nothing to obtain the tablet and its power for themselves.

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Seven


Val Andrews - 2001
    Watson disguise themselves as the residents at the crime scene and work undercover to expose the dreaded killer before he takes another life. One quiet evening, Septimus Culthorpe stumbles into 221B Baker Street. He introduces himself as the leader of the Secret Seven – a mysterious group of seven monks who lead a simple lifestyle and reside in Grimstone Priory, an old cottage in Sussex. Two of the seven monks have been murdered in unusual circumstances. The weapon remains unknown and Culthorpe suspects that both suffered a heart attack. However, he is apprehensive of the secret letter that both men received the day prior to their death. Alarmed by the two horrid and unusual murders in Grimstone Priory, Culthorpe seeks the assistance of the detective and his partner. The group prepares a plan – Holmes and Watson will temporarily substitute the deceased monks and observe the possible suspects at the grounds in order to uncover the mystery. Once settled into the simple village life, Holmes and Watson gradually reveal the secrets that lie in Grimstone Priory. The days following their arrival result in a series of strange events including the mystery of the missing jewels, doubtful identities of the monks and brutally slaughtered animals. Can the duo solve the case before a third member of the Secret Seven is killed? Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Seven is a dramatic thriller by Val Andrews. Val Andrews (1926 –2006) was a music hall artist, ventriloquist and writer. Andrews was a prolific writer on magic, having published over 1000 books and booklets from 1952. He also authored Sherlock Holmes pastiches and Houdini's novels.

The Curious Case of Faith & Grace (The Trial Series)


David B. Lyons - 2020
    Almost two years ago, Faith and Grace Tiddle arrived home from their Saturday morning dance class to find both of their parents face down in pools of bloodFive days later, the twins — only nine years old at the time — were arrested for the double homicide.And now, twenty months on, the entire country awaits with bated breath as the jury are dismissed to deliberate their verdict on a case that has become a national phenomenon.But if Lead Detective Denis Quayle — the man who knows the case better than anybody else — isn’t fully convinced of the twins’ guilt…Can a twelve-person jury be?

The Locksmith


Linda Calvey - 2021
    Linda Calvey writes what she lived.They grew up with nothing. Just a regular family scraping by, living an honest life while crime ruled the East End. Until all that honesty and all that hard work left them with nothing.Poor, destitute and hungry, young Ruby decides to pull them from the ashes. It starts as one job, one step outside the law. Yet that one step sets her on a path – straight to the top.But in the East End you don't build an empire without making a few enemies . . .Welcome to the underbelly of London, where criminals run the streets and one woman will do anything to protect her family.The crime debut novel of the year, perfect for readers who loved No Mercy and Queenie.

Our Trespasses


Michael Cordell - 2021
    The pain is violent and immediate, and Matt knows exactly what it means… hundreds of miles away, Jake has been viciously killed. But instead of severing their connection, the murder intensifies it and Matt begins to suffer the agony of Jake’s afterlife.Hell bent on solving Jake’s murder in order to break the connection, Matt travels to his troubled hometown of Hatchett, Nebraska, where an old lover and savage new enemies expose the festering wounds that Jake left behind.Matt tries atoning for Jake’s sins, but when a demon infests the connection between the two brothers, Matt must find a way to sever their bond before his world, and ours, become engulfed in the flames of hell.Fans of Stephen King’s The Outsider, Stephen Graham Jones’ The Only Good Indians, and William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist will find this new paranormal thriller impossible to put down.

Seven Days


Alex Lake - 2019
    But she’s not planning a party or buying presents or updating his baby book. She’s dreading it. Because in her world, third birthdays are the days on which the unthinkable happens… she loses her child.For the last twelve years Maggie has been imprisoned in a basement. Abducted aged fifteen, she gave birth to two sons before Max, and on their third birthdays her captor came and took them from her.She cannot let it happen again. But she has no idea how to stop it. And the clock is ticking…