Book picks similar to
A Bloody Hot Summer by Trevor D'Silva
mystery
digital
ebook
historical-20th-century-setting
Vengeance List (Foley & Rose Book 1)
Gary Gregor - 2019
But after his best friend is murdered and his newfound love kidnapped, Sam has to race against time to not only save his own life, but the life of the woman he loves.Can Russell and Sam put their past differences aside, and catch the killer before he claims another victim?
The Garage Guerrilla
Collin Pearce - 2020
But after another woman is found, followed by a third, he quickly realizes that he's onto something much bigger than he had ever anticipated. With the body count rising, Sean does everything he can to end the nightmare. Nearly fifty years later, Detective Jake Caldwell walks onto his first day on the job. Assigned with reviewing cold cases, the young detective becomes inspired by the apprehension of the Golden State Killer and genetic genealogy. As he reads through his city's files, he stumbles upon the paper trail of a forgotten serial killer of his own. But in order to uncover the truth, Jake learns that he'll need the blood from the past.
Angel With A Bullet
M.C. Grant - 2012
When she’s assigned to look into the death of her former lover, artist Diego Chino, Dixie’s instincts tell her there’s more behind the apparent suicide than the police are letting on.Dixie’s canvassing of the Bay Area art district reveals it to be a perfect picture of corruption, with a handsome art dealer and a reclusive patron in the foreground. After a romantic evening in Chinatown ends in a brush with death, Dixie is more determined than ever to expose the truth. But when a fire in her vicinity turns out to be more than just performance art, it’s clear the perpetrators would rather see Dixie dead than let her destroy their criminal masterpiece.“Dixie Flynn may be the most kick-ass heroine ever created. Kudos to Grant for giving us the ultimate ‘girl power’ thriller!” — Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of The Silent
Back to Lazarus
Judy K. Walker - 2014
He beat and choked her to death. I'm told that he was found hanging from a homemade noose in his cell. I want to know why he waited so long to do it." Sydney Brennan isn't sure how to answer her client's question, short of holding a séance, and the Tallahassee detective has some questions of her own. Why does Noel Thomas remember so little about her childhood? Why is she delving into her father's suicide now? And, most importantly, why isn't Noel telling her the truth?Sydney crisscrosses the Florida Panhandle, reconstructing the tragic Thomas family history. The violence that destroyed the Thomas family connects to a present-day web of deceit and corruption through a desperate man willing to do anything to keep his secrets safe. To discover his identity, Sydney must go Back to Lazarus, back to the town where Noel's beautiful but troubled mother began her inevitable descent over twenty years ago. But by following in the footsteps of the murdered woman, does Sydney risk sharing her fate?Rooted in bars and back roads and Panhandle prisons, forgotten towns and forgotten people, at its heart Back to Lazarus is about stories: the stories people tell us, the stories we tell ourselves, and what happens when we realize it's all a lie.
The Murder at Sissingham Hall
Clara Benson - 2013
But in the dead of night Sir Neville is murdered. Who did it? As suspicion falls on each of the house guests in turn, Knox finds himself faced with deception and betrayal on all sides, and only the enigmatic Angela Marchmont seems to offer a solution to the mystery. This 1920s whodunit will delight all fans of traditional country house murder stories.
Final Mission: Zion - A World War 2 Thriller
Chuck Driskell - 2018
The only man who knows their location is killed, leaving the children with precious little time to survive. The dead man leaves a single set of instructions: Find U.S. Department of War agent Neil Reuter--he will save the children. Reuter, who is part-Native American, is a wreck, grieving the murder of his wife and unborn son. Realizing this mission goes beyond his grief, he accepts, hurtling himself toward the menace of the Third Reich. Relentlessly pursued by the Nazis, as well as his own people from the U.S. Department of War who believe he's traveling into the Reich to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Reuter uses his unique set of skills to battle his way from San Francisco to England, through Germany and on to Austria in a race against time to find the hidden group of children.A sweeping saga of espionage and suspense, over the backdrop of a tantalizing love story, FINAL MISSION: ZION combines modern storytelling with the excitement and cliffhangers of the classic Saturday afternoon movie serial.
Bed and Breakfast and Murder
Patti Larsen - 2017
Instead, I forced myself to smile and swallow and remind myself the elbow length yellow rubber gloves grasping the handle of the standard issue plunger were all that stood between me and Pooageddon.Suck it up, Fee. Big girl panties and adulting and all that."At what point," I waved the dripping plunger, wincing as droplets of yuck flew, "did I think owning a bed and breakfast was going to be glamorous and romantic?"Fiona Fleming hasn't lived in Reading, Vermont in over a decade, her escape from small town living leading her to New York City and a life of adventure. An adventure that has left her with no career, an ex who cheated on her and zero plans for the future. Her grandmother's death grants her a new chance--inheriting Petunia's, Iris Fleming's bed and breakfast, seems like the ideal fresh start. But when Fee finds out ownership of the property Iris willed her might be in question, she's drawn into the seedy underbelly of the cutest town in America after being singled out as the main suspect in a murder.
Missing Amanda
Duane Lindsay - 2021
Lou Fleener’s got a great disguise—he’s kind of short, slightly pudgy, and a little nondescript. But whatever you do, don’t get in a fight with him, even if you’ve brought a couple of buddies. Because you’re gonna lose every time. Some people just have a gift.One of Lou’s is that nobody ever sees him coming, and he’s pretty much the Bruce Lee of street fighting. Who they see—especially if they’re female—is his tall, handsome friend Monk, and that brings us to Lou’s second superpower. He’s got a little something for the ladies too—he can dance like an Arthur Murray instructor.Not your average 1950s Chicago P.I.Duane Lindsay’s fresh take on the tough-guy detective is nicely buttressed by humor, graceful writing, and big, fun plots that sometimes evolve into intricate capers. Like this one.It starts out nice and easy. Lou—an expert in Chicago gangster lore—is hired against his better judgment to find the adorable missing daughter of a wise guy. Only Amanda’s not really missing. In fact, there is no Amanda. The gangster’s got a devious agenda of his own.But by the time Lou’s found that out, he’s got four crime bosses gunning for him, and he’s plenty pissed off. Not only should you never fight with Lou Fleener, you should also never piss him off. He quickly enlists Monk to outplot the plotters— because Monk’s super power is working out intricate and diabolical revenge plans. Next thing you know, Lou, Monk, a ragtag bunch of other P.I.s and blonde, intrepid Cassidy, Lou’s new squeeze, are conducting a dizzying array of heists that whisk the reader around glorious 1950’s Chicago.If it all works, they get to live. And they might get rich. And for sure, somebody gets the girl.Hard-boiled and caper readers step up—because here Lindsay pulls off a trick few writers who aren’t Donald Westlake will even attempt—he manages to create a noir yet delightfully careening and often humorous read.Who else will like it? Well, since it pretty much has everything, pretty much all mystery fans, whether your favorite sub-genre is 50s pulp, noir, caper, or even cozy (because of the endearing characters, fun plot, and good humor). In particular fans of Westlake, Lawrence Block and Tim Hallinan (when in burglar mode), Thomas Perry, and TV shows like Good Girls and Imposters.
Irons in the Fire
Bowen Greenwood - 2020
The prime suspect got out of prison way too easily; reporter Sherman Iron needs to know why. But he breaks the law in his quest for answers, and Iron stumbles on the dead body of a corrupt judge with a million in cash in a briefcase in front of him.Then the cops show up.Framed for a murder he didn’t commit, Sherman Iron must clear his name and find the killer who ordered the shooting. But everyone in Hunter has a secret, and learning them might take Iron from the frying pan to the fire.
Maids of Misfortune
M. Louisa Locke - 2009
Annie’s husband squandered her fortune before committing suicide five years earlier, and one of his creditors is now threatening to take the boardinghouse she owns to pay off a debt. Annie Fuller also has a secret. She supplements her income by giving domestic and business advice as Madam Sibyl, one of San Francisco’s most exclusive clairvoyants, and one of Madam Sibyl’s clients, Matthew Voss, has died. The police believe his death was suicide brought upon by bankruptcy, but Annie believes Voss has been murdered and that his assets have been stolen. Nate Dawson has a problem. As the Voss family lawyer, he would love to believe that Matthew Voss didn't leave his grieving family destitute. But that would mean working with Annie Fuller, a woman who alternatively attracts and infuriates him as she shatters every notion he ever had of proper ladylike behavior. Sparks fly as Anne and Nate pursue the truth about the murder of Matthew Voss in this light-hearted, cozy historical mystery set in the foggy gas-lit world of Victorian San Francisco. Maids of Misfortune is the first book in M. Louisa Locke’s historical mystery series, see also, Uneasy Spirits, and Bloody Lessons, as well as the two short stories based on the characters from the novels, Dandy Detects, and The Misses Moffet Mend a Marriage.
The King Tides
James Swain - 2018
And that of strangers, too. Wherever she goes, she’s being watched. Each stalker is different from the last, except for one thing—their alarming obsession with Nicki.Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Nicki’s father is turning to someone who can protect her: retired private detective and ex–Navy SEAL Jon Lancaster. Teaming up with FBI agent and former abduction victim Beth Daniels, Lancaster can help—his way. He’s spent most of his career dispatching creeps who get off on terrorizing the vulnerable. Unlicensed, and unrestricted, he plays dirty…But this case is unusual. Why so many men? Why this one girl? Does Nicki have something to hide? Or do her parents?Trawling the darkest depths of southern Florida, Lancaster faces a growing tide of secrets and deception. And the deeper he digs, the more he realizes that finding the truth won’t be easy. Because there’s more to this case than meets the eye.
God Save the Spy (Operation TINKER #1)
John Ellsworth - 2020
He begins passing KGB secrets to the Brits. It is 1962, and Nikolai smuggles Russian war plans for Cuba. President Kennedy needs the plans immediately, must talk.The Russians discover his deception and kidnap him back to Moscow. But the British have a plan, terrible as it is. For they can save him and his wife, or him and his daughter, but not both. He must decide, does he escape with his wife or with his one-year-old? The KGB will murder whichever one he leaves behind. The choice is made in a way no one expects. Britain's escape plan is activated, and the wheels begin to turn.Colonel Viktor Bucharov of the KGB falls in behind them. Bucharov is the KGB’s best and most violent. A desperate attempt to shake Bucharov from their tail, as they jump from buses, change moving subway cars, dash into malls, and underground passageways. Then they head for the escape rendezvous, with Bucharov minutes behind.Get ready to stay up late tonight.
The Cove
Malcolm Richards - 2017
Seven years later, a teenager has been found washed up on the beach.It’s Carrie’s son. And he’s alive.No longer the sweet boy she remembers, Cal is deeply troubled, wildly unpredictable, and a growing danger to everyone around him.Now, Carrie must unravel the mystery of what happened to her son before it’s too late. Because a serial killer is stalking the streets of Devil’s Cove.And another young child is missing...Set against the wild backdrop of Cornwall, The Cove is the first part of a nail-biting trilogy about a mother's fight to save her son from the grip of evil.