Book picks similar to
Just Murder: A Mystery Novel by Jan Rehner


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Lights Out


Jason Starr - 2006
    This book is a huge treat."---Jeffery Deaver, author of The Cold Moon: A Lincoln Rhyme NovelFrom Barry and Anthony Award-winning author Jason Starr comes a story of two friends divided by chance and reunited during a long Brooklyn weekend that will change both of their lives forever. Ryan Rossetti and Jake Thomas were the two Major League-bound rivals on their high school baseball team, heading straight into history as the first two of Canarsie's favorite sons to make it out and make it big. Until Ryan hurt his pitching arm and landed a ten-dollar-an-hour life as a house painter. Lucky Jake made it all the way, and he and his ten-million-dollar signing bonus are heading back for a publicity-motivated homecoming weekend that has all of Brooklyn waiting to explode in celebration.But he's got a nasty surprise in store: Ryan is involved in an intense, addictive relationship with Jake's fiancée Christina, who now faces a choice between love in a Brooklyn tenement or a heartless marriage on Easy Street. Neither man, nor the woman who now stands between them, has any idea what's about to play out in the streets they once all called home. Lights Out is vintage Jason Starr, a razor-sharp crime novel that brilliantly combines biting social satire, explosive suspense, and honest, revealing human drama.

Except the Dying


Maureen Jennings - 1997
    Detective William Murdoch quickly finds out that more than one person connected with the girl’s simple life has something to hide.

Josiah Reynolds Mystery Box Set 1: Death By A HoneyBee, Death By Drowning, Death By Bridle


Abigail Keam - 2014
    Now all of that is gone. The professor finds her circumstances drastically altered. Retired, Josiah is now a beekeeper trying to stay financially afloat by selling honey at the local 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 competitor and nemesis. The police suspect the brutal death is murder and Josiah is their number one suspect. Death By Drowning: In the second novel of the series, Josiah survives a forty-foot fall off a cliff only to discover that her nightmare is not over. O'nan's body is never found and he may be alive. Josiah puts the past behind her but it reaches out, threatening to pull her off the cliff again. Matt, her best friend, and Jake, her physical therapist, stand between Josiah and harm. Even they can't keep danger at bay. Once again, Josiah makes the rounds of quirky characters found in the lush Bluegrass horse world of Thoroughbreds, oak-cured bourbon and antebellum mansions. Death By Bridle: Josiah is back on the trail of a murderer. Arthur Aaron Greene III is one of Kentucky's most prominent horsemen, but he is found hanging from the rafters in a horse barn with stones in his pockets and a bucket of water under his feet. The only witness is a nine year old boy who can't seem to remember exactly what happened. Relentless in her pursuit of the killer, Josiah stumbles into decades of lies and deception that include her dear friend, Lady Elsmere. Josiah discovers that she must go back to 1962 if she is to find out the truth at all!

Dollybird


Anne Lazurko - 2013
    Determined to find redemption in the midst of their derision and to find joy despite uncertainty, Moira faces impossible choices with consequences beyond anything she can imagine.Thrown into the purgatory of a bleak prairie landscape as unforgiving as her mother, twenty-year-old Newfoundlander Moira Burns is certain she will rise above the locals of Ibsen, Saskatchewan. Until the reasons for her flight west become clear. Until she is befriended by a prostitute and courted by a ‘half breed’. Until she becomes the “dolly-bird” of superstitious Irish Catholic homesteader, Dillan Flaherty.Scattered through with birth, death, and the violent potential of both man and the elements, Dollybird excavates the small mercies which come to mean more than they should on a prairie peopled with characters struggling under a huge sky that waits, not so quietly, for them to fail.

The Life Of Margaret Laurence


James King - 1997
    The magnificent and long-awaited biography of the beloved writer who gave us the Manawaka novels, including The Diviners and The Stone Angel.

My Journey


Olivia Chow - 2014
    Her mother went from having a maid to being a maid. Her father failed to carve out a working life for himself in Canada. Frustrated and bitter, he lashed out at Olivia's mother, and violence darkened their lives. A rebellious yet playful child, Olivia discovered self-discipline and became an excellent student in Canada, studying fine art and philosophy at university. After graduating, Olivia worked for a time as a sculptor. Then, driven by a desire to achieve social change, the artist became an activist, and she launched her political career.As a popular and much-admired school trustee and Toronto city councillor--the first Asian woman in that role--Olivia honed a grassroots approach and crafted progressive programs that enhanced the lives of others, especially children. Strong-willed, focused and passionate, Olivia got things done by bringing together people from all parts of the political spectrum.In the mid-1980s, Olivia met Jack Layton. Their dynamic partnership, unprecedented in Canadian political life, made a powerful impact in Toronto and on the national stage. Together, they forged a strong vision for a better country and for enlightened political change. But when her beloved partner and political soulmate died in the summer of 2011, how did she find the strength to move forward? What might we learn from her inspiring story? Those answers are here, in My Journey.

Squall


Sean Costello - 2014
    On a clear winter morning he sets out in his Cessna 180 to do some repairs on a remote hunt camp, leaving his five year old son and very pregnant wife snug in their beds.On the return trip, a squall forces him into an emergency landing and he winds up—quite literally—in the lap of petty criminal Dale Knight. Dale, now a fugitive from the law—and worse, from a merciless drug lord who just happens to be his brother—draws Tom into a web of mayhem and treachery that puts not only his life at risk, but the lives of his wife, son…and unborn child.SQUALL is a fast-paced, darkly-comic tale of murder and gang-style retribution that grabs the reader on page one and simply does not let go.

The White Angel


John MacLachlan Gray - 2017
    An almost deliberately ham-handed police investigation has Constable Hook suspecting a cover-up. The powerful United Council of Scottish Societies is demanding an inquiry. The killing has become a political issue with an election not far away.The city is buzzing with rumours. Miss Stewart's fellow nannies have accused the Chinese houseboy of murder, capitalizing on a wave of anti-Chinese propaganda led by the Asian Exclusion League and enthusiastically supported by the sensational press--not to mention the Ku Klux Klan, which has taken up residence in upperclass Shaughnessy.The White Angel is a work of fiction inspired by the cold case of Janet Smith, who, on July 26, 1924, was found dead in her employer's posh Shaughnessy Heights mansion. A dubious investigation led to the even more dubious conclusion that Smith died by suicide. After a public outcry, the case was re-examined and it was decided that Smith was in fact murdered; but no one was ever convicted, though suspects abounded--from an infatuated Chinese houseboy to a drug-smuggling ring, devil-worshippers from the United States, or perhaps even the Prince of Wales. For Vancouver, the killing created a situation analogous to lifting a large flat rock to expose the creatures hiding underneath.An exploration of true crime through a literary lens, The White Angel draws an artful portrait of Vancouver in 1924 in all its opium-hazed, smog-choked, rain-soaked glory--accurate, insightful and darkly droll.

Sadie's Montana Trilogy


Linda Byler - 2016
    Can Sadie find her place in this wild, Western community, far from the familiar—and discover love along the way? Wild Horses, Book 1: Sadie Miller is adjusting to life at Aspen East Ranch when Ezra appears. Perfect in every way and fully intending to marry Sadie, Ezra seems like a dream, but does Sadie love him? And who is this fascinating Mark who helps to rescue a dying horse and shows up at the Amish hymn-sing, though he is English? Now Sadie's own close-knit family is falling apart. Mam claims her head is cluttered and unclear. The worst part is, Dat refuses to acknowledge Mam's struggles. Sadie finds some refuge in Nevaeh, a black-and-white paint. But when a dreadful accident involving wild horses occurs, Sadie must move forward into the unknown.Keeping Secrets, Book 2: There's horse trouble in Montana again. Only this time, horses aren't being stolen, they're being shot. No hard-working ranch horse or Amish horse and buggy is safe. Sadie's heart is still set on Mark, despite warnings from concerned friends. Then Daniel appears—a visitor from Lancaster County. With cornflower-blue eyes and a strong, square jaw, he is everything that Mark is not. Why, Sadie wonders desperately, are there so many secrets? The Disappearances, Book 3: Sadie may be married now, but she's as spirited as ever. Soon after she and Mark are settled into the farmhouse, she's visited by three FBI agents who question her about the two children who mysteriously appeared one day at the Ranch. Before the agents leave, they warn Sadie that her beloved horse, Paris, is highly valuable, and that she and Mark may be in grave danger. This news, on top of Mark's unexpected black moods, leaves Sadie confused and disillusioned. Mercifully, healing and courage reappear in unexpected times and places in this concluding volume of the Sadie's Montana series.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Seduction


Catherine Gildiner - 2005
    The best way to survive is to absorb yourself in your own world. Never make eye contact with your fellow inmates. And the last person you can trust is your prison psychiatrist – not only is he likely to be lazy and incompetent (really, why else wouldn’t he be getting rich off of well-heeled clients instead?) but if you complain about him you’re going to be labelled as a “permanent malcontent” and denied parole. So when Dr. Gardonne offers Kate a temporary absence and a job working for him, she only takes it because she knows that turning him down could be worse for her in the long run – counted in prison years, of course. But the real challenge is figuring out why he would choose her.On the surface, it’s pretty clear. Kate has spent her incarceration immersing herself in the writings of Sigmund Freud, and has become a recognized expert on his work. Dr. Gardonne represents the members of a psychoanalytic organization that is being attacked at its core: Anders Konzak, the hand-picked director of the Freud academy, has been boasting to the media that his new research on Freud will bring the entire profession of psychoanalysis to its knees. He’s also been receiving death threats. And Kate, as an outsider, is the only one Konzak will talk to. Though she doesn’t trust Gardonne, Kate accepts his offer, and she races to uncover Konzak’s secrets before he publishes his work.Never one to work well with others, Kate is less than thrilled to find out Gardonne has hired a private detective to be her partner. Jackie Lawton is a hardened ex-con who has spent most of his life in prison and only recently turned things around by starting his own business. From the moment the two meet, Kate sees that it won’t be easy working with a man who isn’t really interested in the intellectual battle at hand and who keeps her prison time at the forefront of every conversation. And can he really be trusted? When key players – who were all last seen with Kate – begin to turn up dead, there’s the very real possibility she’s being set up by Gardonne. After all, who would believe the word of a convict serving time for murdering her husband? All she can hope is that following the threads of Konzak’s research to his sources will keep her one step ahead of Gardonne and lead her to the real killer.With Seduction, Catherine Gildiner gives us not only a gripping detective story full of shifting characters and fast-paced twists but a remarkable intellectual thriller. Through the letters and papers of Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin and the venerable Wedgwood family, Gildiner brings the personalities and ideological conflicts of the past to life in the present. Along the way we meet an assortment of characters, from social misfits to the demure but resolute Anna Freud, who is still living in the London house where she brought her ailing father for the last year of his life, and where she actively guards his legacy. The story takes us from Toronto to Vienna, London, the Isle of Wight, New York and back again to Toronto – each locale seen through the eyes of Kate, who relishes in the beauty of a world that has been denied to her for a decade.From the Hardcover edition.

Solway Tide


Andy Jarvis - 2014
    Outspoken, sassy and determined to make it up through the ranks, she's assigned to follow the case of a body found in the sea only to find herself the one being pursued. Far from being a run-of-the-mill murder tale this gripping page turner takes the genre by the horns throwing it in a totally new direction. A nightmare of a tale that challenges the very philosophy and motivation behind genetic experimentation and what possibly could be the 'hidden agenda' behind modern medical research. A setting on the remote west coast of Cumbria provides an eerie, atmospheric, heath land backdrop to this imaginative, twisting story of murder, corruption and the darker side of human nature.

The Stuff Series Collection


Don Bruns - 2016
    For those who love humor as well as fast-paced mysteries,  the “Stuff” series seven book collection has it all.  Combining the stumbling shenanigans of James Lessor and Skip More, two twenty-something ne’er-do-wells trying to succeed as crime solvers produces laugh-out-loud moments while delivering a great mystery.  For any fans of “the Hardy Boys” these books are a must read to witness them “all grown up”.

Wolf Winter


Cecilia Ekbäck - 2014
    "Exquisitely suspenseful, beautifully written, and highly recommended."-Lee Child "Visually acute, skillfully written; it won't easily erase its tracks in the reader's mind."- Hilary Mantel"Wolf winter,'" she said, her voice small. "I wanted to ask about it. You know, what it is."He was silent for a long time. "It's the kind of winter that will remind us we are mortal," he said. "Mortal and alone."Swedish Lapland, 1717. Maija, her husband Paavo and her daughters Frederika and Dorotea arrive from their native Finland, hoping to forget the traumas of their past and put down new roots in this harsh but beautiful land. Above them looms Blackåsen, a mountain whose foreboding presence looms over the valley and whose dark history seems to haunt the lives of those who live in its shadow.While herding the family's goats on the mountain, Frederika happens upon the mutilated body of one of their neighbors, Eriksson. The death is dismissed as a wolf attack, but Maija feels certain that the wounds could only have been inflicted by another man. Compelled to investigate despite her neighbors' strange disinterest in the death and the fate of Eriksson's widow, Maija is drawn into the dark history of tragedies and betrayals that have taken place on Blackåsen. Young Frederika finds herself pulled towards the mountain as well, feeling something none of the adults around her seem to notice.As the seasons change, and the "wolf winter," the harshest winter in memory, descends upon the settlers, Paavo travels to find work, and Maija finds herself struggling for her family's survival in this land of winter-long darkness. As the snow gathers, the settlers' secrets are increasingly laid bare. Scarce resources and the never-ending darkness force them to come together, but Maija, not knowing who to trust and who may betray her, is determined to find the answers for herself. Soon, Maija discovers the true cost of survival under the mountain, and what it will take to make it to spring.

Operation Wormwood


Helen C. Escott - 2018
    John’s, setting off a chain of events that leaves doctors mystified. He is the first of many victims suffering from severe nosebleeds and excruciating pain. Dr. Luke Gillespie and Nurse Agatha Catania investigate their symptoms but are unable to diagnose them. The only thing they have in common is Sgt. Nicholas Myra, an investigator with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.Dr. Gillespie and Sgt. Myra join forces to solve this twisted mystery. But the story takes a critical turn when Sister Pius, a nun from Mercy Convent, informs them about Wormwood: a disease she believes is created by God to kill perpetrators of the most heinous crimes. Wormwood becomes an international media storm when parish priest Father Peter Cooke holds a news conference on the steps of the Basilica of St. John the Baptist and announces that God has unleashed a plague upon the earth.Is God truly punishing these criminals, or is a serial killer targeting them? Dr. Gillespie and Sgt. Myra race to find answers, while the Roman Catholic hierarchy starts bringing people back to the Church in droves . . . by cashing in on what it claims to be a miracle.

The Fighting Detective Series Books 1-3: Crime thriller and suspense box sets


Blair Denholm - 2021