His latest production for the Sandleton-on-Sea Players is "The Cherry Orchard". It's nearly midnight and he still hasn't completed the dress rehearsal. Then duty calls: a man with fatal head injuries has been discovered in a remote bay on the East Yorkshire coast. The man's name is Mark Coulson and he's the Headteacher of a local primary school. But no-one seems able to explain why this respectable, professional man was at such an isolated spot so late at night. His wife is the most mystified of all. Why were Mr Coulson's pockets empty? Sergeant Wilmott believes robbery was the motive. But if the killer had stolen Coulson's car keys why is his car still parked nearby? Was Mr Coulson murdered by a jealous boyfriend or husband? That's what DC Diane Griffiths thinks. But Mr Coulson's Chair of Governors says he was a boring man whose only interest was his work. With such a baffling case to solve how can DCI Forward find time for "The Cherry Orchard"?

    And as if murder wasn’t enough, the case quickly becomes intertwined with a spate of burglaries targeting single women. As Sarah struggles to balance the demands of a complex murder investigation with her troubled family life, the revelation that the killer could be closer to home than she’d ever imagined possible makes her wonder if coming back to work was just a huge mistake.

     But the danger of the job is forcibly thrust home when James Robinson is killed on their watch. Thinking he is protecting his partner, Maguire fires the fatal shot…only to make the horrifying realisation that Robinson is an old, deaf, mute, black man who neither posed a threat nor carried a weapon. Desperate to hide the deadly mistake, Kirk and Maguire claim they were attacked. But the longer the charade goes on, the more panicked Maguire becomes — until, burdened by guilt, he confesses all. Charged with second degree murder, the two men must face the courts. Already sensationalized due to the victim’s disability, the trial takes on added significance due to the city’s fraught race relations. Brother Bondo, the head of the local black power group, seizes on Robinson’s death as an excuse to not only rile up fellow black men and women, but also to act decisively and violent. As one war wages within the courtroom, another wages out on the streets. As a symbol, James Robinson’s death works as a catalyst, fanning the flames of resentment in this Midwestern town and setting alight a desire for justice across the city. The Grinding Mill is an enlightening thriller that explores cultural divides and contemporary issues in society and will keep you gripped until the very last page. Praise for William J. Coughlin “In Charley Sloan … the author has given us a character we can care about. The verdict here is that Coughlin wins decisively in his final case.” – USA Today “A superb book, rich in the elements that make for a wonderful read. Death Penalty is the best of [Coughlin’s] novels … the most enjoyable book I’ve read all year.” – The Detroit News “Bravo! Coughlin brilliantly captures the corruption of the legal system by human error and greed. Thought-provoking and timely.” – Library Journal “Will not fail to please connoisseurs of legal fiction” – American Bar Association Journal William J. Coughlin has combined a career as a United States administrative judge in Detroit with that of a best-selling novelist. His previous, highly acclaimed and successful novels are His Father’s Daughter, Her Honor, In the Presence of Enemies and Shadow of a Doubt .

    It's a tense arrangement not helped by Jayda’s drug use and her new boyfriend’s frequent visits. One Friday night, an argument turns physical and the tensions boil over into bloodshed.The following morning, a neighbor finds the front door ajar, the house trashed, and a puddle of blood soaking into the bedroom carpet. Detective Darren McDaniel and his partner, Brent Vanderwyk, quickly determine it’s a case of domestic violence turned deadly. But both Levi and Jayda are missing – as is the little girl.As the detectives plunge into the hunt for a suspect, a body and a missing toddler, the case becomes increasingly bizarre. The couple have ties to money laundering, drug trafficking, organized crime, and even darker secrets. As much as Levi and Jayda hated each other, plenty of other people had reason to want either or both of them dead.With their suspect list steadily growing, and the missing toddler’s time slipping away, McDaniel and Vanderwyk race against the clock, piecing the puzzle together, hoping to save little Cami before her time runs out.

     Corrine Dunning loves living by the ocean, and her life is getting even better now that she’s falling in love with Andy Johnson. When Corrine meets a blind old woman who insists the concrete ship in Monterey Bay is haunted, she doesn’t believe it. Although Mary Carmichael is blind now, she’s seen a lot of love affairs bloom and die near Seacliff Beach. She was a child when the concrete SS Palo Alto was pulled up to the pier at Seacliff — she’s always known it was haunted, and she knows the ghost will weave itself into Corrine’s life, taking over her thoughts. While Corrine and Mary begin a tentative friendship, Corrine’s relationship with Andy takes an unsettling turn. Is it possible Corrine’s mistrust began when she saw the ghostly woman on the ship? Now, Corrine must battle a spirit that’s made a home inside her mind.

    Her purse has no ID, cell phone, or car keys, and her room is registered to Benjamin Franklin. She’s no drifter, though. She has two thousand dollars cash in her wallet, a ten-thousand dollar watch in her purse, and a six-thousand dollar dress on a hanger on the bathroom door.  Detective Mary Joe Court catches the case and identifies the woman as the estranged spouse of a wealthy investment advisor from St. Louis. The victim had been trying to create a new life for herself with someone she loved. Now, that will never happen.  But some seemingly innocent victims are anything but innocent. Sometimes, they’re downright dangerous.  The woman with the beautiful, rose-patterned dress carried her secrets to her grave. To find her killer, Joe has to unearth them…or risk being buried alongside her.   The Woman who wore Roses is the fifth mystery in New York Times’ bestselling author Chris Culver’s gripping Joe Court series. If you like James Patterson, David Baldacci, or Karin Slaughter, you’ll love this series.

    But her dreams are cruelly shattered by a bomb blast that leaves her badly scarred. Suddenly her career’s in ruins and her long-term boyfriend is gone. Plagued by the paparazzi, she flees to Cornwall where she meets and falls in love with her handsome neighbour, blind crime novelist, Alan Murray. As a new life starts to fall into place, her former boss threatens to tell Alan about her past indiscretions unless Lynn agrees to become one of his porn stars. She refuses and is miraculously saved from exposure when her boss ends up taking a dive off a cliff. Relief doesn’t last long though as a series of unsettling incidents, leads Lynn to suspect that her novelist lover may not be all he claims to be … David Hodges’ latest crime thriller, Blast, again delivers the gritty realism that only an experienced ex-copper can provide. Praise for David Hodges… 'Extremely well-written and passionately described crime-scenes' - Mid Somerset Series 'Hodges uses the experience of 30-plus years in the job as an anvil of solid fact to beat out pacey tales of "canteen culture" cops' - Cheddar About the author: David Hodges is a former superintendent with Thames Valley Police, and is a prolific writer and the author of eight other crime novels, plus an autobiography on his life in the police service. He lives with his wife, Elizabeth, on the edge of the Somerset Levels where he can fully indulge his passion for thriller writing. He is a member of the Crime Writers’ Association, The Crime Readers’ Association, The Society of Authors and International Thriller Writers Inc.

    The young military widow leaves dozens of messages for her father but receives no response. Looking for a copy of her mother’s obituary, Roxie reads an article in the newspaper and discovers her entire life is a web of lies, secrets, and deceit. The story sends her off in search of the truth about the man she idolized. She drives to her father’s birthplace—Manhattan, Kansas—and moves into her grandmother’s huge, three-story, hundred-and-fifty-year-old house. It’s been vacant for decades, but Roxie begins to believe she’s not the only occupant. She doesn’t know if there’s an intruder or if the spirit of her grandmother is watching over her. In only a matter of days, someone has made several attempts on her life. She calls in her best friend, Janice Tallchief—retired on a disability from the Kansas City Police Department—to act as her bodyguard. Can Jan and Roxie unravel the mystery before the killer succeeds?

    One click and read now to join witch Esme on her charming and funny murder mystery adventures.★★★★★ "R.K Dreaming weaves a wonderful tale of friendship, family, romance and mystery. Well written, fun read - looking forward to future releases." - Amazon ReviewerBOOK ONE:Solving crime one ghost at a time.Disaster strikes and witch Esme Westbrim flees in the dead of night to her magical hometown of Brimstone Bay with a terrible secret. The ramshackle old castle left to her by a great-aunt is the perfect hide-out for a desperate witch seeking a charm to get her out of harm's way, right up until a dead body turns up on her doorstep.Things get worse when the ridiculously handsome investigating Special Agent Chris Constantine puts Esme on his suspect’s list. Esme must put her amateur sleuthing skills to the test and prove her innocence before Agent Constantine takes too close a look at her — because Esme has a secret worse than murder.Juggling life and death turns into magical mayhem when a moody psychic cat, a busybody ghost aunt, and Esme’s three wild witch cousins burst in on her life. Will they help her catch the killer, or will they run for cover when they find out what Esme is hiding?BOOK TWO:Solving crime one fairy tale at a time.Witch Esme Westbrim is settling into a new life in Bewitching Brimstone Bay when the murder of a tourist hits too close to home. The second body in a few months has turned up on her doorstep!To make things worse Esme has seen someone she knows all too well lurking around the scene of the crime. Afraid her family will come under suspicion, Esme must attend a magical fairy-tale reunion ball and uncover deadly secrets from the past. Even help from a psychic cat, magically marvellous cupcakes, and a wild witch cousin might not be enough when a certain ridiculously handsome Special Agent keeps getting in Esme's way!Can Esme find happily ever after for everyone or will her belief that fairy tales always end badly come true?BOOK THREE:Solving crime one beast at a time.Life in Bewitching Brimstone Bay has not turned out the way that witch Esme Westbrim hoped, but when girls start going missing across town, including a customer at her café, Esme puts aside her own troubles in order to help. To her dismay, she stumbles across a wicked murder.It turns out the victim is tied to the ridiculously handsome Chris Constantine’s troubled past, and the race is on to solve not just one beastly crime, but three. Worse, Esme’s faith in Chris is shaken when she discovers an alarming secret. With the help of her psychic cat, ghost aunt and wild witch cousin, can Esme untangle the complicated mysteries of Chris’s past and her own heart before time runs out and the vengefully wicked past catches up with all of them?

    He just wanted a quiet life. Something his mother was not going to allow. There again he never for one moment imagined he would have to look into the death of a 90-year-old lady who was gambling away her family fortune. The Hayden Detective Agency has no need of clients. The very existence of the Agency allows Martin Hayden to claim his large monthly allowance from the family fortune - without lifting a finger. Martin’s biggest problem is his interfering mother, who understands her idle son too well. She takes steps to find him not just clients but also a personal assistant to keep an eye on him. Under pressure from the women in his life, Martin agrees to take on his first client. How hard can it be to follow a 90-year-old woman who spends her time losing money at roulette tables? As it turns out harder than Martin ever thought possible, especially with the old lady dying in strange circumstances. Soon the Reluctant Detective is grappling with shady estate agents, an intellectual artist, missing charity money and an irritating Indian waiter. Luckily for Martin there is help in the form of Colin, a transvestite who, apart from having very good fashion sense, is an expert at breaking into houses.

    

    The barest of clues lead him on a desperate quest to hunt down the hidden ringleaders of the conspiracy and find evidence that might ultimately clear his name. As he goes along, Arkin begins to wrangle with the question of whether the group should, in the interest of the greater good of humanity, be left to its philanthropic but murderous ways.

    In order to inherit the farm and all that goes with it, Parker must live in the house for a year: a house with no electricity, running water or bathroom. While living there she can modernize it, but she can’t move out. Her great-aunt, Rosie, has already selected a handsome contractor, and has drawn up the plans, all Parker has to do is approve them. There is no explanation why Rosie left all this to her instead of her own brothers. Curious about the family she never knew, Parker decides to stay, at least temporarily, and is confronted with her hostile grandfather who would do anything to chase her away, and gain control over the land he considers his birthright. Just walking through the small town proves to be an obstacle course as people step off the sidewalk to avoid her, or run off the road as they stare at her. Rumor has it Rosie has come back to haunt them. While work continues on the house, Parker discovers the journals Rosie kept from the time she was a little girl, telling of her life with an overbearing father and four brothers. Rosie also left letters to Parker instructing her to trust Shep Baker, the contractor, and to find out what happened more than sixty years ago, deepening the mystery for Parker. Shep is a slow talking cowboy with a mystery of his own. His grandfather was adopted as an infant, and Shep is looking for his extended family. But why did Rosie take such a liking to him when she was so nasty to others? Just more questions for Parker to find the answers to. The answers to her questions are in the journals, but finding the answers could prove fatal.

    . . then gets murdered, and you’re the number one suspect. For family man Danny Cain, this isn’t just a nightmare scenario. It’s a reality. And now the true killer has Danny’s wife and daughter in his sights. Can Detective Jeff Temple uncover his identity before it’s too late?BOOK 2: URBAN MYTHAmerican Jack Keaton brings his wife and kids to the New Forest for what he hopes will be the trip of a lifetime. But their destination is the holiday home from hell. They soon realise that something terrible is afoot in the house. Can Detective Jeff Temple, hunting down a brutal killer, discover its chilling secrets?BOOK 3: RANDOM TARGETSA sniper launches a series of deadly attacks on Britain’s motorways, striking in the dark during rush hour and causing total carnage. No one knows who he is, or why he’s doing it, but, as the death toll rises, fear grips the nation. Can DCI Jeff Temple bring his killing spree to an end?BOOK 4: DYING WISHAuthor Grant Mason makes a shocking death-bed wish. He wants his beautiful house burned down. Elsewhere DCI Temple faces his most disturbing case yet, hunting for a missing young couple. What will Temple and his team find buried in the forest? And will they wish they’d left it to lie hidden forever?BOOK 5: THE BLOGGERBeth Fletcher comes home to find a body lying on her doorstep: her fiancé Daniel Prince. Daniel was a powerful online activist with a controversial blog. He wasn’t short of enemies and no one believes his death was suicide. They killed her man. Will they come for Beth next? DCI Temple must solve the case before she plays the ultimate price.

    A trip to the cinema turns into a nightmare for Anna and her little sister Jessica, when two men throw thirteen-year-old Jessica into the back of a van and speed away.The years tick by... Tick, tick... The police fail to find Jessica and her name fades from the public consciousness... Tick, tick... But every time Anna closes her eyes she’s back in that terrible moment, lurching towards Jessica, grabbing for her. So close. So agonizingly close.... Tick, tick... Now in her thirties, Anna has no career, no relationship, no children. She’s consumed by one purpose – finding Jessica, dead or alive.Detective Jim Monahan has a little black book with forty-two names in it. Jim’s determined to put every one of those names behind bars, but his investigation is going nowhere fast. Then a twenty-year-old clue brings Jim and Anna together in search of a shadowy figure known as Spider. Who is Spider? Where is Spider? Does Spider have the answers they want? The only thing Jim and Anna know is that the victims Spider entices into his web have a habit of ending up missing or dead.