Book picks similar to
Cliffs of Laguna Beach by Karen Donahue
mystery
thriller
mystery-thriller-suspense
mystery-thriller
Little Boy Found
L.K. Fox - 2017
. . It Was Only The Beginning.One rainy morning, just after Nick drops off his young son Gabriel outside the crowded school gates, he has a minor collision with another car. The driver won't surrender his insurance details, so Nick photographs the licence plate. When he gets home, he enlarges the shot on his phone and spots something odd about the picture-Gabriel in the back seat, being driven away by a stranger. Nick needs to know what happened to his boy, but losing Gabriel turns out to be far less terrible than the shock of finding him. Now, to discover the truth, he must relive the nightmare all over again...Be warned, this is not another missing child story: what happened to Nick and his son is far more shocking.
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.
Partners in Crime
Elise Sax - 2020
An international conspiracy that includes the highest seats of power. A ruthless, sadistic killer who’s intent on terrorizing women.Peter Bolton is a spy, but he’s up for a career change. He makes Jack Reacher look like an amateur, and he’s saved the world more times than James Bond. But now Peter is ready to retire and live a normal life without underworld figures trying to kill him every day and without a cyanide capsule in his molar in case he gets caught.Piper Landry walks out of the Redwood Forest of Northern California in the middle of the night with no memory and no clothes. She knows only two things. The first is that her name must be Piper Landry because that’s what’s written on a tag bolted to her ear. The other is that she’s richer than Midas.When Peter and Piper meet, it’s fireworks. The two become instant partners, but soon Piper’s mysterious past gets in the way—not to mention the global conspiracy and the sadistic killer—and these new partners might have to save the world one more time.Or two more times…Partners in Crime is an international thriller and action adventure romance.
Johnny Revenge
Remington Kane - 2019
Jude claims he's innocent, even as the evidence against him keeps piling up.FBI Special Agent Erica Novac focuses on Jude even as she finds herself wanting to believe in his innocence. Is Jude Rowland a devious murderer playing a game only he knows the rules to, or is there an unseen hand framing Jude in an attempt to seek vengeance?This is Book One in The Revenge Series
Missouri Loves Company
W.J. Costello - 2015
marshal Rip Lane lives in a motor home. He is a drifter. His only desire is to explore the country he once protected. But trouble seems to find him in every small town and every big city along the way. In Missouri he picks up a beautiful hitchhiker with a duffel full of secrets. When the woman disappears at a bus station Rip finds himself the target of mobsters. But targeting Rip is always a mistake. Because he never backs down. And he always exacts his own brand of revenge.
Taking on Water
David Rawding - 2015
To learn more about Kevin’s home life, he gets to know the boy’s father, Tucker, who’s a lobsterman. James is able to put his suspicions to rest, and the two families begin to form a friendship. When a kid at the local recreation center dies of an overdose, Detective Maya Morrow adds the case to the long list related to the drug problem plaguing the small New Hampshire coastal town of Newborough. But her investigation gets her much too close to the dangerous players. Both the Morrows and the Flynns are holding dark secrets, and when their lives collide, tragedy is inevitable."A harrowing tale of abuse and addiction, told in a beautiful way that will touch your heart. This book was very emotional, very driven..." Kelly Smith Reviews "I was not expecting the level of emotional intensity that this novel achieves. Taking on Water is a horrific theater of human nature. And it begins with James." The Coffee Pot Review
Hollywood Assassin
M.Z. Kelly - 2014
Okay, so her ex-husband cheated on her and the DVD of his indiscretions made the rounds of the entire department, she’s broke and living above an appliance store with her canine partner Bernie who is a sexual predator, her British friend Natalie has a vocabulary that would make Howard Stern blush, and her mother is hallucinating about having sex with a dead president. But things could be worse . . . like Kate could be stalked by a sadistic serial killer while she tries to solve a thirty year-old murder and save the life and reputation of a cop wanted for the crime. Come to think of it, maybe things couldn’t get any worse because this is Kate’s life. Can Kate Sexton elude the killer, solve the cold case, keep Bernie's sexual wanderlust in check, keep her best friend under control, save a cop from death row, and find love again? Only time, loads of trouble, and tons of laughs will tell. Hollywood Assassin has more twists and turns than a car chase on Sunset Strip with a Hollywood starlet at the wheel. WARNING: The Hollywood Alphabet Series contains adult language and laugh out loud situations not for the faint of heart! If you think you can handle Kate Sexton’s crazy life . . . order Hollywood Assassin today. Hollywood Assassin is the first book in the Hollywood Alphabet Series. Other books include Hollywood Blood and Hollywood Crazy.
BULLETS (Jon "Big Slick" Elder Book 1)
Elijah Drive - 2015
Professional poker player Jon "Big Slick" Elder was minding his own business in a diner when an Arizona sheriff walked in and killed the man sitting next to him, a Mexican day laborer accused of murder. The law officer then arrested Slick simply because the sheriff didn't like the color of Slick's skin. Slick knew that the stranger who had been sitting next to him at the diner was no murderer because, in addition to cards, Slick also kills people for money. The poor man didn't have the look, but Slick does, and with the help of a Latina assistant district attorney, a Navajo state trooper and a homegrown federal agent, Slick sets out to prove the dead man's innocence. What he discovers, as he digs deeper, is a deadly mystery that threatens not only him, but his newfound friends as well. But Slick hates to have anyone… ANYONE… toss him his shoes and tell him to get out of town. "This is an exciting, intriguing, and thrilling book with twists and turns that are unexpected but all too believable. Dear author: please write another one like this." - Book Angel "Tense, thrilling and with a lot of twists, this is an edge-of-your-seat-read with some great action scenes. An excellent debut novel by Elijah Drive." Croydon Citizen BULLETS - mystery thriller by Elijah Drive
Run With Me
Lacey Silks - 2017
Coincidences are more reliable than a rising sun. And my heart can bear a thousand more nails than my coffin. Ben’s family murdered my parents and so I took my revenge. I changed the course of our futures with one flick of a matchstick. I run to survive. I run to protect those I love. I run so that my daughter doesn’t have to. With danger lurking over my shoulder, trusting strangers is dangerous until you don’t have a choice. Barely alive, I placed my life in the hands of the handsome and mysterious bounty hunter Xavier Black. He gave me everything and asked for nothing. He helped me live again; but now, he’s the one who needs to run with me. We can each choose to stop the hunt, but if one of us chooses wrong, that extra nail won’t be driven into our hearts but straight into our coffins. Warning: Contains subject matter that may be considered sensitive to some readers (triggers). Intended for mature audience only. While Run With Me is a full complete novel with HEA ending for the couple, it does contain a cliffhanger.
Mystery Box Set - (Davenport Mysteries - Loose Ends, Perfect Crime and Wrong one)
V.S. Vashist - 2016
But, a serial killer is back in town, and Jake has to follow his trail. The only clue left behind is the dying words of the three victims. And, before he could have asked Kiara's help, she is sucked into a high political game that is spread across continents. Will they be able to solve the cases without each other's help and that too using their new, inexperienced partners? Book 2 - Perfect Crime The daughter of one of the most influential man in New York falls for a struggling investment banker. After a torrid affair, they finally get married. Everything seems to head towards a life of joy when the wife vanishes into thin air and the husband becomes the prime suspect. As Agent Kiara Davenport is about to get hold of him, a ransom call is made from overseas. And, as she is about to catch the caller, someone else confesses to the crime. She knows something is amiss and as she is about to get to the bottom of it, all the suspects start getting killed one by one. Everyone is a suspect and each suspect is more influential than the other. Will Kiara find the real culprit or become a pawn in the cat and mouse game? Book 3 - Wrong One When Kiara invited Jake to a family wedding, he had not thought that it will be different from any other wedding. However, he started sensing something wrong with everyone in the wedding party. Is Jake going to find out anything or is it a mere hunch? Or Kiara's fear of Jake creating a trouble in the marriage will come true?
Killing Me Softly
Bianca Sloane - 2012
Her body was discovered days later, her beautiful face bashed in with a rock. Police determine her brutal death to be a mugging gone wrong and drop the matter into their cold case files.Over a year later, Tracy’s sister, Sondra, still can’t come to grips with what happened. She throws herself into her work as a documentary filmmaker to try and forget the cruelty of her sister’s death. However, a chance encounter with a man from Tracy’s past rips the wound open and sends Sondra on a desperate search for answers about the secrets from her sister’s life that may have led to her death.As Sondra struggles to uncover what happened to Tracy, she’s launched into a tangled web of deceit and danger that put her on a collision course with life and death…
Bound to Love
Sally Clements - 2011
Tempest finds stubborn Jake attractive, compelling and infuriating, his logic the complete antithesis of her reliance on her instincts. And Jake is fascinated and attracted to the feisty redhead.As they spend time together trying to thwart a heist at the British Museum, the attraction between them flares out of control. The thief has a grudge against Jake, and danger stalks their every move. Will Jake learn to trust Tempest’s intuition, before it’s too late?
Five Knives
D.F. Bailey - 2018
Three Dead. Five Knives. FIVE KNIVES welds the intensity of Jack Bauer’s “24” to the scorching heat of THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST. “The author is a great talent.” — Aaron C. Brown, Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer When a man plummets to his death from an apartment tower, Will Finch’s shock soon becomes a nightmare. As he studies the open windows above the corpse, Finch notices a lamp blinking erratically behind a drawn curtain on the eleventh floor. When he investigates the distress signal, Finch discovers a woman handcuffed to a bedpost. Over the following week, he uncovers a conspiracy that ties the murder to a series of bombshells. The victim’s bankruptcy. A global stock fraud. A murder spree that began in Baghdad and is now haunting the citizens of San Francisco. Is this the work of a serial killer, a copycat — or both? But before he can file his report for The San Francisco Post, Finch’s leads evaporate. Within days, three victims are dead. Does a pattern of five knife wounds provide a clue? Can he unravel the mystery before he — and his fiancée — are caught up in the web of murder? Five Knives is the prequel thriller in the Will Finch crime series — a novel that opens on the first day of Will Finch’s journalism career. Everything that Finch learns about crime reporting begins with Five Knives. *** Dear Reader, If you're like me, then you love reading novels by Michael Connelly, David Baldacci, Nora Roberts, Jeffery Deaver, John Sandford, Philip Kerr, Martin Cruz Smith, Patricia Highsmith, Stieg Larsson, Elmore Leonard and Jo Nesbo. Among many others. And if you like those writers, then I invite you to have a look at my crime series. You can buy them all on Amazon, or pick up a free / discounted novel at my website, dfbailey.com. Writing crime fiction isn't always easy, but it's always a thrill. When you read my novels I hope you'll share the buzz, the excitement and the adrenaline rush with me. Like all writers, I love readers who enjoy my books, especially those who are kind enough to leave a review. Hopefully, you will, too. Happy reading, D. F. (Don) Bailey
Alibi Aficionado
Harvey Church - 2017
Not marriage, not office etiquette, not saving his boss’s daughter, not even public accounting. So when he’s tasked with constructing an alibi for the firm’s biggest client, everyone has low expectations. Including Edwin. In Alibi Aficionado, Edwin Burrows is an accidental investigator, an accountant without tact or a filter, or any kind of interest for investigations. A cross between Myron Bolitar and Archy McNally, Edwin says, does and behaves in the strangest manner. Cursed with an investigation that's doomed from the start, Edwin knows that everyone expects him to fail. But when the police arrest the all-important client, tensions rise at the firm and the stakes get as big as they'll ever be. Edwin must decide whether he will use his knowledge to be the hero that helps a guilty man avoid prosecution, or be a zero by telling the truth and burying the firm.
Conspiracy of Silence
Martha Powers - 2008
Although she is on assignment to interview the town's notoriously reclusive novelist Nate Hanssen, Clare is really in search of a different story-her story.Just months before, Clare was a bride-to-be, living in Chicago, and looking to the future.until the day she learned her entire life had been a lie.Not only was Clare adopted, but there is no record that she or her adoptive mother ever existed. The only clue is a class ring from Grand Rapids Senior High School. Unable to get on with her future until she reconciles her past, Clare breaks off her engagement.Unraveling the mystery is like trying to sculpt fog-until the first piece of the puzzle unexpectedly drops into place: Clare's birth mother, Lily Gundersen, was murdered in Grand Rapids.Lily's murder was one of the most talked-about events in the town's history, but no one is talking now. Clare doesn't know the whole story - and someone intends to keep it that way.