Book picks similar to
Forgotten (Araneya Mystery Series Book 1) by Neven Carr
mystery
freebie
ibooks
mystery-thriller
It Began With a Lie
Michele Pariza Wacek - 2018
That was what Becca hoped the move from New York to Redemption, Wisconsin would be for her troubled family. A way to get her crumbling marriage back on track, and to bond with her difficult 16-year-old stepdaughter. But instead of a new beginning, Becca is thrust into a mysterious past she barely remembers, as she is now living in her aunt's house (or what the locals call "The Witch House"). But is the house really haunted? Or is there something far more sinister out to destroy them?
Voodoo Daddy
Thomas L. Scott - 2012
A team of serial snipers are on the loose. Their killing ground is the city. Their victims chosen at random. Or are they?With no witnesses and very little evidence, it's up to Virgil Jones and his team to find out who is behind the on-going massacre and stop them once and for all...if they can. But Virgil has his own problems, both personal and professional. Among them, a backlog of cases that require his attention, the sudden reappearance of his long lost friend who is a convicted felon, a downtown bar he co-owns with his father, and he is in love with Sandy Small, one of the investigators in his unit. With the entire population of the city of Indianapolis at risk, it's up to Virgil and Sandy to explore the dark places of a past where nothing is quite as it seems. As the clues begin to fall in place they paint a portrait of betrayal, deceit, blood-lust, and greed, and in the midst of it all, Virgil and Sandy make a personal discovery so profound it will change their lives forever.Voodoo Daddy is a story of life, love, murder and mystery; one that examines the depths of human emotions and the dark places they often lead us all.
Carrots
Colleen Helme - 2011
Her life is organized and predictable, revolving around her husband and two children. All that changes the day she stops at the grocery store for some carrots. As the cashier rings up her purchases, a gunman is busy robbing the bank inside the store. When a customer grabs the robber's mask, he is shot and everyone runs for cover. Everyone except Shelby, who finds herself face to face with the killer. The next thing she knows, she's lying on the floor with a bullet wound to her head. Luckily, the bullet only grazes her scalp, and she doesn't suspect any lasting affects until later, when she suddenly 'hears' what people are thinking. With this uncanny ability, her life takes on a whole new dimension. Her kids think she's bossy and too old to understand them, but that's nothing compared to her husband. He says he loves her, but what is it about the redhead at work that he doesn't want her to know? As if that isn't enough, the gunman knows she can identify him, and he's out to silence her forever. In her fight to stay alive, she is saved from certain death by a handsome hit-man with ties to organized crime. This pulls Shelby even deeper into danger, where knowing someone's thoughts can not only hurt her feelings, but get her killed.
The Ice Maiden
B.D. Smith - 2017
Seeming to select his victims at random, he acts out the rituals of the Spanish Inquisition before committing their bodies to the sacred waters of nearby Sebec Lake. Anne Quinn, an investigator for the Piscataquis County sheriff’s office, and Detective Douglas Bateman with the Major Crimes Unit of the Maine State Police join forces in tracking him down. Hiding in plain sight, the killer is clearly from the local community and plays a deadly “catch me if you can” game with Quinn and Bateman. He seems determined to humiliate them and demonstrate his superior intellect, leading them to suspect that perhaps there is a deeper motive and purpose behind his string of murders.
A Secondhand Lie
Pamela Crane - 2018
Things that you can never un-know. Things that will change the course of your life…and the fate of the ones you love. I found her in our living room, bleeding and close to death, but alive. Barely. Until morning stole her last breath. The media called her killer the “Triangle Terror” … and then forgot about her. But I never forgot—my murdered sister, and an investigation that led to my own resurrection from the dead. Twenty-two years ago, on a cold February night, Landon Worthington lost his father for the last time. After an armed robbery gone wrong, evidence and witness testimony pointed a shaky finger at Dan Worthington—deadbeat dad and alcoholic husband. But before the dust could settle over the conviction, Landon’s preteen sister, Alexis, is murdered in their home, plunging Landon’s life into further despair. Two decades and a cold case later, Landon is dogged by guilt over their estranged relationship and decides to confront his incarcerated father-of-the-year about what really happened the night of the robbery. But the years of lies are hard to unravel. And the biggest question of all haunts him: How does everything tie into his sister’s murder? And so begins Landon’s journey to piece together the puzzle of secrets, lies, and truths that can free his father, avenge his sister, and perhaps save himself. A short mystery perfect for fans of Robert Dugoni's Third Watch and Dean Koontz's The Neighbor. Read as a standalone or as the companion book to A Secondhand Life.
Rope Enough
Oliver Tidy - 2012
Newly promoted Detective Sergeant Joy Marsh is shipped out to Dover on the Kent coast to work under Detective Inspector Romney, a copper with a reputation as a cantankerous man but good at his job.On her first night as his sergeant, a brutal crime in the town starts a chain of events that will test the grit, the resolve and the detective in both of them.
The Search
William Casey Moreton - 2011
His world suddenly upside-down, he embarks on a desperate search for answers as the official rescue effort begins. As he races to find his wife, John is pursued by a cold-blooded killer when he becomes entangled in a scheme to steal millions of dollars from a New York Mafia boss. In the rush of action as the search intensifies, John’s life becomes a high-stakes guessing game of learning who to trust and who to fear.
A Friend of Silence
M. Lee Prescott - 2011
Wickie is discovered in his office, a scrimshaw knife protruding from his chest, a knife belonging to beloved teacher and grieving widow, Bess Dore. Initially a suspect, the forty-two year old, Bess is soon exonerated and jumps headlong into a murder investigation along with old flame, police detective, Roger Demaris, and Harry Winthrop, an amateur sleuth, prolific writer, and the son of the school's wealthiest patron. Will Bess find romance along the way, giving her heart to the gruff police officer, who still adores her, or to the fly-by-night, but charming Harry who is clearly smitten? Will the killer strike again? Will the silence and calm of the 200-year old Friends school ever again be restored?
Hell Spawn
Declan Finn - 2018
I can smell evil. I show mercy to the lesser criminals - the desperate. Even those I’ve put behind bars seem to like me. But now there’s a serial killer bringing darkness beyond imagination to my city. I can smell his stench a mile away. But how can I prove it?How do you do forensics on a killer possessed by a demon?From Declan Finn, author of the Dragon Award nominated horror series Love at First Bite.
Yesterday's Lost (Yesterday's Mysteries)
Sam Cheever - 2018
Pratt Davies is a police detective with the Saint Louis PD. He’s comfortable in his role…confident that he’s seen just about everything there is to see. Until he and his partner answer a call to enter a home where blood curdling screams speak of horrific violence. Inside the disturbing house, he encounters a strange, icy mist and something malevolent waiting just beyond view. Pratt’s confidence is shaken, his worldview smashed into tiny pieces…like shards of glass from a broken mirror. His partner comes out of that house damaged, both physically and mentally, unable to even form a coherent response. Pratt is so shaken he can barely function. And he still has a murder to solve. Who killed the couple living in that terrible house? What haunted the mist obscuring the scene? How did Pratt’s partner end up bleeding and babbling on the floor, something evil oozing through her gaze? And how is Pratt…broken and terrified himself…ever going to solve a murder that has every indication of having been born in the ether?
A Game of Proof
Tim Vicary - 1992
Then in a terrible irony her own son, Simon, is arrested and charged with a series of brutal rapes and murders. The evidence against him appears so strong that his QC advises a guilty plea, but Simon swears he is innocent and begs his mother take on his defence. There is no law against a mother representing her son, so Sarah agrees. The only other obvious suspect for the murders, however, is a man who has already been acquitted once - with Sarah acting as his defence lawyer ...Has Sarah, in her single-minded determination to create a career for herself, neglected her son so much that she no longer knows him? Since he has often lied to her in the past, how can she trust him when he says he is innocent this time? And what should she do when she herself uncovers evidence that seems to suggest his guilt?It seems that telling the whole truth must be weighed in the balance against keeping certain information well hidden ...
Just Evil
Vickie McKeehan - 2011
No one cared. But a stranger, bent on revenge, is out to change all that. Kit Griffin has finally overcome a painful childhood at the hands of her mother, former actress Alana Stevens. No longer living in the grasp of the cold, tyrannical woman, Kit has found a new life tucked away in little San Madrid, California, running a business she loves, surrounded by friends she considers family. For the first time her life is on track. That is, until Alana is found brutally murdered on Mother’s Day, pulling Kit back in to the dark horrors of her past. To make matters worse, the police consider her the prime suspect.Jake Boston, an old family friend and the man Kit has loved since she was a teen, is fighting his own demons as a suspect in his wife’s murder two years earlier. Despite his past, he’s determined to win Kit over once and for all. But before that can happen they need to convince the police there’s a killer working his way down a list with cold-hearted vengeance in mind. Forced to delve into Alana’s dark past, it becomes clear someone is out to settle a score. When Jake and Kit uncover a forty year old double murder that leads them straight to the door of a legal dynasty, they soon find out just how far the heirs will go to keep the past buried and eliminate all the loose ends to protect their empire. Will Jake and Kit become the next victims or will they find an unexpected guardian angel?
Aloha Means Goodbye: A Murder on Maui Mystery
Robert W. Stephens - 2012
He lost his job in the lousy economy, caught his girlfriend cheating on him, and his 12 hour flight to Maui to visit his best friend Foxx was plagued by rotten weather, lousy food, false terrorist attacks, screaming babies, and a snoring man in front of him who insisted on keeping his seat reclined the entire length of the flight. But things quickly go from bad to worse when he finally starts what was supposed to be a much deserved vacation.Foxx’s girlfriend Lauren, a world-renowned artist, is brutally murdered at a crowded art show, and all the evidence points to Foxx as the guilty party. Everyone on the island thinks he did it, including the sexy police detective whose toes Poe stepped on, literally, at the art show. It’s up to Poe to prove his friend’s innocence, or Foxx is likely to spend the rest of his days behind bars. The possible suspects? An eccentric bunch to say the least, including a famous painter who thinks he’s the reincarnation of a long-dead pharaoh and a sculptor who’s living in a tree house because his third wife took everything in their divorce settlement. Can Poe discover the identity of the real killer and more importantly, will he ever convince the beautiful detective to forgive him for stepping on her toes?
Moriarty Meets His Match
Anna Castle - 2016
Then he meets amber-eyed Angelina Gould and his world turns upside down. At an exhibition of new inventions, an exploding steam engine kills a man. When Moriarty tries to figure out what happened, he comes up against Sherlock Holmes, sent to investigate by Moriarty’s old enemy. Holmes collects evidence that points at Moriarty, who realizes he must either solve the crime or swing it for it himself. He soon uncovers trouble among the board members of the engine company and its unscrupulous promoter. Moriarty tries to untangle those relationships, but everywhere he turns, he meets the alluring Angelina. She’s playing some game, but what’s her goal? And whose side is she on? Between them, Holmes and Angelina push Moriarty to his limits -- and beyond. He’ll have to lose himself to save his life and win the woman he loves.
A Field of Red
Greg Enslen - 2013
Harper is visiting the small Ohio town of Cooper's Mill, trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter and a grandson he's never met. But he finds the town gripped in fear-two young girls have gone missing, taken in broad daylight from a busy street. And the police are coming up blank. But once Harper is drawn reluctantly into the investigation, he'll stop at nothing to find the girls. And he doesn't care who gets in the way.