Tips for Living


Renee Shafransky - 2018
    With the help of her best friend, she fled New York City for a small resort town, snagged a job as the advice columnist for the local paper, and is cautiously letting a new man into her life. But when Hugh and his perfect new family move into a summer house nearby, Nora backslides. Coping with jealousy, humiliation, and resentment again is as hard as she feared. It’s harder still when Hugh and his wife are shot to death in their home.If only Nora could account for the night of the murders. Unfortunately, her memories have gone as dark as her fantasies of revenge. But Nora’s not the only one with a reason to kill—and as prime suspect in the crime, she’d better be able to prove it.

Creatures of Appetite


Todd Travis - 2013
    Everyone else calls it a nightmare. Locked doors don't stop him. He leaves no trace behind. He only takes little girls. His nickname... The Iceman. A deranged serial killer roams wintry rural Nebraska with a demented purpose no one can fathom. Special Agent EMMA KANE, a former DC cop and damaged goods now with the FBI, is assigned to babysit burnt-out profiler JACOB THORNE, once the best in the business but now said to have lost his edge, as they both fly to Nebraska to catch this maniac. Thorne is erratic, abrasive and unpredictably brilliant, but what he and Kane find in the heartland is much more than anyone bargained for, especially when the Iceman challenges them personally. The clock is ticking and a little girl's life is on the line. And maybe even more with that, once they find out what he's really up to.NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: This book has frank and profane adult language within... this is often how many a law enforcement officer speaks, in my experience. Not all, but many, very many. The book also has violence and adult situations, but the profanity is the only thing that some folks have been noting, for some odd reason, so I'm warning you now that it has profanity. I totally understand that not everyone wants to read curse words. However, to write a book like this without a cop cursing would not, in my mind, be authentic. Therefore, if you can't handle HBO-style language, (a la THE WIRE, etc.) this book is not for you. If fictional bad language bothers you more than the fictional murder of young people, this book is definitely not for you, but I thank you for your time and consideration.

Twist of Faith


Ellen J. GreenEllen J. Green - 2018
    The photo shows a shuttered, ramshackle house on top of a steep hill. On the back, a puzzling inscription: Destiny calls us.Ava is certain that it’s a clue to her elusive past. Twenty-three years ago, she’d been found wrapped in a yellow blanket in the narthex of the Holy Saviour Catholic Church—and rescued—or so she’d been told. Her mother claimed there was no more to the story, so the questions of her abandonment were left unanswered. For Ava, now is the time to find the roots of her mother’s lies. It begins with the house itself—once the scene of a brutal double murder.When Ava enlists the help of the two people closest to her, a police detective and her best friend, she fears that investigating her past could be a fatal mistake. Someone is following them there. And what’s been buried in Ava’s nightmares isn’t just a crime. It’s a holy conspiracy.

The Sister


Louise Jensen - 2016
    I hope you can forgive me…’Grace hasn't been the same since the death of her best friend Charlie. She is haunted by Charlie's last words, and in a bid for answers, opens an old memory box of Charlie's. It soon becomes clear there was a lot she didn't know about her best friend.

Pitch Black


Elise Noble - 2015
    Forced to abandon everything she holds dear - her home, her friends, her job in special ops - she builds a new life for herself in England. As Ashlyn Hale, she meets Luke, a handsome local who makes her realise just how lonely she is.Yet, even in the sleepy village of Lower Foxford, the dark side of life dogs Diamond’s trail when the unthinkable strikes. Forced out of hiding, she races against time to save those she cares about. But is it too little, too late?  Please be aware that although one story arc is concluded in this book, Diamond’s full story is told over books 1-3 in the Blackwood Security series.

Going Underground


Michael Leese - 2017
    But Jonathan Roper has never let that sort of thing get in the way, and once he’s got the bit between his teeth there’s no stopping him - even when his own safety comes under threat. It makes him a wonderful detective and an impossible colleague.Roper is autistic and finds it really hard to make friends, but he can pull together the oddest clues to make sense of the most complicated crimes. If one man can be said to understand him it’s Detective Chief Inspector, Brian Hooley, a veteran of Scotland Yard. Years on the job have given him a near bullet-proof armour-plating, and he’s going to need it. Working with Roper means he will have to withstand a barrage of bracingly direct personal comments. Despite this, the DCI is his biggest supporter because he knows Roper is the man you turn to when everyone else gives up."Going Underground is a page turning thriller that will keep you awake at night with its twists and turns that make it impossible to put down, and the richly observed characters will stay with you long after you finish." "Their remarkable relationship is highlighted by compelling dialogue and laugh out loud moments, making this more than just another cop story."

Any Means Necessary


Jack Mars - 2015
    Luke Stone, head of an elite, secretive, department within the FBI, is the only man they can turn to. Luke realizes right away that the terrorists’ aim is to create a dirty bomb, that they seek a high-value target, and that they will hit it within 48 hours. A cat and mouse chase follows, pitting the world’s most savvy government agents versus its most sophisticated terrorists. As Agent Stone peels back layer after layer, he soon realizes he is up against a vast conspiracy, and that the target is even more high value than he could have imagined—leading all the way to the President of the United States. With Luke framed for the crime, his team threatened and his own family in danger, the stakes could not be higher. But as a former special forces commando, Luke has been in tough positions before, and he will not give up until he finds a way to stop them—using any means necessary. Twist follows twist as one man finds himself up against an army of obstacles and conspiracies, pushing even the limits of what he can handle, and culminating in a shocking climax. A political thriller with heart-pounding action, dramatic international settings, and non-stop suspense, Any Means Necessary marks the debut of an explosive new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night.

Dying Eyes


Ryan Casey - 2013
    But for DS Brian McDone, there is no respite from the frenzy. An unidentified teenage girl has been found brutally murdered in a seedy section of the city, her body laced with bruises, her sharp fingernails digging into her palms. Her eyes are staring up at something in pure fear. Nobody knows who she is. As Brian and his team begin to piece together the clues, the answers lead him to places he would least expect. The further Brian digs, one question soon becomes apparent: who can he trust? The answer, it seems, may be life-threatening. The first in a new series from author Ryan Casey, Dying Eyes is a dark detective mystery with complex characters and a twisting, turning plot that is sure to please fans of the genre.

Punishment


Scott J. Holliday - 2018
    Thanks to a technologically advanced machine, detectives have access to the memories of the living, the dying, and the recently dead. But extracting victims’ experiences firsthand and personally reliving everything up to the final, brutal moments of their lives—the sights, the sounds, the scents, the pain—is also the punishment reserved for the criminals themselves.Barnes has had enough. Enough of the memories that aren’t his. Enough of the horror. Enough of the voices inside his head that were never meant to take root…until a masked serial killer known as Calavera strikes a little too close to home.Now, with Calavera on the loose, Barnes is ready to reconnect, risking his life—and his sanity. Because in the mind of this serial killer, there is one secret even Barnes has yet to see…

314


A.R. Wise - 2012
    She has a good life as a music teacher now, and might rekindle her relationship with her one true love. However, the number 314 haunts her, and threatens to bring her back to the day that her brother disappeared. When a reporter shows up, just days before March 14th, Alma realizes that her past is coming back to haunt her. What happened on March 14th, at 3:14, 16 years ago? No one but The Skeleton Man can remember.

Tinplate


Neville Steed - 1986
    Faced with threats from their owner, he sets out to recover them but finds himself up against far more than the greed of unscrupulous collectors.He’s in way over his head but at least the prospect of a countryside dig to excavate the remains of a crashed Spitfire can provide a little solace. Yet even this isn’t easy, and a growing resistance to the dig is being led by a local, indignant landlord.When rather more than the plane and its pilot are unearthed, Marklin finds himself up to his neck in skeletons from the past — skeletons that lead to attempts on his life …

In the Blood


Steve Robinson - 2011
    American genealogist Jefferson Tayte is hired to find out what happened, but it soon becomes apparent that a calculated killer is out to stop him.In the Blood combines a centuries-old mystery with a present-day thriller that brings two people from opposite sides of the Atlantic together to uncover a series of carefully hidden crimes. Tayte's research centres around the tragic life of a young Cornish girl, a writing box, and the discovery of a dark secret that he believes will lead him to the family he is looking for. Trouble is, someone else is looking for the same answers and will stop at nothing to find them.In the Blood is the first in the Jefferson Tayte mystery series.

Cold


John Sweeney - 2016
    He is not alone. Two men are tracking him, as is a woman with wolf eyes. Soon Joe will find himself caught in a storm of violence and retribution that he does not yet understand.Around the world, a chain of events is in motion that will make Joe a priceless target. A retired Soviet general hunts for his missing daughter after a series of brutal murders. A ruthless assassin loses something so precious he will do anything to get it back. And in the mountains of Utah, a brilliant ex-CIA chief wrestles with his religion.In the shadow of them all lies Zoba, strongman ruler of Russia and puppet-master of the world’s darkest operatives. Can Joe save himself from this dangerous web of power and revenge? Where can he run when there’s nowhere left to hide?Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1503934225

The Ambassador's Wife


Jake Needham - 2008
    So, Inspector Samuel Tay of Singapore CID asks himself, why is it no one wants him to find their killer?The first body is in Singapore, on a bed in an empty suite at the Marriott Hotel. The second is in Bangkok, at a seedy apartment near the American embassy. Both American women, both viciously beaten and lewdly displayed. The FBI says it’s terrorism, but the whispers on the street tell a different story. They say a serial killer is stalking American women across Asia.Inspector Samuel Tay is a little cranky, a little lonely, a little overweight, and he smokes way too much. A lot of people think he's a lousy policeman, but he's the best detective the Singapore cops have ever had. It makes the bosses nervous as hell to put this case in Tay's hands, but with something this tricky on their plate they know they have no choice.Still, there's a big problem. Before Tay can even get the investigation started, everybody wants a piece of it. The FBI demands to take over the case, the American Diplomatic Security Service insists on being in charge, Bangkok's Special Branch won't allow itself to be ignored, Singapore's Internal Security Department is going to have a major say, and even the American Ambassador sticks his nose right into the middle of everything.That's a lot of people walking all over Tay's murder case. But here's the thing. He realizes that none of them, not a single one, really want him to find the killer.

Lamb to the Slaughter


Karen Ann Hopkins - 2014
    To solve the murder, she must investigate the nearby Amish community with the help of a man who was shunned years ago. Lamb to the Slaughter is a story about the intertwining lives of three unlikely people in an Indiana Amish Community and the devastating results when a rebellious teenage girl is found shot to death in a corn field during the harvest. Serenity Adams is the newly elected young sheriff in the country town of Blood Rock and besides dealing with the threatening behavior of her predecessor, she now has a dead Amish girl on her plate. At first glance, the case seems obvious. The poor girl was probably accidentally shot during hunting season, but when the elders of the Amish community and even the girl’s parents react with uncaring subdued behavior, Serenity becomes suspicious. As she delves deeper into the secretive community that she grew up beside, she discovers a gruesome crime from the past that may very well be related to the Amish girl’s shooting. Serenity enlists the help of the handsome bad-boy building contractor, Daniel Bachman, who left the Amish when he was nineteen and has his own dark reasons to help the spunky sheriff solve the crime that the family and friends who shunned him are trying desperately to cover up. Serenity’s persistence leads her to a stunning discovery that not only threatens to destroy her blossoming romance with Daniel, but may even take her life in the end.