Book picks similar to
Holmes takes a Holiday: A Sherlock Holmes and Lucy James Mystery by Elliott
october-reads
thrillers-mysteries
veley-charles
Redemption Lake
Susan Clayton-Goldner - 2017
Guilt forces Matt to act on impulse and hide his involvement with Crystal.Detective Winston Radhauser knows Matt is hiding something. But as the investigation progresses, Radhauser’s attention is focused on Matt’s father. Matt’s world closes in when his father is arrested for Crystal’s murder, and Travis breaks off their friendship.Despite his father’s guilty plea, Matt knows his dad is innocent and only trying to protect his son. Devastated and bent on self-destruction, Matt heads for the lake where his cousin died—the only place he believes can truly free him. Are some secrets better left buried?
Shadow of a Century
Jean Grainger - 2015
This is the story of three women. Mary Doyle was reared by nuns and knows nothing of her parents, except that they were a source of shame. Arriving to Dublin in 1913 at just eighteen years old, she is resigned to facing a lifetime of domestic service. Instead, however, her eyes are opened to the political and social turmoil of a fledgling nation struggling for independence. Suddenly, all that was once inevitable is no longer a certainty as she is embroiled in the very heart of the Easter Rising. Scarlett O’Hara has overcome many hurdles to get where she is today, not least her name. A successful political analyst, on a reputable New York broadsheet, her seemingly perfect existence goes up in a blaze of media headlines when she makes one catastrophic error of judgement. As she tries to rebuild her life from the wreckage, she has no option but to start at the very beginning again. Eileen Chiarello is ninety-three years old and she has a story that will draw her back to Ireland, the land her parents fought for and loved so passionately. A chance meeting with Scarlett gives her the opportunity to fulfil a promise she feared she never could. Shadow of a Century is the story of three women, whose stories are inextricably linked over the span of a century.
One Summer: ...at Charlie's Diner
Mary Jane Forbes - 2014
Seeing a help wanted sign in a window, she applies for the job as a waitress at the little diner near the Daytona Beach boardwalk. Tyler Jackman, a wannabe cartoonist, works at the diner as a waiter. He falls for the pretty blonde, coming to her rescue time and time again. But Star doesn’t see him as anything more than a new friend. Star is drawn to Ash, a handsome mystery man who frequents the diner. He begins to meet her after work, walks her home, and they share coffee on the beach. A summer romance? The three lives intertwine as they strive to make their dreams come true. Will love, jealousy, friendship help or hinder their struggles?
Maid of the Mist
Colin Bateman - 1999
It's a sleepy Canadian town full of honeymooners and tourists, and that's how Inspector Frank Corrigan likes it. He saw enough trouble as a cop in Northern Ireland. Now he's happy dealing with parking offences and the odd drunk, although since his wife left him and took their daughter, 'happy' may not be quite the word.Then a reincarnated Native American princess by the name of Lelewala canoes over the Falls - and survives. Or so she says. And Frank falls in love. And finds himself confronting the greatest terrorist of the age at an international gathering of drug dealers.And that's before the music starts...
Leine Basso Crime Thrillers Boxset, #1-3
D.V. Berkom - 2015
Serial Date: When a former assassin's daughter is abducted, she's drawn into the twisted game of a serial killer who may be a grisly remnant from her past. What happens when a reality show turns deadly? Determined to leave her old life behind, retired assassin Leine Basso accepts a job working security at one of television's most popular reality shows, Serial Date. When a contestant is found dead in the prop closet, it appears the killer is one of the 'bachelors' on the show- an ex-con billed as a serial killer- but the detective in charge of the case isn't so sure. When Leine's estranged daughter is abducted by a man claiming to be the real killer, she's forced to rely on old skills to find her, and must come to terms with who she really is. She soon realizes the murderer may be a grisly remnant from her past and she'll need to use all of her cunning to stop him... ...and rescue her daughter. Bad Traffick: Dangerous obsessions take center stage when a former assassin and a homicide detective race against the clock to find a missing girl before she's sold to the highest bidder. Identified as a person of interest in three cold case murders she didn't commit, retired assassin Leine Basso accepts a temporary position as a security specialist for A-list actor Miles Fournier. Soon, a woman contacts Miles, claiming to be his long-lost sister. But, there's a problem: her twelve-year-old daughter, Mara, has been abducted and she's desperate to get her back. Leine learns from a contact that Mara escaped, but the traffickers are determined to track her down and deliver her to their powerful client. Running out of time, Leine must find Mara before they do, or she will be lost forever. The Body Market: A retired assassin is called in when a celebration south of the border turns into a nightmare. Everything's for sale... Former assassin Leine Basso is hired by a wealthy Beverly Hills power couple to find their missing daughter, Elise, last seen partying with her boyfriend at a club in Tijuana. At first, police believe the two teenagers are the victims of a carjacking. But when Leine finds their missing vehicle with a mutilated body inside, and the local cartel warns her away, she knows if Elise isn’t already dead, she will be soon, or worse. In the lethal world of organized crime, there’s always a worse. As Leine races to uncover the reason behind Elise Bennett’s disappearance, she must also battle the powerful interests fighting to keep her from the truth.
Child Possessed
David St. Clair - 1977
Nothing has been added in the interests of sensationalism. What happened in the small town of Watseka, Illinois, between the years 1865 and 1878 may strain credibility, as well as shock. But it did happen...Mary Roth, a gentle, unassuming 19 year old girl, died suddenly on the night of July 5th, 1865, in the town of Watseka, Illinois. Her death was strange, but her life had been stranger. For several years she had been subject to sudden, unaccountable "fits" - sometimes horrifically violent, sometimes so chilling in their effects her parents thought her insane: she would speak in German, or in a man's bass voice, as if possessed... But death brought to an end her sad and disturbing case...Thirteen years later, in 1878, Mary Roth reappeared - in the living body of Lurancy Vennum...
Red Lightning
Laura Pritchett - 2015
Now she returns to the eastern plains of Colorado, full of raw rage at herself and at the universe, yearning for the life she never lead and the daughter she left behind. As a levantona who has been running drugs and illegal immigrants once they’re beyond the US-Mexico border, she’s knowingly and even defiantly entered into a harsh and dangerous world. But suddenly her world has become darker than she can bear: The largest wildfire in Colorado history is blazing. Immigrants are dead. She’s haunted by the memory of a Mexican woman she couldn’t save and a lost Mexican girl she did. Traffickers – of both immigrants and drugs – are now hunting her down. But most of all, Tess is at the mercy of her own traumatized soul, and the weight of it is cracking her apart.Before completing the only courageous action she can think of, Tess must now face her dying mother, her sister, and her daughter, and most importantly, herself. This book broaches timely topics essential in the West—immigration, rural poverty, wildfires —with suspense and gritty wisdom as well as Pritchett’s trademark lyricism and grace. Like Libby, her sister and the central character of Pritchett’s novel Sky Bridge, Tess has her own coming-of-age, in a revelatory story of hard-earned transformation and redemption.
The Jess Williams Trilogy: The Reckoning / Brother's Keeper / Sins of the Father
Robert J. Thomas - 2017
This trilogy will only be offered for a limited time in e-format. It includes the full copies of the first three books in the long-running series of Jess Williams adventures. Note: If you have already purchased the first three books in the series, don’t buy this unless you just want to add it to your collection. If you haven’t read a Jess Williams western yet, this is the perfect time to get the first three books in their entirety. Hopefully, you will enjoy them and continue on with the rest of the series. Description of the books in this Trilogy... THE RECKONING starts out this western series with the adventures of Jess Williams. He is an ordinary young boy with a loving family growing up in Black Creek, Kansas. That all changes when he comes home and finds his family brutally murdered. Forced to become a man overnight, he vows to avenge his family’s savage deaths. He begins to practice with his pa’s Colt .45 and then a stroke of destiny arrives when he discovers a new pistol and holster that mysteriously appears. Jess practices with it relentlessly until he becomes so quick that he is truly unbeatable on the draw. He leaves home transformed from a boy to a highly skilled shootist with no reason to live except to hunt down and kill each of the men responsible for the murders. As he begins his journey, he does so with a pistol and holster that no one has ever seen before—and won’t again for almost one-hundred years. In BROTHER’S KEEPER, Jess Williams returns home to Black Creek, Kansas, after hunting down and killing the three men who brutally murdered his family. When he arrives, he finds himself in the midst of a bloody war with Dick Carter and his hired guns. Carter wants revenge for the death of his only son, Red, and Jess is the one who did the killing. Jess’s first job is to eliminate Carter and his hired guns and then finish his search for the brother he never knew he had. SINS OF THE FATHER has Jess hunting down his real father, Eddie Sloan. After two years, he finally has him in his sight when a desperate call for help comes in from U.S. Marshal Frank Reedy. Jess answers the call for help and heads for Timber, Texas, and straight into a bloody range war between two cattle barons. Rance Madden and his hired guns have no idea of the trouble heading their way. Jess arrives and men start dying one by one. Madden begins to feel the grip of death at his throat—and Jess is slowly tightening the noose.
Sydney Rye Mysteries Books 4-6 Box Set
Emily Kimelman - 2015
There is no road surface strong enough to resist the return to dirt in this climate.Blue touched my thigh with his nose, a gentle tap to remind me he was there. Thick jungle lined our path. This hill had the fewest homes on our route. No neighbors to wave a hello to or children to smile at as they raced by on bikes either too large or too small for them. There was just me, Blue, the burst of vegetation, and this road of rocks. I reached the top of the hill, my thighs and calves burned. Panting, I struggled to keep my pace.A low growl narrowed my attention onto a black and white street dog in the brush. Ears flat to her head, she curled her lips and showed teeth. Noting the swollen teats hanging low and exposed, I kept moving. "I'm not going to bother you, mama," I said in a steady voice. "We are just passing by."Blue slowed, and when I patted my thigh for him to catch up he stopped. I turned to look back at him, my senses on high alert. Blue was a mutt the height of a Great Dane with the coat of a wolf and the long snout of a Collie, with one blue eye and one brown. Blue has saved my life more than once so when he stopped, so did I.I recognized a twitch on his lip and saw the hackles raise off his shoulders and back making him appear even larger. A deep and rumbling growl left his chest. It was answered behind me. There were suddenly three dogs in our path. None as big or strong as Blue but together they looked dangerous.I'd been warned about this pack. Growing larger by the day, it was led by an aggressive alpha male the color of dirty water. This must be him, I thought, as the largest of the three, his head wide, fur the silt brown of an engorged river, growled at Blue. The compactness of his body spoke of strength and survival. When he barked, the saliva that shot from his mouth caught a ray of sunlight streaming through the thick foliage around us.The alpha stepped forward, revving his growl like a teenager on a motorbike. The bitch in the brush flanked our left side and when I turned right, two young dogs, their ears still soft from puppyhood, glowered at me.The owner of the guest house where I lived warned me to take a stick if I planned on running. "Just in case," she'd said with a dip of her head and a flip of her hand. Because of her advice I carried a light but solid piece of bamboo about twice the thickness of my thumb. I tapped it on the ground in front of me as I backed toward Blue, keeping my eyes forward, focused on the alpha but paying close attention to my peripheral vision, watching the dogs to my sides.When I reached Blue he moved backwards with me, slowly and deliberately. But the dogs followed. We stopped, and raising the stick over my head, I brought it down hard onto a rock. The loud sound and sudden movement spooked the pups to my right, but the alpha male just growled louder.The two dogs flanking him went crazy barking, the force of their calls lifting their front paws off the ground. The mother and the young ones joined in raising a ruckus that certainly beat mine. Blue, his front paws planted on the road, exposed his teeth and growled, his pitch wavering up and down. He wanted me to tell him it was okay to attack. I could feel his energy bundling up inside him, roiling around.Soon I'd have no control.P.S. The dog does not die.**Beware: If you can’t handle a few f-bombs, you can’t handle this series.**
The Sapporo Outbreak
Brian James Craighead - 2013
The NSA – and sister organisations such as the GCHQ in the United Kingdom – had covertly created a dragnet capturing the private calls, emails and internet traffic of almost every citizen in the western world. For many, the concept of personal privacy was gone.At the same time, the introduction of games involving artificially intelligent ‘virtual’ people and simulated worlds had become mainstream entertainment experiences. Games like Call of Duty, Halo and Grand Theft Auto were dwarfing the revenues from ‘blockbuster’ movies and television shows. Players in these games comfortably slipped into new worlds, meeting, trading, fighting and loving other real and artificially intelligent ‘virtual’ players.The rise of massive commercial social media operations such as Facebook pushed these games further into almost everyone’s daily life. Games like Cityville and The Sims Social encouraged players to invite hundreds of friends and acquaintances into the game with just a single click. Thanks to advertising and in-game purchasing, the games developers could afford to give free versions of these games away and still generate massive revenues. A fun, compelling connected world, supercharged by social networks, promising experiences unlike anything before. All for the same price as two tickets to the movies. Who could resist?To investors around the world, these games were the new ‘rivers of gold’. What followed was an explosion of well-funded new businesses developing products which dived ever deeper into the personal details of the individuals. And all that data was greedily gobbled up by endless rows of supercomputers hidden away in Utah’s NSA data centre.The rise of a company like WhiteStar Corp - the creator of the multi-billion dollar series of immersive games - came as no surprise. ‘’WhiteStar’, as the company is informally known, was involved in a series of “incidents” in December 2019 and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a few months later. Drowned out by the social unrest breaking out throughout the developed world, the proceedings against WhiteStar drew little publicity. However certain parties involved were open to discussing the events, many of which transpired in WhiteStar’s high-security steel and concrete complex nestled in a quiet residential suburb of Sapporo, Japan.Events that would lead to the greatest peacetime loss of life in human history.
Map of the Dead
Murray Bailey - 2016
He finds she has left him a coded message and, as he tries to make sense of it all, he discovers she was murdered. And now the murderer needs to silence him. TELL NO LIES With only a few clues and a mysterious object Alex follows a trail from London to Cairo. He must crack the code and expose a shocking and inconceivable truth before the secret is burried for ever. JUST STAY ALIVE
Never Say Die / Whistleblower
Tess Gerritsen - 2007
She recognizes the danger in what she's doing, but her search for the truth about that fateful flight is the only thing that matters.Irreverent former army officer Guy Barnard knows the jungles and the workings of the mystical land so unfamiliar to Willy--and Willy knows she couldn't proceed without him. But in a place where truth has many faces, she suspects even Guy has hidden motives. What she couldn't have prepared for are the shocking secrets and undeniable attraction she must face.Whistleblower He emerges from the mist, right in front of Cathy Weaver's car--running from killers who are closing in. Victor Holland's story sounds like the ravings of a man on the brink of madness, but his claim to be a fugitive is confirmed by the haunted look in his eyes--and the bullet hole in his shoulder.As each hour brings his pursuers closer, Cathy has to wonder: Is she giving her trust to a man in danger...or trusting her life to a dangerous man?
The Speed of Sound
Eric Bernt - 2018
Resident Eddie Parks’s contribution is nothing less than extraordinary: an “echo box” that can re-create never-recorded sounds using acoustic archeology.All Eddie wants is to hear his late mother’s voice. But what he’s created is inadvertently posing a threat to national security.To Harmony House’s shadowy government backers and radical extremists, the echo box is the ultimate intelligence asset—an end to the very concept of secrecy. Now for Eddie and the compassionate Dr. Skylar Drummond, the true nature of the institution is becoming chillingly clear.As ruthless competing enemies close in on Eddie and his miraculous machine, Skylar risks all to take him on the run. Because once that prize is won, Eddie Parks will no longer be considered a “special person” but a dangerous redundancy. An inconvenient echo that must be silenced.
The Curse of Allie Mae
Aiden James - 2010
David Hobbs, vacationing with his wife Miriam, inadvertently stumbles upon a small cloth 'keepsake' bag and a broken tooth. A human tooth. Miriam begs David to hand the bag and tooth over to park officials, but he ignores his wife's pleas and secretly keeps the 'harmless' items. The action opens a doorway that had been closed for nearly a hundred years and unleashes hell on earth, or at least hell in the lives of David and Miriam.Following the brutal murder of his best friend in Denver, and an aborted attack on his oldest son, David desperately seeks to understand why a mysterious teenage girl has chosen to terrorize him and the males closest to him. To prevent further devastation to his family and end the wanton bloodshed, he returns to the enchanted hills of eastern Tennessee, where a terrible truth awaits discovery...one that forces him to face the consequences for the unpaid sins of his ancestors.
Blake Pierce Mystery Bundle: Before He Kills / Cause to Kill
Blake Pierce - 2016
This bundle offers a great introduction to Blake Pierce’s series with over 140,000 words of reading.In BEFORE HE KILLS (A MACKENZIE WHITE MYSTERY—BOOK 1), a woman is found murdered in the cornfields of Nebraska, strung up on a pole, the victim of a deranged killer. It doesn’t take long for the police to realize a serial killer is on the loose—and that his spree has just begun. Detective Mackenzie White, young, tough, smarter than the aging, chauvinistic men on her local force, finds herself called in grudgingly to help solve it. As much as the other officers hate to admit it, they need her young, brilliant mind, which has already helped crack cold cases that had left them stumped. Yet even for Mackenzie this new case proves an impossible riddle, something the likes of which she—and the local force—have ever seen. With the FBI called in, together, an intense manhunt ensues. Mackenzie, reeling from her own dark past, her failed relationships, and her undeniable attraction to the new FBI agent, finds herself battling her own demons as her hunt for the killer takes her to the darkest places of her mind.In CAUSE TO KILL (AN AVERY BLACK MYSTERY—BOOK 1), Homicide Detective Avery Black has been through hell. Once a top criminal defense attorney, she fell from grace when she managed to get a brilliant Harvard professor off—only to watch him kill again. She lost her husband and her daughter, and her life fell apart around her. Trying to redeem herself, Avery has turned to the other side of the law. Working her way up the ranks, she has reached Homicide Detective, to the scorn of her fellow officers, who still remember what she did, and who will always hate her.Yet even they cannot deny Avery’s brilliant mind, and when a disturbing serial killer strikes fear into the heart of Boston, killing girls from elite colleges, it is Avery that they turn to. It is Avery’s chance to prove herself, to finally find the redemption she craves. And yet, as she is soon to find out, Avery has come up against a killer as brilliant and daring as she.Dark psychological thrillers with heart-pounding suspense, BEFORE HE KILLS and CAUSE TO KILL mark the debut of riveting new series—and beloved new characters—that will leave you turning pages late into the night!