A Hidden Enemy
When disgraced Russian intelligence officer Dmitri Volkov resurfaces in the UK, MI5's off-the-books unit is forced into a deadly race to stop him. His mission is simple: steal the guidance data for a next-generation missile system-technology that could shift the balance of power in the Middle East and beyond. Tom Kessler and his small, unconventional MI5 off-the-books team are the only ones standing in his way. Operating from the shadows, they must turn a compromised insider, outmanoeuvre a seasoned Russian illegal, and survive a brutal attack that leaves the team shattered. But Volkov isn't working alone. Moscow has sent someone far more dangerous-GRU Colonel Viktor Karpin, a man whose presence signals one thing: the Kremlin wants results, and they want them now. As the Russians close in, the team is forced into a high-risk deception operation that pushes them to their limits. One wrong move, one missed detail, and the fallout won't just be political-it will be catastrophic. Fast-paced, tightly plotted, and unflinchingly authentic, A Hidden Enemy delivers a gripping blend of espionage, betrayal, and modern geopolitics. Perfect for fans of Stephen Leather, Mark Greaney, Mick Herron, Henry Porter and Daniel Silva.
The House of Lies
A BRAND NEW story from bestselling author, Heather Atkinson, guaranteed to keep you up at night.
The House of Lies
A BRAND NEW story from bestselling author, Heather Atkinson, guaranteed to keep you up at night.
The House of Lies
A BRAND NEW story from bestselling author, Heather Atkinson, guaranteed to keep you up at night.
The House of Lies
A BRAND NEW story from bestselling author, Heather Atkinson, guaranteed to keep you up at night.
The Forest Keeps
Some secrets refuse to stay buried.Detective Catherine Snowden has learned to trust her instincts. But when a woman's body is discovered in an ancient oak forest, Catherine experiences something she can't explain-a vision, a presence, a desperate plea from beyond the grave. Find us. There are more of us buried in the forest.But the killer is still free, and Catherine's superiors dismiss her theories as the desperate obsession of an overworked detective. As the boundaries between the living and the dead begin to blur, Catherine must decide: trust what she can see, or believe in what she can feel? Because in the ancient forest, the trees remember everything.And some spirits won't rest until justice is served-no matter the cost.
Daycare Dangers
In the idyllic small town of Willow Creek, Sunnybrook Cottage Daycare is a haven of laughter, glitter, and innocent secrets...until one child's whispers turn deadly.Theresa Daye loves her life running the colorful daycare, capturing hilarious kid quips on her popular blog, and sharing hugs with her pint-sized charges. The scent of fresh-baked cookies fills the air during storytime, tiny hands paint masterpieces on the walls, and nap-time stories lull everyone into peaceful dreams. But when a cryptic email echoes a private conversation from the playroom, quoting a shy girl's eerie mantra, "smart people always come out on top," Theresa's world of rainbow doors and nap-time stories unravels into a chilling maze of hidden dangers.As anonymous threats escalate-mysterious late-night shadows outside the cottage windows, tampered toys that could harm curious toddlers-a blurry photo of a child's drawing arrives, revealing secrets that point to a web of corporate intrigue, a suspicious uncle with a grudge, and a cold-case murder lurking closer than the playground fence. With the help of a charming librarian who brings her favorite mystery novels and her loyal assistant who's always ready with a comforting cup of tea, Theresa must navigate shadowy watchers, courtroom dramas, and her own budding romance, all while protecting the little ones who trust her most.But in a place where monsters hide behind finger-paint smiles and every crayon mark could hold a clue, can Theresa uncover the truth before the next "quip" becomes a cry for help-or worse, before danger reaches one of her beloved children?Daycare Danger is a heartwarming cozy mystery brimming with small-town charm, adorable antics, mouthwatering treats, and edge-of-your-cot suspense. Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author MariaLisa deMora delivers a tale where the stakes are as high as a tire swing-and the exits lead to justice.
The Nice Boss
Ambition has a price. She didn't know the cost.A gripping psychological office thriller about trust, ambition, and the danger of seeing too much.Emily Lawson has always played by the rules. Work hard, keep your head down, stay useful. It's the safest way to survive in a company where talent is replaceable and visibility is a risk. So when she's unexpectedly invited to join the elite data analytics team led by Luke Rutherford-the boss everyone swears is the nicest man in the building-she believes her luck is finally changing.Luke is everything a leader should be: warm, encouraging, and fiercely protective of his hand-picked team. The SIU is known for excellence, discretion, and impossible standards. It's the kind of opportunity employees wait years for. For Emily, it feels like a door opening.Then a colleague vanishes without warning.The official explanation is thin. Unspoken tension settles over the office. Conversations fall silent as Emily approaches. A strange alert appears on her computer. And the uneasy sense that someone is tracking her every move begins to build-slowly at first, then with suffocating intensity.Determined not to lose the most important opportunity of her career, Emily starts asking questions. But the deeper she digs, the more she discovers fractures in the stories people tell her... and in the relationships she thought were solid. Luke's kindness has sharp edges. Her teammates have secrets of their own. And the cost of belonging to this team is much higher than she ever imagined.As another disappearance rattles the office, Emily is forced to confront the truth: ambition isn't worth anything if it means standing alone. And the people she thought she had to impress may be the very ones she should fear.With loyalties shifting and pressure mounting, Emily must decide who deserves her trust-and what she's willing to risk to protect the people who actually matter.A gripping psychological office thriller about power, pressure, and the danger of mistaking charm for safety. The Nice Boss is perfect for fans of Freida McFadden, Daniel Hurst, Lisa Jewell, and Jeneva Rose-readers who love tense workplace mysteries, shifting loyalties, and twist-heavy page-turners that keep you guessing until the final chapter.
The 5th Plane
The Fifth Plane: A Tangled Web - Vol II, thrusts Kelly Hunter into a deadly conspiracy where the stakes are higher than ever. As global tensions rise and enemies close in, Kelly must navigate a world of betrayal, mounting danger, and personal demons. With every decision weighing heavily on her survival, she becomes entangled in a web of secrets that could unravel everything she's fought for.In this thrilling sequel, the line between hero and villain blurs as Kelly and her team race against time to expose a plot that could change the course of history. Will they survive the tangled web of deception, or will they be lost in the chaos?
Buried
When spring returns to the Adirondacks, Wanakena elders Jesse Livetree and Carl (aka Carole) Beamish hike into the forest in a last-ditch attempt to repair their fractured friendship. Then Carl stumbles upon a gravesite that resurrects the mystery of a classmate's disappearance fifty years ago. As the hunt for clues continues, a phone call from a ghost leads to unexpected truths about the woman who vanished. Will Carl and Jesse find their way back to each other, or will the secrets hidden in the forest separate them forever?This second-chance, small-town romantic suspense is filled with unexpected twists, heart-wrenching reunions, and a mystery waiting half a century to be solved!
Death in the Dressing Room
Neighbours Carole and Jude investigate murder most horrid in the theatre in the latest Fethering village mystery from the original king of British cozy crime, internationally best-selling, award-winning author Simon Brett, OBE. For fans of Richard Osman - but with added bite! Carole Seddon, a very respectable retired woman living in the English seaside village of Fethering, doesn't care for the theatre. But her neighbour Jude counts the job of actress among her many and varied past careers. So when Jude attends the closing night of a new play based on a classic TV sitcom, Carole is interested - but only because she suspects the leading man, Drake Purslow, is one of her scandalous friend's ex-lovers. The night turns out to be more dramatic than either Carole or Jude could have ever predicted. After the performance, Jude makes her way to Drake's dressing room, only to find him dead - in what, to Jude's experienced sleuthing eye, seem very suspicious circumstances. Did one of the play's cast - made up almost entirely of the original sitcom's actors - have a long-held grudge against the show's star? Or are more recent hatreds to blame? Jude is determined to find out - and Carole, who despite protestations is almost pathologically nosy, is right there to investigate alongside her.
Death in the Palace
A proposal to die for . . . British widow Emma Blackstone gets mixed up in murder once again in this stunning 1920s historical mystery featuring New York high society, mobsters, and silent-movie stars! November, 1924. Beautiful silent-movie star Camille de la Rose--Kitty, to her adoring fans--is amused to receive an unusual proposal from an extremely rich stranger. Clark Dexter offers her $50,000 if she will marry and then divorce him. Young British widow Emma Blackstone, Kitty's dog walker, companion, and dearest friend, is determined to talk her employer out of it. Emma might have been living in the topsy-turvy world of Hollywood for a year now, but she knows a bad idea when she hears one. There are disturbing rumors about Mr. Dexter. And when the source of the rumors is found dead in mysterious circumstances, Emma soon finds herself plunged into a disturbing investigation that sees her mixing with New York's high society, mobsters, and movie stars . . . and a ruthless killer, who'll stop at nothing to see their evil plan through. New York Times bestselling author Barbara Hambly brings the glamor, intrigue, and dark side of Hollywood to life in the Silver Screen Mysteries--a perfect choice for fans of female-fronted historical mysteries set in the roaring twenties.
Redemption of the Prodigal
"Just because you're done with the past doesn't mean the past is done with you."Two men from South Philadelphia walked away from the same streets, carrying the same scars. Now two stolen paintings pull them back into a story that refuses to stay buried.Nick DiNobile has spent years rebuilding his life, far from the violence and secrets he inherited. But when a missing masterpiece resurfaces-one tied to his father's past-Nick is drawn into a hunt he never wanted and a truth he's avoided for decades.Mikey Fortuna, driven by old wounds and a purpose sharpened by time. He's searching for a second stolen painting...and for the man he believes stands at the center of his loss. Every step brings him closer to Nick-and the reckoning he's been waiting for all his life.From the dim glow of a Florida tiki bar to the changed neighborhoods of Atlantic City and eventually, the unforgiving streets of South Philadelphia, their lives twist back toward each other. One seeks redemption. The other wants revenge. Both are chasing something that could set them free-or destroy what's left of them.A gripping, atmospheric addition to the Prodigal Series-perfect for fans of Dennis Lehane, Don Winslow, and Michael Connelly.Some ghosts don't stay buried.Michael Caudo is a Philadelphia attorney and novelist whose work blends crime, art, and the complex loyalties that shape us. Raised in the tight-knit neighborhoods of South Philadelphia, he draws on lived experience to explore themes of love, loss, and family through the lens of crime fiction.Redemption of the Prodigal is the third novel in the Prodigal Trilogy. Each book can be read as a standalone thriller.
Chandler & West
Los Angeles, 1939. Two writers struggle to finish books destined to become American masterpieces: Raymond Chandler and his debut novel, The Big Sleep, and Nathanael West with his tour de force, The Day of the Locust.What Chandler and West don't know is that their work, and their lives, will draw together around the Hollywood murder of a gorgeous aspiring actress. The pair find themselves entangled with a sex magick cult, gambling rackets, rocket scientists, pornographers, Big Oil, bad cops, and Nazis vying for control of the movie industry-all while war in Europe looms.Fighting writer's block and alcoholism, the two novelists come together to piece together the true story obscured behind Tinseltown's shimmering facade. Chandler & West is a roller-coaster ride across a corrupt and idealistic Los Angeles at the glamorous heights of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Untouchable
In the latest pulse-pounding thriller from Edgar and Barry Award finalist Mike Lawson, beloved Washington DC "troubleshooter" Joe DeMarco finds himself assigned an impossible case: help take down the President of the United States. Brandon Cartwright was a rich guy worth a couple billion bucks--inherited, of course--meaning he hadn't worked a day in his life. But he sure knew how to party, and the people he rubbed shoulders with were all sorts of rich and famous: politicians and movie stars and British royalty and Russian oligarchs. So when Brendan Cartwright is executed in his own home, the cops quickly conclude that he was most likely killed by one or more of the rich, powerful people he partied with.But when John Mahoney, the former Speaker of the House, emerges from a clandestine meeting with the head of the National Archives, he learns there's evidence suggesting that the President of the United States was somehow involved with Cartwright's death. Mahoney needs someone who can investigate from the shadows--enter Joe DeMarco, Mahoney's fixer.DeMarco is no stranger to hunting down some of the very worst people Washington D.C. has to offer. In fact, he's made a career of it. But as evidence continues to point towards the President, DeMarco is faced with an impossible situation: investigating a man who is quite literally untouchable.
Banana Cream Pie Murder
A romantic seven-day cruise is the perfect start to bakery owner Hannah Swensen's marriage. However, with a murder mystery heating up in Lake Eden, Minnesota, it seems the newlywed's homecoming won't be as sweet as she anticipated . . . After an extravagant honeymoon, Hannah's eager to settle down in Lake Eden and turn domestic daydreams into reality. But when her mother's neighbor is discovered murdered in the condo downstairs, reality becomes a nightmarish investigation. Victoria Bascomb, once a renowned stage actress, was active in the theater community during her brief appearance in town . . . and made throngs of enemies along the way. Did a random intruder murder the woman as police claim, or was a deadlier scheme at play? As Hannah peels through countless suspects and some new troubles of her own, solving this crime--and living to tell about it--might prove trickier than mixing up the ultimate banana cream pie . . .
Blake & Turner
Dark Waters Hide Deadly Secrets...When Able Seaman Gabriel Steel is found murdered aboard the HMCS Talon, a Canadian Navy ship docked in the quiet coastal town of Silver Creek, Detective Megan Turner is pulled into a case unlike anything she's faced before. What should have been a straightforward investigation quickly turns into a labyrinth of hidden tensions, fractured loyalties, and unsettling silence from a crew that seems more afraid than grieving.As Megan digs into Gabriel's life, she uncovers simmering conflicts aboard the Talon-rivalries between sailors, secret relationships, and the lingering shadow of a mission no one wants to talk about. Every question she asks tightens the wall of resistance around her, and every answer she receives only deepens the mystery. Meanwhile, journalist Sienna Blake begins her own investigation, following a whisper of information that suggests Gabriel's death may be connected to something far larger than a shipboard dispute. Her search leads her deep into the politics of naval operations, buried reports, and a conspiracy with roots stretching far beyond Silver Creek's peaceful shoreline. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more dangerous her path becomes.As the lines between truth and cover-up blur, Megan and Sienna are forced into an uneasy alliance. Together, they must unravel a web of secrets, personal betrayals, and powerful forces determined to keep the past buried-no matter the cost.With danger closing in and a killer still watching from the shadows, the investigation becomes a race against time. If Megan and Sienna fail to uncover the truth, Gabriel Steel won't be the last body found in the cold, unforgiving waters off Silver Creek.A tense, atmospheric thriller perfect for fans of police procedurals, investigative suspense, and character-driven mysteries. In the world of the Talon, trusting the wrong person could be deadly.
Blake & Turner
In the shadowy world of wealth, power, and betrayal, no one is safe...Sienna Blake, a wealthy socialite known for her influence and impeccable reputation, has always lived within the safety of privilege. But when a shocking murder occurs at an exclusive event, her carefully constructed world begins to crack. Determined to uncover the truth, Sienna dives into a maze of secrets buried beneath the polished surface of her elite circle. What she discovers is a conspiracy that reaches further than she ever imagined-one entwined with her own past, her family, and the people she thought she could trust.Megan Turner, a disciplined RCMP officer with a military background and a strict, by-the-book approach, arrives in town expecting a routine assignment. Instead, she finds herself caught in a case that becomes more twisted by the hour. When Megan's investigation collides with Sienna's amateur sleuthing, sparks fly. Their opposite personalities, clashing instincts, and contrasting lifestyles create constant friction, yet neither can deny that the other has something they need.As bodies begin to fall and the stakes rise, Sienna and Megan are forced into an uneasy alliance. Their search for the truth pulls them deeper into a dangerous game of deception-one where influence is currency, secrets can kill, and trusting the wrong person may be deadly. To survive, the two women must confront their own vulnerabilities and learn to rely on each other, even as the shadows close in around them.In a world where everyone is hiding something, trust becomes the deadliest weapon of all. Blake & Turner: Trafficked Secrets is a gripping, character-driven crime thriller about unlikely alliances, buried truths, and the cost of justice in a town where darkness thrives in plain sight.
Blake & Turner
Blake & Turner: The Cost of SilenceBy M. A. FergusonWhen a high-profile CEO is found dead under suspicious circumstances, detectives Sienna Blake and Megan Turner are thrust into one of the most dangerous investigations of their careers. What begins as a single mysterious death quickly unravels into a chilling web of secrets buried deep inside Stanton Pharmaceuticals, a company with limitless resources, powerful allies, and everything to lose.As Blake and Turner dig deeper, they uncover evidence of illicit drug trials, manipulated research, and a trail of corporate corruption that reaches far beyond the victim. Every witness seems compromised, every lead comes with a warning, and every truth they uncover puts their own lives at risk. With political pressure mounting and enemies closing in, the detectives must decide how far they're willing to go, and what they're willing to sacrifice, to expose a conspiracy that thrives on silence.Tension builds with every step as the pair navigate boardroom politics, hidden agendas, and a ruthless network determined to bury the truth at any cost. But Blake and Turner have faced darkness before, and they know that justice often demands stepping into the very shadows they fear.In this gripping and fast-paced crime thriller, loyalty is tested, secrets are weapons, and survival is never guaranteed. Perfect for fans of police procedurals, high-stakes suspense, and complex, character-driven mysteries.
Murder on the High Sea
A corpse found floating in the oceanIn 1960 Daisy Hayes was asked to replace a physiotherapist on an ocean liner, for just one round trip to New York, at very short notice. Before she knew it she was sailing on the RMS Histria, in the thick of the life on board. With the intrigues and love triangles going on around her, she marveled at the potential for murderous plots on such a voyage. "It's a good thing," she told the ship's detective, "that a liner at sea is the worst place for killing someone. Too confined to do it undetected, and you can't get away afterwards."Then one day at dawn a corpse was found floating on the open ocean ahead of the Histria. The ship came to a lumbering halt, a lifeboat was sent out to retrieve the dead body, and while some early birds watched from the rails, it was hoisted on board. And the corpse turned out to be that of a first-class passenger.Impossible! Or isn't it? Our favorite blind sleuth could hardly wait to find out.
A Shot Of Treason
Mary Maccallan is now CEO, but in name only.She and London are menaced by twin threats; one a lethal wartime relic, the other a treasonous plot to destabilize her majesty's government by striking a blow at its heart.When Mary and the other Maccallan employees are forcibly evacuated from their HQ, she and her handpicked team end up in the wilds of Wandsworth. Whilst trying to keep the company running, Mary must outwit her board members, ignore her father's dictats from a Swiss Clinic and deal with a rapidly evolving European scandal that's a 9.9 on the Ratner scale. She enlists the help of the head of PR and a daredevil but somewhat accident-prone Indian journalist.Meanwhile, Mary's lover Seb Miller's MI6 career hangs in the balance. In order to get reinstated he has sworn to prevent a mad bomber from destroying a major London landmark. He has limited resources, Mary, and the enigmatic former MI6 employee Bernie. They find themselves up against a mastermind, a very dead mastermind whose plan has already been set into motion.
Frozen Arcana
Winnipeg, 1940. The river is frozen solid. The truth is buried deeper.In the tradition of James Patterson, Robert Ludlum, and Greg Iles, Young delivers a relentless thriller where the only thing more lethal than the prairie winter is a secret hiding in plain sight.New Year's Eve, 1939. As a wind shrieks down Portage Avenue, the city's elite celebrate the end of a decade inside the warm, gilded mansions of Armstrong Point. But outside, on the frozen ice of the Assiniboine River, the party is over.A high-profile corporate lawyer is found dead beneath the Maryland Bridge. It looks like a robbery gone wrong, until Detective Constable Gabriel O'Malley finds the killer's calling card tucked into the victim's pocket: The Fool, a card from an antique Tarot deck.The cards are being dealt. The game is rigged.O'Malley is an outcast in his own department-labeled a "War Baby" for not enlisting, he fights a lonely battle on the home front. When a second body appears in a railyard boxcar, pinned with another card-The Tower-O'Malley realizes he is hunting a killer who sees murder as a ritual.To break the code, he must turn to the one person the law ignores: Olena Petrenko, a North End "witch" who claims the cards aren't just paper, but a map of a coming catastrophe.The Magician holds the key.The trail leads O'Malley to the doorstep of Elias Vance, a wealthy American industrialist who has arrived in Winnipeg with unlimited cash and a mysterious construction project deep beneath his fortress-like home. Vance claims he is building a bomb shelter for the coming war, but O'Malley suspects the tunnel is meant for something-or someone-far more dangerous.As the temperature drops to thirty below, O'Malley and Petrenko must race to stop a grand design that threatens to turn the city into a sanctuary for a darkness no one sees coming.In a city of ice, silence is the only witness.
You Can Never Go Back
Troubled by the way his last case ended, Private Investigator Joe Parrott wonders if he's on the right path. Then, during a wintry storm, a strange, unexplainable noise shakes him to his core-and from that moment on, nothing seems the same. Family and friends are restless. Hanna-the victim of Joe's last case-is struggling with the trauma of Blackpool, desperate for a fresh start. Joe's daughter and her husband plan to move away, and his friends Stefan and Sally are ready for a change as well. Even Claire, far from Sheffield, senses a shift she cannot explain.When old enemies resurface to threaten Joe and his family, he must decide whether to stay and fight or walk away. Hanna must find her own inner strength-or face losing more than just herself. Meanwhile, Claire is forced to make a choice that could risk everything.You Can Never Go Back is a Joe Parrott mystery rich with enigmatic twists, human connection, and the choices that shape our lives. What if you could go back? Would it be worth the consequences?
Bat Shit Crazy
BATSH*T CRAZYIn a world where loyalty is bought and family ties are weapons, three women find themselves entangled in a web of desperation, desire, and survival on the elite King Estate. Megan is a seventeen-year-old girl who has known nothing but the "family business" since she was thirteen. When her father sells her for three months to the wealthy Bill King, she is thrust into a life of luxury that hides a dark and dangerous reality. Kim, the current Mrs. King, is a woman from Paris who runs the estate with an iron fist-until Bill's unruly children and judgmental in-laws arrive to shatter her peace. Struggling with a past she can't outrun and a mother-in-law who wants her gone, Kim must fight to keep her position and her sanity. Ashley is a mother of three who has spent her life running from one bad situation into another. After being caught in a scandal that leaves her homeless, she finds work as a maid on the King Estate. But in this house, "the help" is often just another pawn in the Kings' twisted games. As secrets are exposed and lines are crossed, these three women must navigate a landscape of manipulation and violence. In a family where everyone is a little bit "batsh*t crazy," only one thing is certain: nobody is getting out unscathed.
JuJu Justice
Deep in the Louisiana river bottoms, the legendary "swamp witch" Mama Moo must decide who to share her juju with-the white light voodoo priestess or the black magic criminal mastermind. Her seemingly obvious choice is complicated by long-buried secrets that will determine who lives or dies. June Mae, a white-light practitioner, faces off against her childhood nemesis, Mister-a well-connected criminal who practices the dark side of voodoo. When June's straight-laced sister April drops into town for an unplanned visit, she quickly understands the dangerous world that June inhabits. As the sisters reconcile past traumas and reconnect, June must overcome her fears to face Mister in a voodoo battle to save their lives. JuJu Justice skillfully blends supernatural elements with deeper themes of family and suspense, all set within the gritty underbelly of the New Orleans voodoo culture.
A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle
When chef Bridget "Bunny" MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought "spirits" meant cocktails. Instead, she's cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she's discovered abilities to connect with the beyond--and crack murder cases . . . Now that Bunny's entr矇es come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who's friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny's childhood she heard all about Dundoon's bloody history and the "ghostly piper" who roamed the grounds--and soon she'll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper's honor will make for some good footage as well. After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide--and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . . Includes Delicious Recipes!
The West Bluff
The West Bluff and surrounding swamps along the Sabine River between Texas and Louisiana have provided a modest but comfortable shelter and satisfactory sustenance for Robert Andrew ("Dick") Jackson and his Cajun sweetheart, Penny, for many years since the loss of both his parents--his dad through divorce when he was young, and his mother years later in a horrendous explosion and fire in Texas City. But lately, things have not seemed right. Trapping has become dangerous, as a terrifying aspect of death and a fearful presence seems to have crept its way into this region known as the Big Thicket. Dick has already lost two of his hunting dogs within days of each other under unusual circumstances, and the remaining dogs whine and pull at their chains. Four friends come from Georgia to join in the hunt for whatever it is, and Cajun folkways are employed to ward off this haint. But the challenges seem only to multiply.
Oaken
After a night of celebratory partying, Duncan Kovacs and his team of security specialists, the Wind Riders, find themselves somehow transported to the other end of the Galaxy. Hired without their knowledge or consent to fight as mercenaries for a planet under attack by superior forces using unknown weapons and possibly advanced weapons systems.But the unscrupulous Mercenary Guild did not do their research and what they got was more than what they bargained for.
At Any Cost
Tabitha Chandler: a seagoing hermit that harmed no one and didn't have an enemy in the world. Yet died in a hail of bullets.Private Investigator Curt D'Accio was hired by wolf-shifter Russell Chandler to track his wayward half-sister down and convince her to return home. After weeks of chasing Tabitha's boat wake, he found her. He found love. Then he lost both.Curt barely survived the ambush outside their hotel. Who attacked them? Why? The police are stymied: no motive, no leads, no suspects, and their case quickly goes cold. Curt refuses to give up, determined to find the answers and the one responsible for her murder. But he is pitted against a cunning adversary who thinks of others only as pawns, disposable chess pieces. Curt's search will illuminate a long-buried secret and the dark heart of a killer that will do anything to keep it hidden.
Shamrocks, Secrets, and Sweet Pea Bouquets
Shamrocks, Secrets, and Sweet Pea Bouquets is a heartwarming cozy mystery set in a close knit Irish inspired village where spring arrives with flowers, parades, and long remembered secrets. Maeve Callahan owns the local flower shop and has been entrusted withdecorating the village's beloved St Patrick's Day parade. When her carefullyordered flowers begin disappearing overnight, there is no sign of vandalism ortheft. Instead, the missing blooms reappear across town, arranged with quietintention and deep symbolic meaning.As Maeve seeks answers, she reconnects with the thoughtful bookstore ownernext door, whose knowledge of folklore and village history sheds new light onthe mystery. What begins as worry slowly becomes an unexpected opportunityfor reconciliation, romance, and honoring voices nearly forgotten.This gentle mystery favors emotional discovery over danger and communityover confrontation. Alongside the story, readers will find comforting recipeswoven into the narrative, from soda bread baked before dawn to shortbreadshared during late night planning sessions.Perfect for fans of clean romantic mysteries, small town fiction, and holidaythemed cozies, this novel celebrates forgiveness, found family, and the courageto invite others in.Ideal for spring reading displays, book clubs, and readers who prefer mysteries with warmth rather than violence.
Blood & Leaves
When adventure becomes survival. When tourism becomes testimony. When one man's search for authenticity becomes a species' last hope.David Chen thought he was escaping his crumbling marriage and unfulfilling career through an expensive photography tour of Indonesia's pristine rainforests. With high-quality equipment in hand and a love for authentic experiences, he planned to come back home with some amazing shots and a fresh sense of purpose.Instead, he stumbled into humanity's darkest enterprise.Lost in the primary rainforest, David and his guide Rudi accidentally discover an industrial-scale trafficking operation systematically slaughtering endangered orangutans for international markets. What began as a search for meaning becomes a desperate flight for survival as armed criminals hunt them through terrain that offers no forgiveness for city-dwellers unprepared for the wilderness.With only a cracked phone and determination born of moral outrage, David must capture evidence of organized extinction while evading professional killers who cannot afford to leave witnesses alive. Each photograph could save endangered species from systematic elimination-or get him killed before the truth reaches civilization.From the Indonesian rainforests to international courtrooms, this is the story of ordinary courage confronting extraordinary evil. When comfortable assumptions are stripped away, what remains reveals who we really are-and what we're willing to sacrifice for creatures who cannot speak for themselves.Based on the urgent realities of Southeast Asian wildlife trafficking, this novel exposes the criminal networks treating endangered species as profitable inventory while celebrating the conservationists risking everything to stop them."A heart-pounding thriller that transforms adventure into moral imperative. Chen's journey from naive photographer to committed conservationist will change how you think about authentic experience and meaningful work.""Unflinching documentation of wildlife trafficking combined with pulse-pounding survival narrative. This novel proves that the most important adventures aren't about finding yourself-they're about losing yourself in service to something larger."
Wired For Magic
Rowan Campbell has a stalker. Only her magic can stop him.Her stalker's obsession goes beyond Rowan's natural beauty: he wants to control the magic she struggles to admit she possesses. More than anything, Rowan longs for normalcy. But the stalker's unlimited resources and unrelenting pursuit force her to accept that leaning into her magic is the only path to a chance to free herself. Angry and desperate, Rowan builds a plan to break free of her pursuer that requires her to come out of hiding, return home to America, and learn to use her inherited abilities. To do so, she'll enlist the help of her white hat hacker brother, Griff, and her aunt, the only living connection to her magic. Before she's ready to face her stalker, Rowan must evade capture, learn about her magical legacy, and accept that she can only prevail if she believes in herself and embraces her power.Wired For Magic is the fast-paced story of a woman's journey to come to terms with her personal power in a battle for her life, freedom, and the chance to open a path to love.
Barzani Episode One
Samir Barzani looks like the least dangerous man in the room. Crumpled suit, beaten-up Ford, a habit of standing too quietly in doorways. Most people trip over his name, then file him away as another overworked cop. He lets them. "Call me Sam," he says. They relax. They shouldn't.When a billionaire philanthropist is found dead behind the walls of his luxury Melbourne home, the case is supposed to be simple: a tragic accident for the evening news, a neat outcome for powerful friends, a file closed in time for the next charity gala. The city's elite want a sympathetic story, not an investigation.Sam starts with the details nobody else bothers to see: a glass moved half a metre, a smear on polished stone, a timeline that sounds rehearsed rather than remembered. The widow's grief is just a fraction too tidy. The business partners talk like men auditioning for sainthood. The household staff have learned to be invisible, but not invisible enough to escape Sam's photographic memory.This is not a whodunnit so much as a "how long can you keep lying?" From the first chapter, the reader knows the truth is living in the same room as the detective. The tension comes from watching Samir Barzani circle, probe, and gently prise apart an alibi built on money, influence and the quiet threat of what happens to people who ask the wrong questions in the wrong postcodes.Haunted by the loss of his own son and a justice system that too often looks the other way, Sam is done being polite to the powerful. He will push until the fa癟ade cracks, even if it costs him his career, his safety, and the last few people who still believe in him.Barzani Episode One: "Call me Sam" launches a new crime-noir series set in modern Melbourne, perfect for readers who love the psychological chess of Columbo, the moral grit of Bosch, and character-driven procedurals where justice is personal and nothing is as clean as the crime scene report.
Double Cross
San Francisco 1938What does a shooting in Chinatown, the threat of a gang war, a protection racket, and the drowning deaths of two women of questionable character have in common? To the undiscerning eye... nothing.Enter Sergeant Jacob Butterfield, a slightly jaded, well-intentioned, but occasionally morally grey, San Francisco detective with a vested interest in the cases.Just when his investigation suggests a link, Jacob is accused of extortion, bribery, and tampering with evidence. Suspended, and aware his partner has double crossed him, leaves Jacob shocked and furious but powerless, his career in ruins. What the hell is he supposed to do now?The answer comes from the savvy and streetwise Stella Fitzhugh, cocktail waitress, chain smoker, and... most importantly... Jacob's live-in lover. If the system beats you down, find a way to even the score...
The Fourth Consort
A new standalone sci-fi novel from Edward Ashton, author of Mickey7 (the inspiration for the major motion picture Mickey 17).Dalton Greaves is a hero. He's one of humankind's first representatives to Unity, a pan-species confederation working to bring all sentient life into a single benevolent brotherhood. That's what they told him, anyway. The only actual members of Unity that he's ever met are Boreau, a giant snail who seems more interested in plunder than spreading love and harmony, and Boreau's human sidekick, Neera, who Dalton strongly suspects roped him into this gig so that she wouldn't become the next one of Boreau's crew to get eaten by locals while prospecting. Funny thing, though--turns out there actually is a benevolent confederation out there, working for the good of all life. They call themselves the Assembly, and they really don't like Unity. More to the point, they really, really don't like Unity's new human minions. When an encounter between Boreau's scout ship and an Assembly cruiser over a newly discovered world ends badly for both parties, Dalton finds himself marooned, caught between a stickman, one of the Assembly's nightmarish shock troops, the planet's natives, who aren't winning any congeniality prizes themselves, and Neera, who might actually be the most dangerous of the three. To survive, he'll need to navigate palace intrigue, alien morality, and a proposal that he literally cannot refuse, all while making sure Neera doesn't come to the conclusion that he's worth more to her dead than alive. Part first contact story, part dark comedy, and part bizarre love triangle, The Fourth Consort asks an important question: how far would you go to survive? And more importantly, how many drinks would you need to go there?
Two Spinsters and a Swindler
Derbyshire, December 1815. A cozy family Christmas turns deadly when a visitor is murdered.Louisa-Margaretta Haddington, still reeling from a broken engagement, must come to terms with both her parents' displeasure. Though her family's Christmas visitors are a welcome distraction, one handsome man in particular promises to raise her spirits by Christmas. But she cannot live for pleasure alone, as her father's financial difficulties threaten both her home and her family's reputation. What's more, there are warning signs that one of their visitors, an old lady, has come expressly to defraud Louisa-Margaretta's family.Judith St Clair promised to help unmask the swindler, but she has her own troubles. Her father, usually the most mild-mannered of men, has not given her marriage his blessing. Unless Judith's fiance, Mr Ramsbury, quickly finds a profession, Judith will get not one penny for her dowry. Judith's sister Miriam is now engaged to a man who once proposed to Judith herself, raising tensions in the St Clair household. But Judith is too preoccupied by a sudden murder at Wycliff Castle to properly tend to her family ties.The magistrate has no intention of sparing the Haddingtons or the St Clairs, and Judith and Louisa-Margaretta quickly find themselves tangled in his false accusations. If they wish to save their fortunes and their reputations, they must find the killer before Christmas.This Regency cozy historical mystery will whisk you away to the English countryside.
Panther Across the Stars
A larger-than-life tale of one man's courage, sacrifice, and unyielding defiance to fight for his peoples' freedom against those that would take it, and in this great struggle he finds friendship with three alien beings fallen to Earth that stand with him.He is Panther Across the Sky and his world is fading. He takes all the hurt and pain a lifetime gives him and stares into his soul to face the greatest master he will ever know. Just a man among a dying people, he inspires his kin beyond all limit of mind and body in their outstretched and desperate grasp for freedom against overwhelming odds and the mighty nation arisen to the east in the early 1800s - America.And along the way, he forges a bond with three alien beings fallen to Earth from a distant star, the Jhagir. Together they must find the courage to rise up against the swirling dark sea of blue jackets, muskets, and cannon fire that comes for them. It will take all their strength and spirit, and cost them more than they know, to break back the angry waves of a young nation that would devour a people and wash them away forever. And just maybe, Panther Across the Sky and the Jhagir can give rise to a peoples' real hope for today . . . and what is to come.Book One of a planned two-part series.
The Lines Between
As a celebrity assistant, Stevie Young guards the lies, scandals, and personal drama of the famous elite. Maintaining discretion is just part of her job description. When she begins working for renowned celebrity couple Dean Bennington and Lana Lim, Stevie feels like she has hit the jackpot. Both stars are prolific and refreshingly unpretentious, not to mention the objects of public obsession.When Lana suffers a mysterious injury, the incident calls into question everything Stevie previously thought. Lana's accident sets an explosive chain of events into motion. The following weeks reveal a life shrouded in deception with a perilous web of deceit at its core. As Stevie falls even deeper into Dean and Lana's orbit, she begins to realize that nothing is what it seems. The closer Stevie gets to the pair, the less she knows what-and who-to believe. As the investigation continues, Stevie will stop at nothing to sift through the lies, uncover the real story, and bring the shocking truth to light.
Crime Wave 1
Includes "Cold Wave" by Marcelle Dub矇, winner of the Crime Writers Of Canada Award of Excellence for Best Short Story. Western Canada. A vast and varied land of hidden coastal islands and inlets, towering icy mountains, wind-tossed ranges and wheat fields, and cold lakes that keep their secrets. These are its stories.In "The Potluck Brigade," visit a dying Alberta town and a senior citizen trying to cope with murder as well as her own failing mind. The police procedural "Local Intelligence" follows a young RCMP constable in an isolated coastal town facing a most unusual collection of flotsam. In "Salty Dog Blues," the crew and passengers on a west coast cruise ship confront a mystery involving a verrry annoying little passenger. In the Yukon, "Cold Wave" forces a lone cross-country skier to choose between personal safety and saving her friends."News on the Buckhorn" brings us to British Columbia ranch country in a taut suspense tale of a timid young girl dealing with the mutilation of her show horse. Visit the prairies early in the Great War when a North West Mounted Police officer investigates an unlamented death in "Autumn is a Time for Dying." An Okanagan bed and breakfast owner takes the stage in the rollicking "A Midwinter Night's Scream" to solve a tinsel-draped celebrity death. Finally, in "Pickled to Death," a small BC town's annual Pickle Festival descends into chaos for a peck of unusual characters following the untimely demise of a pickle aficionado.From thrilling to wistful to laugh-out-loud funny, these short stories draw the reader into a Canadian West where maple meets murder.
The Holiday Whodunit Mystery Anthology
Four festive mysteries. Four unique voices. One season full of secrets.When the holidays arrive, traditions sparkle, families gather-and trouble has a way of sneaking in under the tinsel.Holiday Whodunit Mystery brings together four captivating holiday-themed mysteries from acclaimed authors Debbie De Louise, Jill Gassman Zullo, Diane Murray Ward, and Sherry Fowler Chancellor. Each story delivers its own intriguing puzzle, colorful cast of characters, and seasonal twist, proving that the most wonderful time of the year can also be the most deceptive.From missing treasures and suspicious motives to long-buried secrets and unexpected revelations, these cozy mysteries blend festive charm with clever sleuthing and satisfying surprises. Whether set against snow-covered backdrops or unfolding amid holiday gatherings, every tale invites readers to unravel clues, question appearances, and enjoy the thrill of solving the mystery before the final page.Perfect for fans of cozy mysteries, holiday reads, and classic whodunits, Holiday Whodunit Mystery is the ideal companion for a winter evening by the fire-warm, witty, and wickedly fun.Just remember: during the holidays, everyone has something to hide.
The Face Stealer
A puzzling mystery pulls the thieving Fitzglen family back to a shocking crime committed in the time of Catherine the Great in this third instalment of the spellbinding Theatre of Thieves gothic mystery series, set in Victorian England. London, 1909. The Fitzglens combine running London's finest theatre with a very profitable side-line in stealing. But while they might be thieves, they still have principles. They never pinch anything their victim couldn't afford to lose. When a stranger approaches Jack Fitzglen after a performance, claiming that a Fitzglen has committed a grave crime in his village in faraway Russia, Jack knows exactly who's to blame: the unpleasant Saintly Simeon, who was chucked out of the family for breaking their code. Simeon has stolen three valuable, and oddly frightening, Stone Heads, the likenesses of children who vanished over a century ago. The Heads were locked away from the world in a remote Russian monastery . . . though whether to protect the priceless sculptures, or to protect the villagers from the Heads themselves, no one can say. Jack joins forces with fellow actor Viola Gilfillan to retrieve the stolen goods and put things right. But as they investigate, peeling the layers of history back to the treacherous court of Catherine the Great herself, the ominous power of the Stone Heads begins to draw them down into a darkness from which they may never be able to escape . . . This unsettling gothic historical mystery from acclaimed British author Sarah Rayne will appeal to fans of Daphne du Maurier, Laura Purcell, Rebecca James, Sarah Waters and Stuart Turton.
Jazz Funeral
Everybody loved easygoing Ham Brocato, producer of the famed New Orleans JazzFest. So how did he end up stabbed to death on his kitchen floor? New Orleans Homicide Detective Skip Langdon just happens to be on hand when Ham's body is discovered in the middle of his own party the evening before the Fest. To complicate the already murky case, the victim's sixteen-year-old blues musician sister has disappeared, and Skip suspects that if the young woman isn't the murderer, she's in mortal danger from the person who is. So Task One is finding Melody, ambitious, unhappy at home, and determined to break from her family. As she probes the victim's tangled relationships, Skip finds a Southern family to rival any in Tennessee Williams, including Ham's live-in lover, feisty and swiftly rising star Ti-Belle Thiebaud; his father George, enmeshed with family members in a bitter disagreement over the family's lucrative Po' Boy chain; and Patty, his distraught stepmother. In this tale of southern kinships gone awry, she's assisted by her long-distance love, Steve Steinman, and her gay landlord, Jimmy Dee. Meanwhile, Melody's dangerous yet exhilarating journey tugs at the heart and raises the pulse rate.
The Vice President The Trillionaire
When the devil is very devious and charming who will resist his charms? When a secret threatens the survival of mankind is the big prize of $$trillions really worth it? A secret worth killing for. A sophisticated enemy who can't stop at anything. A chain of events leading to the discovery of the century. A big fat prize the missing $ trillions. How much is it really worth to have the top job? It's not all what it seems. When the previous President died mysteriously a day before his term in office came to an end no one cared. When one greedy and evil man can't stop at anything until he gets what he wants who will stand in his way?
If It Isn't One Thing . . .
A fatal road crash - a domestic incident turned deadly - if it isn't one thing, it's another for Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman in this intricately plotted, warm-hearted Posadas County Mystery, set in small-town New Mexico "If you haven't yet discovered these wonderful mysteries, you are in for a treat!" Anne Hillerman, New York Times bestselling author When a pickup truck pulling a horse trailer collides with a loaded semi, it seems like a straightforward accident. Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman presumes the most complicated part of the clean-up will be getting thirty tons of unsplit firewood off of Posadas County's state highway. But the plot thickens when the mangled vehicles are wrenched apart and the pickup's deceased driver is not who Estelle was expecting. Who is the dead man - and where was he heading with his cargo, a prized stallion whose owner is frantic to get him back? And if it isn't one thing, it's another. Just as Estelle gets her teeth in the case, she's called to a domestic incident between a local volatile couple, which has led not just to death - but to the injury of a fellow cop. Understaffed and overworked, Estelle finds herself plunged into two tricky investigations, which will take her across the border into Mexico to find the answers - and the justice - that she seeks. If you like C.J. Box, Anne Hillerman and Terry Shames, you'll love this small-town mystery which combines a vivid setting, multidimensional characters who spring from the page, and meticulous plotting, full of twists and turns.
Misswired
Kirkus Reviews Featured Indie Book. It's a scorching hot day, the kind of day that grows warmer when the gusts come. Lanna Zar is learning to swim at the town pool where she befriends Sam. Meanwhile, her father is flirting with Sam's mother, a redhead whose meticulous makeup paints a Monet-like image. Soon after, Sam finds his parents dead.Set against the hypnotic backdrop of the New York City skyline, amidst the fantastical luxuries of the ultra-wealthy, and juxtaposed by the natural wonder that is Mother Earth, MISSWIRED follows the interwoven trials and tribulations of Lanna and Sam, two acquaintances whose burgeoning friendship comes to a startling halt. Through a captivating story and poetic prose, MISSWIRED explores the depths of our givers and the mystical elements that influence us. Who killed Sam's parents, and what becomes of Lanna and Sam twenty years later? Editorial Reviews: "Makhmali's smart debut has a unique style and structure that is held together by vivid characterization ... the emotions play out wonderfully." - Kirkus Reviews "If you believe that the universe helps us when we realize that we've been (as Makhmali's pun intends) "misswired" and are open to connectivity again, then this novel is your spiritual cup of tea and then some." - The Jersey Journal "We absolutely love this book!" - FuzzableExcerpt from MISSWIRED: "To say that I remember the details of that day perfectly would be a lie. And I have never been much of a liar. But, then again, what is the relevance of truth to a child who has lost his or her giver?" About the Author Tara Makhmali is the author of MISSWIRED, the founder of CommonSmarts Media, and since 2010, a certified Project Manager (PMP). She is an Iranian-born US citizen whose family left Iran shortly after the revolution. She lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, with her husband, Evan, a prominent New York City litigator, their beautiful daughter, and their lazy miniature English bulldog, Wilson. Tara has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She has worked in various capacities from Project Manager to Recruiter to Consultant for notable companies such as Pearson Publishing, FCB Advertising, Bridgewater Associates, and HBO. In her spare time, she plays classical piano and guitar. Above all, she is a curious person who cares deeply for people and progress.
Murder On Magazine
The TENTH installment of the Skip Langdon series is a New Orleans feast for the senses, a canine love story, an action-packed police procedural made-to-order for readers who like their female sleuths bold, smart, and refreshingly human. A serial killer is using Airbnb units to stage his murders, but a teenage runaway has escaped his grasp and now she's in the wind, believing she's killed him. Meanwhile, the real killer stalks the city - and her.Cody, the pink-haired sixteen-year-old, should be in school or at the mall texting her friends, not hanging out at the intersection of serial murder and human trafficking. When the options are: (1) Return to a life of slavery (2) Go to jail for murder (3) Be killed by a serial killer, Option 4 makes perfect sense - RUN! As mean as the streets of The City That Care Forgot can be, this child attracts angels (often unlikely ones) - and entire packs of dogs - who come to her aid.She also finds a friend in NOPD's newest Sergeant - big (six-foot!), beautiful, tough, and tender-hearted Skip Langdon. Skip knows her best hope of finding the killer is to find Cody - plus she feels for the girl, in whom she recognizes a younger version of her plucky, resourceful, whip-smart self. The city's hard-boiled; the detective has a heart the size of the Superdome.
The Thousand Year Tournament
Gerry Caldwell is a normal man who finds he is forced into a tournament, the last bastion of violence in an otherwise peaceful world, where he has to fight and kill in order to both survive and protect his family. During the course of the book, the Tournament propaganda unfairly paints him as a villain to boost ratings, and turns him into a hated figure. As the competition ends, he finds his survival comes with consequences he had not anticipated, leaving him bereft of all he loves and forcing him into life changing decisions.
Bat Shit Crazy
BATSH*T CRAZYIn a world where loyalty is bought and family ties are weapons, three women find themselves entangled in a web of desperation, desire, and survival on the elite King Estate. Megan is a seventeen-year-old girl who has known nothing but the "family business" since she was thirteen. When her father sells her for three months to the wealthy Bill King, she is thrust into a life of luxury that hides a dark and dangerous reality. Kim, the current Mrs. King, is a woman from Paris who runs the estate with an iron fist-until Bill's unruly children and judgmental in-laws arrive to shatter her peace. Struggling with a past she can't outrun and a mother-in-law who wants her gone, Kim must fight to keep her position and her sanity. Ashley is a mother of three who has spent her life running from one bad situation into another. After being caught in a scandal that leaves her homeless, she finds work as a maid on the King Estate. But in this house, "the help" is often just another pawn in the Kings' twisted games. As secrets are exposed and lines are crossed, these three women must navigate a landscape of manipulation and violence. In a family where everyone is a little bit "batsh*t crazy," only one thing is certain: nobody is getting out unscathed.
