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The Inheritance: A Novel (Inspector Trave #1)
by Simon TolkienAuthor Simon Tolkien received rave reviews for his first legal thriller, The Final Witness. Now, in The Inheritance, Tolkien sharpens his craft even more, deftly weaving psychological suspense and family drama to create a mystery steeped in memories, betrayal, and the long shadow of the past. Part courtroom drama and part historical thriller, The Inheritance is a dark, dynamic thriller that tests the strength of blood ties, loyalty, and revenge.When a famed Oxford historian is found dead in his study one night, all evidence points to his son, Stephen. About to be disinherited from the family fortune, Stephen returns to home after a long estrangement—and it happens to be the night his father is shot to death. When his fingerprints are found on the murder weapon, Stephen's guilt seems undeniable. But there were five other people in the manor house at the time, and as their stories slowly emerge—along with the revelation that the deceased man was involved in a deadly hunt for a priceless relic in Northern France at the end of World War II—the race is on to save Stephen from a death sentence. Everyone has a motive, and no one is telling the truth. Unwilling to sit by and watch the biased judge condemn Stephen to death, an aging police inspector decides to travel from England to France to find out what really happened in that small French village in 1945—and what artifact could be so valuable it would be worth killing for.
To the Limit: The Bodyguards (The Bodyguards #2)
by Cindy GerardWhen former Secret Service agent Eve Garrett, gets a late night call from Tiffany Clayborne saying "Eve, please come and get me" she books over the the bar Tiffany says she's at. She met the girl when she was still an agent. Tiffany was her first assignment and she developed a big sister attachment to the kid that continues to this day. However, when Eve gets to the bar she sees some suspicious activity in a dark alley and her gut tells her that Tiffany is involved. When she goes after her, she's knocked out and when she comes to, Tiffany is gone. Eve believes that Tiffany is in danger. But when she goes to Tiffany's father, he doesn't want Eve anywhere near Tiffany. After all she was in charge the last time Tiffany got hurt. Eve and Tiffany have put that incident behind them. Her father has not. He plans to hire his own private detective to check into this.doesn't hesitate. Eve doesn't trust Tiffany's safety to anyone else and decides to hunt fo her on her own. However, uring her search in Miami, Florida she runs into Clayborne's detective--her old flame, Mac, who loved her and left her. He's the last person she wants to see, especially on this case. However, when several attempts are made on Eve's life, Mac decides that they should stick together. And the closer they get to Tiffany, the more deadly secrets unfold and the more the danger rises. . .
If She Should Die
by Carlene ThompsonThree years have passed since erotic, willful Dara Prince disappeared from Winston, West Virginia, leaving a note saying she's run away. Now a body has been found in the creek. A body, Christine Ireland suspects, that could very well belong to her adopted sister Dara. Deputy Sheriff Michael Winter certainly seems to think so. But if Dara's dead, who's been sending Ames prince the letters he cherishes: always with a different postmark and always signed with his missing daughter's initial?When Dara's diary turns up unexpectedly, Christine is plunged into her lost sister's dark and mysterious world. Clearly, in the days before her disappearance, Dara was certain somebody was stalking her. As past melds hauntingly with present, people who knew Dara are meeting tragic fates. Now, someone is watching Christine's every move--perhaps just the way they once watched Dara, right before she died. If, indeed, she really did die...
The Good Son: A Novel
by Michael GruberNew York Times bestselling author Michael Gruber, a member of "the elite ranks of those who can both chill the blood and challenge the mind" (The Denver Post), delivers a taut, multilayered, riveting novel of suspenseSomewhere in Pakistan, Sonia Laghari and eight fellow members of a symposium on peace are being held captive by armed terrorists. Sonia, a deeply religious woman as well as a Jungian psychologist, has become the de facto leader of the kidnapped group. While her son Theo, an ex-Delta soldier, uses his military connections to find and free the victims, Sonia tries to keep them all alive by working her way into the kidnappers' psyches and interpreting their dreams. With her knowledge of their language, her familiarity with their religion, and her Jungian training, Sonia confounds her captors with her insights and beliefs. Meanwhile, when the kidnappers decide to kill their captives, one by one, in retaliation for perceived crimes against their country, Theo races against the clock to try and save their lives.
Sherlock Holmes: The Hidden Years
by Michael KurlandAn anthology of eleven original Sherlock Homes tales set during the missing years between the apparent death and later return of Sherlock Holmes. Includes the Edgar Award finalist "The Adventure of the Missing Detective" by Gary Lovisi.In 1891, Sherlock Holmes in a struggle with his arch-enemy, the Napoleon of Crime, Professor James Moriarty, plunged with him over the Reichenbach Falls to his inevitable death. All of England - indeed the entire world - mourned the irreplaceable loss of the world's greatest detective. And that's where things stood until 1894 when Holmes suddenly reappeared in London, revealing himself to his friend Dr. John Watson, and resumed his activities as a consulting detective. Holmes remained very quiet and mysterious on those missing three years, never really revealing precisely where he'd been and what he'd done in the 'hidden years."Now, in this anthology of original stories the truth about those thirty-five months is unveiled and Holmes' adventures described. While some stories place Holmes in such familiar locations as New York and San Francisco, others find him high in the Himalayas or above the Arctic Circle. With stories from such writers as Rhys Bowen, Peter Beagle, Carolyn Wheat, Michael Collins and many others, Sherlock Holmes: The Hidden Years is a must-have book for every fan who has every wondered about the untold adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
Frozen: An Ellie Macintosh Thriller (Detective Ellie MacIntosh #1)
by Kate WattersonIn Kate Watterson's thrilling suspense novel Frozen, a small town detective races to catch a serial killer before another woman is taken, and shockingly finds herself trying to prove the main suspect's innocence. Bryce Grantham wants a quiet vacation at his family's cabin. On his first night in town, he meets a lovely girl at a bar and gives her a ride home. The next day, he finds her cell phone in his car. When he tries to return it, Bryce discovers that the young woman has vanished, leaving behind only a bloody shoe. Suddenly Bryce Grantham is the primary suspect in a murder investigation.Detective Ellie MacIntosch has a serial killer on her hands, but without a body, she has few leads and the stalled investigation has her on edge. Bryce Grantham seems to be the perfect suspect.Eighteen months have gone by without a clue, and yet Grantham starts reporting stumbling across the bodies of the missing women with unbelievable frequency. The evidence against him is almost irrefutable…but Ellie's gut tells her the case is not so cut and dry. Before Ellie compromises the investigation, her career, and possibly her life in order to prove Bryce's innocence, she must determine whether he is a manipulative, cold-blooded killer…or the victim of a madman playing a sickening game.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Or the Bull Kills You: A Mystery (Chief Inspector Max Cámara #1)
by Jason WebsterAn accomplished debut mystery set in the high-stakes and decidedly murky world of bullfighting in Valencia, Spain"Either you kill the bull, or the bull kills you." Chief Inspector Max Cámara thinks in proverbs,and he hates one thing above all: bullfighting. One hot afternoon in Valencia, however, he has to stand in for his boss, judging a festival corrida starring Spain's most famous young matador. That night, he is back in the bullring, and what he finds on the blood-stained sand shocks the city of Valencia to its core. Cámara is roped into investigating a grisly murder while dealing with violent shadows from his own past, as well as confronting the suspiciousness of the bullfighting community and the stonewalling of local politicians in full electoral campaign. To top it all, Fallas, the loudest fiesta in the country, has just got underway. For Cámara, it seems his problems have only just begun...
The Cliff House Strangler: A Sarah Woolson Mystery (Sarah Woolson Mysteries #3)
by Shirley TallmanNineteenth-century attorney Sarah Woolson is still trying to get her life together. Against her family's wishes, she opens her own San Francisco law firm, only to find that clients---paying clients, that is---are wary of allowing a woman to manage their legal affairs. Just when her patience, as well as her money, are about to run out, Sarah and her friend and former colleague, Robert Campbell, attend a séance at San Francisco's Cliff House. Making their way through the worst storm of the season, they arrive at their destination to find themselves in for much more than, in Robert's words, "silly parlor tricks." After a dramatic display of spirit apparitions, flying trumpets, and phantom music, Madame Olga Karpova---a renowned Russian clairvoyant---and her guests make a grisly discovery: One of the twelve people seated at the table has been brutally strangled.Later, when two more séance participants are found slain, Sarah is pressed into defending the accused murderer. Working on her client's case, she quickly finds herself at the center of a complicated murder plot involving ghosts, gypsies, and City Hall, all the while facing off with Robert in a volatile legal battle and investigating her brother Frederick's shady political dealings. Hardly proper behavior for a nineteenth-century woman, but Sarah wouldn't have it any other way.Feisty and determined, Sarah continues to flout the notions of "proper" femininity in this series that is a turn-of-the-century answer to Legally Blonde.
Donnybrook: A Novel
by Frank BillNow A Major Motion Picture The raw and as-insane-as-anticipated first novel from Frank Bill, author of Crimes in Southern Indiana The Donnybrook is a three-day bare-knuckle tournament held on a thousand-acre plot out in the sticks of southern Indiana. Twenty fighters. One wire-fence ring. Fight until only one man is left standing while a rowdy festival of onlookers—drunk and high on whatever's on offer—bet on the fighters. Jarhead is a desperate man who'd do just about anything to feed his children. He's also the toughest fighter in southeastern Kentucky, and he's convinced that his ticket to a better life is one last fight with a cash prize so big it'll solve all his problems. Meanwhile, there's Chainsaw Angus—an undefeated master fighter who isn't too keen on getting his face punched anymore, so he and his sister, Liz, have started cooking meth. And they get in deep. So deep that Liz wants it all for herself, and she might just be ready to kill her brother for it. One more showdown to take place at the Donnybrook. As we travel through the backwoods to get to the Donnybrook, we meet a cast of nasty, ruined characters driven to all sorts of evil, all in the name of getting their fix—drugs, violence, sex, money, honor. Donnybrook is exactly the fearless, explosive, amphetamine-fueled journey you'd expect from Frank Bill's first novel . . . and then some.
The Empire of Shadows (Tom Braddock Series #2)
by Richard E. CrabbeNew York City, August 1889: within sight of Madison Square Park, a man lays dead in a darkened construction site. Jim Tupper, a Mohawk of the Iroquois nation, stands over the body. Within minutes he's seen. And as police whistles scream in the night, he runs, knowing there is but one place to hide. With the police hounding him, Tupper makes his way back to the place he knows best-the vast, unsettled Adirondack wilderness. What he finds upon his return is both familiar and strange, a homeland torn by forces from within and without. But after surviving a deadly chase through the streets, back alleys, and underworld haunts of a teeming lower Manhattan, he is home, and Tupper sinks beneath the surface of the Adirondack forest, blending back into the landscape of his youth. But he has left a trail of death behind, a trail leading dangerously close to a fantastic luxury hotel deep in the heart of the wilderness where Captain Tom Braddock and his family are vacationing. Worlds collide when Tom's son becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a young maid at the hotel. To clear him, Braddock has no choice but to find the illusive Indian, a man who knows the forest as well as Tom knows the streets. Determined to catch Tupper no matter the cost, Braddock launches an epic chase through more than a hundred miles of Adirondack lakes, rivers and forest, his guide the legendary Mitchell Sabattis.But not all in the Adirondacks is as it appears. Powerful forces have been set in motion, and as developers make manifest their need to rein in the wilderness, Tom too wonders what the vast forests might hold. Will he find the clues he needs to exonerate his son and put a killer behind bars? Or will the great forest smother its secrets in shadow until its price has been paid in blood?
Havana Requiem: A Legal Thriller
by Paul GoldsteinFueled by alcohol and legal brilliance, Michael Seeley once oversaw his law firm's most successful litigation. Until it all fell apart. Recklessness and overreach cost him his wife, his job, and likely the life of his last client, a Chinese dissident journalist. Havana Requiem, the latest Seeley novel from the acclaimed author Paul Goldstein, opens after a year's sobriety has earned Seeley back most of what he lost: the partnership in his Manhattan law firm, if not his corner office; the wary respect of most of his partners; the lucrative clients—but not the gin-sharpened passion.Then the renowned Cuban musician Héctor Reynoso enters his office with a simple request: help him and other composers who defined Cuba's musical golden age of the 1940s and '50s—the music that made the Buena Vista Social Club internationally famous—reclaim the copyright to their work. When Reynoso goes missing, Seeley's reluctant promise to help draws him progressively deeper into Havana's violent underbelly and a decades-long conspiracy that runs from the partners in his firm to the U.S. State Department to Cuba's security police, who are willing to do anything to suppress the truth. In the heat of Havana, Seeley will lose himself to his worst and best passions as his pursuit of justice becomes a desperate gambit to save not only his composers but the stunning Amaryll, who is playing her own dangerous game.
Killer Stuff: A Jane Wheel Mystery (Jane Wheel Mysteries #1)
by Sharon FifferIn this dynamite series debut, Sharon Fiffer has introduced an engaging and enterprising heroine in Jane Wheel. Recently laid off from her advertising job, separated from her husband Charley, and colliding head-on with a midlife crisis, Jane is trying to make ends meet as an antique "picker" foraging for killer stuff at suburban Chicago's estate sales and auctions, garage sales and flea markets.tBefore long she's addicted to the hunt, spending her Friday nights with the classified ads and a street map, outlining her weekend plan of attack. Jane knows that finding the real treasures is all about being in the right place at the right time. But just as she's settling in to her new routine, Jane finds herself in just the wrong place and at quite the wrong time: stumbling over her neighbor Sandy's dead body. Soon she's the prime suspect. After all, everyone on the block seems to have seen her kissing Sandy's husband at a recent dinner party. Leaning on her best friend Tim, a flower shop owner and fellow junk hound, as well as Evanston police detective Bruce Oh, Jane has no choice but to hunt for the truth. Hopefully her knack for uncovering valuables in the least likely of places will extend to discovering clues as well. Like the vintage postcards, Bakelite buttons, and Fulper lamps that she dreams of finding, to Jane the truth just might be priceless.Sharon Fiffer's mystery debut is a fabulously entertaining read and an intriguing puzzle featuring a heroine that's a dynamic mix of Miss Marple, Kinsey Millhone, and Leigh and Leslie Keno.
Amnesia (Peter Zak Mysteries #1)
by G. H. EphronIf the only witness to a murder has amnesia, how do you catch the killer? Instead of matching fingerprints or DNA, forensic psychologist Dr. Peter Zak solves cases by studying psychological clues and phenomena. Peter, whose specialty is the brain and behavior, consults for the Boston public defenders office, analyzing the thought processes and personalities of witnesses and defendants. Sylvia Jackson was shot in the head and left for dead, her boyfriend murdered. Waking from a coma after six weeks, she remembers nothing-until three months later, when she begins to recall details of the crime and the killer. Finally, Syl accuses her ex-husband, remembering what seems like incontrovertible evidence of his guilt. But Stuart Jackson seems destroyed by his ex's ordeal; could he really be guilty of this vicious crime? Peter quit consulting on trials a year ago when his wife was brutally murdered by a killer angered by Peter's suggestion of an insanity defense. But when his old colleagues call for help with this bizarre case, he's hooked. It's Peter's job to determine how reliable Syl's memory really is, and to use those memories to uncover the truth. Amnesia is guaranteed to be the start of an intriguing and original crime series.
A Dark Anatomy: A Mystery (Cragg & Fidelis Mysteries #1)
by Robin BlakeIn 1740s England, the roots of evil run deep...The year is 1740. George II is on the throne, but England's remoter provinces remain largely a law unto themselves. In Lancashire a grim discovery has been made: a squire's wife, Dolores Brockletower, lies in the woods above her home at Garlick Hall, her throat brutally slashed.Called to the scene, Coroner Titus Cragg finds the Brockletower household awash with rumor and suspicion. He enlists the help of his astute young friend, doctor Luke Fidelis, to throw light on the case.But this is a world in which forensic science is in its infancy, and policing hardly exists. Embarking on their first gripping investigation, Cragg and Fidelis are faced with the superstition of witnesses, obstruction by local officials, and denunciations from the squire himself. A Dark Anatomy marks the arrival of a remarkable new voice in mystery and a pair of detectives both cunning and complex.
The Catholic School: A Novel
by Edoardo AlbinatiA semiautobiographical coming-of-age story, framed by the harrowing 1975 Circeo massacreEdoardo Albinati’s The Catholic School, the winner of Italy’s most prestigious award, The Strega Prize, is a powerful investigation of the heart and soul of contemporary Italy.Three well-off young men—former students at Rome’s prestigious all-boys Catholic high school San Leone Magno—brutally tortured, raped, and murdered two young women in 1975. The event, which came to be known as the Circeo massacre, shocked and captivated the country, exposing the violence and dark underbelly of the upper middle class at a moment when the traditional structures of family and religion were seen as under threat.It is this environment, the halls of San Leone Magno in the late 1960s and the 1970s, that Edoardo Albinati takes as his subject. His experience at the school, reflections on his adolescence, and thoughts on the forces that produced contemporary Italy are painstakingly and thoughtfully rendered, producing a remarkable blend of memoir, coming-of-age novel, and true-crime story. Along with indelible portraits of his teachers and fellow classmates—the charming Arbus, the literature teacher Cosmos, and his only Fascist friend, Max—Albinati also gives us his nuanced reflections on the legacy of abuse, the Italian bourgeoisie, and the relationship between sex, violence, and masculinity.
Bellfield Hall: Or, The Deductions of Miss Dido Kent (Dido Kent Investigations #1)
by Anna Dean1805. An engagement party is taking place for Mr Richard Montague, son of wealthy landowner Sir Edgar Montague, and his fiancee Catherine. During a dance with his beloved, a strange thing happens: a man appears at Richard's shoulder and appears to communicate something to him without saying a word. Instantly breaking off the engagement, he rushes off to speak to his father, never to be seen again. Distraught with worry, Catherine sends for her spinster aunt, Miss Dido Kent, who has a penchant for solving mysteries. Catherine pleads with her to find her fiance and to discover the truth behind his disappearance. It's going to take a lot of logical thinking to untangle the complex threads of this multi-layered mystery, and Miss Dido Kent is just the woman to do it.
The Body in the Vestibule: A Faith Fairchild Mystery (The Faith Fairchild Series #4)
by Katherine Hall PageFaith Fairchild returns in the fourth book in Katherine Hall Page's beloved cozy mystery series with The Body in the Vestibule.Satisfying her hunger for epicurean adventure in the French provinces, small town caterer and minister's wife Faith Fairchild decides to throw the perfect dinner party. But during cleanup after the last guest has departed her gastronomical triumph, she encounters something neither expected nor welcome: a dead body lying in her vestibule. Unfortunately it doesn't help la belle americaine's credibility when the corpse vanishes before the local gendarmes arrive. But Faith realizes that, though the police refuse to take her seriously, a killer just might. And if she doesn't get to the bottom of this fiendish French conundrum, Faith's successful feast could end up being her last.
Beneath the Dark Ice: A Novel (Alex Hunter)
by Greig BeckFrom debut thriller author Greig Beck comes Beneath the Ice, a mix of the scientific and the supernatural ... When a plane crashes into the Antarctic ice, exposing an enormous cave system, a rescue and research team is dispatched. Twenty-four hours later, all contact is lost. Captain Alex Hunter and his highly trained commandos, along with a team of scientists, are fast tracked to the hot zone to find out what went wrong. Meanwhile, the alluring petrobiologist Aimee Weir is sent to follow up on the detection of a vast underground reservoir. If the unidentified substance proves to be oil, every country in the world will want to know about it—even wage war over it. Or worse.Once suspended into the caves, Alex, Aimee, and the others can't locate a single survivor—or even a trace of their remains. Nor is there a energy source, only specters of the dead haunting the tunnels. But soon they will discover that something very much alive is brewing beneath the surface. It is a force that dates back to the very dawn of time—an ancient terror that hunts and kills to survive…
The Only Good Priest: A Mystery (Tom & Scott Mysteries #3)
by Mark Richard ZubroFather Sebastian, the only good priest everybody knows, is dead. Pastor of a parish outside Chicago, Father Sebastian was also involved in the gay community through his work with Faith, the gay Catholic organization the diocese is trying to drive out of the church.High school teacher Tom mason, who has gained some local notoriety from his involvement in a couple of murder cases, is asked by friends to look into the priest's death; was it murder? Along with his lover Scott Carpenter, a professional baseball player, Tom plunges into ecclesiastical intrigues, the hidden underground of gay Chicago and the tragedies caused by a hypocritical church.
Undertow (Cutter Cay #1)
by Cherry AdairSHE TAKES THE PLUNGE.Teal Williams is content with her career as a ship's master mechanic—until Zane Cutter, the "Casanova of the Caribbean," makes her an offer she can't refuse: to climb on board with him for a real-life treasure hunt. Teal must help him dredge up a shipwrecked vessel containing an abundance of gold, silver, and emeralds—and she'll claim part of the prize.HE'S BLOWN OFF COURSE.Zane needs a mechanic—not a lover—and Teal, who can also dive, is perfect for the job. So it suits him just fine that Teal is completely immune to his charms…or so he tells himself. But with a deadly enemy in their midst—one who's silently edging closer—Zane and Teal sink into troubled waters. Trapped in the middle of a perilous sea, they have no one to turn to but each other as they face down a danger that runs unfathomably deep—and a passion that runs even deeper…
The Russian Hill Murders: A Sarah Woolson Mystery (Sarah Woolson Mysteries #2)
by Shirley TallmanThough her own San Francisco law firm barely tolerates her, gutsy young attorney Sarah Woolson flouts proper feminine behavior in this nineteenth-century answer to Legally Blonde. While her mother begs her to settle down, her chauvinistic boss tries to come up with ever more spiteful ways to pressure his only female associate into quitting. Naturally, Sarah digs in her heels and vows to retain her position at any cost. Besides, she has no intention of straying too far from the action.When the wife of wealthy society entrepreneur Leonard Godfrey drops dead of an apparent heart attack at a charity dinner for the new Women and Children's Hospital, Sarah's curiosity gets the better of her. But no one will believe in her theory that Caroline Godfrey's death was not natural---until several more people affiliated with the hospital die of inexplicable causes.Meanwhile, when a pregnant widow whose husband has died in a sweatshop fire asks for Sarah's help in finding the owner so that she can sue for recompense, our feisty heroine insists on taking the case against her boss's orders. With the help of her colleague Robert Campbell and an eager young hansom cabdriver named Eddie, Sarah goes on a manhunt for Killy Doyle, the menacing head of the factory underworld. But she can't ignore the mysterious deaths at the Women and Children's Hospital---especially when the hospital's Chinese chef is arrested for the murders and the Chinese community's most powerful Tong Lord asks her to defend him.Faced with her first criminal trial, Sarah stops at nothing to determine the killer's identity. But in trying to exonerate her client, she places her own life in danger. Will Sarah figure out who the murderer is, or will she be the final victim?
Dogs and Goddesses: A Novel
by Anne Stuart Jennifer Crusie Lani Diane RichAbby has just arrived in Summerville, Ohio, with her placid Newfoundland, Bowser. She's reluctantly inherited her grandmother's coffee shop, but it's not long before she's brewing up trouble in the form of magical baked goods and steaming up her life with an exasperating college professor. And then there's Daisy, a web code writer, and her hyperactive Jack Russell, Bailey. Her tightly-wound world spins out of control when she discovers the chaos within and meets a mysterious dog trainer whose teaching style is definitely hands-on.Finally there's Shar, professor of ancient history at Summerville College, who wakes up one morning to find her neurotic dachshund, Wolfie, snarling at an implacable god sitting at her kitchen table, the first thing in her life she hasn't been able to footnote. What on earth is going on in this unearthly little town? It's up to Abby, Daisy, and Shar to find out before an ancient goddess takes over Southern Ohio, and they all end up in the apocalyptic doghouse…
The Eye of the Abyss: A Novel
by Marshall BrowneIt is Germany, 1938, and Franz Schmidt is the chief auditor in a commercial bank in a provincial city. But as Schmidt will soon learn, the bank's prestigious new client, the Nazi party, is at once its least desirable. Schmidt will oversee their account, and soon, he is embroiled in the duplicity, violence and horror that is Nazi Germany. Schmidt can't help but be involved, and the first victim of the harsh realities of the Germans' politics is a Jewish secretary whom Franz tries to help, much to his wife's distress. As Schmidt finds himself caught up in dangerous political machinations, he also finds himself, as the result of an act of compassion, under deadly suspicion. The Schmidts struggle to protect their marriage and their family without compromising their sense of decency, but eventually, Franz's world explodes. As events spin out of control, Franz must act, and he seeks revenge on those responsible by attempting a massive fraud on the Party itself. In Eye of the Abyss, Marshall Browne crafts an intelligent historical thriller reminiscent of Philip Kerr, Christopher Reich and Alan Furst with a riveting pace and spellbinding plot all his own.
Peril at Somner House: A Mystery Featuring Daphne du Maurier (Daphne du Maurier Mysteries #2)
by Joanna ChallisAfter her adventures in Murder on the Cliffs, young Daphne du Maurier travels to a remote island off the coast of Cornwall to visit the estate of Lord and Lady Trevalyan. Somner House, enchanting amidst lush exotic wilderness and only a moment's walk to the sea, beguiles Daphne, but just as looming winter storms begin to envelop the island, the Lord is found murdered while the Lady is found in the arms of a lover. Even Daphne with her torrid imagination could not have dreamed that she would become ensnared in the vile, villainous schemes being hatched within the walls of Somner House—or that a handsome stranger would inspire her to plumb the depths of a great mystery.
Purgatory Chasm: A Mystery (The Conway Sax Mysteries #1)
by Steve UlfelderIn the tradition of Robert B. Parker and Dennis Lehane, Steve Ulfelder's crackling mystery features a gritty, razor-sharp new voice in crime fiction. Conway Sax isn't a hired gun or a wise-cracking urbanite. He's just a mechanic trying to make his way, a blue-collar guy whose ideas about family and loyalty are as deeply held as they are strong. "Tander Phigg was an asshole, but he was also a Barnburner. Barnburners saved my life. I help them when I can. No exceptions."The job seems simple. Conway Sax, a no-nonsense auto mechanic with a knack for solving difficult problems, has never liked obnoxious blowhard Tander Phigg. But a promise is a promise. Tander's a Barnburner, a member of the unique Alcoholics Anonymous group that rescued Conway, and when a Barnburner has a problem, Conway takes care of it. Besides, all Tander wants is to get back his baby, a vintage Mercedes that's been in a shady auto shop far too long.But Conway soon discovers there's much more to the problem than Tander first let on – especially when Tander turns up dead. Conway was the last person seen with the victim, and on top of that, he has a record, making him the cops' top suspect. He must catch the killer to clear himself, but beyond that, he's a man who honors his promises, even when the guy he made them to is dead.