Dark Mystery

Dorothy and her husband are invited by friends to Branston Abbey for a country house weekend. Thirteen other guests she hardly knows. A rambling Tudor mansion, full of secrets. What could possibly go wrong? A lovely dinner is just getting into its stride when a huge storm rolls in. The lights go out. And with no electricity or phone service, and cut off by flood waters, Dorothy feels like she’s stuck in an Agatha Christie mystery. A guest is found unconscious, another disappears, and there’s a horrifying discovery in one of the bedrooms.

When three bodies turn up in a landfill outside of Philadelphia, FBI profiler Violet Darger heads to Pennsylvania to investigate. Right away there's a major complication. The emaciated corpses appear to have been starved to death. Darger arrives in time for the autopsies. As she watches the withered bodies laid out on the stainless steel slabs of the morgue, their faces crusted with sandy soil, skin pulled taut around knobby cheekbones, she thinks: what kind of a person could carry out such harsh acts?

Victoria stood on the ledge known as Suicide Cliffs and stared down at the raging surf and jagged rocks below. Next to her stood Professor Mark Veno, a mysterious visitor to Collinwood. He spoke to her in a low, sinister voice. “Think of all those who threw themselves from these very rocks.”His eyes seemed to burn into hers.

The dog was standing by the tree, four paws firmly planted, his hackles up. His owner, who had run after him through the woods, stopped and gasped aloud in shock. In front of them, hanging from the ancient yew tree, was a body. Blood dripped down the victim’s pale skin, where strange symbols had been crudely carved. The eyes stared straight ahead. Empty. Unseeing.

PI Miranda Steele’s best friend is having the time of her life in Paris, France. After winning first prize in a cooking contest, she’s learning to bake dark chocolate delicacies from the best chef in the city. But when the love of her life goes missing, her dream trip turns into a nightmare. She turns to the only people she can trust. As fast as they can, Miranda and Parker hop a plane to France. But the hunt to find their friend and colleague turns out to be hopeless. Soon they find themselves embroiled in a deadly conspiracy that could mean the end of all of them.

Recently drummed out of a prestigious local university and its forensic research laboratory for blowing the whistle on pillars of the community, Dr. Cornell Westerly is a promising forensic scientist with a brand-new diploma and a California license plate. He's an apprentice crime scene investigator in need of a steady job to pay the rent. Westerly, an expert in DNA analysis, finds that opportunity with Detective Dash Brogan of the Los Angeles Police Department, a man steeped in the hard-boiled, old-school police procedurals of bygone times.

Three separate yet strangely connected novellas kick off Crystal Lake’s Dark Tide series with stories of Mystery and Suspense.

When a boarding school master at an exclusive boys' school is shot dead, it is deemed accidental. A lazy and usually drunk detective is sent to write up the report. Cardilini unexpectedly does not cooperate, as he becomes riled by the privileged arrogance of those at the school. He used to have instincts. Perhaps he should follow them now...With no real evidence he declares the shooting a murder and puts himself on a collision course with the powerful and elite of Perth. As he peels back layers, the school's dark secrets begin to emerge.

The auction of Shady Pines, a creepy, reportedly haunted old motel on the outskirts of town, causes an influx of real estate investors from near and far — some nice, some nasty, and all with plans for the property. As the tempers begin to flare, Lilly and her good friend, Bree Milford who owns the local B&B, visit Shady Pines to check out the potential new competition. But instead of answers, they discover the lifeless body of one of the most vocal (and irritating) investors.

Ever since Abigail moved to the cozy seaside town of Wallace Point, intrigue continues to unfold. She already solved one murder, only to have another spring up at a nearby motel, thought to be the work of the infamous Wallace Point Ripper. To further complicate things, James Wilson, a hot-headed PI, arrives in town. Abigail is convinced that James is up to something. The whole town, however, welcomes Sheriff Wilson’s prodigal son with a warm embrace, leaving it up to Abigail to uncover his secrets herself.

Poet Kitty Clark has waited her entire life to see a total eclipse of the sun. News of an impending eclipse thrills her until she learns it will be visible only from Nantucket, where her ex-lover Joe Green recently moved with his new wife. Unable to resist the astronomical lure, she flies from Boston and makes her way to an isolated lighthouse, hoping to avoid Joe. The eclipse itself is overwhelming. When the sun returns a few minutes later, Kitty is standing over the bloodied body of Mrs. Joe Green, claiming "the moon did it."

In the follow-up to One-Shot Harry, fearless crime photographer and occasional private eye Harry Ingram finds himself in the LAPD’s crosshairs after capturing damning evidence of police brutality. An atmospheric dive into a city on the brink that’s brimming with remarkable historical detail, Ash Dark as Night is perfect for fans of Walter Mosley and James Ellroy. Los Angeles, August 1965. Anger and pent-up frustrations boil over in the Watts neighborhood after a traffic stop of two Black motorists.

Jonathan Crowley is having a problem with dead men. They just keep getting back on their feet. From the ghost dancers at a strange burial site to the corpse of a man he literally just killed, the dead refuse to lay down and die, and now it's up to Crowley and his traveling companion Lucas Slate to try to figure out why the dead are restless and determined to kill whatever crosses their paths.

An unidentified woman’s body is found in a remote garden in Kent. With the owners not in residence, the only people with legitimate access are the caretaker, Johnny, and landscape gardeners Adam Sarjeant and his employer, Mog. Afraid of her son falling under suspicion, Libby Sarjeant, with her friend Fran, are determined to find the murderer, with or without the assistance of the police in the person of Chief Detective Inspector Ian Connell.

In 1914, fear and paranoia rule the high seas. Iain Cosgrove sets sail for a research trip aboard the last of Dundee’s once-grand sealing fleet. Fueled by rum and the eerie tales of the crew, they obsess over ancient superstitions, which Iain dismisses as simple lore...until they reach the frigid Arctic seas. Soon, Iain begins to question his beliefs. But none of them are prepared for what they are about face in the frigid, dark waters of the north.

Brenda Strange is back and is spooked by a fishy apparition that leaves wet footprints behind. During her most current murder investigation, she's got the living and the dead wanting a piece of the action.

In Fever in the Dark, Fiona and Annie return home from their one-year anniversary trip to discover that their poignant proposal video has been posted on YouTube and has garnered hundreds of thousands of hits. Their fame comes just on the heels of the Supreme Court's decision to legalize gay marriage across the country. As some of the attention turns vicious, Fiona pulls in an old friend, private investigator Jane Lawless, to help separate the harmless threats from the potentially harmful. Then a murder occurs, and Annie and Fiona are both suspects.

A perfectly plotted crime is foiled by a runaway bank clerk as Inspector Littlejohn navigates impersonation, forgery, embezzlement...and a murder. It was meant to be a fool-proof scheme. The victim was a recluse, cut off from the world after the death of his wife. Nobody would think it strange when they didn't see him. Nobody would make inquiries. Yet, even the most meticulous of criminals can be caught out, especially if they don't leave room for human error.

Brett Buchanan never imagined herself returning to Crestwood, Washington, where her sister was murdered 20 years ago. But when she's offered a detective position with the local police department, she decides to take the job. Between figuring out how to fit in as the squad's first female detective and caring for her grandmother who is showing signs of dementia, Brett doesn't have much time to think about her sister's cold case.

Lena is starting to feel like having it all may actually be possible! She and suspense novelist Camilla Graham are busily plotting their next novel and she's got a brand-new diamond ring on her finger thanks to her fiance, Sam West. The only blot on her Blue Lake life is a strange new corporation that has come to town called Plastisource. They seem to be intent on gobbling up prime real estate and changing the landscape of Lena's lovely adopted home. When she and Sam get a call from their good friend (and Blue Lake detective) Doug saying that his girlfriend - and Lena's pal Belinda - isn't answering her phone and missed a date with him, they all head out to her home.