Mystery Girl

The Halloween Parade is coming up, and former CIA agent-turned-suburbanite Merry Wrath's Girl Scout Troop hopes to repeat a 1st place trophy for the 3rd year in a row. But when they find a dead woman dressed as a witch, a mysterious treasure, and face a ruthless kidnapping, it looks like Merry's in for a different kind of triple threat. To add fuel to her bonfire, Mom's in town—meaning Merry has to replace all that bullet-riddled furniture in the guest room—and with her wedding date approaching, her groom-to-be's twin taxidermist sisters are insisting on doing the decorating.

She bites her nails as she steals a glance at the stranger in the pickup truck beside her. She trusted him when he offered her a ride, but now, as he turns onto a deserted road leading into a dark pine forest, she knows she’s made a huge mistake. Special agent Beth Katz races through the dense Montana woodland toward a small, isolated cabin. She’s investigating the disappearance of her partner Dax Styles’s sister who went missing as she walked home from school, and Beth finally has a solid lead.

Dear Diary... Imagine my surprise when I heard that my old friend, Alex Burgess, was finally making his first movie - right here in River Heights! And he was sweet enough to invite George, Bess, and me for an inside glimpse behind the scenes. Of course, George wants to get a closer look at the cameras, and Bess is dying for a peek at the film's leading man.

The daughter of two astronauts, Romy Silvers is no stranger to life in space. But she never knew how isolating the universe could be until her parents’ tragic deaths left her alone on the Infinity, a spaceship speeding away from Earth. It seems like a dream come true when NASA alerts her that another ship, the Eternity, will be joining the Infinity. Romy begins exchanging messages with J, the captain of the Eternity. But as the Eternity gets closer, Romy learns there’s more to J’s mission than she could have imagined.

A girl falls from the penthouse floor of an apartment in Washington, DC. Media mogul Richard Wanton owns the apartment and is seen standing on the balcony when the girl falls. He is accused of killing her, but the FBI struggles to find enough solid evidence to convict him. They have a witness, someone who was in the apartment when it happened, but she doesn’t want to talk to them. She’ll only speak to one person: ex-FBI profiler Eva Rae Thomas. The problem is, Eva Rae Thomas has no interest in talking to her. But Eva Rae Thomas isn’t someone who can leave a case alone.

Think your dreams are private? Think again. As a dreamwalker, I make my living by exploring your subconscious mind—soothing your night terrors, inspiring new ideas, or unearthing hidden memories. Luckily, it’s a well-paying gig; I need the cash to cover my mom’s growing medical bills, and I’m running out of time to save her. Enter Valerian, an uber-handsome illusionist who somehow knows just what to say to make me melt. More importantly, he offers me a job that comes with a paycheck big enough to solve all my problems.

To many that know her, FBI agent Blake Wilder is a pillar for truth and the dealer of justice. When faced with threats and adversity, you can count on her to continue to fight for what is right. With her sister Kit clinging to life after being attacked, Blake and her team are called away to solve a case in North Dakota. Teenage girls from prominent families are going missing, and the local sheriff is at a loss to understand who’s taking them—or why.

A serial killer stalks women in rural Ohio. He is deranged but brilliant, known only by the grotesque nickname the media has given him - The Doll Parts Killer. The name is apt. He dismembers his victims and leaves them in garbage bags in public places. A residential neighborhood. Next to a roller rink. Behind a Burger King. The investigation is a disaster. No physical evidence. Unreliable witnesses. To make matters worse, the FBI has lost contact with the star profiler working the case.

Everly Zara, a beautiful young woman, is found dead in the bedroom of the manor. The news is shocking and disturbing to everyone who knows her. But the heartbreaking death of a beautiful young woman may not be as straightforward as everyone thought. The further Emma dives into the case, the more she realizes, everything is not as it seems. As secrets from Everly's past rise to the surface, the shocking nature of it discovered.

Edgar Award-winning author Nancy Springer captivates young listeners with mysteries that feature Sherlock Holmes’ little sister Enola. Abandoned by her mother and fearing her brothers will exile her to a finishing school, 14-year-old Enola lives a lonely London existence. But when someone kidnaps her elderly landlady—the closest thing she has to family these days—the feisty heroine will do whatever it takes to find her.

Eighteen-year-old Addie Blackwood regrets nothing more than one horrible, mistake-filled night last summer. Hours after she hurled the worst words she could think of at her sister, Fiona was found dead at the bottom of a ravine. The police ruled her death an accident, but Addie’s never bought it. Her ballet-prodigy sister didn’t slip and fall; she was pushed. And Addie’s number one suspect: Thatcher Montgomery, the rich kid down the street who always had a thing for Fiona. But when Thatcher is found dead in the same ravine, Addie must admit she was wrong.

It’s that time of the year again in the quaint town of Sherwood. The festivities are just about to commence. But this year, everyone is cautious. As FBI agent Emma Griffin and her family are trying to enjoy the holidays together, a serial-killer is stalking Sherwood. Leaving behind gift-wrapped horrors beneath the trees in various public places.

After tragedy strikes their home, Frederick Chandler, a stern, irritable, and violent widower, pulls his teenage daughter, Sydney, out of school and locks her in his attic. He justifies his actions by claiming he’s protecting her from a cruel world while homeschooling her. But, when a new neighbor moves into the house next door and their teenage son, Seth, interferes with his plans, Frederick begins to tighten his grip on Sydney, and Sydney starts fighting back. Discipline and homeschooling quickly turn into abuse and lessons of violence.

On a fateful summer morning in 1986, two 11-year-old girls meet for the first time. By the end of the day, they will both be charged with murder. Twenty-five years later, journalist Kirsty Lindsay is reporting on a series of sickening attacks on young female tourists in a seaside vacation town when her investigation leads her to interview carnival cleaner Amber Gordon. For Kirsty and Amber, it's the first time they've seen each other since that dark day so many years ago.

Dear Diary... Who knew a sports field could cause so much drama? That's what Bess, George, and I are investigating. Ever since George's cousin, Carrie Kim, announced her candidacy for city council, along with her platform of building a new football field and a state-of-the-art sports complex, someone has been trying to sabotage the campaign! I think the Green Club may be behind this. I understand being concerned about the environment, but someone is taking it too far.

Frank Rath thought he was done with murder when he turned in his detective's badge to become a private investigator and raise a daughter alone. Then the police in his remote rural community of Canaan find an '89 Monte Carlo abandoned by the side of the road, and the beautiful teenage girl who owned the car seems to have disappeared without a trace. Soon Rath's investigation brings him face to face with the darkest abominations of the human soul.

For seven years bad luck has followed Ivy around like a dog on a leash. Her father disappeared. Her mother is a washed up beauty pageant winner. Her aunt Viola has died. Viola did leave Ivy and her mother a house on Gumm Street, but it's not much of a house, and Ivy's next-door neighbors (bookish Pru, stuck-up Cat, and wannabe adventurer Franny) are worse than unfriendly. But then a mysterious pair of ruby red slippers turn up, and the four girls are swept away.

It’s been weeks since Mena and the other girls of Innovations Academy escaped their elite boarding school. Although traumatized by the violence and experimentations that occurred there, Mena quickly discovers that the outside world can be just as unwelcoming and cruel. With no one else to turn to, the girls only have each other - and the revenge-fueled desire to shut down the corporation that imprisoned them.

Odette Brown has lived her entire life on the fringes of Deane, a small Australian country town. Dark secrets simmer beneath the surface of Deane—secrets that could explain why Odette's daughter, Lila, left her one-year-old daughter, Sissy, and never came back, or why Sissy has white skin when her family is Aboriginal. For thirteen years, Odette has quietly raised her granddaughter without drawing notice from welfare authorities who remove fair-skinned Aboriginal children from their families. But the arrival of a new policeman throws the Brown women's lives off-kilter.

I wrap my arms around the tree trunk, pressing my cheek against it until the bark digs in and the missing poster is finally secured. I try not to look at the photograph on it. At the features so similar to mine. Perhaps this will be the year someone comes forward. Were crucial mistakes made by detectives from the very beginning? Could the pressure of living two lives have led my sister to run away - or even end it? Or did someone in her tight circle of friends and family have reason to want her gone? Someone out there must know something.