Mystery Reads

Tony Freeman rescued Mersiha when she was fighting for her life in war-torn Yugoslavia. Now she is his adopted daughter, the perfect all-American girl - and the past is another country. Or so it seems. But Mersiha has been trained to kill. And when she discovers that Freeman’s company is subject to a sinister takeover bid, she decides to help. Whatever the risks. The consequences of her actions are lethal - for Mersiha has unearthed a conspiracy of terrifying proportions.…

The war, they said, would be over by Christmas. That was in 1939, and it is now January 1944. An exhausted Britain faces another year of conflict. Meanwhile, small coastal villages in Devon are facing an invasion from an army just as foreign as that of the Germans. The Americans are smart, well-fed and well-equipped, and they have swept the bewildered citizens of South Devon from their homes in deadly earnest rehearsal for D-Day.

Everything is not as it seems during those balmy summer days at one of Oxford’s most prestigious colleges. Lorcan Greene, wealthy gallery owner and expert forgery-spotter, is hired by Detective Braine of the Art Fraud Squad to investigate a tip-off in Oxford. But Lorcan gets more than he bargains for, falling in love with talented art student Frederica Delacroix. But what’s she hiding and could she even be involved in forgery herself?

The plane can't land. It can't turn back. And the fuel's running out. Reaching the end of a four-hour flight, the crew of Phoenix Flight 375 find themselves facing an impossible dilemma: terrible weather, a natural disaster, and a silent killer force them to decide not how to live, but how they might have to die. Half of the passengers want to survive. The others want a quick and painless end. They have one hour of fuel remaining, and then their choices will be over.

A gold-digging spouse who is also a serial killer.... The beautiful owner of a women’s dress shop brutally murdered on the floor.... A sexy dame who shows up unannounced at Dick Moonlight PI’s office claiming she’s about to be murdered.... Two numbskulls who decide to rob a home for the aged during bingo night.... These are just a few of the sexy, hard-boiled, and noir tales you’ll find in this first-ever volume of collected short stories by Thriller and PWA Shamus Award-winner Vincent Zandri.

From the Big Island to Kauai, the far side of Maui to the bustling streets of Honolulu, experience paradise in all its glory...and darkness. This collection of 10 stories brings out the beauty of the islands, the passion of the tropics, and, yes, murder. Join 10 writers who love the islands and want you to savor the tropics while benefiting literacy in Hawaii.

In the picturesque coastal town of Fire Beach, Dr. Garrett Young seeks redemption from a troubled past by dedicating his life to healing. Little does he know that his journey toward salvation will lead him down a perilous path of unexpected love and life-threatening danger. As Garrett rebuilds his life, he finds solace in the arms of Renee Mackey, one of his dedicated nurses. Despite her skepticism about love at first sight, Renee can't deny the magnetic pull between them. However, their budding romance takes a dark turn when Garrett is mysteriously kidnapped.

When headstrong Nesta Aldernay comes to Oxford, it’s to set the record straight for her father. Not to get mixed up in a tragedy, and certainly not to seduce the attractive if somewhat complicated Detective Inspector Lisle Jarvis. She’s only there to clear her father’s name. Sir Vivian Dalrymple of St Bede’s College tries to help her, but winds up dead. And Nesta was one of the last people to see Sir Vivian alive. What has she got herself into?

It's Mardi Gras, and ace crime reporter Sam Adams has flown to New Orleans to visit her old college roomie, Kitty, whose debutante niece is about to be crowned queen of Comus. At the airport, Sam first glimpses Harry Zack, a songwriter-turned-insurance-investigator, who's way too cute. When death stalks St. Charles Avenue in the wake of Comus' ball, Sam and Harry's paths collide...and sparks fly in more ways than one.

Electricity is dangerous, sometimes deadly. Accident or murder? Co-workers collaborate to uncover the truth. An anonymous letter warns MC Fiona to get out. Suspenseful and engaging, greed and corporate cover-ups dictate the price consumers pay for power and light....

When Claude's little sister, Amity, runs off in forbidden Badwell Woods—where children disappear—Deliah, Sam and Claude follow her to a mysterious mansion. Inside, time has frozen in the 1930s and an invitation promises a devious party game. Not long after they find a terrified Amity, hiding from 'ghosts', the floor beneath their feet starts to twist and turn: the rooms are changing places. The house has rearranged itself like a giant Rubik's cube. To escape, they must solve the puzzle—and the century-old mystery of a girl who disappeared.

John has been labelled an overnight success after one of his novels was adapted into a box-office movie. But lately, John has been struggling with writer’s block and is finding it difficult to write something that will satisfy his fans. He’s been dealing with unsettling messages from an obsessed fan, and his ungrateful wife is constantly trying to find ways to spend his money. But John’s life is about to get much, much harder when a menacing stranger starts banging on the door late at night.

From abandoned mines and forgotten trails to Native American ruins and an apple orchard, the Superstition Mountains are full of history and intrigue. Forming the eastern border of Arizona's Valley of the Sun, the Superstitions have not only been an incredible source of beauty and outdoor adventure but also a place riddled with superstition and mystery. To this day, treasure hunters scour the mountains for gold. They research old landmarks and maps, along with clues from generations past.

How far would you go to protect your secret? Would you lie? Would you steal? Would you...kill? Having connived her way into marriage with a wealthy wine merchant, Claudia quickly grows bored, so when her secret gambling debts spiral, she hits on a resourceful way to pay off the moneylenders, offering "personal services" to high-ranking Romans.

Former intelligence officer and one-time instructor at the British Army School of Sniping, Phil Mason is struggling to make ends meet as a private investigator when he's contacted by his former MI5 liaison officer. The overstretched security service needs all the help it can get hunting down members of al-Qaeda terror cells in the UK - and Mason needs the cash. But in the murky intelligence world, nothing is what it seems.

After the remains of a teenaged boy are unearthed on newly acquired Twin Lakes property, Lydia Krause has a worrisome conversation with her elderly neighbor. Daniel Korman hints at having known the dead boy and wonders if he should let sleeping dogs lie. Then Daniel dies under suspicious circumstances, and Lydia suspects that his two surviving childhood friends are responsible for both deaths. Or did one of Daniel's money-hungry relatives decide to end his life?

An ancient South American cathedral extracts a heavy price from a visiting photojournalist. Ghost hunters stumble across a cursed field from which there is no escape. And a friendly neighbor discovers the new girl in town is more than she appears. Peer into the depths of Scare Street’s latest collection, a fun house mirror full of terror and nightmares.

After her husband dies, Lydia Krause sells her company and moves to an upscale retirement community on Long Island to start a new life. At her first Twin Lakes event, she meets the community's financial advisor, whom she recognizes as the convicted embezzler who drove her sister to suicide. After exchanging heated words with the man's wife, Lydia flees the scene. When the woman is found dead the following morning, Detective Sol Molina considers Lydia suspect number one.

When divers discover an antique car with a skeleton inside, the Beacon Group dispatches TK O’Connor to lead the investigation into the 60-year-old cold case. It’s TK’s first chance as lead investigator, and the former marine is determined not to let her team down. But, almost as soon as she arrives in the downtrodden rustbelt city, her challenges mount.

There comes a time in every hero’s life when they fall harder and farther than ever before, and they face a choice that changes everything: to give up, or claw their way back again. Lucy thought she’d made her choice two months ago when she sacrificed everything to save her family, but now she has to decide whether or not she can save herself.