Rural Town Mystery

Works by best-selling author Susan Wittig Albert have been nominated for the Agatha and Anthony awards. In The Tale of Oat Cake Crag, Miss Beatrix Potter is frustrated by distractions near her home. As the noisy test flights of a hydroplane disrupt her concentration, Beatrix investigates a string of bizarre letters threatening a friend’s reputation. Then life becomes even more complicated when the body of the hydroplane project funder is found at the foot of Oat Cake Crag.

The past has always felt near in the historic house of Jonathon Lydell III, who proudly advertises his family connection to the Virginia Lees. But now, history is repeating itself in a truly bizarre and spooky way. Sheriff Ike Schwartz and FBI agent Karl Hedrick are dispatched to resolve the mystery of the strangely identical murders 150 years apart.

Jay Porter, the newest employee at NorthEastern Insurance in New Hampshire, is investigating an accident claim when he learns the teenager behind the wheel was arrested for minor drug possession and sentenced to a hardcore behavioral modification center. At the county courthouse, Jay meets Nicki, a young college intern, who tips him off to a possible scandal - first-time juvenile offenders being shipped to private institutions for political kickbacks.

In Wild Thyme, Pennsylvania, secrets and feuds go back generations. The lone policeman in a small township on the sparse northern border, Henry Farrell expected to spend his mornings hunting and fishing, his evenings playing old-time music. Instead, he has watched the steady encroachment of gas drilling bring new wealth and erode neighborly trust. The drug trade is pushing heroin into the territory. There are outlaws cooking meth in the woods, guys Henry grew up with. When a stranger turns up dead, Henry’s search for the killer will open old wounds.

Living in the British city of Rosington of the 1950s, Wendy finds herself penniless, jobless, and on the verge of divorce. She goes to stay with her friend, who seems to have everything Wendy lacks. But a decades-old mystery lingers, and the shadow of death seeps through from turn-of-the-century Rosington, portending tragedy.

Following her aunt's suspicious death, Gina Mori, daughter of a Buddhist minister, searches for a missing handbag and discovers the dark underbelly of paradise. In the course of her investigation, Gina falls for Julius, a stream biologist who has recently moved to Hawaii. After discovering her lover's secret past, Gina must confront her own demons. A local girl stuck in a dead-end job, Gina stalks corrupt officials and exposes shady land deals, until at last she comes face to face with the man who murdered the woman who raised her.

Holly Banks is on a desperate mission to have it all, but nothing in life goes according to plan. She’s quickly learning that keeping up with the Joneses is a full-time job, especially when the women of Primm, her new neighborhood, seem to have it together all the time. With her husband’s job in flux, her daughter’s difficulty with learning to read, and her mother’s new zest for dating, Holly’s life is already anything but picture perfect. Then her dog digs up an old artifact in the village center, and the mishap draws the attention of local media.

Der Lehrer Steiner hat einen Turm bauen lassen. Angeblich für Vermessungszwecke. Doch im Wirtshaus erzählen sie sich, er beabsichtige, seine Frau dort hinunterzuwerfen. Aber dann liegt er selber unten, mit zerschmettertem Schädel und leeren Augen. Wer hat seinen perfiden Plan für sich missbraucht? Und wer erbt jetzt den Hof, den der Lehrer nie haben wollte? Seine Frau? Oder der ungeliebte Bruder, dessen Name voreilig ins Kriegerdenkmal gemeißelt worden war? Doch er kehrte zurück, und statt seines Lebens hat er nur einen Arm im Krieg gelassen - und jegliche Menschlichkeit.

Agata gegen Goliath - Ein kleines sizilianisches Dorf. Als der Tabbacchere Costanzo plötzlich stirbt, gerät seine Frau Agata ins Visier des rücksichtslosen Bürgermeisters und seines korrupten Klüngels: Sie wollen ihr das üppige, mit Orangen- und Zitronenbäumen bepflanzte Land abnehmen. Doch Agata wehrt sich. Sie schart eine Reihe von Verbündeten um sich. Und die rebellische Gemeinschaft nimmt es mit dem hinterhältigen Bürgermeister und seinen Kumpanen auf... Götz Otto wurde weltweit bekannt mit dem James-Bond-Film "Der Morgen stirbt nie".

Kait Brecker can't remember the last time she didn't feel like busted glass. Her volcanic temper's already scared most of her friends away, and a bad breakup with her college boyfriend Lutz left her crippled by guilt and painful memories. So when she learns that her best friend Alice is planning a three-day sabbatical in a secluded mountain cabin, Kait jumps at the chance to tag along, convinced that rekindling their fractured friendship is the key to fixing whatever’s breaking down inside of her. She should have known.

Neues vom Bestsellerautor von "Ein Mann namens Ove". Eine Kleinstadt in Schweden, kurz vor dem Jahreswechsel: An einem eher grauen Tag finden sich sieben Fremde zu einer Wohnungsbesichtigung zusammen. Sie alle sind irgendwie unzufrieden, sie alle wollen irgendwie einen Neuanfang wagen - doch was dann passiert, hat niemand kommen sehen. Denn wegen der furchtbar dummen Idee eines völlig ungeübten Bankräubers werden auf einmal alle Beteiligten zu Geiseln. Auch wenn davon niemand überraschter ist als der Geiselnehmer selbst.

Darrick MacBrehon, a government auditor, wakes among the dead. Bloodied and disoriented from a gaping head wound, the man who staggers out of the mine crack in Redbird, West Virginia, is much more powerful — and dangerous — than the one thrown in. An orphan with an unknown past, he must now figure out how to have a future.

Pie witch Reese is living her dream: running the bakery she’s always wanted, selling magical pies, and landing a date with handsome Prince Forrest of the Autumn Court. But people around her start vanishing, returning hours or days later with no memory of their missing time.

Accepting second best is good for her career, but first-grade teacher Retta Curt delays signing up for the disappointment. Given two weeks to consider her contract, she retreats to Gram’s cottage on Moon Lake, the last place she felt contentment. But the cottage is derelict; Cousin Julie, distant; and Sweet Picks, the family ice cream stand, in danger of folding. A surly newcomer is buying and then running down properties until nothing remains of the idyllic lakeside community she remembers.

Ein Leben voller Veränderungen ... Insgeheim träumt Emma davon, Malerin zu werden – als man sie zu ihrer Tante im nahegelegenen Kristiansund in die Lehre schickt, um Schneiderin zu werden, will sie dennoch das Beste daraus machen. Immerhin kann sie so dem Nachbarssohn Olav nahe sein, der ihr Herz höher schlagen lässt. Doch schon bald drängt sich ein Geheimnis aus der Vergangenheit vor ihr neues Glück – ein erschütterndes Ereignis, das Emma zum alten Familienhof in Averøya zurückzieht.

Set in 1959, the year the music died, The Smoke in Our Eyes is a cinematic, clock-ticking saga set in a small Montana town. When a fatal car accident shatters ten-year-old Lucas's world, he finds himself confronting crime and vengeance, humor and heroism, all against the backdrop of growing up.

Come Away From Her is a boldly written mystery-suspense novel set in the rural town of Black Walnut. The story revolves around the arrival of Tess, a deaf woman running from her past, who unwittingly sets into motion a chain of disturbing events as she is forced to share her secrets with the strangers around her. Her presence upsets the status quo for the townspeople, none more so than for Cap, the pastor of the local church whose life has been marred by substance abuse and tragedy. The morning that Cap discovers a dead body outside the church, life as the town knows it is forever changed.

At a bleak boys boarding school in Cornwall in the eighties when bullying is rife, Will and his best friend Luke are involved in a horrific incident that results in Luke leaving. Twenty-five years later their paths cross again and memories of a painful childhood come flooding back to haunt them both. Will’s wife, Harmony, is struggling after a miscarriage that has hit her hard, and wishes Will would open up about what happened. But as Will withdraws further, she finds herself drawn to the charismatic stranger from her husband’s past.

I ran from a monster. A monster I thought was gentle and kind. A monster I thought loved me. I was wrong. So very wrong. I took a bus out west and landed in a small town in Wyoming. Ryker, the town’s sheriff, has been helping me to settle in. But I can’t get that comfortable, even if things seem quiet around here. I’ll keep looking over my shoulder, no matter how safe Ryker thinks he can keep me. I know the monster is waiting in the shadows.

Das Grauen wohnt nebenan... Was tust du, wenn deine Nachbarn versuchen, sich in deinem Leben einzunisten? Mikael ist mit seiner Familie in ein kleines Nest in Südschweden gezogen, wo er einen Neuanfang wagen will. Die Nachbarn sind ausgesprochen reizend, doch die heile Vorstadtidylle trügt: Jeder verbirgt dunkle Geheimnisse, heimliche Sehnsüchte und sogar kriminelle Taten. Dann ereignet sich ein schrecklicher Unfall. Mikaels Frau wird von einem Auto angefahren und ringt mit dem Tod. Mikaels Verdacht erhärtet sich: Es war kein Unglück, sondern eine vorsätzliche Tat.