Serial Killer Mystery Fiction

Leo Stone is a ruthless killer or the victim of a miscarriage of justice. A year ago, he was convicted of the murder of two women and sentenced to life in prison. But now he's free, and according to him, he's innocent. DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent are determined to put Stone back behind bars where he belongs, but the more Maeve finds out, the less convinced she is of his guilt. Then another woman disappears in similar circumstances. Is there a copycat killer, or have they been wrong about Stone from the start?

Hillary Greene has returned to Thames Valley Police HQ, acting as a cold-case consultant for the Crime Review Team, looking into murders which the police have never been able to solve. She wasn't sure she wanted to go back. But solving crimes is irresistible for Hillary Greene. And it doesn't hurt that her new boss is devastatingly handsome.

Everything seems to be going well for Alex-she has her dream job and is engaged to a man who is almost too perfect. Now her best friends are taking her on a surprise bachelorette weekend planned with Alex's unusual set of interests in mind: her obsession with the famous 666 Killer. Alex and her friends get a thrill out of staying at the allegedly haunted hunting lodge in the Catskill mountains where a serial killer once stabbed his victim and wrote 666 on the walls in her blood. Then Alex wakes up to find her friends have vanished, blood spattered all over their sleeping bags and on her hands.

In an average suburban town in Texas, homecoming princess Lindsay barely escaped death at the hands of a brutal, sadistic murderer in a Michael Jackson mask. Up on the cliff, she was rescued by a horse and bravely defeated the killer.

While Ben and Ro found happiness as a couple in part 1, Ben's obsession with his sister's murderer continues to consume him. Now, on Christmas day, he will make his way to Berkeley, hoping to find answers before the killer strikes again. Will Ben and Ro find the missing pieces before it's too late?

When Amy Whyte and Penny Brogan leave a nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning and don’t arrive home, their families are beside themselves with worry. Conor Dowling has just been released from prison, a man full of hatred for Amy, the girl who put him behind bars in the first place. The case is given to Detective Lottie Parker when the girls’ blood-soaked bodies are found, days later, in a derelict squat. Chillingly, both girls are clutching silver coins in their hands - what message is this killer leaving behind? All the signs point to Conor, but his alibi is watertight.

Ben is now certain his sister was the victim of a sadistic serial killer and refuses to let any distractions get in his way of bringing this monster to justice: not his rocky relationship with Ro, his rekindled friendship with J. D., or Detective Sam Shanks' constant warnings to butt out and let the police handle the investigation. But the ominous winds of Santa Fe are kicking up and there's nowhere left to hide. Find out what happens as Ben, Ro, and Detective Sam Shanks come head to head with the killer in the conclusion of Killing Season.

A woman is found murdered in the woods with a very special watch on her wrist, and what seemed a simple case soon escalates into a nightmare. The criminal methods of some of the most infamous killers of all time are being replicated by a new predator who stalks and strikes victims with a cunning brilliance. No one can understand the murderer's motives or who the next victim will be.

When a body is discovered in a field in Iowa, the police uncover 14 additional corpses ranging from 20 years old to recent. The remains point to a serial killer with an MO the authorities have seen before - Ed Oliphant, a man who has been in prison for over 20 years...and is Special Agent Kaely Quinn's father. After several failed interview attempts to discover if Ed has been training someone to be a copycat killer, the police turn to Kaely in St. Louis.

Alex Mercer and his fiancee Zoey have weathered many storms, but this latest one might be too much for even them. She's hiding a secret she fears will send him running for the hills, and she has to tell him before he finds out on his own. Time is definitely not on her side. But with his busy hours at the police academy, there hardly seems a moment to open up to him.

A young psychiatric patient disappears from her ward in the dead of night. Eva Jansen’s medical records have been wiped, her history buried. Somebody wanted all trace of her extinguished forever — and fast. When forensic psychologist Alex Madison is tipped off that Eva possesses an extraordinary ability, he knows he must find her before she falls into the wrong hands. Her dangerous gift has eerie echoes of his previous cases, and he’s convinced there’s a connection to the sinister criminal network he’s been hunting for years.

Set within the mysterious beauty of the Norfolk Broads, this fast-paced British detective series is a dark cozy Norfolk murder mystery with a slice of humor and a touch of romance, one that will have you guessing until the very end, when the last shocking twist is finally revealed.

After a girl's body is found near the Mississippi, close to where Lainey lives, it sends a shockwave through town. Soon after, another death occurs, and it becomes clear that a serial killer is on the loose. Lainey is facing trouble of her own in the form of a bicyclist, who nearly runs her down. When she begins getting odd phone calls from a man, Lainey wonders if the biker has something to do with the case.

This book is for listeners of true crime podcasts and audiences of both fiction and true-crime nonfiction. It's the true story of first-generation Irish-American nurse Jane Toppan, born as Honora Kelley. Jane Toppan was absolutely a monster, but she did not start out that way. When Jane was a young child, her father abandoned her and her sister to the Boston Female Asylum. From there, Jane was indentured to a wealthy family who changed her name, never adopted her, and wrote her out of the will.

In The Boy Who Followed Ripley, Highsmith explores Ripley's bizarrely paternal relationship with a troubled young runaway, whose abduction draws them into Berlin's seamy underworld. More than any other American literary character, Ripley provides "a lens to peer into the sinister machinations of human behavior." (John Freeman, Pittsburgh Gazette).

Medicine Creek, Kansas, has been slowly dying for the last century. In a town where nothing changes, the community is terrified after a series of grisly murders takes place. Even more alarming, the bodies are displayed in bizarre tableaus. With the entire town in shock, FBI Agent Pendergast arrives from New Orleans to investigate. From the fields to the local caves, Pendergast discovers the remnants of a Prohibition-era moonshine operation and the truth behind one of the town's greatest mysteries.

In Cause to Save, serial killer Howard Randall has escaped, and the entire city of Boston is on edge. Women are turning up gruesomely murdered, and everyone suspects Howard is at it again. When Boston’s most brilliant and controversial homicide detective - Avery Black - is herself stalked - and when people close to her are brutally killed, one by one - it seems the city’s worst fears are confirmed. But Avery is not so sure.

Six months ago, Charlotte almost lost everything. Now, she’s determined to keep her daughter, Elle, safe. So when local girls close to Elle in age and appearance begin to go missing, it’s her worst nightmare. Charlotte’s fears are confirmed when a frantic search becomes a shocking murder investigation. The girls’ bodies have been found - half-buried, and with traces of mud and wildflowers under their fingernails. As Charlotte’s obsession with keeping her daughter close pushes her marriage to the brink, local DI Madeleine Wood embarks on a gruelling search for the killer.

Three years ago, 15-year-old Ellen Vicksburg went missing in the quiet town of River Remez, New Mexico. Ellen was kind, studious, and universally liked. Her younger brother, Ben, could imagine nothing worse than never knowing what happened to her - until, on the first anniversary of her death, he found her body in a shallow grave by the river's edge. Ben, now 17, is relentlessly driven to find answers to Ellen's homicide. Police believe she was the victim of a psychopath known as the Demon.

A young boy walks into a police station in France. He claims to be Carl Meagan - a missing child from Sheffield whose name is still whispered as a warning to kids who stay out after dark. On her way home from the supermarket, nine-year-old Keeley Armitage vanishes without trace. Her family is overcome with shock and DCI Matilda Darke can’t help but focus on memories of the Carl Meagan case that almost ruined her career.