Serial Killer Mystery Fiction

On still nights, when the curve of a winter moon is smudged in the flow of the River Quaggy, the dead clamor for him. And sometimes he coaxes the living to join them. To other people, his victims might be mere medical oddities. To him, they are fascinating specimens, worthy of display. Above all, he is a collector, eager for recognition even as he hides in the shadows. Detective Sergeant Etta Fitzroy is the first to recognize the connection between the disappearance of a young girl and a cold case that almost cost her the career she's sacrificed so much for.

When a body is pulled from the dank and dangerous fens on the outskirts of town, everybody assumes it was a tragic accident. But Detective Tara Thorpe, newly joined and determined to prove herself, suspects there’s more to the story. Tara is desperate to investigate further, but her supervisor Patrick Wilkins has other ideas. He would rather die than let this ambitious upstart show him up - even if it means some digging in Tara’s secret past to keep her under his thumb.

A young woman falls from a vehicle speeding down a quiet road. Battered and bruised, she turns her head to the person who comes to her aid. ‘Help her’, she whispers before her eyes close. Days later, the body of another young girl is found in a shallow grave just a few miles away. The similarities between the two girls are startling, same age, same frail body, same shocking red hair.

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.

Ted Bundy. One of America's most notorious serial killers. For two women, he is the ultimate obsession. One is a cop whose sister may have been one of Bundy's victims. The other is a deranged groupie who corresponded with Bundy in prison - and raised her son to finish what Bundy started. To charm and seduce innocent girls. To kidnap and brutalize more women than any serial killer in history. And to lure one obsessed cop into a trap as sick and demented as Bundy himself....

Inspector Torquil McKinnon has returned to the remote Scottish island of West Uist to devastating news. His closest friend, Constable Ewan McPhee, is missing, presumed dead. When more bodies are found in suspicious circumstances, it is clear a serial killer is at large. Tensions are high and paranoia is rife. Can Torquil restore peace to the tight-knit community? Will he find out what happened to Constable McPhee? Or will he too fall prey to the depraved murderer?

Ten years ago, fifteen-year-old Scarlett Crosby was held captive in a terrifying ordeal with a girl named Della. Scarlett escaped, their predator was killed, and Della simply vanished. Detective Kevin Dawson always wondered if Della even existed. A decade later, Scarlett is a successful artist. As hard as she tries to move on, the mysterious Della remains her inescapable obsession. Then a girl’s body is discovered—a link to Scarlett’s horrific past—and all her old traumas resurface. So does Della.

Ein Serienmörder versetzt eine ganze Stadt in Angst und Schrecken. Seine grausamen Taten sind nicht nur das Werk eines eiskalten Verbrechers, sondern auch eine makabre Inszenierung, die die Ermittler an ihre Grenzen bringt. Detective Jonas Müller, ambitioniert und entschlossen, nimmt die Herausforderung an, doch schnell wird klar: Dieser Täter spielt nicht nach den Regeln. Unterstützt von der brillanten Kriminaltechnikerin Eva Hartmann, taucht Jonas in ein Netz aus Lügen, Symbolen und tödlichen Rätseln ein.

Once, Special Agent Smoky Barrett hunted serial killers for the FBI. She was one of the best, until a madman terrorized her family, killed her husband and daughter, and left her face scarred and her soul brutalized. Turning the tables on the killer, Smoky shot him dead, but her life was shattered forever.

When a tech entrepreneur from Shoreditch is found dead in a construction site, along with three skeletons which are discovered to be over a hundred years old, Detective Kamil Rahman sets out to prove himself on his first case for the Met Police.

A taunting letter, claiming violence and death to the vile people of Washburn County, puts Sergeant Jade Monroe and her staff of detectives on high-alert. The letter states they will see the author's work soon, but, without forensic evidence, Jade has no way of knowing who wrote the letter or its validity. When the first victim is discovered, the carnage promised in the letter is realized, and as the body count escalates, so does the depravity of the murders.

Her body floats. A bloated thing half atop the river. Naked. Pale. Mouth and eyes open wide. When two fishermen discover a corpse floating in the Clackamas river, profiler Violet Darger heads to rural Oregon to hunt another serial killer. What she discovers in the woods might change the course of her life. What secrets does the water conceal? The girl in the water marks the third such case in the area - all drowned with superficial stab wounds and discovered in a body of water - and Darger feels certain she won't be the last. The corpses are badly decomposed.

A demented serial killer, who calls himself "The Will of the People", has gained a wide audience by sending warning letters to the New York Daily News. When "Will" names a prominent criminal defense attorney as his next victim, P.I. Matt Scudder suddenly finds himself protecting an old associate. Matching his wits against the wily murderer, Matt must race to uncover "Will's" identity before he loses his lawyer friend.

For fans of Tana French and The Silent Wife, The Last Winter of Dani Lancing is a chilling debut thriller hailed by Sophie Hannah as "brilliant" about one murder's devastating ripple effects.

Twenty years ago, college student Dani Lancing was kidnapped and brutally murdered. The killer was never found. Dani's family never found peace.

Thrust into an intense devastation that nearly destroys their marriage, Patty and Jim Lancing struggle to deal with their harrowing loss. Patty is fanatically obsessed with the cold case; consumed by every possible clue or suspect no matter how far-fetched, she goes to horrifying lengths to help clarify the past. Meanwhile, Jim has become a shell of his former self, broken down and haunted - sometimes literally - by his young daughter's death. Dani's childhood sweetheart, Tom, handles his own grief every day on the job - he's become a detective intent on solving murders of other young women, and hopes to one day close Dani's case himself.

Then everything changes when Tom finds a promising new lead. As lies and secrets are unearthed, the heartbreaking truth behind Dani's murder is finally revealed.

The Last Winter of Dani Lancing is a shockingly disturbing and deeply powerful debut, and P.D. Viner immediately joins the ranks of Tana French, A. S. A. Harrison, and Gillian Flynn.

It's only 10 days since Douglas Remfry's release from prison, having served seven years for rape, and now he's dead: naked on a bare mattress in a grubby north London hotel room, his head hooded and his hands tied with a brown leather belt. Someone knew he was coming out. Someone wanted to mete out some punishment of his own. And when a second sex offender is found dead, DI Tom Thorne knows he has a vicious, calculating vigilante on his hands.

Two years ago, Maria Fontana, the head of the Psychology Department at Columbia University, sat on a jury for one of the most depraved cases ever to pass through the hallowed halls of City Hall. Wyatt Butler, an antique watch restorer and alleged serial killer, was portrayed in the courtroom as a brutal monster. But Maria had to make the tough choice.

When Manhattan South Homicide Detectives Murphy and Rico fall upon a string of Santa Claus murders, it doesn't take long for the FBI Serial Killer Task Force to figure out they're hunting the same diabolical madman. In a rush against time… they must break out their Naughty List and hunt down a psycho intent on ruining Christmas.

Amber Young, genius puzzle editor turned FBI special agent, is summoned to a new crime scene: a serial killer has left a mysterious drawing as his signature, clearly hinting at his next victim. And unless Amber can crack its riddle in time, another life is waiting to be claimed. Once again, Amber may just be the only one who can stop him.

They call him the Jackdaw. On each body, he leaves a chilling signature: five scratches. And each time he kills, he takes a trophy, an eerie collection that grows with every strike. No one knows what he looks like, where he'll strike next, or why. He could be your neighbour, your boss… your husband. There’s only a paralysing fear that, whoever he is, he's out there: watching, waiting.

The Chicago PD is on high alert when two city aldermen are found dead: one by apparent suicide, one brutally stabbed in his office, and both with thirty dimes left on their bodies—a betrayer’s payment. With no other clues, the question is, Who else has a debt to pay? Detective Harriet Foster is on the case before the killer can strike again. But even with the help of her partner, Detective Vera Li, and the rest of their team, Harriet has little to go on and a lot at risk. There’s no telling who the killer’s next target is or how many will come next.