Southern Fiction Mystery

New Orleans novice detective, Brenda Shapira, investigates murders committed by a vengeful killer, only to discover that the killer has been dead for 100 years.

Swift Justice tells the story of Leon Brooks, an educated black man, who comes under the wrath of the Texas KKK for initiating a voting drive. The Klan, which is led by the Imperial Wizard Atwood Baker, who is called "Judge" because he is the Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, cannot allow the voting drive to happen. His solution - lynch Leon Brooks and set an example.

Jewel Mantelle has never lived in the South, much less on the coast, so moving from Chicagoland to the historic North Florida coastal town of Sophia Island seems like just the adventure to fix her marriage. However, when she arrives, she finds that it’s awfully hot and humid there and that these Southern folks really like to hug. Her husband’s past on the island includes a creaky old house in the historic district and lots of nosy relatives he’d forgotten to mention.

When a quilting event falls to pieces, Beatrice works to patch things up. Dappled Hills quilters are eagerly anticipating new events at the Patchwork Cottage quilt shop. The shop’s owner, Posy, has announced "Sew and Tell" socials and a mystery quilt group project. But one day, instead of emailed quilt instructions, the quilters receive a disturbing message about a fellow quilter. When that quilter mysteriously meets her maker, Beatrice decides to use her sleuthing skills to find the killer before more lives are cut short.

The grid is down and electric bikes are the transportation of choice for the coming apocalypse, but where do you find one in this deserted beach town? The prepper couple forages for food and other supplies in the looted-out vacation spot and lucks up on a restaurant supply truck. A small group of people still living at the marina seems to hold the key to reforming society but closely guards its secrets and turf against strangers.

Pastor James Elba loses more than his faith when his daughter perishes in a tragic murder. After moving back to his hometown of Savannah, Georgia, his wife is now at the mercy of his own dark past, locked away in the forgotten shadows of a derelict rice plantation seeped in bloody history. But will his renovations stir up more than just long suppressed memories of a childhood dare, an incantation that summoned...what?

A serial arsonist is slowly burning Gull Island one building at a time. A local hero is falsely accused of taking his own life. A young widow raising four children with a fifth on the way faces losing her home.

Fifteen-year-old Mattie Lee Watson dreams of men, not boys. So when James T. Cullowee, the Kudzu King, arrives in Cooper County, North Carolina, in 1941 to spread the gospel of kudzu—claiming that it will improve the soil, feed cattle at almost no cost, even cure headaches—Mattie is ready. Mr. Cullowee is determined to sell the entire county on the future of kudzu, and organizes a kudzu festival, complete with a beauty pageant. Mattie is determined to be crowned Kudzu Queen and capture the attentions of the Kudzu King.

Private Investigator Liz Talbot thinks she’s seen another ghost when she meets Calista McQueen. She’s the spitting image of Marilyn Monroe. Born exactly fifty years after the iconic bombshell, Calista's life is a déjà vu of Hollywood tragedy. And with the anniversary of Marilyn's death looming, Calista fears she's next in line for a tragic finale.

What do you get when you have a southern town, a corrupt sheriff, the Mob, a rogue FBI agent and a burgeoning drug trade?? A thrilling novel written by a former sheriff loosely based on his experiences as an ex-New York prosecutor who found himself elected as the chief law enforcement officer of a Florida coastal county. The story centers around a fictional Florida County where the local FBI is seeking assistance from the Department of Justice to stem the growing international drug trade in their district. Thrust into this toxic brew of corruption is Jack Bondera, an undercover agent for a secret municipal corruption unit of DOJ known as the MCIU. Jack, an eighteen year veteran of the FBI and MCIU, will have all of his talents and courage tested as he goes undercover as a newly hired deputy sheriff in Bosley County. The battle tested staff of the unit provide him with support and intelligence, but it is an unexpected source that becomes the pivotal piece of the investigation. The story culminates in a standoff that threatens Jack’s life and in a surprise he is confronted by the forces of corruption in the county. With some local southern assistance, Jack prepares for the pivotal battle between good and evil.

Five years ago, award-winning actor Rhett Crawford threw a Halloween party. On the third night of the party, the groundskeeper found the body of one of the guests bludgeoned and left in the toolshed. It was eventually determined that the victim’s date had most likely killed the woman before fleeing the scene of the crime.

With an extraordinary gift for suspense, McKissack brings us 10 original, spine-tingling tales inspired by African-American history and the mystery of that eerie half hour before nightfall—the dark-thirty.

When Tess Tremaine starts a new life in the colorful town of Goose Pimple Junction, curiosity leads her to look into a 75-year-old murder. Suddenly she's learning the foreign language of Southern speak, resisting her attraction to local celebrity Jackson Wright, and dealing with more mayhem than she can handle. A bank robbery, murder, and family tragedy from the 1930s are pieces of the mystery that Tess attempts to solve.

Jewel Mantelle is just beginning to get used to the humidity in her new Southern home on Sophia Island, when Turtle Season opens way too early. At least, it's too early according to her friends with Turtle Trackers. Is it a true sea turtle nest found on a stormy April morning? Not likely, when a body is eventually discovered buried where the eggs should be.

It was the bottom of the ninth, tying run on third, bases loaded, two outs, full count, and the tension was high. The pitch was thrown, everyone in the crowd held their breath. Trey Alderman lined up with the pitcher and swung the bat with all his might before falling to the ground.

A little sex. A little death. Most people would kill to live in glamorous Palm Beach, with its beautiful women, five-star resorts, and dazzling coast. But most people don't know what really goes on in the bedrooms of the rich and famous....Mark Durand did - and now the handsome high-class "walker," who escorted the wealthiest women to posh affairs, is dead, his beheaded corpse found in an abandoned cattle pen.

Mardi Gras has secrets. Like why would Felix's brother, a well-off and successful doctor, let the midnight train roll over him? Especially just as his new Carnival Krewe prepares for their inaugural parade? Felix has had an easy life, coasting by as the black sheep of a wealthy family. He spends his time under the green canopies of Uptown New Orleans, whiling away his days in leisure and mediocrity.

For seventeen years, a serial murderer has used the Presley, Arkansas, Annual Hunt for the Golden Egg to find prey. Or at least that’s what some people believe. Others, like the town’s devoted “Eggheads,” relish the tradition and think the deaths are just unfortunate accidents. But for Nell Holcomb, the town’s annual Hunt dredges up a particularly painful memory: her brother’s death, long believed to be “the Hunter’s” first kill.

After seven long years in prison, Colt Hudson is finally returning to Blake County, Georgia. But in his hometown, he's treated like just another criminal—with good reason. The scion of a tight-knit southern clan, Colt's family is deeply involved in one of the most dangerous meth operations in Georgia. Colt's early release from prison comes with strings attached—a deal with narcotics squad commander Tim Dawson, who wants information that could help bust the family business. But when the drug agent who put Colt away seven years ago turns up dead, a dangerous conspiracy begins to unravel.

Iggy Guerra is out of prison, but his homecoming is anything but smooth. His beloved mother is gone, his grief-stricken father Armando is deep in debt, and they are about to lose the butcher shop that has been in their family for generations. Iggy must earn his father’s lost trust in order to save La Carnicería Guerra from the threats imposed by a new rival business, a vigilante activist, and big-game hunter Orin, who has dragged Armando into his dangerous money-making schemes deep in the Everglades, where more than secrets are buried.