Southern Fiction Thrillers

Caroline McAlister, college professor and lifelong skeptic, is reeling from the loss of her father and her marriage. Her once promising career has come to a standstill. When her father bequeaths the family cabin to her, it comes with a ghost who haunted her childhood. When she discovers a century-old journal in the attic, she awakens the voice of Carson Quinn. The journal reveals Carson's love for the same hollow that enthralled Caroline growing up. A little sleuthing uncovers rumors that the kind, curious boy in the journal grew up to murder his brother.

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.

The small Alabama town of Jericho Hills is one with many dark secrets born from turmoil. When Benjamin Belvedere, a young wanderer with a troubled past of his own, comes to town, he’s followed by an evil little imp with a severe grudge against Ben. When a few of the townspeople are murdered, Ben becomes the prime suspect. As he begins to regret coming to Jericho Hills, and even starts to doubt himself, an even bigger threat from the town's past rears its head and shows its teeth. A conflict arises that will have Ben battling two evils. The prize for winning this battle? His sanity.

Book two begins the morning after a torrential storm upends Shady Gully, and its citizens wake to the news that Wolfheart's beloved sister, Peony, has been brutally murdered. Wolfheart earned his reputation as the town lowlife in book one, inciting unrest and corrupting the youth with his homegrown product and signature scowl. But it's five years later, and the scoundrel from across the creek is now an upstanding citizen, a church-streamer, and a doting brother and uncle. Or is he?

Mandy Rose Bokum wanted to go home. Her mind and body were getting sicker. Three lonely years living in one room in California were enough. She yearned for peace. She craved love. She wanted answers. Why was her child stolen? Did the thief know her? Was it somehow her fault? The townies blamed her. Accused her of murder. It was time to tell Clyde Boudreaux that he was Hannah's daddy. Clyde fought his own demons. He was seven when he'd watched his granddaddy get lynched. Mandy struggled for years with her own dark secrets. Maybe two halves could make a whole.

Even in the chill of February, no place touches Harper McClain's heart like Savannah. She should be walking beneath the historic city's towering oaks, surrounded by graceful mansions. Instead, she's hiding miles away on Tybee Island after a mysterious voice on the phone warned her that someone wanted her dead. The call was too specific to ignore. The caller knew everything about her. But that was months ago, and she's getting tired of being scared.

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.

Within the deep woods of rural Alabama, along the forgotten southern course of the Black Warrior River, lies an unseen world long feared by the residents of the tiny town of Carlsdale. Down through the centuries, few people have survived a visit to this hidden place long enough to talk about it. Among these fortunate souls is Jack Kenney. Thirteen years old at the time of the event, Jack and his family were forced to flee Carlsdale in the aftermath and head north to the larger city of Tuscaloosa. Mercifully, the menace from their former home left them in peace for nearly eight years.

Based on true crime, Jar of Pennies follows the story of how a murderer was brought to justice in small town east Texas. A book as much about east Texas culture deep in the pine forests of the state as it is about a chain of murders and the gathering of evidence, this riveting narrative has elements of both humor and noir as it rockets to its conclusion.

With a classical series sold and a portrait commissioned, Cherry Tucker's art career is in Georgia overdrive. But when the sheriff asks Cherry to draw a composite sketch of a hijacker, her life takes a hairpin as the composite leads to a related murder, her local card-sharking buddy Max Avtaikin becomes bear bait and her nemesis labels the classical series "pervert art". While she seeks to help the misfortunate and save her local reputation, Cherry's hammer-down attitude has her facing the headlights of an oncoming killer.

Get ready for three more incredible tales in The Max Porter Paranormal Mysteries. Max, Sandra, and Drummond are back. After the war between the Mobleys and the Magi, a power void has been formed. An ancient cult now resurfaces to fill that void. And with it comes new ghosts, new witches, and new magic. But that would be too easy. Max’s family has plenty of troubles as the Sandwich Boys mature, Max’s mother falls ill, and Drummond may be lost forever. You won’t want to miss a single moment in the series that blends real history with ghosts, witches, curses, and more.

In Denton, Arkansas, the fate of the high school football team rests on the shoulders of Billy Lowe, a volatile but talented running back. Billy comes from an extremely troubled home: a trailer park where he is terrorized by his unstable mother's abusive boyfriend. Then Billy's abuser is found murdered in the Lowe family trailer, and all evidence points toward Billy. Now nothing can stop an explosive chain of violence that could tear the whole town apart on the eve of the playoffs.

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?

Graham Greene's first published novel tells the story of Andrews, a young man who has betrayed his fellow smugglers and fears their vengeance. Fleeing from them, with no hope of pity or salvation, he takes refuge in the house of a young woman, also alone in the world. Elizabeth persuades him to give evidence against his accomplices in court, but neither she nor Andrews is aware that to both criminals and authority, treachery is as great a crime as smuggling.

After driving through a violent storm, young married couple Riley and Jake Marshall wind up stranded with a flat tire off the I-95 near Yemassee, South Carolina. They thought this would be the worst part of their day. They were wrong. When the tow truck arrives ahead of schedule, Riley and Jake think their luck may have changed. Wrong again. Jakes’s expensive car is loaded onto the flatbed, and the unsuspecting couple climb aboard. What begins as a car theft and mugging turns much darker when the backwoods car thieves discover Jake’s family is worth millions.

A 60-year-old cold case and a big city sheriff seeking redemption—it’s time for the dead to rise. A thwarted youthful romance blends with the blues and Mama Cheche’s mojo. Controversy ensues when a blues singer groom goes missing in Cleveland, Mississippi. All becomes a tangled web. Paula and Mary have written this redemptive tale in such a way that transports you to the Delta. You can feel the gentle breeze coming across the Sunflower River and hear the mellowed notes jumping off the blues man’s guitar.

Cantankerous Cat Touchette and his friend and employee, Tee Man, stumble upon Cat’s murdered neighbor, Ovey LaCourier. Cat later learns that the old man’s son, Ari, is in town and meets with him. Ari, an Army sniper, is near retirement eligibility, and in the process of investigating his father’s murder with Cat, his involvement with a childhood friend’s sister, and a general affinity for his new friends, gives retirement serious consideration. Meanwhile, once again, Cat cannot keep himself from landing in the middle of someone’s problem.

Jake believes he has found happiness, but a devastating blow sends him back into the world of evil that lies beneath tropical beauty. He begins a path of revenge, carefully crafting a plan to ensure the end of Santiago and Group 45.

Sharyn McCrumb is the New York Times best-selling author of the Ballad novels, which celebrate the rich history of Appalachia. An elegant saga set against the American Revolution, King' s Mountain features John Sevier and his legendary Carolina Overmountain Men, who find themselves defending their families and farms against the troops of a haughty British major.

The town of Macklin, Mississippi has seen its share of affairs, secrets, unexpected deaths, lies, and other scandals. There have also been various people floating in and out of the winding roads of Caleb County. Now that Ruthann, the matriarch of the town and midwife to over half its residents, has died, some wonder if the people of Macklin can continue on their path to redemption. The bond between sisters, Annie and Linda, has been put through the ultimate test. Can they find a way to resume their family ties? The sky has opened up once again, and Heaven’s eyes are still watching.