Town Mystery

A classic story of imperiled love on the western frontiers of 19th-century America. While a battle rages between two outlaw gangs in a remote Utah canyon, Jim Wales struggles to rescue Helen Herrick, who has been captured and held for ransom. Robbers' Roost tells the story of their personal struggle to escape the clutches of the murderous outlaws while simultaneously safeguarding their passion, one that is not likely to survive the beautiful, yet deadly, terrain and people of the old American West.

As the new co-owner of Tundish Montana's stationery shop, Delta Douglas knows how to organize a killer crafting event. Creativity and cardstock are all she needs to move one step closer to her ultimate dream: developing her own line of crafting products. But on the night of the workshop, at the swanky hotel venue, glitter isn't the only thing found sprawled on the floor. A hotel guest is discovered dead in the bar, and amid the confusion, Delta's best friend is suspected of the crime.

“Sharks are as timid as rabbits,” says a superintendent of the Coast Guard, dismissing the possibility that a shark could be the culprit in an unprecedented fatal attack at the Jersey Shore. It’s July, and swimming in the sea is a popular new pastime, but people up and down the East Coast are shocked and mystified by the swimmer’s death. A prominent surgeon at the shore, Dr. Edwin Halsey is the one who examines the victim, and the only one who believes the perpetrator was a shark—and that it will strike again.

Meri's family has been producing doctors for so many generations that no one remembers why, so when she flunks out of medical school, she runs as far from her parents as she can get. In the small mountain town of Canyon Mines, Colorado, she takes a job at the Inn at Hidden Run B&B. And waits. It's only a matter of time. What she doesn't count on is genealogist Jillian Parisi-Duffy and her father, Nolan, having her back when it takes everything she has not to bolt again but to stay and face the truth that only unfolding her family's history will reveal....

Smashed heirlooms, ripped upholstery, and rifled drawers - who is breaking into homes during a record-breaking snowy winter, vandalizing and stealing? Whoever it may be is targeting the most vulnerable - the seniors of a small Northwoods town. In the course of her duties, Wendy Carey, the home health nurse, discovers each new break-in and wants more than anything to stop him. The small town reels as the burglar eludes capture and steps up his crimes. A vindictive woman and a secret baby heighten the suspense.

Fourteen-year-old Jesse is shipped halfway round the world after the death of his father. He struggles to adapt to life on the Welsh Atlantic coast but eventually befriends John, a popular, charismatic, and outwardly charming boy. But as their friendship grows, a darker side to John emerges. Will Jesse notice before it's too late?

Thea Glenheim's new next-door neighbor turns her small town upside down. Trace Della's handsome, successful, and committed to helping high-risk boys. And he's changing things in ways a lot of people don't like. One in particular. Bad things begin happening on Trace's property, and troublemakers compete with each other to stop him in his mission to provide a place for kids who need help. All the while Thea is caught in the middle, between the people she's known all her life and this new man in town. He's a mover and shaker. She's a quiet piano teacher. Yet opposites attract, don't they?

Small-town Steadfast, Wisconsin, has spent the last six years raising funds to help a medical student stay in med school. In return, the student contracted to practice medicine in the local clinic for the next six years. Kirsi Royston is that doctor, and now, she must tell the town she is leaving at summer's end. In the midst of their conflict over Kirsi wanting to break the contract comes the unthinkable. Meth is creeping into the county, poisoning students at the local high school. And the local eccentric, a woman who has bullied the town for years, finds herself needing help.

Some shadows are hard to shake. And someone has a mean sense of humor. And that person is springing nasty pranks around town. Who and why? And, more importantly, how can Keely Turner and Burke Sloan, the newest sheriff's deputy, stop the malicious prankster before someone gets hurt badly?

Cole and Stella have lived in Costa Rica for the last seven years. They wanted to believe that it was really over...but there were always doubts. And when Stella sees a horrifying vision in the jungle, she's certain that the Ancient Enemy has returned. David, living at his aunt's house in New Mexico, knows the Ancient Enemy is back; he can feel it. And now nightmares about a serial killer possessed by the Ancient Enemy plague him, a killer who will stop at nothing, a killer who is coming for David.

When Lacey's friend is haunted by a nighttime prowler only she can hear, it's up to Lacey to decide if the prowler is imaginary or not - a life-altering decision.

A tough-love school for troubled teens opens its doors in Trout Run, New York. What could go wrong? The locals are thrilled. The North Country Academy promises more jobs and more money flowing into town. But all Police Chief Frank Bennett sees is a throng of juvenile delinquents unpacking on his turf. Then Frank's worst fears are confirmed. An Academy teacher leading a wilderness expedition is mauled to death by a bear. Evidence points to sabotage.

On a cold November night in rural Sweden, a farmhouse burns to the ground. Inside, a young woman is found dead—murdered. To the people of Marbäck, the fire becomes a before and after. For ten-year-old Isak, it sets in motion something he cannot control, igniting his future into an inferno. The police immediately focus their attention on Edvard, the boyfriend of the murdered woman and Isak’s beloved uncle. After a quick investigation, Edvard is found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, and Marbäck believes it can return to its innocence.

When 54-year-old Julianna Dapper slips out of a mental hospital in Bangor, Maine, on a June day in 1962, it's with one purpose in mind. Julianna knows she must go back to the tiny farming community in Northern Missouri where she was born and raised. It's the place where she and her best friend, Ben Taylor, roamed as children, and where her life's course shifted irrevocably one night long ago. Embarking on her journey, Julianna meets Elijah Hunter, a shy teenage African-American boy, and Jon Tate, a young hitchhiker on the run from the law.

Last year at Cherringham High, and for three girls that means facing the School Summer Challenge, a grueling fifty-mile hike across the Cotswolds, through thick woods, over steep hills, camping each night under the stars. But when one of them disappears in the middle of the night and is found dead in the morning, most believe a terrible accident has taken place. Was it really an accident? Jack and Sarah aren't convinced - and soon discover that secrets and lies can have terrible consequences... and always leave a trail.

On Oklahoma’s Big Rock Prairie, a deaf boy finds a body in Pennington Creek. Johnston County Deputy Hannah Bond and Chickasaw Lighthorse Police Sergeant Bill Maytubby find a crime scene where nothing seems to fit - from the dead angler’s oversize waders to the kind of fish in his creel. They scour the creekside brush, then hit the road for Texas in a widening search for the killer. On the Big Rock, a towering bearded man is building a limestone replica of Roman Jerusalem for a Christian passion play. His cronies are in league with an interstate fraud ring....

Tessa is a Variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance. Shunned by her family, she’s spent the last two years training with the Forces with Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI. When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again. Tessa hates everything about being an impostor - the stress, the danger, the deceit - but loves playing the role of a normal girl.

An escaped prisoner eludes police in the thick forests and remote fishing cabins of the Adirondack Mountains. Using his backwoods skills, he stays one step ahead of his pursuers, mocking them as he slips away. To some, Ronnie Gatrell is a folk hero, bravely resisting government authority. To others, he's a harmless prankster. Everyone in Trout Run, New York, seems to enjoy watching him play the police for fools. Except Police Chief Frank Bennett. He knows Ronnie is dangerous and unstable, and he's determined to bring him to justice. Then the game of hide-and-seek turns deadly.

Sheriff Zeb Hanks has his hands full when sociopath Jimmie Joe Walker, recently released from an Arizona state prison, masterminds a devious plan to make himself filthy rich. His plan involves Ángel Gomez, a down-on-his-luck half Mescalero Apache/half Mexican. Ángel's alcoholism and far-fetched dreams make him an unwitting dupe in Jimmie Joe's plans, which end up endangering Ángel's own life, as well as the lives of those he loves.

Who owns what is traditionally considered sacred? Can the Catholic Church legally conspire with the federal government to steal the most sacrosanct of Native American holy places? Holes in the Sky, the second in the series Zeb Hanks: Small Town Sheriff with Big Time Troubles, explores these questions in a clash of cultures mixed with mysterious deaths.