Book Town's Mystery List

There's a lot going on in Rocky Bluff, CA...

Mortician Stuart Honich dreams about sinking his teeth into the flesh of his tormentors——his boss's daughters. 
Being a cop was something Doug Milligan wanted since childhood, but his wife hates his profession and Doug will soon have to make a difficult choice. 
Publicity hound, Rick Strickland, will do anything to further his career, and is having a secret affair with Liz Phelan, a divorcee with a drinking problem. 
The murder of the Milligans' babysitter begins a series of events that could lead to the destruction of the entire Rocky Bluff Police department as well as many innocent citizens.





A thunderous explosion in the graveyard made us all jump and several people scream. The air in the southeast corner of the cemetery was immediately filled with dust, debris and chunks of granite tombstone. 
Thus begins the newest adventure of Reverend Willa Hinshaw, the Assistant Minister at First United Methodist Church in Liverpool, NC. 
Did Elva Kingfield have a bomb in the flowers that she placed on her husband’s grave only minutes before the explosion? 
Is Leo Kingfield’s ghost really visiting Elva as she claims it is? 
By befriending Elva, is Reverend Willa placing her own life in jeopardy? 
And of course, the question that was raised in Lynette Hall Hampton’s first novel, JILTED BY DEATH, will the romance between Willa and the Baptist preacher, Trent Freeman come to a satisfying end? 





Untreed Reads presents a new edition of Marilyn Levinson’s first Twin Lakes mystery, A Murderer Among Us, awarded a Suspense Magazine’s Best Indie. 

After her husband dies, Lydia Krause sells her company and moves to an upscale retirement community on Long Island to start a new life. At her first Twin Lakes event, she meets the community’s financial advisor, whom she recognizes as the convicted embezzler who drove her sister to suicide. After exchanging heated words with the man's wife, Lydia flees the scene. When the woman is found dead the following morning, Detective Sol Molina considers Lydia Suspect Number One. 

Lydia undertakes an investigation to clear her name. More Twin Lake residents are murdered, and she’s determine to find the killer. At the same time, she must deal with issues concerning her two daughters. Her younger daughter surprises her with news that she’s engaged and planning to move to England. Her married older daughter appears to be having an affair with an old boyfriend, the very person who might be the Twin Lakes killer. Romance is in the air as Lydia and Detective Molina spar then join forces to stop the murderer before Lydia becomes Victim Number Three.




Professor Lexie Driscoll is conducting the first meeting of the Golden Age of Mystery book club in her best friend’s swanky mansion, when another friend is murdered. More members are knocked off as Lexie unravels secret after secret, leading her to believe she's living in Christie's novel, AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. Employing Miss Marple’s knowledge of human nature and Hercule Poirot’s cunning, she reveals the murderer. 
Charming and entertaining, this cleverly affectionate contemporary twist 
on the traditional mystery will delight Christie fans! 
Levinson ably upholds the beloved literary legacy with her savvy heroine, 
cozy village setting, and witty understanding of human foibles. 

--Hank Phillippi Ryan 
Agatha, Anthony, Macavity and Mary HIggins Clark Award winning author




On an early morning paddle, Agapé Jones' outrigger team finds a body in the water off Maui, thrusting him into unexpected danger.
Agapé Jones, retired NYPD detective, is asked to act as special investigator in the murder of famous surfer Philip Fowler, the son of Hawaii State Senator Thomas Fowler. The assignment takes Agapé to the North Shore of Oahu where he discovers that he’s investigating more than just a murder. The young man had no enemies, and Agapé is frustrated by little evidence and few possible suspects.
Agapé enjoys exercising his old skills, but he misses his wife, Gerry. He encounters several people who become more than acquaintances, and in the end, discovers the truth. Murder in Paradise allows readers to discover the answers along with the detective while experiencing a virtual trip to the real Paradise that is Hawaii.





Terrified California residents face the shocking dilemma of yet another serial killer roaming freely in their neighborhoods. However, this time it is an evolving serial killer anomaly that relentlessly searches for, hunts down, and ingeniously traps his victims before unleashing his fiery rage. Always two steps ahead of the cops and fire investigators, the killer hones in on the next sinful target leaving a trail of bones and ashes behind as evidence. It rocks the criminal justice system to the core as a string of arson murders hits inside their turf. Vigilante detective Emily Stone hunts serial killers and child abductors, covertly and under the law enforcement radar, with her intrinsic skills of criminal profiling and forensic investigation. With Stone s toughest case yet, the arson serial killer immediately crosses her radar and sends her into the dark territory of a lethal pyromaniac s mind to the point of no return. While following the clues of the relentless firebomber, Stone grabs the attention of a government anti-terrorist organization called GATE that oversees all law enforcement cases across the U.S., which now focuses their sights on her proven abilities. They have very specific plans for her, whether she likes it or not. Everything teeters on the edge of reality, as Stone must battle for her life between a hired assassin and an arson serial killer. Lines are drawn on both sides of the law. Friendships and lovers are tested.




Click this link to watch the trailer for Dead of Winter by PJ Parrish

Available for the first time in eBook! Read the thriller that launched the award-winning New York Times bestselling Louis Kincaid series. 

In the quaint tourist town of Loon Lake, Mich., a killer is taking his vengeance. One by one, the bodies of cops are found, brutally executed, with mysteriously coded death cards placed with each corpse – the gruesome signature of a psychopath. And the only sound louder than doors being locked against evil is the sound of hearts beating in terrors. Louis Kincaid came north looking for refuge, a place to forget his past. But now he’s landed in the middle of an investigation that’s a terrifying journey through a town’s fiercely protected heart of darkness. 

2001 Edgar Award Finalist 

Praise for DEAD OF WINTER and PJ PARRISH 

“Stylish blend of mystery, knife-edge tension and a complex hero readers care about.” – USAToday 

“Tense, thrilling, and your manicurist’s best friend – you’re going to bite your nails.” – Lee Child 

“Full of intrigue and edge-of-the-seat suspense.” – Michael Connelly 

“The author’s ability to raise goose bumps puts her in the top rank of thriller writers.” – Publishers Weekly starred review




Mystery paperback features a librarian and a police detective on the trail of a murderer.





Click this link to watch the trailer for The Howling Cliffs

Sara Mason's dedication to solving missing person cold cases with love interest, Huxley Keane, includes accompanying him into the Vietnam jungle searching for his MIA brother's remains. Their friend, Esmerelda, accompanies them. Her daughter was abducted along with Huxley's brother. Scant remains are found and await identification.

Sara has purchased a home on the island of Kauai for use as an R&R stopover by the veterans who make frequent trips between the U.S. Mainland and Vietnam. Sara learns that a six-year-old neighborhood girl went missing ten years earlier and strangely, dogs howl when taken high on the forest cliffs. Accompanied by a neighbor's retired forensic dog, Sara wants to learn why dogs react in the forest.

Someone wants the missing child cold case to stay cold. Attempts are made on Sara's life and continue as she investigates the little girl's disappearance. Sara is gravely injured after being run off the road and later pushed over a cliff. She is dazed and alone at night on a narrow ledge over a thousand foot cliffside where she discovers a frightful scene. The forensic dog leads Sara and the police to a second disgusting site that explodes the case wide open and exposes an elusive murderer's motives, revenge and victims






Click this link to watch the trailer for Currents Deep and Deadly

In her travel log of murder, romance, and a personal journey of discovery aboard a cruise ship, Darcy Farthing manages to entertain the reader with her descriptions of Caribbean and South American ports, while also detailing the horrific and wondrous events that take place during her four week adventure. A pragmatic scientist by nature, she says she has given up all belief in a spiritual component to life and knows that coincidences are either man-made or chance occurrences that seem related but have no significance. That is, until a series of unbelievable coincidences challenges her belief. . In telling her story, she lays bare her “nonexistent” soul and the deeply hidden emotions she has kept in a fragile prison of cold logic and denial for 20 years. She is a savvy, professional woman who has been fighting her internal demons ever since she made a colossal mistake in her personal life from which she knows she can never recover. But on a hastily planned cruise with Dr. Peter Johnson, her latest romantic interest, Darcy’s non-belief system is shaken when she is confronted with a set of bewildering and frankly unbelievable coincidences that bring together a tangle of strangers, and people and events from her own past. She simply cannot accept that so many of these related events could happen by chance. Darcy is already feeling trapped on the gigantic floating village when she accidentally overhears discussions about a murder for hire plot. Then when members of the crew begin to die under suspicious circumstances, she learns the hard way that she cannot trust anyone onboard the ship. 





When the body of Maggie McFarland, an 86-year old widow, is found among the rubble of the once-famous, landmark Artemis Hotel, leveled by fire nearly seventy years ago, residents of Roscoe are shocked. However, it is not the location where Maggie is found, but rather the manner of her demise that has everyone puzzled. For it isn't a heart attack that has felled her; nor has she suffered a stroke, or taken a fatal fall from a porch. Her life has not ended so uneventfully. Maggie has been killed by a bullet to the heart, fired from a pistol at close range. Who would possibly want to kill this kind, gentle woman, known throughout the area as one of the best trout fly tiers within a hundred miles of the famed Beaverkill River? That is the mystery that confronts Matt Davis in Broken Promises, one of the most baffling cases of his career.

Logan Hunter Mystery Series

North Carolina SBI agent Logan Hunter caught a serial killer on her first major case and fell in love with a Madison County detective, so she deserves time off to plan a wedding. Instead she gets a call to report to Ivanhoe, not far from where she grew up. The familiar Greek revival mansion named The Black River Plantation holds a crime scene beyond anyone’s worst nightmare. To make matters worse, the scene has been compromised. Key evidence is already obliterated and Logan’s cast iron stomach and steeled nerves are put to the test.





The Cape Fear River snakes through eastern North Carolina, past the stunning port city of Wilmington. But there's a sliver of water called "Sin Creek" by some, where wickedness and decadence take precedence over decency. Logan Hunter battles evil on her quest to find a co-ed's killer and keep her marriage to another agent from falling apart. Even though she succeeds in finding the killer, the investigation changes her life in ways she never could have imagined.




Click this link to watch the trailer for Just North of Luck


FBI Agent Logan Hunter wends up just north of Luck, North Carolina on the trail of a sociopath. Can she stop the bloody killing spree? 

In the mountains of North Carolina a high school custodian is suffocated in plastic and thrown into the Dumpster. A music teacher is beaten to death a few weeks later. Agent Hunter is already in the area working on another case when she's assigned to help Madison County detective Chase Railey track down the killer. 

Logan rents a room in Taryn Kosterman's home in the community of Trust. Over the next few months she deals with quirky characters and frustrating dead ends. As she spends more time with Railey, she experiences some unusual local festivals and her first taste of love. 

Murders of Madison County school personnel continue and get incrfeasingly gruesome. Evidence is hard to come by but Logan finally has enough to search the main suspect's home. After a wild chase, a mudslide dumps Logan and the killer into the French Broad River. Only one of them will walk away. 

Reviews: 

"South of Sanity!" Genevieve Harris, Apex Reviews 

"... weaves a tale that leaves us breathless ..." Sylvia Dickey Smith, the Sidra Smart Mystery series 

"...Whitfield has created a unique supporting cast of Appalachian characters ..." Maggie Bishop, Murder at Blue Falls 

"Just North of Luck is a murder mystery in a beautiful setting. The characters are real, the action and pace fast and smooth, the murders bloody with just the right amount of humor." John Foxjohn, Cold Tears




When the lifeless body of millionaire Rick Teater is discovered, Logan Hunter is thrust into a high-profile crime scene. The inexperienced intern for the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, working alongside the local police, needs to prove herself. She embarks on a quest for justice. The search for Teater’s killer is complicated by a hurricane and Logan’s battle with personal demons, including a recurring nightmare. The investigation comes to a frustrating standstill until her intense search for the prime suspect leads her to a new and shocking discovery.




Logan Hunter and Gabriel Farris “Crack” McCracken are both messed up, complicated SBI agents who can kick butt, but can Logan conquer grief and work alongside the gorgeous brooding agent she intends to despise forever?





Click this link to watch the trailer for River Bones a Mystery Novel

"A mystery surrounds the lush orchards and farmlands of California's Sacramento River Delta. As Sara Mason returns to her hometown in order to start a new life, she learns that a serial killer is terrorizing its residents.

Despite battling the memory of the drowning deaths of her younger sister and alcoholic parents, Sara is determined to make peace with her past. However, she soon learns that the elusive psychopath who strangles his victims, snaps their necks, and then buries each along with a dead animal, is now stalking her. Sara's attempt to rebuild her life is hindered even more by the discovery of skeletal remains both on and near her property. She must move out as the criminal investigation focuses on suspects like the gravedigger Crazy Ike, a cat-killing vagrant, a Peeping Tom, and several others who may be connected to the twenty-eight victims. After several attempts on her life, Sara discovers critical clues and bravely volunteers to be a decoy for the sheriff's department.

Sara Mason is a woman whose destiny has brought her back home, but her decision may lead her down a path lined with danger and straight into the arms of a madman in this captivating thriller."



Click this link to watch the trailer for Legacy of Death

Three short stories of fictional private detective Alexander Steele. The predominate setting for most of these stories is the city of Philadelphia and the surrounding area. Also included is the first chapter of the full length Alexander Steele novel Blackout.

On a hot, muggy night in Philly a couple was brutally murdered on an isolated rooftop. According to rumors the couple stashed a small fortune in gold that was never recovered. 20 years later after new clues and another body surfaces Alexander Steele is hired to solve this cold case. 
Follow the clues along with Philly's top private investigator Alex Steele in Legacy of Death by mystery writer Larry J. 

Legacy of Death is the 3rd short story in the Alexander Steele Death Series following Alexander Steele and the Death Dealer and Alexander Steele and the Ring of Death.




High in the Santa Monica Mountains near Los Angeles, grisly murders are taking place. On each of the victim's bodies a note is left for L.A. Sheriff's detective, Gabriel McRay. The killer's identity is locked in the suppressed memory of a horrifying trauma from Gabriel's own childhood.
Teamed with his forensic pathologist girlfriend and his psychiatrist, Gabriel runs two parallel investigations. The first: a dark journey into the terrifying recollections of his past and the second: the hunt for a serial killer who seems to know more about Gabriel... than he knows himself.






An escaped convict finds refuge as a hired hand on a small farm. But the farm belongs to a deputy sheriff. In this dark tale everybody has an agenda, the fugitive, the sheriff, the sheriff’s wife and everybody else in the small town of Ashley. Things in Ashley have to come to a head ...and they do. In a terrible way!





CRACK THE CODE AND YOU'LL SAVE LIVES...BUT KNOWING IT EXISTS WILL GET YOU KILLED.

When two American embassies in northern Africa are bombed, CIA operatives, Ridley Fox and Nita Parris, are assigned to track down the perpetrators. However, when their top asset is killed in a failed op, the agents suspect that there may be a new threat. Their search for the truth puts them on a collision course with a powerful multinational--which will go to extreme lengths to bury its criminal activities. However, the agents soon learn that someone with a personal vendetta against that company not only knows their secrets, but will expose them in a way that could result in the largest single-day attack against America.