American Mysteries

A bag of chips. That's all 16-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galluzzo, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter, mistakes Rashad's pleadings that he's stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad's resistance to leave the bodega as resisting arrest, mistakes Rashad's every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered.

Doing Time: For the prison writers whose work is included in this anthology, it means more than "serving a sentence"; it means staying alive and sane, preserving dignity, reinventing oneself, and somehow retaining one's humanity. For the last quarter century the prestigious writers' organization PEN has sponsored a contest for writers behind bars to help prisoners face these challenges. The contest honors the best short stories, plays, essays, and poems among hundreds submitted annually by men and women nationwide.

It’s the 1950s. Thousands of people every day pass through Smoke Tree, California, on Route 66. The Mother Road. The two-lane blacktop that stretches from Chicago to LA. A few make a quick stop in the isolated, Mojave Desert town. Some stay. Some are dangerous. And a few are downright deadly. Burke Henry is deadly. He drives into Smoke Tree on a motorcycle on a cold, windy, winter day. His panniers are stuffed with cash. Lots of cash. Who is he? What does he want? Why a tiny town like Smoke Tree? Nobody knows, but they’re all dying to find out. And so are some men from Oklahoma. Members...

For John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, deep wreck diving was more than a sport. Testing themselves against treacherous currents, braving depths that induced hallucinatory effects, they pushed themselves to their limits and beyond, brushing against death more than once in the rusting hulks of sunken ships.

Jack Wilder and Howard Moon Deer are back with a baffling new case. A lonely woman, recently arrived in New Mexico, has vanished mysteriously from her house on a snowy winter day, leaving her front door open and her emotional support dog, Gurdjieff, dead on the dining table.

What happens when a giant man rides a vintage motorcycle across America? Sunny Kinnion is about to find out. He’s 6’ 10” and 350 pounds, and he’s leaving his home in Oregon for a journey of self-discovery. His destination: the Black Hills of South Dakota, where he hopes to connect with his heritage and the legends of the Wild West. But along the way, he gets caught up in a shocking incident that changes his life forever. ‘Welcome to South Dakota’ is an action-packed adventure that follows Sunny as he tries to survive and find his true identity. Author Nicholas Thorp creates a ...

A mail-order bride struggling to overcome grief, and the cowboy determined to help her heal by lassoing her heart... Eliza Jane Ferrell can’t bear the thought of marrying any man besides the beau she lost in the war. Poverty, however, along with the pickpocket who’s been hounding her, ultimately convince her to become a mail-order bride. The letter from Rancher Keegan Ford's sassy bride-to-be sounds promising, with one exception. She makes it clear from the start that her heart will never belong to him. It’s a challenge he can’t resist. How hard can it be for one hat-wearing, horse-...

A smash debut novel from rising star Yasmin Angoe, Her Name Is Knight features an elite assassin heroine on a mission to topple a human trafficking ring and avenge her family....

Skye Cree is after a madman like no other. He’s cunning, smart, dangerous, a serial killer who preys on entire families. He’s gone undetected for five years until an analytical nerd stumbles on a pattern of murders across the U.S. with no apparent connections. Slowly Skye begins to connect the dots. But with lives at stake, will she be able to figure out the link in time to catch this psychopath before he adds more victims to his tally? Or will she get outfoxed and jeopardize everything she loves one last time? Everything hinges on trying to end the reign of a serial killer who has ...

In the middle of an important investigation,Smoke Tree Substation Commander Carlos Caballo, known up and down the Colorado River Valley as "Horse," is suddenly called away to find a man who has shot an inspector at the California Agricultural Inspection station in the tiny desert community of Vidal, California. A California Highway patrolman has found the car abandoned alongside Highway95. When Horse and and the patrolman force open the trunk, they discover a body: the man's wife. Horse realizes he and his deputies must find a killer who is on foot in the vast, unpopulated area where the ...

When Zane Talbot unexpectedly walks into her life, Jenna Parker can't take her eyes off the handsome entrepreneur. The head of a lucrative marketing enterprise, Zane immediately recognizes Jenna’s talent and offers the struggling artist a position in his firm. Flattered and intrigued by this charming businessman’s offer, Jenna simply can’t say no. She also can’t deny the electricity between them, and Zane can’t deny it either. An intense romance soon blossoms, and Jenna finds herself living the life she’d dreamed of for so many years. However, things quickly sour when Zane’s ...

A 4-Book Box Set Complete Series! Clean Western Stories, ranging from mail order bride to historical you know you’ve found yourself a real treasure trove. Grab your spyglass and catch the train to Colorado, for a crazy adventure. Meet Amelia, Bradley Walker, and all the friends as we delve into this mystery, and continue with us on this Wild West. Journey as we mingle with notorious outlaws and may find something that just may change their lives forever in one boxed set! By bestselling authors Katie Wyatt and Kat Carson Book #1 Stolen Brides Her life is turned upside down when a handsome ...

A Heartfelt Short Story SeriesLiving in the hood of Birmingham is not some childhood fantasy. It’s a harsh reality for teenager Draya, and her younger sis Porsha. They’ve witnessed things kids shouldn’t see, and heard things kids shouldn’t hear! Raised by a trick h**, and an alcoholic; Draya vows to be nothing like her mama Trixie. Determined to be a better person, Draya’s main focus is school, and her younger sister Porsha. Secretly, Draya has developed a hatred for all men. Mainly, because of her mama’s despicable lifestyle. All she’s ever seen is a horny man between her ...

The transporting stories in this year’s The Best American Mystery and Suspense are populated by those who exist on the fringe of our society and want more than what life has dealt them: A haunted veteran turned career criminal is on the run. An injured fighter turned bouncer seeks vengeance for his lost love. An assassin on his last job finds himself questioning his life choices and breaks all the rules to understand his final victim.

Some of the best-known and most influential pieces of crime fiction have been from African American writers. Be it Walter Mosley's great Detective Easy Rawlins, or the mean streets of Harlem at the hands of Chester Himes, the stories and characters in this anthology have shaped the mystery genre with their own unique viewpoints and styles. Contributors to the collection include Robert Greer, Chester Himes, Walter Mosley, Cary Phillips, Frankie Bailey, and Richard Wright.

One man’s curse is another man’s weapon. Genetic engineer Neah Haversham thought unlocking the code to her psychic gift would ease the way to blocking it, something she’d wanted since puberty. Within months of finishing her studies, she discovers the life she’d planned has vanished with the rescue of a sarcastic, hardheaded teen with an unprecedented ability. Ouray Bernard is a healer and warrior, a Native American who uses his skills to train other uniquely talented individuals. When called to help the woman invading his dreams, he can’t refuse. Loyalties collide as each defends ...

In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.

Alice Chen doesn’t believe in true love, but she does believe in cold, hard cash. Buckling under the weight of student debt and her mother’s medical bills, Alice will do anything to make bank–even star on Dawn Tay’s Inferno, the hot new reality TV show designed to push couples to their breaking point. The show is Alice’s chance to sip cocktails on the beach and win a cash prize of a million dollars. But when her fiancé cheats on her with another contestant, Alice is faced with a choice.

When newly appointed Sheriff Shea Callahan and her college friends plan a girls' weekend in a secluded cabin on Misty Mountain, they expect laughter, wine, and memories of their last carefree days together. But the weekend takes a dark turn when a group of strangers notices their matching "Girls' Weekend" T-shirts at a small-town gas station. What begins as innocent curiosity quickly spirals into a harrowing game of cat and mouse as the women find themselves stalked and terrorized by men who seem to know every move they make. With the clock ticking and their lives on the line, Shea must ...

In the snowy Aerie Valley of Aspen, Colorado, asking too many questions can result in abduction and death. Greed and vengeance trigger a chain of events fraught with monstrous corruption and violent struggles in the snowbound communities where Indigenous and Non-Native people share a landscape of natural wonder and exorbitant riches. In a race against a perilous deadline, Kayne Sorenson and Nick Sechi must uncover a murder-for-hire scandal that plagues this playground of winter activities and a land sacred to an ancient and noble people. When blood revenge demands justice, who will win and ...