Mystery Reads

Alone in the wilderness. Someone is watching. Can two women survive after they realize the secrets that haunt them have become the reason to hunt them? Best friends Kate and Veronica set out to forget troubles at work and home with a weekend camping trip in Yosemite National Park’s vast and rugged backcountry. But their laughter over old times gives way to a growing sense of menace—that explodes into violence, setting off a life-and-death pursuit. But who are the hunters—and who are the prey? What explains the two unlikely hikers who keep crossing their path? And why does a handsome ...

When Beach Reads bookshop hosts a Valentine’s Day event, “Romance by the Sea,” bookseller Summer Merriweather has no idea that the guest author is under investigation for her own husband’s murder. When that same author is found dead at the local bed and breakfast, nobody assumes it’s natural causes—there were plenty of people who wanted her dead.

★★★★★ "Keeps you thinking and on your toes! But watch out, the twist will get you every time!" - Reader review ___ Five riveting stories that remind us that fate can change our lives in a heartbeat! These intriguing tales encompass every evil deed from revenge to cold-blooded murder to human trafficking and yet never assume you know how they will end until you read the last page. Things are not always what they appear to be, especially when fate intervenes. Atonement: A serial killer is terrorizing the Dallas-Fort Worth area and wherever he strikes he leaves a strange memento ...

There's no place like home for the holidays - even if home is sleepy beachside Brigid's Island, North Carolina. During this season for giving, the town wakes up to a welcome throng of shoppers - and Beach Reads is no exception. But bookseller Summer Merriwether's Christmas cheer turns to cringing fear when she uncovers a deadly secret about her late mother - a secret someone will kill to keep.

Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. They hold sway on the beach and the tennis court, and are adept at manipulating people to get what they want. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island since childhood, despite lifelong grudges and numerous secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel Woolf, is looking to meet her match, whether he’s the tennis pro. But even with plenty to gossip about, this season starts out as quietly as any other. Until a body is discovered, face down, off the side of the boardwalk.

The sixth book in the humorous Oak Island Series! Llewelyn LeFevre, Jr. has a new island home, a new school, and a new nickname. They call me Licorice. He also has a new friend Alex who is “tomboy to the core” in her words. (Followed by “Wanna make something of it?”) One night on the beach, searching for Alex’s brother Frankie (who thinks he’s a werewolf), they discover a mother loggerhead sea turtle instead, using her large flippers to scoot toward the dunes. When she digs a hole and drops close to a hundred ping-pong ball sized eggs into the nest, Licorice thinks it is the ...

Fran Williams never intended to be a travel writer but circumstances made her life take a surprising turn. Now, needing to put the past behind her and desperate for a fresh new start, she finds herself assigned to attend an ancient Well Dressing event in a pretty tourist town as part of a group of journalists. On the hunt for some background information on the event for the travel article she’s researching and writing, she soon uncovers far more than she expected… There’s a mystery that needs solving – and fast! Keen to dive into a sleuthing adventure, Fran teams up with tourist ...

Assassin, Kurt Harm, travels to a conference in Rio de Janeiro. He must stop the leading atomic energy czar from fleeing to Iran with intelligence secrets. Not everything is what it seems in Brazil. The odds are heavily against Harm but that's nothing new.

Victorian London was notorious for its pickpockets. But in the country houses of the elite, gentleman burglars, art thieves and con men preyed on the rich and titled. Wealthy victims—with their pride and reputation at stake—would never go to the police. What they needed was a society insider, one of their own, a person of discretion and finely tuned powers of observation.

Her inheritance is her only lifeline. But her ex’s family wants to steal it from her. Tanya is praying for a miracle. Penniless and out of work, she’s tired of struggling just to feed herself and her son. But when she receives a surprise gift from her late ex-mother-in-law in the form of a beautiful beachside house and an ancient antique shop, it feels too good to be true. But there’s a catch—the tiny town of Magnolia Harbor is the home of her estranged ex’s family... and plenty of long-buried secrets that she’d prefer to leave in the dark. Faced with a jealous ex-brother and ...

Kandy Kane will experience PAIN; she could’ve never imagined. Between her marriage, pregnancy, her father Wayne, and Q’ being her brother, she’s drowning in total misery, and many regrets. Knowing her parents are probably right about her needing therapy, she’s willing to put an end to her nympho lifestyle. ONCE AND FOR ALL!All Kandy wants is a fresh start to happiness, but on the other hand, she soon realizes there’s no escaping her past doings. As she prepares for motherhood, unforeseen secrets will be revealed. Life-shattering events will take place. How much more pain can Kandy...

Homicide detective Tyler Odom and Daphne Janet team up once again - this time to search for a baby no one is quite sure actually exists. Tensions arise when their approaches to the case (and their apparent sympathies) diverge. AUTHOR'S NOTE: This 8500-word short story was originally published on the Kindle Vella platform.

The story about Simon Fountaine’s magical cowboy ranch had been told in their family for more years than she cared to count. It was a fanciful story filled with drama, adventures, and Simon’s determination to find the special place he always dreamed about. Now, Elizabeth Fountaine wondered if there might be a bit of truth to the whimsical fairytale…if it was more than just an elaborate bedtime story to tell children. More than ever before, she very much needed for even just a small piece of the fairytale to be real. If it was, Simon's magical cowboy ranch could be the answer to her ...

If you like scary stories, you've come to the right place. Over 15 tales of terror told in a true story style that will curdle your blood and send shivers down your spine!

It's looking rough for Jeremy Duff to make a go of his new law practice in the former Bleake Funeral Home in Parsons, Kansas. His secretary is the gorgeous ghost of Amelia Bleake who was murdered in the funeral home in 1962. Only Jeremy can see and hear Amelia. Another problem is caused by angry demons which infuse Jeremy's office with the stench of rotting corpses complete with blowflies whenever he sees a client. Just when Jeremy is ready to abandon all hope of success, he is offered the opportunity to team up with Amelia as ghost detectives tasked with figuring out what agonizing trauma ...

After years of playing the field, I'm finally ready to settle down. Rather than waste time with the endless aggravation and frustration of dating, I decide to go through the What The Heart Wants matchmaking service. When the matchmaker pairs me with Scarlett, I'm more than intrigued. She's smart as hell and incredibly sexy, but too many cheating boyfriends have left her with a singular focus: getting pregnant and raising a child on her own. I may want a wife and family, but being an absentee baby daddy is a whole different story. Too bad Scarlett is more interested in her pregnancy project ...

For 20 years, Kayla, Antoinette and Val have performed their own special summer ritual. Once a year, the old friends put aside their daily, separate lives to drink champagne, swap stories and swim naked under the Nantucket stars. But on one of those bonding nights, one of their trio swims out from the shore and doesn't return. After the surviving friends emerge from their grief, they realize that the repercussions of their loss go far beyond their little circle, and they begin to uncover layers of secrets—and their connections to each other—that were never revealed on the beach.

Who gave a baby away on Christmas Day? DNA tests seemed like perfect gifts for the elderly Perkins sisters. They can settle an old argument with bragging rights going to the winner—that’s the intent, anyway. But when the results arrive, everything changes, including the original question. One sister was born on Christmas Eve eighty-three years ago, but not to the Perkins family. So, who is she? The Nineteenth Gift is a heartwarming story of arguments, lies, and blackmail, and a special gift no one was expecting. This Eastern Shore Mysteries Short Holiday Read features Ellender York.

When Gemma finds a rare and potentially valuable magazine hidden in the bookshop, she and her friend Jayne set off to find the owner, only to stumble upon a dead body. The highly perceptive Gemma is the police's first suspect, so she puts her consummate powers of deduction to work to clear her name, investigating a handsome rare books expert, the dead woman's suspiciously unmoved son, and a whole family of greedy characters desperate to cash in on their inheritance.

When it comes to betrayal, no one understands the word better than Chrissy Shanice King. After learning her sister Lexi, carried on a two year affair with her husband; she knows her marriage is officially OVER! Discovering, Lexi even set her up to be rape and impregnated as a teenager; helped Chrissy see her sister for what she really is, and that's a scandalous h*e! Finally, setting Maceo free, and disowning Lexi, Chrissy is now focusing on herself. The only thing her heart desires is locating her twins, and building her fashion empire. Even though Chrissy tries her best to escape drama, ...