Psychological Twists

I stand in the mortuary and take a deep breath before identifying the body of the man I’ve been married to for 26 years. Victor and I built Serenity Falls, a successful couples’ retreat, together. Honesty and trust were the bedrocks of our marriage, and we helped other couples repair their relationships too.

"Schoolgirl missing", the ticker reads, and the camera cuts to a girl’s face. Blonde hair waterfalling over her shoulders, serious eyes, lips a little parted like she’s about to speak. That’s when I realize I’ve been holding my breath, because the gasp when I inhale almost chokes me. Sadie Kelly has lost her job. Until last month, she was a teacher at Horton College - the same high school she went to 10 years ago along with her best friend, Fiona.

Today marks the two-year anniversary of starting my new hobby. It had been a terrifying, thrilling, and all together fulfilling journey. No one had suspected a thing, as far as I knew. The first few times I did it, I felt immediate panic afterward, but as soon as the reports of horrible freak accidents showed up in the news, I knew I was safe. Ashley Gerard lived in a small city and spent her days doing whatever she pleased thanks to an inheritance she received. With no job to tie her down, she was free to wander and enjoy her life. She enjoyed being alone, except for hanging out with a few...

It seemed like a dream come true when we first moved in. A chance to leave my stressful job behind and fix things with James. But something gnaws at me each morning as I wave my husband off to work from our gated community, accept a coffee from Lin, our housekeeper, and watch my kids play in these eerily perfect, car-free streets. When a neighbor’s body is found floating in a pool during a party, the other wives say it was a tragic accident. But there are also whispers about the family who lived in our villa before us—just vanished one day, they say.

A perfect life, a perfect love – and a perfect murder.Loving Frankie was easy but teenage Carol wasn’t the only woman Frankie charmed. Tired of Frankie’s cheating ways, Carol kills him and buries him in her orchard. Forty years later Frankie's grave will be found and Carol’s guilt revealed. As she writes her confession before they arrest her, she discovers other friends lied. The truth should free her, but their betrayal demands revenge. Will she atone for her sins and kill the innocent girl she was, or will that girl exact retribution? If you love dark, domestic noir, full of ...

"A wild ride. We got not just one dysfunctional, dangerous villain but two. Even when I think I know what’s going on Michael manages to pull a surprise out of his hat." "If you're a fan of Freida McFadden, David Baldacci, or Harlan Coben, you'll find this book captivating and imaginative." The serial killer is dead; the expected seventh victim is alive, and the Santa Monica detectives and the FBI agents are shaking their heads. “Who-done-it” meets “why-done-it.” The result: A twisty mystery, spiked with psychological and cultural implications, all playing out in sun-drenched Santa...

Tuck has an obsession with time and an extreme dislike for funerals. Furthermore, he hates winter and wants for nothing more than a return to his cozy bed. Braving the elements Tuck's desire for a speedy service is answered. Still, might there be consequences for wishing his life away? The recipient of a Five-Star review from Readers' Favorite, A Place of Rest is another astounding short story from award-winning author Robert E. Kearns. Now with a Five Star Editorial Review from Readers' Favorite

I’ve worked so hard to be the lawyer I am today. Helping as many women as I can—including my sister—escape toxic marriages makes it all worth it. But as I stand in the courtroom, listening to this poor woman break down sobbing, my stomach twists. I can’t look. Her husband says she can’t be trusted. Her child is about to be taken away from her. And it’s all my fault.

"Suppose (Lillian Dove Mystery Series Book 2): When a missing woman’s case lands in Lillian Dove’s lap, she’s forced to confront the ugly truth that not all crimes remain buried. As a recovering alcoholic and amateur sleuth, Lillian’s been trying to get her life back on track—but a chilling discovery in a small-town park threatens to derail her progress. Drawn into a dark web of deceit and betrayal, Lillian must navigate a maze of suspects and uncover buried secrets that put her directly in the crosshairs of a dangerous killer. With snappy dialogue, taut pacing, and unexpected ...

Angel sees the unseen. The unseen, see her. She is being consumed by the spirit world. Angel can't escape her fate. Her gifts are becoming stronger, and the spirits now see her as a threat. The time has come for her to face her fears and learn how to keep herself safe or perish at the hands of the unseen who want her dead. Ann Mountz is a master of writing. Her passion for writing is uncanny. She brings her book to life with expression and deep knowledge of human behavior. She writes as if she lives in each scene moment by moment and the reader will live it too. Since she was young, she's ...

A national treasure... A devious killer... Showbusiness isn't all fun and games... When movie star Michael Masterton receives death threats on the set of his latest film, US-born, London-based private detective Jefferson Cole is called in to investigate and keep the stories from the press. Cole looks forward to an easy gig; all he has to do is keep the actor alive until the film wraps - simple, right? When the death threats escalate to murder attempts, Cole finds himself racing to figure out who the mystery killer could be from the small cast and crew. Can he find the killer before the ...

A murder mystery book set in the village of Bracken during a seemingly peaceful summer evening. When Inspector Windmere escapes to the idyllic Dahlia and Crown inn for a much-needed holiday, he finds his retreat cut short by the shocking murder of Sir Henry Walden. In the quaint village of Bracken, where gossip runs rampant and the simplest conversations are laced with tension, the tranquility is shattered as dark secrets threaten to unravel the lives of its inhabitants. The investigation into Sir Henry's death reveals a tapestry of suspicion woven with hidden motives and long-buried ...

- A henpecked husband makes a stand against his surly wife.- Is a mysterious stain on the ceiling of a prison cell a product of the inmate's imagination or something more sinister?- A woman trapped in a loveless marriage finds magic in a gift from a friend.- Something is alive in the outhouse…- A young boy longs to venture beyond the walls of his post-apocalyptic city, until he learns the terrifying truth about what’s out there.- A terminally ill teen’s forbidden love affair turns tragic.- A young witch and her talking dog are tasked with ridding their home of unwanted guests. Magic ...

Could you take a life to save your own? Faith's world will never be the same again. Not after he took everything from her. Now, there's only one way to stop the man who murdered her sister, and it will push her to the edge. After coming to terms with her involuntary commitment to Little Lake State Hospital, Faith discovers the monster who fractured her life is posing as her psychiatrist. Dr. Robert O'Reilly has only one promise: tell anyone about the horrible things he's done, and he will kill her mother. With no choice but to keep O'Reilly happy, Faith must suppress her desires for revenge...

Why would a mother murder her four children with a smile on her face? What sinister end awaits the regulars of the local watering hole? When Beverly Havermore rubs elbows with other members of high society, what ghosts from her past come to haunt her? Could a curse be behind the mysterious speech problems plaguing an otherwise healthy Benjamin Anatole? The answers to these alarming questions can be found in this collection of seventeen nerve-racking, and at times darkly humorous, short stories that are guaranteed to chill the bones of even the most sensible reader. From a man choosing ...

There's a darker side to the festive season screaming to be let out in this Christmas edition of Twisted Tales... Read on in terror to five chilling stories of horror and suspense, with a couple centering around that magic time of year!

Violet Woods buries her firstborn child. Not lacking in fortitude, she soon produces five replacement boys. Violet, a matriarch with barely concealed neurotic psychosis, stifles the Woods brothers under her protective wing, and keeps them safe from wanton girls. As her hotel empire grows and the decades pass, the boys coerce their way into adulthood, each with his secrets and flaws. And Julie Spencer is pulled into the depraved family dynamic—trapped in their world. Through Katherine Black’s signature style of probing the darkest depths of twisting suspense, The Last Matriarch is a ...

YOU CAN'T OUTRUN YOUR DEMONS WHEN THEY'RE LIVING INSIDE YOU. Sage Wellington has built her life around control. As an elite trainer at Manhattan's exclusive Verve Health Club, her carefully structured routine keeps the trauma of her childhood locked safely away—until Vanessa Reid walks through the door. Her new client is everything Sage respects: disciplined, knowledgeable, and eerily similar to herself. When Vanessa shares her story of narrowly escaping a predator who "collected perfect bodies," it triggers something dark in Sage's suppressed past. Then a fitness model is killed, and ...

Day one. As my eyes adjust to the darkness, I slowly start to recognise my surroundings: the small hole in the door and a narrow window allowing only a small chink of light. The jewellery given to me by my loving husband is gone and I am wearing someone else’s clothes. The room is exactly as the first woman described. And the second. And the third… It’s then I know, I am the fifth woman to be taken.

When Congressional staffer Ben Walsh receives this cryptic text from his wife he initially doesn’t think much of it. But while waiting to hear from her again, Ben discovers that the text came an hour before a shooting that occurred along her daily running route. Veronica won’t pick up her phone, and when she doesn’t return home, he knows she is somehow involved. If she isn’t one of the victims, then where is she, and what did she know? While Ben searches for his wife, he stumbles upon another violent death, with clear connections to the shooting.