Puzzle Mystery

A featured selection at the 2024 Tucson Festival of Books Distracted by guilt over the serious injuries his best friend sustained while assisting with a case, Vasily Korsokovach doesn’t think much of the envelope that appears in his mailbox at the Rancho Linda Police Department. Containing a bunch of retro Polaroid snapshots showing a series of ordinary objects in everyday situations, the Deputy Chief finds himself at a loss as to why anyone would send him such random photos; whatever hidden message the sender was hoping to pass along is a mystery that Vasily is unwilling to delve into. ...

The dark shadows of a 20-year-old unsolved murder turns Madelyn’s quiet life upside down. In 1979, Madelyn Harper had the ideal life—a loving husband, a young son, and the return of a treasured family heirloom from a museum exhibit, or so she thought. But when the necklace arrives back into her hands, something feels wrong. Could it be a fake? Little did she know, her investigation into the Sweet Sapphire Necklace would be tied to her husband’s sinister and sudden death. As Madelyn delves deeper into the investigation, determined to uncover the truth, she must solve this deadly puzzle...

There's something funny going on here! Was Jeremy Ronson, a top-ranked university official, defenestrated (tossed out a window), or did he defenestrate himself? The police decide his death was accidental, but Mike Woodsen, the university’s PR director, is not convinced. He decides to investigate the death on his own. Woodsen interviews Ronson's colleagues, an odd collection of administrators, nerds, suckups and misfits, and learns that Ronson had a justified reputation as a sonofabitch, earning many enemies in his chequered career. Meanwhile, Woodsen’s day job gives him a bird’s-eye ...

Dive into the depths of mystery with B.E. Lockwood's captivating novel, "The Puzzle Chamber Mysteries: The Submerged Sanctuary". Join Professor Lillian March and her intrepid team as they embark on a thrilling expedition to uncover the secrets of an ancient, hidden sanctuary submerged beneath the waves.

James Thomas, a young businessman, goes missing in the early hours of a Sunday from Jackson Villa, a vast apartment complex. Fearing a kidnapping, a missing case is quickly registered by his colleagues. James' disappearance happens against the backdrop of a crucial business meeting, which he was just hours away from hosting, as well as a music concert that was organized the previous night in Jackson Villa, running well-past midnight. Nikhil Krishnan from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) springs into action to quickly collect evidence and track down James before it is too late. An...

Ghent, the bizarre, gothic City of Witches, of lore, and evidently, of murder! A man is dead and a missing antique manuscript of scientific and philosophical merit is missing. Poisoned chocolates, creepy dolls, thievery, treachery, and yes, waffles. I’m Honorio, a cat, and with my extraordinary detective skills, my three traveling lady companions and I are out to solve the latest case. I try not to fall in love. I try not to be run over by bicycles. I try not to be paralyzed. And I try my best to be brilliant. At that I am successful. Come with us as we continue our European tour. Visit ...

A clever canine. A vanished friend. A secret someone would kill to keep buried —and Alex Allin’s cozy life is about to come undone. When a centuries-old ornate box appears in Alex Allin’s Colorado shop, it carries more than curiosity—it reveals a mystery stretching across generations. A cryptic pattern tucked inside leads straight to Istanbul. Reluctant but determined, Alex follows the thread, never expecting the puzzle to turn deadly. When her best friend is abducted, the mystery becomes personal. With her snack-obsessed dog, Saedie, a flirtatious journalist, and the eccentric ...

A mentally unbalanced former student exacts revenge, killing thirty and wounding sixty others. He takes perverse delight in taunting the police about his next victims. He leads Jab and his friends in a manhunt throughout Northern California. Will Jab stop this maniac? Or will the nightmare continue?

Former FBI Agent Garrett Keating's treason conviction is overturned by the California Supreme Court. He swears vengeance, not only to the FBI, but to Jab Boone. Keating aligns himself with a terrorist group that Jab brought to justice years back. Jab and his colleagues must somehow delay the group's next move: wreaking carnage upon thousands of innocent people! Their showdown leads to Mt. Jab. Both sides agree that there will be no arrests -- and no mercy! Jab and his friends must not only defeat their enemies with a creative solution, but stay alive themselves!

The Midnight Key. A Psychological Thriller So Twisted, You’ll Question Everything. When Elise Archer receives a rusted key and a cryptic note after her husband's mysterious death, she assumes it's someone’s cruel joke. But the message is chillingly clear: “He left you the truth. Find the box. Burn everything else.” Inside her late husband’s locked office, she uncovers more than just secrets—she discovers a hidden box, a maze of encrypted puzzles, and evidence of a life he never told her about. What begins as a search for closure spirals into a mind-bending conspiracy linking his...

Grace Angelo, witch and retired detective, is looking forward to a night of glitz and glamour. Her friend Dario, a local bookstore owner, has invited her to a prestigious book award event, but the celebrations are cut short when one of the winners is found dead. Hemlock Cove PD’s detective, Zachary Jackson, is quickly on the case, and it soon becomes apparent they have a murder on their hands. Grace agrees to consult on the case and recruits Dario to help.

As gumshoes go, I was one of the best, back when it said Triplett on my badge—back when I had a badge, and a uniform to pin it on, not to mention a man’s body instead of a parakeet’s. No joke. Fortunately, though, I still have a few moves up my— Let’s move on. Seymour’s the name. I ended up in this avian form after my untimely demise, but against all odds I have been reunited in sunny Mountain Springs with my wife Sharon and our two children, Lila and Ethan. A lot of mysterious things have happened in this area over the past year, and all four of us have played a part in ...

What happens when a Korean War vet recovering from serious injuries wins a ghost town in a contest, meets a hard-riding, gun-toting cowgirl, and is threatened by three dangerous people all within a few days? Answer: cock-eyed characters, pixilated dialogue, zany romance, and heart-stopping suspense. Thus begins one of Clarence Budington Kelland's finest and rarest novels, previously only published as a seven-part serial in the legendary and best-selling magazine of its era, The Saturday Evening Post.

In “Christmas Aboard,” D. M. Sorlie takes readers on a thrilling journey through World War Two’s misleading clues and espionage. Set during Christmas of 1942, the story delves into the depths of war as the Alboran Sea becomes a backdrop for intense action and suspense. The book opens with Tommy, an Italian doctor, who finds himself in a potentially explosive triage situation. With a nervous young Italian Soldier holding a Red Devil grenade in the hospital ward, Tommy must navigate a high-stakes scenario to save Christmas. Danny’s successful Christmas Eve party on the hospital ship, ...

A dead bride and a missing maiden - in a small town, surrounded by loved ones. Can detectives save lives and bring the killer to justice? Detective Danielle Hall believed in the goodness in everyone. When her best friend found the dead body in the bridal suit she was about to rent for her own wedding, Danielle had no option other than finding the killer in their small town community. She discovered that one of the bride’s maids disappeared. Danielle felt that the bride was not killed because she was hated. She risked her personal relationship with her town folks to get to the bottom of ...

Gus’s wakes up to discover that he’s been kidnapped by a Mexican mobster. He’s not the only one who has been kidnapped, however. Apparently, someone’s pinched the crime lord’s kid and the head thug of the gang wants Gus to find the missing kid before the crime lord finds out about it. By kid, it turns out that they meant young goat. If the goat doesn’t turn up in time then the ire of the crime lord will surely fall on one of them. Gus needs to figure out which suspect is the correct one. Luckily, Gus has Father Xavier around to help him sort out this tricky situation. Can Gus ...

In *Cipher, Mobsters & a Sphinx,* retired cipher decoder Candeedo Brewdinkle seeks the peaceful life of Killian Cove after years of globe-trotting adventures. Alongside his witty, mysterious feline companion, Bartholomew, Candeedo settles into a quiet routine of crossword puzzles and decoding cryptic messages sent by Norman, the local bookstore owner. He anticipates a tranquil life in this charming seaside town, but things take a sudden dark turn. A mysterious coded message leads Candeedo to Norman’s bookstore, where he stumbles upon a chilling discovery: a dead body, a missing bookmark ...

Amateur sleuths, Rod & Bryony Kane race to solve a murder mystery after a sudden storm strands them on an isolated island resort in Lake Superior.

Agosto del 2016. México llora la muerte de su máximo ídolo, El Divo. Pero tras la congoja masiva, se descubre otro hecho: han sustraído un cuadro, propiedad del cantante y parte del patrimonio cultural del país: La Doña, el retrato que Diego Rivera hiciera de una célebre actriz. Y esto desata un alud de vertiginosos hechos. El novato detective Peter Endejo, ser de apariencia casi risible, queda a cargo de la investigación. Y deberá atar cabos entre personajes de nombres arquetípicos, pero a los que el autor dota de arrolladora personalidad individual.

When a high-stakes puzzle competition masks a destructive gambling scandal, Carlie finds herself thrown into a labyrinth of betrayal and underground crime. Struggling to balance her professional ambitions with dangerous secrets—ranging from hacked social media, rigged competitions, and a charismatic yet enigmatic colleague—her very future hangs in the balance. With reputations on the line and hidden forces pulling the strings, Carlie must decide if exposing the truth is worth the cost before a volatile confrontation shatters everything.