Small Town Thriller

Madeline Brimley left small-town Georgia many years ago to go to college and pursue her dreams on the stage. Her dramatic escapades are many, but success has eluded her, leaving her at loose ends. But then she gets word that not only has her beloved, eccentric Aunt Rose passed, but she's left Madeline her equally eccentric bookstore housed in an old Victorian mansion in the small college town of Enigma. But when she arrives in her beat-up Fiat to claim The Old Juniper Bookstore—and restart her life—Madeline is faced with unexpected challenges.

In 1998 an Alku, Minnesota, family of five was brutally murdered in their sleep. The event shook the insulated community but, without any solid leads, was relegated to the cold case files, where it moldered for twenty-five years. Until today. Agent Harry Steinbeck hoped never to return to the northland, a place that holds terrible memories of his sister’s abduction. But when a recent homicide is connected to Alku’s unsolved mass murder, he and cold case agent Evangeline Reed have no choice but to investigate.

It's an ordinary day at Harry's Hair Stop until Imogene hears her favorite client's dying wish. Two days later, she finds herself in the embalming room at Greener Pastures Mortuary, bottle of hair dye and scissors in hand. Styling her client's hair for the funeral is creepy. She'd expected that. But she hadn't expected the body to buzz like it was loaded with corpse caffeine. Was it her imagination, or was something more sinister at play? Determined to prove her sanity, she teams up with the mortuary's handsome night watchman to investigate.

From the best-selling author of ADMIT TO MAYHEM of the Lillian Dove Mystery Series, comes this jaw-dropping, fun-filled thriller sent in the Pacific Northwest. Cookin' Up Murder by D.J. Adamson is a fast-paced, gripping mystery that will keep you turning the pages until the very end. When a high-profile baker is found dead under suspicious circumstances, private investigator Tuesday Welsh dives into a case that’s as complex as it is dangerous. As she uncovers a trail of secrets, lies, and hidden motives, Tuesday realizes the killer is closer than she thought—and could strike again at ...

The Fourth of July in Red Hollow is a celebration of heat, noise, and tradition. But this year, the celebration is just camouflage. Photographer Owen sees it first—a glitch in his camera showing a man's smile stretching into an impossible, grotesque crescent . Hot dog vendor Al serves the same blank-faced man the same exact order twice in ten minutes, a film skipping on repeat . Then, in front of the entire town, Mayor Thompson collapses during his speech, only to rise again—unnaturally smooth, his eyes glassy, and wearing a perfect, hollow smile . When a silent, pristine ambulance ...

Whether it's working at his cousin's funeral home or tossing around the local riffraff at his favorite bar, Nathan Waymaker is a man who knows how to handle the bodies. A former marine and sheriff's deputy, Nathan has built a reputation in his small Southern town as a man who can help when all other avenues have been exhausted. When a beloved local minister is found dead, his parishioners ask Nathan to make sure the death isn’t swept under the rug.

Private Investigator Liz Talbot is a modern Southern belle. She blesses hearts and takes names. She carries her Sig 9 in her Kate Spade handbag, and her golden retriever, Rhett, rides shotgun in her hybrid Escape. When her grandmother is murdered, Liz hightails it back to her South Carolina island home to find the killer. She’s fit to be tied when her brother—the chief of police—shuts her out of the investigation, so she opens her own. Then her long-dead best friend pops in and things really get complicated.

Texas Ranger Rory Yates is not keen for hero status. But it's unavoidable once his girlfriend, country singer Willow Dawes, writes a song about his bravery. Rory escapes his newfound fame when he's sent to the remote West Texas town of Rio Lobo, a municipality with two stoplights. And now, according to the chief of police, it has one too many Texas Rangers. Rio Lobo Detective Ariana Delgado is the one who requested Rory and the only person who believes a local councilwoman's seemingly accidental death is a murder. Then, Rory begins to uncover a tangle of small-town secrets.

A haunting past. A town with secrets. A debt that refuses to die. When John Miller retreats to an isolated coastal town to escape the ghosts of his past, he never expects those ghosts to follow. Twenty years after a tragic accident, strange whispers fill his home, unsettling symbols appear, and shadows move where no one stands. As John digs deeper into the town’s dark history, he uncovers a chilling connection between his own guilt and an ancient curse that has haunted the cliffs for generations. But someone—or something—is determined to keep the past buried. And the more John learns,...

The body on her farm is the least of her worries With grown children and a husband that travels for work, Zoey spends most of her time alone on her pig farm. Her only companions are her pet mini pig and an evil voice in her head intent on destroying her. A voice she knows well. One she's beginning to believe. Things look up when a young woman inherits the farm next door. A friend, a hope - then a murder victim. Zoey’s simple life shatters when she discovers the woman’s body in her field. The sheriff on the case used to be Zoey’s best friend, but now they can barely stand the sight of ...

Smashed heirlooms, ripped upholstery, and rifled drawers - who is breaking into homes during a record-breaking snowy winter, vandalizing and stealing? Whoever it may be is targeting the most vulnerable - the seniors of a small Northwoods town. In the course of her duties, Wendy Carey, the home health nurse, discovers each new break-in and wants more than anything to stop him. The small town reels as the burglar eludes capture and steps up his crimes. A vindictive woman and a secret baby heighten the suspense.

Cujo is a 200-pound Saint Bernard, the best friend Brett Camber has ever had. One day Cujo chases a rabbit into a cave inhabited by sick bats. What happens to Cujo, how he becomes a horrifying vortex inescapably drawing in all the people around him, makes for one of the most heart-stopping novels Stephen King has ever written.

Theft, extortion, homicide — there’s no end to the talents of the new men in photographer Sonny Littlefield’s life. Ever since she moved to the strawberry and sheep farm that she inherited from her biological father, her problems have been piling up: her cousins keep robbing her house, she’s rapidly going broke, and she hasn’t had a date in months. Her top priority is figuring out who left a skeleton hand and threatening note in her ramshackle barn. Somebody in Gracious, Maine, is turning human remains into playthings, and it’s all Sonny can do to keep from ending up a pile of ...

The town of Marshall, Texas, is the epicenter of intellectual property law in the US—renowned for its speedy trials and massive payouts. One of its best lawyers is James Euchre. His newest client, Amir Zawar, is a CEO forced to defend his life’s work against a patent infringement claim. But when a beloved hometown hero is murdered, all signs point to Zawar, an outsider with no alibi. With the help of a former federal prosecutor and a local PI, Euchre hopes to uncover the truth. In his first criminal case, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

A disgraced cop, haunted by a town divided. A couple of teenagers, tangled in the largest murder investigation in history. Several suspects. Dozens of unthinkable murders. Is the person closest to Jake Cavanaugh really guilty of killing so many people? Jake needs to find out, but he may not like the answer. DARKNESS MYSTERY SERIES: Book 1 - Escape the Dark Book 2 - The Dark Years Book 3 - The Children Book 4 - Suspicions on River Road Book 5 - Sapphire Valley

The small town of Harrod’s Reach has seen its fair share of the macabre, especially inside the decrepit old train tunnel around which the town was built. After a young boy, Sully Dupree, is injured in the abandoned tunnel and left in a coma, the townspeople are determined to wall it up. Deputy sheriff Beth Gardner is reluctant to buy into the superstitions until she finds two corpses at the tunnel’s entrance, each left with strange calling cards inscribed with old lullabies. Soon after, Sully Dupree briefly awakens from his coma.

In a tale inspired by real events, pregnant journalist Joan Harken is cautiously excited to follow her fiancé back to his Minnesota hometown. After spending a childhood on the move and chasing the screams and swirls of news-rich city life, she’s eager to settle down. Lilydale’s motto, “Come Home Forever,” couldn’t be more inviting. And yet, something is off in the picture-perfect village. The friendliness borders on intrusive. Joan can’t shake the feeling that every move she makes is being tracked. An archaic organization still seems to hold the town in thrall.

Growing up in a small, insulated black community, Mary always knew she was meant to end up with a good black man and start a family of her own. But at the age of twenty-two she still hasn't found love in her small, religious town. Then Liam thunders into her life and turns it all upside down. Liam is everything her parents warned her against: a sexy white stranger with tattoos and a motorcycle. But what they can't see is how kind he is, and how deeply Mary has fallen for him. When her parents issue an ultimatum she must decide: will she choose the life she has always known, or the sexy ...

CHAD BECKMAN MYSTERY SERIES: Leap of faith, Lesser of Two Evils, and Hot Ashes Cold Granite. All three exciting full length mysteries in one volume. Small town politics and a serial killer clash in the tiny coastal town of Bay View. This three book series brings the reader into the lives of Chad Beckman and his soon to be significant other when they cross paths with a serial killer, a corrupt city government, and in book three, a mystery hidden away for years in the town cemetery. Reader review of book 1─ LEAP OF FAITH WELL WORTH THE LEAP OF FAITH Sometimes trying out a new author in a ...

I'm being hunted. Valeria Happy hour with my bestie turns into a night of terror. I'm attacked by criminals who want to kidnap me, use me, own me. Then he steps in – an insanely hot, bearded savage named Havoc. He doesn’t look like my savior, he looks like a tatted killer. But my only choice is to take his hand Havoc The second I see Valeria, I’m obsessed. She is innocence in an irresistible, curvy package. A beautiful vision that sparks my primal hunger. But even a single kiss will ruin me. Because love is a weakness for a monster like me. Yet once she’s safe in my arms, we can’t...