Southern Thrillers

No one has seen Antoine since he left to play European basketball a decade ago. It's disconcerting when he shows up claiming he needs to protect me from the "gray ones." I think he's a card short of a full deck. Lee and I are moving to Baltimore next month. I haven't found the right time to tell Mama and Daddy the exciting news. No, there's no ring yet. Still, I'm sure Lee has just been too busy to propose. Right? I need to clear out my caseload before leaving town. My clients are not being helpful. I'm running all over North Alabama searching for my client's scorned wife to stop her from ...

When a young woman washes ashore on a Fort Lauderdale beach, Sloan McPherson of the Underwater Investigation Unit is called in to consult. Sloan’s instinct says murder, but even then, there are too many questions. For answers she reaches out to Gwen Wylder. The Miami homicide detective is notorious for being manipulative, bitter, a tyrant to her peers, and wicked smart. And she demands something in return from Sloan: fresh insight into seemingly unrelated cold-case murders and disappearances—and a possible serial killer trolling the Florida coast.

With an extraordinary gift for suspense, McKissack brings us 10 original, spine-tingling tales inspired by African-American history and the mystery of that eerie half hour before nightfall—the dark-thirty.

WILL THE IRON CHEST BE WORTH THE BLOODSHED?The Count Felix von Luckner, Master of the German raider Seeadler, the last privateer, lowers a sealed iron chest into the waters of a small unnamed bay off Wakaya Island, Fiji, under cover of darkness in the year 1917. A chance remark over fifty years later sends four young Australians to search for that chest and the wealth it is said to contain, booty taken from Allied ships the Count had captured and scuttled during the Great War. But will the iron chest, if they find it, be worth the bloodshed demanded by their search?Another thriller from the...

Ever since their on-again, off-again college romance, Erin hasn’t been able to set a single boundary with charismatic but reckless Silas, who has been chasing the next big high since graduation. When he texts her to spring him out of rehab, she knows enough is enough. She is ready to start a career, make new friends, and meet a great guy—even if that means cutting Silas off. But when Silas turns up dead from an overdose, Erin’s world falls apart.

Allison Hawbaker has spent the past year putting back the pieces of her shattered life. Recovering from both family crisis and personal tragedy, Allie throws herself into building a business with her childhood best friend while trying to put the past behind her.Part of Allie’s past is British thespian Mason Armitage, the man she fell for and rebuffed a year ago. Now Mason’s back, and Allie’s in danger of losing her heart again. When she and Mason stumble across a grave robbery in progress, it causes a chain reaction that puts Allie in the crosshairs of criminal conspirators. Because ...

When Miss Julia burst on the scene in her debut, Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind, this proper lady of a certain age found her orderly world turned upside down when Hazel Marie Puckett appeared with her nine-year-old son, Little Lloyd, who looked disturbingly similar to Miss Julia's late husband. Now, in Miss Julia Takes Over, with her sharp tongue and iron backbone intact, Miss Julia must tackle another disruption when Hazel Marie doesn't return from a dinner date. Miss Julia hires J. D. Pickens to investigate, despite her reservations about his taste for beer and women.

Sloan McPherson and the Underwater Investigation Unit have discovered a van at the bottom of a murky Florida pond. Sealed inside the watery tomb are the bodies of four teenagers who disappeared 30 years ago after leaving a rock concert. To authorities, it looks like a tragic accident. To Sloan, it looks like murder. Every piece of evidence is starting to connect to a string of cold case vanishings throughout Florida. Clue by clue, Sloan navigates the warm, dark waters where natural predators feed, knowing that the most dangerous one is still above the surface - nesting and dormant.

"What I love about Steven F. Freeman’s writing is that he keeps you guessing; just when you think you’ve figured it all out, he throws another curveball at you. This clever style of writing keeps the reader on their toes throughout. The action in When the Killing Starts begins on page one and never lets up. This novel can be read as a stand-alone story. Action/thriller readers will love this book as much as I did." - Readers' Favorite The Winter Olympics: the perfect time for competition, sportsmanship…and mayhem Days before the Winter Olympics are scheduled to begin, host country ...

Jake Scarne has retired. But he has mixed feelings about it. He suspects that there is more to life than golf outings and sojourns down the Jersey Shore. Little does he know that some of his old skills will come in handy when the Staten Island Ferry he is on is hijacked! The hijackers claim they are terrorists. But their real motives are more venal. Scarne avails himself of possibly the most unusual ally he's ever had. But there is death and tragedy in this twisty tale that reminds some critics of two classic movies: DIE HARD and THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE-TWO-THREE. “IF YOU LIKE HARD-...

"Mom seems off." Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone. She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out. But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be.

For nearly a decade, twenty-nine-year-old Hudson Miller has made his living in the boxing ring, but a post-fight brawl threatens to derail his career. Desperate for money, Hudson takes a gig as a bouncer at a dive bar. That’s when life delivers him another hook to the jaw: his estranged father, Leland, has been murdered in what appears to be a robbery-gone-bad at his salvage yard, Miller’s Pull-a-Part.

It begins with a missing boy. Mark Bruens provides an alternative to juvenile jail on his ranch in Dallas, Texas. But when one of the boys goes missing, Mark’s perfectly controlled world is shattered, his reputation and future with the court system at risk. To make matters worse, Mark must involve Billy’s stunningly beautiful case manager, Ellie Jenkins, and admit his failure. Together Mark and Ellie embark on a hunt through the seedy nightclubs of Dallas determined to find the missing boy. Along the way, Ellie is threatened by her past and forced to confront her future as a widow, ...

Leslee Stanton Nix-a.k.a. "Nixy" - thought moving to small-town Lilyvale, Arkansas, would be about as thrilling as watching paint dry. But keeping up with her retired Aunt Sherry and her troublemaking housemates - collectively known as the Silver Six - has proven to be as exciting as it is exasperating. To kick off the grand opening of their craft shop, the Handcraft Emporium, Nixy and the Silver Six invite Doralee Gordon to teach a gourd painting class.

Mitch McCaffrey and Diana Corcoran Winstead are about to be married when Mitch receives a surprise visit from Alyssa McCormick, a mysterious beauty who is being pursued by…a werewolf. After a harrowing encounter with the warg, Alyssa identifies herself as the grand-niece of Mitch’s late mentor, Dr. James McCormick, and asks for Mitch’s help. She says the werewolf was sent by the CIA, whose agents are convinced she possesses a spying spell. She says she does not, but believes the spell is in the books Dr. McCormick bequeathed Mitch. To make it worse, she says the FBI wants the same ...

All Rob wanted was a normal life. She almost got it, too: a husband, two kids, a nice house in the suburbs. But Rob fears for her oldest daughter, Callie, who collects tiny bones and whispers to imaginary friends. Rob sees a darkness in Callie, one that reminds her too much of the family she left behind. She decides to take Callie back to her childhood home, to Sundial, deep in the Mojave Desert. And there she will have to make a terrible choice.

If it wasn’t for bad luck, Nik Briscoe wouldn’t have any luck at all. On the run from a criminal gang for a crime she didn't commit, she finds herself arrested in the obscure town of Possum Trot for yet another murder she didn't commit. Sensing a trend here, Nik knows she needs to clear her good name—and fast. As a disabled ex-Navy SEAL, Nik is no stranger to challenges, but facing off against Sam Beaulieu, a local power player with seemingly limitless influence, pushes her skills to the limit. With the odds stacked against her, Nik dives into the murky underbelly of Possum Trot, ...

When the CIA calls on former Army Ranger Pierce Hunt to find a missing operative and friend, the last thing he wants to do is leave the peace of home and family behind. But there’s more to this mission than meets the eye, and Hunt knows he has no choice but to risk everything to save his friend and protect his country. Hunt’s target is Jorge Ramirez, who allegedly has information that poses a threat to the national security of the United States. As Hunt tracks Ramirez in Switzerland, he learns that someone close to his operation has betrayed the CIA.

Falling from a life of wealth and substance, to inside one of America’s most notorious prisons, prominent orthopedic surgeon Phil Sawyer is incarcerated for the voluntary manslaughter of his wife. While confined, he finds himself on the trail of a serial killer that infiltrates the walls of San Quentin. After finding himself in the infirmary for getting involved in an incident that didn’t concern him, Phil struggles with the decision to stick his neck out. But he can’t ignore the rise in suspicious deaths among the African American inmates. With the aid of an empathetic nurse and help...

Toya Gardner, a young Black artist from Atlanta, has returned to her ancestral home in the North Carolina mountains to trace her family history and complete her graduate thesis. But when she encounters a still-standing Confederate monument in the heart of town, she sets her sights on something bigger.