Southern Thrillers

When the mysterious death of a childhood friend forces homicide detective Alex Abrams to return to her hometown, she’s pulled back into a world of dark secrets and painful memories she thought she’d left behind. Alex, a battle-hardened Iraq War veteran, is forced to confront the ghosts of her past—and the deadly truth lurking in the shadows of her tight-knit community. Teaming up with her twin brother, Lucca, Alex soon uncovers a chilling pattern of so-called "accidental" deaths—each one more calculated and chilling than the last.

The Phantom of the Pavilion by K. A. Wijeratne In the crumbling cricket ground of Maduwila, whispers from the past refuse to fade. When jaded sports journalist Laki Perera stumbles upon a half-forgotten scandal buried beneath the lush spin of Sri Lankan cricket, he finds himself haunted—literally—by the ghost of Ranjith "Rana" Abeysekera, a prodigious spinner whose mysterious death decades ago was written off as disgrace. As Laki joins forces with his estranged daughter Madhavi and fiery investigative reporter Shyamali Peiris, the trio uncover a tangled web of match-fixing, political ...

Delaney Detective Agency gets a taste of the spotlight when they are called to a case on a movie set in Greenville, MS, right on the Mississippi River. Marlon Brandon, heir to a wealthy and influential political family, has brought a film crew to town to film a drama about the 1927 flood that submerged a great deal of Greenville. Marlon wants the world to know the story of the flood—and the heroic role the Brandon ancestors played in rescuing dozens of local residents from drowning. Or at least that was the plan until he disappeared.

Sharyn McCrumb is the New York Times best-selling author of the Ballad novels, which celebrate the rich history of Appalachia. An elegant saga set against the American Revolution, King' s Mountain features John Sevier and his legendary Carolina Overmountain Men, who find themselves defending their families and farms against the troops of a haughty British major.

A cabin in the woods. Three dead, one in critical condition. Property owned by not just any Tennessee local, but one of the richest men in the country. Vera Boyett isn’t quite sure what it means. But that’s why Sheriff Gray “Bent” Benton called her: to figure it out. Criminal analysis is what she does best. Even when the town is in panicked shambles, even when the case is more delicate than most…and even when it’s not the only case on her plate.

Verity Long's new ghost-hunting career has gone to the dogs - literally. A spirit is releasing animals from their cages at the Sugarland Animal Rescue Center. It's an unusual haunting that gets even more bizarre when she uncovers a new clue in a case of a missing child. Verity vows to reunite the lost boy with his family. And when she does, Verity just might answer the age-old question: Do all dogs go to heaven?

Ghost hunter Verity Long is overdue for a little R&R (rest and romance) with her boyfriend, Ellis, and a vintage train trip through the Tennessee mountains seems like just the ticket. The Sugarland Express carries history and nostalgia in every compartment, and Verity is determined to enjoy it - without ghostly interference. But the ghosts have other plans… On a dark, desolate night nearly a century ago, the train was stranded in the mountains, and a young woman was found stabbed to death in her locked compartment.

When a tree topples over onto Lillian’s prized 1948 Tucker Torpedo, these over-50 amateur sleuths are once again scrambling for money. Lucky for them, they have their choice of two cases, but which to take - a suspected art forgery or mysterious trash theft from the county landfill?

A nuclear threat. A shadow network. And one ruthless spy team standing in the way of annihilation When spy chief Major Sophie Decker and her covert military unit Department 89 assassinate a Colombian cartel boss, they uncover intel pointing to a secret paramilitary group operating out of South America. Their objective? Smuggle a nuclear weapon into Europe and strike a high-value political target—sparking global chaos and regime collapse. Now, with the clock ticking and no room for error, Decker’s team must hunt the conspirators through a web of hidden alliances, black-market deals, and ...

On the run across the 1960s South, agents for a civil rights group are hunted by ruthless killers determined to silence them. Madeline Sterling and Socrates Gray have uncovered damning evidence in the brutal murders of civil rights workers. Now, they're the targets. Hunted by shadowy figures, they must evade capture while piecing together a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of power. When Gray is kidnapped, Sterling faces an impossible ransom demand: surrender her newborn daughter. Torn between protecting her child and saving her friend, she embarks on a desperate rescue mission. ...

He was about to make history. He never got the chance. Governor-elect Joe Hightower stands before a cheering crowd on the coldest day in Alabama history. Moments before taking the oath of office, he collapses on stage and dies. The official report says heart attack. But Sophie and Eddie Morrison don’t believe it. Trapped in a rare South Alabama snowstorm, the couple begins to question everything surrounding Joe’s death—the rushed autopsy, the odd behavior of state officials, and a stranger in the crowd with ties to a painful chapter in their past. They aren’t alone. FBI Agent ...

When Pepper Dunn purchases a cat figurine at a yard sale, she has no idea what she’s in store for. First, a crazy woman tells Pepper that owning the item will get her killed, then Pepper discovers the item is haunted by the spirit of a dead cat. As if things couldn’t get worse, when a murder is traced back to the cat figurine, it looks like owning the object may in fact, get Pepper killed. But Pepper is no coward—she won’t back away from a situation simply out of fear.

When Pepper teaches a class at the Southern School of Magic, she expects a run of the mill experience. But when a gaggle of mean teachers invades her classroom, Pepper is on high alert. These women are nasty and they make no bones about disliking Pepper. Pepper does her best to stay far away from them, but when one of the witches is murdered in broad daylight, everyone's a suspect, including Rufus Mayes, who's moved back into town.

It’s possible a million year old resource lays beneath the rich Delta mud, oil. But to find out, a survey company will have to run surveys across hundreds of acres of farm land. Landowners will be compensated for any damage, and paid a generous fee for access. Most of SE Arkansas County sees this as a windfall. But one man doesn’t. Bill Rollingsworth’s family had lost the family farm decades ago. Young Bill had made millions in the tech industry. He eventually came back and bought the old homestead. But unbeknownst to Bill, the bank had retained the mineral rights. Realizing that he ...

The Hayes family has made moonshine in Chattanooga since the days of Prohibition, and Hattie is happy to continue the tradition, serving up fun, fruity flavors in mason jars for locals and tourists alike. All signs indicate her new 'shine shop will be a smashing success. What's more, Mounted Police Officer Marlon Landers has taken a shine to Hattie. For the first time, the stars seemed to have aligned in both her work and romantic life. But when a body ends up on her store's doorstep alongside a broken jar of her Firefly Moonshine, it might be lights out for her fledgling business.

When Lillian Summer Fairview's husband up and dies on her, it leaves the last living member of the most prestigious family in Summer Shoals, Georgia, in a hot mess. While Lil was busy being a proper Southern lady, Harlan squandered dang near the whole family fortune on lottery tickets. To keep her financial skeletons in the closet and give him a decent burial, Lil made a deal that has now landed her in prison.

The Down South Cafe is open and flourishing, and Amy Flowers is busy making pies and cakes for the holiday. The only thorn in her side is the chamber of commerce director George Lincoln, who is trying to buy the cafe so he can tear it down and build a B and B on the site. When George collapses while eating at the Down South, everybody assumes it's a heart attack - until the autopsy declares it to be poisoning.

They're out there, under the salt: the bodies of German seamen who used to lie in wait at the mouth of the Mississippi for unescorted American tankers sailing from the oil refineries of Baton Rouge out into the Gulf of Mexico. As a child, Dave Robicheaux had been haunted by the sailors' images. Years later, Robicheaux, a detective with the New Iberia sheriff's office, finds himself and his family at serious risk, stalked for his knowledge of a watery burial ground by a mysterious man.

Alexandra Barnaby got the brains in her family. The little gray cells certainly bypassed Barney’s younger brother, Wild Bill. Truth is, Alex has been bailing her brother out of trouble since they were kids. Not that Bill's a bad sort. More that he acts first and thinks later. Unfortunately, this time around, Wild Bill will be Dead Bill if Alex doesn't find him in time.

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.