Collection: Mystery, Thrillers, & Crime

Ellison Russell's life resembles a rollercoaster ride. And rollercoasters make her ill.

Her daughter Grace has a crush on a boy Ellison doesn't trust and she's taken to hosting wild parties when Ellison goes out for the evening. Worse, the bank which represents Grace's inheritance from her father may be in trouble.

When a meeting with the chef at the country club leads to the discovery of a body, Ellison can't afford cold feet. She must save the bank, find the killer, and convince Grace (and herself) that powerful women don't need men to rescue them.

2023 HONORABLE MENTION (fantasy), Writer's Digest Self-Published E-Book Awards

2023 SECOND RUNNER UP (paranormal), Indies Today Awards

"This arresting paranormal thriller shouldn't be missed." - BookLife Reviews (*Editor's Pick*)

LOT 16 WAS NEVER TO BE SOLD.

Generations pass and the estate's directive is overturned.

Situated on a grassy hilltop overlooking a lake and wildlife preserve, the 30-acre parcel is perfect for Nora and Dex. They'll escape their city's rising crime, build a home with an amazing view, work remotely, and start a family.

Only, their idyllic sanctuary becomes anything but.

A troubled spirit haunts the land, forcing Nora to find clues to an unsolved mystery. Clues, which have been hidden for 70 years.

Nora must find them or risk the lives of those she loves.

A festive tale of kidnapping, explosions, & stolen turkeys....

One should never meddle in the affairs of dragons, but someone has been doing just that. They've been making imitation dragon scale baubles that are nothing short of lethal, and kidnapping delivery drivers all over the Yorkshire Dales. They've also been leaving behind some distinctly dragon-ish traces.

Beaufort Scales, High Lord of the Cloverly Dragons, is hot on the trail - or would be, if he wasn't having certain political problems at home. That leaves Alice and Miriam to track down the real culprits, rescue the hostages, and salvage Mortimer's bauble reputation, all while misleading the police regarding the of existence of dragons, and hopefully without being blown up by unexpectedly aggressive Christmas decorations in the process. Luckily they have the full resources of the Toot Hansell Women's Institute at their disposal. They'll need it.

And then there's the small question of who stole all the Christmas turkeys...

Dragons, the Women's Institute, and one very suspicious cat. What could possibly go wrong?

Yule Be Sorry is the perfect Christmas cozy mystery for anyone who likes their crime funny, dragonish, and full of cake and friendship.

This is Book 2 of the Beaufort Scales Cozy Mysteries - check out Baking Bad for how it all started!

The world had tried to break her.

Addie has dreamt of freedom for as long as she can remember-peace away from the torment of her old life. But now that it's finally within her grasp, she's struggling to take those first steps into her new reality.

The last thing she wants is a new roommate to see the scars she's desperate to keep hidden, especially not the ruggedly handsome man who steals her breath and sends her heart into overdrive.

"I'm nobody's hero. Trust me."

All Beckett wants is to silence the demons of his past. The first step is to make amends for not being there when his family needed him the most. That means settling in Wolf Gap for good, even if the town reminds him of all the ways he failed.

He never expected to share a home with a blonde-haired beauty with haunting hazel eyes. But he's held captive by her quiet strength and the way she sees everything he tries to hide.

Soon, an unlikely friendship becomes so much more. But when forces from Addie's life slink out of the shadows, they could both lose everything they fought so hard for-down to their very last breaths...

In a world without power, what will one man do to save his son? On the five-year anniversary of his wife Hannah's disappearance, small-town cop Noah Sheridan takes his son Milo to a local ski resort for some father-son time. In a blink, the power grid goes out. Phones and cars stop working. What starts as a Christmas holiday soon turns deadly. When an impending blizzard cuts off the town from the rest of civilization, it'll take everything Noah has to keep his family and friends alive. Nature's wrath is dangerous. So are the desperate people willing to do anything to survive. From USA Today Bestselling Author Kyla Stone comes the second book in the Edge of Collapse series, a gripping apocalyptic survival thriller featuring flawed, complex characters and high-octane action adventure.

Your Grandparents Are Spies by Anson Montgomery takes YOU on another unexpected adventure with your grandparents. Your 6-8 year old reader will visit the zip-line park and cruise through the canopy, chase after a runaway thief, and fly in a rocket ship into space! Your Grandparents Are Spies is a companion book to the bestselling title Your Grandparents are Zombies!. Choose Your Own Adventure Your Grandparents Are Spies is an interactive adventure book in which YOU decide what happens next. Is the man with a scar and a briefcase following you? Are your grandparents really who you think they are? Or, are they top-secret spies on a dangerous mission? Will you be one of the youngest space adventurers ever?

First in the new Maple Syrup cozy mystery series from USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bruns.

There's nothing sweet about murder...

Leila Khoury has always believed that everyone loved her father as much as they loved his artisanal maple syrup. But when he's killed, and she returns to Sugar Ridge, Vermont to take over his business, she starts to realize how much of his life she's left untapped.

With her brother under suspicion, her mother just barely holding it together, and police not producing any leads, Leila will have to investigate herself if she wants answers about her father's sticky end. But the more she learns, the more she worries that there won't be a sappy ending to the story.

A cozy mystery perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke, this edition includes 5 delicious maple recipes for mystery readers with a sweet tooth!

What readers are saying about A Doomful of Sugar:

"There's no shortage of twists and turns"

"Memorable characters, a charming setting...a well-plotted mystery"

"Developed characters, a strong plotline, and a few red herrings"

"If you make it across the border, get us help. Some of us care. Do you understand? ... The arrests grow insane."

At the very hour this message is en route to the CIA, Mrs Pollifax is waiting for her night-blooming cereus flower to do its thing. She hardly gets to see its flowers, though, before being whisked off for another daring mission halfway across the world.

Soon she is sporting a beautiful new hat - perfect for hiding eight forged passports.

Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most unlikely and lovable of international spies.

"There are things that go 'bump' in the night. Be thankful that one of those things is on our side..."

When the full moon rises and casts its eerie glow over the land, the creatures of the night come out to hunt and feast and prey on the innocent citizens of Gotham City, and only one man stands in their way: The Batman.

These are the bizarre and frightening case files of the Dark Knight Detective, featuring grave-robbers, men making monsters, night terrors, and the debut of an all-new moonlight monster known only as Midnight.

Together this fatal collection by the creative team of Steve Niles (30 Days of Night, Simon Dark) and Kelley Jones (Sandman, Batman: Red Rain) are all 12 issues of Batman: Gotham After Midnight. This deluxe edition collects BATMAN: GOTHAM AFTER MIDNIGHT #1-12 and features a brand-new introduction by Steve Niles, original outlines and scripts, and behind-the-scenes art by Jones--plus a previously unpublished tale of terror, The Abyss, illustrated by Jones and written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly!

Something evil stalks the citizens of Rose Valley-not for the first time, but hopefully for the last.

• WINNER: Pinnacle Book Achievement Award 2019 - Best Horror Fiction
• FINALIST: Readers' Favorite Book Award 2019 - Finalist: Fiction - Paranormal
• FINALIST (Top 20): The Kindle Book Review Awards 2019 - Fiction - Horror/Suspense

"Barnett's plot is clever and irresistible, and his book is a sheer pleasure to read. Horror, thriller and mystery fans alike will find much to their liking in this intriguing story about the unknown. ...most highly recommended." Jack Magnus, Readers' Favorite Book Reviews

After suffering through a horrific car accident, Jake Rollins struggles to survive in his tiny hometown of Rose Valley-a place to which he hoped never to return.

When a sheep is viciously mutilated on the ranch where Jake is recovering, he's dragged back into the cloying politics of small town life. While the Sheriff tries to pass off the incident as the work of coyotes, Jake turns to a local reporter and old high school flame, Shandi Mason, to search for the truth.

As livestock mutilations escalate into deadly attacks on humans, and the Sheriff organizes a foolhardy manhunt, Jake and Shandi must race to save the town from a seemingly unstoppable evil.

"The well fleshed out characters are one of the strengths of the story. ...The pacing is good and, as the plot gradually unfolds, readers will find themselves eager to connect all the dots and make early assumptions as clues appear one after the other." Lit Amri, Readers' Favorite Book Reviews

EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS the first book in the critically-acclaimed, multiple award-winning "Lorestalker" series of horror stories featuring creatures of lore and dark imagination.

"Intrigue, curiosity, surprises, and the depth of the plot will keep you on the edge of your seat, wondering if they will understand all they need to, and be able to use it in order to save those they care for." K.J. Simmill, Readers' Favorite Book Reviews

When a young woman goes missing, Detective Alyssa Wyatt is called to the scene. Will she and her team be able to solve the crime and locate the woman in time?

It's their usual Thursday girls' night in, and best friends Skye, Elena, and London are hanging out at Skye's house in New Mexico: eating junk food, drinking wine, and playing with Skye's children, Carter and Abigail...until the intruders arrive. Hearing horrific screams from Elena and Skye, London hides the children, tiptoes out to see what has happened, and then disappears. After Carter raises the alarm, Detective Alyssa Wyatt is called in to investigate a crime that appears to have no motive, no evidence, and worse still--no sign of London.
As Alyssa and her team dig deeper, the truth is always just out of their reach, but what is clear is that they need to find London...and fast. As they uncover a link between the murders and a sinister local cult, can Alyssa find the young woman who has vanished without a trace before London joins the list of victims?

Crack the codes. Find the treasure. Escape the house.

From the acclaimed author of Scritch Scratch and What Lives in the Woods comes a action-packed adventure novel about three friends who team up to find a hidden treasure in an abandoned 1950's funhouse.

Twelve-year-old Sarah Greene wants nothing more from her seventh-grade year than to beat the hardest escape room left in her town with her best friends, West, and Hannah. But when a foreclosure notice shows up on Sarah's front door, everything changes. Since her father became ill two years ago, things have been bad, but not lose your house bad...until now.

Sarah feels helpless until the day Hannah mentions a treasure rumored to be hidden in the walls of an abandoned funhouse. According to legend, Hans, Stefan, and Karl Stein were orphaned at eight years old and lived with different families until they were able to reunite as adults. Their dream was to build the most epic funhouse in existence. They wanted their experience to be more than mirror mazes and optical illusions, so they not only created elaborate riddles and secret passages, but they also claimed to have hidden a treasure inside the funhouse.

Once in, Sarah, West, and Hannah realize the house is unlike any escape room they've attempted. There are challenges, yes, but they feel personal. Like the triplets knew who would get in. It seems impossible, but so does everything about the house. As soon as they're in she immediately worries that attempting the funhouse is a bad idea but Sarah has no choice but to continue, since her future is at stake.

When DNA results reveal a disturbing connection to the mysterious disappearance of a famous baby nearly three decades ago, a forensic scientist's increasingly perilous search for answers draws her to an unsettling small Nevada town in this engrossing, propulsive new novel from the internationally bestselling author of Twenty Years Later.

For fans of Alice Feeney, Karin Slaughter, Riley Sager, and Megan Goldin.

Thirty years ago, Baby Charlotte vanished. Today, she's still in danger.


When Dr. Sloan Hastings submits her DNA to an online genealogy site for a research assignment, her goal is to better understand the treasure-trove of genetic information contained on ancestry websites. Brilliant and driven, Sloan is embarking on a fellowship in forensic pathology, training under the renowned Dr. Livia Cutty.

Sloan has one reservation about involving herself in the experiment: she's adopted. Grateful for a loving home, she's never considered tracking down her biological parents. The results of her search are shocking. Sloan's DNA profile suggests her true identity is that of Charlotte Margolis, aka "Baby Charlotte", who captured the nation's attention when she mysteriously disappeared, along with her parents, in July 1995. Despite an exhaustive search, the family was never seen again, and no suspects were named in the case.

Sloan's discovery leads her to the small town of Cedar Creek, Nevada, the site of her disappearance. It also leads her to Sheriff Eric Stamos. The Margolis family's influence and power permeate every corner of Harrison County, and Eric is convinced that in learning the truth about her past, Sloan can also help discover what happened to Eric's father, who died under suspicious circumstances soon after he started investigating the case of her disappearance.

Slowly, over the course of a stifling summer, Sloan begins getting to know her relatives. Though initially welcoming, the Margolis family is also mysterious and tight-lipped. Not everyone seems happy about Sloan's return, or the questions she's asking. And the more she and Eric learn, the more apparent it becomes that the answers they both seek are buried in a graveyard of Margolis family secrets that some will do anything to keep hidden--no matter who else has to die...

An island's history holds clues to a modern murder.

Solitude at last! Museum curator Chloe Ellefson jumps at the chance to spend time on Wisconsin's Rock Island, a state park with no electricity or roads. Hired as a consultant for a project to restore the island's historic 1857 lighthouse, her research turns up fascinating tough-as-nails women from the past.

Chloe's tranquility is spoiled when a dead woman washes ashore. Is it an accidental drowning? Or has tension over tighter fishing regulations reached a dangerous boiling point? When a second body is found, Chloe finds herself trapped on remote Rock Island with a killer.

This book contains a map of Rock Island, a cast of characters, and an author's note with links to additional resources.

From award-winning author, Ridley Pearson comes book 3 in the best-selling series, Kingdom Keepers now with a new cover and new content!

With the adventures set forth in the first books now behind them, Kingdom Keepers 3: Disney In Shadow follows the five teens, Finn, Philby, Willa, Charlene, and Maybeck as they search to find Wayne, their mentor and head Imagineer who has mysteriously gone missing. Concerned Wayne has been abducted by the Overtakers--Disney villains, who along with other Disney characters, take over the parks when the turnstiles stop spinning, and want desperately to steer the parks to a far darker place--the five kids pick up a major clue from a close friend, Jess, whose dreams (nightmares, really) often accurately predict the future. The very few clues from Jess's dream lead the kids into Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot--through imaginary worlds that become real, by imaginary kids who are real. Each clue seems tied to the last, and with the stakes growing ever higher, what starts out as a puzzle ends up as a fight for their lives. Through a transparent paper box, a quest for a sword, rides on Soarin' and Maelstrom, life-and-death encounters with giant snakes, and a devious Maleficent, the Kingdom Keepers not only begin to decipher deeper meanings to the clues, but discover new truths about themselves and their ever-growing friendships.

Virgil Flowers will have to watch his back--and his mouth--as he investigates a college culture war turned deadly in another one of Sandford's "madly entertaining Virgil Flowers mysteries" (The New York Times Book Review).

At the local state university, two feuding departments have faced off on the battleground of science and medicine. Each carries their views to extremes that may seem absurd, but highly educated people of sound mind and good intentions can reasonably disagree, right?

Then a renowned and confrontational scholar winds up dead, and Virgil Flowers is brought in to investigate . . . and as he probes the recent ideological unrest, he soon comes to realize he's dealing with people who, on this one particular issue, are functionally crazy. Among this group of wildly impassioned, diametrically opposed zealots lurks a killer, and it will be up to Virgil to sort the murderer from the mere maniacs.