Jess Lourey – författare

Inspired by a terrifying true story from the author’s hometown, a heart-pounding novel of suspense about a small Minnesota community where nothing is as quiet—or as safe—as it seems.Cassie McDowell’s life in 1980s Minnesota seems perfectly wholesome. She lives on a farm, loves school, and has a crush on the nicest boy in class. Yes, there are her parents’ strange parties and their parade of deviant guests, but she’s grown accustomed to them.All that changes when someone comes hunting in Lilydale.One by one, local boys go missing. One by one, they return changed—violent, moody, and withdrawn. What happened to them becomes the stuff of shocking rumors. The accusations of who’s responsible grow just as wild, and dangerous town secrets start to surface. Then Cassie’s own sister undergoes the dark change. If she is to survive, Cassie must find her way in an adult world where every sin is justified, and only the truth is unforgivable.

An ITW Thriller Award and Anthony Award winner.Perfect town. Perfect homes. Perfect families. It’s enough to drive some women mad…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. So does the sinister secret of a little boy who vanished decades ago. And unless Joan is imagining things, a frighteningly familiar figure from her past is on watch in the shadows.Her fiancé tells her she’s being paranoid. He might be right. Then again, she might have moved to the deadliest small town on earth.

The Amazon Charts bestselling author of Unspeakable Things and Bloodline explores the darkness at the heart of the rural Midwest in a novel inspired by a chilling true crime.In the summer of ’84, fourteen-year-old Frankie Jubilee is shuttled off to Litani, Minnesota, to live with her estranged mother, a county prosecutor she barely knows. From the start, Frankie senses something uneasy going on in the small town. The locals whisper about The Game, and her mother warns her to stay out of the woods and away from adults.When a bullying gang of girls invites Frankie to The Game, she accepts, determined to find out what’s really going on in Litani. She’s not the only one becoming paranoid. Hysteria burns through the community. Dark secrets emerge. And Frankie fears that, even in the bright light of day, she might be living among monsters.

Killers hiding in plain sight. Small-town secrets. A girl who knows too much. From the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Unspeakable Things and Bloodline comes a nerve-twisting novel inspired by a shocking true crime.Minnesota, 1977. For the teens of one close-knit community, summer means late-night swimming parties at the quarry, the county fair, and venturing into the tunnels beneath the city. But for two best friends, it’s not all fun and games.Heather and Brenda have a secret. Something they saw in the dark. Something they can’t forget. They’ve decided to never tell a soul. But their vow is tested when their friend disappears—the second girl to vanish in a week. And yet the authorities are reluctant to investigate.Heather is terrified that the missing girls are connected to what she and Brenda stumbled upon that night. Desperately searching for answers on her own, she learns that no one in her community is who they seem to be. Not the police, not the boys she met at the quarry, not even her parents. But she can’t stop digging because she knows those girls are in danger.She also knows she’s next.

Two girls vanished. A woman buried alive. Between two crimes lie decades of secrets yet to be unearthed in a pulse-pounding novel by the Edgar Award–nominated author of Unspeakable Things.Summer 1980: Despite the local superstition that the Bendy Man haunts the woods, three girls go into a Minnesota forest. Only one comes out, dead silent, her memory gone. The mystery of the Taken Ones captures the nation.Summer 2022: Cold case detective Van Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck are assigned a disturbing homicide—a woman buried alive, clutching a heart charm necklace belonging to one of the vanished girls. Van follows her gut. Harry trusts in facts. They’re both desperate to catch a killer before he kills again. They have something else in common: each has ties to the original case in ways they’re reluctant to share.As Van and Harry connect the crimes of the past and the present, Van struggles with memories of her own nightmarish childhood—and the fear that uncovering the truth of the Taken Ones will lead her down a path from which she, too, may never return.

By-the-book forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck and rogue BCA agent Van Reed must catch a cold-case killer who’s returned to abduct a small town’s children one by one in this heart-stopping novel from the Edgar Award–nominated author of Unspeakable Things.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.The case grows impossibly darker as, one by one, the children of Alku begin disappearing. And Harry and Van can’t shake the sensation that someone is watching every move they make.As an elusive killer’s trail leads to a truth more sinister than either imagined, Harry knows there’s only one way to crack this case: he must finally face the secrets of his own past—even if doing so will cost him everything.

Two murder investigations, decades apart, threaten to expose a cold case agent’s darkest secrets in a pulse-pounding thriller by the Edgar Award–nominated author of The Taken Ones.The bodies of three teenage girls are found in central Minnesota—each with her mouth fixed in a ghoulish grin, smiling at a deadly joke no one can hear. But authorities eventually close and forget the curious case, dubbed the Laughing Dead.Decades later, cold case agent Evangeline “Van” Reed is called to the scene of a crime where the victim wears that same horror-movie smile. But this time someone seems to be sending a message: Van’s police ID has turned up at the scene, making her the prime suspect. It’s not that outlandish, considering her secrets—ones she’s never even told her partner, forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck.As she feels others closing in, Van reopens the mystery of the Laughing Dead, hoping to find a connection to clear her name. But the search only gets darker. Because the more Van digs backward in time, the closer she comes to a terrible truth: Everything she has spent her life trying to hide is returning to haunt her.

A genius FBI code breaker unravels the mysteries of one of history’s most monumental puzzles in a propulsive thriller by Jess Lourey, the Edgar Award–nominated author of Salem’s Cipher.Working for the FBI, cryptanalyst and agoraphobe Salem Wiley vows never to return to the conspiratorial underworld her mother revealed to her. Until fieldwork draws Salem to an Ireland farm where a curious discovery has been unearthed: a near-perfect replica of Stonehenge in miniature—except for one extra stone engraved with the word mercy.When seven-year-old Mercy Mayfair, a child in Salem’s family’s care, is kidnapped, Salem knows it’s more than an unsettling coincidence. Mercy’s centuries-old lineage holds the key to understanding the greatest Neolithic mystery of the ages. A dangerously patriarchal society, just as ancient, will kill to solve it.As Salem follows a serpentine trail of clues and ciphers, the clock is ticking and her fears are escalating. Because the only way to save Mercy is for Salem to crack the unbreakable code of Stonehenge first.Revised edition: This edition of Mercy's Chase includes editorial revisions.

A waitress turned librarian just wants a new life. What she ends up with is a killer change of pace in a funny, snappy, and suspenseful mystery by Edgar Award–nominated author Jess Lourey.With a cheating boyfriend, a thankless career in waitressing, and her BA in English going to waste, Mira James jumps at the chance for a fresh start in rural Battle Lake, Minnesota.Right away she lands a job as a librarian, snags another as an on-call reporter for the weekly newspaper, and is swept off her feet by Jeff Wilson, a handsome archaeologist unearthing the town’s storied history. Moving here might be the best decision Mira’s ever made. Until she finds Jeff’s body between the library’s reference stacks. It seems Mira didn’t really know her drop-dead gorgeous new lover at all. But someone in Otter Tail County surely did.Behind this quirky town’s polite exterior are decades-old grudges still unsettled, and murderous secrets best kept hidden. Whatever dangers are buried in Battle Lake’s past, now it’s Mira’s turn to start digging.Revised edition: This edition of May Day includes editorial revisions.

A summertime treasure hunt in rural Minnesota leads to murder in this delightful gem of a rom-com mystery by Edgar Award–nominated author Jess Lourey.Summer in Battle Lake kicks off with fireworks and festivities, but it’s a local treasure hunt that’s amping up the tourist trade. It certainly piques the interest of part-time reporter Mira James—both as fodder for a column and because she could use the five grand in prize money.The treasure? A faux diamond hidden at the bottom of Whiskey Lake. When Mira takes a deep dive in search of it, rather than finding the planted jewel, she uncovers a legendary puzzle reaching back nearly seventy years. But fishing for answers puts her face-to-face with a suspicious new arrival: a creeper from her past up to his old menacing ways.When murder turns a hot June night into a scorcher, Mira realizes there are more mysteries hidden in this town than fake gems, and to solve them, she has to stay alive.Revised edition: This edition of June Bug includes editorial revisions.

A woman’s secret. A small town with a dark past. A serial killer bent on revenge. Lies kill in a shocking true crime–inspired thriller by the Edgar-nominated author of The Quarry Girls.Tuesday Hendrickson has spent eight years running from memories of that night. Her sister’s screams. Blood on the walls. And Arsen Bauer, a monster known as the Crying Killer, shot down in a barrage of bullets as he fled. Case closed.Intending to build a safe new identity out of the ashes, Tuesday changed her last name and moved away. She’s now a private investigator who guards herself and her daughter, Julia, like their lives depend on it. And maybe they do. Because unless she’s imagining things, Tuesday has seen Arsen on the streets of Saint Paul. She’d know her sister’s killer anywhere.When bodies begin surfacing bearing the Crying Killer’s brutal and unmistakable signature, Tuesday is certain he’s coming for them. Except no one believes that but her. As her paranoia intensifies, she is left with a terrible choice: unearth the shocking secret she buried with her sister, or become the Crying Killer’s next victim.© 2026 by Jess Lourey, all rights reserved.

A terrible family curse threatens four generations of women in a spellbinding novel of haunting secrets, magic, and healing by the Edgar Award–nominated author of The Taken Ones.After her husband’s infidelity, devastated Katrine Blackthorn reluctantly returns to Faith Falls, Minnesota, to her family’s Queen Anne mansion on the hill and the magic that binds them all.Her grandmother Velda charms everyone she meets. Her mother, Ursula, is a brewer of potions who sees a threat around every corner. And there’s her estranged sister, Jasmine, broken by something no one will name. With Katrine’s return, all that the Blackthorns have feared seems to be manifesting. The snakes amassing with the spring thaw and the stranger who’s rolled into town are just the first omens threatening the fragile peace the family is rebuilding.Now Katrine must face the darkest secret of her lineage and rediscover her own magic if the Blackthorn women are to survive.Revised edition: Previously published as The Catalain Book of Secrets, this edition of The Blackthorn Women includes editorial revisions.

THE WALL WAS BUILT TO KEEP THEM SAFE. OR SO THEY THOUGHT. . .Don't miss out on the stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION while supplies last. This breathtaking collectible is only available on a limited first print run, a must-have for any book lover. 💀Enter this gripping dystopic world where lies make up the fabric of reality, and the truth will leave you questioning everything. 💀🌳Fans of The Hunger Games, The Grace Year, and The Maze Runner will devour The Verdant Cage —a chilling dystopian thriller about what it takes to rebel when you discover your entire world is a lie.--For as long as seventeen-year-old apothecary Rose Allgood can remember, the towering stone Wall surrounding Noah's Valley has protected her people. No one leaves. No one fights. And no one questions why.But their paradise has been hiding its thorns. When Rose's mother becomes the Valley's first murder victim and her twin brother is swiftly condemned, she alone is searching for the real killer. Determined to find the truth, she follows a trail of hidden messages, forbidden knowledge, and whispers of a past no one dares to remember. The deeper she digs, the more certain Rose becomes that her mother's death was no accident. That the Wall isn't just keeping something out. It's keeping something in.--TROPES:🗡 Chilling Dystopic World🗡 Jaw-Dropping Twists🗡 Rebellion🗡 Forced Proximity🗡 Touch Her and Die

THE WALL WAS BUILT TO KEEP THEM SAFE. OR SO THEY THOUGHT. . .Don't miss out on the stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION while supplies last. This breathtaking collectible is only available on a limited first print run, a must-have for any book lover. 💀Enter this gripping dystopic world where lies make up the fabric of reality, and the truth will leave you questioning everything. 💀🌳Fans of The Hunger Games, The Grace Year, and The Maze Runner will devour The Verdant Cage —a chilling dystopian thriller about what it takes to rebel when you discover your entire world is a lie.--For as long as seventeen-year-old apothecary Rose Allgood can remember, the towering stone Wall surrounding Noah's Valley has protected her people. No one leaves. No one fights. And no one questions why.But their paradise has been hiding its thorns. When Rose's mother becomes the Valley's first murder victim and her twin brother is swiftly condemned, she alone is searching for the real killer. Determined to find the truth, she follows a trail of hidden messages, forbidden knowledge, and whispers of a past no one dares to remember. The deeper she digs, the more certain Rose becomes that her mother's death was no accident. That the Wall isn't just keeping something out. It's keeping something in.--TROPES:🗡 Chilling Dystopic World🗡 Jaw-Dropping Twists🗡 Rebellion🗡 Forced Proximity🗡 Touch Her and Die

Dos niñas desaparecidas y una mujer enterrada viva unidas por décadas de secretosEn el verano de 1980, tres niñas entraron en un bosque de Minnesota, pero solo una regresó, muda y sin recuerdos. Cuatro décadas después, la detective Evangeline Reed y el científico forense Harry Steinbeck encuentran el cuerpo de una mujer a la que enterraron viva. En sus manos tiene un collar que pertenecía a una de las niñas desaparecidas en el bosque cuarenta años antes.Mientras Evangeline y Harry conectan los crímenes del pasado y del presente, ella lucha con los recuerdos de su dura infancia así como con el miedo a descubrir la verdad, pues el silencio del bosque esconde secretos que amenazan con llevarla a un lugar del que, tal vez, no pueda regresar.