CROOKED LANE BOOKS – serie

Things heat up on and off the court for two tennis rivals in this steamy debut gay sports rom-com, perfect for fans of TJ Alexander and Rachel Reid.American tennis star Leo Chambers is determined to win the US Open by thirty, the age when many players feel retirement looming. He’s just a year away from that dreaded birthday, but he can’t find his focus—considering he hasn’t told anyone he’s gay, he’s clashing with his strict coach (who also happens to be his dad), and he still can’t figure out how to beat his longtime nemesis on tour, Gabe Montoya, who, well, hits different. Gabe is playing better than ever, and Leo can’t seem to escape him—and maybe he doesn’t want to escape him. Leo’s other obstacle is Sascha Volkov, a Russian legend who has such a powerful influence on the tennis world, he would destroy Leo’s career if he found out that he’s gay.No distractions, Leo reminds himself. But when Gabe makes a shocking announcement, Leo is thrown off his game—in more ways than one. Ready? Play.Thirty Love is a must-read for fans of queer sports romances like Heated Rivalry.

It's 1998, and female students are going missing at Southern State University in North Carolina, but freshman Jessica Fadley, once a bright and responsible student, is going through her own struggles. Just as her life seems to be careening dangerously out of control, she suddenly disappears. Twenty-four years later, Jessica's sister Lindsey is desperately searching for answers and uses the momentum of a new chart-topping true crime podcast that focuses on cold cases to guide her own investigation. Soon, interest reaches fever pitch when the bodies of the long-missing women begin turning up at a local lake, which leads Lindsey down a disturbing road of discovery. In the present, one sister searches to untangle a complicated web of lies. In the past, the other descends ever deeper into a darkness that will lead to her ultimate fate. This propulsive and chilling suspense is a sharp examination of sisterhood and the culture of true crime.

For the past two years, Amie Teller has been stuck in a time loop. Each day, she wakes up and it's September 17th. Same day, same weather, same people, same conversations. Until, one day, it's September 18th, and Amie is free. Before she can celebrate, Amie learns her neighbour was murdered the day before - the day Amie has lived hundreds of times. Amie knows she has to help; nobody knows yesterday like she does. But acclimating to her new non-repeating life proves to be more difficult than expected. How does one resume their life after a time loop, anyway? Assisted by an ex-girlfriend who wants to make their friendship work, and a grumpy neighbour who spends his days building Rube Goldberg machines, Amie sets out to track down who killed (and killed and killed and killed) Savannah Harlow. Readers who love time loop novels, amateur sleuth mysteries, and original takes on classic tropes will love Out of the Loop.

Minneapolis homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth arrest a sadistic pair of killers for the murder of several women with the help of Monkeewrench, their eccentric, cyber-sleuth friends and partners. One of the killers dies in custody and the other, Wolfgang Mauer, is sent to a maximum security mental hospital in a rural corner of Minnesota. There, Mauer plots his escape-and his vengeance. With the help of his mother, a former militia leader and assassin living an extravagant, reclusive life, he schemes to get out of the mental hospital and hunt down the detectives and the Monkeewrench crew that got him a life sentence. When Mauer successfully escapes, an inexperienced county sheriff is thrown head-first into a massive manhunt for the murderer. When she finds three bodies and discovers that Mauer has kidnapped a young boy, she realizes that Mauer's escape was just the beginning. With many lives on the line, Magozzi, Gino, and Monkeewrench join in the desperate search effort. The longer he's at large, the more people will die, and Mauer is on a mission to find those who sentenced him, so they all have targets on their backs.

Antiques expert Kate Hamilton dives into the past to solve a fourteenth-century mystery with disturbing similarities to a modern-day murder in the sixth installment of the Kate Hamilton mystery series.Kate Hamilton and her husband, Detective Inspector Tom Mallory, have settled into married life in Long Barston. When archaeologists excavating the ruins of a nearby plague village discover the miraculously preserved body of a fourteenth-century woman, Kate and her colleague, Ivor Tweedy, are asked to appraise the grave goods, including a valuable pearl. When tests reveal the woman was pregnant and murdered, the owner of the estate on which the body was found, an amateur historian, asks Kate to identify her and, if possible, her killer. Surprised, Kate agrees to try.Meanwhile, tensions within the archaeological team erupt when the body of the lead archaeologist turns up at the dig site with fake pearls in his mouth and stomach. Then a third body is found in the excavations. Meanwhile, Kate’s husband Tom is tracking the movements of a killer of his own.With the help of 700-year-old documents and the unpublished research of a deceased historian, Kate must piece together the past before the grave count reaches four.

A startling profile of one of the most prolific serial killers and the disturbing experience of the journalist who earned his trust for the sake of justice.When crime journalist Maria DiLorenzo mailed a letter to Gary Ridgway, she never expected him to reply. He refused to speak to reporters and would send only religious materials back to anyone who contacted him in prison—if he replied at all. But instead of silence or a boilerplate letter, Maria’s phone rang–and it was the Green River Killer calling.Over the next several years, Ridgway would call Maria hundreds of times, using all of his free time in prison to speak with her. Her goal: to pry the details of his dozens of unidentified and unsolved murders from him. His motivation in speaking to her: unknowable. Through these hundreds of hours of phone calls, Ridgway revealed new details about his life, his crimes, and his motives – and manipulated Maria much like he tormented his victims.An insightful and deeply personal profile of a dangerous mind, Confessions of the Green River Killer is the closest depiction of Gary Ridgway ever seen and a disturbing glimpse into what it’s like to truly know a killer. Readers of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark and The Stranger Beside Me will be enraptured to experience Gary Ridgway through the eyes and ears of a woman he came to deeply trust—and deeply covet.

Peter Pan meets Stephen King's It in this twisted horror retelling of a classic childhood fairy tale set during WWI.1914, Wendy Darling works by day as a school teacher, and by night, she assists soldiers who have returned home from the Western Front. There is one mysterious patient who, despite all the care they’ve given him, is in a deep sleep, unable to wake up. One night, when he murmurs the words “Peter Pan,” Wendy is thrown back to a darker time, one that she wishes she could forget.When one of her students goes missing, it brings back memories of when children went missing and were later found murdered in London many years ago. Wendy is convinced that Peter Pan, the entity that she believes killed those children, is back. She and her brothers had a close encounter with Peter Pan, after all. But her brothers only remember Peter Pan and Neverland as a fantasy of childhood games.When another child goes missing and signs start to point to Wendy, Scotland Yard digs into old reports, finding that Wendy knew the names of all the children who had been killed. As Wendy tries to prove her innocence, she also has to find a way to stop Peter Pan once and for all.

Outer Banks librarian Lucy is working on an art show at the library when paintings–and people–start to go missing, in this 11th Lighthouse Library mystery from national bestselling author Eva Gates.When a traveling show of impressionist art comes to Nags Head, North Carolina, librarian Lucy and the staff at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library are inspired to create an educational display about art history. Their launch of the display is a huge success, but the morning after, they discover that a reproduction of a famous painting has gone missing.No one knows why anyone would bother stealing it: the picture is of no value–the real, priceless painting is under lock and key at the art show itself. Lucy gets an invite to the glitzy opening night for the real show, where she notices unusual tension among the show’s organizers. Then, the man scheduled to give the welcoming speech fails to arrive, and a party-goer is discovered drowned in a fish pond.Meanwhile, Louise Jane is totally captivated by Tom Reilly, a handsome, charming art dealer lurking at the edges of the receptions on both nights. Tom slipped away from the party early, and he cannot be located by the police. Who, Lucy asks, is Tom Reilly, the shadowy figure threatening to break Louise Jane’s heart?Something is afoot in Nags Head, and it’s up to Lucy and her friends to get to the bottom of it before it’s not just paintings being framed.

The Monkeewrench team is back in a brand-new nail-biting thriller from New York Times bestselling author P. J. Tracy.Minneapolis homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth arrest a sadistic pair of killers for the murder of several women with the help of Monkeewrench, their eccentric, cyber-sleuth friends and partners. One of the killers dies in custody and the other, Wolfgang Mauer, is sent to a maximum security mental hospital in a rural corner of Minnesota. There, Mauer plots his escape–and his vengeance. With the help of his mother, a former militia leader and assassin living an extravagant, reclusive life, he schemes to get out of the mental hospital and hunt down the detectives and the Monkeewrench crew that got him a life sentence.When Mauer successfully escapes, an inexperienced county sheriff is thrown head-first into a massive manhunt for the murderer. When she finds three bodies and discovers that Mauer has kidnapped a young boy, she realizes that Mauer’s escape was just the beginning. With many lives on the line, Magozzi, Gino, and Monkeewrench join in the desperate search effort. The longer he’s at large, the more people will die, and Mauer is on a mission to find those who sentenced him, so they all have targets on their backs.

Could Alexander Hamilton be at the center of a vast murder plot engulfing Old New York? As his widow, Eliza, pieces together the puzzle, she unearths a heartbreaking secret that threatens to tear her family apart.Perfect for fans of Sherry Thomas and Deanna Raybourn, taking us from the city’s gilded mansions to its meanest streets, Mollie Ann Cox’s debut historical mystery transports readers to center stage in a time of grave political danger.New York, 1804. America’s beloved Alexander Hamilton lies dead after a duel with Aaron Burr. Meanwhile, Eliza Hamilton’s eighteen-year-old son, Alexander Jr., was seen fighting with a man in a tavern the night before his father’s duel and quickly comes under suspicion for murder when the man turns up dead. Eliza searches for ways to clear her son’s name, even as she is grieving, but as she combs through her late husband’s papers, she finds evidence of a plot to steal money from the government during his tenure as secretary of state. Hamilton was accused of stealing that money, and it was a scandal that almost broke the family—but is Eliza now holding proof of Alexander’s innocence?Deep in debt and despair, with eight children to support, Eliza turns to selling her handmade lace—and is drawn into a mysterious network of widow lacemakers who are intimately connected to New York’s high-society families. They know their dead husbands’ secrets—and soon, Eliza begins to piece together the truth.There’s a dark plot connected with the duel, as one by one, witnesses to the bout are being killed. Now, Eliza must not only clear her husband’s and son’s names but keep herself out of the killer’s sights.

Hotel heiress Evelyn Murphy is on the hunt for a cunning killer and a mysterious thief in the third Pinnacle Hotel mystery, perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Ashley Weaver.New York, 1958. When Evelyn’s mail is delivered during a luncheon in the Gold Room, she’s surprised to find she has received a diamond tiara, which catches the attention of a costume jewelry sales team lunching nearby. Their leader, Lois Mitchel, is especially interested, but by the end of the lunch, Lois has choked and fallen into Evelyn’s lap—and by the end of the day, she’s dead. The papers report on the death the next day, while also spreading news of a Gentleman Thief who’s been leaving behind a red pocket square after robbing the city’s wealthiest. Determined to figure out what happened to Lois, Evelyn devotes herself to the investigation. The truth is as rare as a diamond and just as hard to crack, and Evelyn swiftly discovers that this particular mystery is multifaceted, too. From costume jewelry hawkers to wannabe Robin Hoods and a detective in residence at the Pinnacle, nothing is simple. But neither is Evelyn—and this case is hers to solve.

Envy and desire infiltrate the lives of twin sisters in this dark, Gothic suspense set in England and New York City, perfect for fans of Laura Joh Rowland and Hester Fox.A mirror will never show you the truth.England, 1904. Mirror twins Adelaide and Victoria have spent their lives in orbit of each other– doomed to be in the other’s shadow, their lives are intertwined and inextricable as each other’s identical inverse. Adelaide is dutiful and reserved, happy to remain in her childhood home, Harewood Hall, forever. Victoria wishes for a thrilling life, exploring the world and finding a great romance–but the twins cannot live apart. Visiting Lord Stanley bewitches Victoria with his talk of a life of luxury in New York, but it is obedient Adelaide whom he marries against her will and to Victoria’s fury. Together, they all move to New York and begin a new life. Adelaide finds herself trapped in a gilded cage on Fifth Avenue with no one but her angry and tempestuous twin for company. Amid the glamor of the upper class, Adelaide is captivated by the independent and educated women of the elite social circle Mrs. Astor’s 400. As Adelaide’s star rises, tensions begin to surface between the sisters, and as Adelaide grows apart from her twin for the very first time, Victoria descends into a rage-fueled darkness that threatens everything and anyone standing in her way. Darker and darker with every turn of the page, this Gothic suspense will enrapture readers of Daphne du Maurier and Laura Purcell.

LIBRARY JOURNAL - STELLAR SELECTIONS | BEST BOOKS 2025LIBRARY JOURNAL'S DECEMBER DEBUT OF THE MONTH! In this debut mystery, DCI Lilian Wyles, the first woman detective chief inspector in the CID, is determined to find a killer with the help of the four queens of crime, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham, perfect for fans of Elly Griffiths and Claudia Gray.1938, London. The four queens of British crime fiction, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham, are hosting a gala to raise money for the Women’s Voluntary Service to help Britain prepare for war. Baronet Sir Henry Heathcote has loaned Hursley House for the event, and all the elites of London society are attending. The gala is a brilliant success, despite a few hiccups, but the next morning, Sir Henry is found dead in the library. Detective Chief Inspectors Lilian Wyles and Richard Davidson from Scotland Yard are quickly summoned and discover a cluster of potential suspects among the guests, including an upset fiancée, a politically ambitious son, a reserved but protective brother, an irate son-in-law, a rebellious teenage daughter, and the deputy home secretary. Quietly recruiting the four queens of crime, DCI Wyles must sort through the messy aftermath of Sir Henry’s death to solve the mystery and identify the killer.

“Schaefer takes the classic cat-and-mouse thriller to entirely new levels in this epic battle of wits between half a dozen psychopaths and one grieving sister.”—Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling authorBiting, queer, and feminist, this debut thriller is perfect for fans of Dexter, The Final Girl Support Group and My Sister, the Serial Killer.When Cyra Griffin’s younger sister is murdered by a serial killer, Cyra knows better than to expect justice from the hands of the police department. With the investigation already dying its own slow death, Cyra follows the blood trail and finds her own way forward. Using insider information (don’t ask), Cyra infiltrates a support group for serial killers by pretending to be one herself in the hopes of finding the person who ended her sister’s life. Proving herself to them comes at a cost, but it’s one Cyra is willing to pay in the name of revenge.But the dangerous men in the group aren’t the only obstacle in Cyra’s path for vengeance, and the further Cyra descends into the deadly world of serial killers, the harder it becomes to hold on to her own humanity. This dark, witty debut novel is a cunning homage to women’s wrongs that will have you wondering exactly how many monsters walk unseen among us.

An airship bound for London is thrown off course by a murder on the first night of its transatlantic voyage in this locked-room historical mystery debut, perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn and Katharine Schellman.1890. American heiress, Cora Beaumont is celebrating her engagement to Terrance Tristan, the second son of a duke. Their union will solidify Cora's place in British society and put her in a rare position of power, but as they embark on the Lady Air’s maiden voyage to England, Cora soon finds that not everyone in society is accepting of her recent engagement, and tensions fly as high as the airship. When a body is discovered the first night on the ship, with a calling card for Cora on the victim, she’s determined to find the killer hidden among the passengers before they come for her next. As Cora tries to solve the murder without attracting unsavory attention, her fiancé’s wandering eye may cause even more problems for her position in society. Gossip travels fast aboard the airship and bad news could sink the Lady Air, as well as Cora's own social status, before they reach their final destination. When more bodies are discovered, Cora teams up with her soon-to-be brother-in-law, Nicholas, as they scour the ship for clues. If she fails, it won’t only be her reputation visiting the undertaker. No one is who they seem in this Gilded Age locked room historical mystery, perfect for fans of And Then There Were None and Alyssa Maxwell.

True Detective meets the rolling hills of Napa in this wine-soaked thriller perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Allison Brennan.Lana Burrell grew up on an idyllic Napa Valley vineyard with her best friend Jess–until Jess mysteriously disappeared and Lana’s father was falsely accused of her murder. Over twenty years later, he’s still serving a life sentence, but Lana knows he’s innocent, just like she knows Jess’s real killer is still out there.Now, as a seasoned FBI agent in the San Francisco field office, Lana figures she can handle just about anything--until a killer strikes the Valley again and those old wounds come bursting open. Two women are slain in ritualistic fashion near the vineyard she once called home, and Lana has no choice but to revisit the site of the nightmarish past she tried to leave behind, a past that seems to be repeating itself as the blood and wine continue to spill all over Napa Valley.With rumors of a dangerous cult embedded at the center of wine country, the most powerful family in the Valley breathing down her neck, and a mysterious stranger stalking her every move, Lana’s quest to solve the murders takes an even darker turn when she soon realizes the awful truth: she might be the next to die.

There are three people I suspect of killing her, and I’m one of them. A woman fights her own mind and memory to understand how she got here: the passenger seat of a car speeding away from a murder scene. In this riveting, dual-timeline psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Riley Sager, nothing is as it seems.Hannah arrived at Washington University in St. Louis brimming with hope. She was determined to take her mood stabilizer, stay out of trouble, and make a name for herself while completing her creative writing MFA. When she meets Justine, an enigmatic, wealthy, charismatic, and successful student in her program, she’s enchanted. And as Justine takes a special interest in her, Hannah falls completely under her spell. When Hannah’s life starts spiraling out of control, she isn’t sure who to blame–Justine, for her intense and controlling influence, their jealous classmate Amelia, or herself. As her prescription fails her, she strays further and further from the straight and narrow. Hannah can’t help but reflect on her time in  grad school, especially when she knows Justine is lying dead somewhere back down the road Justine’s ex Eli is driving them away on. She knows Justine is gone. She knows someone killed Justine. And she knows it might’ve been her.

When any biological matter can be used to create life, stolen celebrity DNA sells to the highest bidder–or the craziest stalker–in this propulsive thriller. With a vivid imagining of the future, Gattaca meets Black Mirror in Kira Peikoff’s Baby X.In the near-future United States, where advanced technology can create egg or sperm from any person’s cells, celebrities face the alarming potential of meeting biological children they never conceived. Famous singer Trace Thorne is tired of being targeted by the Vault, a black market site devoted to stealing DNA. Sick of paying ransom money for his own cell matter, he hires bio-security guard Ember Ryan to ensure his biological safety.       Ember will do anything she can to protect her clients. She knows all the Vault’s tricks–discarded tissues, used straws, lipstick tubes—and has prevented countless DNA thefts. Working for Thorne, her focus becomes split when she begins to fall for him, but she knows she hasn’t let anything slip–love or not, his DNA is safe. But then she and Thorne are confronted by a pregnant woman, Quinn, who claims that Thorne is the father of her baby, and all bets are off.        Brilliantly plotted and terrifyingly prescient, Baby X is an unpredictable and relentless speculative thriller perfect for fans of Blake Crouch and John Marrs.

A dedicated group of jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts must put their problem-solving skills to the test when one of their own is murdered, for fans of Kate Young and Richard Osman.After her mother’s passing, Katie Chambers returns to Cedar Bay, a serene enclave nestled in the southwest corner of Washington State’s Whidbey Island to support her newly widowed father, Jim Chambers. Stepping into her mother’s footsteps, Katie takes on the role of graphic designer at Cedar Bay Puzzles. With the help of her father, she resurrects her mom’s cherished initiative, the South Island Jigsaw crew, a group of puzzle enthusiasts who gather weekly at the library to test and tackle the latest Cedar Bay Puzzles creations. But when a member of their club is murdered and Jim is the last person to see her alive, resulting in his arrest, Katie and the rest of the gang must use all of their resources to obtain justice for both. To prove her father’s innocence, Katie reaches out to Connor Crozier, a firefighter and her former flame who shattered her heart seven years ago. With problems piling up at work and a competitor outright accusing CBP of stealing his designs, it is up to Katie to puzzle out the mystery before it’s too late. Perfect for fans of The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers and The Marlow Murder Club, this charming and fun mystery will have readers puzzling over the mystery until the last page.

Motherhood and murder link five very different women when a working-class detective clashes with wealthy moms in this upmarket thriller in the vein of May Cobb and Jeneva Rose.Anderson Tupper, a member of one of Atlanta’s richest families, has been murdered in the dugout of the Little League field where he was a volunteer coach, and it’s up to Detective Shay Claypool, a single mother from the other side of town, to find his killer.With the exclusive area of Buckhead threatening to secede from the city of Atlanta and take its tax revenue with it, Shay is under pressure to solve the murder of one of Buckhead’s own. Accustomed to handling drug dealers and prostitutes, she must now contend with an even more sinister group: the Buckhead Betties, the insufferably entitled women of Georgia’s most affluent zip code. One of them might be a murderer, but who? Is it the old-money queen of Buckhead? The mysterious new girl in town? The drug-dealing trophy wife?It seems secrets and lies are as plentiful as luxury handbags in Atlanta and everyone’s guilty of something. Shay’s investigation will make her examine her own prejudices and discover that, as a woman and a mother, she might not be that different from the Betties after all. And if she isn’t careful, they just might take her down with them.

The turquoise waters of Key West are stained with pink in this explosive 15th installment of the Key West Food Critic mysteries from USA Today bestselling author Lucy Burdette.Food critic Hayley Snow’s employer, Key Zest, is throwing the event of the season, a lavish cocktail party catered by Janet Snow, Hayley’s mother. As Hayley boards the luxurious cruise, she anticipates a smooth sailing soirée filled with shimmering cocktails, mouthwatering mango-infused delicacies, and new supporters for the e-zine. But as the boat sets sail, the festivities take a tragic turn when an explosion rocks the vessel, plunging the party guests into chaos. In the days that follow, Hayley learns that a local culinary entrepreneur died in the explosion and it was no accident–someone on board had a deadly agenda. With the tropical city of Key West as her backdrop, Hayley navigates a web of secrets and lies. Her investigation takes her from the shadowy corners of island politics to fierce competition between high-end event caterers and personal vendettas. With the clock ticking and the stakes higher than ever, Hayley must rely on her keen intuition to unmask a cunning culprit before they strike again.

From Denmark's bestselling suspense giants Sara Blædel and Mads Peder Nordbo comes the sizzling conclusion to this crime duology, perfect for fans of Jo Nesbø and Lars Kepler.When a body is discovered in an abandoned building, Denmark police investigators Liam Stark and Dea Torp are called to the scene to investigate. They learn that the victim has several shallow wounds all over his body that were inflicted over the span of several weeks. With a pile of open cases including two missing teenage girls, Liam and Dea are staggering under the weight of their already heavy caseload. Tension in town heats up when two more bodies are discovered with the same shallow wounds as the first victim and their suspects list has dried up. Liam and Dea come to the alarming conclusion that they have another serial killer on their hands. And it’s only a matter of time before they strike again. As the investigation continues, Liam and Dea worry that the missing teens might be connected to the murders. As the clock ticks down, they have to uncover who is killing these victims and if they can bring the girls home before they’re next under the killer’s knife.

Rekindled romance spreads new wings in this atmospheric romantic fantasy, where magic empowers women trapped inside an oppressive patriarchy.   This striking debut novel is perfect for fans of the feminist ideals in When Women Were Dragons and the unique magic system in One Dark Window. Once a vicious street rat, Prudence Merriweather has clawed her way to the top of society and now enjoys newfound power as the Duchess of Talonsbury. All she has to do to protect her fragile position is maintain the act of gentility, make her husband happy—and keep her monstrous magic a secret. Puck Reed, the Thief Lord of Talonsbury, once delighted in taking risks and humiliating the social elite at any cost but now lives a quieter criminal lifestyle. With a daughter of his own to protect, Puck tries to lay low and stay safe for her benefit. His daughter, Bea, suffers from a mysterious illness bent on killing her, and Puck will stop at nothing to find a cure.When Prudence’s magic betrays her, she has no choice but to flee—and who better to smuggle her out of the city than her childhood best friend and former sweetheart, Puck Reed? With the help of old friends and new allies, they learn about Stormlash, a safe haven miles beyond the city walls where women and their magic can flourish beyond the oppressive eye of Leora’s religious fanatics. Stormlash may also hold the key to curing Bea’s illness. The challenge? Keep her alive long enough to get there. With Bea’s illness claiming more of her strength, Puck and Pru must work together to reach Stormlash and, in the process, confront a growing evil threatening to devour the country they call home.Perfect for fans of Carissa Broadbent and Hannah Whitten, this second-chance romantic fantasy features monstrous women stepping into their full power, a father who will do anything to save his daughter, and the rekindled flame of an old, enduring love.

The second installment in the Maple Bishop historical mysteries continues the adventures of intrepid amateur sleuth Maple Bishop. Inspired by the real-life mother of forensic science, Frances Glessner Lee, this smartly plotted series will appeal to fans of Rhys Bowen.In post-WWII Vermont, Maple Bishop has a thriving dollhouse business and a new career as a crime scene consultant for the local sheriff's office. On the surface, she seems to be doing well, but deep down Maple is still reeling from the death of her husband. When the body of an aspiring firefighter–who was close childhood friends with Kenny, the sheriff’s deputy and Maple’s confidante–is discovered in the charred remains of a burned cabin, Maple is called in to help determine whether the fire was an accident or a case of murder by arson.Realizing there’s more to the crime than meets the eye, she sets out to unearth the discrepancies from the scene by re-creating the cabin in miniature. The investigation leads them to Maple’s old Boston neighborhood, forcing her to confront the past she’s desperately trying to forget. As Maple and Kenny sift through clues, they uncover dark secrets that hit close to home, unraveling in unexpected ways—and putting their lives in danger.

A young child’s fate is at stake in a deadly battle between his deceased parents in this gripping and profoundly original psychological thriller, perfect for fans of What Have You Done and Middle of the Night.When a commercial flight crashes, all 184 people on board perish—with the singular exception of a two-year-old boy named Ethan, who’s entrusted to family friends Matthew and Nicole per his late parents’ wishes.From the afterlife, Ethan’s parents, Tag and Amanda, watch helplessly as Nicole’s secret addictions, the family’s financial struggles, and the public’s fascination with their story ignite events that threaten their son’s welfare.  Soon, Amanda’s grief turns into an insidious obsession: Ethan belongs with her and no one else, and she sets out to reunite with her son by any means possible—including killing Ethan herself.After Amanda learns how to possess the living, only Tag stands in her way. He must protect his child, even if the consequences of his actions mean he may never see his wife or son again.What the Dead Can Do is a dark, psychological, speculative thriller tinged with horror, destined to keep readers’ minds spinning long after the final page.

A haunted house and the occult are the least of Carissa Blackwood’s problems when her eccentric aunts are accused of murder in this cozy series debut by multiple award–winning author Penny Warner.Ghostwriter Carissa Blackwood is having the worst year of her life. After leaving her cheating husband, she finally takes up the offer to help her two eccentric aunts manage the Blackwood Bed ’n’ Breakfast Inn in Pelican Point, California–a house they only recently inherited from their deceased father, Bram Blackwood. The old man dabbled in the occult, and his daughters haven’t fallen far from the family tree. Aunt Runa is into crystals and plans to hold séances at the reportedly “haunted” house. Aunt Hazel has an herbary and offers herbal cures for everything from headaches to paranormal visions. But it’s Hazel’s poison garden that really concerns Carissa. When one of the townspeople dies from a poison that could have only come from Aunt Hazel’s garden, the town is quick to point fingers.  It doesn’t help that one of Aunt Runa’s charms is found at the scene of the crime. With a little help from Noah, the mysterious and handsome handyman; Aiden, the charming newspaperman—and the ghost of Carissa’s grandfather—it’s up to Carissa to clear her aunts and find the real killer before someone else is checked out for good at the B&B.