Twelve festive mysteries for your Christmas wish list…

Roger Riccard, having published two previous Sherlock Holmes novels, The Case of the Poisoned Lilly and The Case of the Twain Papers, has again taken pen in hand to bring forth a series of twelve short stories from the Christmas seasons of Holmes’ career.

From a case endangering Queen Victoria to his old arch-nemesis Moriarty, follow Sherlock as he encounters the most unfathomable mysteries, all portrayed with Riccard’s trademark style and immersive historical detail. Just who did shoot Sir James Piersall at the stroke of midnight? And can Holmes and Watson prevent an assassination at Christmas Eve dinner - without knowing which of the royal guests is the intended target?

Brimming with wit, intrigue and mystery, Sherlock enthusiasts will be transfixed and delighted by this collection.
 

Praise for Roger Riccard:

"Roger Riccard is an extremely good pastiche writer. Personally, I think the best since the late Val Andrews passed over Reichenbach" - Joel Senter, publisher of the Sherlockian E-Times

Roger Riccard is an American author. Having graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and History from California State University, his career spans teaching, journalism and business writing. Inspired by his British ancestry, he took an interest in the works of Arthur Conan Doyle from an early age, later writing Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Poisioned Lilly and Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Twain Papers. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Rosilyn.

“A Prize Plot.” -San Francisco Examiner

“A bright, light, cleverly written tale.” -Cincinnati Post

HE KNOWS TOO MUCH—BUT HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE KNOWS…

Things were going lousy for ex-reporter Paul Mcdonald: No money, no girl friend, no bright new career as a mystery novelist … and then along came private investigator Jack Birnbaum with an offer: he’d detect, and Paul would write the client reports. It wasn’t much, but it would keep Spot the cat in Kitty Queen tidbits.

But then somebody poisoned Jack in Paul’s own living room. A day that begins with a body in your house really ought to get better, but next comes burglary and after that, assault-by-cop. And Paul’s got a feeling that’s just the beginning. There must have been something someone didn't want him to know in one of those client reports. But what?

The wise-cracking, funny, but slightly depressed ex-journalist better become an ace private investigator in about two seconds—or end up like his detective mentor.

Birnbaum's last report concerned a kidnapped child, so Paul begins there. The trail leads him to the laboratory of a Nobel laureate geneticist, and then to San Francisco City Hall, where an extremely nasty surprise awaits. But there’s an upside—lovely witness Sardis Kincannon. Nothing like falling in love while you’re running for your life!

The FIRST Paul Mcdonald P.I. mystery by the Edgar-winning author of the Skip Langdon series

“One more blithe San Fran outing with a likeable journalist-sleuth by the name of Paul Mcdonald … Smith improves with each story and this is her best to date.” -Kirkus Reviews

The San Francisco Bay Area shines here, as does the author's wit and humor.

Fans of CASTLE, MURDER SHE WROTE, even ELLERY QUEEN will enjoy this fast-paced and funny take on the mystery-writer-as-detective. As will people who like their male sleuths wry, witty, and a little on the soft-boiled side—fans of Parnell Hall’s Stanley Hastings, say, Tony Dunbar’s Tubby Dubonnet, Gregory Mcdonald’s Fletch (this Mcdonald, it's worth noting, is Paul’s personal hero), Lawrence Block’s Bernie Rhodenbarr, and especially Rex Stout’s Archie Goodwin. Female sleuths with a sense of humor remind us of him too—for instance, Criminal Minds’ Penelope Garcia and the immortal Amelia Peabody (of whom he’d be terrified if they ever met).

You’d hate your mom too, if she put a cursing curse on you. Yeah. I can’t curse out loud. Ever.

So when I get accused of murdering a vampire, the best I’ve got is, “Mother duck!”

It gets even bleeping better when I find out my arse of an ex-boyfriend is leading the investigation against me. Have I fantasized about being chained up by a hot dragon shifter? Yeah, but not like this.

I mean, how am I supposed to prove I didn’t kill Georgina the loudmouth buttface?

I'm a wingless fairy without a stinkin' scrap of power in a town full of supernaturals. Who’s gonna believe me?

If I don't want to spend a lifetime in a fudgin' dungeon, I’m gonna have to find the real killer, and fast. Unfortunately, the further I dig, the more motives I find. Georgina didn’t make a lot of friends.

To top it all off, I meet the world’s sexiest vamp. And guess what? I think he did it.

Fate's a freaking beach.

If you like Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, Charlaine Harris, Darynda Jones, Domino Finn, Michael Anderle, Rick Gualtieri, K.F. Breene, Shayne Silvers, Ilona Andrews, Brad Magnarella, or Kim Harrison...you'll have a blast with the first book in the Lyon Fox Mysteries.

Christmas at the Circus!
What if the holly berry meant more than a cozy Christmas tradition? When Trixie, billed by the Concello circus as the world’s smallest Lady Godiva, finds a large ruby on the circus grounds, she thinks she’s one of the luckiest people on earth. Until she learns the stone’s past is stained as holly-red as the jewel itself. 



When the police get involved, suspicion is cast not just on Trixie, but on her other friends at the circus. 

The pressure is on with Trixie getting threats from an anonymous source. When the calliope player is murdered, Trixie knows the threats she has been receiving aren't just to scare her... she'll be the next to die if she can't find out the truth about the stone and unmask the murderer.


Do you love thrilling whodunnits? Cozy mysteries? Sizzling suspense with dangerous twists and turns?

They each had secrets; one of those secrets got them all killed.
(Burning Secrets by Jane Blythe)

Two detectives hunt a serial killer, but the killer's hunting them.
(Double Blind by Dan Alatorre)

Sometimes imaginary enemies are the most deadly. 
(Grayout by Bill Hargenrader)

DEATH AND DAMAGES offers page-turning tales starring courageous cops, adventurous agents, daring detectives, and snooping sleuths that will keep you guessing to the very end.

You'll find 24 exciting escapades full of captivating conundrums, hair-raising homicides, and page-turning adventures from USA Today & Wall Street Journal Bestselling and award-winning authors. 

Whether you love bone-chilling suspense and cold-blooded killers, or an entertaining whodunnit that tickles your brain, you'll find the escape you've been seeking in this enthralling mystery and thriller boxed set. 

Fans of Lee Child, James Patterson, Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins, and John Grisham will devour these puzzling mysteries and gripping thrillers.  

Secure this action-packed limited edition collection! Order today.

New York Times Bestselling Author 
Patricia Loofbourrow

Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author 
Judith Lucci

USA Today Bestselling Authors
Judith Lucci
Patricia Loofbourrow
Pauline Creeden
John Ling
Shereen Vedam
Kelly Hashway  
Maggie Carpenter
Tiana Laveen
Fiona Quinn
Muffy Wilson and Dariel Raye
Ja'Nese Dixon
Terry Keys

Award-Winning Authors
Alexa Padgett
Siera London
Deborah Shlian
Karen M. Bryson
Maria Grazia Swan
Maggie Carpenter

“Todd has written a first novel that speaks out, urgently and compassionately, for a long-dead generation….A meticulously wrought puzzle.”
—New York Times Book Review

“An intricately plotted mystery. With this remarkable debut, Charles Todd breaks new ground in the historical crime novel.”
—Peter Lovesey, author of The Circle

“You’re going to love Todd.”
—Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly

The first novel to feature war-damaged Scotland Yard inspector Ian Rutledge, A Test of Wills is the book that brought author Charles Todd into the spotlight. This Edgar® and Anthony Award-nominated, New York Times Notable mystery brilliantly evokes post-World War I Great Britain and introduces readers to one of crime fiction’s most compelling series protagonists. Here the shell-shocked Rutledge struggles to retain his fragile grip on sanity while investigating the death of a popular army colonel, murdered, it appears, by a decorated war hero with ties to the Royal Family. A phenomenal writer, a twisting puzzle, a character-rich re-creation of an extraordinary time and place…it all adds up to one exceptional read that will delight fans of Elizabeth George, Martha Grimes, Jacqueline Winspear, Ruth Rendell, and other masters of the British procedural.

I am Savannah Van Duyn. Damaged. Desperate. Extremely Dangerous.

These first three books start the story of a bullied sixteen year old girl who has no choice but to leave her family and friends and crawl into the web of a ruthless geneticist, a creepy scientist who claims to be able to fix her every problem at the DNA level.  This story begs the question, if you change your face and body, can you change your life? Get ready to meet the most badass girl of all time.

A missing girl, illegal human experiments, the biggest secret in US history…

Old science says you’re born a certain way.  But if you push experimental science too far, if you don’t die in the process, can you become something else entirely? Something not quite human? Follow this extraordinary girl into the depths of dark science and conspiracy as she becomes something far more extraordinary than the human mind can fathom.

INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR:

Q: Why should readers try this series?

A: This bold new series starts out looking at the life of a regular(ish) teen girl who’s bullied at the hands of her mother, the paparazzi and her fellow students. But what happens over this nine book series is this unfortunate girl becomes the most badass girl in all of history. Most readers will appreciate this series because there is literally nothing like it out there right now, which makes the Swann series feel fresh and yes, highly addictive.

Q: What kind of series is this?

A: Swann and Monarch (books one and two) are both human stories steeped in high school angst, bullies, difficult parents and the twisted effects of human genetic modification. The third book, Clone, kicks this world wide open, unleashing a rapidly evolving world of urban fantasy. By the ninth and final book in this series, urban fantasy will have become dark fantasy, but by then you’ll be so hooked that nothing else will matter (the author says with a Cheshire cat-like grin).

Q: What kind of readers will enjoy these books?

A: Fans of Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games and Divergent will appreciate this unique series.

Q: Are there adult themes in this series?

A: Yes. In staying authentic to the YA world, there is some strong language, violence and adult situations. I personally feel this series should be enjoyed by ages 15 and above.

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING…

“This book easily surpasses five stars. There is very uniquely constructed world with relatable problems most teens and young adults can connect to. I just love stories like these that almost can't really be put into a classification or they can be stuffed into several.”

– Rebecca, Amazon Reviewer for Swann ★★★★★

“Wow! Monarch was even better than Swann. The twists and turns were very interesting. I couldn’t put the book down, it was so good. Loved it!"

– Rose, Amazon Reviewer for Monarch ★★★★★

“This is my favorite of the first three books! It’s scripted so well that I could literally feel their feelings and pain. I cried and laughed and totally enjoyed this book. The character development is phenomenal.”

– Kierra, Amazon Reviewer for Clone ★★★★★

READING ORDER OF THE SWANN SERIES:

• Swann
• Monarch
• Clone
• Masochist
• Weapon
• Raven
• Abomination
• Enigma
• Crucified (Coming Soon!)

Winner of the 1991 Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel and the FIRST mystery in the highly acclaimed Skip Langdon series, New Orleans Mourning falls deliciously between the psychological suspense of Laura Lippman and the delicate drama of Tennessee Williams.

"Murder at the Mardi Gras and the flavor of New Orleans ... Old secrets are highlighted in this wonderful story that is as filled with topical information as it is with a great story about murder and history. Smith writes with authority about her city." -Ocala Star Banner

"Smith is a gifted writer." –Washington Post Book World

MURDER, MARDI GRAS--AND MORE SECRETS THAN BEADS...

It's Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and civic leader and socialite Chauncy St. Amant has been crowned Rex, King of Carnival. But his day of glory comes to an abrupt and bloody end when a parade-goer dressed as Dolly Parton guns him down. Is the killer his aimless, promiscuous daughter Marcelle? Homosexual, mistreated son Henry? Helpless, alcoholic wife Bitty? Or some unknown player? Turns out the king had enemies...

Enter resourceful heroine Skip Langdon, a rookie police officer and former debutante turned cynic of the Uptown crowd. Scouring the streets for clues, interviewing revelers and street people with names like Jo Jo, Hinky, and Cookie, and using her white glove contacts, the post-deb rebel cop encounters a tangled web of brooding clues and ancient secrets that could mean danger for her—and doom for the St. Amants.

Langdon, with her weight worries, insecurities, and yet overall toughness has long been a favorite of those who like their female sleuths bold, smart, and refreshingly human.

“Smith finds secrets and potential in nearly all corners of New Orleans.” –NPR

"Julie Smith writes like jazz should sound—cool, complex, and penetrating right to the heart.” -Val McDermid, best-selling author of the Tony Hill series

"Though her plot careens with as many twists and turns as a car chase through the French Quarter, it is Smith's rotating focus on the complex viewpoints of her fully formed characters that gives her sixth novel its psychological and emotional depth ... [A] rich, tightly structured narrative." -Publishers Weekly

Fans of Ace Atkins, Tana French, Sue Grafton, and Marcia Muller will love Skip Langdon’s pluck and charm.

Two Native-American boys have vanished into thin air, leaving a pool of blood behind them. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police has no choice but to suspect the very worst, since the blood that stains the parched New Mexican ground once flowed through the veins of one of the missing, a young Zuñi. But his investigation into a terrible crime is being complicated by an important archaeological dig . . . and a steel hypodermic needle. And the unique laws and sacred religious rites of the Zuñi people are throwing impassable roadblocks in Leaphorn's already twisted path, enabling a craven murderer to elude justice or, worse still, to kill again.

Stephanie Plum faces the toughest puzzle of her career in the twenty-fifth entry in Janet Evanovich's #1 New York Times-bestselling series.

There's nothing like a good deli, and the Red River Deli in Trenton is one of the best. World-famous for its pastrami, cole slaw, and for its disappearing managers. Over the last month, three have vanished from the face of the earth, and the only clue in each case is one shoe that's been left behind. The police are baffled. Lula is convinced that it's a case of alien abduction. Whatever it is, they'd better figure out what's going on before they lose their new manager, Ms. Stephanie Plum.

ALL MEN MUST DIE. "Integrating police procedural, Holmesian puzzle-solving, bio-thriller, and political commentary, Androcide's style and substance will prove irresistible for readers." -The BookLife Prize

Detectives link gruesome murders to the Eunuch Maker, a serial killer targeting men. The stakes soon escalate to global proportions."An unusual combination of international espionage and murder mystery...powerful, high-octane, engrossingly unpredictable...very highly recommended" -D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

"Riveting, relentlessly paced" -Internet Review of Books
"Chilling addition to his INTEL 1 series, fascinating and magnetic" -Tome Tender
"Diverse, well-developed characters and an intricate, engaging story" -RT Reviews

Secrets Revealed

Hitler has surrendered. The Nazi flags, which once hung throughout the city, striking terror in the hearts of Polish citizens, have been torn down. It seems that Warsaw should be rejoicing in its new-found freedom. But Warsaw is not free. Instead it is occupied by the Soviet Union, held tightly in Stalin’s iron grip. Communist soldiers, in uniform, now control the city. Where once people feared the dreaded swastika, now they tremble at the sight of the hammer and sickle. It is a treacherous time. And, in the midst of all of this danger, Ela Dobinski, a girl with a secret that could change her life, is coming of age.

DEATH ON A DEADLINE—EVEN BEFORE SHE TAKES THE CASE SHE’S ALMOST OUT OF TIME…

“She is smart, tough, and tenacious... a wonderfully entertaining read.”—Publisher’s Weekly,
Unlicensed P.I. Casey Jones is back in prison – just visiting – but even the death row inmate she’s come to interview can see she’s one shade of green away from a full-blown panic attack.

Fifteen years ago, this hard-boiled babe walked out of a Florida prison after serving an eighteen-month sentence, sporting160 pounds of “nobody kicks my ass” and a couple of inches of dark roots at the base of her bleach job (“simply to confuse people into underestimating me”)--and swearing she’d never set foot in a prison again. But the family of the convicted woman just isn’t buying the story that she killed her cop husband,, and they’ve hired North Carolina’s mouthiest female sleuth to find enough new evidence to get her a new trial and save her from lethal injection—in a month.

No way to hit that deadline! And nobody wants her to take this case-– not Bobby D., her super-size fellow private investigator, not Bill Butler, the lean and long-lashed Raleigh PD detective whom she is studiously “not dating,” and not even the convicted woman who abandoned all hope long before she entered prison. But Bill told her – twice – not to take the case, and no man tells Casey what to do. She’s definitely taking it,—and the ride begins…

OUT OF TIME manages to tag all the bases: all the suspense of a taut thriller, leavened by Casey’s hilarious wisecracks, and just when you think she’s as brittle as her bleached locks, her humanity breaks through, revealing that no matter how loosely she follows the rules, she is deeply committed to seeing justice done. For all her resemblance to Archie Goodwin, Rex Stout’s wisecracking leg man, Casey’s her own woman: Casey Jones, karmic avenger.

The only lead the family can offer is a call from the presiding judge. He’s convinced that justice went awry somewhere along the line, and is planning to share his suspicions with Casey, but he’s unable to keep the appointment due to his own untimely demise. Now Casey’s sure something’s hinky. Fortunately, she has all the right connections to sniff out the information she needs. Working at top speed, she puts it all together and makes enough trouble to land her on the 6:00 news. That gets the cops’ attention.

Still, while the law is dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, it’s finally up to Casey to bring the killer to justice in a dramatic capture that is at once as harrowing as it is hilarious. And, in a case bumped all the way to the Supreme Court, the ruling is finally rendered: Casey Jones’s ass is every bit as gorgeous as she has always claimed.

OUT OF TIME (and the rest of this fine series) will appeal to fans of all female sleuth mysteries—private eyes like Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone, Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski, Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan, Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone, and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum, as well as their tough and witty male antecedents. If you ever flipped over Philip Marlowe, Spenser, or of course, the immortal Wolfe and his buddy Archie, you’ll fall in love with their direct descendant, Casey Jones, Private Eye.

Evanovich herself said: “Casey Jones joins the ranks of smart and gutsy heroines. The South will never be the same. Don't miss her."—Janet Evanovich

Florida transplant Georgia Lee Maxwell doesn't take to Paris at first, despite the fact that she's at least leaving a no-good man and a hated job as a society editor. Now she's a Paris correspondent, thank you very much—a dream come true for any journalist.

There's just a slight down side—she arrives in freezing rain, gets caught in a traffic jam caused by a bomb scare, and hates her apartment; but the real Bonjour is finding herself face down on a museum floor during a robbery. "Killed for a boring story!" she thinks. But as it happens, she isn't the one who dies. Three terrifying masked gunmen shoot the unfortunate security guard.

They could have stolen all the treasures of Monte Cristo's cave, so to speak, but it turns out they've made off with only a mirror. True, it once belonged to the French seer Nostradamus, but it may be the museum's least valuable item.

Does it have some prophetic ability? Does someone know something the gendarmes don't? Here's what Georgia Lee knows: If she finds out first, she's a journalistic hero. If she doesn't, she's dead.

Michaela Thompson's ability to bring alive a locale shines here, and when the locale is Paris, what's not to like? The writing is crisp, the protagonist witty, and the mystery is twisty. A great choice for armchair travelers! Also for fans of Cara Black, Michael Bond, and of course, the great Georges Simenon. Admirers of Hank Phillippi Ryan and the HBO show, THE NEWSROOM, will love the journalistic background.

Excerpt:
The first hint of anything extraordinary was a loud clattering on the staircase we had just descended. A moment later, three people burst violently into the room.

One of them, stumbling as if he’d been pushed, was the blue-uniformed guard I’d seen upstairs. The other two wore jeans, burgundy-colored ski masks, brown leather bomber jackets, and gloves. Both of them held stubby black guns. They looked around at us. One of them spat out some sort of order in French.

It was the most ungodly nightmare. Here were these killers, or terrorists, or who knew what, telling us to do something, and they were telling us in French. At that moment, I couldn’t have understood Bonjour. But the others— the guard, Mallet, Overton— were getting on the floor and lying face down, so I did the same. In a second, one of the intruders grabbed my wrists and taped them together, tight. I heard them shuffling around taping the others.

I lay with my nose pressed against the cold linoleum, wishing to God I’d never left Florida. Any indignity I’d had to put up with at the Sun was nothing compared to this. I was going to be killed, and all because of a story about art conservation that probably wouldn’t have worked out anyway. I thought about Mama and Daddy, and about Twinkie, who was just getting adjusted to Paris. I’m happy to say I didn’t give more than a passing thought to Ray Brown, the man I’d left in Bay City who wasn’t worth a damn.

All of this took just seconds. I heard a drawer opening and closing. The back of my head prickled. In everything I’d read about these situations, people got shot in the back of the head. The prickling became a numbness that crawled down my neck and along my spine.

Only a moment later, the shot came.

"With a dose of Southern charm and a bad boy you won't want to forget, A Cutthroat Business has enough wit and sexual chemistry to rival Janet Evanovich!" - New York Times bestselling author Tasha Alexander

"VERDICT: The hilarious dialog and the tension between Savannah and Rafe will delight fans of chick-lit mysteries and romantic suspense." - Jo Ann Vicarel, Library Journal


Savannah Martin has always been a good girl, doing what was expected and fully expecting life to fall into place in its turn. But when her perfect husband turns out to be a lying, cheating slimeball—and bad in bed to boot—Savannah kicks the jerk to the curb and embarks on life on her own terms. With a new apartment, a new career, and a brand new outlook on life, she’s all set to take the world by storm.

If only the world would stop throwing her curveballs...

Everyone has warned new-minted realtor Savannah Martin that real estate is a cutthroat business. But Savannah doesn’t think she’s supposed to take the warning literally ... until an early morning phone call sends her to an empty house on the ‘bad’ side of town, where she finds herself standing over the butchered body of a competitor, face to face with the boy her mother always warned her about.

Rafe Collier is six feet three inches of testosterone and trouble; tall, dark, and dangerous, with a murky past and no future—not the kind of guy a perfect Southern Belle should want to tangle with. In any way. But wherever Savannah turns, there he is, and making no bones about what he wants from her.

Now Savannah must figure out who killed real estate queen Brenda Puckett, make a success of her new career, and avoid getting killed—or kissed—by Rafe, all before the money in her savings account runs out and she has to go back to selling make-up at the mall.

"A frothy girl drink of houses, hunks and whodunit narrated in a breezy first person ... If you love an umbrella in your drink, grab A Cutthroat Business for a quick beach read." -Lyda Phillips, Nashville Scene

The SIXTH subtle and humorous adventure in the Tubby Dubonnet series.

WHEN THE D.A. HIMSELF SETS YOU UP, YOU KNOW YOU'RE GOING DOWN…
In Tony Dunbar’s books, New Orleans is The Big Sleazy squared. No one is safe, especially from their elected officials. Even if they are an elected official.

It's a city of sin. And murder is only one of them.
So what if Judge Hughes shared a few special moments with Sultana Patel—why is this a matter of public interest? “The stench from that courthouse fills the city,” roars D.A. Marcus Dementhe. “Those hypocritical men and women who wear the robes are filthy with deception.” And Dementhe has a zany plan to snare them.

Hughes, happily, has had the good sense to hire epicurean lawyer Tubby Dubonnet, whose laconic air is belied by his zeal to protect his clients. And what a web they’re ensnared in! But no matter how dire things get, Dunbar never loses his sense of humor:

"I think he's going to shoot us once we're out in the Gulf," Tubby whispered to the girl.
“His aura is green,” she agreed.

Half the fun of a Tubby Dubonnet book is watching his sly creator fit together a plethora of fascinating yet seemingly unrelated jigsaw pieces to form a picture you never saw coming. And the other half is hanging out with Tubby and his crew of eccentrics, sleazeballs, goofballs, and enticing, confusing babes in the Big Easy-to-Love.

WHO WILL LIKE IT: Fans of Tremé, softshell crab po’ boys, Domilise’s, the Upperline Restaurant…wait, let’s start over—ok, legal mysteries, particularly Parnell Hall’s Steve Winslow series and anything by Lia Matera, comic mysteries, Elmore Leonard, funny lawyer movies like My Cousin Vinny, TV shows like Ally McBeal and Night Court; and everyone’s favorite New Orleans yarn, Confederacy of Dunces.

A bloody past haunts him. A devastating present calls him back…

Nao hides from his violent past in the Japanese mob by opening a teahouse in Japan's cultural center, Kyoto. His past comes flooding back when he discovers a gravely injured man with a tattooed chest, a bloody knife, and a Korean business card.

Saehyun would've died if not for Nao's help. He knows nothing of his savior's connection with the local mafia, but Saehyun has his own secrets. He commands the Korean mafia, the mortal enemy of Nao’s former syndicate.

As Nao and Saehyun grow closer, so does the strength of the Korean mob. A shocking murder pulls Nao back into a past he'd all but abandoned. War is looming, and Nao must choose between protecting Saehyun or avenging the honor of his old mafia family..

The Yakuza Path: Blood Stained Tea is the first book in a series of Japanese mafia thrillers. If you like complex characters, blood-soaked violence, and twists you won't see coming, then you'll love Amy Tasukada's gritty crime masterpiece.

Buy Blood Stained Tea to dive deep into the Asian mafia tale today!

"Stephen King's Stand by Me collides with Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects in this exceptional thriller. Gutsy, gripping—and pitch-perfect in its resurrection of an era long gone."—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

When her sister disappears, the only clue Leah has is a cryptic message: Underground. By the Woods.

It's 1989 in the sleepy town of Longview, Texas, when ten-year-old Lucy disappears. Her parents, the police, and the community all brace for the worst, assuming her body will soon be found in Big Woods. Just like the other unsolved kidnappings.

But then Lucy's fourteen-year-old sister, Leah, starts having dreams about Lucy—dreams that reveal startling clues as to what happened. Leah begins her own investigation, and soon she meets a reclusive widow who may hold the key to finding Lucy...if only she can find the courage to come forward.

Delving into the paranoia surrounding satanic cults in the 1980s, Big Woods is an emotionally wrought, propulsive thriller about the enormity of grief, the magical bond between sisters, and a small town's dark secrets.

Praise:

"Big Woods is perfectly timed to take advantage of the 1980s horror revival. Its historic details are excellent, down to the songs on Leah's car stereo. Cobb paints in Day-Glo and brings terrors of the night to life."—Foreword Magazine

"Readers will be grabbed by Big Woods and sucked into the mysterious story. Hold on tight—it's worth it."—Criminal Element

"Cobb's intense, heart-wrenching debut introduces a courageous, determined teen who must find her lost sister amid a disturbing atmosphere of paranoia and fear, crafting a compelling, suspenseful story reminiscent of William Kent Krueger's Ordinary Grace."—Library Journal (starred review)

"Big Woods is a nuanced family story and also a heart-stopping thriller with surprising twists. Cobb taps into the fabulous '80s sensibility of Stranger Things and also into our deepest fears about safety, evil, trust, and the power of faith in what we don't understand. I couldn't put it down."—Amanda Eyre Ward, author of The Nearness of You and The Same Sky

"Compulsively readable."—Rosamund Lupton, New York Times bestselling author of Sister

"Big Woods is brilliant! Cobb has crafted a haunting thriller that dives deep into grief, family connections, and the dreadful power of fear. The novel succeeds as a rich exploration of emotion and a not-so-distant time while also shining as a riveting page-turner."—Owen Egerton, author of Hollow and writer/director of horror-comedy Bloodfest

"Big Woods is such a blast—a page-turning thriller with '80s hair, like a Texan Stranger Things."—Amy Gentry, author of Good as Gone

"Literally the best thriller I've read in years. Intensely gripping, so evocative of the late '80s, and a brilliant, original storyline. It's blinding."—Clare Empson, author of Him

MOTIVE: POSSIBLE TERRORISM.
M.O.: ARSON.
TARGET: CHICAGO; ALL OF IT.
 

It’s already been a rough year for the Chicago Journal’s first-rate journalistic sleuth, Deuce Mora. After two agonizing investigations – one of which won her a Pulitzer Prize, the other of which forced her to kill a man – she claims she’s sworn off action-packed chases that cause nightmares. Still…from the moment she hears the earliest details of the first fire, her detective-instincts say the pieces don’t fit, and every other instinct tells the hard-hitting reporter she can’t walk away from the story – even though she knows she’ll regret it.

As a series of deadly fires destroys landmarks first, then occupied structures, the body count rises by scores and the city is gripped by terror at Christmastime, adding lost revenue to property damage in the hundreds of millions. Whole blocks of Chicago real estate are falling to an arsonist, but no one knows why and everyone suspects the worst – terrorism.

After the initial tip from the lead arson investigator (aka her boyfriend), Deuce is on her own to solve the mystery. Their relationship could endanger his reputation and his job if he’s even suspected of leaking information to her, so they’ve called a temporary halt. But she’s not exactly lacking for company – her old adversary, FBI agent Colter, has a tail on her, and Colter himself keeps popping out of the shadows. His presence at the crime scene and, even more revealingly, that of an NSA agent point to the suspicion of jihadist terrorism. But no terrorist group has claimed the mayhem.

Heller’s chilling, diabolical plot promises fans of hard-boiled mysteries a substantial feast to sink their teeth into and a knock-your-socks-off ending.

“Good reporters do not always good novelists make, but Jean Heller is both.” -- The Boston Sunday Globe

WHO WILL LIKE IT: Fans of Chicago private investigators VI Warshawski and Libby Fischer Hellman’s Georgia Davis, get-the-story-or-die reporters like Hank Philippi Ryan’s Jane Ryland and Kelly Lange’s Maxi Poole, hard-boiled female protagonists like Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone and Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan; and anyone who admires tough-minded women sleuths who’re good in a fight.

#1 bestselling author John Grisham’s The Reckoning is his most powerful, surprising, and suspenseful thriller yet.
 
“A murder mystery, a courtroom drama, a family saga…The Reckoning is Grisham's argument that he's not just a boilerplate thriller writer. Most jurors will think the counselor has made his case.”
—USA Today
 
 October 1946, Clanton, Mississippi

Pete Banning was Clanton, Mississippi’s favorite son—a decorated World War II hero, the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, father, neighbor, and a faithful member of the Methodist church. Then one cool October morning he rose early, drove into town, and committed a shocking crime.  Pete's only statement about it—to the sheriff, to his lawyers, to the judge, to the jury, and to his family—was: "I have nothing to say." He was not afraid of death and was willing to take his motive to the grave.
           
In a major novel unlike anything he has written before, John Grisham takes us on an incredible journey, from the Jim Crow South to the jungles of the Philippines during World War II; from an insane asylum filled with secrets to the Clanton courtroom where Pete’s defense attorney tries desperately to save him. 

Reminiscent of the finest tradition of Southern Gothic storytelling, The Reckoning would not be complete without Grisham’s signature layers of legal suspense, and he delivers on every page.