The first “engrossing”(Entertainment Weekly) legal thriller in the New York Times bestselling Paul Madriani series!

Defense attorney Paul Madriani was on the rise with the California law firm of Potter, Skarpellos—until a short-lived affair with Potter's wife, Talia, cost him his job. A year later, when Talia is accused of Potter’s murder Paul is thrust back into the big time—and he soon uncovers secrets that may end his career...and his life.

Al’s past is catching up with him...40 years in the mob and karma has his number.

He’s a marked man, but a tip-off buys him some time. Can he catch his would-be murderer before they catch up with him?

It’s a game of cat and mouse...will Al live long enough to enjoy the future with Cassie? Or will Red be lying vigil by his coffin?

Find out in the latest nail-biting installment of the Northwest Cozy Mystery Series by a two-time USA Today Bestselling Author.

When you lose your share of $2.4 million, do you walk away, or settle the score?

After a successful heist, three grifters stop overnight in a small town off the beaten path when their leader Frank is arrested and their $2.4 million score disappears.

Believing there is no honor among thieves, Frank is reluctant to help fellow grifters Jared and Chance recover the money while he remains in jail awaiting trial. But with an unpredictable cop on the take, a double-cross in the works, and a hitman dispatched to recover the money, time is a luxury the trio of grifters cannot afford to waste by trying to figure out who's double crossing whom if they hope to have any chance of recovering the money and staying alive.

And before they lose what little leverage they have, Jared and Chance make a bold and daring move to rig Frank's trial, a scheme which sets in motion events that lead to a dramatic verdict, unforeseen consequences, and the wisdom that it would have been better to give than deceive.

The streets aren't safe when your enemy wears a blue uniform and a gold badge.

What if the good guys weren't good?

What if a cop went rogue and killed an innocent man?

What if it was all caught on video and the cop would do anything to cover it up?

"Much like the script of an action-packed movie, Enemy in Blue will buffet you from one hair-raising scene to another -- and will always leave you pondering, who's the real enemy?" -L.Capritta

For anyone that craves an action-packed thriller and can't get their fill of Grisham, Koontz or Patterson...Enemy in Blue is your next escape!

"For action, body-count and digging into the underworld of police politics--this is really a great read.  However, the best asset of the novel is the incredible drawing of the antagonist--the evil Sergeant Shaver really shines."  -P.Weekly
 

NEW RELEASE SPECIAL! The Age of Embers will be on sale for $0.99 until March 18, 2019 before heading to its normal price of $3.99.

Fresh off the highly acclaimed, massively successful Last War series comes a new chapter in the apocalypse from bestselling author, Ryan Schow. The Age of Embers is the first book in a new standalone series that takes place in the Last War universe.

The end is coming, are you ready?

A savage attack. Society at the end of its rope. The most dangerous city in America is now caught in an extinction-level event. Is the assault on Chicago a facet of military tech gone awry, or does this sudden spasm of violence signal a darker, more ominous future? In The Age of Embers, several paths will collide in the center of a post-apocalyptic nightmare of epic proportions.

Undercover DEA agent, Fiyero “Fire” Dimas, is drowning in problems: a soul-crushing job, an inadequate marriage and a teenage daughter with suitors of the worst kind. Then there’s the drug dealers he double-crossed, and the "incident" at his kids’ high school. With the added complication of an attack on the city, can Fiyero pull himself together long enough to salvage his work, put his family back together and avoid the storm headed his way?

Ciudad Juarez is a ferocious city where guns, drugs and human trafficking rule the land. Guatemalan born Eliana Gutierrez ventures into the heart of this perilous urban jungle in search of her kidnapped niece. In a locale as hostile as Juarez, Eliana will come face-to-face with a rancorous man who will either be her salvation, or her bitter end. Under the cover of all-out war, Eliana will risk everything for the child…

The Age of Embers is a brand new post-apocalyptic survival series written inside the universe of the best-selling The Last War series. This edge-of-your-seat thriller chronicles the harrowing journey of ordinary people trapped in an encroaching dark age.  Get ready for great characters, big post-apocalyptic action and a no-holds-barred action/adventure series that just might hit a little too close to home.

*The Age of Embers series can be read as a stand alone series or in addition to The Last War series. Both stories are written in the same universe on the same timeline.

WHAT FANS OF THE COMPLETE LAST WAR ARE SAYING…

“This series is awesome to say the least! I absolutely could not put it down. I love the characters...the story lines....the way the writer gave each character a chance to tell their story so that I was able to see through their eyes, to feel their pain, to feel the hope!”

– Kindle Customer Pam, Amazon Reviewer ★★★★★

“Great set of books! I like how Ryan keeps all the stories going at the same time and never skips a beat. Then at the end he brings them all together in a climatic rush where the characters are totally surprised of the outcome. Definitely an author to watch.”

– David D, Amazon Reviewer ★★★★★

“Top Notch Reading! Absolutely awesome. Best series I've read in years. If you want to read a series you can't put down...this is it...”

– BJJones, Amazon Reviewer ★★★★★

“Awesome! Couldn’t put it down. I’ve read a lot of series like these and this one was fresh and exciting!”

– Adam, Amazon Reviewer ★★★★★

**This series contains the kinds of violence one would expect in an apocalyptic meltdown, some PG rated language and adult situations. This book is politics-free, which is to say it contains NO political viewpoints by the author or by the characters within.

Ryder has been held against her will for twenty years … Now it’s time for some payback!

Two hundred years ago the earth was destroyed by the World’s Worst Day Ever. Keeping his head down for the last few centuries, a mutated vampire has taken advantage of the new post-apocalyptic normal.

Now, Ryder is provided an opportunity to escape his tyrannical rule… But she won’t stand for simply disappearing, it’s time for justice.

Taking one mutated vampire down should be no problem, right?

Wrong!

Throw in a newly developed herd of zombies, and Ryder is facing a full recipe for disaster.

Get ready to enjoy the ride!

Scroll up and purchase your ticket right now.

** As noted in other series set in the Kurtherian Universe, there IS cursing in this book, occasionally, it's funny, too. **

For thirty years, Brendan Murphy has done the impossible. He has kept his client, Professor Edward Wynne Carter, III, alive on Virginia’s Death Row. Three juries have convicted Ed of murdering his pregnant wife in 1983, but Ed continues to insist that the real killer is Allison Byrd, the law student who stalked him relentlessly and whose lies sent him to Death Row. Now Ed’s execution is set for March 3, 2017, the day before his son Wynne’s marriage to Claire Chastain.

Mckenzie Fitzgerald, a name partner in Hugh Mahoney’s San Diego law firm, learns of Ed’s impending execution on the day that she also learns she has been nominated to the United States Supreme Court. She has evidence of Ed’s innocence, but her career will be destroyed and she will lose the nomination if she reveals it. Determined to save her career, she stubbornly insists Ed is guilty.

When Claire tries to help Brendan prove that Allison is the real killer, Allison makes an attempt on Claire’s life. Jeff Ryder steps in to protect Claire and agrees to help her find evidence that Allison killed Ed’s wife. But when Claire is kidnapped on her wedding day and Brendan has a heart attack, Jeff becomes responsible for saving Claire and Ed in the face of mounting evidence that Ed had both motive and opportunity to kill his wife.



.

Katherine Arden’s bestselling debut novel spins an irresistible spell as it announces the arrival of a singular talent with a gorgeous voice.
 
“A beautiful deep-winter story, full of magic and monsters and the sharp edges of growing up.”—Naomi Novik, bestselling author of Uprooted

Winter lasts most of the year at the edge of the Russian wilderness, and in the long nights, Vasilisa and her siblings love to gather by the fire to listen to their nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, Vasya loves the story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon. Wise Russians fear him, for he claims unwary souls, and they honor the spirits that protect their homes from evil.
 
Then Vasya’s widowed father brings home a new wife from Moscow. Fiercely devout, Vasya’s stepmother forbids her family from honoring their household spirits, but Vasya fears what this may bring. And indeed, misfortune begins to stalk the village.
 
But Vasya’s stepmother only grows harsher, determined to remake the village to her liking and to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for marriage or a convent. As the village’s defenses weaken and evil from the forest creeps nearer, Vasilisa must call upon dangerous gifts she has long concealed—to protect her family from a threat sprung to life from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

Praise for The Bear and the Nightingale

“Arden’s debut novel has the cadence of a beautiful fairy tale but is darker and more lyrical.”—The Washington Post

“Vasya [is] a clever, stalwart girl determined to forge her own path in a time when women had few choices.”—The Christian Science Monitor

“Stunning . . . will enchant readers from the first page. . . . with an irresistible heroine who wants only to be free of the bonds placed on her gender and claim her own fate.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Utterly bewitching . . . a lush narrative . . . an immersive, earthy story of folk magic, faith, and hubris, peopled with vivid, dynamic characters, particularly clever, brave Vasya, who outsmarts men and demons alike to save her family.”—Booklist (starred review)

“An extraordinary retelling of a very old tale . . . The Bear and the Nightingale is a wonderfully layered novel of family and the harsh wonders of deep winter magic.”—Robin Hobb

“Haunting and lyrical, The Bear and the Nightingale tugs at the heart and quickens the pulse. I can’t wait for her next book.”—Terry Brooks

The first novel in the thrilling series featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett from #1 New York Times bestselling author C. J. Box. 

Joe Pickett is the new game warden in Twelve Sleep, Wyoming, a town where nearly everyone hunts and the game warden—especially one like Joe who won't take bribes or look the other way—is far from popular. When he finds a local hunting outfitter dead, splayed out on the woodpile behind his state-owned home, he takes it personally. There had to be a reason that the outfitter, with whom he's had run-ins before, chose his backyard, his woodpile to die in. Even after the "outfitter murders," as they have been dubbed by the local press after the discovery of the two more bodies, are solved, Joe continues to investigate, uneasy with the easy explanation offered by the local police.

As Joe digs deeper into the murders, he soon discovers that the outfitter brought more than death to his backdoor: he brought Joe an endangered species, thought to be extinct, which is now living in his woodpile. But if word of the existence of this endangered species gets out, it will destroy any chance of InterWest, a multi-national natural gas company, building an oil pipeline that would bring the company billions of dollars across Wyoming, through the mountains and forests of Twelve Sleep. The closer Joe comes to the truth behind the outfitter murders, the endangered species and InterWest, the closer he comes to losing everything he holds dear.

WHAT SHE'S ABOUT TO LEARN WILL ROCK HER WORLD!
Rebecca Schwartz, “Jewish feminist lawyer,” as she’s fond of saying, thought she knew her best friend--and her boy friend. Not to mention her family. But everything’s about to change.

Secrets spill out of these pages like hornets out of a nest, each with its own distinct sting, as author Smith weaves a thrill-packed and complicated San Francisco mystery that’s as much about how little we know about our nearest and dearest as it is about whodunit.

Rebecca’s shocked when Chris Nicholson, her glamorous law partner, is arrested for murder--but not nearly so shocked as when she discovers Chris can’t come up with an alibi. What she was doing, Chris says, involves a secret so damaging she’d be drummed out of San Francisco legal circles if anyone knew. All she’ll say is what her secret isn’t--crime, drugs, sex, alcohol, addiction, illness (mental or otherwise), or an eating disorder. So what’s left? Sure enough, when Rebecca uncovers it, her world tilts on its axis—and continues to list, ever more dangerously, as the story picks up speed and this formerly rational lawyer (and, ok, amateur detective) finds her worldview threatened by things she never knew existed. At least not in her circle! And Chris is far from the only one with a skeleton in her closet.

The murdered man, Jason McKendrick, was a much-loved columnist, a carefree bachelor with a million glamorous women, who also happened to have a very special friend who slept on a filthy mattress in his apartment. As Rebecca and Chris peel back the layers of Jason’s complicated world, they find he was leading not just a double life, but maybe many more. Only one person knows what made him tick. But can she stay alive long enough to tell his story?

Fans of Nancy Pickard’s delicate psychological probes, Janet Evanovich’s wild romps, and Marcia Muller’s complex yarns will appreciate this one.

Reviewing the Reviewers:

WHO LIKES IT: Those who appreciate complicated plots, twists and turns, and the odd flight of fancy regarding philosophical issues. ( i.e, Is it real if you can’t see it?)

WHO DOESN'T: Some readers have felt this and the previous Rebecca Schwartz book, DEAD IN THE WATER, were somewhat different from the first three--edgier, more realistic, and...well, just not as funny. We say: guilty as charged; they’re a little more thoughtful. (Sorry! They just came out that way.) Some don’t like the way the characters wrestle with issues of religion and lack of same—so it's probably not for those offended by the notion that not everyone is Christian or Jewish. And some think it wanders a bit. Well, it does—into those aforementioned murky philosophical waters. If swimming in them makes you gasp for air, give this otherwise delightful, somewhat funny chick lit mystery a wide berth. Whatever you decide, we've got your back: if you think you’ll like it and you guess wrong, we’ll refund your money and throw in a free book! Just write to julieorleans@cox.net for your refund, new book, and a good soundoff. That’s right: punch us out. Give us hell. We aim to please, whatever it takes!

 

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Jurassic Park, Timeline, and Sphere comes this extraordinary thriller about airline safety, business intrigue, and a deadly cover-up.
 
“The pacing is fast, the suspense nonstop.”—People
 
Three passengers are dead. Fifty-six are injured. The interior cabin is virtually destroyed. But the pilot manages to land the plane.

At a moment when the issue of safety and death in the skies is paramount in the public mind, a lethal midair disaster aboard a commercial twin-jet airliner flying from Hong Kong to Denver triggers a pressured and frantic investigation.

Airframe is nonstop reading, full of the extraordinary mixture of super suspense and authentic information on a subject of compelling interest that are the hallmarks of Michael Crichton.
 
“A one-sitting read that will cause a lifetime of white-knuckled nightmares.”—The Philaelphia Inquirer
 
“The ultimate thriller . . . [Crichton’s] stories are always page-turners of the highest order. . . . [Airframe] moves like a firehouse dog chasing a red truck.”—The Denver Post
 
“Dramatically vivid.”—The New York Times

This is the SECOND paranormal mystery in the Kate Benedict series.

SOMEONE’S GOING TO DIE--AND IT COULD BE THE NEW PRIME MINISTER. OR MAYBE KATE'S BEST FRIEND IN THE WORLD!
Two politicians and her best friend have the death-predicting auras London architect Kate Benedict can see despite her most fervent wishes. She’s had the dubious gift for a year now, and suddenly there’s no longer any ignoring it.

But the only way to get to the two pols is via her old friend, DCI Clarke; yet her warnings go unheeded. Her frustration builds when her best friend, Anita, refuses to believe in their existence as well — even when one appears over Anita’s boss in the hospital where she works. And then Anita develops her own aura.

A wild chase through seamy and posh London, clever detection, and an intricate plot make this paranormal mystery appealing to cozy and hard-boiled fans alike. In DOUBLE BLIND, the early promise Carrie Bedford showed in THE AURA is not only fulfilled, but even blooms and grows more sure-footed.

Double Blind is sure to delight fans of traditional British murder mysteries as well as anyone who likes female sleuths and international mysteries.

WHO ELSE WILL LIKE IT: Anyone looking for a new, fresh female sleuth, as well as fans of paranormal suspense, traditional (yet not too cozy) stories, contemporary British women detectives like the ones found on the BBC’s ROSEMARY AND THYME and MURDER IN SUBURBIA, and mysteries with a metaphysical twist, like Kay Hooper’s Bishop Files series, Iris Johansen’s THE PERFECT WITNESS, and Heather Graham’s Krewe of Hunters books.

"Double Blind is a cozy mystery with intense characters who struggle in a world of pharmaceutical intrigue with political twists. Author Carrie Bedford writes with a high suspenseful flair and creates an engaging protagonist, Kate Benedict. Paranormal elements mix with murders, kidnappings, and a dash of romance, all racing through an unusual and satisfying plot. A fast read, well-written, and thoroughly enjoyable."
--Paula Cappa, author of The Dazzling Darkness

The ghosts of the past come calling in a spellbinding heart-stopper from the “Queen of the Northern Gothic.”

After the end of her marriage, Kate Granger has retreated to her parents’ home on Lake Superior to pull herself together—only to discover the body of a murdered woman washed into the shallows. Tucked in the folds of the woman’s curiously vintage gown is an infant, as cold and at peace as its mother. No one can identify the woman. Except for Kate. She’s seen her before. In her dreams…

One hundred years ago, a love story ended in tragedy, its mysteries left unsolved. It’s time for the lake to give up its secrets. As each mystery unravels, it pulls Kate deeper into the eddy of a haunting folktale that has been handed down in whispers over generations. Now, it’s Kate’s turn to listen.

As the drowned woman reaches out from the grave, Kate reaches back. They must come together, if only in dreams, to right the sinister wrongs of the past.

He gave up his daughter years ago, but now he’ll risk his life to save hers.

Alex Mercer is no stranger to kidnappings. The emotional scars still run deep from his sister’s disappearance years earlier. His daughter Ariana remains safe long after her adoption, and he cherishes the few times a year he gets to see her. The joy is palpable when he takes her on their first one-on-one outing. At least until he pauses to answer a text and Ariana disappears…

Wracked with guilt and determined to find answers, Alex teams up with an unlikely ally at the police department. As the clues reveal a pattern of missing girls, the kidnapping case becomes a race against time to save Ariana. What cost is Alex willing to pay to keep his daughter alive?

Girl in Trouble is the first book in a series of thrilling stand-alone novels spun off from the USA Today bestselling Gone Trilogy. If you like heart-pounding suspense, page-turning action, and characters you’ll never forget, then you’ll love Stacy Claflin’s engrossing new series.

Read Girl in Trouble today!

It’s easy to be a nobody when you’ve got nothing to lose, but with his life and potential redemption on the line, can Monk be a somebody people will remember?

A dead man’s money is just waiting to be had. A band of fools and a nobody named Monk Buttman unwittingly find themselves caught in a web of murder and revenge between two unseen factions using them as bait. After a good day ends in murder, Monk is tasked with finding the killer. Why him? He’s a nobody! Stuck between powerful forces he can neither control or understand, Monk must survive both the fools and those pulling the strings while also dealing with the affections of two very different women, the troubled Agnes and the disaffected Judith, not to mention the irritation of his erstwhile partner, Mr. Jones. A beating forces Monk to question his own motives and to confront the past that led him to hide in LA. With love and life on the line, Monk must use his wits and guile for all of them to survive.

The infamous Puzzle Killer stops by Pineapple Port in a mystery both hilarious and heart-stopping!

Book THREE of the series that keeps readers (and their spouses) up at night with snorty laughter! Wall Street Journal and USA TODAY Best-Selling author Amy Vansant provides the perfect blend of humor and thrills as amateur sleuth Charlotte Morgan tries to track down a notorious killer.

After years dormant, the infamous Puzzle Killer returns to Charity, Florida, in search of a rival murderer out to claim the all-time murder record. When two serial killers battle for the throne, Charlotte, her boyfriend Declan, and a naked cat find themselves on the chopping block!

This is the author’s personal favorite in the series (to this point!)

The Pineapple Port Mystery Series are clean mysteries with edgy twists that will keep you guessing and ready for more. Fans of Agatha Christie, Dawn McKenna and Gina LaManna won’t be able to get enough of this fabulously funny, puzzling world!

HE DIDN'T DO IT.
He really didn't.
But proving it,
will be a killer.

PUSHING BRILLIANCE: Imagine Harrison Ford's THE FUGITIVE meets Tom Clancy's HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
"The best book I've read, bar none." --Ed Wiseman
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Framed for murder and on the run, former Olympic biathlete Kyle Achilles is also in the crosshairs of assassins' guns. Why? He has no idea. He's fighting blind against two master strategists and one extraordinary invention--known as Brillyanc.

Achilles' only ally is the other prime suspect, a beautiful Russian mathematician who is either the best or worst person to ever enter his life. Katya was engaged to Achilles' brother -- before he died.

Chasing clues while dodging bullets, Achilles and Katya race around the globe, uncovering a conspiracy conceived in Moscow, born in Silicon Valley, and destined to demolish both the White House and the Kremlin. Along the way a lost soul finds purpose, a broken heart confronts forbidden love, and America gains a new hero.

Packed with heart-stopping surprises, paced by razor-sharp plotting, and populated with richly rendered characters, Pushing Brilliance will leave you breathless and longing for more.
________________________________________

Dear Reader,

If you enjoy David Baldacci, Lee Child, Tom Clancy, Nelson DeMille, Ken Follett, Vince Flynn, James Patterson, Daniel Silva, or Brad Thor, odds are you'll be smiling a few pages into my books as well.

Care to try before you buy? No problem. You can download one my thrillers for free at timtigner.com.

Need help putting the kids through college? I can appreciate that. I have a couple of my own. I'm not in a position to help you with tuition yet, but I can provide days of delightful distraction for the price of a cup of coffee, and kind reviews will get good karma sent your way.

Thanks for your kind consideration,

Tim

New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan introduces an irrepressible heroine in her pulse-pounding new thriller Notorious, which Lisa Gardner says is, "Guaranteed to keep you up late at night."

Maxine Revere has dedicated her life to investigating murders that the police have long since given up any hope of solving. A nationally renowned investigative reporter with her own TV show and a tough-as-nails reputation, Max tackles cold cases from across the country and every walk of life. But the one unsolved murder that still haunts her is a case from her own past.

When Max was a high school senior, one of her best friends was strangled and another, Kevin O'Neal, accused of the crime. To the disgrace of her wealthy family, Max stood by her friend, until she found out he lied about his alibi. Though his guilt was never proven, their relationship crumbled from the strain of too many secrets.

Now Max is home for Kevin's funeral—after years of drug abuse, he committed suicide. She's finally prepared to come to terms with the loss of his friendship, but she's not prepared for Kevin's sister to stubbornly insist that he didn't kill himself. Or for an elderly couple to accost her at the airport, begging her to look into another murder at Max's old high school. Max is more interested in the cold case at her alma mater than in digging around Kevin's troubled life, but she agrees to do both. As Max uncovers dark secrets, she finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies that hit far too close to home. And it's becoming increasingly clear that someone will do whatever it takes to make sure the truth stays buried.

A curmudgeon. An iconoclast. A loner. That's how people describe Garrison Gage, and that's when they're being charitable.

After his wife's brutal murder in New York, and Gage himself is beaten nearly to death, the crippled private investigator retreats three thousand miles to the quaint coastal town of Barnacle Bluffs, Oregon. He spends the next five years in a convalescent stupor, content to bide his time filling out crossword puzzles and trying to forget that his wife's death is his fault. But all that changes when he discovers the body of a young woman washed up on the beach, and his conscience draws him back into his old occupation – forcing him to confront the demons of his own guilt before he can hope to solve the girl's murder.

"It was a shrewd marketing move for author Jack Nolte to entitle his first mystery novel The Gray and Guilty Sea. It makes it nearly irresistible for an old John D. MacDonald fan like me . . . Recommended." -- Brandywine Books

"The Gray and Guilty Sea is quite an enjoyable novel that engages a reader on multiple levels." -- Stimulated Outlet Book Reviews

“Jack Nolte’s outstanding debut crime novel set on the Oregon coast and starring a misanthropic former detective is as much a fascinating character study as it is an original story.” – Michael J. Totten, author of The Road to Fatima Gate.

JACK NOLTE lives a stone's throw from the Oregon coast with his wife and children. He is also author of the collection of crime and suspense stories, EVERYBODY LOVES A HERO. Find out more about his work on his website: www.jacknolte.com.

A RIP-ROARING, PULSE-POUNDING FLORIDA PUZZLER...
 

“A ripping good yarn … an exciting tale.” —Publishers Weekly
“... an imaginative plot, some rousing action, a black-hearted villain, a cute kid, some gently ironic humor, and a heroine who's appealing without being perfect.” —Booklist

As intricate as a fisherman’s net, Riptide fairly writhes with sinister delights—family secrets, family feuds, lost family fortunes, betrayals, puzzles, sunken treasure… and murder, of course. With a bit of illicit romance and treachery thrown in for seasoning. This rife atmosphere swirls around New york artist Isabel Anders, who’s summoned home to tiny St. Elmo, Florida to deal with an emergency: the aunt who raised her has been brutally—and mysteriously—injured.

Isabel arrives to find the family mansion in ruins, her aunt living in a trailer, and, dangerous as a cottonmouth, the lover she left at sixteen just where he used to be. Waiting for her. Except now he’s got a grudge against her, a secret of his own, and some unsavory companions. Just when Isabel’s aunt seems to be getting better (but before she’s able to talk again) she dies just as mysteriously as she was injured. Suspecting murder, Isabel quickly ties her aunt’s death to another.

But to find the killer, she has to hack her way through a small-town jungle of intrigue and several generations of interrelated secrets, producing hours of pulse-pounding delight for the confirmed puzzle fan.

WHO WILL LIKE IT: Fans of Laura Lippman, Kate Atkinson, intelligent cozies like those by G.M. Malliett, Elizabeth Zelvin, and Gillian Roberts, British puzzlemeisters like the great Dorothy L. Sayers herself, all BBC mysteries, and of course, Michaela Thompson’s own Hurricane Season.