A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD TO KILL FOR

Celebrated mystery author Michaela Thompson whisks readers away to many an exotic place—and time—with the kind of realism that stems from William Faulkner” (NYTimes) in this complete collection: featuring dazzling armchair gems that will delight both classic cozy mystery and international thriller fans.

There’s psychological terror in India circa 1972, a moonshine-laced hurricane-fueled whodunit set in quaint Eisenhower era Florida, an American journalist sleuth in France, a burgling divorcee in San Francisco, and murderous revelry at Carnival in Venice. The common thread? Every one of these puzzling murder mysteries revolves around an irresistible female sleuth—each as unique as her own fingerprints.

MAGIC MIRROR
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 finds herself face down on a museum floor during a robbery.

A TEMPORARY GHOST
In journalist Georgia Lee Maxwell's second adventure, she leaves her new home in Paris for Provence, where she's been offered a lucrative ghost-writing job. But her co-author, suspected murderess Vivien Howard, the widow of a wealthy New York financier, seems strangely uninterested in writing her memoir Vivian was widely believed to have murdered her husband but was never charged with the crime, and now she promises to tell all.

FAULT TREE
“Placing blame” thinks Marina Robinson, “is my life’s work. And why?” There’s a lot in her past to account for—nightmares and terrors, crimes and betrayals that happened half a world away, ten years go. Now she’s an engineer with a great job. She’s a failure analyst, an investigator who figures out what causes accidents, and she’s working on her most fascinating case--the fatal crash of a roller coaster--when suddenly the phone rings…

VENETIAN MASK
The surreal splendor of Venice glitters and mesmerizes as six so-called friends who, it turns out, barely know each other meet at Carnival to play a malignant game that quickly turns murderous.

PAPER PHOENIX
First comes divorce, then comes murder…or at least sweet thoughts of murder. Maggie Longstreet has plenty of them after slimy, ambitious Richard trades her in for a more recent model. She’s so depressed she can barely get out of bed when Larry Hawkins, a seemingly not-at-all depressed acquaintance, commits suicide out of the blue. Suddenly Maggie goes on high alert, remembering something her evil ex said about Larry—something highly suspicious.

HURRICANE SEASON
The 1950s fairly leap off the page in this classic cozy mystery set in northern Florida in the Eisenhower era, complete with Johnny Ray on the jukebox and a Womanless Wedding—this one interrupted by an explosion at a moonshine still. Lily Trulock, owner of Trulock’s Grocery Marine Supply, leads a pretty quiet life until a stranger comes to town.

RIPTIDE
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.

HEAT LIGHTNING
In all the years of their marriage, Clara Trent’s husband failed to mention his involvement in a murder—and now he’s not only dead himself, but accused of committing it.

On his return from South Africa, Charles Knox is invited to spend the weekend at the country home of Sir Neville Strickland, whose beautiful wife Rosamund was once Knox's fiancée. But in the dead of night Sir Neville is murdered. Who did it? As suspicion falls on each of the house guests in turn, Knox finds himself faced with deception and betrayal on all sides, and only the enigmatic Angela Marchmont seems to offer a solution to the mystery. This 1920s whodunit will delight all fans of traditional country house murder stories.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Greg Iles comes the first novel in his Natchez Burning trilogy—which also includes The Bone Tree and the upcoming Mississippi Blood—an epic trilogy that interweaves crimes, lies, and secrets past and present in a mesmerizing thriller featuring Southern lawyer and former prosecutor Penn Cage.

Raised in the southern splendor of Natchez, Mississippi, Penn Cage learned all he knows of duty from his father, Dr. Tom Cage. But now the beloved family doctor has been accused of murdering the African American nurse with whom he worked in the dark days of the 1960s. Once a crusading prosecutor, Penn is determined to save his father, but Tom, stubbornly invoking doctor-patient privilege, refuses even to speak in his own defense.

Penn's quest for the truth sends him deep into his father's past, where a sexually charged secret lies. More chilling, this long-buried sin is only one thread in a conspiracy of greed and murder involving the vicious Double Eagles, an offshoot of the KKK controlled by some of the most powerful men in the state. Aided by a dedicated reporter privy to Natchez's oldest secrets and by his fiancée, Caitlin Masters, Penn uncovers a trail of corruption and brutality that places his family squarely in the Double Eagles' crosshairs.

With every step costing blood and faith, Penn is forced to confront the most wrenching dilemma of his life: Does a man of honor choose his father or the truth?

An international manhunt sets the scene for an explosive thriller in the second Brit in the FBI novel featuring Special Agent Nicholas Drummond.

After working with Special Agents Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich, Nicholas Drummond has joined the FBI. Now, he and partner Mike Caine are in an eleventh-hour race to stop a madman from finding a cache of lost World War I gold—and a weapon unlike anything the world has ever seen...

“A thriller packed with nonstop action, real-life name-dropping and enough cutting-edge science to make you wonder how much of it could be true.”—Kirkus Reviews

After years of hard work, Kendra Falstaff’s dream of attending law school is on the cusp of becoming reality. But when her troubled teenaged brother Jimmy gets arrested, she has to use her savings to help him.

After learning of the hardship he’s inadvertently put on Kendra, arresting officer Max Nolan’s guilt has him offering to help with Jimmy’s legal bills. Kendra turns down the offer, but the persistent and charming Max convinces her to at least let him take her on a date. Kendra’s walls begin to crumble and she finally accepts Max’s offer of help with the caveat that she pay back every dime.

For a while, all is well for the pair. They have much more in common than Kendra first thought and her dreams come alive again. But when Kendra’s abusive ex-boyfriend Coop returns after a year away—having been chased out of town by a baseball bat wielding Jimmy—he’s got revenge on his mind.

The first five volumes of the Joey Mancuso & Father O’Brian Mystery Series are now available at a killer bargain.

This rare crime mystery series has something for everyone—a tough guy, three awesome women, and a classic Golden Age gentleman-detective clergyman. The twist? The cop and the cleric are half-brothers who operate a PI firm out of their bar.

It’s a made-to-order for lovers of traditional mysteries, with the kinds of twists and scams and puzzles that warm a mystery fan’s heart like a shot of Jameson. Think Matt Scudder meets Father Brown. Also recommended for fans of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer mystery series, and, of course, the Sherlock Holmes adventures.

A MURDER ON WALL STREET

When one of Joey and Father Dom’s best customers dies in an apparent suicide —a Wall Street guy celebrating a new client the night before-- they're just not feeling it. They know he wasn’t a guy who wanted to die; and they quickly find out he was someone a lot of people wanted dead.

A MURDER ON LONG ISLAND

Just in time for Christmas, a wealthy real estate developer named Harold Longworth is on trial for the murder of his wife in the bedroom of their Long Island mansion, and the Manhattan elite are glued to their seats. Things are looking pretty grim when his team asks Joey to investigate the case, but better when he discovers that Mrs. Longworth’s personal and professional lives were a sticky web of secrets and lies, populated by a rogues' gallery of jealous lovers and corporate conspirators.
 
THE MANHATTAN RED RIBBON KILLER
 
Joey is called in to help the Midtown South precinct solve a series of brutal murders targeting young professional women. Case #1 at first seems to be an eve of kinky sex gone wrong. But when second and third bodies turn up—this time with the sign of the cross carved into their breasts—New York’s finest think they have a serial killer on their hands.

THE CASE OF THE ANTIQUITIES DEALER

From the beginning, there’s just something funny about parents who didn’t report a missing student right away, and days later still want no police. Hold it here! This is their beloved daughter, last seen leaving for a date. Why wouldn’t they want as much firepower as they can get? Because they know too much, that’s why—and Owen Parr’s clever detective senses that. Joey’s first job’s to save the girl, but no way he’s going to stop there. The scrappy PI and ex-cop’s going to get answers if it kills him.

THE MURDER OF PAOLO MANCUSO

Joey Mancuso was just a kid when he watched a stranger walk into a Little Italy bar, shoot his mobster dad in the chest, and calmly walk back out, disappearing into the Manhattan din. The murder was never solved. And the old mob adage “an eye for an eye” went unfulfilled. But now, at death’s door, infamous mobster Tony the Hammer summons Joey and utters three mysterious words: “Wetherly Stevens, Barcelona.” Joey has no doubt he’s just been told how to find his father’s killer.

Divorce a husband, lose a career … grapple with a murder.

TV journalist Elizabeth “E.M.” Danniher will tell you she committed two sins — she didn’t stay young, and she made an enemy of a powerful news executive — her ex. She used to break national news. Now her top story as the “Helping Out!” reporter at dinky KWMT-TV in Sherman, Wyoming is getting a defective toaster repaired.

Tough, funny and determined, Elizabeth wrestles with isolation, keeping a professional edge, and an evolving self-image. Is Wyoming — the land of cattle, cowboys, tumbleweeds, and fewer than six people per square mile — her new home or a road to permanent obscurity?

Soon she’s in a battle of wills with ex-football player turned journalist Mike Paycik, who might see her as a handy rung on his career ladder or a romantic partner or both. And there’s the matter of a deputy sheriff—missing or murdered? Elizabeth finds herself investigating at the insistence of a girl who’s set on proving her father’s innocence. Not that enigmatic rancher Thomas Burrell makes investigating easy for an amateur detective.

But Elizabeth won’t fade to black without a fight, no matter how final some might want to make her SIGN OFF.

Don’t miss any of the Caught Dead in Wyoming series by USA Today bestselling author Patricia McLinn
Murder, Mysteries, Humor, a Hint of Romance

Sign Off (Book 1)
Left Hanging (Book 2)
Shoot First (Book 3)
Last Ditch (Book 4)
Look Live (Book 5)
Back Story (Book 6), coming in 2017

What readers are saying about SIGN OFF:
“This is one of those books that you want to stop everything to read while hoping it never ends.”

“Sign Off is a brisk, enthralling page-turner” – P.B. Ryan, bestselling author

"That was fun"

“Colorful characters, intriguing, intelligent mystery, plus the state of Wyoming leaping off every page.” – Emilie Richards, USA Today Bestselling Author

“Be prepared for lots of twist and turns.”

“I read it in one sitting. I hadn't planned it that way, but just couldn't stop.”

“The characters were a mix of funny, sad, and quirky and were totally believable. There was just enough humor to lighten the story, but not to disrespect the seriousness of crime.”

Cuba - a land of classic cars, beautiful beaches, salsa music, and the best cigars in the world. As diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States starts to improve, everyone wants a piece of the action. When Mike’s friend, Jack Trout, asks Kelly and Mike to join his wife and him on an exploratory trip to a Cuban island, it’s an invitation they can’t resist. Mike’s dream of fly fishing the saltwater flats on the exotic island is quickly replaced when he’s asked by the local constable to help solve the murder of a British fly fishing guide, Dudley Samms. Jack becomes a suspect and his wife, Carola, asks Kelly to help solve the crime.

Plenty of quirky characters have reasons to wish Dudley dead, but who killed him? The Englishman who is the head of one of the largest international banks in the world? The American with no visible means of support, but who has plenty of money to fish all around the world? The victim’s wife? One of the Cuban fishing guides? Or was it Jack?
 

In this thrilling chapter in Faye Kellerman’s bestselling series, Rina Lazarus makes a shocking discovery in the woods of her upstate New York community that leads her husband, police detective Peter Decker, through a series of gruesome, decades old, unsolved murders, pointing to a diabolical, serial killer who’s been hiding in plain sight.

On a bright and crisp September morning, while walking a bucolic woodland trail, Rina Decker stumbles upon human remains once buried deep beneath the forest grounds. Immediately, she calls her husband, Peter, a former detective lieutenant with LAPD, now working for the local Greenbury Police. Within hours, a vista of beauty and tranquility is transformed into a frenetic crime scene. The body has been interred for years and there is scant physical evidence at the gravesite: a youthful skeleton, a skull wound and long dark strands of hair surrounding the bony frame. As Decker and his partner, Tyler McAdams, further investigate, they realize that they’re most likely dealing with a missing student from the nearby Five Colleges of Upstate—a well-known and well-respected consortium of higher learning where Rina works.

And when more human remains are found in the same area, Decker and McAdams know this isn’t just a one-off murder case. Short-staffed and with no convenient entry into the colleges, Decker enlists Rina’s help to act as the eyes and ears of campus gossip. Winding their way through a dangerous labyrinth of steely suspects and untouchable academics, Decker, McAdams, and Rina race to protect their community from a psychopathic killer still in the area—and on the hunt for a fresh victim.

A hard-as-nails cop...
Homicide detective Alexandra Jarvis is up against a serial killer unlike any she's ever encountered. She has neither time nor patience for the arrogant new partner assigned to her in the middle of the case, but he seems hellbent on getting in her way—and under her skin—at every turn.

An undercover hunter...
A millennium ago, Aramael sentenced his own brother to eternal exile. Now the fallen angel is back and wreaking murderous havoc in the mortal realm, and it's up to Aramael to stop him—and to keep the stubborn human police officer out of his path.

A world made to pay for the sins of the angels...
With tensions flaring between them and Alex's uncanny ability to see him for who he really is, Aramael's mission and his soul are both in serious danger. Can he and Alex work together to capture the fallen one? Or will Aramael end up committing a sin more unspeakable than that of his brother?

A thrilling, dark urban fantasy that fans of Supernatural and Nalini Singh are sure to devour...scroll up and One Click now!

THE SECRET LOVES OF SENIOR SLEUTHS--AND A MOST UNTIMELY MURDER…

Skeletons clatter merrily out of closets, in the third witty murder mystery of the delightfully cozy Hubbert and Lil mystery series—not the least of which is the disclosure of 84-year-old Lil’s twenty-year secret love affair.

In this one, everybody’s favorite elderly amateur sleuth and her doting nephew—an unlikely but veritable dynamic duo—take on New York City’s fashionistas and, quite unfortunately, the mob.

At the tender age of 84, Aunt Lil has no shortage of gentlemen callers. So it’s not exactly a surprise when she interrupts her favorite nephew and sleuthing partner-in-crime T.S. (at yet another failed attempt at making Crème Brulee) to beg for help. This time she needs a hand tidying up her Flushing apartment—which was once likened to Times Square just moments after midnight on New Year’s Eve—in anticipation of a male visitor.

What is surprising is the fact that T.S. has never heard of the guy—a man named Max Rosenbloom, fabled multimillionaire owner of Max Rose Fashions. And it’s a downright shock that Max and Lil been secretly seeing each other—for over twenty years.

But when Max is an hour late, Aunt Lil falls into an uncharacteristic daze. And after she asks T.S. to “leave her alone”—a phrase thus far absent from her vocabulary, a radio bulletin breaks the news of the quarter-century: Max has been killed in a car bomb explosion in Manhattan.

Lil is overtaken with a private grief—which worries T.S., because, quite frankly, she’s never been private about much of anything—until she snaps out of it with the realization that her planned meeting with Max and his untimely death must be connected.Convinced the love of her life has been murdered in cold blood, she resolves to solve the puzzling crime—with trusty T.S. by her side.

Together, Aunt Lil and T.S. investigate the sophisticated trappings of the world of Manhattan fashion—including the lethal underbelly of the mob-controlled rag trade, white collar corporate embezzlement, and family secrets so chilling they leave even Aunt Lil speechless.

Because Max was filthy rich and in proverbial bed with the mob, there's no end to the list of suspects. But the list becomes one less when Max's own favorite nephew turns up dead. Could it be murder has become fashionable in the garment district?

A delectable treat for cozy fans, especially if you love Miss Marple, Miss Silver, Miss Seeton, Mrs. Pollifax, Jessica Fletcher, Agatha Raisin, Henrie O, and Hercule Poirot.

"A racing climax and a fully satisfying ending" – Kate Quinn
1960s Roma Nova. Retrained as an undercover agent, ex-Praetorian officer Aurelia Mitela is sent to Berlin to investigate silver smuggling, but barely escapes a near-lethal trap. Her lifelong nemesis, Caius Tellus, is determined to eliminate her. When Aurelia is closing in on him, he strikes at her most vulnerable point – her young daughter.

A former military commander, Aurelia is one of Roma Nova’s strong women, but she doubts in her heart and mind that she can overcome her implacable enemy. And what part does the mysterious and attractive Miklós play – a smuggler who knows too much? If you enjoy a good read with plenty of twists and a female protagonist driving the action, this is for you!

First in the Aurelia Mitela adventures, where Roman fiction is brought into the 20th century through an alternative history lens. INSURRECTIO, NEXUS (novella) and RETALIO follow on.

– Historical Novel Society’s indie Editor’s Choice for Autumn 2015
– B.R.A.G. Medallion
– Finalist, 2016 HNS Indie Award

"A shattering adventure." — Jacquelyn Mitchard, bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean

A mother's chance decision leads to a twist of fate that is every parent's worst nightmare

It is the wrong time to get sick. Speeding down the highway on the way to work, her two little girls sleeping in the back seat, medical resident Claire Rawlings doesn't have time for the nausea overtaking her. But as the world tilts sideways, she pulls into a gas station, runs to the bathroom, and passes out. When she wakes up minutes later, her car—and her daughters—are gone.

The police have no leads, and the weight of guilt presses down on Claire as each hour passes with no trace of her girls. All she has to hold on to are her strained marriage, a potentially unreliable witness who emerges days later, and the desperate but unquenchable belief that her daughters are out there somewhere.

As hopeful and uplifting as it is devastating, Little Lovely Things is the story of a family shattered by unthinkable tragedy, and the unexpected intersection of heartbreak and hope.

Perfect for readers of Watch Me Disappear and After Anna!

Additional Praise for Little Lovely Things:
"Little Lovely Things is an insightful and moving read that is well worth the journey." — Vivian Schilling, bestselling author of Quietus

"Combining the suspense and razor-sharp outlook of a Gillian Flynn novel, Maureen Connolly's debut sizzles. I finished Little Lovely Things in one heartbreaking, tear-batting gulp. Connolly takes risks that make the reader's heart start anew. Finding shards of hope amidst the chaos of tragedy is a testament to both the writer, and the characters she creates." — Jenny Milchman, USA Today bestselling author of Wicked River

Best Thrillers "18 Best FBI Thrillers Books" of All-Time

The biggest story of Francine Vega's career could end her life...or start World War III. Francine is a rising TV news reporter in New York City. Despite her brains, beauty and a growing following, she is stuck covering local interest stories. That is until her career literally hits the jackpot when the winner of a $450 million dollar lottery tells Francine that he is committed to using his new fortune to avenge his brother's killing at the Pentagon on 9/11. His seemingly crazy plan is backed by more than just money-he is in league with a ruthless and powerful Army Colonel gone rogue, religious extremists and co-conspirators in the highest levels of government. Francine teams with FBI Special Agent Will Allen, one of the few people who believe the threat is real, in a desperate race across three continents to stop the plot before it's too late.

Mean Woman Blues is the NINTH book in Edgar-winner Julie Smith’s Skip Langdon mystery series

THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN THE WORLD IS TRYING TO KILL HER…

That would be the Rev. Errol Jacomine, crazy as a fox that just ate a loon, and more dangerous than a cell full of serial killers. She’s Detective Skip Langdon, the New Orleans cop who’s twice smashed his criminal endeavors, yet each time he’s managed to slip away. Now he’s mad. In both senses of the word. And he has the connections to have her killed—or worse, those she loves.

After one near-miss and several nasty threats, Skip is driven by fear that she’ll lose the people dearest to her. Despite finding herself disgraced in her own home town (Jacomine knows how to frame as well as kill), she goes on the hunt for a maniac with a gift for conning people and the extreme makeover to make it work.

THREE ANGRY WOMEN, EACH ONE DISSED, SCORNED, AND HELL-BENT...

But by now Jacomine’s madness has escalated to the point that he’s finally gone too far with too many people. Before it's over, more than one person’s stalking him, and some are women feeling as mean as their quarry. If Langdon doesn't get there first, there’ll be a bloodbath. If she does, only one person will walk away—and Jacomine’s as lucky as he’s ruthless.

"Smith combines a powerful heroine, creepily believable villain, and rich New Orleans setting." -Booklist

Fans of Nevada Barr, Ace Atkins, Laura Lippman, and Karin Slaughter will love Detective Skip Langdon’s pluck and charm in this action-packed psychological thriller.

In THE PERFECT BLOCK (Book #2), rookie criminal profiler Jessie Hunt, 29, picks up the pieces of her broken life and leaves suburbia to start a new life in downtown Los Angeles. But when a wealthy socialite is murdered, Jessie, assigned the case, finds herself back in the world of picture-perfect suburbia, hunting a deranged killer amidst the false facades of normalcy and sociopathic women.

Jessie, thriving again in downtown LA, is sure she’s moved on from her suburban nightmare. Ready to put her failed marriage behind her, she lands a job with the local police department, deferring her acceptance to the FBI’s Academy.

She is assigned a straightforward murder in a wealthy neighborhood, a simple case to start her career. But little do her bosses know, there's more to the case than anyone suspected. Nothing can prepare her for her first case, one that will force her to probe the minds of the wealthy, suburban couples she’d thought she’d left behind. Behind their polished family pictures and manicured hedges, Jessie realizes, perfection is not what it seems.

A fast-paced psychological suspense thriller with unforgettable characters and heart-pounding suspense, THE PERFECT BLOCK is book #2 in a riveting new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night.

Book #3 in the Jessie Hunt series—THE PERFECT HOUSE—is now also available!

★★★★★ "Fun, fast, fresh!" - Word Junkie
★★★★★ "This stand-alone is easy to read and hard to put down." -BookZilla

Imagine your favorite teachers from high school are dying, mysteriously murdered one by one soon after the arrival of the new English instructor...

Mackenzie August is starting a new life. After a successful but destructive career as a high-profile California homicide detective, and then a less successful and even more destructive stint working for a church, he has moved to Virginia to start over as an instructor. The only thing he's bringing with him is Kix, his infant baby boy. He plans for peaceful living with his son, but trouble soon finds him as his new co-workers begin showing up dead outside of his classroom...

HELLO, IT’S YOUR PAST CALLING…

“Placing blame” thinks Marina Robinson, “is my life’s work. And why?” There’s a lot in her past to account for—nightmares and terrors, crimes and betrayals that happened half a world away, ten years go. Now she’s an engineer with a great job. She’s a failure analyst, an investigator who figures out what causes accidents, and she’s working on her most fascinating case--the fatal crash of a roller coaster--when suddenly the phone rings. And her world tilts…

The elusive, unidentified caller can be only one person—Catherine, her beloved younger sister who supposedly died in a fire ten years ago. Once again—for the moment abandoning her case--Marina is inexorably drawn back to India, the country that seduced her so long ago in so many ways, where something unspeakable happened to a child, and where she herself participated in misdeeds so shocking she can’t forgive herself. She starts by tracking Catherine’s lost lover, Nagarajan, the irresistibly charismatic guru under whose spell Catherine fell those many years ago, a man so dangerous, so full of hubris he took his name from Indian snake gods, and who at times seemed more serpent than human. But who is also reportedly dead—a suicide in a jail cell.

Thus begins an odyssey of fear and danger--far from dead, Nagarajan seems to be everywhere, and so do his disciples (at least those who haven't gone mad from guilt). Nowhere, it seems, is Marina safe, nor is anyone who knows anything about the young victim of Nagarajan’s atrocities. Wherever she turns, the path seems strewn with fresh bodies. Just when the jig seems up, Marina calls on her skills as a failure analyst and Thompson pulls off a surprise ending that will leave you gasping.

Fault Tree is that rare novel that pulls us into the exotic experience of a stranger in a strange land, much like Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's Heat and Dust or Gregory David Roberts' Shantaram.

Who will like it: fans of intricate mysteries with an adventurous female protagonist, as well as readers who loved Heat and Dust, Shantaram, John Irving’s A Son of the Circus, Paul Scott’s The Raj Quartet, M.M. Kaye’s The Far Pavilions, even H.R.F. Keating’s Inspector Ghote mystery series and E.M. Forster’s Passage to India Plus all Indian movies--and the Masterpiece Theater series Indian Summers!

PRAISE FOR FAULT TREE:

“[Michaela Thompson] presents us with what is perhaps the off-beat thriller of the year, part mystery, part mysticism, difficult to categorize but easy to enjoy.” -SAN DIEGO UNION

“[Thompson] cleverly weaves threads of past and present into a cogent tale that speeds the reader through mystic India and home again in an adventure that both thrills and logically unveils an elusive mystery.” -LIBRARY JOURNAL

“Full of danger and breathless action . . . Very skillfully plotted. There are well-laid clues to reward the reader who is not swept away. Another cornerstone of [Thompson's] writing is carefully researched and vividly drawn settings. Her Indian cities and countrysides are as convincing as the Florida coast in Hurricane Season.” -SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

“In this first installment of Sutter’s new series, heroine Jade Monroe has just completed FBI training and is assigned to help track down a serial killer in the Houston area. As bodies accumulate, the agents learn that each victim’s death involved a cement block, and their job is to figure out why. The smart, risk-taking heroine that readers came to admire in Sutter’s previous Jade Monroe novels is back and in rare form, and the stakes have never been higher, especially when Jade makes a rash decision that threatens to end her FBI career when it’s barely begun. The action never slows down in this book, a wild romp of a thriller that Sutter fans will find deeply satisfying.” Angela M., Editor, Red Adept Editing


Murder happens in Houston, but when the most recent murders take on disturbing similarities, local law enforcement officers fear a serial killer is roaming their streets.

Former sheriff’s department sergeant Jade Monroe has just graduated from the FBI’s serial crimes unit in homicide and is called to Houston with her partner, J.T. Harper, to take on her first assignment—apprehending the person responsible for these gruesome crimes.

With victims piling up and the clock ticking, Jade and J.T. need to intensify their search because there’s no sign the killer is slowing down.

After a late-night epiphany while she’s alone, Jade suddenly comes face to face with the killer, and now Jade is missing. The clock continues to tick—but this time it’s for her.

There is an ancient evil in the Back Country, dormant for centuries but now hungry and lurking. When it sets its sights on an unsuspecting mother one routine morning along an isolated stretch of highway, a quiet farming family is suddenly thrust into a world of unspeakable terror, and a young girl must learn to be a hero.