Writing Detective Mysteries

Cyrus Shelton has spent the last twenty-three years locked up in the Huntsville State Penitentiary with only one thing on his mind - revenge on the arresting detective, Frank Windom, and his lousy defense attorney, Jonell Simone. Now paroled and having learned Windom had the nerve to die, he sets his sights on Windom's former partner, Jack West.

A grumpy author. A fatal book signing. And a witchy amateur sleuth. Magical bookshop owner, Mercy Brew, agrees to host a book signing for a romance writer with more enemies than fans. But when the event takes a murderous turn, Mercy’s dreams of a successful grand reopening crumble like an ancient tome. Now Mercy and her intrepid friends must solve the mystery faster than the killer can write a sequel. And as the plot thickens, the suspects pile up higher than a stack of paperbacks, and a murky chapter in the author’s past is revealed. Amidst swirling rumors and a search for clues, Mercy...

In the first major history of crime fiction in 50 years, The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators traces the evolution of the genre from the 18th century to the present, offering brand-new perspective on the world’s most popular form of fiction.

In this crime drama, detective Varg Veum's adventures take him into the world of privileged teenage girls who have been drawn into drugs and prostitution. The situation worsens when the local judge is found dead in a luxury hotel, clad only in women's lingerie. Called in by anxious parents to look for a missing daughter and explain the judge's death, Varg is led deep into Bergen's criminal underworld.

With her books sporting other people’s names, ghostwriter Jake O’Hara works behind the scenes. But she never expected a séance at a New York apartment to be part of her job. Jake had signed on as a ghostwriter, secretly writing for a grande dame of mystery fiction whose talent died before she did. The author’s East Side residence was impressive. But her entourage—from a Mrs. Danvers-like housekeeper to a lurking hypnotherapist—was creepy. Still, it was all in a day’s work, until a killer started going after ghostwriters, and Jake suspected she was chillingly close to the ...

Cursed by a Native American brave, the Bennet House is one of the most haunted locations in Niagara Falls. This is where Emlyn Goode and all but one member of her writers’ group hunt for ghosts on Halloween. What they find in the house, isn’t a ghost, though. It’s the body of Edward Bennet, the missing group member. A few days earlier, Edward had shown Emlyn a document he’d found in the Bennet House, and told her it would anger people if made public. When Edward is found, the document is missing. Emlyn is certain that document will identify Edward’s killer, but her search for it ...

A #1 Amazon Best Seller Mystery Writing in a Nutshell Edgar Allan Poe Award Winner John McAleer & Andrew McAleer Edgar Allan Poe Award winner, Pulitzer Prize nominee, and best-selling author John McAleer, Ph.D. (Harvard), taught crime fiction at Boston College for nearly four decades, nurturing authors like George V. Higgins (The Friends of Eddie Coyle), Chuck Hogan (The Town), Margaret McLean (Whitey on Trial), Edward Hannibal (Blood Feud), James Devlin (Elmore Leonard), James F. Murphy, Jr. (Quonset) and Ted Murphy (the Belltown mysteries). Now, in Mystery Writing in a Nutshell, he and ...

An all-new writing skills reference book from the author of Romance In a Month: Are you interested in writing a thrilling romantic suspense but not sure how to start? Do you love reading romantic suspense novels and wonder how they’re put together? Romantic suspense is one of the most popular subgenres of romance to write. However, it isn’t easy to juggle a strong and compelling romantic relationship with the intrigue and suspense of a well-crafted thriller. In this book, you’ll learn: •The expected elements of a romance. •The expected elements in a suspense. •The different ...

A demon hound haunts Crab Cove, taking its victims as they come. When a mutilated corpse is found in the marshes, Detective Simon Grave rises to the challenge. Everything points to the hound, but it is quickly apparent that the body has been stabbed repeatedly, in a way that suggests serial killer Chester Clink also may be involved. Or maybe not.

What appears to be an easy assignment investigating a plane crash becomes a battle of wits for Jim McCleland and Colin Haltwhistle. Throw in a murder and a beautiful investigator with her own agenda, and the case turns out to be anything but straightforward. As Haltwhistle tries to piece the mystery together, McCleland goes undercover where he must face a ruthless criminal and protect the woman he has fallen for from their nemesis' wrath. But danger lurks behind every blind corner for them all. With the unlikely pairing of McCleland, a jet pilot, and Haltwhistle, a military investigator, ...

Jake O’Hara and her colleagues are looking forward to a complimentary weekend in Manhattan’s swanky Plaza Hotel, the venue for the Greater New York Crime Writers’ Conference. The conference kicks off on St. Patrick’s Day, making the atmosphere a bit more festive—and chaotic—than usual. But things get way out of hand when Senator-turned-writer Charlie Fione and actress-turned-writer Holly Halligan partake of some green beer—that leaves them permanently green around the gills. Now Jake’s Irish eyes are far from smiling as she delves into a mystery and tries to rewrite a ...

Amanda Lester wouldn't be caught dead going into the family business. Her ancestor, Sherlock Holmes's colleague Inspector G. Lestrade, is a twit. Nevertheless her parents refuse to see his flaws, and she's going to a secret English school for the descendants of famous detectives whether she likes it or not. When Amanda arrives at the dreaded school, she considers running away - until she and her new friends discover blood and weird pink substances in odd places.

"Where is my son?" Asher's mother screamed as they loaded her husband's body into the ambulance. Five miles up the trail, Asher was going deeper into the wilderness. His compulsive need for routine, hike to the lake at the same time on the same trail with the same gear, is now amplified by his father's last wish, to find their friend and deliver supplies. In Lincoln, Wyoming, fourteen-year-old Caleb is stunned when the sheriff asks him to urgently bring search dog "Boo" to find Asher. When they find Asher near the lake, the adventure is just beginning.

Manhattan ghostwriter Jake O’Hara has been meaning to get her so-called love life—and her career—back on track. But lately, it hasn’t been easy. Especially now that her soon-to-be-married mother has witnessed a murder—in a confessional, no less. Shortly after Maura O’Hara arrived at the church, Father Billy Blake—controversy-plagued priest, anti-death penalty activist, and spiritual advisor to a notorious hit man—was shot dead. It’s no secret that Father Blake had a number of enemies—from a scheming drug lord to a dangerous clan on death row. Coming up with a list of ...

You just came up with a great story for a mystery/crime novel, but there's a problem: You don't know how to plant clues in your story. And after hours upon hours of Googling "how to hide clues in a detective novel", your results end up as zilch, zero, nada!

“Brushed-Off is a unique, atmospheric work of Los Angeles mystery romance fiction. A welcome addition for those who enjoy contemporary L.A. noir.” –Rick Treon, award-winning author of Deep Background Artist James Terra and his married lover Nicole find themselves in a tangled web while searching for the killer of LA's hottest artists. Homicide Detective Cisco Rivas asks James for help with LA's zany art community. The case quickly turns into a quagmire of intrigue and vicious jealousy amongst the dazzling talent and wealth of schizophrenic Los Angeles. James wants Nicole to leave her ...

Zander’s new romantic interest, Aubrey, is kidnapped right in front of him, and he never saw it coming. He needs to engage an old friend or two to help him try to attempt a rescue. Unfortunately, another problem rears its head before he has a chance to make good on his rescue plan. Zander finds out he’s a father. Before he has time to even process that fact, something else hits him right in the gut. His newborn daughter has been kidnapped. Ill-advised decisions from his previous life continue to haunt Zander. When he finally has a chance to find happiness in the mountains of Colorado ...

Detective Simon Grave's tour of a local winery turns sour when a body is discovered in the fermentation tank for his favorite wine, Duct Tape Chardonnay. To solve the murder, he and his team of fellow detectives will have to question strangers, a long-lost love, and his choice in wines.

When Nick O'Reilly is invited to Sherlock Lake by his friend Danny, he is more than apprehensive. Nick is familiar with the ghost story that surrounds that place, and he is not one to meddle with situations like that. However, after Danny pushes him into it, criticizing his confidence, Nick feels like he has no choice. The two wander down to the lake to explore the legend that surrounds it, and when they do, they get more than they bargained for. The Mystery at Sherlock Lake is a short story that will thrill you with its mysterious twists and turns and leave you wondering what will happen ...

The discovery of a dead body is nothing new for Detective Simon Grave, but when the body and the murderer are both invisible, well, that's another matter entirely, even in the futuristic town of Crab Cove. The question is whether he and his human and android team are up for the challenge, which also remains to be seen. Making his job even more difficult is the sudden retirement of Captain Henry Morgan, who taps Grave as acting chief.