Writing Detective Mysteries

Charlie McGinley wanted literary fame—He got a front-row seat to murder. Charlie writes hardboiled detective novels from his New Mexico ranch. He dreams of literary respect and maybe a few good reviews. So, when world-famous author Jon Masterson invites him to join his prestigious writer’s group, Charlie jumps at the chance. Sure, Masterson’s smug, rich, and conceited, but Charlie’s willing to play nice if it means being taken seriously as a writer. Then cracks in the façade start to appear. Is Masterson mentoring new talent, or stealing their work? When writers in the group ...

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.

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 ...

A bestselling diva. A fatal book signing. And a witch who'd rather be reading. Bibliomancy witch Mercy Brew owns Bewitching Books in the quirky seaside town of Hemlock Hills, where Peculiars secretly live among humans. Between organizing her grand reopening and getting her stubborn ghostly aunt to cross over, Mercy just wants to focus on community, friendships, and her heart-fluttering attraction to Vaughn, the broody werewolf who looks unfairly good in a toolbelt. When Mercy agrees to host a book signing for a cantankerous author with more enemies than fans, she expects drama, not a crime ...

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 ...

“The ultimate truffle true crime tale”*: A thrilling journey through the hidden underworld of the world's most prized luxury ingredient. *Bianca Bosker, New York Times bestselling author of Cork Dork Beneath the gloss of star chefs and crystal-laden tables, the truffle supply chain is...

Kids can be so cruel. They'll call you names. Hurt your feelings. Push you to your death. In the garden of an abandoned house, Luke Connolly lies broken, dead. The night before, he and his friends partied inside. Nobody fought, everybody else went home safely. And yet, Luke was raped and pushed...

As Holmesians are aware, the literary works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are referred to as the Canon of the Sacred Writings. The title of this collection of short stories reflects my desire to belong to the extensive list of authors and fans that want to grow the literary and entertainment history of Sherlock Holmes. In the five short stories, listeners will note Holmes' continued mastery of forensic science and logical reasoning as the cornerstones of resolving the thorny issues presented.

'A deeply satisfying read' Sunday Times Christmas Day, and DCI Tom Reynolds receives an alarming call. A mass grave has been discovered on Oileán na Caillte, the island which housed the controversial psychiatric institution St. Christina's. The hospital has been closed for decades and onsite...

In the third book in the Search and Rescue Dog Series, a young Native American woman, unexpectedly escapes from the Wyoming Women's Minimum Security Prison just before being released, puzzling everyone. Lincoln County Deputy Nate Garner and his search and rescue dog Boo are quickly dispatched to track the running fugitive across the plains of Wyoming and into the Utah wilderness. Accompanying them is teenage Caleb who watches as Kwayah, called “The North Wind,” stays one step ahead of her pursuers.

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 ...

A brutal murder and the kidnapping of a two-year old boy disrupt the return of Milton PD Detective Steve Marks from his Florida vacation. A homeless man has been savagely murdered behind the Trips Aces Casino and Henry Burnett, the son of the owner of the Burnett Furniture empire, has been kidnapped. Clues in both cases are scarce. As more homeless men become victims of the murderer dubbed The Shadow, and there is nothing pointing to little Henry's return, the pressure on Marks and his young partner, Anders Hedberg, mounts. Milton's mayor wants fast action in both cases while the Burnett ...

From “one of today’s most interesting thriller writers” (Lee Child) comes an immersive, propulsive novel in which a detective and a crime writer conduct parallel investigations, six years apart, into a series of puzzling murders. “[Nesbo] can heighten suspense with a single word and...

"Beneath a Buried House is a wonderful book, full of twists and turns and surprises." –Crime-Spree Magazine Things aren't always what they seem. Tulsa Police Detective, Kenny Elliot's quest to uncover the truth behind the death of a transient, makes him a target—from whom or what, he isn't sure. When he brushes the dirt from the surface of an apparent John Doe overdose case, he finds a labyrinth of misdirection and deception, and a trail, which leads him to an encounter with an aberration in human nature, the likes of which he's not prepared to deal with. Drawing on his strength of ...

THE LATEST TOM REYNOLDS MYSTERY FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE PERFECT LIE 'Fiendishly clever' - Irish Sunday Independent Nobody was supposed to get out alive. On a Dublin city street, packed with afternoon shoppers, a young woman appears, naked, traumatised and bearing burn...

Most of us come into this world with an inborn need for religion, a higher power to believe in. However, when fear and misunderstanding are the driving forces behind that desire, the result is rarely a good thing. Eight years ago, Laura Bradford mysteriously disappeared off campus, causing quite a disturbance in the lives of Kenny Elliot and Gerald Reynolds, a journalism student with a fascination with Mesoamerican artifacts. When Gerald calls unexpectedly to tell Elliot he’s recently seen Laura then sets up a meeting only to be a no-show, Elliot tracks him down to get some answers. ...

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.

A wickedly plotted new thriller, in which a group of friends play a deadly game that unwraps a motive for murder, from Alex Pavesi, the author of The Eighth Detective Anatol invites five of his oldest friends to his family home in the Wiltshire countryside to celebrate his thirtieth birthday. At...

Crafting a killer cozy can be perilous. Fans of the genre expect authors to forego explicit gore and violence while at the same time creating a mind-boggling murder mystery with pulse-pounding tension and a twisty plot. But how is a writer supposed to satisfy such disparate demands? How to Craft a Killer Cozy Mystery tackles this exact problem by providing an actionable roadmap for starting (and completing!) a manuscript that will leave readers dying for more. Packed with charts and questionnaires designed to streamline the writing process, this comprehensive step-by-step guide will help ...

On an isolated Scottish island, a secretive community is forced to face the darkness of its past. None but the Dead is the thrilling eleventh book in Lin Anderson's forensic crime series featuring Rhona MacLeod. 'One of the most satisfying characters in modern crime fiction' – Daily Mail...