African American Mystery Thriller Suspense

She's generous, kind, and compassionate - yet Delilah Grey will forever be an outcast in the small seaside town of Camden Beach, Maryland. She takes in women shattered by abuse, poverty, illness, or events beyond their control. But no matter how far she's come or how many she's helped find their way back, there is no safe place for Delilah. Acquitted of her rich husband's mysterious death decades ago, she lives in her beautiful mansion consumed by secrets - and mistakes she feels she can never atone for...until she takes in desperate mother Tracey Walters and her two young children.

After serving 10 hard years in the joint for armed robbery, JC is ready for some payback. His targets, the three childhood friends - now crimelords - who betrayed him to save themselves, are about to have everything they've worked for ripped right out of their hands.

For college graduate Sidney Temple, the Roaring '20s bring opportunities even members of his accomplished black bourgeois family couldn't have imagined. His impulsive marriage to independent artist Loretta is a happiness he never thought he'd find. And when he's tapped by J. Edgar Hoover to be the FBI's first African American agent, he sees a once-in-a-lifetime chance to secure real justice.

After she brought down the Make Money Crew, Newark's most notorious bank-robbing gang, she was able to make peace with the son she never knew. His memory is even starting to feel like a blessing rather than a curse. She and her on-again, off-again husband, Tank, are back on and stronger than ever. But just when she thought she could put away her undercover identity as Queen and just be Naeema, Tank is attacked while out on a job guarding a high-profile celebrity.

Since the night Atlanta mayor, self-made millionaire, and womanizer Jamison Jackson plummeted from the top floor of a downtown hotel, everyone seems to have profited, from vicious criminals to corrupt politicians. Everyone except his jilted first wife Kerry. Once a socialite, she's now the prime suspect in Jamison's alleged murder. But she swears she's no killer - and surprisingly, Jamison's widow Val agrees. For all they know, it was Coreen, the mother of Jamison's secret love child.

J-Rite is 100 percent blackhearted. New to the city of Grand Rapids but not new to making money, she was born a straight gangster. The pint-size exotic dancer turned street hustler is caught up in living the black American hood dream. She has no "off" button or filter when it comes to getting paid. With a team of murder-minded goons ready to do nothing but win, win, win, J-Rite makes enemies of everyone, including the man she loves, all because they dare to stand in the way of her being on top.

Dee Dee is as laid back, sassy, and cute as they come, but having two overprotective brothers like Jay and Bee, who have clout in the Memphis streets, makes finding and building a relationship seriously hazardous to a brother's health. Things move fast for Jay and Bee after hooking up with a new contact. All of the training that Jay was secretly putting Dee Dee through comes into play as Jay and Bee are locked up in the county jail for selling to an informant. The game is dominated by thugs until Dee Dee hits the scene.

Since her encounter with Ori years ago, Jessica has continued her mission to print the truth that the world needs to hear. This pursuit has led her to meet with a source, Zach Carver, a leading mind at Singularity Group. The meeting goes awry, and Jessica awakens to find that she has a gap in time and memory and that Zach is now missing. To her surprise, Ori reappears to help her. His solution involves a promising young recruit, Malik, whose research could be the key to recovering Zach. Yet the forces they are up against have proven they will go to great lengths to remove any obstacle.

Brianna and Shan couldn't be more different. From her $1,200 weave to her closet full of Gucci, Prada, and Chanel, Brianna believes that men were born to bankroll her lifestyle. Shan likes to make her own money by working for a living at a men's prison - and prefers Sean John, Baby Phat, and Fubu to Jimmy Choo. Still, despite appearances, Shan and B are sisters where it counts - or so they think....

Phox Bello is a fearless, headstrong, high-stepping bombshell of a boss who will do just about anything to secure her empire. The thought of having to collaborate or partner with anyone makes Phox itch with contempt. Hades Metellus is a man who reigns supreme. Everything he touches turns to gold or ash if he so desires. Hades controls everything from his mafia throne, and the power feeds his soul. The thought of having to share space at the top is a concept that he could never wrap his head around, but he better be prepared to get spun. What happens when the two bosses link up?

Markita “Kita” Jones is a young woman with the world at her fingertips. A high school student with beauty and brains to match, she’s well on her way to Howard University. However, on her 18th birthday, she watches her dreams die during a drive-by shooting that claims the life of her brother. Overnight, Kita transforms from a naïve schoolgirl into a savvy street hustler on a mission to find her brother’s killer. With the help of her best friends, Kenya and Alexis, Kita quickly begins making more money and more enemies than she ever could’ve imagined.

Dr. Hamilton practices medicine in the small town of Sienna, Florida, where he dedicates himself to caring for the residents of his hometown. It’s a fictionalized yet accurate depiction of a solo practitioner's life in rural America, highlighting both the positives and the negatives of such a position. The novel is based on real clinicians who practiced in small towns.

The reputation of Charles "Esquire" Everson was well-known throughout the community, and now all eyes are on his protégé, Theodore Walker. One morning, Michael Ganvis barged into the office, barefooted with a gun in one hand, and a problem in the other. He’s on the run for robbery, attempted murder, and eluding police officers. As Theodore listens, he discovers that Michael is the brother of Pastor Thaddeus Ganvis - the pastor who was arrested for first-degree-murder and freed from the hands of the enemy by Charles "Esquire" Everson.

How powerful of an effect does colorism have on twin brothers Malcolm and Luther King? They’re from Compton, California, where beating the odds is hard to do. Colorism is at the center of personal dysfunction and unbelievable self-hatred on a level you’ve not seen in a while! These people are real as can be, but express their stories in extraordinary ways.

Forced to flee Detroit, ruthless and rotten Kenya and her identical twin, London, have dodged the bullets of a vicious hired hitman and endured the pain of a brutal rape. Now, due to mistaken identity, the girls must deal with Storm's strange disappearance and his partner's heinous murder before it's too late and they're next. Once again the sisters' lives are turned upside down. This time, the consequences could land them both in jail - or dead and unclaimed in the county morgue.

Nasty and Soulja were ruthless kingpins on the streets of Baltimore. Now in prison, nothing has changed. They are still running things from behind the penitentiary walls. Even though they are still getting large amounts of money, it cannot solve all of their problems. Daily, they deal with the reality that they left loved ones behind.

Deep down, Robert Goldner knows he's a mistake. His mother told him so when he was just five years old. But he never found the courage to ask just what she meant before she was murdered under mysterious circumstances on his 11th birthday. Now, on the eve of his 17th birthday, Robert is dead set on becoming a Virginia high school state wrestling champion in order to redeem himself once and for all, reversing whatever curse his mother saw within him.

In 1972, Veronica Smith is arrested for murdering her fiancé just one week before their lavish wedding. At just 11 years old, Alexandria Smith has just witnessed the horrid crime committed by her mother. Veronica tries maintaining a level of sanity in an insane environment, and sanity comes with a price that Veronica does not want to pay. Both Veronica and her daughter face tumultuous obstacles to rise above the torment they've endured as children; one will lean on her faith as the other loses sight of her faith.

Essence best-selling authors Kiki Swinson and Noire have attracted huge audiences for their sexy, anything-goes fiction. Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless features a novella from each author. Swinson’s electric “Shamelessly Rich” showcases a spoiled bad girl facing a life-changing choice. And in Noire’s “Puttin’ Shame in the Game,” three gorgeous ladies set their sights on a wealthy cop.

Harlem, 1936: Lena Aldridge grew up in a cramped corner of London, hearing stories of the bright lights of Broadway. She always imagined that when she finally went to New York City, she’d be there with her father. But now he’s dead, and she’s newly arrived and alone, chasing a dream that has quickly dried up. When Will Goodman—the handsome musician she met on the crossing from England—offers for her to stay with his friends in Harlem, she agrees.