Crime Town

There was the moment eight-year-old Ruth Corrigan ran away from playing in the woods with her best friend, and then the moment after, when Ceely was gone. Murdered. Now the silence of that day lives within Ruth. Lives in the judgment she sees in the faces of so many in the small town she still calls home. Ruth may be older now, tougher, a cop by trade, but her life has been unraveling ever since that tragic day in the woods. Alcohol, sex, broken marriages—nothing can lighten the truth she knows inside. Until the child-killer returns, free and unencumbered, having already paid for his crime.

Greta Pugh is dead. The small village of Bethesda, Wales, is no stranger to tragedy. Once a thriving, prosperous community, the town has been marred by an ever-deepening class divide. But now, with rich and popular Greta Pugh found murdered in the local quarry, everyone in Bethesda is rattled, and all their secrets are at risk.

When the body of a barista is found in the once-pristine Alaskan snow, Anchorage homicide detective DeHavilland Beans is gutted to recognize the young woman, Jolene. He’d bought coffee from her every morning and knew her as a bright college student working her way through school. Devastated by the murder and by the life cut short, Beans vows to find the killer. Since scavengers damaged the body, obtaining any usable evidence is impossible, even with the assistance of wildlife expert Raisa Ingalls, Beans’s ex. When the body of another woman is found, a serial killer is suspected.

A young woman is found dead at a local beach. Sergeant Bill Granger, the local policeman, is called in to investigate. He had hoped for a quiet off-season. Instead, what seems to be a straightforward case of an unfortunate death turns into a complex web of small-town secrets and desire for revenge that will soon place Bill's family in danger. With Niko Sopoaga, a young South Auckland constable working alongside him, Bill falls into the dark and dangerous world of drug distribution and a hardened motorcycle gang wreaking havoc, while they chase a clever killer.

April in Florida and Benedicta (Ben) O'Keeffe is enjoying balmy temperatures during the last few days of a six month stint with a US law firm. A week later, she returns to Glendara, Inishowen, where a charity cycle event is taking place. The town is abuzz with excitement, but it starts to rain, causing the cyclists to postpone the start of their event. The rain doesn't stop—it becomes relentless, torrential. In the middle of the night, Police Sergeant Tom Molloy is called out to Mamore Gap, where a body, dislodged from a high bank by the heavy rain, has fallen onto a passing vehicle.

Kara Johnson always knew she’d die young and violently. It didn’t matter who delivered the final blow, she would deserve it—her years spent running drugs and spreading violence would guarantee it. But death doesn’t always go as planned.

When crime-fighting attorney Albert Patterson is gunned down in a Phenix City, Alabama, alley in the spring of 1954, the entire town seems to pause for just a moment—and when it starts up again, there is something different about it. A small group of men meet and decide they have had enough, but what that means and where it will take them is something they could not have foreseen.

With its reputation in tatters, Alexi Ellis is determined to save her beloved Hopgood Hall from any more bad press. A writing course for wannabe journalists shouldn't cause too many issues and will hopefully take the heat off Hopgood Hall. But disaster strikes when one of the group is found dead in a local pub. What’s worse Alexi was the last person to see the victim alive, which makes her suspect number one. Alexi is sure she is being set up, but who would go to such deadly lengths?

As lawman, rancher, and Korean War veteran, Ty Dawson has his share of problems in the southern Oregon county he calls home. Despite how rural it is, Meriwether can't keep modernity at bay. The 1970s have changed the United States—and Meriwether won't be spared. A standoff looms when the US Fish & Wildlife Service seeks to separate longtime cattleman KC Sheridan from his water supply—ensuring the death of his livestock. If that's not enough trouble, a Portland detective is found dead in a fly-fishing resort cabin.

When builder Mark Poynter discovers a murder on his worksite all of his financial problems suddenly seem a lot closer to home: was this a warning his debts are overdue? Suspected of being the killer and worried at being the intended victim, the murder only makes Mark's money problems worse, leading him to turn to the local villain, Hamlet, who has his own unique repayment plan in mind for Mark. When two more deaths plunge him even further into debt, Mark finds himself faced with a choice - help the police and clear his name or help the villain and clear his debt.

Nash Rankin is a disgraced cop trying to escape his past—his career was destroyed when he chose to take justice into his own hands. Now he's living a quiet life in a small town caring for the local wildlife and trying to stay away from trouble. Jesse Redpath has a new job in a new town, Satellite—the stormy weather that greets her first few days on the new beat seems like a sign for what's to come. A local has died in what seems like an accident, but Jessie isn't so sure that ‘accident' wasn't planned. All evidence seems to point to Nash, but Jesse's not sure about that either.

Acacia Pines, USA. Sheriff Cohen's life is falling apart – his father accidentally burned down the retirement home, his wife has moved out, and his son is bullying other kids at school. When high-school student Lucas Connor is abducted, Cohen sees a chance to get his life back on track – to win back his wife and scoop the reward money offered for Lucas's safe return. But as the body count rises, it becomes clear that Cohen's going to have to make the kind of decision from which there's no coming back...a decision with deadly consequences.

In the darkest hour, a blood-soaked teenager flees the rural Gerandaroo football oval. Eight months later, Bess, a young teacher, returns home to Gerandaroo. A childhood game of dare with her former best friend forces Bess to form a women's footy team to play against Denby, a rival town. Bess...

July, 1997. Matilda is killed in a tragic accident on the Dorset rocks, leaving her best friend Sophie alone, wracked with guilt. Decades later, Sophie is back for the first time since that terrible summer, to sell her family's old beach hut and bury the memories forever. But on clearing out the hut, she finds evidence that Matilda's death was no accident. What really happened the night she died? As Sophie edges closer to the truth, the past starts to close in on the present.

Eric Logan had just turned 16 and was looking forward to an exciting summer. Sitting in his secret spot near Lake Tranquility in the town of Eagle, Wyoming, Eric was making plans of adventure. Until an older boy spoke to Eric. He was tall, and had dirty hair hanging to his shoulders, yellow teeth and knew Eric’s nickname, Runner. He said his name was DeSade and Eric and nine other boys were going to be members of his gang, the Under My Thumb gang. Twenty years later, Logan is a Detective with the Eagle Police Department. He is called out to an unusual homicide.

Lake Winnipesaukee in central New Hampshire is a paradise on earth. A perfect place to unwind—until a ruthless killer starts taking innocent lives. Following a horrific double homicide, the small communities surrounding the lake are wondering who the next victim will be and what the killer wants. Russian-American police officer Vanya Petrova is enraged that someone has shattered paradise on her lake community. She seems to be the central figure in this murderer's bloody rampage. Vanya suspects she's somehow acquainted with the sick man responsible for the bloodshed.

Diamond and Mya are best friends, who grew up in the one of the worst hoods in ATL. Both are determined to have it all, and soon become two of the dirty South's most notorious women. Getting money is their top priority, by robbing every hustler that crosses their path; but both women have different goals. Mya wants to be the next ghetto superstar. She resorts to sex and violence to reach her goal, as she stalks every man with swollen pockets. Nothing will stand in her way of becoming the girl who runs ATL.

My wife’s killer finally caught, I was content to leave Myerton to serve in the isolation of the same monastery where I found my call to the priesthood. The temptations of the past still occupy my mind, but behind these walls I’m safe from them. A call from the Archbishop sends me back to Saint Clare’s, to find out if a young priest has broken his vows. Confident I’ll find nothing wrong, I’m content to return. Then a young woman is murdered, and the priest stands accused. Helen is on the case, and I must work with her again to find the truth.

Beth Haldane is worried. First, her dear friend and fellow single mother Jen suddenly gets married to a new man who seems too perfect to be true, then she moves out of leafy Dulwich Village—and now seems to have disappeared without a trace. Beth knows Jen would never leave her little daughter to handle playground predicaments or her sneaky stepmother alone. Heading to Jen’s new home for answers, Beth’s knocks on the front door go unanswered. Police are convinced the lovebirds are on an extended honeymoon, but Beth suspects Jen’s new husband is up to no good.

Together in print for the first time - including two brand new stories - this collection is an intoxicating mix of suspense, history, romance, supernatural and mystery! The Long Weekend Tracy, Eve, Jet, Mel and Danielle are looking forward - if a little nervously - to their upcoming digital...