First Mystery

A shipping container washed ashore leads Seattle television news anchor Stevie McNeal and reporter friend Melissa on the trail of a scam involving the importation of illegal aliens. A career stepping-stone for McNeal, the investigation puts her at cross-purposes with the Seattle Police Department's Lou Boldt and Sergeant John LaMoia.

An Englishwoman is found dead in a house near Rome. Her distraught husband enlists the help of his closest friend, Chris Bronson, who discovers an ancient inscription on a slab of stone above their fireplace. But who are the liars? And what is it they are lying to protect? Pursued across Europe, Bronson uncovers a trail of clues that leads him back to the shadowy beginnings of Christianity; to a chalice decorated with mysterious symbols; to a secret code hidden within a scroll. And to a deadly conspiracy which – if revealed – will rock the foundations of our modern world.

First Thrills will include never-before-published stories by New York Times best-selling authors including Lee Child, Stephen Coonts, Jeffery Deaver, Heather Graham, Joan Johnston, John Lescroart, Alex Kava and Deb Carlin, Michael Palmer (with Daniel James Palmer), Karin Slaughter, and Wendi Corsi Staub.

Zoey has only ever known a world with few women and a society capable of unimaginable evil. Now she's about to learn she may be the only hope it has for salvation. After she and her companions flee a vicious attack, barely escaping with their lives, Zoey finds herself faced with a new threat: video evidence suggesting she is the mother of an unborn baby girl - and the key to mankind's survival. Knowing that her former captors will stop at nothing to control the power that lies within her, Zoey sets out on her own for the last American city, Seattle, in search of answers.

Twelve-year-old Frankie Bishop is a model kid: quiet and bright. So everyone, especially his family, is shocked when he's arrested for drug possession - and horrified when he's sentenced to juvenile detention at Eldridge Academy. His uncle, Bruce Kantor of the Help Innocent Prisoners Project, wants to help but knows he's too close to the case.

Television investigator Lauren Grayson and her husband Rowan are shooting a new show for The Escape Channel. But the assassination of a Russian cosmonaut - just as he declares that aliens exist - and her estranged brother’s discovery of bizarre space signals, interrupt their plans. Lauren races to find the truth and to stay ahead of world governments trying to stifle her investigation. Her efforts convince her that aliens not only exist, but have drawn Earth into a cosmic confrontation.

Back on the job as a cold case detective, Sutton has the chance to delve deeper into the only case of his career he's been unable to solve. As boundaries blur and the difference between truth and lies becomes indistinguishable, Detective Sutton finds himself in a race against a ticking clock. Only one thing is certain: if Sutton doesn't stop him, the monster will keep on killing, and another innocent woman will be lost forever to his darkness. But Sutton is not about to let evil win this time.

A down-to-earth forensics expert has just discovered a crime scene that is out of this world. In criminal forensics they train you to uncover evidence, no matter how brutal or bizarre the murder. But what if one night you encounter a crime scene so terrifying that no one on earth can explain it? It begins deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, at the site of a reported shoot-out. Investigator Colin Cellars cannot find a trace of perpetrator or victim - or even confirm that anyone has been killed.

Washington, D.C., 1861: As the United States teeters on the brink of civil war, Colonel Charles P. Rook organizes security in the nation’s capital and monitors the death threats pouring into the White House. He surrounds Abraham Lincoln with bodyguards, covers rooftops with sharpshooters, and investigates rumors of conspiracy fomented by secessionists. Yet amid the chaos and confusion, a mysterious killer slips into the teeming city.

Before dawn on a misty November morning in 1536, prominent mercer Robert Packington was gunned down as he crossed Cheapside on his way to early morning mass. It was the first assassination by handgun in the history of the capital and subsequently shook the city to its core.The identity of his assassin has remained a mystery. the first of a new series investigating real unsolved Tudor crimes, D.K. Wilson brings the streets of Tudor London to spectacular life as Thomas Treviot faces a fight to bring the truth to light.

Accounts vary, but most likely in either late 1917 or early to mid-1918, the unofficial and institutionally suppressed discovery of a woman’s skeletal remains—the victim of a crime—rocked the Catholic community of Holy Rosary. The fact that the remains found were those of a Catholic nun who had gone missing from the community a decade earlier made the story even more intriguing. That her bones were found buried in a shallow grave in the basement of the same church where she had regularly attended Mass added multiple layers of sensationalism.

Mit einem milliardenschweren, geheimen Waffenprogramm will das Pentagon für klare Machtverhältnisse im Nahen Osten sorgen. Doch der Versuch geht nach hinten los: Tristan Nazir, der Empfänger der Zahlungen, treibt ein doppeltes Spiel mit den USA. Er nutzt das Geld zur Gründung einer Terrormiliz des Islamischen Staats. Ex-Delta Dewey Andreas wird nach Syrien geschickt, um Details über den Verrat ans Licht zu bringen - bis seine Tarnung auffliegt. In letzter Sekunde gelingt es ihm, Einzelheiten nach Amerika zu übermitteln.

Undercover and using moves she didn’t learn at the Detroit Police Academy, Harlee races to identify the cold case murderer who has struck again. While juggling a charming ex-fiancé, a friend with benefits, and a partner who is too darn handsome for his own good, Harlee begins socializing with the potential suspects outside of work...until the killer learns of her double identity. This mystery has a perfect blend of humor, sexiness, and suspense.

When Gabriel Wolfe, a government assassin afflicted by PTSD, travels to Africa to recover the body of a former SAS comrade, he has the backing of the British prime minister. But every favor comes at a price, and now Gabriel has to complete another hit before he can continue his search for salvation. What he discovers next shakes his faith in everything he trusts. He has marched headlong into the heart of a corrupt web of land deals, blood diamonds, and the global arms trade.

We've all had sleepless nights thinking about it. You're home alone. Someone breaks in. In defending yourself, you end up killing the intruder. Now you're the one the police want. That is the situation that criminal barrister Paul Reeve arrives home to find. His wife, Alice, stands in the bedroom, clutching a bloodied letter opener in her shaking hand. 'What have you done, Alice?' 'I didn't have a choice....' We would all believe the person we love most.

The Honorable Alice D. McKerrity is no stranger to violence. From the bench at Manhattan Supreme, she has seen the most hardened killers pass through her courtroom. But there’s something about this trial―a defendant charged with the murder of a pregnant woman―that affects her as no other case ever has. Her chaotic, stressful home life only adds to her mounting feelings of panic and fear. She’s also harboring a secret that could have far-reaching ramifications, personal and professional. And now, unbeknownst to Alice, her daughter has begun a search for her biological father.

Just because the coven excommunicated me, doesn't mean I'm a bad witch. Those ladies should learn to take a joke. In the meantime, though, it's left me in a bind. I need to get a real job, in a normal human occupation. Yuck. But when I see a sign at the community centre asking for an assistant - only witches need apply - I feel like my fortunes might be trending up. Sure, there's a murder to solve, a killer on my tail, and a pittance in my bank account, but at least it's not working checkout in a supermarket.

He’s used to catching crooks, not proving their innocence. Can this Hawaiian investigator say aloha to the real killer? Edgar Allan “Poe” Rutherford knows his personal connection to a crime boss is wrong. But when she needs his PI expertise to solve a reopened cold case, he can’t refuse the woman who feels like family. The only catch...the police are convinced she’s the murderer.

New York, September 1949. When Dennis Collins arrives at Madison Square Garden for the Friday night fights, he is on top of the world. His career as the man-about-town columnist of the New York Sentinel is on the upswing; his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers are contending for the pennant; and a lover who had jilted him years ago has unexpectedly agreed to drinks and dinner at the Stork Club. Collins is sure that his luck has turned for the better.

A deadly explosion rocks the nation’s capital... Three seemingly unconnected people—a British ex-Special Forces operative, an ex-Navy Seal, and a teenage girl—find themselves under suspicion for the attack. Soon, they’re in the middle of a conspiracy that threatens to unsettle the entire United States. If they have any hope to survive the dangerous situation they’ve found themselves in, these strangers must learn to rely on each other, all while the question remains: Did one of them cause the explosion?