First Mystery

Adolescence is a time of "firsts." First kiss. First love. First loss. First job. And in this case, a very different type of "first": murder. This short story collection of murder mysteries adds a sinister spin to the joy and pain of firsts that have always been a major part of life, whether it be high school cliques who take the term "backstabbing" too seriously, stumbling upon a body on the way home from school, or receiving a Snapchat message that promises something deadly.

A teenage girl disappears after witnessing a gangland murder in Chicago. Nine months later and heavily pregnant, she arrives in England … only to disappear again. Special Agent Ingrid Skyberg, working out of the US embassy in London, has just two days to find the girl and get her to testify or else a brutal killer walks free. But Ingrid isn’t the only one looking for the girl, and a gang war that started on the streets of Chicago is about to explode in the peaceful English countryside.

Respected high school teacher Austin Yates is a devoted family man. But when a cruel online attack leaves his teenage daughter traumatized, Austin’s carefully controlled life begins to unravel. Family means everything to him—and he’ll do whatever it takes to protect them. Even if it means removing the threat. For Kate, Austin is the man who saved her. She’s a good wife and doting mother. But when whispers of scandal and accusations against Austin ripple through their small town, Kate faces an impossible choice.

Four years ago, Dr. Rayne Lee lost her husband and her four-year-old daughter, Sierra, to a group of hostile guerrillas in the Amazonian Valley of Peru. It had taken every bit of her constitution to rebuild her life and to join her uncle's international security team, First Force, as the team's head medic. Then a young girl called, claiming to be Sierra. The tiny, trembling voice said the guerrillas were holding her captive and there was only one way for them to be reunited - Rayne must travel to Peru and give them something she has. They had another stipulation: She must come alone.

Five years ago, Grant Ketchum let the ballerina of his dreams dance out of his life. After her American adoptive parents had been killed in an automobile accident, Silja Ramsay returned to her birthplace, Russia, to become the principal dancer for the Novikov Ballet Company. Natalia Novikov, the owner of the company, has become so desperate to keep the company afloat that she’s forced her dancers to prostitute themselves to financial contributors at exclusive after-show parties. An American takes Ramsay back to his mansion, but she manages to text Grant "HELP!" before leaving.

After a student choir’s practice session at a Helsinki villa turns deadly, Detective Maria Kallio finds herself in the middle of the action - and her first murder case. Someone in the group wanted playboy Tommi Peltonen dead, but that’s one song these suspects refuse to sing. Behind the choir’s jovial facade lies bitter passion, and the victim’s seemingly perfect life hid a host of sins that made him a target of almost everyone in the villa. As a young female - and a redhead to boot - Maria knows that solving this case will help her overcome her perceived shortcoming in the eyes of her colleagues.

A year after her husband's death, young widow and art collector Diana Porteous listlessly roams the beach near her home. Her friend and agent Saul takes action, introducing her to his stylish, anarchic sister, Sarah, to pep her up. They plan that Di should rediscover her talents as a thief, as well as art expert, to recover stolen paintings - and begin with Steven, the neighbour's son, who is amassing works of art in a strange building in London, including work stolen from his mother.

Even later presidents were denied the truth about the Roswell incident, but under the directorship of Allen Dulles, the CIA determined the terrible purpose of the aliens' invasion by deciphering a reading device recovered from the crash site. Seventy years later they are coming back to finish the job and one woman is forced into the role of humanity's spokesperson because her uncle, who cracked the alien language, taught it to her as a child.

Kann man der Person trauen, die man am meisten liebt? Paul Reeve ist auf dem Sprung zu einer großen Karriere als Anwalt, doch als er eines Tages nach Hause kommt, findet er seine Frau blutüberströmt vor. Sie hat mit einem Brieföffner in ihrem Bad einen Einbrecher getötet - aus Notwehr, wie sie behauptet. Paul sieht seine Karriere in höchster Gefahr und beschließt, zu handeln: Die Leiche muss aus dem Haus. Doch das ist nur die erste Lüge, auf die er und seine Frau Alice sich einlassen, und dann steht plötzlich die Polizei vor der Tür.

A bus-station locker in South Florida is filled with drugs and more than a million dollars in cash. Clayton and his friends need it for their futures, but the Orenato Cartel wants it back. Who will ultimately get the locker open and empty before time runs out? From the author of the award-winning crime thriller series Dirty Deeds comes a new series set in the same world!

After being framed for the explosion that shook an entire nation, Kayla Morrow, Keith Wright, and Charlie Carter, have gone from strangers to confidants, able only to trust each other. Cornered from all angles, they make their way across the country, following up the only lead that they have available to them. But as they fight for answers and survival, people close to them are being pulled into the danger, and the three new friends may not be able to stick as close as they'd like.

Ex-cop Sally Fairburn has put the world of crime behind her, but when her old boss contacts her about working her first case as a detective, she can’t resist. The high-profile Austin case will be her first opportunity to prove herself. Retired accountant Joseph Austin has been found dead and his wife, Fiona, in a coma, in their exclusive Peakhurst mansion. It’s a suspected burglary gone wrong, but something about the murder scene doesn’t add up. Why is nothing valuable missing?

When past and present collide, sparks fly. Ten years ago, I broke Jack Walker’s heart without an explanation, and we’ve been bitter enemies ever since. It hasn’t been easy considering he’s my best friend’s brother, but it’s better all around if I keep my distance from the only man I’ve ever loved. Some secrets are better off buried. When my mother dies and leaves behind my two teenage brothers, I don’t have a choice but to return home to take care of them. The last person I expect to be waiting for me is Jack. And this time he isn’t going away without answers.

In the city of Prague, freelance treasure hunter Jules has finally located the bangle stolen from his dying mother, an artifact that may unravel a centuries-old secret: the location of an ancient tomb hidden from the world by one of Christ's disciples. But when a reclusive, ruthless billionaire beats him to the artifact, Jules joins forces with an institute of unconventional archaeologists who reveal to him clues penned two thousand years ago. Clues that support the claim his mother's bangle holds properties that science cannot explain.

Products of their run-down Pennsylvania mining town, three brothers grapple with their lives in decline. Harvey drives a delivery truck; Stevie works odd jobs; and Will is a struggling bar owner whose wife, Laci, is edging toward desperation when her boss offers her more money…for a price. Then, in this tight circle where prosperity is rare - and hope, even rarer - comes a breaking point in a simple but indefensible slight....When Harvey gets shafted by his brother-in-law in a deal over a vintage Indian motorcycle, he enlists the help of Stevie and Will to set things right.

Keira North falls to her death at a party. What initially seems like it could be an accident is soon revealed to be something far more sinister as Detectives Alex King and Chloe Lane are called in to investigate the secrets and lies that link a group of four friends. The detectives soon find that all of Keira's three closest friends have secrets that someone would kill to keep. As Alex and Chloe are fighting their own demons and struggling to stay on top of the case, Keira's killer is circling the group of friends, who one by one find that their lives are in danger....

From best-selling writer Stephen Leather comes an utterly addictive all-action thriller in which a huge terrorist threat to the capital can only be stopped by one man. From the best-selling author of the Spider Shepherd and Jack Nightingale series comes First Response, the utterly addictive new thriller by Stephen Leather. London is under siege. Nine men in suicide vests primed to explode hold hostages in nine different locations around the city, and are ready to die for their cause.

Un segreto capace di far crollare una nazione. Uno scandalo che si trasforma in un incubo. Un nuovo, straordinario stand alone dal maestro incontrastato del thriller. Il presidente degli Stati Uniti, Harrison Tucker, è al centro di una tempesta mediatica. La sua relazione extraconiugale è stata svelata ed è diventata di pubblico dominio. Per non alimentare lo scandalo e non gettare al vento gli sforzi impiegati per la campagna di rielezione, Tucker ha bisogno di sua moglie e del suo appoggio. Ma Grace Tucker è stanca dei trucchi del marito.

It is the beginning of Kirk McGarvey's career as a CIA black ops officer. Fresh out of the Air Force OSI, he receives his first assignment: assassinate a Chilean general known as the Butcher of Valparaiso, a monster who has tortured and killed more than one thousand dissidents at a soccer stadium in Valparaiso. McGarvey manages to cross the border over the mountains from Argentina without being discovered, and even makes his way to the general's remote compound. But the odds are stacked against him.

A patient in the intensive care unit, for no apparent reason, begins shooting and kills a nurse and a doctor who are caring for him. Gunfire is exchanged between the patient and a security guard, and they both die. Why did this happen? Where did the patient get the gun?