Police Small Town Mystery

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth—Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman—is back and may have finally met the woman of his dreams in this new mystery in M.C. Beaton's beloved, New York Times bestselling series. Hamish's new constable, Dorothy McIver, may be the most beautiful woman...

The bodies of three teenage girls are found in central Minnesota—each with her mouth fixed in a ghoulish grin, smiling at a deadly joke no one can hear. But authorities eventually close and forget the curious case, dubbed the Laughing Dead. Decades later, cold case agent Evangeline “Van” Reed is called to the scene of a crime where the victim wears that same horror-movie smile. But this time someone seems to be sending a message: Van’s police ID has turned up at the scene, making her the prime suspect.

When Ginger’s father died, his family secrets were buried with him. But when Ginger receives a mysterious envelope informing her that she is the sole heir of a vast fortune on her father’s side, she jumps at the opportunity to meet her long-lost family. As Ginger uncovers the truth of her father’s past, she’ll understand why he never spoke about his childhood and how some secrets should remain buried.

When a child disappears without a trace during a snowstorm in a small town, Mary must unravel the mystery before it's too late. As the search intensifies, Mary confronts her own dark past, which may hold the key to unlocking the truth. With time running out and the townspeople on edge, can Mary crack the case and bring the perpetrator to justice?

In this addition to a New York Times bestselling mystery series, Sergeant Hamish Macbeth—Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman—investigates the disappearance of a local woman who is more than she seems. Kate Hibbert is all too eager to lend a hand to her neighbors...

In the dark, wintry highlands of Lochdubh, Scotland, where the local Calvinist element resists the secular trimmings of Christmas, the spirit of old Saint Nick is about as welcome as a flat tire on a deserted road. Nor is crime taking a holiday, as Constable Hamish Macbeth soon finds himself protecting an unhappy girl, unlocking the secrets of a frightened old woman, and retrieving some stolen holiday goods. Now the lanky lawman must use all his Highland charm and detective skills to make things right.

For all its old-fashioned charm, Forbes Abbot is far from the close-knit community that ex-Londoners Mallory and Kate Lawson expected. In this village, everyday squabbles can quickly turn to murder. As the couple begins to settle into their new life away from the big city, it isn't long until they're thrown into the horror and mayhem of a true Midsomer Murders mystery. Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby has encountered many intriguing cases in his years on the force, but soon he will discover that the incident of the ghost in the machine is the most challenging of them all.

Kit Jernigan despairs of ever fitting in with her new tight-knit K9 unit - they've been through too much to welcome a stranger. So when a killer strikes, it's a fight to convince her fellow officers to trust her long enough to catch the woman she knows is responsible. She can't do it on her own. What she needs most is a partner: local fire spotter Wesley March.

On a winding mountain road into the town of Denton, Pennsylvania, Detective Josie Quinn finds the body of a local teenage girl, Dina Hale. The sight of plum-colored bruises gathering around the girl’s neck pierces Josie’s heart, but the discovery of a second girl’s empty purse in the dirt nearby gives her a flicker of hope that one person, at least, made a lucky escape. Dina’s parents are grief-stricken as the town rallies together in a desperate search for the second girl, who waitressed with Dina. The two best friends were on their way to a shift when they were attacked.

When Jem knocked on the door of an isolated cottage overlooking the beautiful Neptune Cove, she was hoping for help fixing a birthday cake baking disaster. She was not expecting to find the tenant dead on the tiled floor, specks of blood on the collar of his navy and red satin pajamas. The victim is Arthur Ajax, a handsome and wealthy American businessman who arrived in the Isles of Scilly as a tourist 10 months ago and never left.

Nobody loves an honest man--or that was what police sergeant Hamish Macbeth tried to tell newcomer Paul English. Paul had moved to a house in Cnothan, a sour village on Hamish's beat, where he immediately started to stir up outrage among his neighbors. Paul first attended church in Lochdubh and...

In Juneau, a young Native archeologist is sent to protect the ancient burial sites uncovered by an Alaskan gold mining company. He never returns. In Anchorage, a female torso - minus head, hands, and feet - is washed ashore near a jogging trail by the airport. It is not the first. At Alaska’s Fugitive Task Force, Arliss Cutter and deputy Lola Teariki are pulled from their duties and sent to a federal court in Juneau. Instead of tracking dangerous fugitives, Cutter and Lola will be keeping track of sequestered jurors in a high-profile trial.

On the day Stockholm police officer Hanna Ahlander’s personal and professional lives crash, she takes refuge at her sister’s lodge in the Swedish ski resort paradise of Åre. But it’s a brief comfort. The entire village is shaken by the sudden vanishing of a local teenage girl. Hanna can’t help but investigate, and while searching for the missing person, she lands a job with the local police department. There she joins forces with Detective Inspector Daniel Lindskog, who has been tasked with finding the girl. Their only lead: a scarf in the snow.

Jo Peters, a former LA County district attorney, once thought that big-city life and glamor were her future. But after a brush with death and a truckload of murder and mayhem in LA, Jo decides that home, Mirasol, CA, doesn't look so bad after all. She is content to be the new city attorney for her home town. No more grisly murder scenes, just boring administrative law. A small-town pace, reconnecting with old friends. Life is good. When the body of one of those old friends is found, Jo finds herself drawn to the investigation.

A body is found on a quiet lane in Exmoor, victim of a hit and run. He has no ID, no wallet, no phone, and - after being dragged along the road - no recognisable face. Meanwhile, fresh from his last case, DCI Craig Gillard is unexpectedly called away to Devon on family business. Gillard is soon embroiled when the car in question is traced to his aunt. As he delves deeper, a dark mystery reveals itself, haunted by family secrets, with repercussions Gillard could never have imagined. The past has never been deadlier.

A sadistic killer pushed Chicago cop Marty Hogan past her limits - and it was all caught on video. She lost her job, her sense of self, her entire world until an open detective position in small-town Texas gave her a chance at redemption. Police Chief Clay Settlemeyer knows all about mistakes and second chances - he's still earning his own, so he's willing to give Marty the opportunity to prove herself. But when her ex-partner is murdered, it looks like Chicago is coming to small-town Texas with a vengeance.

The town of Sarlat is staging a reenactment of its liberation from the British in the Hundred Years’ War when the play’s French hero, Brice Kerquelin, is stabbed and feared fatally wounded. Is it an unfortunate prop malfunction—or something more sinister? The stricken man happens to be number two in the French intelligence service, in line for the top job. Bruno is tasked with the safety of the victim’s daughter Claire, as well as her father's old Silicon Valley buddies, ostensibly in town for a reunion.

William Desjardin was dead: the victim of an interrupted home burglary, according to the police. Cassidy returns to Embarrass with Julia to support her with the funeral details, rehoming Julia's mother, and settling the Desjardin estate. For Cassidy, being back in the small, northern Minnesotan town has brought back a number of good memories—most starring Julia herself.

The police are called to stop two teens ransacking a small-town grocery store. They have no identification. And they won’t speak a word. And the small town of Kokanee Creek is suddenly plunged into a sinister mystery that only #1 bestseller James Patterson could have written. Two teens...

When the ancient waters of Lady’s Well in the rural village of Holystone begin to run red, it seems to be a nasty Hallowe’en prank and nothing more. But things take a sinister turn when the entire village suffers severe poisoning, and one old man turns up dead. Accusations abound in the small close-knit community, and ‘old’ religions spar against ‘new’ while fear runs like wildfire through the streets. With so many potential motives and countless opportunities, there’s only one man who can help solve this particular mystery.