Rural Town Mystery

It's the opening weekend of deer season in Gunthrum, Nebraska, in 1985, and Alma Costagan's intellectually disabled farmhand, Hal Bullard, has gone hunting with some of the locals, leaving her in a huff. That same weekend, a teenage girl goes missing, and Hal returns with a flimsy story about the blood in his truck and a dent near the headlight. When the situation escalates from that of a missing girl to something more sinister, Alma and her husband are forced to confront what Hal might be capable of, as rumors fly and townspeople see Hal's violent past in a new light.

The name’s Jett Turner and my early retirement to a lake on the Texas–Mexico border was supposed to be fun and easy going. It didn’t involve me writing up the twisted exploits of the head of the Acuña Cartel, reporting such to the DEA, or watching pandas blow up, people being fed to tigers, or learning about the bodily functions of the tortured.

No final do século XIX, o sertanejo Tonho Pólvora compra a fazenda Alvorada, no interior de Minas Gerais. Com trabalho duro e falando a língua da terra, ele faz o lugar prosperar e se torna uma das lideranças da região. Na mesma época, em São Paulo, o jovem contador José Antônio dá um golpe na empresa onde trabalha e se lança, em fuga, para o interior do país, atrás de um lugar seguro para se estabelecer.

Im tiefsten Sauerland einen Bauernhof voll verrückter Tiere hüten? Davon ist Stadtpflanze Sabin nicht sonderlich begeistert, denn im wahren Leben sucht sie Schwerverbrecher und keine verschollenen Esel. Aber was tut man nicht alles, damit die beste Freundin beruhigt in die Flitterwochen fliegen kann. Dass Sabin gleichzeitig vor Ort ihrem neuen – und sehr heißen! - Kollegen dabei hilft, in einer Diebstahlserie zu ermitteln, braucht ja niemand zu erfahren.

Angela Richman, Chouteau County death investigator, finds herself deep in the Missouri woods on a perfect spring day. But there is nothing idyllic about her grim walk - a body has been discovered in a muddy creek, and Detective Jace Budewitz wants Angela on the scene.

A headless stranger is found in the woods of Wild Thyme, a small town in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania. All signs point to a man-killing bear, and Officer Henry Farrell would just as soon leave this hunt to the Game Commission. But doubts arise when he discovers the victim was a retired investigator. What drew the investigator to sleepy Wild Thyme? Before Henry can find answers, his own nephew disappears into the hills. Then an old flame dies under suspicious circumstances, leaving Henry as the prime suspect.

"Ageless" Hollywood diva Jessica Gray is finishing the last leg of her one-woman show in St. Louis, Missouri, and the nearby town of Chouteau Forest is dazzled. During the show, she humiliates three homeless women onstage, fires her entourage - not for the first time - and makes a bitter enemy of the town's powerful patriarch. After she collapses at an after-show party and is rushed to the hospital, she ignores the advice of her doctors and discharges herself in order to return to LA.

The town's psychic cat, Irene Peggledrip, is being visited by a band of malevolent spirits who all claim to be murderers. The stage is set for Hettie and Tilly to solve an old murder mystery, where all the cats involved appear to be dead. Will our feline sleuths finally lay the ghosts to rest? Can Molly Bloom’s new cafe survive the seance? And will the moving claw give up its secrets before the gravy congeals? Join Hettie and Tilly for another spirited adventure.

The Hollowbeck Midwinter Festival is the event of the season—complete with flying pigs, snow monster fights, and a free bar that no one should trust after the third round. The centerpiece? A lavish masked ball featuring Alaric's famously enchanting (and possibly cursed) masks. Morgan Winters isn't one for fancy dresses or mysterious strangers, but as Hollowbeck's unofficial town witch, she's expected to show up, mask up, and smile. At least the canapés are good—and Alaric's assistant Finn isn't bad either.

“The Felons’ Ball is full of secrets—ones that refuse to reveal themselves and ones that refuse to stay buried. It's also full of wit and empathy and characters as real as your own family members. This novel is assured, propulsive, and thrilling, and I tore through it.”—Rebecca Makkai...

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...

Tucker Snow is as tough as they come, hardened by decades working as an undercover narcotics agent for the Texas Department of Public Safety. Through special dispensation from the governor, he and his brother Harley cut a wide swath through the criminal element of Northeast Texas. But tragedy comes calling after taking a dream job as a special ranger with the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, when Tucker's wife and toddler are killed in a horrific traffic accident caused by a drug-addled felon.

The Grimes sisters aren’t normal—even by witches’ standards. For weeks, Fiona has been having chilling visions of death, and Eleanor sees restless spirits nearly everywhere she goes. It doesn’t help that Mountain Shadow is a strange place to begin with, where rumors of curses fly as fast as saltwater taffy on a warm summer day. When a string of gruesome murders rocks the small town, Fiona and the rest of her coven begin to worry that a fellow witch may be the killer. Even worse? A witch hunter has just moved in next door, and he suspects the coven.

Jonathan and Lily McCoy are an elderly couple surviving off the land of Northeastern Tennessee. When a stray coonhound steals Jonathan’s hunting spoils, he sets out to tame the dog he names Rawhide. Rawhide is friendly and loyal, but his battered body suggests mistreatment and pain. And when troublemaker Ed Carter comes to claim Rawhide as his property, the McCoys are willing to fight him in court to protect their canine companion against renewed threats of violence, in this riveting mystery novel filled with American history.

It's the spring of 1913, and love is in bloom for Alice Tucker. Alice's new beau, Walter Kelley, is handsome and wealthy. Everyone in Boynton, Oklahoma, likes him, except Alice's mother, Alafair. She sees that Walter has a weakness for the ladies - and they for him. Moreover, Walter's late wife, Louise, was murdered. and the murderer has not been caught. Walter had an alibi, so the sheriff has cleared him of the crime, but Alafair is not so sure that he wasn't involved in some way.

Schon zwölf Jahre hat Jimmy Veeder keinen Fuß mehr ins südkalifornische Imperial Valley gesetzt. Aber sein Vater Jack hat Krebs und nicht mehr lange zu leben. Deshalb kehrt Jimmy in seine alte Heimat zurück. Eigentlich will er mit Jack in der verbleibenden Zeit Spaß haben und in Erinnerungen schwelgen, aber der alte Mann hat andere Pläne. Jimmy soll über die Grenze nach Mexiko fahren und dort eine Prostituierte namens Yolanda aufspüren.

The second novel in the Roth trilogy is the story of David Byfield, a widowed parish priest with a dark past and a darker future. Set in 1970 in a commuter village near London, the novel explores the consequences of Byfield's second marriage.

When Lori Shepherd returns from her trip to America, she is shocked to hear that Prunella "Pruneface" Hooper has been killed. This is the first murder in the village of Finch in more than a century, and everyone is in an uproar. Before the town implodes in the wake of this scandal, Lori sets out to solve the murder. Unfortunately, nearly everyone in Finch had a reason to want Mrs. Hooper dead.

When Casey Ford threatens to sell his property to a strip mining company, the townsfolk fear that Indigo will be lost forever. Protecting the town is important - so important that someone is willing to kill Casey to keep their home from being ruined. Now, in addition to running the town's cultural crusade, China Bayles must find Casey's murderer.

Popular author Susan Wittig Albert and her China Bayles Herbal Mysteries have been hailed for their intelligent plots and quirky characters. China is a member of the Pecan Springs, Texas Picklefest planning committee. When the Pickle Queen disappears just days before the festival, China and her husband P.I. Mike McQuaid relish searching for the clues in this dilly of a case. This exciting whodunit is packed with plenty of pickle jokes, folklore, and homespun recipes.