Serial Killer Mystery Fiction

She was a beloved teacher. A trusted guardian. A monster hiding in plain sight. From 1988 to 2009, Emily Cannister—kindergarten teacher, community favorite, and secret killer—kidnapped and murdered fifteen children. To the outside world, she was kind and nurturing. But behind closed doors, she was consumed by obsession, delusion, and a twisted longing to claim the children she could never have. In 2012, during her third murder trial, Emily confessed. But her admission raised more questions than it answered.

Who is NYPD Detective Damien Drake? For starters, he’s an alcoholic with PTSD; a man who doesn’t play well with others and could care less about political correctness. But he’s also the one they call in when the most heinous crimes are committed by the city’s most sadistic murderers. He’s the one they bring in when there are no clues, no evidence, and the killer shows no remorse. He's the one enlisted to keep the streets of New York City safe. Just don’t get on his bad side because he’s also the one detective in New York that you don’t want as an enemy....

He was clinically dead after the accident - but was miraculously revived. Now Hatch Harrison and his wife approach each day with a new appreciation for life. But something terrible has come back with Hatch from the other side.

Chloe and Sloane Morgan were only children when their mother was the second victim of the Bayside Strangler. Now, after spending years trying to discover his identity, the sisters have suddenly vanished. Were they getting too close to the truth? The police consider their interest in the crime to be just a coincidence and have little motivation to pursue the cold case.

My name is Jack Steen, and for those who arrive on my 'death' ward at the Asylum, I'm the last face many will see before they die. I am the night nurse at an Asylum for the Criminally Insane, and most of my patients know me as their Angel of Death. I know them as mass murderers, rapists, and serial killers - among other things. Here's what happens: they come on my floor, they give me their deathbed confession, and I help to make their death less painful. There's a catch, though: I want the real story, the one they haven't told anyone else.

A murder happens on a ship, two days out of Panama and in the middle of the Pacific. The cruise operators decide not to turn the ship around as it goes out of helicopter range and into the Pacific Ocean, but to consult Hunter Witowski and Kieron Philips. They have just started their Miami-based cruise crime investigation unit after successfully overturning a drug cartel's attempt to use a ship—at least, that is how it looked in the press. Another two guests are killed, and the decision is made: They have to fly out and drop into the ocean.

Los Angeles homicide detective Dinah Marino may have a complicated relationship with her family, but her psychiatrist husband, Joe, makes her feel safe, secure, and happy. She couldn’t want for a more loving or trusting man. But throughout their ten-year marriage, she’s been keeping a secret from him—a secret she’d take to the grave. Dr. Joe Marino loves his wife more than anything in this world, but there are things he’s learned to keep close to the chest—including a few dead bodies.

After a turbulent time, DCI Ryan's life is finally beginning to return to normal, and he's looking forward to spending an uneventful Easter bank holiday weekend with his fiancée. Then, on Good Friday morning, he is called out to a crime scene at one of the largest cemeteries in Newcastle. The body of a redheaded woman has been found buried in a shallow grave, and the killer has given her wings, like an angel. Soon another woman is found at a different cemetery, followed quickly by another.

When the body of a doctor is discovered brutally murdered in local woodland, Detective Kim Stone is shocked to discover the victim is Gordon Cordell - a man linked to a previous case she worked on involving the death of a young schoolgirl. Gordon has a chequered past, but who would want him dead? As the investigation gets underway, Gordon’s son is involved in a horrific car crash which leaves him fighting for his life. Kim's sure this was no accident.

In Police - the last novel featuring Jo Nesbø's hard-bitten, maverick Oslo detective - a killer wreaking revenge on the police had Harry Hole fighting for the safety of the people closest to him. Now, in The Thirst, the story continues as Harry is inextricably drawn back into the Oslo police force. A serial murderer has begun targeting Tinder daters - a murderer whose MO reignites Harry's hunt for a nemesis of his past.

Dexter meets Secretary in Michael J. Seidlinger's provocative, disturbing literary thriller that reinvents the serial killer genre, exploring the psychology of desire. Claire studies forensic science, Victor is the gentleman killer. Subverting expectations, Clair seduces Victor and keeps him in her apartment as her pet, her darkest secret. Beautifully written and provocative to listen to, Seidlinger delves into Claire's motivations and impetus to present a compelling psychosexual portrait of a woman obsessed with performance, power, sex, and gore.

Will Hurley was an attractive, charming, and impressive student at Dublin's elite St. John's College - and Ireland's most prolific serial killer. Having stalked his five young victims, he drowned them in the muddy waters of the Grand Canal. Sentenced to life imprisonment when he was just 19, Will is locked away in the city's Central Psychiatric Hospital.

A serial killer is burning people alive in the Lake District's prehistoric stone circles. He leaves no clues, and the police are helpless. When his name is found carved into the charred remains of the third victim, disgraced detective Washington Poe is brought back from suspension and into an investigation he wants no part of. He is reluctantly partnered with brilliant but socially awkward civilian analyst Tilly Bradshaw, and the mismatched pair uncover a trail that only he is meant to see. The elusive killer has a plan, and for some reason Poe is part of it.

Genervt davon, ihre Freundinnen mit deren Ehemännern und Kindern in die Vororte verschwinden zu sehen, findet Hannah in einem Internet-Forum für True-Crime eine aufregende neue Beschäftigung. Die Community hat es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, die Morde an vier Frauen aufzuklären, die in einer Schlucht außerhalb von Atlanta abgelegt wurden.

Ann Cleeves Classic Crime - engaging mysteries to savour, beloved characters to meet again A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy is the third mystery novel in the Inspector Ramsay series by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland and Vera Stanhope crime series. For Dorothea Cassidy Thursdays were...

Alex Cross was a rising star in the Washington, D.C., Police Department when an unknown man gunned down his wife in front of him. His desire for vengeance was placed on hold as he raised his children himself. But when a case triggers a connection to his wife's death, Alex may finally have a chance to catch the killer.

Josh Baxter, the man behind the wheel, is a virtual stranger to Charlie. They met at the campus ride board, each looking to share the long drive home to Ohio. Both have good reasons for wanting to get away. For Charlie, it’s guilt and grief over the shocking murder of her best friend, who became the third victim of the man known as the Campus Killer. For Josh, it’s to help care for his sick father - or so he says.

Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the 1970s. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him dead at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell's murderer was acquitted—thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend. Casey Cep brings this story to life, from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South.

When the home of Alex Cross' oldest friend, Ellie Cox, is turned into the worst murder scene Alex has ever seen, the destruction leads him to believe that he's chasing a horrible new breed of killer. As Alex and his girlfriend, Brianna Stone, become entangled in the deadly Nigerian underworld of Washington DC, what they discover is shocking: a stunningly organized gang of lethal teenagers headed by a powerful, diabolical man - the African warlord known as the Tiger.

The bodies are found in towns and cities around Puget Sound. The young women who are the victims had nothing in common - except the agony of their final moments. But somebody carefully chose them to stalk, capture, and torture...a depraved killer whose cunning is matched only by the depth of his bloodlust. But the dying has only just begun. And the next victim will be the most shocking of all....