Small Town Crime

Dive into the story of Larry Gene Bell, one of the first killers who used phones to terrorize people. Uncover the origins of this local monster as we peel back the layers of his past. Discover the complexities of his twisted personality that led to national attention. Step by step, follow the details of Bell's heinous, cunning acts, from victim selection to killing methods. You will see why it took innovative investigative techniques to get Bell behind bars.

Beth Haldane is worried. First, her dear friend and fellow single mother Jen suddenly gets married to a new man who seems too perfect to be true, then she moves out of leafy Dulwich Village—and now seems to have disappeared without a trace. Beth knows Jen would never leave her little daughter to handle playground predicaments or her sneaky stepmother alone. Heading to Jen’s new home for answers, Beth’s knocks on the front door go unanswered. Police are convinced the lovebirds are on an extended honeymoon, but Beth suspects Jen’s new husband is up to no good.

More than anything, Police Officer Phoebe Korneal dreams of being Police Detective Phoebe Korneal—not easy for a young woman in a Western city run by good old boys. Fortune smiles, however, when Phoebe takes the detective exam and aces it. Waiting for a promotion, she’s assigned temporary positions and lands in the Cold Case Unit, where the brass throws her a bone by assigning a fifty-year-old case. Undaunted, Phoebe uses her incredible sleuthing skills to uncover new clues, revealing a key suspect who likely killed two women.

When Daniela Cain returns to her small hometown after seven years’ absence, she finds that flooding has left the village all but deserted. She’s there to collect something she left in her childhood home, then she plans to leave. But upon entering the old house she discovers her younger sister’s body half-submerged in the water. As Daniela tries to work out what happened to Auryn, she uncovers dark secrets from her childhood as one of four sisters in the household, when the Cain’s and another local family begin to turn on each other with devastating results.

In need of an escape from her failing marriage, Nia agrees to house-sit her aunt’s cottage on the Isle of Wight. She feels sure the cosy close in a quaint harbour town will be a safe place to hide and figure out what to do next. But things are not all as they seem in the close, and the neighbours who welcome her with open arms, are keeping secrets. When Nia finds the body of one of her new friends lying on the beach, she feels sickeningly sure that the killer is dangerously near to home.

Twenty years ago, in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas, Annie Randall took her dog for a walk. The dog returned. Annie did not. When her body was found, cruelly broken and posed like a runner, there was only ever one suspect: Annie’s husband, Frank. Now he’s served his time and come home–but the locals won’t let him forget. Especially when there’s a new ‘running girl’ murder…

Public defender Julia Geary’s star is rising, and now she’s got her first murder case defending local denizen Ray Belmar in the death of a homeless man. Julia can’t shake the suspicion that the murder, and the subsequent killing of a homeless woman, is linked to the death of a state legislator who had been crusading for political reform. With the help of Duck Creek’s homeless community and her old friend, Sheriff’s Deputy Wayne Peterson, she launches her investigation—but then the anonymous threats start pouring in.

Ausgerechnet in Frankreichs schönster Straße gerät Luc Verlain in ein Dickicht aus Lügen, Neid und wohlgehüteten Geheimnissen. Bei einer schweren Sturmflut wird in einem kleinen Ort an der Atlantikküste eine Straße vom Wasser stark beschädigt. Die Rue de Paradis hätte nie bebaut werden dürfen. Nun sollen die Anwohner gegen ihren Willen umgesiedelt werden. Luc Verlain soll vermitteln - und findet sich bald in seinem kniffligsten Fall wieder. Nicht nur gibt es eine bei dem Unglück verunfallte Tote, sondern man findet auch den Bürgermeister des Ortes leblos. Ermordet.

Three girls disappear into the night. One by one they go missing, never to be seen again. No witnesses, no leads, nothing. The only thing they had in common? An uneasy sense of being watched in the days before they vanished. Noises in the night, and boot prints in the flower beds outside their bedroom windows . . . One of the lost girls was Anna Klein's best friend. With no body, the case went cold. But Anna never stopped looking for Sylvie—or whoever took her.

When the local bus company announces it will be stopping its route through their quaint Cotswold village, the people of Wendlebury Barrow are up in arms. Not least Sophie Sayers, whose driving lessons with her boyfriend Hector get off to a bumpy start. But the locals’ peaceful protests against the decision turn deadly when a body is discovered on the Number 27. No one can work out how a passenger met their demise, let alone how the driver didn’t notice. While the police wait for the post mortem results, Sophie immediately suspects foul play, and launches her own investigation.

Old secrets. Missing teenagers. In this small island town, something horrifying is afoot. A mysterious young girl seems to bring out powerful abilities in Emma's special-needs son. As she combs her small Danish island for clues about both mysteries, she realizes the killer and the strange girl are somehow connected. Before the killer strikes again, Emma must risk it all to uncover the frightening truth about what lies beneath her isolated island home.

Farbenprächtige Rosenfelder, ein geheimes Archiv der Düfte, mysteriöse Todesfälle... Es ist Mitte Mai in der Provence. Pierre Durand genießt das Zusammenleben mit Charlotte, doch als deren Jugendfreundin Anouk auftaucht, ist es mit der Idylle vorbei. Die Rosenzüchterin steht unter Mordverdacht – ihr Nachbar wurde tot in seinem »Archiv der Düfte« aufgefunden, wertvolle Dokumente fehlen. Charlotte ist von der Unschuld ihrer Freundin überzeugt. Die Beweislage ist alles andere als eindeutig, und so macht Pierre sich auf die Suche nach der Wahrheit.

Set in 1959, the year the music died, The Smoke in Our Eyes is a cinematic, clock-ticking saga set in a small Montana town. When a fatal car accident shatters ten-year-old Lucas's world, he finds himself confronting crime and vengeance, humor and heroism, all against the backdrop of growing up.

Peace was always an elusive thing for Detective Carter Boyce, even before his wife died. Since then, living has become even harder. Now, investigating what looks like a murder suicide, Carter begins piecing back together a life he didn’t even know was broken. He stumbles back into his childhood neighborhood, where Old Man Kopchek is still missing a leg, but none of his acerbic wit. The old man begins teaching him the magic of savoring the mundane and the seemingly unimportant.

All Tara wants is to forget. Home again after years traveling the world, she’s determined to put her painful past behind her. Surrounded by her big, loving, loud family, and with the distraction of her new restaurant, she feels like she’s finally beginning to heal. Then in walks Jace Travers. With one quirk of his beautiful, full lips, he shoots her carefully constructed life to smithereens. She does her best to avoid him, but that quickly proves hard to do when mysterious things begin to happen.

Zahn can't get the missing girl he found—and the one he can't find—out of his mind. Someone in this mountain valley is collecting children, and Zahn is gradually drawn into the case while still trying to break through to his daughter. Then she disappears too.

Sixty-one-year-old Shelby Truman, a romance novelist, has received a request to visit her childhood friend, Eddie, who is on Death Row. Though mentally ill, Eddie is scheduled to be executed for the disturbing, brutal murders of his wife and unborn child. As Shelby travels home to Texas for the unnerving reunion, she steps back into memories of her past, recalling her five-decade-long relationship with Eddie in order to understand what led the beautiful but troubled boy who lived across the street to become a murderer.

This gripping book trilogy weaves drama and suspense, unveiling the full spectrum of humanity—both its raw brutality and its profound beauty. Guiding us through the story are identical twins Liina and Katariina, who find themselves accused of murder. Along the way, listners will encounter additional murders, twisted human fates, and unconventional romances, all unfolding on a narrative playing field that engages with the meta-level of the book’s unique prologue.

Big-city transplant Felice Bowes is as shocked as everyone else when a controversial local official is viciously killed during the biggest festival of the season. She's even more surprised when the local police chief asks her to help with the investigation, especially when she didn't like the victim and some of the locals would like her to be the guilty party. But while gathering information and interviewing fellow residents, she's most worried about the effects of the crime on a community already on the razor's edge of solvency, and her own safety.

I ran from a monster. A monster I thought was gentle and kind. A monster I thought loved me. I was wrong. So very wrong. I took a bus out west and landed in a small town in Wyoming. Ryker, the town’s sheriff, has been helping me to settle in. But I can’t get that comfortable, even if things seem quiet around here. I’ll keep looking over my shoulder, no matter how safe Ryker thinks he can keep me. I know the monster is waiting in the shadows.