Small Town Crime

When Georgina Drake trades London for the tranquil Norfolk countryside, she has simple plans: master pilates, rent out her converted barn to holidaymakers, and slowly heal from a terrible loss. But when she discovers the body of her latest guest—arrogant Cambridge professor Roland Garnett—everything changes. With the police eyeing Georgina as a suspect and the poisoned curry that killed Garnett somehow linked to her friend’s farm shop, she has no choice but to investigate for herself.

Life in a small town creates understandings...and suspicions. When Mike Carraday has a near-death experience, he calls on Jonas Kirk to help him sort through the evidence. Mike gets answers, and Kirk gets insight.

Just an average, perhaps boring, man in an average, perhaps boring, town. But when things in this small town get turned upside down, he must figure out who is friend and who is foe. The past has come back to haunt him, and it's either learn to survive - or die. Revenge does not discriminate.

Whether in Truman Capote’s detailed murder of the Clutter family or Ted Bundy’s small-town charm, criminals have always roamed rural America and towns worldwide. Featuring murder stories, criminal case studies, and more, The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns contains all-new accounts from writers of true crime, crime journalism, and crime fiction. And these entries are not based on a true story - they are true stories. Edited by acclaimed author and anthologist Mitzi Szereto, the stories in this volume span the globe.

Former FBI agent Izar "Izzy" Llewellyn never wanted to return to Darkness, California. But when she's offered the position of sheriff in her hometown—the same role her father held before his death—she sees it as a chance to rebuild her life after her husband's betrayal and death. The last thing she needs is the town's handsome doctor, Cole Barrow, challenging her every move. Between his helicopter rescues and small-town charm, he's already won over most of the county.

When pregnant Alice Warren and her husband Paul settled into their dream home in the woods, all was blissful. But as Alice attempts to adjust to her new life in the countryside, a string of strange happenings occur, from a dead deer by the door to strange sounds in the night. Alice believes that there’s more to these occurrences than they appear, but Paul believes her paranoia is simply an overreaction. Until she vanishes, leaving behind a cryptic letter.

Wesley Crocker is accused of the murder of young Maria Ibarra, who was found near the "camping place" of the drifter. Crocker's account of the previous night leads Undersheriff Bill Gastner to more troubling questions.

A police transcriber-turned-novelist returns to Black Harbor to help solve the case of her ex-husband’s murder in the next riveting Black Harbor, featuring the return of characters from Hannah Morrissey's breakout debut, Hello, Transcriber. Black Harbor is a tinderbox. Temperatures and violent...

Not much happens in Deerfield, Connecticut. The sleepy little town nestled at the foot of Taconic Range near two pristine lakes is the stuff of Hallmark movies. Picturesque town square, friendly neighbors, the changing seasons… but Deerfield’s small-town charm will lose its allure after a girl goes missing. Family secrets will be exposed, old wounds will be reopened, and lives will be turned upside down as past and present collide.

Mike and his wife, Barbara, moved to Lincoln, Illinois, in 1972. The town of 17,000 was charming, friendly, and safe. Then the campus was hit with a series of burglaries and a student disappeared. Finally, the murders began. This is Mike Hartnett’s personal story, memories that have taken him more than 40 years to write. This is not a true crime exposé or a whodunnit mystery. This is simply a story about one man on the periphery of a series of events that devastate a community for a time. It is a story about the guilt that lingers and the questions that remain.

Sixteen years ago, the beloved mayor of Glenville vanished without a trace, leaving behind his wife and two young children. He became the talk of the town, and over time the theories behind his disappearance turned into a sort of folklore. Many believed that he was gone for good. But no one expected that his arrival in the present would send a ripple, disturbing the peace throughout the small community.

March 12, 1985, Columbia, Mississippi, Police Station Dispatch Office, 8:58 pm. "This is James Jackson at Red Carpet Motors. We've been robbed. My wife is hurt bad. I need an ambulance." Thus began, a year-long investigation and prosecution into Mary Nell Jackson's killer....

A budding new romance. A dead body. Who can you trust? Filled with twists, tension and undeniable chemistry, Death at Daffodil Inn is a must-read Cinnamon Falls mystery. Perfect for fans of Gilmore Girls, Pretty Little Liars and the Dream Harbor series. Spring is blooming in Cinnamon Falls and...

When their son Arthur mysteriously vanishes in the idyllic village of Kenwood, Emily and Derek are plunged into a heart-pounding race against time to uncover the truth behind his disappearance. As the facade of their once perfect community crumbles, the couple must navigate a treacherous web of deceit and betrayal, testing the very meaning of family and trust. Discover the chilling secret that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about this seemingly peaceful village.

Behind every act of domestic terrorism there is someone's child whose life took a radical turn for reasons that often remain mysterious. Camilla Hall is a case in point: a pastor's daughter from small-town Minnesota who eventually joined the ranks of radicals in the notorious Symbionese Liberation Army before dying in a shootout with Los Angeles Police in May 1974. How could a "good girl" become one of the most wanted domestic terrorists in the United States? Rachael Hanel tells her story here, revealing both the deep humanity and the extraordinary circumstances of Camilla Hall's life.

On the outside, Mary Jane Fonder seemed like a kindly 66-year-old congregant of the Lutheran church in Springfield Township, PA. But inside, she longed for the church's handsome Pastor Gregory Shreaves, a former golf pro who sparked her most sinful thoughts. When Mary Jane let her feelings be known, the Pastor gently pushed her away. But her obsession only grew stronger when she became convinced that he was romantically involved with a younger church member, a woman named Rhonda Smith. Rhonda was doing volunteer work in the church office one day when she was shot to death.

When the police refuse to investigate the disappearance of Mallory Carver’s niece, Julie, her family turns to private investigator Tucker Randall and thus set off a dangerous chain of events. Julie disappeared while hiking in the beautiful yet treacherous Cherokee National Forest, and Randall, a former FBI agent with a haunted past, can’t understand why the police won’t get involved. But as he delves deeper into the forest’s secrets, he realizes that someone is willing to do whatever it takes to keep the truth buried, and he’s determined to solve the case and bring the missing girl home.

Combining the excess of The Bling Ring with the intimacy of Blow and the charm of Catch Me If You Can, an outrageous, entertaining and true story of an aspiring young actress’ ill-fated friendship and unwitting alliance with a drug smuggling “heiress.” Aspiring actress Meili Cady left...

It's 1997. Scarclaw Fell. The body of teenager Tom Jeffries is found at an outward bound centre. Verdict? Misadventure. But not everyone is convinced. And the truth of what happened in the beautiful but eerie fell is locked in the memories of the tight-knit group of friends who took that fateful trip and the flimsy testimony of those living nearby.

Meet Whit Mosely in this "intricately woven, fast-moving mystery" as he plays a twisted game of death from the New York Times bestselling author, Jeff Abbot (Publishers Weekly). A death rocks the Gulf Coast town of Port Leo, Texas. Beach-bum-turned-judge Whit Mosley is summoned to a yacht where...