Urban Thriller

The ninth instalment of Sarah Painter's incredible Crow Investigations series.

Dr. Dylan Reinhart wrote the book on criminal behavior. Literally - he's a renowned, best-selling Ivy League expert on the subject. When a copy of his book turns up at a gruesome murder scene - along with a threatening message from the killer - it looks like someone has been taking notes. Elizabeth Needham is the headstrong and brilliant NYPD Detective in charge of the case who recruits Dylan to help investigate another souvenir left at the scene - a playing card. Another murder, another card - and now Dylan suspects that the cards aren't a signature, they're a deadly hint.

When Nicole Phillips agreed to hire a housekeeper, she pictured someone a little frumpy and almost certainly female. Instead, she gets gorgeous, unmistakably male Jake Colson. The man is proving indispensable in the kitchen - and everywhere else. Except Jake might not be a mortal man at all. Who wouldn't want to be a tall, dark, powerful vampire? Jake, for one. He's barely had time to adjust to his new state before he's roped into a family favor.

This bundle includes books seven, eight, and nine in the Nine Lives Magic Mysteries: Stray Spells, Mystic Meow, and Catnip Charms. Mystic Meow: It’s the dog days of summer and Winterspell is going through town psychics faster than a werewolf sheds its fur after a full moon. Catnip Charms: Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something … cursed? Catnip Charms: Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something … cursed?

When Brighton Longfield discovers her treasured protection amulet is missing, she finds a note in its place from Langoria Skeenbauer telling her that Tuttlesmiths are not welcome in Coventry. Brighton confronts the woman in the town square with a crowd of Coventry's residents watching. Of course, Langoria Skeenbauer is one of the town's most upstanding citizens, so people assume she's innocent and Brighton is nuts. When Langoria is found dead in the cemetery across from Hangman's House, Brighton becomes a suspect.

Delaney Reed needs a vacation from her vacation town. Even on a good day, it’s a lot of work to keep the peace in a town full of gods, monsters, and magical beings. Lately all the good days have gone from bad to worse. Luckily, Delaney has a plan to steal away with her fiancé, Ryder Bailey, for a nice relaxing weekend together. Her getaway plans come to a screeching halt when Delaney discovers Crow’s garage sale is selling cursed magical items to anyone who wants one—and everyone wants one.

Changeling knight in the court of the Duke of Shadowed Hills, October “Toby” Daye has survived numerous challenges that would destroy fae and mortal alike. Now Toby must take on a nightmarish new assignment. Someone is stealing both fae and mortal children — and all signs point to Blind Michael. When the young son of Toby’s closest friends is snatched from their Northern California home and his sister falls into a coma-like state, the situation becomes way too personal.

Between revenants, old witches, and an insidious threat inside the reaper council, Izzy Sage has her hands full. Entertainment is the name of the game in the reaper world. It’s also survival of the fittest. Come along for the ride.

Deftly blending such genres as mystery, science fiction, and classic literature, Jasper Fforde’s gleefully irreverent New York Times best-selling Thursday Next novels defy categorization. In this sixth installment, the threat of all-out Genre war looms over BookWorld. But with the real Thursday Next retired in the real world, the Council of Genres has no other choice than to tap the fictional Thursday to save the day. Her mission as emissary is to prevent the brewing war—but her task is made more difficult by a hidden foe manipulating events.

Meet Jake. A bit on the elderly side (he turns 201 in March), but you’d never suspect it. Nonstop sex and exercise will do that for you - and a diet with lots of animal protein. Jake is a werewolf, and after the unfortunate and violent death of his one contemporary, he is now the last of his species. Although he is physically healthy, Jake is deeply distraught and lonely.

Phoebe Winchester’s beloved Aunt Eudora has a taste for adventure—and a knack for making magical tea. It’s even rumored that she just might be a witch. So when Eudora passes away and leaves everything to her niece—her Victorian mansion, her bookshop/tea store The Earl’s Study, and one very chubby orange cat named Bob—Phoebe gets more than she bargained for. And she knows she’s in deep when a dead man is found on the shop’s back step, apparently killed while trying to break in. Now she must put her newfound power to the test and cast a spell that could catch a killer.

This bundle includes Magic & Misfits, Magic & Misfortune, and Magic & Marriage.

There's always one more grave to dig. Lately, life has been unnaturally calm for vampires Cat Crawfield and her husband, Bones. They should have known better than to relax their guard, because a shocking revelation sends them back into action to stop an all-out war…. A rogue CIA agent is involved in horrifying secret activities that threaten to raise tensions between humans and the undead to dangerous heights. Now Cat and Bones are in a race against time to save their friends from a fate worse than death…because the more secrets they unravel, the deadlier the consequences.

Three years after narrowly escaping a one way trip to the gas chamber, the fugitive known only as Animal finds himself drawn back to the scene of the crime: Harlem. Throughout his entire time in exile, the only thing that kept Animal going was the thought that he would one day be reunited with his soul mate, Gucci - but one bullet changed everything. When his enemies tried to murder Gucci, they crossed the line, so he vowed to cross them all.

Welcome to Starry Hollow, where spells were made to be broken. Ember, Marley, and their Yorkie are transported to Starry Hollow, a paranormal town where witches rule and magic is as normal as pizza. This collection contains the first three books in the series: Magic & Murder, Magic & Mystery, and Magic & Mischief.

Laid back, ultra–California cool, the former cop turned PI begins each day with the Dawn Patrol, a close-knit group of surfers, best friends who not only ride waves together but have one another's backs out of the water. It's the life Boone loves, all he wants. To him, "There's no such thing as a bad day at the beach." So when one of their own is murdered - especially an icon like Kelly Kuhio, a local hero - and another surfer, a young punk from the Rockpile Crew, stands accused, the small world of Pacific Beach is rocked to its core.

Business is slow at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, so slow in fact that for the first time in her estimable career Precious Ramotswe has reluctantly agreed to take a holiday. The promise of a week of uninterrupted peace is short-lived, however, when she meets a young boy named Samuel, a troublemaker who is himself in some trouble. Once she learns more about Samuel's sad story, Mma Ramotswe feels compelled to step in and help him find his way out of a bad situation.

First setting: an all-male prep school in Arizona, where two sensitive freshmen form a bond based on their interest in magic tricks. Second setting: the labyrinthine house of a weird magician uncle in New England, where the two boys spend a memorable summer being trained in the art of illusion. Or is it real magic? Third setting: an alternate world where dark forces are at play - forces that first show up at the school, but intensify their power the summer.

Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal. But with a kiss that kills anything with a soul, she's anything but normal. Half demon, half gargoyle, Layla has abilities no one else possesses. Raised among the Wardens - a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting demons and keeping humanity safe - Layla tries to fit in, but that means hiding her own dark side from those she loves the most.

Falsely advertised as a paranormal investigator, Tempest Michaels has a serial killing vampire to track down and a poltergeist to catch...because he’s staked his reputation on proving none of it is real. Helped by disillusioned cop, Amanda Harper, the duo is not only pitted against a brotherhood of vampire wannabes, but also a desperately ticking clock when one of his friends is taken. He’s got all the help he could need and more, though, as his friends, his mum, and his dogs are pitching in!