A debut author unearths the long-buried secrets of a small New England town in the 1850s in this richly atmospheric Gothic tale of murder, guilt, redemption, and finding love where it's least expected.
At least they'd found her. Once the site was processed and the girl's body removed, they'd be able to identify her so that her family could give her the burial she deserved. This innocent girl was far too young to be lying in a grave, crushed under the weight of someone else's coffin... When the body of a teenage girl is found hidden inside a stranger's grave in a small-town cemetery in The Lake District, an urgent call is made to Forensic Pathologist Beth Adams. One look at the beautiful girl's broken body is enough to bring Beth out of hiding for the first time since an attempt on her own life a year ago... Beth doesn't believe it's a coincidence that the victim was found the same day a threatening gift was left on the doorstep of her secluded home. Her instincts are telling her that it's a trap, that she should run for safety. But she knows she's the only one with the expertise to help her trusted friend, Detective Josh Walker, crack the most shocking case of his career. The tiny traces of material Beth finds beneath the victim's fingernails is the break in the case the team need to chase down this twisted killer. But this critical lead comes at a dangerous price, exposing Beth's whereabouts and dragging her back into the line of fire once again. With Beth's own life on the line, the investigation is already cracking under the pressure. Then another local girl goes missing... Can Beth stay alive long enough to catch the killer before he claims his next victim? An absolutely gripping new crime thriller that will grab fans of Patricia Gibney, LJ Ross and Angela Marsons from the very first page and leave them gasping for breath by the last.
There may be grave consequences for bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright as she attempts to solve two murders tied to one book in this novel in the New York Times bestselling Bibliophile Mystery series. Brooklyn’s chance to restore a rare first edition of Beauty and the Beast seems a fairy tale come true—until she realizes the book belonged to an old friend of hers. Ten years ago, Max Adams, a brawny renowned papermaker, fell in love with a stunning beauty, Emily, and gave her the copy of Beauty and the Beast as a symbol of their love. Soon afterward, he died in a car crash, and Brooklyn has always suspected his possessive ex-girlfriend and her jealous beau. Now she decides to find out who sold the book and return it to its rightful owner—Emily. She believes a rare book dealer can assist her, but when she arrives at his shop, she finds him murdered. Is it possible that the same couple who may have killed Max are now after his edition of Beauty and the Beast? With the help of her handsome boyfriend, Derek Stone, Brooklyn must unravel the murder plot—before she ends up in a plot herself....
A thrilling novella in the Night Huntress series from USA Today bestselling author, Jeaniene Frost. Vampire Cat Crawfield Russell is looking forward to a little down time with her best friend, Denise. But when witches crash the party, a fun getaway turns into a paranormal showdown. Vampire Cat Crawfield is experiencing a new role as a mother. Turns out, trying to manage a perfect domestic life for her daughter is more...challenging than Cat ever imagined. Since things have finally quieted down in the undead world, her husband, Bones, suggests that Cat recharge by spending a girls-only getaway with her best friend, Denise. Cat and Denise intend to spend the week doing nothing more than dancing, drinking, and sightseeing. Unfortunately, they stumble across a deadly summer solstice ritual performed by powerful witches who have no intention of letting their uninvited guests live to reveal what they saw. Will this girls-only getaway turn out to be the last vacation – ever! – for Cat and Denise? *Previously published in the Hex on the Beach anthology*
2017 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award: Silver for Memoir 2017 National Indie Excellence Awards: Finalist 2017 Independent Press Award: Distinguished Favorite for Memoir 2016 Beverly Hills Book Awards: Memoir Finalist 2016 Readers' Favorite:Silver Medal for Non-fiction Memoir New York Public Library Top Pick Summer 2017 When Barbara Bracht's mother disappears, she is left a confused child whose blue-collar father is intent upon erasing any memory of her mother. Forced to keep the secret of her mother's existence from her younger brother, Barbara struggles to keep from being crushed under the weight of family secrets as she comes of age and tries to educate herself, despite her father's stance against women's education. The story is not only of loss and resilience, but one showing the power of literature—from Little Orphan Annie to Prince Valiant to the incomparable Nancy Drew—to offer hope where there is little. Told with true literary sensibility, this captivating memoir asks us to consider what it is that parents owe their children, and how far a child need go to make things right for her family.
Lately, sixteen-year-old Athena Windham has been spending all her spare time in her grave. Her parents—owners of a cemetery in Upstate New York—are proud of her devoutness, but her thirteen-year-old sister, Laurel, can’t understand it. Laurel hates her own grave. It’s so boring and chilly down there. She’d rather spend her time exploring the acres and acres of state forest that surround the Windhams’ property. The Windham girls lead pretty secluded lives—their older sister died in a tragic accident the year before Laurel was born, and their parents’ protectiveness has made the family semi-infamous in their small town. As the new school year begins, the outside world comes creeping in. Athena—a professional high school loner—grapples with a newfound enemy and, even more surprising, her first best friend. And homeschooled Laurel, sheltered and shy, finds herself face-to-face with a runaway boy who’s hiding out in an abandoned grave. All the while, a ghost hangs around the Windham house and cemetery—the only grave keeper never to cross over, as far as she knows—messing with people’s graves, turning the Windhams’ lights off and on, spying on the sisters, and plotting how to keep the girls close to home and close to her . . . forever. The Grave Keepers is a unique coming-of-age story from talented debut author Elizabeth Byrne.
A LIVING DEATH Beverly thought she had found something special with Carl, until she realized that he had stolen from her. But he hadn't stolen just her money or her property...he had stolen her very life. Suddenly she was helpless and alone, able only to watch in growing despair as her flesh began to decay and each day transformed her more and more into a corpse -- a corpse without the release of death. A VICIOUS CYCLE But Beverly was not truly alone, for Carl was always nearby, watching her and waiting. He knew that soon he would need another unknowing victim, another beautiful woman he could seduce...and destroy. And when lovely young Megan happened into his web, he knew he had found his next lover. For what could possibly go wrong with his plan, a plan he had practiced to perfection so many times before?
In the fifteenth-century kingdom of Brittany, seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where she learns that the god of Death has blessed her with dangerous gifts--and a violent destiny.
UNFORTUNATELY, THEY BELIEVE IN HIM... Christopher Csejthe doesn't believe in vampires. Not until he becomes one. He doesn't believe in witches or werewolves, either. Not until they make him an offer he can't refuse.... Flight of the Living Dead A scream sliced the night air¾an animal sound as far removed from a human voice as the previous scream of tortured metal. It was a sound that went on and on as we hurried toward the RV. Mooncloud yanked the passenger door open and then ran around to the driver's side as I climbed up onto the bench seat. As she slid behind the wheel the other woman leapt from the building's rear doorway, sailing over the stairs and landing on the ground below. As she crouched on the asphalt, there was a shattering roar that canceled out the screaming. A ball of flame rolled out from the doorway like an orange party favor, licking the air just a few feet above her head. Mooncloud threw the van in gear and brought it skidding around as the blaze snapped back through the opening. Before I could reach for the door handle the woman was springing through the open window to land across my lap. "Go!" she shouted, but Mooncloud was already whipping the vehicle in a tight turn and accelerating toward the parking lot's north exit. The speed bump smacked my head against the roof of the cab and, by the time my vision cleared, we were driving more sedately down a side street, the woman with the crossbow sitting between me and the passenger door. In the rear-view mirror a pillar of flame was climbing from the roof of the old dormitory that housed the radio station. I shook my head to clear away the last of the planetarium show and gripped the dashboard. "Will somebody please tell me what's going on?" "It's very simple, Mr. Csejthe," Dr. Mooncloud said, pressing a button that locked the cab doors. "You are a dead man." At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).