IBPA Ben Franklin Silver Award Winner for Best Mystery/Thriller

IBPA Ben Franklin Silver Award Winner for Best New Voice

Calvin Russel and Richie Glass don't know each other, but they have the same job: wait outside American Federal Bank...with the engine running. The problem is they've been recruited by two different crews intent on robbing the same bank, on the same day, at the same time.

When the bank heist goes sideways, the two young men--one a smart-ass gambling addict from Beverly Hills, the other a car-thief from Inglewood with a wife and five-year-old son--must come together to figure out what the hell happened, all as they try to make the score of a lifetime. It won't be easy with FBI Agents, LAPD Homicide Detectives, pissed-off street thugs, racist bikers, and a mysterious gangster all gunning for them.

Winner Shelf Unbound Best Independently Published Book 2018
Solo Medalist Winner New Apple Awards for Excellence 2017
Winner Crime Fiction Beverly Hills Book Awards 2017
Winner Best Mystery Book Excellence Awards 2017

Detective Hiroshi Shimizu investigates white collar crime in Tokyo. When an American businessman turns up dead, his mentor Takamatsu calls him out to the site of a grisly murder. A glimpse from a security camera video suggests the killer might be a woman. Hiroshi quickly learns how close homicide and suicide can appear in a city full of high-speed trains just a step--or a push--away.

Takamatsu drags Hiroshi out to the hostess clubs and skyscraper offices of Tokyo in search of the killer. Hiroshi goes deeper and deeper into Tokyo's intricate, perilous market for buying and selling the most expensive land in the world. He teams up with ex-sumo wrestler Sakaguchi to scour Tokyo's sacred temples, corporate offices and industrial wastelands to find out why one woman was driven to murder.

After years in America and lost in neat, clean spreadsheets, Hiroshi confronts the stark realities of the biggest city in the world, where inside information can travel in a flash from the insiders at top investment firms to street-level punks and teenage hostesses, everyone scrambling for their cut of Tokyo's lucrative land deals.

Hiroshi's determined to cut through Japan's ambiguities--and dangers--to find the murdering ex-hostess before she extracts her final revenge--which just might be him.

More at: www.michaelpronko.com

About the Author
Pronko, Michael: - Michael Pronko is a Tokyo-based writer of murder, memoir and music. His writing about Tokyo life and his character-driven mysteries have won awards and five-star reviews. Kirkus Reviews selected his second novel, The Moving Blade for their Best Books of 2018. The Last Train won the Shelf Unbound Competition for Best Independently Published Book. Michael also runs the website, Jazz in Japan, which covers the vibrant jazz scene in Tokyo and Yokohama. During his 20 years in Japan, he has written about Japanese culture, art, society and politics for Newsweek Japan, The Japan Times, and Artscape Japan. He has read his essays on NHK TV and done programs for Nippon Television based on his writings.A philosophy major, Michael traveled for years, ducking in and out of graduate schools, before finishing his PhD on Charles Dickens and film. He finally settled in Tokyo as a professor of American Literature at Meiji Gakuin University. His seminars focus on contemporary novels, short stories and film adaptations. More at: http: //www.michaelpronko.com/ https: //www.facebook.com/pronkoauthor https: //twitter.com/pronkomichael

Ten years ago, the small town of Bates, South Carolina was changed forever with the appearance of a slip of paper.

Six names.
Six people set to die.
Six months later, they were gone. But the list maker was far from done with their town.

Like clockwork, new lists come out every six months. To keep their names off of them, the citizens go to extraordinary lengths and keep terrifying secrets.

Someone is controlling their town. But who? And, most importantly, why?

When Connor and Jordyn Atwood move to Bates, they see firsthand how far their new neighbors are willing to go to protect themselves. Will the Atwoods succumb to their newfound surroundings? Or will they fight to protect the town they now call their home? With everything at stake and no one to trust, the Atwoods quickly learn the list maker has one important rule: Do what you're told...or find your name on The List.

Whatever you do, don't look back.

After learning the shocking truth behind the man she fell for, Blake feels lost at sea.
She feels adrift. And is punishing herself for not realizing who Mark was or his true motive by her side.

While trying to solve the secrets of her own personal life, FBI Agent Blake Wilder and her team are forced into action by Kathryn Hedlund, a woman who is the opposite of Blake in nearly every way.
Blake is appalled by the woman but is given no choice except to help find her daughter, who has gone missing.
Blake believes the spoiled rich girl is off on her own volition. But as the team starts digging into the disappearance, they start to uncover clues that suggest Hedlund's daughter did not leave on her own. The team begins to realize that something far more sinister is occurring.

Their case takes them on a twisted ride that seems intent on giving the team whiplash. Just when they think they have a handle on things, it changes again, leaving them grasping for straws as they try to make sense of it all.

In her own personal life, Blake is coming under serious attack, when she suddenly suffers a loss that rocks her entire world. But as she copes with her grief, she gets the biggest surprise of her life...

They're coming. Run. Run as fast as you can.
DON'T STOP RUNNING.

“The Milk Wagon is destined to be a classic...Highly recommend.” —Delta Magazine

The Milk Wagon is a coming-of-age thriller about friendship, redemption, and how the ties made during high school can last a lifetime.

Matt Frazier, Jason “Hop” Hopkins, and Mark Ragone have been close friends since elementary school. On the first day of their junior year of high school, a new kid named Nate Mayes arrives, and with him, a secret.

Nate appears to be polished, flush with cash, and a potential lady-killer. However, they soon discover that something terrible is going on at home with Nate’s father, Dr. Ford Mayes. 

FBI Special Agent Kathryn Cooper believes Dr. Mayes has personally had a hand in several deaths relating to  a money laundering scandal involving compounding pharmacies, dirty physicians, and the United States Government. Her attempts to arrest him, however, are foiled by an insider working both sides. With her career—and social life—in jeopardy, Agent Cooper turns to her new chief-of-police boyfriend for help, but is he truly the cure-all she needs?

When Nate stumbles upon a piece of evidence that ties his father not only to the money laundering investigation, but also to the death of his mother some fourteen years prior, he is devastated and filled with revenge. Enlisting Matt and his friends to help, Nate concocts a plan that will force them all to make unexpected and life-altering decisions. In the end, they will discover the shocking truth and finally understand the loyal bonds of family and friendship.

The trusty Milk Wagon was there through it all.

 

 

“Filled with FBI Investigations, scandal, and mysterious deaths, The Milk Wagon is a page-turning read.” —Mississippi Magazine

“It is hard to believe this book is fiction. I enjoyed it so much and will be recommending it to anyone and everyone I can.” —★★★★★ Reader Review

“When I started reading "The Milk Wagon" I was totally unprepared to be engaged in this FBI/coming of age thriller. I could not put it down, reading almost nonstop until the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and would highly recommend it as a great entertaining read.” —NetGalley Reviewer

“If you love crime thrillers, if you loved the 80s, or if you just love a well written book, check this one out.” —NetGalley Reviewer

“The writing is exquisite; the storyline is awesome. Very relatable.” —★★★★★ Reader Review

One song for the dying... sung by the dead...

When the body of a young woman is discovered at the home she shared with her disabled daughter, DI Tom Janssen and his team must investigate the circumstances surrounding her death.

The woman was a single mother, well regarded and popular among the group she frequented, but she had a chequered past... a life she kept secret from those around her... a life that may, ultimately, have led to her death. Friends, past lovers, and confidants offer conflicting descriptions of the deceased... did anyone know her at all?

The team realise the daughter is missing and, away from her medication, the little girl's life hangs in the balance. Unless the team can solve a seemingly calculated murder, an innocent life will be lost...

Set within the mysterious beauty of coastal Norfolk, this fast-paced British detective novel is a dark murder mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end when the final shocking twist is revealed.

The Raven Song is the latest novel in the Hidden Norfolk series of thrillers from the million-copy bestselling British crime writer, JM Dalgliesh, the author of the Dark Yorkshire books. Perfect for fans of LJ Ross, JD Kirk, Angela Marsons, Simon McCleave and Damien Boyd.

Soon, I'll see you. Soon, we'll be together again...

For FBI agent Blake Wilder, the past is inescapable.
And the one lead she had, regarding the mysteries of her past, only led to dead bodies and dead ends.

When Blake is assigned a new case, they find that their victim has been stuffed into a barrel - in pieces.
Their search for the killer propels them onto a grim and twisted path filled with confusion and false leads.
And for the first time in her career, Blake fears that she may not be able to solve this gruesome case.

But as they begin to unravel the knots of this mystery, they soon realize that everything they thought they knew could not be further from the truth. The stakes are becoming increasingly high for Blake as she delves into her past.
Powerful forces are in play and those closest to her may not be who they claim to be.
Her enemies are closing in and Blake doesn't know who she can trust.

The man in the barrel's past cost him his life and Blake finds herself wondering if hers will too.
Unknown to Blake, the key to solving the case of her past and the case of the body in the barrel is finding out one truth.
The truth of the secret she kept...

She lived life online, her final post a cry for help. But the mists of Second Beach answered only with silence.

When the body of a beloved social media star washes up on the rocky shores of Second Beach, panic spreads through the surrounding coastal community. What was once a peaceful haven is now shrouded in fear, and the locals demand answers.

But what begins as a tragic mystery quickly spirals into something far more sinister. Beneath the surface of Washington's sleepy beach towns lies a hidden underworld-a secretive criminal syndicate that has operated in the shadows for years.

Are they involved? Or is something even darker lurking in the mist?

As Detective Thomas Austin uncovers secret after long-buried secret, he discovers a chilling truth that's been hiding in plain sight for decades. And the deeper Austin digs, the closer he comes to a devastating revelation that could rock the entire Pacific Northwest.

Series List (can be read in any order):
Book 1: The Bones at Point No Point
Book 2: The Shadows of Pike Place
Book 3: The Fallen of Foulweather Bluff
Book 4: The Horror at Murden Cove
Book 5: The Terror in the Emerald City
Book 6: The Drowning at Dyes Inlet
Book 7: The Nightmare at Manhattan Beach
Book 8: The Silence at Mystery Bay
Book 9: The Darkness at Deception Pass
Book 10: The Vanishing at Opal Creek
Book 11: The Secrets of Second Beach

A killer stalks his prey. The five precepts are laid down. The sixth will be his own...

DI Nathaniel Caslin has earned the freedom to run his case load as he sees fit, bypassing the hierarchical constraints with his specialist unit. Little does he know a deadly adversary is walking the streets of York. One who will push the team to their psychological limits...

Reluctantly agreeing to a joint investigation alongside a detective from the Drug Squad, Caslin is perplexed by the multiple homicides of a number of addicts. Poisoned by their own supply with no apparent motive, the killings appear gang related. The crime scene is filthy and forbidding with each victim having the index finger removed from their right hand after death. A planned mutilation? A trophy? Strategically placed among the dead is a blooming pink flower, the only beauty within a dark, macabre scene.

When a bank employee vanishes only to be found dead at the hands of a medieval stoning, Caslin's team are left with a puzzle to unpick. An index finger is missing and inside the victim's mouth, carefully placed and undamaged, are the petals of a small pink flower...

A serial killer is on a mission. Caslin must reach into the darkness in order to confront the most dangerous and determined killer of the age. One who seeks to build a monument to his efforts. One who desires to see the world perish in flames...

About the Author
Dalgliesh, J. M.: - Jason Dalgliesh was born on the south coast of England and grew up in Hampshire, UK. He has worked in the power transmission industry, the retail sector, call centres and as a night-owl in a bakery. He has a degree in history. Following on from the worldwide bestselling Dark Yorkshire crime series, he also writes the Hidden Norfolk books, introducing Detective Tom Janssen. The fifth book in the series, Hear No Evil, was shortlisted for Amazon's prestigious Kindle Storyteller Award in 2020. The two series are set in England, Yorkshire and Norfolk respectively. The medieval City of York is DI Caslin's home town and the wind swept coast of north Norfolk is home to DI Janssen and his team. The plot lines take in some of the UK's most rugged and beautiful landscapes. Penned in the style of crime thrillers with a touch of Scandinavian noir, readers who enjoy dark atmospheric mysteries will find both series a must read. Having spent time abroad, Jason has lived and worked in various parts of England as well as the Scottish Highlands. He currently lives in Norfolk with his wife and two young children.

Brandon Penny is a law abiding member of society. Not at all what his mother envisioned.

As a child, Brandon's con-artist mother raised him to be a criminal prodigy. But when he was twelve a robbery went bad, a gun went off, and Brandon's mother disappeared, never to return.

Left all alone, Brandon burned with anger. And questions.

What happened that night? Why did his mom leave him behind? And why didn't she ever come back?

Now he works a monotonous 9-5, pining for the girfriend who dumped him. All he has to his name is the beer in his hand and a punch card for the vintage video store.

But when his estranged mother returns to town for a major heist, the police ask Brandon to help track her down. He doesn't trust the cops, he can'ttrust his mother, and he's too afraid to trust the ex-girlfriend he still loves. The only one he can count on is himself.

One way or another, he'll find out what happened that night. But to do it he'll have to tear down the life he's built.

"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Takes the domestic thriller genre to a whole new level. Part mother/son crime drama, part heist novel, The Things She Stole reminded me of Ben Affleck's movie, The Town. Compelling characters, amazingly-rendered Portland setting, and a conclusion full of twists, turns, and ultimately, satisfaction. Highly recommended."

"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Full of tradecraft and suspense, emotion and action. And the ending? Fist-pumps and tears. Not to be missed!"

An art historian finds - then loses - a portrait by Johannes Vermeer in this thrilling art mystery set in Munich, Heidelberg, and Amsterdam.

When Zelda Richardson investigates a new lead about a missing portrait by Johannes Vermeer, no one expects her to actually find the painting in a retired art dealer's home in Munich, Germany. Not her parents visiting from America; her boss, private detective Vincent de Graaf; or the rightful owner of the Nazi-looted artwork.

However, Zelda's jubilation turns to horror when she arrives to pick up the portrait and finds the art dealer dead and several frames smoldering in his fireplace.

Was the Vermeer a fake and its 'discovery' a cruel joke played on a Nazi victim? The Munich police, Zelda's family, and Vincent certainly think so.

Yet the art dealer's best friend believes he was murdered and the real Vermeer stolen by an underground network of art looters, one established during World War II and still active today. The problem is, no one believes him - except Zelda.

Zelda soon finds herself in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with immoral art collectors, corrupt dealers, and an all-to-real killer who wants her to stop searching.

Can Zelda uncover the truth about the Vermeer before she is painted out of the picture permanently?

The Vermeer Deception is Book 4 in the Zelda Richardson Mystery Series. The novels in this series can be read in any order.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a revised edition of the originally published novel. (Updated August 2022)

About the Author
Alderson, Jennifer S.: - Jennifer S. Alderson was born in San Francisco, raised in Seattle, and currently lives in Amsterdam. After traveling extensively around Asia, Oceania, and Central America, she moved to Darwin, Australia, before finally settling in the Netherlands. When not writing, she can be found in a museum, biking around Amsterdam, or enjoying a coffee along the canal while planning her next research trip. Jennifer's love of travel, art, and culture inspires her award-winning Zelda Richardson Mystery series, her Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mysteries, and her standalone stories.

"YOU ARE LIVING A LIE. Everything about you is a lie..."

This is a story about an ordinary woman, a mother of two.
To most women, to most mothers, her life is relatable in every way.
Except behind closed doors her truth comes with unimaginable consequences.
Amid a night of fun and festivities, Isabella Walker found herself alone with a bold masked man at her front door.
Unable to fight off her would-be abductor, the mother of two, soon found herself a victim of an extraordinary and grim circumstance.

FBI agent Olivia Knight has investigated her fair share of bizarre cases.
When she and Brock are called to the suburbs of Hidden Hills to investigate a strange abduction. Olivia quickly realizes that there's more to this case than a mere kidnapping.

Why was Isabella Walker targeted?
Is there more to this housewife and mother than meets the eyes?
What is the truth behind the missing pieces of her past?
As more questions arise and more questions remain unanswered.
Olivia finds that to solve this case, to uncover the truth,
she'll have to go undercover and face the Grim Reaper himself.

Unfortunately, behind closed doors there are secrets that are worth taking to the grave...

Leah thought she could sleep easy now. She was wrong.

A production company is interested in making a movie about Isabel Fielding's life, but Leah knows this is a huge mistake. When the actress cast to play Leah is found murdered, she's proven right in the grisliest of ways.

It seems like a straightforward case, the deadliest ever female serial killer escapes prison a few hours before the murder. But Leah's son Tom is first on the scene, and Seb, Leah's boyfriend, isn't convinced by Tom's innocent act. Even Leah must admit she doesn't really know her son after he disappeared for months.

When Seb's brother, Josh, goes missing, tensions rise to breaking point. Seb suspects Tom is hiding his guilt, while Leah is afraid of her own demons. And all the while, they're being watched. The Fieldings are working together again, and that means no one is safe.

Three For A Girl is the final instalment in the Isabel Fielding series. Fans will not be disappointed. As the body count rises, so does the suspense. Everyone is a suspect. No one is innocent.

What line would you cross for the one you love?

When the body of a man is found dead in his remote, isolated home, DI Tom Janssen and his team struggle to understand what motive there could be to murder such an inoffensive, seemingly placid local character.

The man lived alone, was well known in the community but kept his distance from others leading a haphazard way of life. What secrets did he hide in his private life that might be worth killing for?

As the team are about to understand, even the most nondescript of people can exist in a world darker than most of us will ever see...

Set within the mysterious beauty of coastal Norfolk, this fast-paced British detective novel is a dark murder mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end when the final shocking twist is revealed.

To Die For is the ninth novel in the Hidden Norfolk series of thrillers from the million-selling British crime writer, JM Dalgliesh, the author of the Dark Yorkshire books. Perfect for fans of LJ Ross, JD Kirk, Angela Marsons, Simon McCleave and Damien Boyd.

About the Author
Dalgliesh, J. M.: - Jason Dalgliesh is a best-selling British crime novelist. His first book, Divided House, was published in 2018 and was a runaway success topping the Amazon charts in both the UK, USA and Australia. To date, he has sold in excess of a million books across his Hidden Norfolk and Dark Yorkshire series with each book ranking in the Amazon Top 20, becoming bestsellers in their own right.Rapidly establishing himself as one of Amazon's most read authors, the fifth book in the Hidden Norfolk series, Hear No Evil, was shortlisted for Amazon's prestigious Kindle Storyteller Award in 2020. His books have been translated and are available across the world selling copies in sixty-eight countries to date. Work is underway to bring both series to the silver screen by a National Film & Television Awards winning production team.Born on the south coast of England, growing up in Hampshire, Jason has lived and worked abroad as well as in various parts of the country and in the Scottish Highlands. He currently lives in Norfolk with his wife and two young children.Penned in the style of crime thrillers with a touch of Scandinavian noir, Jason's books will appeal to readers who enjoy dark atmospheric mysteries.

Running from a life she didn't choose, in a city she doesn't know, Sukanya, a young Thai girl, escapes into Tokyo. With her Bangkok street smarts, she stays ahead of traffickers willing to do anything to recover the computer she took when she fled a murder scene. After befriending Chiho, a Japanese girl living in an internet caf , Sukanya tries to rid herself of her pursuers, and her past, forever.

Meanwhile, Detective Hiroshi Shimizu leaves the safe confines of his office to investigate a triple murder at a porn studio. The studio's accounts point him in multiple directions at once. Together with ex-sumo wrestler Sakaguchi and old-school Takamatsu, Hiroshi tracks the killers through Tokyo's teen hangouts, bayside docks, and crowded squares, straight into the underbelly of the global economy.

As bodies wash up from Tokyo Bay, Hiroshi tries to find the Thai girl whose name he doesn't even know. He uncovers trafficking rings and cryptocurrency scammers whose connections extend to the highest levels of Tokyo's power elite.

TOKYO TRAFFIC is the third in the Tokyo-based Detective Hiroshi series by award-winning author Michael Pronko.

About the Author
Pronko, Michael: - Michael Pronko is a Tokyo-based author who writes in three genres-murder, memoir and music. He has written about Japanese culture, art, jazz, society, architecture and politics for Newsweek Japan, The Japan Times, Artscape Japan, as well as other publications. He has appeared on NHK and Nippon Television doing video versions of his essays. He runs his own website, Jazz in Japan (www.jazzinjapan.com). He teaches American Literature and Culture (novels, film, art and music) at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo and after discussing Kurt Vonnegut or Jackson Pollock in class is in the right frame of mind to wander Tokyo contemplating its intensity.

The electrifying sequel to One For Sorrow, by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Silent Child.

Leah Smith has a new name, a new job and a new home. The sleepy seaside town, Clifton-on-Sea, is a refreshing change from the gloomy moors of Yorkshire. She couldn't be farther away from her serial killer stalker.

Or so she thinks...

A new name isn't enough to make her forget her past. Leah must come to terms with the events that occurred at Crowmont Hospital, especially when police discover the mutilated body of a young woman. Leah and Tom struggle with the consequences of their actions on the moors, and how they may have led to murder.

While a serial killer is on the loose, Leah throws herself into solving a different puzzle. She meets George, an elderly local man who suffered a heart-breaking childhood. In 1944, when George was just ten years old, his mother perished in a fire at the family home. His sister, Abigail, went missing during the fire, presumed dead. Abigail's body was never recovered from the ashes. Twenty years later, George received a photograph of a young woman bearing a striking resemblance to his sister Abigail. Perhaps she didn't die after all.

George is not a well man and time is running out to uncover what happened to little Abigail. Leah is drawn into the mystery, keen for any distraction from her own troubles. With assistance from George's grandson, Mark, she vows to help.

But even as she immerses herself in George's tragic past, she can never escape the one name that haunts her nightmares, Isabel Fielding...

Praise for book one, One For Sorrow:

"One for Sorrow will take you down the darkest of paths...into the labyrinth of the human mind...A mind unsettled, twisted...broken... All the chills..." - Amazon customer

"Surprising, unexpected, scary, interesting, shocking. Fantastic read!" - Amazon customer

"A truly good book. I didn't guess anything that happened. I don't want to give the story away. You just have to read it. I couldn't put it down." - Amazon customer