Showing titles in Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

A former police officer turned private investigator, Nick Nowak is haunted by his abrupt departure from the department, as well as, the traumatic end of his relationship with librarian Daniel Laverty. In these three stories set in Chicago during the early eighties, Nick locates a missing young man for a mysterious client, solves a case of arson at a popular nightspot, and goes undercover to prove a dramatic suicide was actually murder.

Everyone knows Arno Heywood. He's been a Minneapolis TV personality for years. So when he jumps to his death from a downtown high-rise, it's a shocker--especially since he dies wearing women's clothes, a suicide in drag.

Maddie Wells’s life spirals out of control after the murder of her wife Char, a transgender woman of color. Hunger for revenge drives Maddie to take a job at a wax museum near the murderer's hometown, where she studies revenge and plots how to strike back. Befriending the murderer’s wife is the first stage in Maddie’s plan to make him pay. The Language of Bodies probes the seduction of vengeance using vivid, sensual imagery to explore how love transcends the particulars of body parts and how revenge blurs the line between victim and perpetrator, hero and villain.

Los Angeles, 1986. A group of right-wing Christians has put an initiative on the November ballot to allow health officials to force people with HIV into quarantine camps - and it looks like it’s going to pass. Rios, now living in LA, agrees to be counsel for a group of young activists who call themselves QUEER. QUEER claims to be committed to peaceful civil disobedience. But when one of its members is implicated in the bombing of an evangelical church that kills its pastor, Rios finds himself with a client suddenly facing the death penalty.

Innocent Phoebe has only known a life of privilege. Street-smart Paula has had to make her own way in the world. When the two girls meet as teenagers, they form a deep sisterly bond, recognising in one other a yearning for love and for lives that are different from the ones into which they were born. But when they each suffer a personal trauma, they are torn apart and set out on very different paths.

Jesus College, Oxford, 1881. An undergraduate is found dead at his lodgings and the medical examination reveals some shocking findings. When the young man’s guardian blames the college for his death and threatens a scandal, Basil Rice, a Jesus College fellow with a secret to hide, is forced to act and finds himself drawn into Sidney Parker’s sad life.

This is the first in a gay mystery series, the Kyle Callahan Mysteries. Who killed Teddy the handyman - if anyone killed him at all? Kyle and his life partner Danny Durban live in New York City, where murder never seems to be more than a subway stop away. In this first story, they head to Pride Lodge, their favorite getaway from the City, over what they expect to be a festive Halloween weekend. What they find instead is a web of murder, deceit, and revenge served cold as a knife blade

With a new building to restore and his relationship with Steve growing more serious, the last thing Elliott needs is someone else's problem, but when lottery millionaire Bruno Caesar moves into his building he can't just ignore the man's pleas for help. Then Bruno's life comes to an abrupt end when he falls from his balcony. There's only one problem-he was terrified of heights…and never went onto the balcony.

Nurse Cherry Aimless's first vacation from her hectic career in a big-city hospital takes her to visit her spinster Aunt Gertrude in thrilling San Francisco. Wistfully trading her starched white cap and dress for a bright yellow poplin frock with a flared skirt, young Cherry takes to the highway, never imagining the gay adventures that await her. Imagine her surprise to learn that Aunt Gertrude has been kidnapped! Armed only with the contents of her purse, and with the help of new chums, Cherry must save her aunt.

Welcome back to Dallin, a charming little town that you’ll find nestled among hoodoos and red rock canyons. At 41, Dakota Dawson has left her old life behind to start anew in Dallin, not expecting to fall for Nikki, a straight woman with boyfriends, as she rolls into town. Immediately complicated by misperceptions, their budding relationship has an uphill climb when her ex-wife comes to Dallin, and Nikki's life is threatened.

In Close Enough to Touch, author Cade Brogan weaves a thrilling tale of murder, suspense, and unexpected romance. Joanna Grey is a deadly killer, intelligent and beautiful. Rylee Hayes is a respected homicide detective who feels ready to give up on the idea of love. When Rylee's new murder investigation crosses paths with Kenzie Bigham, a single mother who struggled with her own sexuality, they discover a second chance at love. But as they explore their feelings, Joanna sets her sights on Kenzie, her next target. Can Rylee stop the killer before it's too late?

Rhett is into Mike. He’s also into Emma. If that didn’t complicate his life enough, he soon spots a dark and mysterious boy that his teammates nickname The Prince of Darkness. Rhett embarks on a relationship with all three, while trying to decide which he likes best. He’s doing well on the new swim team and life would be good if not for the serial killer preying on teen boys near Verona, Indiana. As more murders occur, Rhett begins to suspect not one, but both of the boys he is sort-of dating. Has Rhett been making out with a serial killer or has his imagination run wild?

The first new Henry Rios novel in 20 years from six-time Lambda Literary award winner Michael Nava is a brilliantly plotted mystery that weaves together the gripping story of two gay men against the backdrop of 1980s San Francisco as the tsunami of AIDS bears down upon the city.

In the next riveting, insightful Jane Lawless mystery from award-winning Ellen Hart, Jane searches for the truth behind the death of Kira Adler's mother, which has haunted Kira for many years. When Guthrie Hewitt calls on restaurateur and private investigator Jane Lawless, he doesn't know where else he can turn. Guthrie has fallen for a girl - Kira Adler. In fact, he was planning to propose to her on Christmas Eve. But his trip home with Kira over Thanksgiving made him uneasy.

High school English teacher Skyler Foxe swears he's done being an amateur sleuth. Instead, he'd rather concentrate on his career as a teacher and on his hot boyfriend, head football coach Keith Fletcher, who is busy with football practice and an interesting new player that puts Keith in the spotlight for a change. But Skyler encounters a few homegrown surprises of his own, not the least of which is the unwelcome appearance of one of Keith's old flames.

A simple blackmail case goes south when Chanse finds the murdered body of his muscle-boy client in what appears to be a hate crime. But neither Chanse nor the police are convinced it was a hate crime, despite the frenzy being whipped up in the city by a charismatic-but-attention-seeking gay rights activist. The trail leads to a call boy ring, blackmail of wealthy uptown closet cases, and it's not long before Chanse's investigation has put not only his life at risk, but that of everyone he cares about!

When it comes to love, Kevin Foster can't seem to win. Some consider him a hero, but dousing an arsonist's attempt to burn Bronco's to the ground puts Kevin on the vengeful criminal's radar. Afterward, the arsonist fixates on Kevin, determined to burn away every part of Kevin's life.

The war is over, but Berlin is a desolate sea of rubble. There is a shortage of everything: Food, clothing, tobacco. The local population is scrabbling to get by. Kasper Meier is one of these Germans, and his solution is to trade on the black market to feed himself and his elderly father. He can find anything that people need, for the right price. Even other people. When a young woman, Eva, arrives at Kasper's door seeking the whereabouts of a British pilot, he feels a reluctant sympathy for her but won't interfere in military affairs.

The first of the dead is wealthy Belle Dumont, who vanished from her home in the Minnesota woods only hours before she was to reveal startling news to her three grown children. The kids and Belle's lover deny any knowledge of this mysterious bombshell, but amateur sleuth Jane Lawless, Belle's old friend, suspects these charming folk of being less than forthright. In fact, Jane suspects coldhearted murder....

It doesn’t take Jane long to figure out that someone has spiked the food at the party, most likely with hallucinogenic mushrooms. As the police arrive, the groom takes an unfortunate dive off a diving board and Jane realizes that if she can’t figure out exactly what has happened the blame will fall squarely on her own shoulders.