Showing results by publisher "-emdashery books-" in Crime Fiction

To their followers, influencer couple Jess and Nick Brooks are beyond aspirational—they’re proof that you can have it all. They can dance and cook and surf, and somehow, they’re still madly in love despite juggling two young boys, Oliver and Archie. When a brand deal lands the family a free trip to an idyllic Balinese luxury resort, their dream holiday becomes a nightmare when Archie goes missing from the Kids Club. As the hunt for Archie begins, the loving and wholesome family that the Brooks present to their millions of followers starts to unravel.

When washed-up 80s rock legend Johnny Freestone is found dead in a cave off Scotland's North Coast 500 tourist route, it looks like a tragic accident–another celebrity lost to a reckless lifestyle. But Police Scotland detective–and secret Freestone fan–Jack Logan isn’t convinced that the star's death was an accident. As Logan delves into Johnny's final days, he uncovers a trail of bitter rivalries, broken promises, and a comeback tour that wasn’t quite what it seemed.

Nicole Cutty and Megan McDonald are both high school seniors in the small town of Emerson Bay, North Carolina. When they disappear from a beach party one warm summer night, police launch a massive search. No clues are found, and hope is almost lost until Megan miraculously surfaces after escaping from a bunker deep in the woods. A year later the best-selling account of her ordeal has turned Megan from local hero to national celebrity.

When five-year-old Elsie Button was snatched from a garden in a sleepy town on the Welsh island of Anglesey, and a local man later confessed, it sent shockwaves through the tight-knit community. How could one of their own do such a thing? Especially when his own little girl was the same age – and the victim's best friend. Kathryn and her family left under the cloak of darkness one night, unable to bear the shame, and the anger of their neighbours. She hardly remembers that time. Now, she suffers the consequences of living under an assumed name, always looking over her shoulder.

A young British backpacker goes missing on the West Coast Trail. No one is sure whether she died or simply disappeared. Apart from Laura. Twenty years later, a body has been found. And there's only one person who could reveal the secret that Laura's been hiding all this time. But she knows that two can keep a secret. IF ONE OF THEM IS DEAD.

What I thought I knew: in 1998, Maryanne Doyle disappeared, and Dad knew something about it. Maryanne Doyle was never seen again. What I actually know: in 1998, Dad lied about knowing Maryanne Doyle. Alice Lapaine has been found strangled near Dad's pub. Dad was in the local area for both Maryanne Doyle's disappearance and Alice Lapaine's murder.

Luke Whitney is stabbed to death. His wife Anna confesses after she is found next to his lifeless body. But if she did it, why can't she confirm any of the details of the crime? As police dig into the circumstances, they learn that the victim was a liar, a cheat and a narcissist. More than one person had a reason to want him dead; his scorned ex, his neglected mistress and Anna – who knows what happens to Mrs Whitneys when Luke gets bored of them.

Kayleigh Morris is just trying to survive her first year at St. Kellum’s University. Freshers’ Week is a blur of social anxiety, parties, and the weight of trying to fit in. But when Kayleigh’s panic attack becomes the talk of the campus, she retreats into herself, shutting herself away in her room. Everything changes when she’s selected for a mysterious new module, led by Professor Lady Marian, who introduces her and a group of misfits to a psychedelic drug believed to cure anxiety and promote productivity.

Twenty years ago seven students became friends at their exclusive private school, Potter's Field. Now they have started dying in the most violent way imaginable. Detective Max Wolfe follows the bloody trail from the backstreets and bright lights of the city, to the darkest corners of the corridors of power. As the bodies pile up, Max finds he is fighting not only for justice, but for his own life....

On a freezing morning four drunken students stumble upon the body of a woman in the snow. Rosie has been raped, stabbed and left for dead in a cemetery. The only suspects are the four young men now stained with her blood. Twenty-five years later the police mount a cold-case review of Rosie’s unsolved murder, and the four are still suspects. But when two of them die in suspicious circumstances, it seems that someone is pursuing their own brand of justice....

Do you need my help? It was always the first question he asked. They called him when they had nowhere else to turn. Raised and trained as part of a top-secret programme, he was sent to the worst places in the world to do things his government denied any knowledge of. Then he broke with the programme and disappeared. But now someone's on his tail. Someone who knows he was once known simply as Orphan X.

Michael Brady was a high-flying detective, working on a high-profile case. And much too close to the truth. Someone arranged a hit-and-run. But they missed Brady. And hit his wife. And after six months sitting by her bed, he took the only decision he could take. He turned the machine off. Now he's back home in Whitby. Trying to rebuild his life. And be a good dad to his teenage daughter. But when his best friend is murdered Brady–unwillingly at first–is drawn into the investigation.

A dismembered corpse is discovered in the vault of a silver shop. The police initially believe it to be that of a convicted armed robber - but not everyone agrees with that theory. One of them is Decima Mullins, who calls on the help of private detective Cormoran Strike as she's certain the body in the silver vault was that of her boyfriend - the father of her newborn baby - who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.

Beneath Norfolk’s wide skies and rugged coastline, darkness never sleeps. DI Tom Janssen returns to confront a new wave of crimes that cut through the calm of the countryside. A body discovered in the shadow of an ancient monument, a seaside town gripped by fear, and a killing that strikes close to home—each case challenges his instincts and tests the strength of his team. As secrets unravel and loyalties are tested, Janssen must navigate a path through deception and danger.

Don’t miss the first novel in a gripping series featuring DI Clare Mackay, perfect for fans of Alex Gray, D. S. Butler and Rachel Amphlett. On the night of a wedding celebration, one guest meets a grisly end when he’s killed in a hit-and-run. A card bearing the number ‘five’ has been placed on the victim’s chest. DI Clare Mackay, who recently moved to join the St Andrews force, leads the investigation. The following night another victim is struck down and a number ‘four’ card is at the scene.

This is Jackson Lamb's kingdom: a dumping ground for spies who've screwed up. Once high fliers, they're now slow horses, condemned to a life of pushing paper as punishment for crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal. In drab and mildewed offices, these highly trained spies moan and squabble, stare at the walls, and dream of better days - not one of them joined the Intelligence Service to be a slow horse, and the one thing they have in common is their desire to be back in the action.

There are one thousand stories up and down your street. There are nine thousand stories in your neighbourhood. This is the one about true crime journo Noah Cork, and the most important story he almost missed in pursuit of his dreams.

Timothy and Jonah, wealthy entrepreneurs with a spoiled son, hide sins from their past—one involving a death on a cruise, the other a crime in Bali. Nathan and Samantha, the hot ex-nanny turned trophy wife, grapple with infertility and a shocking paternity secret. Bartosz and Angelika (he’s a chef, she’s a former sex worker) carry debts to the other couples they don’t even realize they owe. Over fourteen days, the couples bond—but their pasts are too deeply intertwined to stay hidden. The sly concierge, Putu, knows more than he lets on.

Corinne Gray is a woman whose life is falling apart. When probationary detective Kyle Nazarian unexpectedly knocks on her door on a rainy morning, she knows why. He wants to talk about her son, Ben. This is her chance to finally explain how her sweet-natured child – who loved history and dreamed of swimming for Olympic Gold – grew up to do the unthinkable. What really happened to Ben? And could anyone have prevented it?

Who is Audrey Hoedemaker? It's a question her sister Maureen has heard more times than she can count, and she doesn't know what the short answer would be. Little sister, troubled teen, backpacker, musical theatre coach, con artist, childcare worker. Murderer. A tragic, traumatic childhood casts a long shadow on the Hoedemaker sisters. Maureen has worked hard to move beyond the violence of the past and build a good, honest life for herself. Audrey, however, just can't seem to do the same, careening from one state of chaos to another.