Showing results by publisher "Bookouture" in Mystery

On a hot summer’s morning, a young father is found murdered in a cornfield outside the quiet town of Colton, tied to a post, arms spread wide. Detective Robyn Carter is reminded of the crucifixion, and she knows she’s looking for a killer with a twisted sense of right and wrong. Robyn vows she will find the killer - no matter what. But then a local doctor - a popular woman with a young family of her own - is found dead outside her surgery. There are similarities between the first body and hers, and Robyn must take another look at the picture-postcard town, where no one has any enemies.

Twenty-five years ago: teenage Leah had a sleepover with her three best friends. By morning, the other girls were missing. This small town has been searching for answers ever since. Now it’s happened again. Three boys decide to camp in a field next to one of their homes. When dawn comes, dew glistens on their empty tents. Overgrown farmland is searched. Three distraught families are desperate for news. A mother herself now, Leah’s heart breaks as terrible memories flood back.

On a damp October day, a body is found in an abandoned hospital, too burnt to be identified, but detective Alex King knows that every victim is someone’s daughter or son. Pushing aside her own troubles, Alex puts everything into finding the killer, but when someone else is found dead, she begins to suspect that the body in the hospital was just the first of many. Just as Alex uncovers a heart-breaking link between the victims, she finds her own safety under threat. Is this a figure from her past hell-bent on revenge, or could the murderer be even closer than she thinks?

She races home, her young son clasped tightly to her chest, glancing over her shoulder at every face she passes. She reaches the safety of her home, closing the door behind her. Little does she know the danger that awaits her inside… When local vicar, Sally, packs away the brightly coloured toys and dog-eared books left over from a morning parent and toddler group, her heart pounds as she discovers a note left behind.

Florida, 1883. Cassie Gwynne is looking for a fresh start when she steps off the steamship in Fernandina harbor for the very first time. She’s trying very hard to become the proper society lady her father wished she was. She’s styled her unruly hair, shined her boots, and even purchased a whole new wardrobe. However, she’s certain finding a body is not very ladylike behavior. To make matters worse, her aunt Flora is arrested for the murder. Desperate to save the only family she has left, Cassie vows to untangle the mystery herself, no matter how much the locals disapprove.

Her dark skin looks almost grey; the effect of the elements and death’s touch. Her limp body left pressed against a wire fence like trash. I make a silent promise that I will do everything I can to catch the person who did this to her. Exactly a year ago, Amy, a young detective on Detective Kate Matthews’ team, was killed when she was sent undercover to catch a serial killer targeting young girls. Kate never forgave herself for letting the killer slip through her fingers. As the case is reopened and the campaign to find the culprit begins again, Kate is told to stay well away, and for good reason: another girl’s body has been found.

As the snow falls and a bitter wind blows, Detective Ellie Reeves is devastated to discover the bodies of two little girls, alone and frozen on an icy lake, in the isolated town of Cold Mountain. The girls are holding hands, with matching bows in their blonde curls, and when Ellie realizes they are twin sisters, her heart breaks for their mother, who must be desperately wondering where her little darlings are. But, back at the police station, she is horrified to discover that nobody has reported the sisters missing. Are their parents in danger too?

Two days ago, FBI Agent Val Costa came face to face with a serial killer known as the Bear. One of only two women ever to survive, she's forever branded with his signature: a curling “S” carved into her skin. Val knows it’s only a matter of time before he takes another victim. Forced home to recover, Val returns to Red Rose County, California, to be with her son. But the very next day she finds the close-knit community panic-stricken over the disappearance of blonde-haired, freckled-faced local teen, Scarlett Douglas.

Keira North falls to her death at a party. What initially seems like it could be an accident is soon revealed to be something far more sinister as Detectives Alex King and Chloe Lane are called in to investigate the secrets and lies that link a group of four friends. The detectives soon find that all of Keira's three closest friends have secrets that someone would kill to keep. As Alex and Chloe are fighting their own demons and struggling to stay on top of the case, Keira's killer is circling the group of friends, who one by one find that their lives are in danger....

When the body of Lola Evans is found in a local park on a cold winter's morning, Detective Alex King and her new recruit Chloe Lane are called in to lead the hunt for the killer. Chilling and totally compelling with an utterly surprising twist, The Girls in the Water is perfect for fans of Robert Bryndza, Sarah Hilary, and Patricia Gibney.

On a freezing January morning, a young couple is found dead in their cottage in the quiet Dublin suburbs. When detective Eli Quinn arrives at the scene his stomach drops. It’s the second double homicide in as many months where the killer has left a bunch of yellow roses. Tucked between the thorns is a little card, with an image of a broken heart. There’s no doubt the killer is trying to send a message, but what do the flowers mean? And can Eli figure out the killer’s motive before another murder occurs?

When the rescue team find rope marks around the ankles of the teenage girl, they call in Detective Delaney Pace. Fourteen-year-old Marilyn Littlewolf went missing five years ago after moving to Kearny from a local reservation. Fearing she was dead, nobody expected Marilyn to ever come home. So where has she been? And why is her body covered in bruises?

The flood waters are rising. And so is the body count… Police officer Fiona MacLeish has been ordered to step back from her role in Police Scotland. Haunted by the murder of her parents, she’s dangerously close to breaking point: and is back in her remote childhood home nestled in a valley on the Scottish border. But there’s a terrifying storm coming…

When eight-year-old Cait Yorke goes missing on a remote island off the coast of the wild Scottish Highlands, PC Fiona MacLeish is quickly sent to investigate. But a gale is gathering force, and Fiona becomes increasingly concerned for a little girl braving the strong winds alone. As Fiona questions the locals, she soon realizes that they are hiding many secrets. What is this island, and who really lives here? Then a boat violently crashes off the coast of the island. On board, Fiona discovers the body of a man who has clearly been murdered.

Three young girls are missing, all of them cold cases and all of them forgotten. When Detective Jess Bishop identifies a disturbing link between them, she’s determined to find out what happened to the girls as she fights to reopen their cases. Then a fourth child is taken. Eight-year-old Ava is snatched from her hospital bed, and Jess suspects right away that it’s linked to the other cases. As Ava’s illness worsens, Jess is in a race against time to save the girl before it’s too late. But is she missing something right in front of her, something that could put other lives in danger?

Three young women are dead. Thousands of miles between them and nothing except the marks on their bodies to link them. Detective Jess Bishop sees something that strikes fear into her heart: the similarities between this case and the one she's spent her entire career trying to forget. Brilliant and methodical, Jess always plays by the rules. But she's not the person anyone thinks she is. And she'll do whatever she can to keep her secrets hidden. As more bodies are found, it seems Jess' past is coming back to haunt her. And with her partner, Jamison, back from two years undercover, she doesn't know if she can still trust him.

It has been a week since anyone last saw 15-year-old Daisy, after she left her best friend’s house and started her short walk home. Detective Kate Matthews and her team have been looking for her ever since. When a tip-off leads Kate to a disused gymnasium building at Daisy’s school, she is devastated to find no sign of the missing girl, but, as she investigates further, what she does find among the dusty benches and broken lockers shakes her to the core: a side room covered in plastic and a small severed foot.

How do you catch a killer who knows your every move? She drew the curtains and returned to the kitchen where she removed the bottle of vodka from the freezer and reached for the large kitchen knife. If he dared to come back, she'd be ready for him. When a body is found hanging in the remains of a dock-side warehouse, detective Kate Matthews is called to the scene.

When police officer Fiona MacLeish stumbles upon a group of fellow hikers in dire trouble in the dramatic peaks of the Scottish Highlands, she has no choice but to help. One of the party has fallen off the path, lying below with the crisp white snow around his head starting to turn scarlet. Fiona soon learns the potential accident is actually a deliberate murder. But who would want to hurt this man and why? With visibility worsening and the snowstorm getting worse, Fiona and the group of hikers make it just in time to a nearby shelter.