Mystery Writing Suspense

Three charming small-town cozy mysteries set in the heart of Derbyshire — perfect for fans of Richard Osman, M.C. Beaton, and classic British whodunits. Welcome to The Bookworm Bookshop & Café, where the coffee is warm, the friendships are strong, and murder is never far from the next chapter. Join Gemma, Mavis, and the rest of Belper’s quirky residents as they turn amateur sleuths. This collection includes the first three complete novels in The Bookshop Mysteries — over 21 hours of murder, secrets, and small-town intrigue.

When Jack’s car breaks down in the middle of a cross-country road trip, the mysterious house at the top of the hill is a beacon of hope. If he can borrow a phone to call for help, he’ll be on his way in no time. But someone - or something - has other plans. Soon, Jack finds himself trapped in a nightmare that defies logic, where a depraved killer on the loose is the least of his problems. Will Jack escape before it’s too late?

Beneath the waters of the River Derwent lies a terrible secret. When the submerged body of a woman is discovered, it opens an investigation full of old grudges and dangerous truths. Can Gemma and her friends find the killer and bring calm back to their local town of Belper?

When Penelope, the wife of a bestselling thriller author, walks into the Bookworm Bookshop and Café, she makes Gemma an offer she can’t refuse: to work for her as a private investigator. Penelope suspects that her husband is cheating on her and wants physical evidence before she files for divorce. Gemma agrees to help, but her investigation quickly leads her and her sidekick, the ever-curious Mavis into a web of literary egos and secrets that should have stayed between the pages of a bestseller, and not real life.

When a craft fair turns deadly, Gemma and Mavis investigate a local man’s murder, unearthing many secrets. In the peaceful town of Belper, Derbyshire, Gemma, the owner of the Bookworm bookshop and café, and her trusted assistant Mavis are exhibiting books at the town’s annual fair. But the tranquillity of the town is shattered when the body of a local man is found in the church. A man is arrested amidst the chaos, and the evidence against him is compelling but Gemma and Mavis don’t buy it and set out to clear his name and uncover the truth.

Belper’s favourite booksellers are taking a rare weekend off as Gemma, David, and Mavis head to the local Meadowfire Festival to see their friend Jack and his band play. The atmosphere is buzzing; the drinks are cold, and the main-stage headliners, rock legends Static Avenue, are about to deliver the encore everyone’s been waiting for. During the climactic finale of their hit song, Summer Never Ends, the band’s frontman ascends skyward in a dramatic harness stunt. But when a rigging bolt snaps, he plunges to his death in front of thousands of fans.

Gemma never expected to be invited to a total stranger’s will reading, and she’s even more baffled when she receives a vintage set of encyclopaedias and a letter with strict instructions to read it in private. The letter contains a cryptic code; a long sequence of numbers. Wanting to keep a promise to his late wife, but also unburden his conscience, the deceased man wanted to expose a long-hidden family secret connected to a sixty-year-old unsolved murder. Gemma, the owner of The Bookworm Bookshop and her sharp-witted business partner, Mavis, must solve the code and uncover the truth.

Doing Time: For the prison writers whose work is included in this anthology, it means more than "serving a sentence"; it means staying alive and sane, preserving dignity, reinventing oneself, and somehow retaining one's humanity. For the last quarter century the prestigious writers' organization PEN has sponsored a contest for writers behind bars to help prisoners face these challenges. The contest honors the best short stories, plays, essays, and poems among hundreds submitted annually by men and women nationwide.

Olivia is taken from the sidewalk near her college and thrown into a van. Her captors, who she soon discovers are vile, sadistic monsters, abuse her immediately, both mentally and physically. Then she is taken into a house, into a locked room, where everything is cotton candy pink. The pink furniture is designed with rounded edges and corners bolted to the floor, and the seams at the bolts melted. This is where the nightmare begins. She is now a part of their collection.

From 70 of the most successful mystery writers in the business, an invaluable guide to crafting mysteries—from character development and plot to procedurals and thrillers—“this is a writing guide that readers and writers will turn to again and again” (Booklist, starred review). Mystery...

In the simpler times of 1971, Inspector Philip Steele, recently transferred to Fredericton, takes a well-deserved holiday visiting his beloved, elderly godmother in her quaint village nestled in the gently-rolling Appalachians of Atlantic Canada. But when a bank robbery and the murder of a teenage boy initiate a string of even more shocking events which wreak panic in the quiet community, Phil must return to long days of investigation with his oft-misquoting, black sergeant Zareb Woodbridge, who struggles with questioning some of the more racist locals.

Kim Brady, third generation NYPD, returns to the job after her father's recent suicide and catches a career-making case–a mass shooting in Manhattan's Meatpacking District. There is one eyewitness, Leanne, but she can't come forward because she's transgender and she fears coming out. Kim resists her lieutenant's demands to force Leanne's cooperation for personal reasons. She's also being undermined by someone inside the department who is tampering with evidence, threatening the other witness, stalking Leanne.

When a nasty winter storm rushes into the small town of Milton, Illinois, no one knows that it's ushering in one of the worst crime sprees of the town's history. During a robbery of St. Michael's collections on Christmas Eve, a Catholic Priest is murdered. The robbers left no clues behind. As Steve Marks and Stanley Cooper scramble around for leads on the murder, news comes of an even stranger case. A six-hundred-pound polar bear has gotten loose and mauled a man to death. Not only that, the bear, Burt, is now loose on the streets of Milton.

Former Assistant District Attorney Miranda Quinn is on the brink of a career comeback when she gets a phone call. It's a witness who disappeared three years earlier, resulting in a violent criminal going free. Miranda got fired as a result, but the witness has re-surfaced with a shocking story to tell; one that implicates Miranda and her ex, defense attorney Adam Baxter. And now, there's a new victim.

EVERYONE IS INVITED. EVERYONE MUST PLAY THE GAME. *Pre-order Don't Look Away the latest unmissable Stephanie King thriller now!* 'When I say full of twists and turns I mean it. A compulsive powerful dark read' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ READER REVIEW 'My thriller of the year' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ READER...

In the past fourteen months, Detective Jack West was ordered by the Attorney General’s office to stand down on his homicide case; he punched out his captain and resigned his position. Upon his return to the homicide squad, his new captain, Veronica Justice, has him working cold cases easing him back into the swing of things. But it’s not long before Jack wants answers on his triple-homicide and takes matters into his own hands. In a swift change of events, Jack is deputized by the DEA and sent undercover to Mexico on a case which has ties to his unsolved-homicide.

From bestselling author John Hunt, the sequel to Doll House has arrived."Olivia. She's a brilliant character, broken, but trying to survive on her terms." –Ginger Nuts of HorrorThe killer lives off the grid-the remote hiking trails are his hunting grounds. He kills and kills but the police don't know he exists. He has been raised for this. He lies in wait. He knows how to choose his victims. He has never been caught. Bibi, a young female hiker, is ambushed by a man while taking photographs. Luckily, she escapes.

A ruthless killer is stalking Glasgow's streets in The Reborn, the seventh novel in Lin Anderson's forensic crime series featuring Rhona MacLeod. When the body of a pregnant teenager is found at a Glasgow funfair, her unborn baby surgically removed, forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod is called in...

In this crime drama, detective Varg Veum's adventures take him into the world of privileged teenage girls who have been drawn into drugs and prostitution. The situation worsens when the local judge is found dead in a luxury hotel, clad only in women's lingerie. Called in by anxious parents to look for a missing daughter and explain the judge's death, Varg is led deep into Bergen's criminal underworld.

Deputy sheriff and search-and-rescue volunteer Tyler Zahn fears the worst when his adventure-seeking daughter disappears on Colorado's most dangerous stretch of whitewater. Racing into the rapids, he instead discovers the aftermath of another tragedy—and a clue pointing to a secret the river has hidden for decades. At first, Zahn barely registers its significance. He's more worried about his own family. He knows how to rescue strangers, but he can't keep his thrill-seeking daughter from the risks that pull her deeper into danger.