Small Town Crime

Twelve conspirators meticulously plan to throw open all the gates to the prison that contains them, so that more than a thousand convicts may escape and pour into the nearby small town. A search ensues, but the twelve get away. After two years, all efforts by police have been in vain. The mayor and city attorney meet, and Leah Hawkins, former star basketball player and resident good cop, is placed on sabbatical so that she can tour the country learning advanced police procedures. The sabbatical is merely a ruse, however, as her real job is to track the infamous twelve. And kill them.

When beloved mayor turned state senator Carlton Osborn is found dead on his boat, the prime suspect is the only other person on board: his pregnant teenage girlfriend, Amber Vega. Struggling to restore his self-confidence after a string of personal and professional losses, Spencer Dunn isn’t eager to defend a young woman who is almost certainly guilty yet refuses to follow his legal advice. But once Spencer starts digging, he realizes this case isn’t as simple as the police are making it out to be.

When a young woman dies in a late-night restaurant fire, the owner, Bobby Carter, is charged with arson and murder. The evidence is stacked against him, but something doesn’t add up. And his only chance for justice rests on the shoulders of small-town lawyer Leland Munroe… Leland is convinced someone’s out to frame his client. But as the trial heats up, he realizes that he's facing more than just a legal battle.

T.J. had the world in the palm of his hand. He was handsome. Popular in school. Smart. A stellar athlete. The son of superstar pro quarterback Tony Okerson, he seemed destined to follow in his father's footsteps to a career of gridiron glory. That bright, shining dream ends when T.J.'s lifeless body is found on a rocky shoreline near his family's Chesapeake Bay home.

Blow is the unlikely story of George Jung's roller-coaster ride from middle-class high school football hero to the heart of Pablo Escobar's Medellín cartel - the largest importer of the United States cocaine supply in the 1980s. Jung's early business of flying marijuana into the United States from the mountains of Mexico took a dramatic turn when he met Carlos Lehder, a young Colombian car thief with connections to the then newly-born cocaine operation in his native land. Together they created a new model for selling cocaine.

Defense attorney Leland Monroe lost it all: his big-city job, his reputation, and, worst of all, his loving wife. Now he’s back in his hometown to hit restart and repair the relationship with his troubled son. But the past is always present in a small town. Leland returns to find his high school sweetheart hasn’t had the easiest of lives - especially now that her son faces a death sentence for murdering his father.

Nothing casts a more sinister shadow over our nation's history than the gruesome lynchings that happened between 1882 and 1937, claiming 4,680 victims. Often, in a show of racist violence, the lynchers tortured their victims before murdering them. Most killers were never brought to justice; some were instead celebrated as heroes, their victims' bodies displayed or even cut up and distributed as trophies.

Running his own law firm is harder than Leland Munroe ever imagined, but he’s determined to make it work. Judy Reed, accused of killing her wealthy father, is just the kind of high-profile and high-paying client he needs to keep his firm afloat. Yet the deeper he digs, the more complex her case becomes. Nurse LaDonna Winters’s financial situation isn’t as ideal. Struggling to make ends meet, she can barely afford legal representation. But her case is compelling—accused of a crime at her hospital she insists she didn't commit, LaDonna is desperate to clear her name.

On a warm Florida evening, Karen Gregory saw a familiar face at her door. What the beautiful young woman could not know was that she was staring into the eyes of her killer - a savage monster who would rape her, stab her to death, and leave her battered body on the floor outside the bedroom. Detectives frantically sifting through the evidence were tormented by one disturbing question after another....

On a frozen mountain road just outside Sylva, North Carolina, Deputy Sara Parker vanishes without a trace. With a blizzard closing in and time slipping away, Sheriff Burke Scott and Special Agent Tessa Quinn race against the storm—and against a predator who knows exactly how to stay hidden. But this isn’t just a disappearance. It’s a game of control. As the investigation deepens, buried secrets begin to surface, and the lines between trust and deception blur. Because in the Blue Ridge Mountains…not everyone wants Sara to be found. And someone is always watching.

In the mountains, the truth is never as buried as the dead. When Blakely Rhodes disappears in the Colorado backcountry, all that's left behind is blood on the trail, a rising panic—and a boyfriend whose story won't stay straight. Sheriff Ray Duke has seen enough tragedy to know when something doesn't add up. But this case cuts deeper than most. Blakely vanished on the same ridge where Ray's sister, Emily, disappeared twenty-six years ago—a cold case that never stopped haunting him. When Blakely's body is discovered in a shallow grave, the investigation explodes.

A 2025 Edgar-Award Nominee! The Most Anticipated 2024 Book Releases by Nerd Daily Most Anticipated Crime Fiction Novels of 2024 by Novel Suspects "[An] entertaining thriller [that] maintain[s] tension and intrigue through to the satisfying end. The author’s fans will devour this.”...

Charlotte McKay is new to Sweetwater Falls, but that doesn’t mean she's about to look the other way when everyone’s least favorite miser goes missing. Following her dream of selling her cupcakes at a bakery is put on hold as she follows a trail of clues, each stranger than the last. Nearly every person in Sweetwater Falls has a grudge against Amos, who was known more for his penny-pinching than his benevolence.

This program features multicast narration. Ken Jaworowski’s Small Town Sins is a gripping Rust Belt thriller that captures the characters of a down-and-out Pennsylvania town, revealing their troubled pasts and the crimes that could cost them their lives. In Locksburg, Pennsylvania, a former...

When Charlotte discovers a dead body her first day in the cozy town of Sweetwater Falls, she worries she may have made the wrong choice, moving from the big city to a small town. She was hoping for a family feel and a fresh start, not a shakedown from local law enforcement and an aunt who keeps disappearing right when danger nears.

Whether in Truman Capote’s detailed murder of the Clutter family or Ted Bundy’s small-town charm, criminals have always roamed rural America and towns worldwide. Featuring murder stories, criminal case studies, and more, The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns contains all-new accounts from writers of true crime, crime journalism, and crime fiction. And these entries are not based on a true story—they are true stories. Edited by acclaimed author and anthologist Mitzi Szereto, the stories in this volume span the globe.

A brilliant new whodunnit, perfect for fans of M.C. Beaton and Richard Osman! A night of tricks, treats, and murder… When an old school acquaintance calls on auctioneer Felicia Grant for help, she finds herself at a glittering bash at the exclusive yet mysterious Aquitaine club. What starts as...

Over 40 years, two British police units acted undercover to infiltrate activist groups. At least 20 of those officers deliberately targeted women and entered relationships with them. One of those women was me. This is my story.

BOOK 3 IN THE BESTSELLING CANON CLEMENT MYSTERY SERIES 'A delightful piece of detective work' Mail on Sunday 'A very moreish read' Daily Telegraph Canon Daniel Clement has suffered a secret humiliation and to recover takes respite at the monastery where he was a novice. But the monastery doesn't...

Newly arrived in the quaint village of Norfolk's Pudding Corner, Daphne Brewster is glad to be leaving London life behind. As time goes by, and she finds herself in great demand as the village's unofficial Vintage Lady, she begins to acclimatise to this more sedate new way of life. But when the village school's headmaster is discovered dead, lying face down in his allotment patch, everything changes. His wife refuses to accept a verdict of natural causes, and the village is suddenly ablaze with scandal about 'the potting shed murder'.