Suspense Mystery Twist

A blood-smeared note. A string of gruesome murders. And a family secret she didn’t know existed. FBI Special Agent Faith Black thought she knew all about fear. Yet all it took was one night for her to realize she was horribly wrong. Did she miss the signs because she had found love—something she had once thought impossible? No, it went deeper than that. Was she so distracted by the history of her new partner, Special Agent Aaron Thomson that she never saw it coming? Possible, but doubtful. No, it all started unraveling on the night of her birthday. A night that changed her life forever....

The murder of jazz musician and social activist Markus Peña doesn’t come as a surprise to his estranged sisters. Melinda and Emily Peña know their controversial brother had enemies. After all, even they hadn’t spoken to Markus since their mother’s funeral two years ago. Who killed Markus? Was it someone trying to keep his latest protest song from publication? Was it the powerful and secretive uncle of his ex-girlfriend Rebecca? Or was it one of the other women Markus had callously abandoned?

Whether you’re plotting your first whodunit or revising your tenth thriller, this comprehensive guide is your trusted partner in crime. Packed with practical advice, real examples from bestselling mystery novels, and a touch of wry humor, Writing Mysteries That Matter walks you step-by-step through the entire writing process—from crafting a gripping opening to planting clues, building suspense, and delivering a twisty, satisfying ending. You’ll learn how to: • Structure your story for maximum tension • Create complex, compelling protagonists • Plant clues (and red herrings) that...

It seemed like a dream come true when we first moved in. A chance to leave my stressful job behind and fix things with James. But something gnaws at me each morning as I wave my husband off to work from our gated community, accept a coffee from Lin, our housekeeper, and watch my kids play in these eerily perfect, car-free streets. When a neighbor’s body is found floating in a pool during a party, the other wives say it was a tragic accident. But there are also whispers about the family who lived in our villa before us—just vanished one day, they say.

La personne que vous aimez le plus au monde est en danger... Il y a trois ans, la petite Evie, 5 ans, a disparu en sortant de l'école. La police n'a jamais réussi à la localiser. Aucun indice, aucune piste. Rien. La petite s'est évaporée. Mais Toni le sait : sa fille est vivante. Encore faudrait-il qu'elle puisse l'exprimer ! Car Toni est enfermée dans un terrible silence. Personne ne l'écoute, personne ne l'entend. Pourtant, Evie a besoin d'elle. Toni doit réaliser l'impossible si elle veut la sauver.

I couldn’t believe it when I got the call to offer me my dream job. It was right in the heart of the city with a flat provided. I jumped at the chance, and within days I had made new friends and began dating a wonderful man. For the first time in years, I feel safe. But soon strange things begin to happen in my flat: odd noises in the night, the feeling that I’m being watched. When I discover an old dress hidden behind my wardrobe and wear it to work, the atmosphere chills instantly. The dress belonged to a girl my boss would rather forget. The girl before me who vanished.

When Congressional staffer Ben Walsh receives this cryptic text from his wife he initially doesn’t think much of it. But while waiting to hear from her again, Ben discovers that the text came an hour before a shooting that occurred along her daily running route. Veronica won’t pick up her phone, and when she doesn’t return home, he knows she is somehow involved. If she isn’t one of the victims, then where is she, and what did she know? While Ben searches for his wife, he stumbles upon another violent death, with clear connections to the shooting.

When June Kato visits Tokyo, it's with sightseeing in mind. Little does she realize that she is in for a lot more than temples and gardens. Taking one last stab at her past modeling career, June helps her sister open a new fashion company in Japan by doing some posing. Neighborhood crime bosses don't like the idea of foreigners moving into their turf, and quickly take matters into their own hands. When June finds the body of a troublesome coworker in an alley, she takes it as a message from one family to another. Everybody denies knowing anything about the death of the man, but there are ...

Joy thinks she's falling in love with FBI Agent Richard Fields—but is the man who makes her mind soar and her heart swoon really who he says he is? Those who challenge the Lords of the Universe—a secret society of new-age fanatics—have a habit of winding up dead from unnaturally 'natural causes.' While witnesses in the case against the LOTU drop like wilted rose petals, FBI expert Richard Fields has been investigating one suspect in particular, Dr. Joy Clayton. The newly exonerated widow of one of the cult's fanatical leaders, Joy is beautiful, brilliant, and an angel on earth—and ...

Olivia Twist is an innovative reimagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale Oliver Twist, in which Olivia was forced to live as a boy for her own safety until she was rescued from the streets. Now eighteen, Olivia finds herself at a crossroads: revealed secrets threaten to destroy the “proper” life she has built for herself while newfound feelings for an arrogant young man she shouldn’t like could derail her carefully laid plans for the future.

When Meagan was five years old, her mother was viciously attacked and murdered. Now an adult, she herself is the victim of an abusive relationship. She’s desperate to escape but doesn’t have the courage to leave. So when Meagan meets Oliver, a decent guy who is on the rebound after a failed relationship, the two strike up a connection. But when Meagan confesses that her husband is abusive, it leads Oliver down a dark and dangerous path. Just how far would you go to protect someone? Oliver is about to find out and be pushed to his very limits....

What is the "blue bone" and what does a seventeenth-century French ship have to do with East Texas? When Bill Travis gets the word that his best friend has been murdered, he not only has to take a trip back to the town where he grew up, he has to go up against some old ghosts who were better left alone. What modern secrets lie hidden in the dark beneath the countryside where Bill grew up? And what darker, more ancient secret will he unearth?

It is June 1884, a grey period for both the weather and Sherlock Holmes' mood. A lack of compelling cases has left him bored and close once again to the dull embrace of the needle. At the 11th hour, Inspector Gregson arrives with the promise of an impossible crime to solve. A murder has shattered the bucolic peace of the sleepy arable farmlands of Bedfordshire. The owner of a small stately home has been brutally killed while hosting a dinner party. But what and where is the murder weapon?

A national treasure... A devious killer... Showbusiness isn't all fun and games... When movie star Michael Masterton receives death threats on the set of his latest film, US-born, London-based private detective Jefferson Cole is called in to investigate and keep the stories from the press. Cole looks forward to an easy gig; all he has to do is keep the actor alive until the film wraps - simple, right? When the death threats escalate to murder attempts, Cole finds himself racing to figure out who the mystery killer could be from the small cast and crew. Can he find the killer before the ...

Bex has always been her daddy's little girl. After her mother left, it was just the two of them. Sure, he spoiled her with clothes and jewelry, but what father doesn't dote on his daughter? Except Bex's dad is alleged to be a notorious serial killer. Dubbed the Wife Collector by the press, her father disappeared before he could stand trial, and Bex was left to deal with the taunts and rumors. Foster care is her one chance at starting over, starting fresh. But Bex's old life isn't ready to let her go.

Charley Willis was 13 years old when her parents were killed in their family home and she was found hiding in a cupboard upstairs. Fifteen years later, Charley is marrying Seth Chambers. It should be the happiest day of their lives, a chance for Charley to put her past behind her, but just hours after the ceremony, she is missing. No one saw her leave. No one knows where she is. One thing is for certain…Seth is about to discover he doesn’t really know the woman he just married. And his nightmare is only just beginning.

While on vacation in Europe babysitting Tess, their grand daughter, so her parents can spend a week volunteering at a music festival, FBI agent Trevor Montgomery's fatherly instincts kick in wanting to protect his son and daughter in law when they find themselves in a bind after a very odd discovery while cleaning up after the festival ends. It doesn't take long before his curiosity into what has happened takes over. From that point on he and his partner Samantha Kaufman are drawn into an emotional roller coaster ride trying to make sense of what has and is happening as they follow all the ...

When Iolanthe “Io” Cresswell marries wealthy widower Cassian Graves, she never expects to inherit his late wife’s ghost. But from the moment she steps into Lachlan House—an eerie, decaying mansion perched on the cliffs—something feels off. Cassian insists Eleanor died by suicide, but the townspeople whisper a different story. Strange noises wake Io at night. Locked doors open on their own. And then there are the messages—handwritten notes in Eleanor’s script, appearing in Io’s belongings, warning her to leave while she still can. As Io digs into the past, she uncovers ...

IS SHE REAL OR A FIGMENT OF HIS IMAGINATION? In the grip of a debilitating migraine, artist Richard Tanner races into a rainstorm to escape the fury of an ex-girlfriend. He ends up in the gazebo in University Park, where he encounters the beautiful, enigmatic Jenny. Fascinated by her otherworldly appearance, the young woman leaves an indelible impression on his mind—that is somehow carried over into his drawings and paintings... produced while he slept. Odd as this is, even stranger is the accusation that he’s guilty of a brutal assault on his ex. His only alibi is the art works he ...

They say she’s guilty. She says she’s not. Who do you believe? "Help me! Help me, please!" When Jenna hears the cry in the park one night, she feels she has no choice but to run and help. Cradling the injured woman in her arms, the attacker nowhere to be seen, all Jenna wants is to keep her alive until the ambulance arrives and for the ordeal to be over. But the nightmare begins when the victim wakes up...Jenna’s relief turns to horror when the finger is pointed at her. There must be some mistake: She’s never seen the woman before in her life, and Jenna tried to save her life.