The River Rat Murders

The year is 1928 and Prohibition is the law of the land. Caroline Case, who we first met in 2019's The River Rats Murders (9780983575443) is now a wealthy, full-fledged private detective in Chicago. With her partner Hannibal Jones, she visits upscale yet scandalous salons near Lakeshore Drive and prowls dangerous and dark underworld dens in sleazy, industrial neighborhoods. Booze, murders, kidnappings and daring rescues abound. Caroline and Hannibal employ the latest tools of forensic science to solve murders and bring the culprits to justice, legal and otherwise. Although, fiction, Caroline?s story rings true to the fascinating history and colorful characters who lived, loved and died in the "murder capital of the world" during the heyday of Al Capone, speakeasies and Chicago-style jazz.

Moonshine Murders By: Karen Cartwright Moonshine Murders centers around the Cartwright family of Mannington, West Virginia, in 1877 with Thornton F. Cartwright at its head. He walks a tight rope between murder trials, crooked whiskey, passing the queer, and vigilantes, trying to keep his family intact all the while operating a moonshine gang out of Marion County. Nancy Cartwright is the local Granny Woman in Marion County. She is every bit as resolute and passionate as her husband when it comes to family. Nor have advancing years lessened Thornton and Nancy's passion for each other.

MIDNIGHT IN SAVANNAH… It's a city of beauty, history…hauntings. And one of the most haunted places in Savannah is a tavern called The Dragonslayer, built in the 1750s. The current owner, Gus Anderson, is a descendant of the original innkeeper and his pirate brother, Blue. Gus summons his granddaughter, Abigail, home from Virginia, where she's studying at the FBI Academy. When she arrives, she's devastated to find him dead. Murdered. But Abby soon learns that Gus isn't the only one to meet a brutal and untimely end; there've been at least two other victims. Then Captain Blue Anderson starts making ghostly appearances, and the FBI's paranormal investigation unit, the Krewe of Hunters, sends in Agent Malachi Gordon. Abby and Malachi have a similar ability to connect with the dead…and a similar stubbornness. Sparks immediately begin to fly—sparks of attraction and discord. But as the death toll rises, they have to trust each other or they, too, might find themselves among the dead haunting old Savannah!

Originally published: New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1984.

Frank L. Gertcher weaves an exquisitely crafted Civil War era murder-mystery. The story includes good detective work by Jeremiah and James, romance between key characters and insight with regard to the battle of good and evil within the human soul. Frank uses vivid dialogue between characters and emotional first person thoughts to let readers vicariously experience love and hate, rage and remorse, ecstasy and fear, joy and sadness. Yet always, accurate descriptions of historical events and scenes are there, and the reader is immersed in time and place, just like the characters.

When a whitewater rafting accident occurs on the Arkansas River near Salida, Colorado, river ranger Mandy Tanner deftly executes a rescue, but a man dies anyway. Turns out, it wasn't the rapids that killed him--he was murdered.

An unexplained disappearance spirals into an unrelenting murder mystery. In October 2014, local Michigan police chief Laura Frizzo faced a perplexing missing-person case. It was not like Chris Regan, a devoted father and dependable employee, to take off without explanation. When Frizzo learned Chris was having an affair with Kelly Cochran, a married co-worker, suspicion fell on Kelly’s hulking husband, Jason. Soon after that the Cochrans abruptly moved to Indiana. Sixteen months later, Jason Cochran died from a drug overdose. Friends and family rallied around the grieving Kelly. But when the coroner ruled Jason’s death a homicide, no one reacted more bizarrely than his widow. Detectives tried to put Kelly’s past into focus. But the horrific truth was hidden under a near-perfect patchwork of lies. Veteran investigative journalist M. William Phelps expertly reveals Kelly Cochran’s staggering saga of murder, revenge, and payback. “Anything by Phelps is an eye-opening experience.” —Suspense Magazine “Phelps knows how to work it.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review “Master of true crime.” —Real Crime magazine

Lee presents a true-crime page-turner on five notorious cases, including the Phil Spector shooting case, the brutal murder of a nun in Toledo, and genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina.