I’m a retired IT manager and tech writer, a guy who studied political science and economics and ended up writing computer programs for a living. I’ve never lived fully inside my own lane, so to speak, so genre-crossing stories appeal to the nonconformist in me. Along these lines, my book crosses genre boundaries, a legal thriller without lawyers or judges, told from the perspective of a guilty everyman instead of the innocent, wrongly-accused defendant. Having served on a few juries, I’m fascinated by the role of the common person in this pivotal process that underpins democracy.
This book crosses multiple genre boundaries. While ticking all the boxes for a traditional mystery, Mahaffey blends in a healthy dose of romance, southern culture, and the paranormal to keep the reader guessing, not only whodunnit, but what is real and what is other-worldly.
Though tightly plotted, the author weaves it all together with lush prose and complex, likable (and very dislikable) characters.
Determined to leave behind an abusive past, Amanda seeks solace on the South Carolina coast, where she hopes to focus on building a kayaking business and reconnect with her estranged father.Love is the farthest thing from her mind until fate intervenes with Hal, a handsome stranger with a mysterious past and useful knowledge of the local market. They agree to join forces—but someone seems determined for them to fail. The property they need suddenly becomes unavailable, vandals strike, and other strange encounters ensue. Each attack is accompanied by the appearance of an enigmatic night heron—and soon the pranks grow not…
Another mystery with heavy overlays of the paranormal, Mertz’s spare, tight prose and down-to-earth characters are evocative of Cormac McCarthy. It’s also a bit of a period piece, set in eastern Oregon in the 1980s.
His selective employment of technology and cultural markers gives the period elements life as characters in the story.
Sometimes a simple walk down memory lane can be terrifying.In Whistler's Grove, where things are never what they seem, a look behind the veil can be deceiving. Newly elected sheriff August Melville is about to get an unwanted look into his past. Returning to the halls of his childhood elementary school after many long years was supposed to be easy. But as Melville soon discovers, upholding the law in Canyon County, Oregon, means confronting an array of strange and frightening secrets.Aware of the old story that a woman named Roberta Hancock had been murdered, a bizarre meeting with her daughter…
Rural, eastern Canada yields a literary mystery with rough, gritty characters, both men and women, with a clash of Anglo and Francophone cultures in a struggle for coexistence.
Tensions resurface over a decades-old murder, forcing unlikely alliances and character-driven plot twists, all floating in a sea of rich, beautiful, descriptive prose.
Homeless after a boating accident in which her husband and two sons are killed, fifty-year-old sailor and travel writer Tristen Morgan leaves the rehab center where she has fought her way back to sobriety, for the shores of a pristine wilderness named Marrow Griff along the north shore of Georgian Bay.Confronted by the austere beauty of the land, she is soon joined by an unlikely cast of allies. The first is Patrick, a young dreamer with a drinking problem who is trying to fix up an old sailboat. Then there are Maddie and Remi, a sister and brother team at…
This might be the closest to a traditional police procedural in this list, but his literary flourishes, romantic elements, and thoughtful character arcs expand the Tracy Crosswhite series onto the radar of fans of any genre.
Crosswhite’s glass-ceiling-busting endeavors as a Seattle-area detective who forges her own path while tending to her family’s needs make her an endearing hero. And she’s a tough little lady, too.
An Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling series.
Detective Tracy Crosswhite draws a long-dormant serial killer out of hiding in a nerve-shattering novel by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.
Tracy Crosswhite is reopening the investigation into Seattle's Route 99 serial killer. After thirteen victims, he stopped hunting and the trail went cold, stirring public outrage. Now, nearly three decades after his first kill, Tracy is expected to finally bring closure to the victims' families and redeem the Seattle PD's reputation. Even if it means working with her nemesis, Captain Johnny Nolasco.
Some might object to my including this one on this list, and to be fair, it isn’t so much a whodunnit as a “What the heck DID actually happen?” sort of tale.
A beautiful rendering of the psychological horror endured by a man tormented by blocked memories, his attempts to unlock his past may indict his own conscience–and put his entire future at risk. Riveting.
Once Murray understands he can control his violent impulses, he's left with a far more unsettling question: does he even want to?
Ten years after losing both his beloved mentor and his abusive father, Murray Henderson is still yearning for direction. He's treading water in Cleveland, failing in his career and relationships. Anger, guilt, and distrust continually derail his chances at happiness. When an opportunity calls him to New York City, Murray finally sees a path out of his relentless grief.
But as he navigates a hopeful new life, he soon falls back into old patterns of self-loathing and violence.…
Peter Robertson once killed a man he suspected was sleeping with his wife. Six months later, he served on the jury that freed a wrongfully accused man of Peter’s crime. Two months later, a beautiful fellow former juror, Christine, wakes him in the middle of the night with a threat: kill Kyle, the man who stalks and abuses her, or have his own murderous past exposed.
Peter pretends to go along as he seeks another, less violent solution, and his best friend Frankie threatens to expose the conspiracy to the police. Then Kyle turns up dead, and the police arrest Frankie, of all people. Peter knows he's innocent, but how can he prove it without directing the finger of blame at himself—for both murders?
