Indie Crime Fiction of the Month for July 2022
Welcome to the latest edition of “Indie Crime Fiction of the Month”.
So what is “Indie Crime Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of crime fiction by indie authors newly published this month, though some June books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, most links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailers for future editions.
Our new releases cover the broad spectrum of crime fiction. We have cozy mysteries, historical mysteries, Jazz Age mysteries, paranormal mysteries, crime thrillers, adventure thrillers, legal thrillers, police procedurals, romantic suspense, police officers, FBI agents, lawyers, journalists, amateur sleuths, missing persons, serial killers, poachers, crime-busting witches, crime-busting socialites, crime-busting realtors, murder and mayhem in London, Edinburgh, Cornwall, South Dakota, Michigan, Florida and much more.
As always, I know the authors at least vaguely, but I haven’t read all of the books, so Caveat emptor.
And now on to the books without further ado:
When Vi gets a visit from her brother, Geoffrey, she is delighted. Their relationship has been shaky from the beginning, but he’s older now. He even seems to have shaken off the claws of his mother.
Even so, when he tells Vi he’s seen a murder, she can’t quite believe it. It becomes clear that their relationship may never recover if she doesn’t take him seriously. Before long, Vi faces more than an investigation. She’s dealing with a nightmare she never expected: asking questions about a doubtful murder with her stepmother, her brother, and her father.
The mystery quickly becomes not whether she’ll find the killer, but whether her sanity will survive the investigation.
Practice makes perfect. Even in death.
DCI Harry McNeil is back at the helm, joined by his old friend, DI Frank Miller. He is juggling his private life with being a single father, running a new Major Investigation Team, and spending time with a woman who may or may not become more than just friends.
Edinburgh at New Year is a time for celebration, fun, and for one person, murder.
The festivities leading up to Hogmanay are tinged with fear as Harry's team gets a shout when the murdered body of a woman is found floating in the Water of Leith near the docks.
A vicious killer has left his mark and Harry's new team is put to the test.
But with time running out, the killer is going to be knocking on Harry McNeil's door, in more ways than one...
AN ENDANGERED FLORIDA PANTHER, A DEADLY
POACHER, AND A KID IN TROUBLE...
Hotshot Florida journalist Will Harper, known for reporting hard-hitting stories (and for living on a trawler), is quietly doing both those things when cans of worms suddenly explode in all directions.
His story-in-progress seems safe enough, even a bit predictable—it’s about overdevelopment killing Florida culture and wildlife. But when he contacts a wildlife photographer for information, he finds himself listening to a much more compelling yarn than the one he’s working on. The photographer and her assistant recently filmed a mother black bear tragically killed by a poacher in front of her cubs.
And then the poacher, carefully setting his sights on the humans, shot her assistant right in front of her.
Rushing to get help, she returned with the police only to find that both the wounded man and the bear’s corpse had disappeared. With no evidence, the cops declined to investigate
Enter the ever-quixotic investigative reporter—if no one else is going to look into this, Will sure will.
But his investigation is hampered by a new development that’s destroying his domestic peace and quiet. It seems his girlfriend neglected to mention she has a teenage daughter who’s hell on wheels and who’s now been to sent to live with her mom and Will—which means their once-peaceful trawler is now home to squabbling, tension, and teen-age angst.
So while Will is hellbent on trying to track down the missing assistant, he’s also got to keep this teenager from finding a way to get in touch with her psycho biker boyfriend. Watch the exceedingly nimble Will juggle his article on gorgeous (and disappearing) Florida culture, his investigation into the deadly poacher’s ghastly crimes, and his big-hearted attempts to keep the angry teenager from being kidnapped by the so-called “love of her life.”
All in a day’s work for this guy.
Vanity is the one thing Hali Waverly has never understood. That’s about to become a weakness.
Life at the Salty Cauldron is going well…right up until a body washes onto the beach. The dead woman, who is forty years younger than her husband, had a run-in with Hali in her tiki bar the previous day. Authorities assume it was an accidental drowning, but a mark on the dead woman’s neck gives Hali pause.
Grayson Hunter finds himself in a pickle when the identity of the body becomes public. Seems he was the one hired by the victim’s husband to investigate her extra-curricular activities. Surprisingly enough, it turns out she wasn’t having an affair. That doesn’t mean she wasn’t up to something nefarious.
Crossing paths has Hali and Gray partnering up for a second time, and as tense as things are between them, things are worse when they enter the world of Selfie Planet, the victim’s place of business.
Vanity goes by many names, has many faces. The one Gray and Hali find themselves facing off with is dark and menacing. There’s more going on than selfies and rampant narcissism, however. There’s also a mirror monster and several soulless individuals walking around making things worse.
Separately, Hali and Gray are forces to be reckoned with. Together, they can handle almost anything…except maybe this.
Worlds are about to collide, and nothing will ever be the same again.
It's a Georgie and Stella combo!
Stella's routine is getting back to normal after her mother's trip to Poland. But even the simplest things can lead to unexpected adventures. While searching for a mystery at the local bookstore, Stella picks up an abandoned book. A handwritten note falls out with an odd message: Where she goes there are no shoes...
When she mentions the note to her Oscar, her grandpa, the retired FBI agent tells her about the missing persons case he couldn't solve a decade ago and shows her an old newspaper clipping. The photo shows the phrase spray painted on a wall, with red paint. Before long, Stella is wrapped up in the strangest mystery she's faced yet.
Perfect for readers who love mysteries with unforgettable characters. Join Trixie in this newest cozy mystery where she must rescue her friend Jerry, accused for the death of the Mayor! With the evidence in plain sight, it seems the detectives have the right guy. But Trixie remembers a certain someone sneaking around the Big Top who didn't belong, despite being a respected politician. With Prancer, her horse, and the many circus dogs, Trixie is on the hunt for both evidence and the true villain.
Then she discovers he may be on the hunt for her. Can she catch him in time in this fast-paced mystery?
A murder so brutal, only a monster could have committed it. The accused had no motive. But there’s a mountain of evidence against him.
A decorated war hero, Ty Chapman has built his dream life in the quiet lakeside community of Delphi, Michigan. He has a beautiful wife. A baby on the way. Everything to live for. He’s the last person anyone would suspect of beating a local handyman to death behind a seedy motel. But when two credible witnesses see him running from the crime scene, hands bloodied, the police believe they have him cold.
There has to be a reason for the killing. But the prime suspect won’t talk. Not even to his lawyer.
Cass Leary is Delphi’s top defense attorney. In Ty Chapman, she’s finally got a client who can afford her. Only Ty goes mute anytime she tries to get his side of the story. All she has is a parade of character witnesses who swear Ty isn’t capable of such a heinous act.
The more Cass delves into the mystery, the more questions she has about the victim. Only most of what she learns is inadmissible in court and Ty still won’t tell her what really happened in those woods. If that weren’t enough, Cass gets a call that her former mob boss has gone missing and the FBI thinks she’s the key to finding him. Their timing couldn’t be worse as Cass heads into the courtroom to argue for Ty Chapman’s future.
Will Cass’s fight win her client’s freedom or expose an even more shocking truth?
Hadley Hunter is finally getting a handle on life as a witch. Island living isn’t always beautiful sunsets and fruity cocktails, but things have never been better…until a body washes up on the beach during a private picnic with her boyfriend Galen Blackwood.
The body belongs to a local business manager, who just happens to be married to the daughter of one of the richest men on the island. Unfortunately for their victim, nobody – including his wife and daughters – seems to care that he’s gone. The deeper they dig, the more dirt they come up with on the victim … and the clues lead them straight to the isolated coven on the far side of the island.
Hadley doesn’t know a lot about witches, including herself, but what she learns doesn’t leave her with warm and fuzzy feelings. These witches mean business, and they’re intent on keeping their secrets from seeing the light of day.
When more bodies start dropping, all coven members, Hadley realizes something very big is about to happen. What, though?
With Galen and their friends at her side, Hadley is ready to engage in a new type of battle. This one is bigger than witches because it leads right through the heart of the island’s government body, the terrifying DDA.
Hadley thought she was adjusting but things are about to change. The question is, when the dust settles, who will be left standing and what side will they be on?
A horrific beginning.
Ends with the most unexpected twist...
Marie was young, beautiful, and vibrant.
Her life was cruelly taken from her.
Her murderer still roams this world, potentially looking for a new prey.
With Sam devoting himself to finally bringing an end to Marie's case, Emma dives further into the twisted worlds of corruption and brutality, to finally bring an end to the mystery behind Miley's disappearance…
As the pieces seem to fall into place to bring an end to the cases FBI Agent Emma Griffin has been chasing, unexpected people come into her life.
The question is… what are their true motives?
Who or what do you believe?
All questions are ready to be answered.
All the mysteries lead to one twisted and shocking conclusion.
There's a storm brewing around Emma Griffin.
Will she get through the eye of the storm or get swept up into utter destruction?
YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE...
Kate Irving arrives at her grandfather’s cottage at Frenchman’s Creek in the dead of night with her young son, a small suitcase and little else. Its scattered community of fishermen, farmers, artists and jetsetters barely bat an eyelid, because theirs is a rarefied world, tucked beneath the lush forest that lines the banks of the Helford estuary, deep in the heart of Cornwall, where life is slow and people generally mind their own business. Unless, of course, your grandfather happens to be a pillar of the local community…
Kate’s left the past behind and guards her privacy and her son fiercely. She’s wary of accepting the friendship her new neighbours offer, but their kindness is too great to refuse and she begins to feel she has found her place in the world. That is, until tragedy strikes, and her new friends look to her for the answers…
Kate soon learns that the past always catches up with you, in the end—the question is, will she be able to face it, when it does?
Suspense is peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced mystery, set amidst the spectacular Cornish landscape.
Jesse McDermitt has returned to the Florida Keys. But things in the islands are different now. The locals are worried, but nobody can explain why. A sense of foreboding hangs in the humid July air.
One of the locals, an investment banker, is waiting tables at the Rusty Anchor Bar and Grill. He seems a shell of the man he used to be—a hollow man whose fortune and wife are gone. He’s tight-lipped about how he came to be a guest in Rufus’s little shack behind the bar.
Something very sinister is going on—Jesse smells it. He’s usually very good at rooting out the source of a problem, but is stumped this time. Will he figure it out in time to stop it from happening to someone else?
Until another tight-lipped hollow man shows up.
Murder’s a knockout!
Despite her misgivings and general distaste for fighting sports, Mrs. Ginger Reed, also known as Lady Gold, agrees to attend a boxing match to support her adopted son’s cousin, a street fighter who’s quickly risen in the ranks.
But when his opponent, the presumed champion-to-be, drops out and then drops dead, Ginger and her husband, Basil, a chief inspector at Scotland Yard, investigate. Was the fighter dead because of sports-betting gone awry? Were London gangs involved? And has an old, but newly present danger returned to threaten the Reed family?
When one of their own falls prey, the gloves come off and the fight becomes personal. Can Ginger and Basil save their family and stop a killer before the towel is thrown in the ring?
MMA champ-turned-FBI Special Agent and BAU specialist Dakota Steele is as tough as they come—and as brilliant, too, able to crack serial killers that no one else can. But this new case is unlike anything she’s seen, and Dakota, weighed down by the demons of her own past, may have just reached her breaking point.
Dakota’s last case broke her, driving her to quit the FBI and return to the hard streets of her South Dakota hometown. She is weighed down by a lifetime of fighting, and by the demons of her dark past: her missing sister who vanished when Dakota was a teenager. Her estranged father, who she still can’t bring herself to speak to.
The killer she let get away.
Dakota has hit her low point.
Only the most desperate case—and the tough love of her partner—can lure her back.
Victims are disappearing along empty stretches of desert highway, with no witnesses. The landscape is desolate, the people tough and dangerous. And the police are stumped.
Time is running out before the next victim is taken, and it’s up to Dakota to connect the dots.
Can Dakota stop him in time?
Or will her own demons take her for good?
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