Indie Crime Fiction of the Month for August 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 July 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 hardboiled mysteries, cozy mysteries, historical mysteries, medieval mysteries, Victorian mysteries, western mysteries, Jazz Age mysteries, paranormal mysteries, crime thrillers, psychological thrillers, supernatural thrillers, police procedurals, police officers, FBI agents, amateur sleuths, heists, missing persons, con artists, assassins, serial killers and their children, crime-busting witches, crime-busting socialites, crime-busting barristas, crime-busting academics, murder and mayhem in London, New York City, Colorado, Louisiana, Shropshire 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:
A ruinous secret not yet told. A killer determined to keep it that way. A cozy British detective mystery with a touch of noir
Christopher Vernham, a down-at-heel private investigator, is found stabbed to death in his decrepit office in the murky streets of London’s red light district.
With no sign of a robbery or break-in, it seems the dead man knew his attacker and allowed him — or her — to get close without feeling threatened. For DCI Bentley, the facts point logically to one of Vernham’s investigative targets — someone who perhaps wanted something he had discovered to be kept quiet.
But what had Vernham discovered that was worth killing for? And which one of his targets could be responsible?
As Bentley investigates Vernham’s clients, checking each one to discover who they wanted followed, it seems less likely that one of Vernham’s targets did commit the crime… and brings up the question: who is actually investigating who, and why?
The society wedding of the decade has everything: the blushing bride, beautiful flowers… and the groom arrested before he can walk down the aisle? Thank goodness Lady Swift is on the guest list!
Lady Eleanor Swift isn’t normally one for grand social occasions, but who can resist a wedding? Especially when it’s her old friend, Constance Grainger, marrying the most eligible bachelor in town, Lord Peregrine Davencourt. Eleanor is taking Gladstone the bulldog as her plus one, with a smart new bowtie to match her bridesmaid’s dress.
But the big day is ruined when the groom is arrested for murder before he makes it to the altar. In a baffling twist, it turns out he was already engaged to the lovely Daisy Balforth, who has been found dead at the local inn with Lord Davencourt kneeling over her. The gossip pages will have a field day!
The distraught bride-to-be asks Eleanor to clear her fiancé’s name, as she’s certain he wouldn’t hurt a fly. With help from handsome Detective Seldon, Eleanor examines the evidence. But she’s barely had time to write down her suspect list before Constance’s father is set upon by a bearded stranger on the golf course. Clearly there is more to this story than Eleanor first thought, but can she catch the real killer before the wedding turns into her wake?
There are a lot of things that have been said about John Smith that his wife and friends would believe. Accuse him of a crime, and Beatrice would consider it. Accuse him of a great act of kindness, and she’d consider that too. She’d suspect him of almost anything.
She didn’t expect him to try to scare her. To pull out her inner coward and make her flee. Who is the coward? Beatrice for being spooked or Smith for hiding the truth? And just what is actually going on?
When you’re the son of an infamous serial killer, the police will always see you as a suspect...
Ariana and Damon thought it was bad enough that their home burned to the ground. But when bodies are unearthed on their property, the police pin them as suspects — and their world turns upside down.
Damon has always been haunted by his father’s past, but more than ever before, being Cal Jones’s son is an even bigger burden to bear. Worse yet, his wife is getting dragged through the mud along with him.
Can Damon prove their innocence, or will his father’s legacy finally destroy everything Damon and Ariana have worked so hard to build?
Starting over in your forties is never easy. But Grace isn't your average gal, and she's more than ready to chase her lifelong dream to a new town, preferably somewhere far, far, away from her ex. If only he would get the message and stay away.
Grace knows how to make the perfect brew, and she knows she can turn her coffee-making skills into a living with the right chance. She's found a beautiful start and pulls into her new town filled with hope, but hope melts away as danger moves in.
When Grace starts receiving threats that escalate one by one, it becomes clear someone doesn't want her there. Still, despite the danger around her, friendships are born, and Grace finds a connection she didn't expect.
With dead bodies, threats, and new friends, Grace must face her situation head-on and decide if she made the right choice. If she doesn't take matters into her own hands, she may wind up dead.
This midlife coffee-fueled mystery is filled with laughter, suspense, and a healthy dose of hot brew! If you like coffee mysteries mixed with humor and clues, this is for you!
Ghost of a chance?
Fortune is thrilled when Ben Harrison, her former CIA partner, and his fiancée, Cassidy, decide to leave DC and move to the Louisiana bayous. They’ve already secured jobs and are only lacking a place to live, so everyone is excited when they quickly find a home. There’s only one problem—the house has a reputation. It’s haunted.
Fortune doesn’t believe in ghosts, but when Cassidy starts seeing a woman in white inside her house and can’t determine how she’s entering or exiting, Fortune knows she’s got to figure out what’s going on before things get worse. As Swamp Team 3 takes on the “spirited” case, they dive into a decades-old mystery of love, money, voodoo curses, and a missing woman. But can they get answers before Ben and Cassidy give up the ghost and go back to DC?
Was it a joke gone wrong—or something more sinister?
It’s summer in Colorado, and Sir Edmund Marsland’s family are enjoying their visit to the West—though not everyone at the Wellman ranch is quite as happy with the company of the English family. The mood changes for the worse when an accident with a horse nearly claims the life of Sir Edmund’s young son. And with the discovery that someone deliberately caused the accident, suspicions and tensions divide the party. Was it meant for a practical joke—or was it for spite—or was there a motive for murder? Mrs. Meade may be the only guest at the ranch without title or fortune, but she may also be the only one who can get at the truth…
Ofelia Archer is working toward a goal, both personally and professionally, and she’s making great strides on both. Her attention is diverted, however, when a steamboat washes ashore next to the riverwalk…and it’s a boat that is more than a hundred years overdue.
The Adelaide was supposedly lost on the river back in the day, all souls onboard believed lost, and yet it’s in New Orleans…and it might not be empty.
Ofelia and her boyfriend Zach Sully are part of the first team to visit the boat, and almost immediately Ofelia is struck by the reality they’re not alone. Unfortunately for her, she can’t pin down a source for the feeling. When ghosts start haunting her home and dreams, however, the story begins to take shape.
The Adelaide was besieged by darkness before the end came. Now that darkness is pointed at New Orleans. It’s up to Ofelia and Sully to put an end to it all…even when the darkness decides Ofelia is the new target.
Some bonds last a lifetime. Some last beyond. The bonds from the Adelaide are something more, and not even death can tear them asunder. It can take aim at Ofelia, however, which means she could be joining the dead before it’s all said and done.
The heist should have been a simple one: infiltrate the top floor of a luxury New York City penthouse, steal a server with compromising data from under the noses of the unsuspecting guards, and slip back out. Fiona, master thief and occasional assassin, has pulled off similar jobs dozens of times. But with a massive hurricane bearing down on the East Coast, the timing is tight and the escape routes are limited—and that’s before she discovers something horrific in the penthouse’s master bedroom.
Now Fiona’s on the run, trying to stay one step ahead of rising floodwaters and an army of hired assassins. Her husband Bill, the finest hustler between Florida and Maine, can’t help her: he’s been kidnapped by a group of dirty cops who want the secret millions left by his former employer. The night will take the two of them from the heights of money and power in Lower Manhattan to a haunted island in the East River where no secrets stay buried forever.
It’s going to be one hell of a night… and one hell of a mess.
WHO YOU GONNA CALL WHEN YOUR HEIST GOES WRONG?
It should have been the perfect heist. The crooks thought of everything—scoped out a briefcase full of bearer bonds, distracted the driver of its armored car, and used some old-fashioned firepower for gentle persuasion.
All neat and tidy except for one thing—there’s nothing in the briefcase but blank paper.
Well, they’re not going to take this lying down! They hire private investigator Lou Fleener to get their loot back.
Then Lou’s business partners—his feisty wife Cassidy and their brilliant friend Monk—get hired to find the briefcase by its original owners.
A once-in-a-lifetime piece of luck! Ethics thrown to the wind, they’re now working both sides of the case, and feeling pretty smug about it. What could be better?
Just about anything, it turns out.
Phadre Golmin and Jiarna Kay are perfectly matched. Both astounding intellects, sharing a passion for academic pursuits and each other. Traveling from the University of Maradaine to Trenn College in Yin Mara, they are excited for the opportunity to study magical and mystical theory with the famed Professor Salarmin. So when they come across a dead body that defies all logic, they should leave it alone.
But Phadre and Jiarna tasted adventure in Maradaine, so the discovery of similar victims, paired with their scientific curiosity, makes the situation far too intriguing to ignore. Knowing that they alone have the knowledge to unravel the mystery, Phadre and Jiarna are determined to resolve it, no matter the cost to their academic careers.
An ancient medallion has turned ten-year-old Hollis Whittaker into the U.S. military's top target. Through the artifact, the boy shares a mind with an alien, and possesses the most advanced brain on the planet, capable of teleporting people through space and time.
A Native American woman, her grandfather, a computer nerd, the boy's best friend and an involuntary time traveler will do anything they can to help, but when Hollis' parents disappear, their plan to flee the country and relocate to Central America is scrapped.
Then a mysterious insect appears, followed by an old woman bearing another medallion. The Bolivian stranger has been endowed with different capabilities than Hollis. She tells him that he is unwittingly damaging spacetime and that the consequences could be disastrous.
Is the woman connected to a 1958 nuclear explosion in the Amazon Jungle? Can she help locate Hollis' parents? Can a ragtag band of misfits protect the boy against the mightiest military in the world? And what's all of this got to do with aliens?
All bets are off when a madman calls the shots.
After Special Agent Stella Knox’s friend and FBI tech ace Mac drops a bombshell regarding the death of Stella’s father, she can’t wait to follow up on the lead. But that’s put on the backburner when six people are abducted from a dinner party—the door open, the table laid, and the meal started. Even more disturbing is that a two-year-old is among the missing.
With no sign of a struggle and the only fingerprints belonging to the guests, there’s little to go on. Soon, a body is found in a drainage ditch on the edge of town, shot in the back at close range.
Followed by another.
While Stella and her team scramble to piece together a limited set of clues, a madman is calling the shots in a sadistic game where even the winners lose it all.
Now, it’s a race to find the remaining hostages...while they’re still alive.
The Ludlow beggar One-eye Dick finds the scattered bones of two dead men on a hillside north of the town — and a precious gold ring. Hoping to make some easy money, he sells the ring to Will Thumper, a well-known criminal in town, who then resells the ring to a crooked Ludlow goldsmith.
But the ring is identified as belonging to a wealthy cattle merchant and his bodyguard who went missing weeks before. Thumper is arrested and charged with the merchant’s murder and that of the bodyguard. Given Thumper’s unsavory reputation, it is obvious that the local jury who know him well will be happy to send him to the gallows regardless of the evidence.
Yet Stephen Attebrook, newly appointed as coroner for southern Shropshire, has doubts. These are strong enough to entice him to promise Thumper’s family that he will do what he can to exonerate the rogue.
Thumper’s dilemma is the least of Stephen’s troubles. For he must confront the campaign of one of his greatest enemies, Nigel FitzSimmons, to convict him of treason and the vendetta of the brother of a man he killed in battle. Defeat by either man means Stephen’s death and the confiscation of his manor.
With things finally back on track after the death of her husband, Ally is ready for a break and to settle down to a quiet, conventional life with her new boyfriend...
But those hopes are shattered with the appearance of a new ghost... begging for her help with a cryptic message about some place called White Haven Manor, a stately home from the early 1800s but now a long-abandoned ruin with a terrifying reputation.
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