Indie Crime Fiction of the Month for April 2023
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 March 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 hardboild mysteries, cozy mysteries, culinary mysteries, historical mysteries, historical fantasy mysteries, Edwardian mysteries, Jazz Age mysteries, paranormal mysteries, humorous mysteries, crime thrillers, legal thrillers, adventure thrillers, spy thrillers, police procedurals, police officers, FBI agents, private investigators, amateur sleuths, lawyers, spies, con artists, cold cases, missing girls, missing judges, human trafficking, kidnapping, treasure hunts, protected witnesses, crime-busting witches, crime-busting socialites, murderous succubi, murder and mayhem in London, New Orleans, Prague, Cleveland, Detroit, New Jersey, Florida, Brazil 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 visit to relatives in Newport is supposed to give Sylvia time to rest and consider the latest revelation about Miles’ past. But when a picnic hosted by the local yacht club ends with a mysterious death, Sylvia is drawn into a dangerous investigation.
When Bernie Smyth trades her Hollywood fame for witness protection in a small Italian-American town in New Jersey, she doesn’t expect to play the role of her career: prime murder suspect.
Bernie co-starred in America’s favorite TV detective series, Silver & Gold. But after testifying against the show’s leading man, she abandons her career to hide out in Carmine, New Jersey, a small town with a rich Italian-American heritage. She gets a job at the crummy Cafe Roma and vows to keep a low profile.
But when Bernie stumbles on her boss with a knife in his back, Chief of Police Diana Tedesco believes she’s found the killer.
Can Bernie unmask the real killer before they strike again? And can she keep her true identity hidden, even as she reprises her role as TV detective Eve Silver in real life?
No crime can stay secret forever, can it?
When a suspicious break-in at an abandoned bowling club is reported, Detective Tom Blake discovers a large pool of dried blood in the hallway, but where is the body?
Later, enquiries reveal that a teenager and middle-aged man connected to the property disappeared without a trace in 1978.
When the burglar's DNA comes back as a familial match to a notorious paedophile sports coach, Bob Bennault: soon to be released from a ten-year prison sentence, a dark picture slowly emerges. Is it just a coincidence one of Bennault’s relatives broke into 28 Chapel Road, or is there something far more sinister going on?
Blake and his team delve into the original missing person case, but someone is hiding the disturbing truth, and they will stop at nothing to ensure it stays buried.
Will Blake and a forensic team with ground-penetrating radar unearth the deadly truth surrounding the house of lies before a devastating hit-and-run involving his family leaves Blake questioning whether his life is worth living?
Once again, Vi and friends are out and about. This time, they've come to a lovely little seaside carnival to visit friends they haven't seen in a while.
They watched the clowns, witness the acrobats, visit the strange and unusual, and invite the psychic to a small party. Instead of a journey or a windfall, they're told to beware. Is it a surprise their minds turn to crime? Hardly. And when a murder takes place, they have to follow the steps of what happened and prepare for the most unsuaul crime they've seen yet.
When his rabbi calls him after Yom Kippur, private eye Benjamin Gold thinks it’s just to yell at him for skipping services—but it’s even worse than that.
It turns out that Benny missed more than some prayers and a sermon: While everyone else was atoning for their sins, a fight broke out in synagogue when a visitor accused one of the leading members of the congregation of being a Nazi collaborator.
Is Mendel Kahn the upstanding benefactor of Cleveland’s Jewish community he seems to be? Is his real-estate fortune the product of ten years of hard work and good luck, or does his success have a more sinister origin? Is he even Mendel Kahn—or is he really Yitzhak Fried, who exploited and tortured his fellow Jews during the War?
As Gold digs into Kahn’s dark story, he learns that the man’s present is bad enough: he’s a slumlord, a gangster, and a sadist. He also doesn’t appreciate being investigated…and he has some large and dangerous friends. Can Benjamin Gold survive long enough to uncover the real story of Mendel Kahn’s past?
Dog Island holds decades of secrets and mysteries based on tales of buried treasure, and it’s a small island . . . anybody on it will be ensnared in its web of greed. So it’s not surprising when reporter Will Harper, performing a welfare check for a friend, finds his current story blown off-course when he gets there.
This seductive Florida mystery series combines lazy, beer-swilling fishing days with full-throttle action, as the restless reporter’s WanderLust and dedication carry him on his quest to expose corruption in the Sunshine State.
Will’s been following a yarn on Medicare fraud in semi-retired fashion: by moseying up the Florida coast in his fifty-seven-foot trawler the WanderLust, hitting every beer joint that serves fried seafood.
It’s quite a shock when he arrives on the island to find a reclusive author held hostage in his house and murderous (but sometimes amusingly dense) thieves with bags of stolen money popping in and out of island hideaways and on and off of boats in a maritime version of a French farce.
Their desperate shenanigans would almost be amusing if someone’s life wasn’t at stake.
It seems the buried treasure tales have been stirred to life by a misguided and highly incompetent petty criminal who hasn’t figured on his escape plan being thwarted by a much more experienced, but equally murderous con artist with his own agenda and escape plan.
After years spent teaching, Ronald Jones is ready to escape his chronic anxiety and distrust of others and resolves to explore the world. His first destination? Brazil - a place he once visited as a young man.
But just as he's ready to embark on his adventure, the enigmatic Mr Smith appears on his doorstep, turning his world upside down. Suddenly, Jones finds himself in a new and dangerous existence, surrounded by moody men in suits, shape-shifting female agents, spooks, and robotic controllers. With no apparent experience of this new world, Jones is in mortal danger and way out of his depth.
Private Investigator Dev Haskell is visited by Melissa Carter, the daughter of a former friend. Both her parents were killed in a hit-and-run ‘accident’ a few years earlier. She has strong doubts it was an accident and asks Dev to investigate. He grudgingly takes on the case, but the more he learns the more he’s convinced Melissa is on to something.
At the same time, Dev is summoned by local crime Lord Tubby Gustafson. Turns out Tubby would like a favor and 'No' is not an option. Dev takes on Tubby’s nephew, Erik, as an apprentice and learns, to his surprise, that Erik is actually a pretty nice guy and a very hard worker. That’s good because the hit-and-run investigation quickly turns into an exploration of the darker side of a local property mogul, and Dev and Erik are going to need all the help they can get.
Better get your copy now and see if Dev can survive...
When a congressman's daughter goes missing,
FBI agent Blake Wilder and her team are sent to Iowa to find the missing girl.
Already dealing with a mysterious figure who keeps sending her body parts, now Blake finds herself under attack from within her own unit. Against the backdrop of an impending OPR review, Blake and her Black Cell team head to Iowa to search for Teagan Stills, the missing daughter of Congressman Elton Stills, at the behest of the Director of the FBI himself.
When they touch down in the Hawkeye state though, Blake gets caught up in a mystery unlike anything she has ever encountered before. With a list of suspects that’s a who’s who of the D.C. elites, Blake’s team uncovers evidence that the Congressman’s daughter has been living a secret double-life. A life that not even her father had a clue existed. As they are hit by a host of unsavory revelations, the focus of the investigation turns on those closest to her.
As Blake slowly starts to unravel the case, she discovers a twisted and sordid tale that leaves her shaken.
They say the truth will set you free, or in this case... it might just kill you.
Who killed Lexi Wise?
Former FBI agent Spenser Song thought she was leaving the chaos behind her after taking the job as Sheriff of Sweetwater Falls.
But when a monster from her past catches up with her, she finds herself fighting for her life once again.
Despite the danger, Spenser begins to settle in, making new friends and earning the respect of the local townspeople.
Just as she starts to feel at home, a new mystery rocks the community.
The body of Lexi Wise, a local girl who vanished fifteen years ago, has suddenly turned up.
As tensions rise and old wounds reopen, Spenser is thrust into the middle of a web of secrets and lies.
Everyone wants to know who killed Lexi Wise, and they're all looking to Spenser for answers.
As Spenser's investigation deepens, she realizes that nothing is as it seems in Sweetwater Falls. With every clue she uncovers, the town's foundations start to crumble, leading her down a path that will change everything she thought she knew about the people she's come to call her new friends. Leading to a shocking conclusion that no one saw coming...
Ofelia Archer’s life is looking up. Her father is in the hospital getting the help he needs, her mother is seemingly distracted with some new walking group, and her brother is finally opening his own bar. Things couldn’t be better … until a body is found.
Shawn Dawson was just out to have a good time. He drank late into the night and somehow ended up dead in an alley. It wasn’t a normal death either. He was drained of everything fluid he possessed, which points to something paranormal.
There’s a succubus on the loose in the French Quarter, and even though she’s newly turned, she has ties to the area. When Ofelia interrupts her feeding schedule, she becomes the creature’s enemy … and the new target is Zach Sully, Ofelia’s fiancé.
Ofelia would do anything to protect the man who stole her heart, but her options seem limited. That means a fight … and it’s going to have to be between the women alone, because the succubus has a special power over the men.
Ofelia might have sympathy for the succubus’s plight, but that won’t stop her from doing what she has to do to protect those she loves.
It’s a fight to the finish, and only one woman will come out victorious.
Small-town lawyer Cass Leary’s latest client just dug up a decades-old, million-dollar mystery hidden under the floorboards of her grandmother’s house.
Zoe Paul never had much. Abandoned as an infant, her grandmother Marilyn raised her until a tragic accident left Zoe all alone. Now, sixteen years later, Zoe discovers an unclaimed check worth millions among her grandmother’s things. With no explanation why Marilyn never cashed the check or what it was for, Zoe's curiosity quickly turns to suspicion and she goes to Cass for help.
Cass is used to representing small-town clients with big-time troubles, but this newfound windfall may be more curse than blessing. Soon Zoe’s long-lost relatives crawl out of the woodwork with claims to the funds. Cass must face-off with them in a bitter courtroom battle that draws sinister attention.
While Cass investigates the check's origins and the events leading up to Marilyn's accident, she exposes a dangerous web of deceit that threatens Zoe's safety as well as her own. The truth could either set Zoe up for life or reveal shocking family secrets worth killing for.
Will Cass unravel the mystery or become the next victim of a deadly cover up?
Welcome to the Cathedral!
Luna Thorn’s past is a mystery … even to herself.
She arrived in Detroit amidst a swirl of lights and magic. She had no memory of where she came from. No idea why she was there.
Years later, she’s established herself as a force to be reckoned with on the Detroit magical scene. She ingratiated herself with the local reapers. She set up a community called the Cathedral to help those who had been displaced from their homes and families, declaring that nobody would fall through the cracks.
Still, doubt remains. Luna is determined to figure out why she’s in Detroit. She needs to know what she’s supposed to accomplish within the city’s crumbling boundaries. Her story is nowhere near finished.
When a body shows up on the grounds of the Cathedral, her quest kicks into overdrive. Ritual murders aren’t her forte, but this one is going to haunt Luna. Also haunting her is Jesse Wilder, a young detective who has been paired with an old friend. He has specific beliefs about what’s happening. Luna’s opinion doesn’t match up in the least.
He’s a “by the rules” guy. Luna likes to fly by the seat of her pants. She’s never met a problem she didn’t want to improvise.
It’s going to take both of them to solve this case. Even then, it will only be the beginning of their tale.
Settle in for excitement. Luna Thorn is about to change everything you know about the magical world.
There’s no going back … for any of them.
Stormy Morgan’s life took a rocky turn, but things are looking up. Sure, she’s a new witch living in her childhood hometown but she’s looking forward to the future. That includes her boyfriend Hunter Ryan moving in with her so they can save up to buy Stormy’s dream house in the spring. Things are going as planned … until a scream interrupts moving day.
It’s chaos on the street, and all that Stormy and Hunter can ascertain is that Edmund, the neighborhood Lothario, is dead, and four of the many women he was screwing around with are standing over his body.
All claim ignorance regarding what happened, but there’s an air of unease rippling through the group and it makes Stormy jittery. Things only go from bad to worse when the dead man’s soul decides he wants a new body … and Hunter’s will do.
If that wasn’t bad enough, there’s a new man in town … and he has Stormy and her magic in his sights. He also seems to be communicating with her cat after dark. That’s not suspicious at all, right?
Stormy might be new to magic but she’s relentless when it comes to protecting the people she loves most. She’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Hunter is safe, and as for that cat? The truth is about to come out.
So, sit back, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
A dream trip to Prague for two girls turned into their parents’ worst nightmare, when the girls were taken in plain sight...
FBI Agent Ava James has had her fair share of nightmare scenarios.
From being hunted by psychopaths to fighting serial killers.
But it pales in comparison to the trauma she had from losing her best friend, Molly.
While on vacation in Prague she and her best friend were kidnapped.
Ava was able to escape her captor, but she couldn’t save Molly.
To this day the guilt of surviving and of escaping, is a purgatory of pain that only justice could mend.
All these years Ava and her mother never stopped looking for Molly.
With fresh clues into Molly’s case, she sets her sights on an elusive underground human trafficking network.
But with this case being a personal vendetta, and unsanctioned at the Bureau,
Ava finds herself solo and in more danger than ever before.
Things never really go as planned and the search for the truth to Ava’s grim past may have unintended consequences.
Mystery, Murder and Magic…
When his nemesis from schoolboy days hires metaphysician Ned Mathey to investigate his father’s murder, Ned turns to his friend and sometime lover, detective Julian Lynes, for help. Together, they must navigate a maze of deceit, danger, their painful past and, perhaps, a chance at a future together, in an Edwardian London as full of peril as it is with magic. Can they solve the mystery at the heart of the murder to forge a new kind of partnership or will the past and society’s disapproval send them off on separate paths?
Winner of a Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ SF/F/Horror.
Blood and tears… better hide your fears.
Fresh off of bringing down the mastermind of a global criminal network, FBI agent Darcy Hunt is called upon by the Director of the FBI to look into the disappearance of a federal judge. Armed with her characteristic zeal, Darcy is led down a dark and twisted trail of half-truths and daunting revelations, making her question the veracity of some of our nation’s most prominent leaders.
Meanwhile, Marvin Hess and Toby Parsons remain deep in the shadows, patiently planning their endgame, waiting for the perfect moment to strike their final blow.
Weary and tired of waiting on the sidelines in the search for her sister, Darcy turns to an unlikely friend for leads, wagering her entire career against a fervent search for her sister.
The crosshairs were set on her long ago. Now they are zeroing in. Few will be left standing at the end of a twisted game where there are no winners, only the dead and the undead.
Tick tock goes the clock
Knock-knock comes the reaper
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