Indie Crime Fiction of the Month for June 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 May 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, small town mysteries, historical mysteries, Jazz Age mysteries, 1950s mysteries, 1960s mysteries, paranormal mysteries, crime thrillers, adventure thrillers, action thrillers, police officers, FBI agents, amateur sleuths, assassins, serial killers, drug cartels, revenge, murderous ghosts, alien invasions, deadly book clubs, crime-busting witches, crime-busting socialites, crime-busting seamstresses, crime-busting dogs, murder and mayhem in London, Seattle, Mobile, New Orleans, the British Seaside, New Zealand, the Caribbean 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:
November in Mobile, Alabama is a long way from the horrors of the sweltering jungles of Vietnam.
In the fall of 1968, what passes for winter is coming to the heart of the deep South. And so are death, deception, draft evasion, drugs, and heartache.
Hugo August has come home, or at least the nearest thing to a home he has ever known. As a newly minted detective in the police department, he must investigate the murder of a wealthy socialite.
The appearance of Bebe Prescott, the forbidden fruit of Hugo’s late-night longings and lifelong obsession, complicates the case. A product of the Catholic orphanage, Hugo is well aware of the social stratification of Mobile society. Bebe is as far removed from his reality as the moon, and yet, they have always had chemistry.
Spurred by a desire for justice and to prove his worth, Hugo must wade through the complications of the wealthy family’s business, social connections, dark secrets, and often tragic history while guarding his own demons.
Jack and Ham are facing the loss of a dear friend. A final visit, a final goodbye is ahead with the limited time left.
Soon, however, things are amiss. What seems innocent becomes sinister as the days pass, and they start to wonder just what they’ve fallen into.
With Carter off on a military mission, there’s a new sheriff in town, and Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie have been tasked with not interfering. But then a young girl is pulled out of the swamp, unconscious and with no memory of how she got there. And when no one comes to claim her, Fortune knows they have to help.
For decades, a mysterious group known only as the Brethren has been rumored to live deep in the swamp, their contact with civilization rare. Some suggest the girl might have been one of them, but if so, why was she alone in the swamp in the middle of the night? Swamp Team 3 is on the case, but long-buried secrets like to stay that way, and finding the Brethren proves to be a difficult and dangerous task. The deeper they dig, the more pieces of the puzzle they expose, but can they put the pieces together in time to save the girl?
Betrayal puts Sam Raven on a course for revenge.
It was the kind of job Raven couldn’t turn down. A daughter dead from a drug overdose, a father who wants the man responsible dead—and not only the street pushers. Kendrick Ward wants the cartel boss responsible removed from existence. Raven agrees, and he and his team of mercenaries fly into Colombia. Mission: kill narco boss Martin Sevilla and crush his empire.
But when the job is done, Ward pulls a double cross, and makes a big mistake. Only Raven survives the ambush.
Now Raven is ready to give back twice as much as received. He crashes through the heart of the betrayal to find a conspiracy of epic proportions, American Big Business and other cartel bosses working hand-in-hand. Raven’s fighting a war without end, and the circle of violence spares no one. It’s go time.
Quiet Fenwood-On-Sea is the perfect place for an heiress with secrets to hide. Or a killer.
Beautiful heiress Meredith Thatch married for love, and scandalized her community in the process. But her neighbors don't know the half of it. These days, she and spouse Alec keep a low profile, managing her hospital for recovering soldiers and invalids - and growing the finest roses in the county.
But when the most despised landowner in the area winds up dead shortly after feuding with the hospital, the finger of suspicion turns on the couple. And that's only the first murder.
With a Scotland Yard inspector asking uncomfortable questions and a killer on the loose, they need to solve the crime sooner rather than later. But how can they find a killer when there are suspects everywhere they turn, and motives all over the place?
After the bodies of six young girls were discovered in a shipping container that had been dumped in a scrapyard, FBI agent Blake Wilder is summoned onto the horrific scene. A closer inspection of the bodies reveals strange markings, similar to Spenser's victims in Sweetwater Falls.
Could it be the markings used by the ruthless Yokai Syndicate, led by the shadowy figure called Enenra? The Syndicate responsible for the disappearance and death of hundreds of young girls over the years.
Fearing blood in the streets and containers full of young girls’ bodies popping up everywhere, Blake reluctantly turns to her old ally, Fish, for help.
As betrayal and deceit surrounds her at every turn, Blake isn’t sure who she can trust. With the help of her former colleague Spenser Song, and Caitlin Tanaka will Blake be able to put an end to The Syndicate’s sadistic crimes for good?
It seems to be reunion time in the Seattle field office for Blake Wilder. Unfortunately, with death knocking on their doorstep the reunion may be short lived…
Spring has hit Casper Creek. That means construction on Hannah Hickok’s future home with her fiancé Cooper Wyatt is finally commencing, and work on the new restaurant in town is getting close to completion. Everything should be perfect in her world.
There’s just one little problem.
A ghost from the past has decided to haunt the present…and he’s not a normal ghost. He’s riding a ghost horse. And, oh yeah, he’s firing a gun. Ghost bullets shouldn’t be a threat, and yet these bullets are killing people.
A scarf left at one of the scenes leads Hannah to look at the area’s bootlegger past. It seems there’s a cabin not far from Casper Creek, and their ghost might have originated from there. Where has he been for the past century, though? And, more importantly, why is he back?
As the bodies begin to stack up, Hannah begins to suspect they’ve got more than a murderous ghost on her hands. The human element of the equation is impossible to uncover, however.
Hannah is determined to find answers. She just needs a place to start looking.
Can senior sleuth Martha and her cute puppy Teddy discover who killed a member of their book club – before it’s too late?
When Pru, the new assistant librarian at the Gold Leaf Valley library, knocks on Martha’s door asking to be her roommate, she has no idea she’ll soon become a member of the Senior Sleuthing Club, despite being a lot younger than Martha.
In charge of setting up a new book club at the library, Pru is worried not enough people will join. So Martha agrees to come, although she dislikes the book they have to read.
When Pru and Martha stumble across the dead body of one of the book club members, Martha decides they must investigate, along with her fluffy white puppy, Teddy!
They snoop around the Gold-Rush era small town, and visit their friends Annie, Lauren, and Zoe at the Norwegian Forest Cat Café to discuss the case.
But when they respond to an anonymous note, the three of them find themselves in peril! Can they discover the killer and escape in time, before it’s too late?
I’m Sydney Lockhart. I solve murders, most of which I’m the primary suspect. My fiancée, Ralph Dixon, and I came to New Orleans to get married. Instead, he’s been arrested for a double murder, and I’m hunting for the real killer. Assisting me are a twelve-year-old voodoo queen, a ghost detective, and my crazy cousin Ruth. Wish me luck. I’ll need it.
Charlie Rhodes has seen it all. Witches. Ghosts. The Chupacabra. Now she’s about to head down a different road … and it’s one she’s not prepared for.
When three bodies show up drained of fluids in Roswell, New Mexico, the Legacy Foundation is sent out to investigate. The assumption, because of where it happened, is aliens. Charlie isn’t so sure, though.
As the team leader, Chris is gung-ho to chase visitors from another planet. That means camping out at Bottomless Lakes Park, something nobody but Chris is keen to do. Between alien enthusiasts whooping it up at the far end of the park and Charlie’s belief that she’s being haunted by a ghost, the group has their hands full.
Roswell is a weird place. It’s also the sort of place where secrets can be hidden for a very long time. The caves beneath Bottomless Lakes run deep. There just might be a different sort of monster hiding there, however.
Charlie knows she has a big fight in front of her. This trip will help her get ready … as long as she survives the darkness that’s threatening to take over the area.
Charlie’s past ghosts are about to collide with her future dreams. The collision promises to be out of this world.
When Dean receives a distraught phone call from his ex-girlfriend.
He rushes to her home to find a horrific and dreadful scene...
A ransacked house and her bloodied body lying on the floor.
As the police and her husband arrive at the scene, Dean learns that his ex's son is also missing.
While Dean searches for answers behind her death, a bombing kills a friend from his days in the military.
At the memorial service, Dean has to confront people he hasn't seen in years while facing memories of a tragic event that left them all scarred.
The situation takes a darker turn as mysterious classified documents appear in his hotel room, leading to even grimmer twists.
With the body count rising, it seems someone is after the survivors for their secrets.
Dean just has to stay alive long enough to figure out who and why...
Charity Styles had been the catalyst for the demise of many. But in the past that usually meant the end of a human life. As an assassin for the CIA, it came with the territory.
But this time she feels responsible for the end two of her friend’s relationship.
She sets out on a voyage to find one of the partners in the hopes of rectifying the rift she helped create. Along the way, she encounters a deadly foe, bent on becoming rich regardless of how many must suffer or die.
Charity finds her friend but before they can reconcile the problem, they must join forces with an animal rights activist to rescue an innocent woman from a Mexican cartel involved in the trafficking of endangered wildlife.
Facing down armed and powerful cartel members will be child’s play compared to the fight yet to come when Charity admits what she’s done.
It’s the height of summer in Campeche, but when Charity Styles is around, things tend to get even hotter.
There are two things that can’t talk—moving pictures and dead showgirls…
1920, Wellington, New Zealand. Grace Devine is poised to build her thriving dress design business as the twenties begin to soar. But when a fashionable client is murdered, suspicion falls on Grace as the last person to see Agatha alive.
As wary clients cancel and business begins to fail, Grace decides there’s only one way to prove her innocence and save her career…this seamstress will turn sleuth to find who really murdered the showgirl.
The more she learns, the more she uncovers of the darker side of the dead woman’s personality. Agatha liked to collect secrets and use them against people. But what target snapped that fatal night? Can Grace stitch together the clues before her life is torn apart…
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