Indie Crime Fiction of the Month for January 2025
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 December 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, holiday mysteries, historical mysteries, jazz age mysteries, 1950s mysteries, paranormal mysteries, paranormal thrillers, crime thrillers, psychological thrillers, adventure thrillers, police officers, FBI agents, private investigators, amateur sleuths, missing persons, sinister pregnancies, murdered wrestlers, crime-busting witches, crime-busting socialites, crime-busting housekeepers, murder and mayhem in Manhattan, New Orleans, Tennessee, 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:
Barbara expects her life to settle down, now that she has returned to Cobbsville with all her old secrets laid to rest. But instead, she comes home to find an unexpected new member has joined the Hollis household – and brought along a deadly new mystery.
Barbara’s investigation of a murder uncovers lies and motives that have been buried for years. But can she get to the bottom of it all before finding herself at the bottom of a grave?
The truth isn’t a key to freedom — it’s a loaded gun.
When my best friend vanishes, a terrifying game of cat and mouse pulls me into a nightmare I can’t escape. Her disappearance is tangled in a web of lies that leads straight to a murder investigation—and to me. Now I’m being hunted by a shadowy cult willing to kill to keep their secrets buried. My podcast, once a voice for the voiceless, has become my death sentence.
They’re always watching, waiting for me to slip.
The clock is ticking for me to expose the conspiracy that could destroy everything—or become its next victim. With my freedom and my life on the line, I’ll have to risk it all to save the people I love. But the deeper I dig, the more I realize: some secrets were never meant to be unearthed.
A gripping psychological thriller of crime, cult intrigue, and deadly family secrets, No Safe Place will keep you breathless to the very last page.
’Tis the Season…for Murder?
Manhattan, 1926
Just a week until Christmas, a very pregnant Penelope Prescott (née Banks) finds herself confined to bed, awaiting the arrival of the newest addition to the family. With her private investigation business on hold, she’s left with little to do but read the newspaper and watch the comings and goings in the new apartment building across the street.
Or so she thought...
When a familiar, jolly-faced, older man moves into the penthouse across the street and throws a family holiday party, Pen expects nothing more than festive cheer. But when the host vanishes, her sharp mind can’t help but suspect foul play.
With the help of a few trusted friends—and her police detective husband—Penelope must solve the mystery before the arrival of Christmas...and her little one!
Cassie Nichols wants a baby. Badly.
She’s certain a baby will anchor the crumbling relationship with her husband, Jake, who she suspects is having an affair.
But after a miscarriage and continued trouble getting pregnant leads the couple down the frustrating and expensive road of in vitro fertilization, Cassie finds herself running out of time.
Pumped on hormones, fueled by anxiety, and believing it is the only way to save her marriage, she does the unthinkable to ensure a viable pregnancy.
Now, the happy family she envisioned remains out of reach and is instead wrought with lies, deception, and murder.
Sins can be forgiven, but some can be like a curse, afflicting and tormenting until the last breath.
Former FBI Agent Spenser Song is on the path to healing from tragedy and betrayal. After moving to Sweetwater Falls and settling into her cabin in the idyllic woods, she has found a sense of belonging and peace as the town’s Sheriff.
While having breakfast with Ryker, Spenser is notified about a grim new case. A female victim has been found shot on the side of a rural road.
Upon arrival at the crime scene, Spenser recognizes the deceased woman. The acclaimed author, Dallas James. Spenser had just provided security for her a few days prior.
Speculations and theories circulate in town, leaving more confusion than answers.
A deep dive into the victim's life reveals many passion-fueled twists.
It is said that a deceitful heart is deadlier than any weapon.
The sins of the falls might lead its participants on the road to their demise.
Christmas has come to the Quarter, and that means big things for Ofelia Archer.
Her father is getting out of the hospital for a holiday visit, she’s about to meet two future sisters-in-law for the first time, and this is her first Christmas with her fiancé.
She should be on top of the world.
There’s just one little problem.
Bodies are showing up around the French Quarter, what looks to be candy canes pierced through their hearts. When those candy canes are removed, some of the victims come back, and they’re different people. Not zombies or anything, but suddenly better people than they were when they were stabbed. It seems they’ve been imbued with the Christmas spirit out of nowhere.
And some others aren’t coming back at all.
The attacks have “demon” written all over them. This demon, however, thinks he’s Santa Claus. He wears the suit and everything.
Ofelia is determined to have a good holiday. She just has a fight to finish before she can get to the nog and presents of it all.
It’s going to be a doozy of a fight.
When a young girl goes missing on the way to her bus, Maddie Graves-Winters goes searching and finds the sort of mystery she never wanted to uncover.
The girl, crying and shaking and talking about a monster, is okay when Maddie finds her. What they discover with the girl isn’t, however.
When Maddie and her husband Nick were in high school, three teenagers went missing. Everybody assumed they fled to Detroit for some fun and never came back, but it turns out, they never left Blackstone Bay.
The new case seems to coincide with the old case but nobody can figure out how. Even when Maddie calls in her friend Ivy Morgan to help, there are more questions than answers.
Blackstone Bay always felt like a safe place to live. Now Maddie isn’t certain. On top of that, her son is having dreams where he’s lost in dark woods. They’re the same dreams Maddie is having. The same monsters haunting them both.
When the unthinkable happens and another girl goes missing, the clock starts ticking. Can Maddie save the day, or will the past ruin the present all over again?
Moonstone Bay is in a tizzy. Not only has a new village been discovered—it was hidden by magic for hundreds of years—but family members long thought dead are back and infiltrating lives that had changed in their absence.
It is not all smooth sailing.
Hadley Hunter is trying to keep things under wraps but she’s as excited to explore the village as anybody. There’s just one little problem. How did a body make it into the village when it was magically warded to keep people out?
A local shifter is dead and Hadley and her merry band of paranormal powerhouses are on the case. She thought the village had given up all of its mysteries. What if she was wrong, though?
Hadley’s dreams are being haunted, her future uncertain, her friends in turmoil. Is it an old enemy coming back, or is someone new—someone terrible—on the horizon?
Hadley is about to find out. She’s not going to want to hear the answer. Nobody is.
Stormy Morgan should be on top of the world. She’s engaged, about to move into her dreamhouse, and her magic is stabilizing. In fact, she’s becoming one heckuva witch.
Too bad trouble keeps finding her.
This time it comes in the form of a gang of kids who appear to be stealing cars from various townsfolk. It’s become a big enough issue that everybody in town is becoming unnerved, paranoid even. Their solution is to form a Neighborhood Watch, which should be okay in theory. Unfortunately, the reality is anything but.
Stormy’s dreams are being plagued by threatening shadows, to the point where she thinks she’s being watched. On top of that, there’s something odd going on with the mayor and his wife, which just might involve one of Stormy’s cousins. That would be enough to keep Stormy busy, but there’s more.
The residents are acting odd. They’re not just fighting crime, they’re treating it as if it’s life or death. They’re getting aggressive, and everybody is in danger. That’s everybody.
Stormy doesn’t know where to start. Is she dealing with one problem or multiple problems? She’s going to need help to get to the bottom of things. Even her powerful allies might not be enough to save the town.
Shadow Hills is home but suddenly it feels like a different place. Will Stormy be able to save Shadow Hills—and everybody who lives there—before it’s too late?
Strap in. You’re about to find out.
There’s no mercy for the wicked. And the heart of a killer will not be spared.
PI Dean Steele has put many evil masked men behind bars. While attending a wrestling match with Xavier, Dean witnesses one of the masked wrestlers drops unconscious on stage. The unmasking reveals a shocking twist, and the death causes a ripple throughout the entire Wrestling Federation.
Dean goes undercover and stumbles upon clues that may change everything. When another wrestler’s body is found, brutally murdered, it appears that these Goliath-like men are being strategically taken out.
Dean has wrestled with many mysteries. No one could have prepared him for this twisted reveal.
Under the mask, no one is who they seem.
Jesse McDermitt has done it. He has escaped the ugliness so pervasive in modern society, and along with his family and a few close friends, they have set out aboard a boat he designed himself for living long periods totally off the grid.
The first couple of months are peaceful, uneventful, and by today's standards, quite boring. But the crew of Taranis have the sun, sea, and quiet coves to explore, where there aren't even any footprints in the sand.
Until they reach their destination.
The island of Dominica, in the middle of the Leeward Islands, rises straight up out of the Caribbean, with volcanic peaks shrouded in mist from the many steam vents and Boiling Lake itself.
Little does McDermitt know, but the island is also a staging area for drugs and arms coming up out of South America. When a group of men on a luxury cruising yacht reveal clues as to who they really are, Jesse handles things in his trademark fashion... murder and mayhem in paradise.
Curse the darkness. Or embrace it. There’s no other choice.
Special Agent Emma Last barely survived the psychic attack that tore through her when she drove past her hometown of Salem for a case. At the time, she was chasing a cannibal through a booby-trapped wilderness, but the shadows of Salem have lingered, haunting her every mile.
Now, she’s not just driving past—she’s going back. On purpose.
Emma and two of her closest colleagues arrive to assist with a puzzling crime wave plaguing Salem. Four unrelated arsons, over a dozen muggings, vandalism, carjacking, home invasions. Every crime has been committed by a person with no criminal background. Stranger still, none remember their crimes.
Emma knows something sinister and supernatural is at play. Her late mother’s two best friends each blame the other for using magic to manipulate the people of Salem into acts of violence. But as the attacks escalate to murder, Emma uncovers a chilling truth. One of the women deliberately lured Emma to Salem to kill her.
But which one?
Fighting a threat she can’t see and unsure who she can trust, Emma must find the source of the madness destroying Salem. Before it destroys her.
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