Flowers For Her Grave

On the floor, amongst the piles of freshly pressed laundry, lay the woman's lifeless body, her pale yellow nightdress soaked in blood. "I didn't do it..." came a whisper from the corner of the room. Detective Katie Scott has never seen two people more in love than her aunt and uncle as they danced on the decking the night of their wedding anniversary party. But the next morning, when Katie finds her aunt's body sprawled across the floor, that perfect image is shattered forever. All fingers point to Katie's uncle, Pine Valley's beloved sheriff and protector - after all, his prints are all over the antique knife found at the scene. Grieving, but certain of her uncle's innocence, Katie is consigned to the cold case division after she's discovered searching the house for clues. Does someone want to keep her as far away from this investigation as possible? Ignoring warnings from her team, Katie digs into her uncle's old case files and discovers photographs of the body of a young girl found tied to a tree after a hike in search of a rare flower. Her body is covered with the same unusual lacerations her aunt suffered. Katie knows it can't be a coincidence, but every lead she follows takes her to a dead end. Moments before the sheriff is arrested, Katie realises that a single piece of thread she found at the crime scene could be the missing link that will stitch old crimes to new. But how can she prove her uncle's innocence without throwing herself directly into the line of fire? She doesn't have a choice, he's the only family she has left... A totally jaw-dropping crime thriller with an ending you will never see coming! Perfect for anyone who adores Lisa Regan, Rachel Caine and Melinda Leigh. Readers adore Jennifer Chase: 'Brilliant! Brilliant! Absolutely freaking brilliant!!... Fantastic and so real.' Shalini's Books & Reviews, 5 stars 'Amazing... I couldn't put it down. Had my attention from start to finish. Plenty of suspense and twists and turns. Just when I thought I had it figured out, I was proven wrong. Will definitely recommend. Can't wait for more.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'I just couldn't stop reading. I had to know how the story panned out... One hell of a scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with several twists and turns along the way. On more than one occasion I almost had to read through my fingers as I feared what was going to happen next... got the adrenaline pumping, the blood pressure rising and sent my heart rate through the roof... I was gripped by the story and on the edge of my seat throughout.' Ginger Book Geek, 5 stars

"Readers will find themselves throughly entertained by this oddly appealing mix of the jaunty and the macabre."—Booklist Casey and Death are on the run...again. After obtaining new identification and throwing herself off the grid, she travels to Florida to begin a new life as Daisy Gray, fitness instructor for a wealthy, enclosed community. But even while keeping her head down, it doesn't take long for Casey to find herself in the middle of trouble. One of the residents is attacked, and Casey is the one to find her, bleeding on the tile floor of the locker room. Despite heroic attempts, the woman dies, and the community is thrown into turmoil. The cops are at a loss, unable to find anyone who might want the woman dead. Despite Death's urgings to go on the run again, Casey takes a careful look at the victim's life and asks who could have wanted her dead. The free-wheeling residents? The staff? And what, if anything, might Casey's predecessors in her new job have to do with it? Time to dig in and ask, even with Death on her back.

This first installment in the New York Times bestselling Crime Files series is a chilling collection of shocking crimes and the ensuing struggles to bring the perpetrators to justice—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Stranger Beside Me. The “country’s premier true crime author” (Library Journal) brings her clear-eyed, compassionate writing and investigative skills to this unputdownable anthology. Distinguished by the former Seattle police officer’s razor-sharp eye for detail and her penetrating analysis of the criminal mind, the featured case in this collection is the twisted story of Randy Roth—a man who married, and murdered, for profit. Following are compelling tales of bloody vengeance, estranged relationships that turn deadly, and fateful encounters. With her trademark “unwavering voice” (Publishers Weekly), Ann Rule exposes the darkness that lurks among us.

When Lester Desjarlais, a young Ojibwa boy, took his own life, what began as a routine inquiry into yet another Native suicide grew into a wide-ranging examination not only of his community but of the larger society which failed to save him. The 1991 inquest into his death, scheduled to last a day, broadened into one of the longest in Manitoba's history -- uncovering a tragic story of abuse, family suffering, and finally, tragedy. The author of this book, a journalist for the Winnipeg Free Press, covered the inquest.

Casey and Death are on the run...again. This time, Casey needs to make her disappearance permanent. After obtaining new identification and throwing herself off the grid, she travels to Florida to begin a new life as Daisy Gray, fitness instructor for a moneyed, enclosed community. But even while keeping her head down, it doesn’t take long for Casey to find herself in the middle of trouble. One of the residents is attacked, and Casey is the one to find her, bleeding on the tile floor of the locker room. Despite heroic attempts to save her, she dies, and the community is thrown into turmoil. The cops are at a loss, unable to find anyone who might want the woman dead. Casey, despite Death’s encouragement to “get the hell out of Dodge, or, er, Florida,” feels partially responsible, and won’t let the murderer get away with it. Besides, where else is she going to go? Is she going to abandon this life so soon, and try to forge another? Casey takes a careful look at the victim’s life. Who could possibly want such a nice, friendly woman dead? Could it be Del, the extremely muscular man from the weight room? Or Michelle, the victim’s best friend, and resident hottie? Or even Maria, the receptionist, whose key card was used to access the locker room so late at night? And what, if anything, do Casey’s predecessors in her new job have to do with it? Casey must find out. Even with Death on her back.

From the co-author of I Would Find a Girl Walking and an award-winning true-crime television reporter comes the shocking story of Debbie Flores, a Las Vegas showgirl whose dreams of a dazzling career ended in a nightmare… Vivacious Debbie Flores was a college educated Washington Redskins cheerleader when she headed for “Sin City.” It was a smart move for the aspiring showgirl who’d soon be making her star-making solo debut at the legendary Luxor. But after the morning rehearsals of December 12, 2010, no one saw Debbie alive again. A cryptic text message she left for her mother led authorities to Debbie’s charismatic boyfriend, Jason “Blu” Griffith. A fellow Vegas dancer, Blu was hiding a terrible secret. It involved a rental van, bags of cement, two plastic tubs, and a handsaw. When the details of the crime unfolded, everyone asked: how could a girl with such passion and promise come to an end so violent and unexpected? In time, the truth would reveal a life more tumultuous than believed—and what exactly transpired on Debbie’s tragic final day would stun the nation. INCLUDES PHOTOS

Kim, a.k.a. Tempest, trained in close combat, medium and long-range kills, and more than two martial disciplines, worked at the as dubbed Cave where she planned solo missions for herself and others. She was often invited into meetings for her ability to see solutions, even if a finagle was required to make it plausible. When she ran across some Raiders in the field and figured out someone was trying to sabotage their unit from the inside, she called a meeting to inform those necessary she was taking mission planning for the Raiders, and that she and her girls would take on that task for the special forces units for each branch. When she went to handpick her Raider team, her whole focus was caught when she saw a man who was continuing to fight despite obvious fatigue, his team the only one intact when the drill ended. Kim chose Matthew, a.k.a Marine Raider Gabriel, to lead her Raiders, and two weeks later the bug she would use to communicate with him went into his ear, and he was given a pen that transmitted pulses directly into hers. Fast forward ten years; the Alpha Angels had transitioned to civilian life as well as could be expected, forming the Alpha Sorority: Angels chapter, or ASAs. They built business and worked with charities to help their chosen hometown of Everywhere thrive, while covertly cleaning up the streets to make it a safe place for all in the community to call home. Kim opened Wordsmithing Inc. to assist others in putting thoughts on paper, and all was going exactly to plan. That was until she was told the company Matt worked for was buying one of the spaces she had had renovated, and that Matt was one of the leads assigned to Everywhere with Katy’s Raider Eric. Letting the Fates decide what would happen was an easy call for her because Matt only dated women who looked like they were delivered from skeletons-are-us, and she certainly didn’t fit that image. Kim spent her days at her businesses, was the chosen legal guardian for a teenager, and had almost managed to go to sleep once without vocally telling him goodnight so she assumed missing him had started to become manageable. But now that it was possible to meet him, she also understood Eric’s issued edict of no, the underlying message that she wasn’t good enough for Matt well understood. It had hurt, but she stayed in her corner, grateful the other ASAs got to spend time with him and were watching over him for her, if jealous. Given that, what exactly was an Angel supposed to do if, while getting her morning coffee at Temptations, he growled at her...