Southern Thrillers

In a small Southern town where loyalty to family and to "your people" carries the weight of a sacred oath, defying those unspoken rules can be a deadly proposition. After 15 years of growing up in the Ozark hills with his widowed mother, high-school freshman Boady Sanden is beyond ready to move on. He dreams of glass towers and cityscapes, driven by his desire to be anywhere other than Jessup, Missouri. The new kid at St. Ignatius High School, if he isn't being pushed around, he is being completely ignored.

When one of South Carolina’s most powerful lawyers is charged with the murder of his wife, criminal defense attorney Joe Hennessy agrees to be part of the defense team. As Hennessy builds a legal defense, he’s thrown into a world of danger and corruption, cruelty and violence. Despite his full caseload, Hennessy agrees to defend a folk singer charged with drug trafficking. As he prepares for the trial, Hennessy digs into a world of lies, manipulation, and exploitation.

In Charleston, South Carolina, eighteen-year-old Alicia Fenton is arrested for the murder of her stepfather. In exchange for information that has been buried for twenty years, attorney Joe Hennessy joins her defense team. Desperate to know the truth about the past, Hennessy battles to prove Alicia is innocent. Fighting against corrupt cops, outlaw motorcycle gangs, and ruthless prisoners, the evidence leads Hennessy into the dangers of the criminal underworld.

Fifteen years after the events of the Natchez Burning trilogy, Penn Cage is alone. Nearly all his loved ones are dead, his old allies gone, and he carries a mortal secret that separates him from the world. But Penn’s exile comes to an end when a brawl at a Mississippi rap festival triggers a bloody mass shooting—one that nearly takes the life of his daughter Annie.

Ada promised herself she would never go back to the Trace, to her unbearable life on the swamp, and to her harsh father in Mississippi. But now, after running away to Baton Rouge and briefly knowing a different kind of life, she finds herself with nowhere to go but back home. Matilda, daughter of a sharecropper, is from the other side of the Trace. Doing what she can to protect her family from the whims and demands of some particularly callous locals is an ongoing struggle, so she forms a plan to go north.

After twenty years of anguish, after twenty years of pain, defense attorney Joe Hennessy has the chance to confront the man who ordered the murder of his ten-year-old son. In Charleston, South Carolina, Hennessy uncovers evidence that Senator Richard Longhouse has links to his son's unsolved murder. Desperate to know the truth, Hennessy digs deep into the past, following the evidence trail into the criminal underworld. Clashing with corrupt cops, dishonest politicians, and ruthless felons, Hennessy uncovers information that has been buried for twenty years.

Nevada Barr's award-winning mystery series captivates fans with vividly drawn wilderness settings and the resourceful sleuth, middle-aged park ranger Anna Pigeon. Deep South portrays Anna boldly confronting hostile teenagers, suspicious locals, and a resentful "old-boy" network as she struggles to solve a gruesome murder. Anna leaves behind her beloved Mesa Verde to take on a position as district park ranger of the Mississippi Natchez Trace Parkway.

Defense attorney Jackson Taylor traded his Chattahoochee River roots for a high-rise office in Atlanta, but when a childhood friend is accused of murder, he’s drawn back to the small town he thought he’d left behind. The boy is now a man shadowed by secrets—a cheat, a crook–maybe. But a killer? As Jackson investigates, unsettling questions emerge. Why is his father, a former straight-laced sheriff, urging him to drop the case? With his father's memory fading and his behavior growing more erratic by the day, Jackson wonders if he's hiding something. The mystery deepens with ...

After more than twenty years away from the law, Joe Hennessy is forced back into the courtroom. Trying to save his vineyard after years of drought, Hennessy returns to practice in Charleston, South Carolina–the city he walked away from after the murder of his ten-year-old son. When one of South Carolina’s most powerful men is charged with possessing stolen artwork, Hennessy steps forward to defend him. But as Hennessy digs into the evidence, as he navigates the truth, he finds that the criminal charges are only the start of their problems.

Vampires have officially "come out of the coffin", and Miss Sookie can't wait for one to come her way.

In this entry from Anthony Award winner Charlaine Harris' New York Times best-selling series, the gorgeous and feisty telepath hits the road to find her missing boyfriend, who may have run off with his former lover - a notorious vamp.

Before she started hosting dinners for Indiana University's Sociology Department, Robbie never imagined scholarly meetings could be so hostile. It's all due to Professor Charles Stilton, who seems to thrive on heated exchanges with his peers and underlings, and tensions flare one night after he disrespects Robbie's friend, graduate student Lou. So when Robbie and Lou go snowshoeing the next morning and find the contentious academic frozen under ice, police suspect that Lou might have killed him after their public tiff.

Mae West, a far cry from the Hollywood actress, has been thrown for a loop. Her plush lifestyle in the big city of New York comes to a screeching halt after the FBI raids her mansion and arrests her husband, Paul West, for a Ponzi scheme that rips people out of millions of dollars. Mae finds herself homeless, friendless, and penniless. All hope isn't lost... the only thing Mae got to keep that the government didn't seize is a tourist camp ground, Happy Trails, in Normal, Kentucky.

With a four-legged companion and no food in the pantry, Grant Walton faces an uphill battle. His wife is still missing; downtown is a smoldering crater; and radiation is killing more people every day. Torn between searching for his wife and gearing up for what's sure to come, Grant is forced to put more than his morals to the test. Leah Walton escaped a nuclear bomb that flattened her hospital and vaporized her friends. Now she's racing to find her husband miles away. She'll have to rely on the kindness of strangers to survive and hope none of them kill her in the process.

The house has sat empty for 15 years, taking up prime real estate along the picturesque coastline. Built by one of the founders of South Cove, its last known owner, Maryanne Demerit, vanished without a trace. Now her home will be demolished for a condo development, but until then, it's the perfect spot for a Halloween haunted house. Jill Gardner, her boyfriend, and three other couples are spending the weekend in the Demerit home. But what begins as an all-in-good-fun fright fest turns into a mystery begging to be solved as Jill is contacted by the ghost of Maryanne.

Carl Weber brings the best of urban street lit authors together, all telling their own dramatic tales of life in the streets in known cities across the USA. The second installment continues with Treasure Hernandez telling the tale of the Dirty South.

Charli Goodwin doesn't expect her homecoming to go without a hitch - after all, she skipped town, leaving her fiance and family without a clue as to where she was going or why. On her first night back, Charli discovers the body of her crazy great-uncle and suddenly finds herself at the center of a mystery that threatens the very foundations of Honeysuckle Hollow and the safety of every paranormal citizen in it - starting with Charli herself. With the clock ticking, will Charli's special magical talents be enough to save not only the town, but also her own life?

New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris thrills listeners with the fourth book of her spectacular Sookie Stackhouse series. Driving home from work, barmaid and telepath Sookie Stackhouse discovers vampire and area sheriff Eric on the side of the road missing his shirt, his shoes and his memories. Featuring vampires, werewolves and magic galore, Dead to the World will satisfy any listener's craving for the supernatural.

When Charity Penn receives a letter saying she won a trip to Camellia Beach, South Carolina, complete with free cooking lessons at the town's seaside chocolate shop, The Chocolate Box, she's immediately skeptical. She never entered any contest. Her former prep school friend offers to look into the phony prize - only to end up drowned in a vat of chocolate. Struck with guilt, Penn heads to the southern beach town to investigate why he was killed.

A little sweet tea and a whole lot of spells won't always put out the fire. This collection contains Flea Market Magic, Rags to Witches, and Pickups and Pirates.