Pru Marlowe

When Pru Marlowe is called to a forest clearing to help with an illegally trapped bear, she finds a colleague passed out drunk, his pet ferret locked in his truck. When one of her old running buddies turns up dead as well and then the town's pampered pets begin to disappear, Pru can't tell if her heavy-drinking colleague is involved—or how much the ferret, a wise little creature called Frank, knows. Frank's not communicating—even to her—and for once the bad-girl animal psychic is at a loss. The offer of a job—and maybe something more—from a hunky warden only complicates Pru's life as she goes on her rounds between her small Berkshires hometown and the woods that lie beyond. And although her crotchety tabby, Wallis, would have her make some changes in what has become a familiar routine, Pru knows her special skills set her apart as the only one who can shed light on these crimes—and save the animals at risk. But as the mysteries pile up, Pru is forced to admit that even a city-hardened animal communicator can't understand everything that's going on, and that a small town may be as dangerous as the darkest woods when a predator is on the prowl.

"[F]ans of animal mysteries will find plenty to keep them entertained here." -Booklist When Pru Marlowe takes a dog for a walk, she doesn't expect to find a body. But Spot, a service dog in training, has too good a nose not to lead her to the mangled body of a young woman. Despite her own best instincts, Pru can't avoid getting involved. The young woman seems to have been mauled by a wild cat-and Pru knows there have been no pumas in the Berkshire woods for years. Wallis, Pru's curmudgeonly tabby, seems fixated on the idea of a killer cat, but Spot suggests that the violent death was something more than a tragic animal attack. As motives multiply, a cougar of a different sort sets her eyes on Pru's sometime lover, and another woman disappears. With panther panic growing, Pru may have to put aside her own issues-and her own ideas of domesticity-to solve a savage mystery.

A shooter takes deadly aim, and throws a city into panic Psychologist Daniel Rinaldi is no stranger to trauma. A survivor of not one, but two attempts on his life by a deranged killer, the therapist also counsels trauma patients in his private practice, and contracts with the Pittsburgh Police to help victims of violent crime cope with their experience. When a sports mascot is gunned down mid-field by a sniper at a college football game he attends, Rinaldi becomes an accidental yet integral part of the investigation. To begin with, the victim in the costume is not the person who was supposed to be wearing it. When the actual "Teasdale Tiger" hears the news, he suffers a crippling panic attack and calls on Rinaldi to talk him through it. From there, Rinaldi seems to be in all the wrong places at all the wrong times, as the sniper continues his killing spree. Meeting with resistance from members of the Pittsburgh Police force and taking dangerous risks in pursuit of the killer, Rinaldi puts his career and his life in harm's way as he races to find a connection between the victims before the shooter strikes again.

"As usual, Kaehler combines a credible group of suspects with some detailed racing lore. Even readers who don't care about cars may well be hooked by the feminist angle." -Kirkus Reviews At the end of the first practice session for the iconic Indianapolis 500 race, Kate Reilly is stunned to discover she was the fastest driver on the track. She's even more surprised to learn she wasn't the first woman to top the speed charts in the race's 106-year history. That feat was accomplished in 1987 by PJ Rodriguez-steady, dedicated, immensely promising-who shocked the racing world and the wider one by committing suicide ten days later. When the press, bloggers, and social media go crazy over the connection between PJ and Kate, Kate begins to lose her identity-suddenly everyone's comparing Kate and PJ, calling Kate PJ, and wondering if Kate will kill herself, too. Under siege from various trolls live and digital, Kate feel PJ's story deeply. So she's impelled to listen to PJ's family-which claims PJ did not jump, but was murdered. And she agrees to help them find PJ's killer and restore her reputation...30 years after the fact. PJ's death was a great tragedy; Kate feels it in her bones and believes she is the best person, perhaps the only person, to investigate PJ's story. What evidence is there? She can interview people at the track who were there in 1987. She can consult the press coverage. And she can marshal up help from "Special Team Kate." They work in an atmosphere of prejudice and chauvinism, the same that surrounded PJ. But Kate is at the Indy to run the biggest race of her career. To prepare she fills her days with driving on the track for practice, fulfilling sponsor obligations, promoting the IndyCar Series and as ever, playing peacemaker between the warring sides of her maternal and paternal families. Before long one suspect in PJ's death turns up dead, all but confirming PJ was killed. So as Kate prepares to run the biggest race of her life she must narrow down the clues to not one but two murders, all while fighting for her own voice and identity through the storm of media attention. Will the past stay buried? Or will history repeat itself and leave Kate dead? Kiss the Bricks is the 5th Kate Reilly mystery and takes its title from the Indy winner's tradition of kissing the track's Yard of Bricks in tribute to its legendary history. Kate Reilly Mysteries: Dead Man's Switch (Book 1) Braking Points (Book 2) Avoidable Contact (Book 3) Red Flags (Book 4) Kiss the Bricks (Book 5) Praise for the Kate Reilly Mysteries: "Read this book-but buckle in first. Believe me, you're in for a bumpy ride." -WILLIAM KENT KRUEGER, New York Times bestselling author for Braking Points "This series always leaves me wanting more, so I cannot wait to keep reading and see what's next on the horizon for my fellow female racing driver!" -PIPPA MANN, IndyCar driver for Avoidable Contact

When Pru Marlowe gets the call that there's been a cat shooting, she's furious. Animal brutality is the one thing that this tough animal psychic won't stand for, and she's determined to care for the traumatized pet. But when Pru finds out that the cat did the shooting-accidentally setting off a rare dueling pistol-she realizes something else is going on. Could the white Persian really have killed her owner? Or did the whole bloody mess have something to do with that pricey collectible? With the white cat turning a deaf ear to her questions, Pru must tune in to Beauville's other pampered residents-from the dead man's elite social set to their equally spoiled pets-and learn the truth before her ex, a former New York cop, gets too close. In a world where value is determined by a price tag, only Pru and her trusty tabby Wallis can figure out if this was a case of feline felony...or if some human has set the Persian up to be the ultimate cat's paw.

Tom Bridger, who is half Melungeon, thought he had escaped his mountain community's lingering prejudice against the mixed-race group when he left to work for the Richmond, Virginia Police Department. Tom was moving up the detective ranks when a family tragedy brought him back home and moved him into his father's job as a county sheriff's deputy. Now the bones of a Melungeon woman have surfaced on a remote mountaintop, and all evidence points to murder. Violence escalates as the victim's poor family and the wealthy white family she married into scramble to protect their secrets from Toms probing. But as he probes into his father's investigation of the case, he finds his father is not the man he idolized. The woman Tom is falling in love with, veterinarian Rachel Goddard, is struggling to start over in a place that holds no memories for her. Rachel puts herself in danger when she befriends the dead Melungeon woman's niece, Holly. As a child, the girl witnessed something that could implicate her aunt's killer, but she is too terrified to tell anyone what she knows. While Rachel is determined to keep Holly safe and help her piece together past events, the guilty are equally determined to silence the girl-and Rachel too, if necessary. Will this murder be Tom's and Rachel's undoing or will it free them to look into the future?

"Parker wraps up the mystery deftly but leaves Inez's future sufficiently unresolved so that readers will eagerly await the next installment."-Publishers Weekly STARRED review Autumn, 1880, in the Rocky Mountains brings frost, snow, and the return of Inez Stannert to Leadville, Colorado, where she is one of three partners in the Silver Queen Saloon. Her undisputed reign is going to be challenged by her roving husband, Mark, who returns with her. The third owner, African-American Abe Jackson, is definitely worried about harnessing this volatile pair to the business, especially as Mark seems bent on wooing back his wife. The boomtown that greets the Stannerts is, as ever, populated by people in quest of fortunes in precious metals. Others, hungry for spiritual relief, seek to pierce the veil between life and death with the help of fortune-tellers, mediums, and occultists. Meanwhile, deep in the twisted byways of Leadville's Stillborn Alley, soothsayer Drina Gizzi works while awaiting the promised arrival of her benefactor, a Mr. Brown. When Drina is found murdered, strangled with a set of silver and gold corset laces, no one seems to care except the three who find her body: Inez, her lover Reverend Justice Sands, and Drina's young daughter, Antonia, who has been struggling to support her mother by disguising herself as a newsboy called Tony. The mystery surrounding Drina's death deepens when her body vanishes without a trace. As Inez and Antonia band together to seek out Drina's killer, they unearth evidence that resurrection men are supplying bodies dug from the cemetery to "anatomical dissection classes." Additionally, long-held grievances and white-hot revenge surface, complicated by an unruly group of young British remittance men. And by the missing, mysterious Mr. Brown. Meanwhile Mark Stannert, true to his word that he only "plays to win," contrives to drive Inez and Sands apart, gambling that he can convince her to abandon her plans for divorce. But what can gold buy? A new life? Freedom from the past? Truth and justice for those murdered and unmourned? Or a final passage for Inez and Antonia into an unmarked grave and the world of the dead? Silver Rush Mysteries: Silver Lies (Book 1) Iron Ties (Book 2) Leaden Skies (Book 3) Mercury's Rise (Book 4) What Gold Buys (Book 5) A Dying Note (Book 6) Mortal Music (Book 7) Praise for the Silver Rush Mysteries: "Plenty of convincing action bodes well for a long and successful series."-Publishers Weekly STARRED review for Iron Ties "Meticulously researched and full of rich period details…her characters will stay will you long after you've finished the last page. Highly recommended."-TASHA ALEXANDER, New York Times bestselling author for Mortal Music "One of the most authentic and evocative historical series around. Long live Inez!"-RHYS BOWEN, New York Times bestselling author for What Gold Buys Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award Finalist Macavity/Sue Feder Historical Novel Award Finalist Will Rogers Medallion Award 2nd Place Winner (Western Romance) "Lefty" Left Coast Crime Award finalist, Best Historical Novel Sarton Women's Book Award (Historical Fiction) Finalist