Hardcover Mysteries (2010 - 2010)

Detectives investigating the homicide of a 15-year-old girl uncover a shocking murder-for-hire scheme plotted by the victim herself. Lisa Scottoline, whose thrillers often explore family relationships, untangles the web of this family triangle.

The body of a young man is found brutally murdered in East Texas. Investigators believe a local gang with a hateful agenda is behind the crime. Sandra Brown offers insight into this landmark hate-crime case, which inspired her book, The Witness. In a remote area outside of Tyler, TX, two teen dirt-bikers stumble upon a partially clothed man's body — covered in blood — lying face down in a shallow clay pit. Deputies from the Smith County Sheriff's Office rush to the scene. The victim has been beaten severely and shot several times in his torso, abdomen, hands, legs, and in the back of the head. It's clear that the young man's death was slow and extremely painful. The victim is identified as 23-year-old Nicholas West. Sheriff's Deputies contact his family. They tell police that he was a model citizen with no criminal record who was training as a medical assistant. His family and friends cannot understand who would want to harm the likeable and popular young man. Investigators believe a local gang may be responsible for the crime. Over a period of months, the gang committed a string of drive-by shootings, assaults, and robberies. They communicate only by C.B. radio, and use cryptic nicknames like "Sundance," "Sure Shot," and "Million-Dollar Man." In recent weeks, the gang has become more violent, and unveiled a hateful new agenda. Investigators believe Nicholas West was targeted because he was gay. Now, the hunt is on to catch his killers before they strike again.

A vast investigation into the disappearance of millionaire Manhattan socialite Irene Silverman uncovers two prime suspects, a mother-and-son killing team. Linda Fairstein provides a behind-the-scenes account of the police investigation. When 82-year old millionaire socialite Irene Silverman goes missing from her luxurious Manhattan townhouse over July 4th weekend, 1998, family, friends, and detectives immediately suspect foul play. Silverman had just rented a room to a strange tenant — Manny Guerin, a nervous, private young man, who was always followed by a domineering older woman. This strange couple has gone missing too. In Los Angeles detectives are after a mysterious couple of their own — Sante and Kenny Kimes, a mother and son team of career criminals. The pair is notorious for shoplifting, arson, identity theft, and are now prime suspects in the murder of David Kazdin, a longtime family friend of theirs who's just turned up dead in a dumpster. But, just like the couple in New York, this pair is nowhere to be found. Chasing after these two sets of killers on both coasts, police are uncovering a complex web of fraud and deceit that spans across the country — even internationally. Soon they will learn these two cases are indelibly connected by a menacing character described as "the most evil woman in the world."

Carmin Ross is found stabbed to death in her Lawrence, KS home. This case captured novelist Sara Paretsky's attention because of how investigators methodically unraveled the suspect's carefully crafted story. On a brisk November afternoon in Lawrence, Kansas, sheriff's deputies are dispatched to the home of 40-year-old Carmin Ross. It's been over a day since her family and friends have been able to reach her, and everyone is worried. At the scene, the deputies discover the lifeless body of Carmin Ross. It appears she's been beaten and stabbed repeatedly. Detectives question Carmin's fiance by phone in California. They learn that Carmin and her ex-husband have been recently involved in a heated custody battle over their 4-year-old daughter. Detectives decide to meet with the ex-husband, an esteemed university professor who lives one hundred miles away. Despite his odd behavior, he gives investigators little to go on. It will take months of frustration before detectives finally get the break they need. A suspect's computer takes investigators inside the mind of Carmin's killer.

Harlan Coben's two New York Times #1 bestsellers, Long Lost and Caught feature girls who disappear and a community's quest for answers — themes that are found in the true story of Brianna Denison's abduction and the questions that echoed as a result in the community of Reno, Nevada.

When freelance writer Louise Ellis disappears on a routine weekend getaway, investigators narrow in on two key suspects: her new husband and her ex-boyfriend. Now a critically acclaimed best-selling author, Dr. Kathy Reichs, recounts her real-life involvement as forensic anthropologist in one of the most sensational homicide investigations in Canadian history.

Joseph Wambaugh traces the landmark case that was subject of his bestseller The Blooding. When two English girls are murdered in the small community of Leciester, investigators use a new technique called DNA fingerprinting to bring a serial killer to justice..