Books Tagged With what - topic - murder

Word Count: Click here to reveal27900 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Stiles Long and Michael O’Leary were asked to join two agents from the Secret Service to break up a counterfeiting ring. They didn’t usually work with other agents, but since several Secret Service agents had been killed, the president wanted the Pinkertons in on the job. Reginald McCullough did not want to be anywhere near his uncle, but this was a chance for him to move up in the ranks. His new partner, Rochelle Warner, was a stranger, but he’d do whatever it took to do a good job. When he entered his uncle’s office in St. Louis, he was shocked to see his old lover, Michael O’Leary there as well. The assignment would take them on a new Pullman train across several states and cities. Death seemed to be at every turn. Stiles, Michael, Reginald, and Rochelle; all had attempts made on their lives. Every clue seemed to lead to a dead end. Could Reginald pull Michael away from Stiles?  Could they discover who the head of the counterfeit ring was before the end of the line in Santa Barbara, or would they end up just another dead agent riding the Death Train?

Word Count: Click here to reveal73000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Vampires and werewolves live long lives. The Sleepless City saga might have ended but the story continues… Someone is hunting supernaturals.  Vampire Simon Hawthorne and his human partner Ben Leyton’s plans for a peaceful holiday with family are hijacked by the New Zealand Supernatural Council. Tensions are on the rise in Wellington. Supernatural councillors are disappearing. Werewolves are suspicious of anyone human or vampire. If they don’t work together, their enemy has already won. And no one with a connection to the supernatural world is safe.

Word Count: Click here to reveal50750 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Something’s definitely fishy about this case… On my last stakeout for Quest Investigations, I nearly got clotheslined by a grove of angry dryads. I expected my bosses to reprimand me, but instead they handed me my first solo assignment. Me! Matt Steinitz, the only human on the Quest roster! Okay, so the mission isn’t exactly demanding. Obviously, the bosses wanted to give me something they think I can’t screw up. I’m determined to show them what I can do, however, so I dive right in with no complaints. At first glance, it looks as simple as baiting a hook: A selkie’s almost-ex-husband is vandalizing his boat with unwanted deliveries of deceased sea life. All I have to do is document the scene, tell the ex to cease and desist, and present the bill for property damages. Boom. Mission accomplished, another Quest success, and as a bonus, I get to keep my job. But then things get…complicated. Suspicious undercurrents muddy up my oh-so-easy case. Nothing is as clear as it should be. And the biggest complication? My inappropriate attraction to the client, who may not be as blameless as he claims. Turns out those dead herrings aren’t the only things that stink about this situation. Dammit.   Five Dead Herrings is the first in the Quest Investigations M/M paranormal mystery series, a spinoff of E.J. Russell’s Mythmatched paranormal rom-com story world. It contains no on-page sex or violence, and although there is a romantic subplot, it is not a romance.

Word Count: Click here to reveal10300 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Web Webster’s plan to own the muscle car he’s a passenger in is sidetracked when the driver wrecks the vehicle. Needing a new ID, Web barely has time to inhabit the body beside him. Web’s savior manages the accident with authorities and offers to put Web up at his place. Lying in the man’s bed, Web has one thought. If he’s not gay -- he will be for me! Casper Wainright is known for his penchant for fast, shiny cars. When a classic beauty rams a tree on his property, he helps the occupant escape before extinguishing the flames. The stranger needs a place to convalesce. Something about the stranger entices Cas, who decides one room in his house has a bed that has been empty far too long. Little does Cas know what evil he’s invited into his life.

Word Count: Click here to reveal107708 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Gay (Click here to hide)

Summary: A lawyer and an architect walk into a bar…   Jocelin:   What do you do when your boss’s pushy nephew repeatedly asks you out and won’t take no for an answer? You create a fake boyfriend. One who works a lot, so he never comes to office functions or meets you for lunch. It works well until le salaud calls my bluff.   So that’s how I find myself at a client event, practically begging a handsome stranger to play said boyfriend. Only after I calm down do I realize le bel homme in the bespoke suit is no stranger at all. He’s my best friend’s brother, and mon Dieu, he cleans up well!   When Gunnar volunteers to keep up the ruse beyond one night, of course, I say yes. I’m no fool. But fake love can have very real consequences…   Gunnar:   Being accosted by the attractive, if slightly flustered, Jocelin Allard before I even make it out of the parking lot isn’t how I expect to start my evening. But pretending to be his boyfriend for a few hours seems like a harmless way to liven up an otherwise painful social event.   And as far as dates go, fake or otherwise, I could do a lot worse. He’s smart, gorgeous, and has a sexy accent. Plus, my sister would kill me if I left her bestie hanging.   When the evening goes shockingly well, almost effortlessly, our relationship turns real, and for a while, it’s total bliss. Until I unintentionally take a wrecking ball to my life. Again.   Heal Me is a low-medium angst, MM fake boyfriend, sister’s best friend, contemporary romance about bad decisions, past trauma, and loving someone including their flaws. It contains no cheating, and a guaranteed HEA.

Word Count: Click here to reveal25,000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Jimmy McSwain is enjoying a relaxing holiday at his grandmother’s cottage, but it turns out to be a set-up. Hester Bryne has a favor to ask: to meet with her old friends, Franklin and Carolyn Hardy, who wish to hire the young private-eye-in-training to find their son. Seems he’s been gone for forty years. Jimmy, taken with the idea of reuniting a father with his son, wants to take the case. But he must get the all-clear from his new boss, Finn, the ex-cop who has taken Jimmy under his wing. A visit to Finn’s home proves to be yet another set-up, one that takes an unexpected twist in the name of a newcomer to the city, Aiden Garvey. As Jimmy immerses himself in the case of the missing son, his attention keeps getting distracted by the newfound presence of a man who makes his heart skip a beat. Juggling the promise of a new relationship with the complexities presented by this puzzling case, Jimmy realizes that he’s getting too close to one of them, and it could end with more broken hearts than lives. Can a remembrance of his father be both his motivation and the cause for the destruction lying in wait?  

Word Count: Click here to reveal41979 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Everyone is lying to Cory and he is getting fed up. Someone was going to tell him the truth or his Kitten was going to come out in full force. He may shift into a house cat, but it was a Main Coon cat, and that was not an animal to mess with. Jotham had problems within his coven and as Rei it was up to him to fix them. He didn’t have time for his enforcer’s new mate’s best friend’s questions and nosing around. Intent on getting Cory to leave, Jotham goes to speak with him and is in shock to find that Cory is not only his mate, but he is not all human. He must have him, but Cory doesn’t seem to want anything to do with him or his coven. Cory needs time to think things through, so he does the one thing that always clears his mind…he shifts and goes for a stroll only to come across men plotting the death of his mate, Jotham, and destruction of the coven. Can Cory put aside his anger, hurt, and distrust to help save his vampire mate? Jotham’s only concern is for his mate. Because if he can’t find the men bent on destroying his coven, they may not just try to kill him. But his mate as well.

Word Count: Click here to reveal110000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Gay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Don’t Pick Up That Coin! I was just an innocent author minding my own business. Until I found that coin… The evil thing zapped me into the novel I was writing. Now I’m dodging ogres, humans, elves, and a certain wizard-in-training with a proclivity for changing people into small harmless animals. My only goal is to get home again, and the best way to do that is to get this book back on track. I must help the sexy exiled prince find his brother’s killer. The only problem is that the prince keeps flirting with me rather than the women he’s supposed to be adding to the harem. Wait! Flirting with me? That can’t be right. Wait wait! Why did I call him sexy? Am I falling for the prince, too? I Destroy the Elf Prince's Harem is a stand-alone novel within the Fortune Favors the Fae collection and follows the adventures of one poor author as he stumbles his way through his own novel and just maybe falls in love with the hero. Along the way he will encounter elves, humans, ogres, a wizard-in-training who's really bad at magic, jealousy, possessiveness, political intrigue, secrets, and a prince who has eyes for just one man. Unfortunately, that one man is as blind as a bat when it comes to love. From spicy to sweet, zany romps to epic adventures, there’s something for everyone in the Fortune Favors the Fae series. Discover destiny and true love, and follow the coin on its fickle journey to the next world and a new magical adventure. Each book is a standalone and can be read in any order.

Word Count: Click here to reveal81544 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Gay, Non Binary (Click here to hide)

Summary: Infected series #10 – Roan and Dylan’s life has changed since harboring a runaway infected, and weathering Roan’s notoriety from the Profeta case. Still, it’s not all bad news – a mid tier celebrity wants to hire Roan for an unusual case. Only it takes a dark turn, and while trying to deal with it, Roan also has to deal with a medical issue. It falls to Roan’s family – including reckless Holden and imposing teddy bear Grey – to figure things out, and find a killer before he kills again.

Word Count: Click here to reveal85,000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Straight (Click here to hide)

Summary: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TWO MEN WHO WORK TWO SIDES OF THE MORAL CODE OF CRIME COME TOGTHER? TODD GLEASON, CON MAN, MEETS JIMMY McSWAIN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE, IN A GAME OF WITS THAT CHALLENGES THEIR OWN TAKE ON JUSTICE. For Todd Gleason, there was something alluring about Jersey-born Angela Delvecchio that caught his attention. They had a fun night, but that’s all, right? On his train ride back to the city, Todd overhears two men of questionable repute discussing the death of a friend of theirs—and the money she left behind. Sounds like an opportunity for an intrepid con man. Fresh off a case of dueling cheating spouses, Jimmy McSwain sees two locals arrive at his uncle’s pub. Known in Hell’s Kitchen as usually up to no good, Jimmy finds himself more intrigued by the man following them. But their chance meeting may force the two of them to work together on a spiraling conspiracy. Kerry-Anne Conklin was rich, beautiful, young--too young to die. Did she have more enemies than money? It’s a tough world out there. New York has its villains. New Jersey has its scams. Both have their bodies. Told in alternating chapters, JERSEY SCORE is fun, dangerous, suspenseful, and fast-paced. It’s a story that could only come from the singular mind of Adam Carpenter and Joseph Pittman.      

Word Count: Click here to reveal103000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Forgive when there is nothing to forgive, and forget when there is. Barbary Fleet, September 1890 Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, September 1890 Deaf since birth, Joe Tanner is destined for a life of misery in the workhouse until Lord Clearwater offers him a place at the curious Larkspur Academy in Cornwall. There, while adjusting to his new life, His Lordship challenges Joe to unlock the mystery of the Colvannick stone row. As Joe sets about his task, he suspects a connection between the standing stones and a series of unsolved murders. The problem is convincing others, and his obsession soon threatens his relationship with his lover, Dalston Blaze. Joe's determination to unearth the truth also jeopardises his place at the academy, but a man's life is at stake, and the only one who believes in the mysteries of the past is Joe — and the killer who is prepared to murder anyone who interferes. The second of The Larkspur Mysteries continues from book one, 'The Guardians of the Poor.' The Larkspur Mysteries are inspired by existing locations and newspaper reports from the time, and combine fact, fiction, adventure and bromance. If you have not yet read the preceding series, ‘The Clearwater Mysteries’, you might like to start with book one, ‘Deviant Desire.’ There are 11 books in the ongoing series including a prequel, ‘Banyak and Fecks’ which can be read first although it is not a mystery. To get the most out of it, you should read it just before you read book nine, ‘Negative Exposure.’

Word Count: Click here to reveal68000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Gay (Click here to hide)

Summary: August Morrison and Ricardo Torralba would really like to live a quiet life—as quiet as life can be for a couple of eccentric hitmen, anyway. Unfortunately for them, they pushed their luck with the authors and demanded a second book. So now, whether they like it or not, they’re getting a third installment. Yes, this is a revenge book. Because we’re the authors, that’s why. This time, August and Ricardo are in way over their heads, because there are few things more dangerous than owing a favor to the mafia. When that favor gets called in, though, it’s not to kill anyone—it’s to save them. Time is running out to find the source of tainted street drugs poisoning innocent people. Now they’re caught in the middle of a deadly war between rival families, all while trying to dodge suspicious police and merciless drug cartels. Maybe this time, August and Ricardo will learn their lesson and not demand another book… assuming they survive this one. Killer vs. Kingpin is book 3 in the Hitman vs. Hitman series that seems to have evolved from an alleged “standalone” to “yeah, we don’t even know.” They’re just too much fun to torture! Err, write. Too much fun to write.

Word Count: Click here to reveal56057 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Gay, Non Binary (Click here to hide)

Summary: Edgar Tobias works as a freelance computer programmer in the city of Anver. Desperate to escape his deceased fathers’ fame as a hit singer-songwriter duo, he left the city of Kasyova and the arts behind. He doesn’t know he’s about to be targeted in a vicious murder game where the prize is a million dollars in cryptocurrency to the first person who can capture his murder on video. Reis Asher lost everything in the Anverite civil war ten years ago, including their mother. Their father created the agreement known as Unification, which joined Anver and Kasyova to create the Twin City-States of Anver-Kasyova, ending the civil war and ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity. When they discover the Killing Game, they know that it represents a threat to everything they hold dear and set out to stop it. But powerful forces are at work that refuse to be undermined by one stubborn soul and their sense of justice. Someone wants Edgar dead, and they’ll stop at nothing to see him six feet under… even if that means Reis and other innocent bystanders get caught in the crossfire.

Word Count: Click here to reveal69, 000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Declan Hunt is having a bad week. His kidnapping case is showing little progress, his office assistant has left him on short notice, and his latest investigation has left him literally battered and bruised. But things change when he hires twenty-four year old Charlie Watts to help out at the office. They form an unlikely partnership while trying to solve two seemingly unrelated cases whose threads begin to weave together when the missing person case turns to murder. The investigation takes them from the dark alleys, gay bars and bath houses of Calgary to the richest parts of the city during the world-famous Calgary Stampede. But will they be able to discover who the killer is before another life is lost? And will Declan be able to solve the mystery of his relationship with Charlie, who is clearly attracted to him — especially since it is evident that the attraction is becoming mutual?

Word Count: Click here to reveal91000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Gay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Detective Sawyer Villeray has his hands full. He’s got a mercurial partner whose personal life is deteriorating, a semi-estranged family whose drama he can never fully escape… and now a series of murders whose only connection is their sheer weirdness. A serious crush on the county medical examiner doesn’t exactly simplify things, but at least it’s fun. Or, well, it would be if said M.E. didn’t adamantly refuse to date cops. Or if his assistant wasn’t quite so hostile to anyone who looked his way. Dr. Bashir Ramin would very much like to catch a break. A date that isn’t interrupted by death. A fellow pathologist who isn’t a cranky jerk. A forensic assistant who doesn’t gnash her teeth any time Bashir is interested in someone. And maybe, if he’s lucky, an autopsy that isn’t such a baffling puzzle, it leaves him wondering if he’s as good at his job as he thought he was. At this point, the annoying but cute detective is the one good thing in his world. Too bad Bashir doesn’t date cops. Right? But there’s no time for romance. As the bizarre murders keep piling up, Sawyer and Bashir need to work together to stop a killer. Ideally before one of them becomes the next target.

Word Count: Click here to reveal40000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Gay, Lesbian (Click here to hide)

Summary: Lizzie Ferguson isn’t your typical 1912 woman! She does not intend to ever marry, her lovers could be male or female, she was a Pinkerton Agent, carries a Derringer in her handbag, her best friend is Stiles Long (The Pinkerton Man Series), and she will do anything to solve a case. Including dressing in rags and scrubbing toilets in a male brothel. You can read some of her adventures with Stiles and Michael in the Pinkerton Man Series. Now, she’s beginning her own adventures and she’s not afraid to do anything it takes to catch a killer.

Word Count: Click here to reveal42642 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Gay, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: Haunted by his last case and still struggling financially, private investigator Nick Fabian is floundering when a birthday surprise from his best friend Connor Long and boyfriend Roy Constas—a home of their own—offers a ray of hope for a future life beyond living in a cramped trailer and staring into the depths of human depravity. Nick's optimism soon fades when he finds human remains crammed into a suitcase dumped in the attic. The bones belong to a local child who was reported missing three years ago. The news only gets worse when Roy reveals he was the one who took the suitcase up into the attic at Connor's request, but he insists he had no idea of its grisly contents. With Connor Long the prime suspect in a murder yet again, battle lines are drawn in Point Clear. Connor's pregnant wife Lillian and girlfriend Sabrina stand by him, but Roy and Emily aren't so certain of his innocence. Nick finds himself trapped in the middle, drawn to Connor by an attraction he's never fully explored, but forced to accept the fact that Connor's hiding something. Connor's brother, Sheriff Thomas Long, hires Nick to investigate and find out the truth, no matter how ugly it may be—but will he regret asking the question once he knows the horrifying answer?

Word Count: Click here to reveal92203 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Pansexual (Click here to hide)

Summary: An unexpected chapter in a vampire’s guide to staying alive. As the only vampire employed by the NYPD, crime scene photographer Noah Green isn’t popular. He’s worked alongside humans for decades and knows how to stay focused and avoid attachments with the bleeders around him … but hasn’t done much to avoid a certain West Village bakery owner, who has no idea Noah can’t eat the bread he buys. Baker Danny Kaes is done hooking up, at least when it comes to fangers. He’s too busy running Nice Buns, the Filipino bakery he owns with his sister, to dwell on the dramas of dating, and if he misses the thrill of sharp teeth on his throat, he still knows he’s better off with his own kind … like the CSU hottie who stops into the bakery before sunrise. While working a string of suspicious deaths, Noah finds Danny at a crime scene, traumatized after discovering a body. Worse, Danny’s also put himself in the killer’s crosshairs and needs a safe place to hide. Surprising even himself, Noah offers Danny his couch, knowing he’ll have to come clean about being a blood eater. Days bleed into nights as the killer closes in, leading Noah and the cops in a mad scramble to protect Danny from dangers he can’t imagine. But Noah can’t protect himself from his feelings for Danny, or how they’ve made him question everything he thought he knew about how humans fit into his carefully ordered vampire life. Overexposed is a 92+K paranormal mystery MM romance. It features a crime scene photographer who thinks he’s got his vampire life figured out, a bakery owner who’s definitely sworn off inter-species dating, an unfortunate number of murders, more mayhem than anyone asked for, and a hard-won, deeply satisfying HEA.

Word Count: Click here to reveal81000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: The job is as simple as they ever are for members of the Collective: get in, fool the marks, and commit some devastating corporate espionage. For Miroslav Antanasijević—an expert at faking identities—it’s a high-stress gig, but one he’s used to. At least that’s how it starts. When it all goes wrong, Mirko barely escapes with his life… and only because a ride share driver comes to his rescue. Arlen Tate is just trying to finish his doctorate, help his sister through school, and leave his turbulent family life in the past where it belongs. His schedule is packed tight, and it does not have room for “help an organized crime syndicate rescue one of their own.” Too bad the minute he hauls that stranger into his car and takes off, he’s on a one-way trip down a rabbit hole of crime, corruption, and a very strange gray area between moral and illegal. And maybe he doesn’t want to go back. Especially the more time he spends with the enigmatic chameleon he rescued. But someone is coming for the Collective. Someone ruthless and powerful. And they will happily murder anyone who gets in their way.

Word Count: Click here to reveal76800 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Simon the Elf wants to tell you the true story behind Jolly Ole St. Nick. Yeah, he’s a vampire. But that alleged gift giver and lover of children hides more than that fact from you. And what about Mrs. Claus and Rudolph? Venture into a world of enslaved elves, enchanted animals, and death wrought by Santa himself. With his sharp wit, Simon will lead you into the darkest realms of Christmas in Santa is a Vampire by Simon the Elf, with Damian Serbu. Warning: Simon cusses a lot. But you would, too, if Santa held you captive.