Detective Inspector Caren Waits expected her first day in a new job would test her, but discovering a murdered drug dealer near Paxton’s Tower wasn’t the challenge she anticipated. Stephen Puleston launches his series with traditional detective mystery where Caren must prove she has what it takes to command an unfamiliar team’s respect while catching a killer who demands her full attention from day one. Leading people who don’t know her yet while solving a murder creates double pressure for any new DI. 🕵️When a second body turns up at the same location, Caren realizes she’s hunting someone calculated and ruthless who’s always one step ahead of the investigation. Puleston explores the particular challenge of establishing authority while chasing a cunning murderer who seems to anticipate every move the police make. The author delivers police procedural tension where professional credibility and solving crimes become equally urgent, with failure on either front potentially ending Caren’s career before it truly begins. 🔍
The first Detective Inspector Caren Waits novel asks whether she can outmaneuver a killer before more bodies fall or if her first case will become her last, combining the pressure of proving herself worthy of promotion with the race against a murderer who shows no signs of stopping. Puleston crafts traditional mystery around a heroine who must earn respect through results while the body count threatens to climb higher with each day she fails to make an arrest. ⚖️
Why I’m including this: Traditional detective mystery launching the series where Detective Inspector Caren Waits discovers a murdered drug dealer near Paxton’s Tower on her first day in a new job, forcing her to prove herself to an unfamiliar team while hunting a calculated killer who stays one step ahead and strikes again at the same location.
Lola Harding once was her parents’ angel, but they’re dead now and for years she’s made a name for herself as the Night Slayer—stalking clubs to permanently remove anyone with greedy hands and stupid ideas from the streets. Candace Wondrak launches A Death So Sweet with dark reverse harem romance about murder, payback, and chaos that’s decidedly not about unicorns and rainbows, making it clear from the start this is the right place only if you’re in the mood for something psychotic and crazy. 🗡️One night Lola kills the son of a crime lord and everything changes—they’re going to kill her eventually, but until they do she’s their pet, wearing their leash and doing whatever the Lucianos say. Wondrak delivers unapologetically dark romance where a family full of psychos and hatred becomes where a vigilante serial killer might fit in better than anywhere else. The other sons are handsome and dangerous, and even though they despise her for murdering their brother, Lola plans to enjoy the ride. 🔥
The author explores what happens when someone who’s already abandoned the light discovers there might not be any left at the end of this tunnel but decides to embrace the darkness anyway. Wondrak writes characters who’ve crossed lines most people can’t imagine, creating reverse harem dynamics where hatred and desire become dangerously intertwined. Lola’s position as captive pet to a crime family creates twisted power dynamics and chemistry that burns hotter because it’s built on violence, revenge, and mutual destructiveness. 💀
What makes this special: Dark reverse harem romance launching A Death So Sweet where vigilante serial killer Lola Harding the Night Slayer kills a crime lord’s son and becomes the Luciano family’s pet, wearing their leash while discovering she fits in better with this family of psychos despite their hatred for murdering their brother.
Isabella Morrow’s future is sealed the moment her father arranges her marriage to wealthy Edward Dobson, but behind his polished charm lies a dark secret that could destroy her life before it even begins. Margery Scott launches The Morgans of Rocky Ridge with Victorian historical romance about one desperate act and one dangerous vow that create one chance at both justice and love. Cade Morgan has never broken the law until he risks everything to keep Isabella safe, making a choice that brands him an outlaw. 💒On the run together, Isabella and Cade are forced to confront feelings that transform their childhood friendship into undeniable love, but what can an outlaw offer when he’s wanted by the law? Scott explores how protection sometimes requires crossing lines you never thought you’d cross, with Cade becoming a criminal to save Isabella from a fate worse than poverty. The author delivers Victorian romance where desperation creates heroes and circumstances force impossible choices. ⚖️
The stage is set for a battle not only for justice but for a future together, with Scott crafting romance around the question of whether love can survive when one person sacrifices everything including their freedom to protect the other. The first Morgans of Rocky Ridge novel establishes the family saga with a hero who proves that sometimes the bravest act is breaking the law for the right reasons, even when it costs you everything society says matters. 🌹
Why I’m including this: Victorian historical romance launching The Morgans of Rocky Ridge where Isabella Morrow faces an arranged marriage to wealthy Edward Dobson with a dark secret, forcing Cade Morgan to break the law for the first time to keep her safe, branding himself an outlaw as their childhood friendship ignites into love on the run.
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When podcaster Ivy Harlow searching for answers in her son’s death stumbles upon a missing girl’s case, she discovers that some truths refuse to stay buried beneath the quiet surface of Cedar Bluff, Oklahoma. Dianne Harman delivers cozy mystery where Ivy thought moving to this quiet town would give her a fresh start and escape the whispers and pitying looks following her son Adam’s fatal car accident, but the grief she carries and the nagging suspicion that Adam’s death wasn’t the simple accident everyone claimed refuse to let her rest. 🎙️When nineteen-year-old Rachel Covington goes missing, Ivy finds herself reluctantly drawn into the search—as the host of A Voice in the Dark, a true crime podcast focused on cold cases, she’s always kept a safe distance from active investigations, but Rachel’s desperate mother sees in Ivy what the local police won’t: someone who refuses to accept convenient explanations when the truth demands more. Harman explores how personal tragedy can sharpen someone’s ability to spot lies others miss. 🔍
Following a trail of half-truths and small-town secrets, Ivy uncovers witnesses who were overlooked, timelines that don’t add up, and a dangerous pattern hiding in plain sight—with each revelation about Rachel’s disappearance, she inches closer to understanding what really happened to her own son. Harman launches Ivy Harlow with cozy mystery about a podcaster who discovers that investigating someone else’s case might finally unlock the truth about her own loss. The author proves that sometimes finding justice for others means finding it for yourself. 📻
What makes this compelling: Cozy mystery launching Ivy Harlow where true crime podcaster searching for answers in her son Adam’s suspicious fatal car accident moves to quiet Cedar Bluff, Oklahoma for a fresh start but gets reluctantly drawn into finding missing nineteen-year-old Rachel Covington, following half-truths and small-town secrets that bring her closer to understanding both cases.
A middle-aged former time trial cyclist shares his experience in the sometimes miserable world of running and the methodical system he used to conquer it, showing how he went from a 28-minute 5k to 15:01 and a 2:24 debut marathon through disciplined application of Norwegian training principles. James Copeland delivers running guide ideal for time-crunched runners, providing a sustainable pathway to make the most of training with sample weeks, load management, and pacing guidance from the 5k to the marathon. 🏃With a foreword by Marius Bakken, the first and foremost expert of what became known as the Norwegian Double Threshold system, this 253-page book looks at how you can apply these principles to your own running while taking your busy life and schedule into consideration. Copeland brings authenticity as someone who made the transition from cycling to running in middle age, understanding the particular challenges of balancing training with real-world time constraints. 📊
The author provides an in-depth look at the theory behind the philosophy while keeping things accessible and practical for everyday runners who can’t dedicate their entire lives to training. Copeland proves that dramatic improvement is possible even when you’re not a young elite athlete, showing how methodical application of subthreshold running principles can transform your performance. The guide emphasizes sustainable training that works with your life rather than requiring you to rebuild your life around running. ⏱️
Why I’m including this: Running guide where middle-aged former time trial cyclist James Copeland shares the methodical Norwegian Double Threshold system he used to go from a 28-minute 5k to 15:01 and 2:24 marathon debut, providing time-crunched runners with sample weeks, load management, and pacing guidance with foreword by Norwegian expert Marius Bakken.
The definitive true Southern Gothic account of the life, crimes, conviction, and execution of Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins—the charismatic, brutal, well-liked, remorseless South Carolina serial killer dubbed the Charles Manson of the South—written by the prosecutor who brought him to justice. Of the hundreds of murder cases that noted South Carolina attorney Dick Harpootlian has prosecuted, one in particular haunts him: Pee Wee Gaskins, a serial killer and rapist who was a master manipulator claiming to have killed over 100 people and known to have murdered over a dozen including a toddler and his own teenage niece. 💀As personable as he was ruthless, Pee Wee defied easy categories—he killed to avenge minor slights as well as for pleasure, using any convenient method including stabbing, shooting, poison, suffocation, and drowning, with evidence suggesting he forced at least one victim to dig his own grave, stand in it, and be shot. Yet it was on Death Row that he pulled off his most audacious murder, killing another inmate with a military-grade explosive. Richard A. Harpootlian and Shaun Assael deliver true crime that examines how someone so dangerous could also be so likable. ⚖️
The authors explore the paradox of a serial killer who charmed communities while committing unspeakable atrocities, with Harpootlian bringing insider prosecutorial perspective to a case that represents everything challenging about bringing charismatic monsters to justice. The book examines how Gaskins seduced the South despite his brutality, defying simple categorization as pure evil while committing acts that prove he was exactly that. The definitive account from the prosecutor who finally stopped him reveals the complexity of pursuing justice against someone who refuses to fit the expected profile. 🔍
What makes this essential: True crime account from prosecutor Richard A. Harpootlian about bringing serial killer Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins to justice—the charismatic, brutal, well-liked Charles Manson of the South who claimed over 100 victims, murdered a toddler and his own niece, forced a victim to dig his own grave, and killed a Death Row inmate with military explosives.