Murder in the First Degree
Mystery/Thriller Debuts

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Carved in Bone: A Body Farm Novel
Jefferson Bass

The founder of the Body Farm, a laboratory devoted to the study of human composition, Dr. Bill Brockton is staggered by what he discovers about an unusual corpse — an almost perfectly preserved mummy discovered in East Tennessee’s mountainous Cooke County.


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The 37th Hour
Jodi Compton

A detective specializing in missing persons cases, Sarah Pribek becomes involved in a case that hits all too close to home — the mysterious disappearance of her own husband, a fellow police officer.
Followed by Sympathy Between Humans


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The Meaning of Night: A Confession
Michael Cox

Convinced that he is destined for great wealth and power, Edward Glyver — booklover, scholar, and murderer — will do anything to reclaim a prize that is rightfully his, following a trail from the underworld depths of Victorian London to an ultimate showdown with his rival, poet-criminal Phoebus Rainsford Daunt.


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Immoral
Brian Freeman

The disappearance of a teenage girl from the streets of Duluth, Minnesota, the second in a year, draws Lieutenant Jonathan Stride into a dangerous conflict with the heart of evil as his search for a serial killer captures him in a web of secrets, lies, obsession, illicit desire, and death.
Followed by Stripped


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Run the Risk
Scott Frost

In the wake of a series of bizarre crimes, Los Angeles homicide detective Alex Delillo is baffled by a tangle of ambiguous clues and follows leads that become increasingly violent.
Followed by Never Fear


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The Color of Law: A Novel
Mark Gimenez

Scott Fenney is forced to choose between his conscience and his privileged lifestyle when he’s assigned to defend pro bono Shawanda Jones, a heroin-addicted prostitute, who is accused of murdering the son of a millionaire Texas senator and presidential candidate.


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Tilt a Whirl
Chris Grabenstein

Having recently joined the Sea Haven police department after his tour of duty in Iraq, former MP John Ceepak investigates the murder of a billionaire real estate tycoon at a seedy amusement park.
Followed by Mad Mouse and Whack a Mole


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Haunted Ground: A Novel
Erin Hart

The Irish landscape holds secrets past and present as archaeologist Cormac O’Callaghan and pathologist Nora Gavin encounter a mystery when a decapitated woman is found in the bogs who may be related to a recent mother/child disappearance.
Followed by Lake of Sorrows


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The Ghost Writer
John Harwood

Plagued with unpleasant memories of his mother’s death, shy Gerard Freeman is obsessed with the manuscript of a century-old ghost story written by his great-grandmother and entrusted to his care.


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Dark Harbor
David Hosp

Rising from his disadvantaged youth to obtain a position at a Boston law firm, lawyer Scott Finn works for the defense of a high-profile client after the murder of a co-worker and former flame, a case involving billions of dollars, Scott’s own credibility, and a determined police lieutenant.


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Sunstroke
Jesse Kellerman

When Carl, the boss she has secretly loved for years, goes missing during his annual visit to Mexico, Gloria Mendez begins a search for answers that reveals hidden, sinister aspects of her employer’s life.


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The Hundredth Man
Jack Kerley

When cryptic messages are discovered on the bodies of a pair of murder victims, Alabama police detective Carson Ryder and veteran officer Harry Nautilus find themselves embroiled in a mysterious public relations debate that forces Ryder to seek help from his murderer convict brother.
Followed by The Death Collectors and A Garden of Vipers


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Dating Dead Men
Harley Jane Kozak

As part of her research for talk-show host Dr. Cookie Lahven’s upcoming book How to Avoid Getting Dumped All the Time, L.A. greeting-card artist and gift-shop manager Wollie Shelley is dating 40 men in 60 days, but her assignment is complicated by an unexpected corpse, a “doctor” on the run from the Mob, her paranoid schizophrenic brother, and her investigation into the crime.
Followed by Dating is Murder and Dead Ex


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The Dead Sit Round in a Ring
David Lawrence

Detective Stella Mooney deals with personal and professional turmoil as she investigates the case of Jimmy Stone, found murdered and left sitting in a circle with three other corpses in a London flat.
Followed by Nothing Like the Night, Cold Kill, and Down into Darkness


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Darkly Dreaming Dexter: A Novel
Jeff Lindsay

Hiding a secret life as an assassin while working as a murder analyst for the Miami police, Dexter Morgan is intrigued by the work of a new serial killer whose style mimics his own and who Morgan realizes is inviting him into a deadly competition.
Followed by Dearly Devoted Dexter and Dexter in the Dark


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A Field of Darkness
Cornelia Read

A tough-talking, shotgun-toting debutante gets in over her head investigating a pair of cold case murders in this assured, thrilling first novel.


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Suspect
Michael Robotham

Joe O’Loughlin, a psychologist faced with a recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, confronts a conspiracy against him after he becomes the prime suspect in the brutal murder of a woman with whom he once had a relationship.
Followed by Lost and The Night Ferry


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Skin River
Steven Sidor

Hoping to escape his dark past by working as a tavern keeper in a small Wisconsin town, Buddy Bayes stumbles into a brutal missing persons case and makes a wrong conclusion that has disturbing consequences.


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Isolation Ward
Joshua Spanogle

Called in by the CDC after three mentally handicapped women with the same mysterious symptoms check into the same Baltimore hospital, Dr. Nathaniel McCormick becomes caught in a puzzling web of deceit and conspiracy as he follows the trail of a lethal virus to California and discovers terrifying links to a former mentor and an old love.


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Monkeewrench
P. J. Tracy

Grace McBride and the team at her software company are horrified when events in their murder mystery computer game are replicated in the real world by a ruthless killer, a situation that prompts them to analyze the game in order to anticipate his next move.
Followed by Live Bait, Dead Run, and Snow Blind


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