Ann Rule unravels a shattering case of Christmastime murder off the coast of Washington State. It’s a case with enough drama, greed, sex and scandal to be called “The Real Housewives of Whidbey Island,” but this was not reality television. This was murder: pure, cruel, ugly and senseless. And someone had to pay the price.

An encoded diary by one of Ludwig II’s confidants falls into the hands of modern-day rare book dealer Steven Lukas, who soon realizes that the diary may bring him more misery than money. Others want the diary as well --- and they will kill to get it. Lukas teams up with a beautiful art detective to investigate each of Ludwig’s three famous castles for clues to crack the diary’s code as mysterious thugs and Ludwig’s fanatical followers chase them at every step. Just what in the diary could be so explosive?

THE QUEST is a deadly adventure that pits two journalists and a beautiful photographer against the Vatican, murderous tribesmen, shadowy assassins, fanatical Coptic monks and, ultimately, the powers of the Holy Grail itself. Against the backdrop of a legend that has lasted 2,000 years, and with a love affair influencing many decisions, good eventually triumphs --- but at a steep price.

Shortly after Jack McClure leaves a late-night meeting with Dennis Paull, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Paull is found dead. The President is furious but equally frightened of a scandal, since McClure is one of their own --- an operative and Paull's friend. With top officials in the CIA and FBI after him, McClure goes on the run. Someone framed him for Paull's murder, possibly to prevent him from accomplishing Paull's last request --- a task vital to U.S. National Security.

An article transports Antonio Yammara back to when the war between Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel and government forces played out violently in Colombia’s streets and in the skies above. Troubled by disturbing memories of a friend's murder, Antonio begins to discover the many ways in which his own life and his friend’s family have been shaped by his country’s recent violent past.

There’s a new detective on the block, and his name is Cormoran Strike. Just when he’s down on his luck and close to broke, a case walks through the door that may make him rich and famous. Maybe a little famous anyway. The brother of a supermodel who was thought to have leapt to her death wants Strike to prove that she didn’t.

Six years ago in Uzbekistan, journalist Charlie Davis was wounded when the government fired on a group of protestors he was covering on assignment. He and his pregnant wife, Julie, barely escaped with their lives. On a trip to Disneyland with their children, Julie vanishes. As Charlie soon discovers, this isn’t a random abduction. The further he goes to find her, the more it becomes clear that Julie isn’t quite the person she seems to be.

Dani’s husband, Ian, disappears without a trace from their houseboat in Seattle. Panic and disbelief soon give way to grief --- either he's been the victim of foul play (which is what the police assume), or he's determined not to be found. But Dani won't rest until she learns what happened to him. Her quest will dredge up dark memories from the past, and will force her to confront unpleasant truths about her relationship with Ian.

Thomas De Quincey, infamous for his memoir Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, is the major suspect in a series of ferocious mass murders identical to ones that terrorized London 43 years earlier. The blueprint for the killings seems to be De Quincey's essay "On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts." Desperate to clear his name but crippled by opium addiction, De Quincey is aided by his devoted daughter Emily and a pair of determined Scotland Yard detectives.