Sisters Samantha and Monte Waters are vacationing together in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, enjoying a festival and planning to meet with their brother, Cal. But the idyllic plans are short-lived. When terrorists’ attacks rock the city around them, Monte, a U.S. foreign service officer, and Samantha, an international television correspondent, are separated, and one of them is whisked away in the frenzy. The family mobilizes, using all their contacts to try to find their missing sister, but to no avail. She has vanished. As time presses on, the outlook darkens. Can she be found, or is she a lost cause? And even if she returns, will the damage to her and those around her be irreparable?

Preparations are underway for Glenfest, Glendara’s literary festival. Phyllis Kettle, the local bookshop owner, is especially pleased to have persuaded Gavin Featherstone, the local bestselling recluse writer, to take part. The festival begins, and an eager crowd awaits Featherstone’s appearance on stage. He is unexpectedly engaging, but when he stands to read from his new book, he stumbles and keels over on the platform. Solicitor Benedicta “Ben” O’Keeffe discovers that she holds Featherstone’s will at the office, drafted by her predecessor. Soon, she’s drawn into a complicated legal wrangle over the man’s estate involving his family and the assistant who lived with him. But nothing can be resolved yet, as a killer cannot inherit from their victim --- and Gavin Featherstone’s death was a murder.

San Diego private investigator Rick Cahill’s wife, Leah, has fled with their daughter, Krista, to her parents’ home in Santa Barbara. She fears Rick’s violent outbursts brought on by his potentially fatal brain disorder, CTE. Rick desperately wants to reunite his family and help provide for Krista’s future --- one he fears he won’t be alive to see. A jumpstart toward that future appears in the form of Peter Stone, Rick’s longtime enemy. Stone offers Rick $50,000 to find a woman he claims can save his life with a kidney transplant. Rick can’t pass up the chance to buttress Krista’s future. When what seems like a simple missing person case spirals out of control into cryptocurrency machinations, dead bodies and an outgunned faceoff, Rick is forced to battle evil from his past.

When a prominent Sacramento businessman is killed and his wife injured in a brutal home invasion, Detective Emily Hunter and her partner, Javier Medina, are called to investigate. At first glance, it seems like a crime of opportunity gone horribly wrong, but Emily soon finds there might be more to both the crime and the dead man. The high-stakes investigation also comes at a time when Emily is caring for her mother, who has early-onset Alzheimer’s, and Emily struggles to balance her job with her personal life. The city’s political elite seem to want the case solved quickly, but darker forces want it buried. Could there have been a motive behind the attack, making it more than a random home invasion? Emily uncovers clues that cause her to reconsider her understanding of the crime.

Dave Beckett, a homicide detective who doesn't color within the lines, is regulated to the lowest job in the division and is known by his peers as The Bone Dick. He handles all "bag of bone" cases found in San Bernardino County's 20,000 square miles, at present count 256 pending unsolved. It's a boring, mundane job...until it isn't. In A LONESOME BLOOD-RED SUN, Beckett is called to a house far out in the desert where a dog has brought a bone to the back door. Beckett investigates and discovers that the victim, two years dead, is someone he knows. With his usual verve and colorful methods, Beckett tracks the killer. The trail leads through a warren of dead ends until he discovers a most unlikely suspect hiding in plain sight.

Detectives Kirk Lucian and Mandy Wing are charged with investigating a reported suicide of a Cambridge woman in her backyard. After further investigation, the hanging appears staged. Once Kirk and Mandy’s suspicions are confirmed, they make a list of suspects. Clues begin to connect the recent murder to the decades-old mysterious death of a beautiful 16-year-old Romany exchange student who perished when a treehouse she was sleeping in caught fire. The girl, Vadima Lupescu, had done “odd” things among her American peers that stirred up prejudices and suspicions, leading to her brutal death --- and cover-up. As Kirk and Mandy investigate the bizarre rumors --- that Vadima had “gypsy powers” and put curses on those around her --- they discover a cauldron of dark secrets.

A high-profile D.C. attorney is found dead in his office. McDermott “Mac” Burke and Oliver Shaw, homicide investigators for the Metropolitan Police Department, are called to investigate. There appear to be no signs of foul play, but there is also no obvious sign of a natural cause of death. The detectives are perplexed until the medical examiner notices a tiny pin prick on the lawyer’s neck and theorizes that he was injected with succinylcholine, which is a common horse tranquilizer that dissipates quickly in the body. As Mac and Oliver begin to look further, they discover that the lawyer had sold his life insurance policy to a large viatical company. Then they realize that more deaths under mysterious circumstances have occurred among those who have sold their policies to the same company.

Matthew Shane is a law professor in Salem, Massachusetts, where he enjoys a rewarding mentorship with Professor Barrington Holmes, a well-known archaeologist. So when Professor Holmes is found dead in his office and the police rule it a suicide, something doesn't sit right with Matthew. He becomes determined to find the true cause of Holmes’ death and bring closure to his widow. Matthew soon learns that Professor Holmes belonged to a group of notable archaeologists dubbed “The Monkey’s Paw,” who were all entangled in an expedition to find an unknown object of unprecedented historical and financial value. Each member had been given one piece of the instructions to find the object, but some of the men had encountered horrific twists of fate before the group could reunite to continue in their search.

Wade, a respected banker in La Jolla, CA, and his estranged wife, Fiona, make the unbearable decision to send their teenage son, Myles, away to an expensive treatment center after a streak of harmful behavior. After a year of treatment, Myles comes home, seemingly rehabilitated. But soon, he sneaks off to Tijuana to buy drugs --- and is kidnapped. When the ransom call comes, Fiona is frantic and accepts help from Andre, the Quebecois whose charity Fiona runs. In order to get the ransom money, Wade makes a deal with Andre: He’ll work for Andre’s bank in exchange for the cash. But as Wade races to rescue Myles before his kidnappers lose their patience, he realizes he’s wrapped up in more crime than just a kidnapping. He’s now indebted to a cartel.

In a tragic turn of events, ex-con PI Colleen Hayes’ daughter, Pam, has lost her baby. Meanwhile, a serial killer given the name “Night Candy” is targeting sex workers, both male and female. The situation doesn’t improve when Colleen’s friend and ally --- SFPD Inspector Owens --- is arrested for the murder of his ex-wife, who was found burned in a fire the same night the pair had tried to rekindle their love. Could Owens have really done what they say? Even Colleen has her doubts. But there are people depending on her: Owens, who needs help finding his ex-wife’s real killer, and a trio of sex workers Colleen keeps her eye on --- especially with Night Candy on the loose. Then, one of the three girls is next to disappear. If anything is to test Colleen’s resolve, December 1979 seems to be it.