Riot New Media

For fans of slow burn suspense with a thriller ending set on an island!

Kenetria (Ken) Nash was briefly taken from her parents as a child, leaving her traumatized, and she developed dissociative identity disorder. In college, she assaulted her boyfriend’s father and lost everything. Now Ken, who has a handful of “headmates” that take turns being in charge, is finally in charge after years of being dormant. She learns that she’s been evicted, the pandemic started a few years ago, and one of the headmates took charge by getting them a job — and most importantly, a place to live — as a caretaker of a historic home on an island. Ken is obviously incredibly confused by this new life of wearing a mask, catching up with everything the headmates have done — they keep a journal — and is really not thrilled about being a caretaker in a strange place, especially when she realizes that the place looks exactly like the place in her mind where the headmates reside. As she tries to situate herself, and the headmates catch her up on what has been happening, Ken can’t get past that something on the island is off…

(TW past suicide attempt, detail/ PTSD/ child abuse)

For backlist readers, pick up An Extraordinary Union if you want a historical spy romance and When No One Is Watching for a great suspense novel.

For fans of borders (between Wales and England), procedurals, reality TV show settings, missing person mysteries, and everyone-is-a-suspect murder mysteries!

Welsh Detective Ffion Morgan is called to a reality TV show set in the mountains when bones are found. It’s not an issue — they’re animal bones — but it introduces her to the set of a reality show that was pitched to contestants as a “survival” show and then revealed to the contestants — and audience — that, in fact, is not why they are there. This prompts a contestant to disappear, bringing Morgan back in for an actual case. The more she learns, the more obvious it is that the person in charge of this reality show is a garbage human, and she must find the missing contestant before he becomes a danger to himself or others. This is only the beginning of the case for Morgan, who is also dealing with a rambunctious dog she can’t handle, a personal life reveal from the first book, and another detective from a different department whom she started a relationship with but let fizzle out accidentally, because Morgan can’t help getting in her own way.

Between the great setting of the town — plus, the reality show set that dives into our society’s obsession with them — and the way Mackintosh creates mysteries around a despicable person so that everyone is a potential suspect with motive, this is a great series to keep you turning pages late into the night. May there be plenty more books in the series so Morgan can solve all the mysteries and slowly start to get her act together.

If you want to start at the beginning, pick up The Last Party.

(TW briefly recounts attempted suicide, mentions past suicide, details/ mentions past sexual assault by blackmail for sex, mentions of #MeToo without detailed stories)

For fans of sibling POVs (one a journalist!), historical fiction, and solving the murder to get the inheritance!

In the early 1900s, Sir Lawrence Linwood’s three adopted children return home from their lives around the world: Alan (archeologist), Roger (engineer), and Caroline (journalist). Their mother greets them by informing them their father was murdered and a detective will speak with them in the morning. Welcome home! What they learn is that their father’s will states that if he’s murdered, the children must find the killer — and whoever does gets the estate and can null the previous will!

For fans of remote mysteries and a writer taking what they think is their last shot to have a career!

Cecily Wong needs a high-profile interview to get a chance at the journalist career she wants. A world-famous mountaineer will let Cecily interview him, but only if she summits Manaslu, the eighth-highest peak in the world with him. So Cecily sets out with the group to get her interview, except she’s not an expert climber, and people start dying along the way…

For fans of thrillers, multiple POVs, assassin stories, action, and an investigative reporter who stumbles into a crime!

Ray Devlin is living the retired life, but his past as a mercenary comes to get him, literally: he’s almost murdered and needs to find out why a fellow mercenary is after him. Reporter Tracy Quinn is trying to keep her job by uncovering a big story for a newspaper that is struggling between the print and digital age when her path crosses with Devlin’s…