Showing results by author "Mary Stone" in All Categories

There’s never a dull moment on Shadow Island, especially for its small but growing sheriff’s department. This time, Sheriff Rebecca West, along with new deputy Viviane Darby, discover a man hanging from the rafters of the caretaker’s shed at Oceanview Cemetery.

Shadow Island lore insists that anyone who steps in the shadow cast onto the old witch’s cottage is cursed. But when two bodies are discovered inside the cottage, their heads arranged in a ghastly tableau, Rebecca is more concerned about the real monsters—the human ones who’d commit such an atrocious murder.

Less than twenty-four hours after Hurricane Boris ravages Shadow Island, it delivers one final blow. Two corpses, lashed together, wash up on the shore. Some of them, anyway. With no primary crime scene, no witnesses, and barely any human remains, Sheriff Rebecca West has precious little to work with. Are these victims connected to the seemingly untouchable Yacht Club, or did Boris’s awesome power simply push them onto her beach?

When the dead can't speak, the shadows whisper their secrets. There’s never a dull moment on Shadow Island, especially for its small but growing sheriff’s department. This time, Sheriff Rebecca West, along with new deputy Viviane Darby, discover a man hanging from the rafters of the caretaker’s shed at Oceanview Cemetery. Does death follow Rebecca? Or does she attract it? The scene suggests suicide—an unlocked padlock, a rope, a toppled bench, and the lifeless body.

Every clue is a countdown. A typical morning at Sandpiper Bank turns into chaos when an armed man in a clown costume storms in, shattering the calm. He trashes the lobby and executes the bank manager, even after securing the money, hinting at a motive beyond mere robbery. Maybe money isn’t the root of all evil, after all. Puzzled by the senseless violence, Sheriff Rebecca West is drawn into a labyrinth of mystery and danger as the bank’s connections to the Yacht Club are revealed. The arrival of the FBI, led by Rebecca’s former instructor, offers a mix of relief and renewed tension.

Haunted by dreams of the boy whose life she shattered and burdened by dark family secrets she's only just begun to understand, Private Investigator Winter Black is trying to keep her life from falling apart. With her husband on a yearlong break from the FBI, the bills are piling up, and Winter has no choice but to take on even the most mundane cases. Serving a summons should be easy. Until the man she served is found dead the next day. His wife too.

Once an FBI special agent famed for locking up serial killers, Winter Black now finds herself on the other side of the law. Who would have guessed she’d be working on behalf of a potential killer as a private investigator? Her new client is undoubtedly a corrupt businessman who has swindled millions, but is he responsible for the chilling electrocutions of three people? Winter doesn’t think so.

Seven months ago, one of the FBI’s own went missing without a trace. The forensic analyst was smart and beautiful, and she had been dating Joseph Larson...the same man who’d been working with the Chicago PD to investigate the young woman’s missing persons case. The same man who’d just been forced to resign from the Bureau. Something’s terribly wrong, FBI Special Agent Amelia Storm knows it in her gut. But knowing and proving are two very different things.

Armed with a slew of advanced degrees and powerful intuition, forensic psychologist Dr. Autumn Trent is ready to conquer the world and touch the lives of its seven billion inhabitants. She’s prepared to fight for justice, right the wrongs...because she knows what it’s like to be wronged. As a child, a single blow from her father left her changed forever. Her body survived the aftermath, but her brain was altered in ways that were both good and bad.

When a man washes up onto Shadow Island, Sheriff Rebecca West has a moment of déjà vu. This isn’t the first body the ocean spat out on one of her beaches, but it’s the first one she’s found alive. Barely. The brutal gunshot wounds to the victim’s hand and the lower part of his face indicate he was shot offshore and dumped overboard, but there’s no boat or perpetrator. Just a few cryptic clues before the victim becomes unresponsive.

U.S. Senator Stan Young has more skeletons in his closet than a centuries-old graveyard...and more power than a nuclear blast. When Ben Storey, the city councilman running against the incumbent senator, uncovers damning evidence against Young, he decides to take the information to the only person with the resources to pursue it—Amelia Storm.

A local man has fatally overdosed on fentanyl at the ice cream parlor after polishing off a salted caramel cone. No history of drug use, no needles, no signs of addiction—only a body filled with poison. Rebecca suspects something far worse than a tragic accident. But how does fentanyl find its way into a dessert? When a father and his two children are poisoned by fentanyl after eating at a local diner, Rebecca comes to a startling realization. A sadistic killer is playing a dangerous game of chance, turning routine moments into fatal traps.

When a fisherwoman reports seeing a local young woman potentially assaulted or abducted, Shadow Island Sheriff Rebecca West’s heart constricts. The disappearance of three other girls in the span of a week can’t be a coincidence. But other than being about the same age, everything else about the girls and their mysterious disappearances are inconsistent. Besides, since all are legal adults with no jobs but plenty of nice things, it’s entirely possible they just took off on an impromptu vacation. Except none of the girls took their car. And no one is answering their phone.

The path to power is paved with blood. In the wake of a landmark election on Shadow Island, the tide of power is set to turn. Newly elected Sheriff Rebecca West stands ready to dismantle the Yacht Club’s ruthless grip over the island. And she isn’t alone. She has her team as well as the newly elected chair of the Select Board by her side. But victory comes at a perilous cost. The ballots have barely been counted when tragedy strikes. The new Select Board Chair’s life hangs by a thread after a deliberate sabotage turns her victory drive into a fight for survival.

Just a few short months ago, Sheriff Rebecca West thought her toughest battles were behind her. But nothing could have prepared her for the turmoil she’s faced since coming to Shadow Island. Attempts on her life. Heartbreak. Betrayal. And that’s just the beginning. The worst is yet to come. Still reeling from the shocking discovery of who’s behind Shadow Island’s exclusive and depraved "men’s" club, Rebecca is determined to take them down. There’s only one problem. One by one, the members end up dead. Tongues cut out, hands chopped off—the message is clear...

Sheriff Rebecca West knows she’s being watched. She’s seen the same car parked along the road—always at a distance, always watching. Even more concerning, the man with damning evidence against the senator tied to her parents’ deaths claims he’s being followed too.

When Sheriff Rebecca West answers a late-night dispatch about a fatal car accident on the bridge, she fears the worst. The victim isn't just any driver—he’s her informant. The man who risked everything to send her a thumb drive exposing the monster who shattered her life. He was on his way to Shadow Island, seeking her protection.

On the heels of receiving evidence hinting at the motive behind her father’s murder, Sheriff Rebecca West confronts a horrific crime scene. A pregnant woman has been brutally attacked in her home, her unborn baby ripped from her womb. But this is more than assault. It’s an abduction of the worst kind. Now, a newborn is in the hands of a monster. Determined to follow every lead, Rebecca locks down the island, launching an all-out search for the missing infant. But as the mother fights for her life, Rebecca uncovers chilling evidence of a man obsessed with the young mother.

Dr. Autumn Trent, forensische Psychologin und Kriminalpsychologin, will beim Wechsel in die Abteilung für Verhaltensanalyse des FBI weiter Erfahrung sammeln und routinierter werden. In Lavender Lake, Florida, verschwinden hochschwangere Frauen. Den einzigen Hinweis auf ihr Schicksal stellt eine einzelne Hand dar … gefunden in einem Sumpfgebiet, in dem es von Alligatoren wimmelt. Ein kaltblütiger Unmensch befindet sich auf einer heiligen Mission, um sein Licht in die dunkle Welt zu bringen. Wie schnappt man einen Kriminellen, der dafür sorgt, dass alle Beweismittel aufgefressen werden?

Death is only the beginning. Shadow Island is a wreck. Buildings lay in rubble, construction crews swarm the island, and the aftermath of the Yacht Club Massacre has left many dead. But at least Sheriff Rebecca West put an end to the violence against young girls by dismantling the elite men’s club. Or so she thought. When a teenage girl is found stabbed and half-buried in a makeshift grave at the local cemetery, her arms carved with occult symbols, whispers of dark rituals and black magic spread through the community. The victim’s friends insist she died from the legendary witch’s curse.