Small Towns and Their Dark Secrets
I love the charm of small town setting, and they have the bonus aspect of being perfect for crime novels. Not only do I get a group of characters that all know each other, gossip, and a set group of suspects to point figures at, but there are always secrets. And secrets always come out. If you too love a small town read I have thrillers, mysteries, a little bit of romantic suspense, and even a dash of zombies—they’re solving a murder mystery, it totally counts.
Mark Novak is a recently-ish widowed Florida private investigator who ends up in a small Southern Indiana town, sent by the firm he may soon be fired from. In Garrison, under the ground, is Trapdoor Caverns: a dangerous and extensive system of caves. Ridley Barnes would like Novak to look into the old murder case of Sarah Martin, a teen girl he was suspected of murdering. The case closed the caves and killed the town's tourism, destroying their economy. But this small town isn’t inviting Novak in, nor helping him solve what happened…
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Here’s a past murder mystery that has haunted the community in this small Oklahoma town, DeClare, since the early ‘70s. Gaylene Harjo was murdered and her baby, Nicky Jack, was feared dead but never found. Now almost thirty years later Nicky Jack is back, looking for his family and as you can imagine everyone has got a whole lot of questions…
For a small-town mystery with some romance, we head to a sleepy Indiana town. Leigh Mitchell is the thirty-year-old sheriff who just hit the restless-in-life point and decides she needs change. So of course a mysterious man arrives in town. He’s sexy and she’s falling except he stays mysterious, revealing very little about himself which means he’s suspect numero uno when a crime is committed…
Cage fighter Jack Boucher’s life is spiraling out of control in the Mississippi Delta. Between all his concussions and pain pills, chased with alcohol, his memory is at the point he needs to keep a list of names to keep straight friends from enemies. And that’s not even the worst of it: Big Momma Sweet is the loan shark he needs to pay back now, even if it means getting back into fighting to get the money. But will he survive?
Here’s a historical western mystery for those looking to check off three genres in one book. In the early twentieth century, East Texas was starting to see the oil boom, but also they just had a smallpox epidemic, which has orphaned Jack Parker and his younger sister Lula. Which is only the start of a difficult life for Jack seeing as his sister is kidnapped and his grandfather murdered by bank-robbing bandits. Time for Jack to roundup a ragtag team of heroes to get his sister back!
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Jamie Canavés is a Book Riot contributing editor and Tailored Book Recommendations coordinator. She writes the Unusual Suspects mystery newsletter, never says no to chocolate or ‘80s nostalgia, and can hold a conversation using only gifs. Tweets: @Oh_Dinky.