The stakes don't get much higher than murder…It's January 1969 in the small rural community of Center Springs, Texas. Constable Ned Parker suspects a larger mystery behind the seemingly accidental death of his nephew, R .B., who was found in his overturned pickup near Sanders Creek bridge. It appears that R. B. drowned in the shallow water, but something doesn't add up for Ned, who begins turning over stones in search of what really happened the night R. B. died.The mystery leads Ned to the Starlite Club, a dangerous honky-tonk recently constructed in a no-man's land on the Lone Star side of the Red River. His investigations there uncover suspicious characters, drugs, and gambling, but even more troubling are a series of murders that seem designed to eliminate anyone who might know what really happened to R. B. on that cold January night.As he works his way through the cover-up, Ned lands himself in a high-stakes game of consequences with no good end in sight. Are the good citizens of Center Springs conspiring against Constable Parker in his search for the truth?In this thrilling addition to the historical Texas Red River Mystery Series, Constable Ned Parker bets big, but only time will tell if he'll win justice or a grave of his own.

Meet the brash and irresistible Bertha Cool and Donald Lam—the iconic detective duo who stars in this classic crime novel from the creator of Perry Mason.Hired by a mysterious “Mr. Smith” to find a woman who vanished 21 years earlier, Donald Lam finds himself facing a sadistic cop, a desperate showgirl, a duplicitous client, and one very dogged (and beautiful) newspaper reporter. Meanwhile, Bertha Cool’s attempts to cut herself in on this lucrative opportunity land them both hip-deep in murder . . . Erle Stanley Gardner was not just the creator of Perry Mason—at the time of his death, he was the best-selling American author of all time, with hundreds of millions of books in print. Among those books were the 29 cases of the brash, irresistible detective team of Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. Last year, Hard Case Crime brought out the first new Cool and Lam novel in decades, The Knife Slipped, lost for 77 years after Gardner’s publisher refused it. Now, we’re bringing you the book Gardner wrote to replace it, often considered the best in the series: Turn on the Heat.

USA TODAY BESTSELLER“This is a scary, thrilling, page-turning, race-against-the-clock novel if ever there was one, with a true shocker of an ending. Miss this one at your own peril.” —Blake Crouch, New York Times bestselling author of Dark MatterHow far would you go to save your child?Five years ago Elizabeth Piccioni’s husband was arrested for being a serial killer. Her life suddenly turned upside down, she did what she thought was best for her newborn baby: she took her son and ran away to start a new life.Now, living in a quiet part of the Midwest with a new identity, Elizabeth is ready to start over. But one day she receives a phone call from a person calling himself Cain. Cain somehow knows about her past life. He has abducted her son, and if Elizabeth wants to save him she must retrieve her husband’s trophies — the fingers he cut off each of his victims.With a deadline of one hundred hours, Elizabeth has no choice but to return to the life she once fled, where she will soon realize that everything she thought she knew is a lie, and what’s more shocking than Cain’s identity is the truth about her husband.*Includes an excerpt from Robert's thriller The Killing Room, winner of the 2024 ITW Thriller Award and the first book in a new series from Blackstone Publishing.

Death of an influencerThe tranquillity of the picturesque old town of Saint-Malo is shattered by a gruesome murder. The dead woman is a well-known influencer and radio presenter who has made many enemies in the region with her controversial opinions and themes. The killer has not only professionally staged the body and crime scene, but also meticulously recorded the crime.Will she find the perpetrator in the dead woman's private surroundings, or will she have to dig deep into the victim's past?

A kidnapping plan cribbed from a crime novel goes hilariously wrong for gang boss John Dortmunder—from the Edgar Award–winning author of Bank Shot.   When his "friend" Andy Kelp has a plan, career criminal John Dortmunder knows that means trouble. Kelp's schemes, no matter how well intentioned, tend to spiral quickly out of control. But this one, Kelp swears, is airtight. He read it in a book!   The novel featured a kidnapping so brilliant there's no way it wouldn't work in real life. Though offended that his usual role as heist planner has been usurped, Dortmunder reluctantly agrees to the scheme.   Unfortunately, they kidnap a kid smarter than all of them put together. What's simple on the page turns complex and chaotic—and there's no reference guide to help Dortmunder through the madness he's signed on for.   "[Westlake's] most durable character. Whatever can go wrong in the man's elaborate attempts at larceny invariably does, and in the most amusing and unexpected ways possible." —Los Angeles Times   "Westlake has no peer in the realm of comic mystery novelists." —San Francisco Chronicle

"Garcia-Aguilera has created a new private eye named Lupe Solano, and what a creation she is—strong, sexy, funny, and Miami-smart." —Nelson DeMille, #1 New York Times–bestselling authorGuadalupe Solano was raised learning about Cuba from her immigrant parents. But all Lupe knows is that growing up in a traditional Cuban-American household in Miami hasn't been easy for a woman with an independent streak and no desire to settle down. Being single and a PI is a constant test of her close-knit family's tolerance . . .Nevertheless, Lupe is good at her job—and has a soft spot for children, even if she doesn't want any of her own. So when the adoptive parents of a young girl with an inherited rare blood condition want Lupe to find their daughter's birth mother for a bone marrow transplant, she can't refuse. The adoption was private—and illegal—facilitated by a high-profile Miami attorney running a baby-selling scheme from Cuba. Lupe will go to any lengths to save this girl's life, even if it means her first-ever trip to the homeland just might be her last . . ."Sexy." —Chicago Tribune "Fascinating . . . witty . . . compelling." —The Miami Herald "Carolina Garcia-Aguilera adds a long-awaited voice to the South Florida panoply of crime writers. Cuban-born Lupe Solano is a bright and sassy PI, and Bloody Waters provides an auspicious debut. Welcome to the neighborhood Ms. Solano." —Les Standiford, New York Times–bestselling author"The Cuban-American Catholic background is a facet of Florida life not often explored in this genre. A talent worth watching." —Kirkus Reviews