Hardcover Mysteries S1:E8

David Baldacci

In 1964, D.C. socialite Mary Meyer was murdered. At the trial, the revelation of Mary's diary, which detailed an affair with President Kennedy, leads many to conspiracy theories and became the partial basis for Baldacci's best-seller, Absolute Power. While fixing a car alongside Canal Road in Georgetown, Washington DC, mechanic Henry Wiggins hears a cry for help followed by two gun shots. He runs in the direction of the sounds and sees a man standing over a body. Within minutes police seal off the area and capture Ray Crump, a black man who they find soaking wet in the bushes. Crump is identified by Wiggins as the man he saw standing over the body. Crump is taken into custody and police discover the victim is 43 year old socialite and artist Mary Pinchot Meyer. She is well connected in the political world, mingling in Washington's power strata. Unbeknownst to police, Mary has kept a secret diary. She's told friends to safeguard it in the event of her death. Mary's brother in-law, famed Watergate journalist Ben Bradlee, goes looking for the diary only to find CIA head of Counter Intelligence James Angleton also looking for the diary at Mary's house and art studio. When the diary is discovered it reveals that Mary was having an affair with the slain President, John Kennedy. Was Mary the victim of a random act of violence? Or is there a greater conspiracy behind Mary Meyer's murder — one that's tied to the CIA and her relationship with President Kennedy?

Lisa Scottoline

Detectives investigating the homicide of a 15-year-old girl uncover a shocking murder-for-hire scheme plotted by the victim herself. Lisa Scottoline, whose thrillers often explore family relationships, untangles the web of this family triangle.

Sandra Brown

The body of a young man is found brutally murdered in East Texas. Investigators believe a local gang with a hateful agenda is behind the crime. Sandra Brown offers insight into this landmark hate-crime case, which inspired her book, The Witness. In a remote area outside of Tyler, TX, two teen dirt-bikers stumble upon a partially clothed man's body — covered in blood — lying face down in a shallow clay pit. Deputies from the Smith County Sheriff's Office rush to the scene. The victim has been beaten severely and shot several times in his torso, abdomen, hands, legs, and in the back of the head. It's clear that the young man's death was slow and extremely painful. The victim is identified as 23-year-old Nicholas West. Sheriff's Deputies contact his family. They tell police that he was a model citizen with no criminal record who was training as a medical assistant. His family and friends cannot understand who would want to harm the likeable and popular young man. Investigators believe a local gang may be responsible for the crime. Over a period of months, the gang committed a string of drive-by shootings, assaults, and robberies. They communicate only by C.B. radio, and use cryptic nicknames like "Sundance," "Sure Shot," and "Million-Dollar Man." In recent weeks, the gang has become more violent, and unveiled a hateful new agenda. Investigators believe Nicholas West was targeted because he was gay. Now, the hunt is on to catch his killers before they strike again.

Linda Fairstein

A vast investigation into the disappearance of millionaire Manhattan socialite Irene Silverman uncovers two prime suspects, a mother-and-son killing team. Linda Fairstein provides a behind-the-scenes account of the police investigation. When 82-year old millionaire socialite Irene Silverman goes missing from her luxurious Manhattan townhouse over July 4th weekend, 1998, family, friends, and detectives immediately suspect foul play. Silverman had just rented a room to a strange tenant — Manny Guerin, a nervous, private young man, who was always followed by a domineering older woman. This strange couple has gone missing too. In Los Angeles detectives are after a mysterious couple of their own — Sante and Kenny Kimes, a mother and son team of career criminals. The pair is notorious for shoplifting, arson, identity theft, and are now prime suspects in the murder of David Kazdin, a longtime family friend of theirs who's just turned up dead in a dumpster. But, just like the couple in New York, this pair is nowhere to be found. Chasing after these two sets of killers on both coasts, police are uncovering a complex web of fraud and deceit that spans across the country — even internationally. Soon they will learn these two cases are indelibly connected by a menacing character described as "the most evil woman in the world."

Sara Paretsky

Carmin Ross is found stabbed to death in her Lawrence, KS home. This case captured novelist Sara Paretsky's attention because of how investigators methodically unraveled the suspect's carefully crafted story. On a brisk November afternoon in Lawrence, Kansas, sheriff's deputies are dispatched to the home of 40-year-old Carmin Ross. It's been over a day since her family and friends have been able to reach her, and everyone is worried. At the scene, the deputies discover the lifeless body of Carmin Ross. It appears she's been beaten and stabbed repeatedly. Detectives question Carmin's fiance by phone in California. They learn that Carmin and her ex-husband have been recently involved in a heated custody battle over their 4-year-old daughter. Detectives decide to meet with the ex-husband, an esteemed university professor who lives one hundred miles away. Despite his odd behavior, he gives investigators little to go on. It will take months of frustration before detectives finally get the break they need. A suspect's computer takes investigators inside the mind of Carmin's killer.

Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben's two New York Times #1 bestsellers, Long Lost and Caught feature girls who disappear and a community's quest for answers — themes that are found in the true story of Brianna Denison's abduction and the questions that echoed as a result in the community of Reno, Nevada.

Kathy Reichs

When freelance writer Louise Ellis disappears on a routine weekend getaway, investigators narrow in on two key suspects: her new husband and her ex-boyfriend. Now a critically acclaimed best-selling author, Dr. Kathy Reichs, recounts her real-life involvement as forensic anthropologist in one of the most sensational homicide investigations in Canadian history.