Draws on the author's experience as a courtroom and television reporter to analyze some of recent history's most sensational trials and cases, including those of O.J. Simpson, JonBenet Ramsey, and Robert Blake, to reveal how the darkest secrets of killers, as well as the vulnerabilities of high-profile victims, are shared by everyday people. Reprint. 35,000 first printing.

Respected television news journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell asks a probing, disturbing question: Are killers like Scott Peterson and Andrea Yates all that different from the rest of us? What kind of monster would do this? When journalists break the story of a child who's been kidnapped, a young woman who's been brutally raped, or a family who's been slaughtered, that's the question most of us ask. Secrets Can Be Murder exposes the hidden motivations behind the most sinister acts of recent times, with a behind-closed-doors look at these sensational crimes that will astound you. After weighing in on high-profile cases for CNN, Fox News, Court TV, and MSNBC, author Jane Velez-Mitchell helps us understand these infamous crimes by unmasking the deceptions that turned toxic, exploding in rage and violence. People lie every day to protect secrets, big and small. From desperate Hollywood personalities covering up their eccentric lifestyles to Bible Belt mothers who take the lives of their own children, Secrets Can Be Murder probes twenty-one separate cases. Each illustrates how leading a double life can land you in prison, and how failing to spot liars can get you killed. Secrets Can Be Murder offers the inside story on each horrific case, unlocking the jaw-dropping secrets of the accused and revealing the common, innocent mistakes of the victims. After all, many of us have gone out alone late at night like Imette St. Guillen, or partied while on vacation like George Smith and Natalee Holloway. From Dan Horowitz, the high-profile lawyer whose wife was brutally murdered by a teenage neighbor while Horowitz was defending a housewife accused of murder, to Neil Entwistle, the British husband who ran out of funds for an extravagant American lifestyle, Velez-Mitchell shows how each of these crimes has its own secrets to spill. Many of us possess the same trusting nature as victims and carry around the same secrets as criminals -- whether it's debt, infidelity, or fetishes. With fascinating new insights from investigators and psychologists plus the friends and family of both the victims and the perpetrators, Secrets Can Be Murder illustrates just how little separates our so-called normal lives from that of a sociopath -- and how you can stay out of harm's way.

- - - - - The mysterious bride - - - - - "He had been the demon of every child's nightmares, the destroyer of families. He had been the devil incarnate." First, a beautiful and mysterious bride moved in next door. She was obviously in trouble, but she kept her secrets to herself. When Vickie and Cassie found her unconscious, at the bottom of the stairs, they couldn't help getting involved. - - - - - Death in the cemetery - - - - - "They saw that the foot belonged to a young woman, and the young woman looked to be quite dead." The vacation in Savannah turned scary, when prostitutes began dying. The sight-seeing trip to the cemetery, turned into a race for their lives. The strange gypsy-fortune teller knew more than she should. It was time to get out of Savannah. - - - - -The deadly garage sale discovery - - - - - "Out fell a disc, money, a white powdery substance, two pictures, and a gun." Back safely in Niagara Falls, a seemingly harmless garage sale brings new danger. When our hapless heroines find themselves captive aboard a cruiser, they know they may have to commit murder, in order to save themselves. The burning question is - will Cassie live long enough to make it to her own wedding?

It’s Christmas in Albuquerque; Charlie and her family are ready for a quiet holiday at home. But right away, her hopes for that scenario fade when Charlie’s brother and PI business partner, Ron, brings in two new cases, one of which made national headlines. Five years earlier, in a tide of media attention and despite public sentiment against her, Tali Donovan was acquitted of killing her two children and then she disappeared from the radar. Now, at the anniversary of the children’s disappearance, their father wants answers. Charlie realizes that the distraught man will not find peace until he knows what really happened. RJP Investigations digs up more than past history as Charlie and Ron work to find the answers. Praise for USA Today bestselling author Connie Shelton and the Charlie Parker mysteries: “Charlie is just what readers want in an amateur sleuth.” –Booklist “Shelton again has done a superb job of bringing New Mexico to life.” —Albuquerque Journal "Connie Shelton gets better with every book she writes." -- The Midwest Book Review Search words: mystery books, crime fiction, mystery series, Charlie Parker, Connie Shelton, Christmas mysteries, Christmas stories, cozy mystery, pet sleuths, female sleuths, mysteries with dogs, bestselling mystery series, new mexico fiction

The "must-read YA thriller" (Bustle) from #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying about a small town with deadly secrets. "When it comes to YA suspense, Karen M. McManus is in a league of her own..." --Entertainment Weekly Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery's never been there, but she's heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows. The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone has declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing. Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself. Fans of the hit thriller that started it all can watch the secrets of the Bayview Four be revealed in the One of Us is Lying TV series now streaming on NBC's Peacock!

Nancy poses as a student and goes undercover to investigate a series of thefts at Bedford High.

Chilling account of a Mexican satanic cult and its bizarre activities.

Tucked next to a pristine lake, the part-Medieval Europe, part-Renaissance Faire hamlet of Whispering Pines is a utopia . . . except for the recent murders. One month after arriving in the Northwoods, former detective Jayne O'Shea has settled comfortably into small-town life and is making good progress with her task of getting her grandparents' house ready for sale. Then the shocking death of one of the carnies rocks the community, and the villagers look to Jayne for help, placing her in an impossible middle ground of not wanting to get involved and needing to ensure justice is served. When a second carney turns up dead, and the newly hired sheriff--more concerned with ticketing tourists than catching the killer--dismisses the death as an accident, Jayne has no choice but to step in. Can she uncover the truth before the murderer strikes again?

On a fall afternoon in 1983, in an upscale Dallas suburb, Rozanne Gailiunas was found stripped, bound to her bed, and shot through the skull. Her four-year-old son has been napping peacefully in the next room when she was killed. Rozanne's husband, Dr. Peter Gailiunas--and her lover, Larry Aylor--immediately fell under suspicion. Until a surprise informant identified the mastermind behind the murder as Aylor's own wife, Joy--a woman so driven by jealousy and greed that she put out a contract on both Rozanne and later her own husband. On the run and managing to elude investigators for eight years, the two-year search for the socialite would eventually end in the south of France. There, authorities found the elusive femme fatale, living as comfortably among the world's elite as she was among hired killers. At last, the authorities' questions would be answered, to reveal a shocking insight into the heart of an unlikely killer, and a small-town Texas crime that made international headlines.

The world’s favorite teen detective is back, and she’s on the case. Keep up with Nancy Drew in this thrilling collection of mysteries full of intrigue, boys, and murder. In Secrets Can Kill, Nancy goes undercover to investigate the elusive thief stalking the nighttime halls of Bedford High. With her inside contact, gorgeous senior Daryl Gray, Nancy attempts to uncover the dangerous secrets that run deep at Bedford, but soon it’s a whole new game—a game called murder. And Nancy is the killer’s next target. In Deadly Intent, Nancy is ready to rock out at a concert in New York City—but the band’s lead guitarist vanishes minutes before they’re set to go on stage. Nancy and her on-again-off-again boyfriend Ned investigate, and their list of suspects leads them to a conspiracy that threatens to shake the entire music industry. In Murder on Ice, Nancy and Ned head to a ski resort to rekindle their romance. But instead of love, they find deadly peril. Can Nancy find the killer, before an avalanche of murder buries them all?