Best Contemporary Mystery Novels

Barry Ocason, extreme sportsman and outdoor travel writer, receives a magazine in his mailbox and opens to an ad for an adventure in the Bavarian Alps. Initially dismissing the invitation, which seems to have been meant specifically for him, he soon finds himself involved in a larger plot and seeking answers to why an individual known only as the elephant man is terrorizing his family. Barry and his daughter Kristen, who survived a twin sister taken from the family at a young age, travel from Juneau, Alaska to the sinister Spider Festival in Rio Tago, Brazil, before he ultimately answers the call to Bavaria, where the puzzle begins to come together. Amid tribulation, death, madness, and institutionalization, a document emerges describing a scientist’s bloody bid to breed a theoretical “third twin,” which is believed to have the potential, through its connection with its siblings, to bridge the gulf between life and afterlife. The godlike creature that soon emerges turns out to be Barry’s own offspring, and she has dark plans for the world of her conception that neither her father nor any other mortal can stop. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

The unresolved case from the 1975 Continued due to the emergence of the victim’s last will in 1982. Due to the disruption of the Mustacho family, a wealthy people. Everyone is also interrupted and wants to get its treasure also the justice because of the truth and last will of the victim before he dies. A Tuffin named Zaki D’. He made his Last Will that ruined everything. Who’s going to win the justice nor the money and the power. They want to know about, What is the secret of the Tuffin’s nor Mustacho’s family. Let’s go to the journey of the Tuffin’s Familly until we reach the end and know who’s the killer and the innocent one.

I was raised by my mother, a single parent who never revealed the identity of my father. For years, that part of my life remained a mystery until her final moments. With her last breath, she asked me to find him. I shared this with my best friend, who had never known her own parents. With tears in her eyes, she confided in me that she longed for a father, too. She tried to manipulate me, suggesting I work as a housekeeper for my father so she could claim him as her own. Soft-hearted, I agreed to the plan. When I finally met him, he was stunned. The resemblance between me and his first love was undeniable. He wanted to take me under his wing as his mistress. "Come to my room tonight and wear something… revealing," he said. To protect myself, I laid all my cards on the table.

"Bakit ang dungis mo na naman? Tanong ni Marilyn sa pamangkin. Mula nang mamatay ang mga magulang ng bata, siya na ang kumupkop dito, naging pangalawang ina siya ng bata. "Si Dolly po kasi, sabi ko sa kanya ayoko maglaro pero nagalit siya." Tukoy ng bata sa hawak na manika. Nasundan naman ng tingin ni Marilyn ang manikang hawak nito, pero dahil walong taon palang ang kanyang pamangkin ay sinawalang bahala niya ang mga sinasabi ng bata. "Anong ginagawa ni Dolly kapag nagagalit siya?" Sinakyan ni Marilyn ang sinabi ni Maya. "Minsan tita nagpapalit po kami, minsan ako ang nasa loob ng kahon para maging manika at siya naman ay magiging tao." Naguluhan si Marilyn sa sinabi ng pamangkin, natatawang ginulo niya ang mahabang buhok nito. Ngunit isang araw ay muli niyang nakita ang isang maputing batang babae, hawak nito ang kahon kung saan nilalagay niya ang manika ni Maya. Pinagsabihan ni Marilyn ang batang babae sa pag-aakalang kukunin nito ang manika ng pamangkin niya. Pinaalis niya ang batang babae, ngumiti lang ito sa kanya. Ngiting nagbigay ng kaba sa sa dibdib ni Marilyn. Inilapag ng batang babae ang kahon at mabilis na itong tumakbo palabas ng gate. Ngunit ganoon na lamang ang hilakbot na nadarama ni Marilyn nang buksan niya ang kahon at makita ang isang manika na nasa loob. "Hindi ito totoo, Maya!"

“Nate, don't you dare start with that nonsense too. I told you already, I don't care about those ridiculous traditions." Marcel responded irritably as she hopped into the copilot seat of her best friend's car, anxious to get as far away as possible from her home. “Hey, I've known you since you were four, so don't try and act all brave and mature. Tell me the truth, you're afraid aren't you?” “Humph! What's there to be scared of?...” “That Mike's ghost might come back to haunt you." The boy interrupted, carelessly blurting out his analysis, adding…“I just don't get it; everyone else knows his death wasn't your fault…” “I know it wasn't!” “Then why won't you pray for his safe journey into the afterlife? What if his soul is damn to roam the earth, wreaking havoc among the living or even disrupting the balance between the two worlds?” “Ahh! Don't be childish. There is no such thing as the afterlife; parents just use these pathetic excuses to trick their children into believing that our loved ones are better off. If that was the case, why don't we all join them… oh yeah, that's right, we can't commit suicide otherwise we'll go straight to hell. Grow up Nate! The spirit dies with the body.” Follow the journey of a young woman as she tries to keep her sanity when the world around her was quickly crumbling after one faithful night of honoring the dead. Will she be able to save the life of those closest to her? or will her soul be bound to an eternity of madness?

“WAKE UP, DANIELA!” The death warning, yet rather a call that Daniela dreamed about after walking up in the series of chances, greed, sacrifices, and the seven deadly sins, and from an inevitable chance to turn back into time and run into the loop of space and dimension. To her life that was surrounded with lies, blessed fate, but curse destiny she is entwined to save the person who is long dead from the present that she never had in the first place. Now being stunned by the life she never dreams of having, she runs toward the series of miseries behind the hidden books of the reincarnated blood she bares. “Death reincarnated, that is your world and your book.” To the chances that were led by greed, longing or hope, will the past that alters by the son of darkness, will long be able to vanish? What if what everyone knew was a lie, and the lie that they are trying to run away from is the truth they are seeking after all? Will the world they are walking that is filled with the unknown they only knew will lead them to the truth of who is the clone from the original? Can she solve the puzzle of the first book in her world that revolves in the mystery of a tarot deck? From the series of reincarnation and dimension can she solve the real mystery of ‘Who is the real dead one?’

Ayashi's entire childhood was different from the other kids, her father is an investigator and that's particularly the reason why her childhood is filled with mysteries and puzzles. Her life is perfect, she has a loving mother, a caring father and a protective brother, there is nothing else she could wish for. Not until an unfortunate event happened, her parents were killed and the worst part? They were killed in front of her. Anger and hatred filled her innocent little heart. Ayashi mourned for her beloved parents whose death is still left as a mystery. After 6 years, she returned to the Philippines with one goal in mind; to give her parents the justice they deserve.

Hindi naging hadlang ang yaman at pribilehiyo upang tuparin ni Atty. Ada Esquivel--- isang matapang at ma-prinsipyong babae--- ang kanyang misyon sa buhay. Bagaman lumaki siyang laki sa yaman at karangyaan, pinili niyang i-alay ang kanyang buhay upang tulungan ang mga mas higit na nangangailangan. Ang kanyang pangalan ay isang malaking tinik sa lalamunan ng mga mayayamang mapang-abuso, sapagkat kilala siya sa pagpanalo ng ng mga kasong isinasampa laban sa ilan sa kanila. Sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon ay natalo siya sa isang kaso. Kasunod nito ay ang kalunos-lunos na pagkamatay ng kanyang dating Propesor. Dahil dito ay mapapadpad siya sa isang malayo at maliit ngunit tahimik na bayan ng Bagong Silang. Sa patuloy na pakikibaka para sa karapatan ng mga taong naninirahan dito, unti-unti ring mabibigyan ng linaw ang sinapit ng kanyang propesor, maging ang misteryo sa likod ng kauna-unahang kasong hindi niya naipanalo ay mabubunyag din. Lingid sa kaalaman ni Ada ang bawat sikretong matutuklasan niya ay magiging mitsa ng kanyang buhay. Makakaligtas kaya siya sa tiyak na kapahamakang nakaabang sa kanya? Posible kayang makatagpo siya ng pag-ibig sa gitna ng digmaan? How much will it take to win against the fight outside the courtroom?

There are monsters in this world. And they used to be us. Now it's time to euthanize to survive in a hospice where Emily, a woman haunted by her past, only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible. Post-infection Chicago. Christmas. Inside The Hospice, Emily and her fellow nurses do their rounds. Here, men and women live out their final days in comfort, segregated from society, and are then humanely terminated before fate turns them into marrow-craving monsters known as ‘Smilers.’ Outside these imposing walls, rabid protesters swarm with signs, caught up in the heat of their hatred. Emily, a woman haunted by her past, only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible. But in a world where mortality means nothing, where guns are drawn in fear and nobody seems safe anymore – at what cost will this pursuit come? And through it all, the soon to be dead remain silent, ever smiling. Such is their curse. It won't be long before that snow-speckled ground will be salted by blood. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

There are a lot more truths in the books we read, than we’d like to admit. What if a book delves into the lives of the very town you live in? Reveals to you some personal stories of people you know? Or thought you knew. Bookstore owner Kevin Ellison faces this truth when a mysterious book shows up in Through a Mirror, Darkly by Kevin Lucia. Through a Mirror, Darkly is a Supernatural Thriller collection masked as a novel. With elements of mystery, suspense, and otherworldly horror, Through a Mirror, Darkly successfully delves into the worlds of Lovecraft, Grant, and the mysterious Carcosa. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing Arcane Delights. Clifton Heights' premier rare and used bookstore. In it, new owner Kevin Ellison has inherited far more than a family legacy, for inside are tales that will amaze, astound, thrill...and terrify: An ancient evil thirsty for lost souls. A very different kind of taxi service with destinations not on any known map. Three coins that grant the bearer's fondest wish, and a father whose crippling grief gives birth to something dark and hungry.