Best Mystery/thriller Novels

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

Lewd videos of my best friend, Katie Anderson, are suddenly leaked online, and I defend her in public. However, Katie ends up accusing me of leaking the videos in the first place. All of a sudden, the entire Internet turns against me. I get blacklisted by the whole entertainment industry and get cyberbullied online as well. Katie's die-hard fans abduct Mom by throwing a sack over her head and record lewd videos of her, driving her to so much shame she jumps off a building and dies. Meanwhile, Dad drinks rat poison and dies next to Mom's grave. After my family is torn apart, I ask Katie why she wants to frame me for everything. She replies, "Samael is the richest heir in the city. This is his fetish. You were the one who made everything into a big fuss. Of course, it's you who'll have to bear the responsibility for everything!" Samael Crews slinks his arm around Katie's waist and looks at me with a mocking smile on his face. "Did you think you were just trying to help out a fellow woman? Sorry, ex-girlfriend, but your precious bestie here is nothing more than an obedient lapdog of mine!" I end up being sold to Meowmar and eventually die from mistreatment. When I open my eyes again, I realize that I am reborn on the day that Katie accuses me of leaking her lewd videos online. This time, I choose to ignore her completely.

For eighteen years, my bestie Sarah and I were just regular humans. And then, all of a sudden, we both awakened our werewolf blood. She ended up mated to Logan, like, the most powerful Alpha around. And me? Fate, or whatever, paired me up with Ethan, an Alpha from a pack under Logan's. The day of our mating ceremony, Sarah was all like, "Go on, enjoy Ethan's mark!" I mean, the guy had an eight-pack and was drop-dead gorgeous. But almost a year into our mating, Ethan still hadn't marked me. I cried to Sarah, "What's the point of a mate who won't even mark me?" I never expected Sarah to burst into tears too. "Logan and I… our genes aren't compatible. He can't get me pregnant. I want to break our mate bond too!" So, just like that, we hatched a plan to escape. After a "car accident," both Alphas' mates vanished. It wasn't until we started our new lives that we found out... We were both pregnant!

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

After an unexpected divorce, Alina goes back to her hometown in search of a new place to call home. With a strict budget, and little wiggle room, she finds herself settling for a charming small cottage style home on the outskirts, that nobody seems to want. It's a steal! The only draw back seems to be the intimidating neighbor. As odd things start happening, and an unusual encounter, Alina realizes she might her gotten more than she bargained for.

In an East London lock up, two film makers, Jimmy and Sam, are duct taped to chairs and forced to watch a snuff film by Ashkan, a loan shark to whom they owe a lot of money. If they don’t pay up, they’ll be starring in the next one. Before the film reaches its end, Ashkan and all his men are slaughtered by unknown assailants. Only Jimmy and Sam survive the massacre, leaving them with the sole copy of the snuff film. The film makers decide to build their next movie around the brutal film. While auditioning actors, they stumble upon Melissa, an enigmatic actress who seems perfect for the leading role, not least because she’s the spitting image of the snuff film’s main victim. Neither the film, nor Melissa, are entirely what they seem however. Jimmy and Sam find themselves pulled into a paranormal mystery that leads them through the shadowy streets of the city beneath the city and sees them re-enacting an ancient Mesopotamian myth cycle. As they play out the roles of long forgotten gods and goddesses, they’re drawn into the subtle web of a deadly heresy that stretches from the beginnings of civilization to the end of the world as we know it. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

At 11:00 pm, I've just locked my car and am about to walk away when rows of bright red comments appear right in front of my eyes. "Warning! Your husband, whom you're still in a 30-day cooling-off period with, wants to kidnap you! He'll take nudes of you while livestreaming the entire process before mutilating you into chunks and flushing you down the sewers!" "Well, this gold digger keeps swindling money from her husband while toying with his feelings relentlessly. Now, she even wants a portion of his assets by getting a divorce from him. Serves her right for being a target of revenge!" I'm left feeling shell-shocked. After all, I'm single as a Pringle. How the heck did I even have a husband, to begin with?

Book 1 – My Dad’s Mafia Best Friend When Lyra is sent to Italy to stay with her father’s best friend, Adrian, after his business collapses in New York, her first concern is for her dad—but right behind it is the forbidden desire she’s harbored for Adrian since they met a year ago. Adrian fights his own battle, struggling to keep his best friend’s daughter out of his mind. But as the fire between them grows, resisting becomes impossible. With their age gap, the weight of taboo, and the dangerous Mafia world Lyra’s father wants to shield her from, how long can they ignore the spark between them? Book 2 – Greg and Kael’s Love Story (M/M) Fashion design student Greg is already overwhelmed—balancing classes, an internship, and the secret that his best friend’s boyfriend is a Mafia boss. The last thing he needs is trouble knocking at his door. But trouble doesn’t just knock—it sneaks in, wearing the name Kael. Greg should stay far away, but danger has never looked so tempting. As their worlds collide in a game of deception, attraction, and secrets too dangerous to expose, the question isn’t just how long Kael can hide—it’s how long Greg can resist. Book 3 – Bella and Quinn’s Love Story (W/W) Bella has spent years burying her dark past, even from her closest friends. But one mistake lands her behind bars, trapped with a mysterious woman who won’t stop getting under her skin. When an attempted poisoning leads to her breaking out from prison, Bella never expects the real shock to come after—the truth about her family, her past, and the undeniable pull toward the very woman she should be avoiding, Quinn.

Patrick and Clare wake up trapped in a basement, a thin wall separating their cells. Their captor is mysteriously absent, which at first seems like a blessing. As more time passes with no food or water, they begin to realize a clock is ticking for their survival.They know their captor is still out there, and it is only a matter of time before he returns.©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

My best friend, Sydney Cox, is a troublemaker by nature. She thinks everyone around her owes her a good life. During summer break, she insisted on working in a factory. I was worried that she might get tricked, so I let her work in my family's factory out of the kindness of my own heart. In fact, I even gave her the easiest position with the lightest work. But I didn't expect her to think that her salary was lower than that of the veteran employees in the factory, leading to her setting fire to my neighborhood. The blaze was far too strong. Even though the firefighters came as soon as possible, my family and I still ended up dying in the fire. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day before Sydney's first day in a factory.