Kristen Lepionka

Nobody knows what happened to Sarah Cook. The beautiful blonde teenager disappeared fifteen years ago, the same night her parents were brutally murdered in their suburban Ohio home. Her boyfriend Brad Stockton—black and from the wrong side of the tracks—was convicted of the murders and is now on death row. Though he’s maintained his innocence all along, the clock is running out. His execution is only weeks away when his devoted sister insists she spied Sarah at an area gas station. Willing to try anything, she hires PI Roxane Weary to look at the case and see if she can locate Sarah. Brad might be in a bad way, but private investigator Roxane Weary isn’t doing so hot herself. Still reeling from the recent death of her cop father in the line of duty, her main way of dealing with her grief has been working as little and drinking as much as possible. But Roxane finds herself drawn in to the story of Sarah's vanishing act, especially when she links the disappearance to one of her father’s unsolved murder cases involving another teen girl. The stakes get higher as Roxane discovers that the two girls may not be the only beautiful blonde teenagers who’ve turned up missing or dead. As her investigation gets darker and darker, Roxane will have to risk everything to find the truth. Lives depend on her cracking this case—hers included.

A Novel

The Last Place You Look

Winner of the Shamus Award for Best PI Hardcover novel 2019 Shaken by the outcome of her last big case, PI Roxane Weary is keeping a low profile. When she takes on a new client who suspects his fiancée is cheating on him, Roxane is happy to have landed a run-of-the-mill surveillance job. Until, that is, Marin Strasser, the woman she's been tailing, turns up dead. The police are convinced her client is the one who pulled the trigger. Certain - and scared - that things aren't so straightforward, Roxane starts to follow a paper trail that gets more dangerous the farther it goes. So who really was Marin Strasser? Who could have wanted her dead? And how can Roxane stop her work from once again pushing away the few people she thinks she can trust?

What You Want to See

"Lepionka is setting a high standard for crime fiction." —Booklist (starred review) on What You Want to See The Stories You Tell is Shamus Award-winning and Anthony and Macavity award-nominated author Kristen Lepionka’s heart-pounding third novel that will keep readers on the edge of their seats with her signature twists and mile-high stakes. A late-night phone call is never good news, especially when you’re Roxane Weary. This one is from her brother Andrew whose evening was interrupted by a visit from Addison, a hip young DJ he knows from the hotel bar where he works. She was drunk, bloody, and hysterical, but she wouldn’t say what was wrong. After using his phone, she left as quickly as she appeared, and Andrew is worried. That’s when he calls Roxane. But another late-night call occurs as well: Addison’s father calls the police after getting a panicked voicemail from his daughter. The only thing he could understand is the address she gave in the message—Andrew’s. Before long, the police are asking Andrew all about why there’s blood in his apartment and what he did to Addison. Meanwhile, another cop is found dead on the opposite side of town, leading to a swirl of questions surrounding a dance club whose staff—which includes Addison—has suddenly gone AWOL.

A Mystery

The Stories You Tell

Once You Go This Far is the fourth thrilling mystery from Shamus Award-winning and Anthony and Macavity Award-nominated author Kristen Lepionka. Junior-high school nurse Rebecca Newsome was an experienced hiker—until she plummeted to her death at the bottom of a ravine in a Columbus metro park. Her daughter, Maggie, doesn't believe it was an accident, and Rebecca's ex-husband is her prime suspect. But he's a well-connected ex-cop and Maggie is certain that's the reason no one will listen to her. PI Roxane Weary quickly uncovers that the dead woman's ex is definitely a jerk, but is he a murderer? As she pieces together the days before Rebecca died, what Roxane finds doesn't quite add up. From a series of trips to Detroit and across the border to a casino in Windsor, Canada, to strange calls from Rebecca's home to a charismatic political candidate, to a women's health organization, to a secretive church group that seems to have more information about its members than it should, Roxane needs to figure out how everything is connected before a dangerous secret gets someone else killed.

Once You Go This Far

The Roxane Weary Mysteries, book 3

Shaken by the outcome of her last big case, PI Roxane Weary is keeping a low profile. When she takes on a new client who suspects his fiancée is cheating on him, Roxane is happy to have landed a run-of-the-mill surveillance job. Until, that is, Marin Strasser, the woman she's been tailing, turns up dead. The police are convinced her client is the one who pulled the trigger. Certain - and scared - that things aren't so straightforward, Roxane starts to follow a paper trail that gets more dangerous the farther it goes. So who really was Marin Strasser? Who could have wanted her dead? And how can Roxane stop her work from once again pushing away the few people she thinks she can trust?

Lee Martin

Julia Keller

Robin Yocum

Yolonda Tonette Sanders

O-H-Oh-No! Fourteen storytellers reveal a gritty side to C-Bus in this collection of crime tales. Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city. With stories by: Lee Martin, Robin Yocum, Kristen Lepionka, Craig McDonald, Chris Bournea, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Tom Barlow, Mercedes King, Daniel Best, Laura Bickle, Yolonda Tonette Sanders, Julia Keller, Khalid Moalim, and Nancy Zafris. Praise for Columbus Noir “Moments of humanity shine through in many of the tales in this collection, and epic takes on pride and greed make many of the stories in this collection go beyond small miseries into the realm of Shakespearian tragedy. Urgent, beautiful, and not to be missed.” —CrimeReads, included in CrimeReads’ Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2020 “This superior Akashic noir anthology gathers 14 dark snapshots of Ohio’s capital, a very dangerous place indeed, with heavy drug use and murder touching down everywhere, from the German Village neighborhood to the statehouse. One highlight is Craig McDonald’s “Curb Appeal,” one of several invoking the homicidal search for housing. In the editor’s effective “Going Places,” a security man who covers up affairs for the governor gets pulled into a murder plot . . . . Noir fans should be well satisfied.” —Publishers Weekly

Columbus Noir

The third installment in the Shamus Award-winning and Anthony and Macavity Award-nominated Roxane Weary series. A late-night phone call is never good news, especially when you’re Roxane Weary. This one is from her brother Andrew, whose evening was interrupted by a visit from Addison, a hip young DJ he knows. She was hysterical, but she wouldn’t say what was wrong. After using his phone, she left as quickly as she appeared, and Andrew is worried. That’s when Andrew calls Roxane. But another late-night call occurs as well: Addison's father contacts the police after getting a panicked voicemail from his daughter. The only thing he could understand is the address she gave in the message— Andrew’s. Before long, the police are asking Andrew all about how he got the bloody scratch on his face and what he did to Addison. Meanwhile, another cop is found dead on the opposite side of town, leading to a swirl of questions surrounding a dance club whose staff—which includes Addison—has suddenly gone AWOL. The Stories You Tell, Shamus Award-winning and Anthony and Macavity-Award nominated author Kristen Lepionka’s heart-pounding third novel, will keep readers on the edge of their seat with her signature twists and mile-high stakes.

Ewa Mazierska

Brendan DuBois

Tobias Carroll

Nick Kolakowski

SJ Rozan

Richie Narvaez

Todd Robinson

Chris McGinley

William R. Soldan

Scott Adlerberg

Our 240 page Issue No11, Fall 2019 edition of Mystery Tribune is a must-have featuring Brendan DuBois, SJ Rozan, William Soldan, and more. Issue No11: Fall 2019 features A curated collection of short fiction including stories by Brendan DuBois, SJ Rozan, Ewa Mazierska, Nick Kolakowski, Richie Narvaez, Todd Robinson, Chris McGinley, and William R. Soldan. Interviews and Reviews by Daniel Kraus, Scott Adlerberg, Tobias Carroll, Kristen Lepionka, and Charles Perry. Art and Photography by Jessica Almeida, Sergey Nehaev, and more. This issue also features a preview of the new graphic novel Rivers of London Volume 7: Action at a Distance by Ben Aaronovitch (Author), Andrew Cartmel (Author), and Brian Williamson (Illustrator). NY Times Bestselling author Reed Farrel Coleman has called Mystery Tribune “a cut above” and mystery grand masters Lawrence Block and Max Allan Collins have praised it for its “solid fiction” and “the most elegant design”. An elegantly crafted quarterly issue, printed on uncoated paper and with a beautiful layout designed for optimal reading experience, our Fall 2019 issue will make a perfect companion or gift for avid mystery readers and fans of literary crime fiction.

Fall 2019

Mystery Tribune / Issue No11

Candace Ganger

Michelle Gable

Robinne Lee

Jenny D. Williams

Abby Stern

Meghan Masterson

Loretta Ellsworth

Alice Anderson

St. Martin’s Press has established the careers of countless bestselling authors over the years, such as Jonathan Tropper, Dan Brown, Augusten Burroughs, Louise Penny, Lev Grossman, and many more. Find out who is next . . . with St. Martin's First! The Book of Summer by Michelle Gable, Some Bright Morning, I'll Fly Away by Alice Anderson, The Atlas of Forgotten Places by Jenny D. Williams, The Wardrobe Mistress by Meghan Masterson, The Idea of You by Robinne Lee, The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka, The Inevitable Collision of Birdie & Bash by Candace Ganger, According to A Source by Abby Stern, Stars Over Clear Lake by Loretta Ellsworth.

Kristen Lepionka

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