Linda L. Richards

Exit Strategy

Rule #1 of being a hired killer: never get to know your target . . . and definitely don' t fall in love with them Taking lives has taken its toll. Her moral justifications have faltered. Do any of the people she has killed— some of them heinous, but all of them human— deserve to die? Her next target is Cameron Walker, a rancher in Arizona. When she arrives at his remote desert estate to carry out her orders, she discovers that he is a kind and beautiful man. After a lengthy tour of the ranch, not only has she not killed him— she' s wondering who might want him dead. She procrastinates, instead growing closer to Cameron. She learns that he' s passionate about wild horses and has been fighting a losing political battle to save mustangs that live on protected land near his ranch— he' s even received death threats from his opponents. Suddenly, she' s faced with protecting the man she was sent to kill, encountering kidnappers, murderers, horse thieves, and even human traffickers along the way. Can she figure out who has hired her before they take matters into their own hands? Perfect for fans of Dean Koontz and Tana French While the novels in the Endings Series stand on their own and can be read in any order, the publication sequence is as follows: Endings Exit Strategy Dead West Insensible Loss

A Novel

Dead West

A shattered life. A killer for hire. Can she stop? Does she want to? Her assignments were always to kill someone. That's what a hitman—or hitwoman—is paid to do, and that is what she does. Then comes a surprise assignment—keep someone alive. She is hired to protect Virginia Martin, the stunning and brilliant chief technology officer of a hot startup with an environmentally important innovation that will change the world. This new gig catches her at a time in her life when she's hanging on by a thread. Despair and hopelessness—now more intense than she'd felt after the tragic loss of her family—led her to abruptly launch this career. But over time, living as a hired killer is decimating her spirit and she keeps thinking of ending her life. She's confused about the “why” of her new commission, but she addresses it with her usual skill and stealth, determined to keep the young CTO alive against the ever-increasing odds. Some people have to die as she discharges her responsibility to protect this superstar woman amid the crumbling worlds of high finance and future technical wonders. The spirit of an assassin—and her nameless dog—permeates this struggle to help a young woman as powerful forces mount against her. Fans of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Dexter will love Exit Strategy The publication sequence for the book in this series is: Endings Exit Strategy Dead West (coming 2023)

Former stockbroker Madeline Carter gets into hot water when she enters the ultra competitive world of haute cuisine to discover the truth surrounding the apparent suicide of her ex-husband, renowned Chef Braydon Gauthier. Original.

Calculated Loss

In 1931, while most of Los Angeles is struggling to survive the Depression, the business of Hollywood is booming. And everyone wants a piece. The movies have always been cutthroat and, as girl Friday Kitty Pangborn is about to find out, that’s more than a metaphor. Kitty’s boss, private detective Dexter Theroux, has been asked to help leading man Laird Wyndham prove his innocence. The actor was the last person to be seen with a young actress who died under very suspicious circumstances, and the star has fallen from the big screen to the big house. Wyndham’s a dreamboat, but that isn’t the only thing that has Kitty hot under the collar. Dex has already signed a client---one who’s hired him to prove Wyndham’s hands are not as clean as they look. Mixing Hollywood glitz with hard-boiled grit, Death Was in the Picture captures the essence of life in Depression-era Los Angeles: a world where times are tough, talk is cheap, and murder is often just one scene away.

A Mystery

Death Was in the Picture

Timothy Taylor

Sheena Kamal

This “excellent anthology” of noir fiction set in Canada’s City of Glass features all-new stories by Linda L. Richards, Sam Wiebe, Yasuko Thanh and more (Quill & Quire, starred review). For many people, Vancouver is a city of affluence, athleisure, and craft beer. But if look a little closer at this gentrified paradise, you’ll find the old saying holds true: behind every fortune there’s a crime. Hidden beneath Vancouver’s gleaming glass skyscrapers are shadowy streets where poverty, drugs, and violence rule the day. These fourteen stories of crime and mayhem in the Pacific Northwest offer an entertaining “mix of wily pros, moody misfits, bewildered bystanders, and a touch of the supernatural” (Kirkus). Vancouver Noir features the Arthur Ellis Award-winning story “Terminal City” by Linda L. Richards, and the Arthur Ellis Award-finalist “Wonderful Life” by Sam Wiebe. It also includes entries by Timothy Taylor, Sheena Kamal, Robin Spano, Carleigh Baker, Dietrich Kalteis, Nathan Ripley, Yasuko Thanh, Kristi Charish, Don English, Nick Mamatas, S.G. Wong, and R.M. Greenaway.

Vancouver Noir

Taking a stock tip from her former boyfriend Ernie Billings, Madeline Carter loses her money and then becomes involved in a conspiracy that involves kidnapping, corporate fraud, and murder as she investigates Ernie's disappearance.

Mad Money

Kitty Pangborn needed a job. She got more than she bargained for.

Death was the Other Woman

Nicole Charles didn’t go to journalism school to become a gossip columnist, but the job fell into her lap right out of school and her immigrant work ethic just won’t let her quit to find something she’d like better. It’s a good job, but she struggles with the stigma attached to her position by other reporters. More than anything, she wants to be a real reporter, but it looks like she’s never going to get a chance. Then one night while covering a gallery opening, she discovers a dead body in a dark alley. An upand- coming artist has been stabbed in the throat with an antique icepick. Nicole is right in the middle of the biggest story of the year. It’s the chance of a lifetime. Too bad someone had to die to make it happen. If It Bleeds is the first novel in a series of mysteries featuring rookie reporter Nicole Charles.

Linda L. Richards

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