Female Lead

Showing 601–625 of 681
  1. Sail

    4.18

    Since the death of her husband, Anne Dunne and her three children have struggled in every way. In a last-ditch effort to save her family, Anne plans an elaborate sailing vacation to bring everyone together once again. But only an hour out of port, their summer getaway is already turning into the trip from hell. Anne's teenage daughter, Carrie, is planning to drown herself. Her teenage son, Mark, is high on pot, and ten-year-old Ernie is nearly catatonic. Somehow, Anne manages to pull things together, but just as they begin feeling like a family again, disaster strikes. But this catastrophe is just a tiny taste of the true danger lurking ahead — somewhere out there, someone wants to make sure the Dunne family never leaves paradise alive.

  2. Die for You

    3.90

    Isabel Raine thought she had everything--a successful career, a supportive family, and a happy marriage to the man she loved. Then one ordinary morning, her husband, Marcus, picks up his briefcase, kisses her good-bye, and simply vanishes. That day, all her calls to him go straight to voice mail; the messages she leaves at his office go unreturned, too. Panicking after finally receiving a call from his cell phone in which all she can hear is a man's terrified cry, Isabel calls the police. But they aren't interested. Men leave, they tell her. They leave all the time. Desperate to find her husband, Isabel races to his office. But instead of finding him, she finds herself in the middle of an FBI raid. Hours later, she awakens in the hospital with a severe concussion and a homicide detective by her bedside waiting to question her about Marcus Raine-the real Marcus Raine. Now the only thing Isabel knows for sure is that her husband of five years is gone. Where is he and who is he are questions no one seems able to answer. But Isabel will not rest until she discovers the truth about the man she loves, even if it means risking everything--including her own life.

  3. Black Out

    3.94

    On the surface, Annie Powers's life in a wealthy Florida beach neighborhood is happy and idyllic. Her husband, Gray, loves her fiercely; together, they dote on their beautiful young daughter, Victory. But the bubble surrounding Annie is pricked when she senses that the demons of her past have resurfaced and, to her horror, are now creeping up on her. These are demons she can't fully recall because of a highly dissociative state that allowed her to forget. Disturbing events trigger strange and confusing memories for Annie, who realizes she has to quickly piece them together before her past comes to claim her future...and her daughter.

  4. #1 in the Dana Cutler Series

    When private detective Dana Cutler is hired to follow college student Charlotte Walsh, she never imagines the trail will lead to the White House. But the morning after Walsh's clandestine meeting with Christopher Farrington, President of the United States, the pretty young coed is dead—the latest victim, apparently, of a fiend dubbed "the D.C. Ripper." A junior associate in an Oregon law firm, Brad Miller is stunned by the death row revelations of convicted serial killer Clarence Little. Though Little accepts responsibility for a string of gruesome murders, he swears he was framed for one of them: the death of a teenaged babysitter who worked for then-governor Farrington. Suddenly nowhere in America is safe for a small-time private eye and a fledgling lawyer who possess terrifying evidence that suggests the unthinkable: that someone at the very highest level of government, perhaps the president himself, is a cold and brutal killer.

  5. The Front

    3.49

    #2 in the Winston Garano Series

    DA Monique Lamont has a special job for Massachusetts state investigator Win Garano. As part of a new public relations campaign about the dangers of declining neighborhoods, Lamont is sending Win to Watertown to come up with a "drama," and she thinks she knows just the case that will serve. Garano is skeptical because he knows that Watertown is also the home base for a loose association of municipal police departments called the FRONT, set up so they aren't dependent on the state—much to Lamont's anger. Win senses a much deeper agenda—but has no idea just how deep it goes. In the days that follow, he'll find Lamont's task. and the places it leads him, will resemble a house of mirrors—everywhere he turns, he's not quite sure if what he's seeing is true.

  6. The Dark Tide

    3.97

    #1 in the Ty Hauck Series

    An explosion rips through New York City's Grand Central Station one morning, destroying the train Karen Friedman's husband, a successful hedge fund manager, is riding in to work. Days later, with many bodies still unidentifiable, Karen resigns herself to the awful truth: her husband of eighteen years is dead. On that same day, a suspicious hit-and-run accident leaves a young man dead in Karen's hometown of Greenwich, Connecticut. Ty Hauck, a detective, becomes emotionally caught up in the case and finds a clue that shockingly connects the two seemingly unrelated events. Months later, two men show up at Karen's home digging into Charles's business dealings. Hundreds of millions of dollars are missing—and the trail points squarely to Charles. With doubt suddenly cast on everything she has ever known, Karen, with Hauck, steps into a widening storm of hedge fund losses, international scams, and murder. And as the investigations converge, these two strangers touched by tragedy are pulled into a deepening relationship and unwittingly open the door to a twisted—and deadly—conspiracy.

  7. Lady Killer

    4.13

    #10 in the Rosato & Associates Series

    She's bright, witty, and dynamically attractive. So why can't Mary DiNunzio still get a date? While her love life is frozen, her career is heating up. She's become quite a rainmaker at her law firm, attracting new clients from her loyal South Philly fan base. But of all the friends-from-down-the-block, second cousins, and ersatz uncles who come for help, that last person she expects to see is Trish Gambini, a super-foxy hair colorist—and Mary's high school rival. Back then, while Mary was becoming a straight-A president of the Latin Club and all around Most Likely to Achieve Sainthood, head Mean Girl/Slut Trish flunked religion and was one of the most popular girls in the class. But the once fearless teenager has become a woman terrified of her live-in boyfriend, Bobby Mancuso, an abusive, gun-toting drug dealer for the mob. Mary remembers Bobby very well. He was her first high school crush . . . and more. Even though she's is sympathetic to Trish's plight, there's really nothing Mary or the law can do. Right now this Italian girl has far too much on her plate to worry about Trish. She's caught in the middle of a legal rumble between her father's Dean Martin Fan Club and the Frank Sinatra Social Society. Dino's fans are tired of the King of Cool being one-upped by Francis Albert, and they're want to sue for emotional distress. But that's just the beginning of trouble for Mary. Trish suddenly vanishes, and then Bobby Mancuso. Until Bobby is found—dead. To prevent a riot and save her reputation among neighbors and family, the South Philly girl must find Trish and solve a murder. And she'll do it her way, though maybe with a little help from Dean and Frank.

  8. 7th Heaven

    4.31

    #7 in the Women's Murder Club Series

    A terrible fire in a wealthy suburban home leaves a married couple dead, and Detective Lindsay Boxer and her partner Rich Conklin searching for clues. And after California's golden boy Michael Campion has been missing for a month, there finally seems to be a devastating lead in his case. As fire after fire consume couples in their wealthy, comfortable homes, Lindsay and the Murder Club must race to find the arsonists responsible and get to the bottom of Michael Campion's disappearance. But suddenly the flames draw too close to Lindsay's neighborhood. Frightened for her life and torn between two men, Lindsay must find a way to solve the most daunting dilemmas she's ever faced—at work and at home.

  9. 14

    4.25

    #2 in the Taylor Jackson Series

    Lieutenant Taylor Jackson is no stranger to brutality, but her latest case shakes her to the core. The victims—with their pale skin, black hair, and ruby-red lips—recall a nightmare Nashville suffered decades ago. The Snow White Killer slaughtered ten princess look-alikes and was never caught. A copycat is methodically recreating the Snow White murders, studying the original crimes and perfecting the craft. As Taylor fights to identify him before he completes his twisted homage, the investigation pulls her into a conspiracy that hits closer to home than she ever imagined. Even with her own father missing and her wedding just days away, Taylor won't stop until she has taken down this chilling protégé. But her pursuit of justice may destroy her own fairy-tale ending.

  10. Little Face

    3.51

    #1 in the Zailer & Waterhouse Mysteries Series

    The first time she goes out after their daughter is born, Alice leaves the two-week-old infant at home with her husband, David. When she returns two hours later, she insists that the baby in the crib is not her child. Despite her apparent distress, David is adamant that she is wrong. The police are called to the scene. Detective Constable Simon Waterhouse is sympathetic, but he doubts Alice's story. His superior, Sergeant Charlie Zailer, thinks Alice must be suffering from some sort of delusion brought on by postpartum depression. With an increasingly hostile and menacing David swearing she must either be mad or lying, how can Alice make the police believe her before it's too late?

  11. #1 in the No Time For Goodbye Series

    Fourteen-year-old Cynthia Bigge woke one morning to discover that her entire family–mother, father, brother–had vanished. No note, no trace, no return. Ever. Now, twenty-five years later, she'll learn the devastating truth. Sometimes it's better not to know. . . . Cynthia is happily married with a young daughter, a new family. But the story of her old family isn't over. A strange car in the neighborhood, untraceable phone calls, ominous "gifts"–someone has returned to her hometown to finish what was started twenty-five years ago. And no one's innocence is guaranteed, not even her own. By the time Cynthia discovers her killer's shocking identity, it will again be too late . . . even for goodbye.

  12. Kristin Burns has lived her life by the philosophy "Don't think, just shoot"—pictures, that is. Struggling to make ends meet, she works full-time as a nanny for the fabulously wealthy Turnbull family, looking after their two wonderful children and waiting for her glamorous life as a New York photographer to begin. When her photographs are considered by an elite Manhattan art gallery, it seems she might finally get the chance to start her career. But Kristin has a major distraction: forbidden love. The man of her dreams is almost hers for keeps. Breathless with an inexhaustible passion and the excitement of being within reach of her goals, Kristen ignores all signs of catastrophe brewing. Fear exists for a reason. And Kristin can only dismiss the warnings for so long. Searching desperately for the truth through the lens of her camera, she can only hope that it's not too late.

  13. #2 in the Zailer & Waterhouse Mysteries Series

    Naomi Jenkins knows all about secrets: three years ago something so terrible happened to her that she's never told anyone about it. Now, Naomi has another secret: her relationship with the unhappily married Robert Haworth. When Robert vanishes without explanation, Naomi knows he must have come to harm. But the police are less convinced, particularly when Robert's wife insists he is not missing. In desperation, Naomi decides that if she can't persuade the detectives that Robert is in danger, she'll convince them that he is a danger to others. Naomi knows how to describe the actions of a psychopath; all she needs to do is dig up her own traumatic past.

  14. Beyond Reach

    4.30

    #6 in the Grant County Series

    In a small Georgia town, Detective Lena Adams is accused of a vicious murder. A hundred miles away, Police Chief Jeffrey Tolliver learns that his young detective has been arrested. And Jeffrey's wife, pediatrician and medical examiner Sara Linton, fighting a heartbreaking malpractice suit, is thrust into the center of a bizarre and murderous case. For Lena has fled to the place where she grew up, careening back through the shadows of her past. Now only Jeffrey and Sara can free Lena from the web of lies that has trapped her—as this powerful novel races toward its shattering climax and a final, unforgettable twist.

  15. The Quickie

    4.09

    Lauren Stillwell is not your average damsel in distress. When the NYPD cop discovers her husband leaving a hotel with another woman, she decides to beat him at his own game. But her revenge goes dangerously awry, and she finds her world spiraling into a hell that becomes more terrifying by the hour. In a further twist of fate, Lauren must take on a job that threatens everything she stands for. Now, she's paralyzed by a deadly secret that could tear her life apart. With her job and marriage on the line, Lauren's desire for retribution becomes a lethal inferno as she fights to save her livelihood-and her life.

  16. The 6th Target

    4.24

    #6 in the Women's Murder Club Series

    Lindsay Boxer and her new partner in the San Francisco police department are racing to stop a series of kidnappings that has electrified the city. Children and their nannies are being plucked off the streets, but the kidnappers aren't demanding a ransom. Amid uncertainty and rising panic, Lindsay juggles the possibility of a new love with an unsolvable investigation, and the knowledge that one member of the club could be on the brink of death. And just when everything appears momentarily under control, the case takes a terrifying turn, putting an entire city in lethal danger. Lindsay must make a choice she never dreamed she'd face—with no certainty that either outcome has more than a prayer of success.

  17. The Blue Zone

    4.07

    Kate Raab's life seems almost perfect: her boyfriend, her job, her family . . . until her father runs into trouble with the law. His only recourse is to testify against his former accomplices in exchange for his family's placement in the Witness Protection Program. But one of them gets cold feet. In a flash, everything Kate can count on is gone. Now, a year later, her worst fears have happened: Her father has disappeared—into what the WITSEC agency calls "the blue zone"—and someone close to him is found brutally murdered. With her family under surveillance, the FBI untrustworthy, and her father's menacing "friends" circling with increasing intensity, Kate sets off to find her father—and uncover the secrets someone will kill to keep buried.

  18. Daddy's Girl

    4.06

    Law professor Natalie Greco's life is going according to plan, with a boyfriend handpicked by her father and tenure status only a review board away. Then, during a visit to a prison with her colleague Angus, a riot explodes. Rushing to the aid of a fatally wounded prison guard, Nat is privy to his last words—words that, unknown to Nat, can unlock the key to a dangerous conspiracy. Suddenly Nat, A Girl Who Always Plays By The Rules, finds threats around every curve: ruthless killers desperate to keep her from exposing their secret; police who are convinced she is responsible for a cold-blooded murder; and sexy Angus, whose mere presence makes her question her dedication to her long-term boyfriend. With her life on the line, her career in the balance, and her boyfriend on hold, Nat has to go into hiding to buy enough time to figure out the hidden secrets behind one man's last words.

  19. Damage Control

    4.43

    Attorney Dana Hill is used to managing a stressful life: she's one of the most successful lawyers at Strong & Thurmond, mother to a young daughter, wife to a busy, self-involved man. But when she is diagnosed with breast cancer, and her twin brother turns up beaten to death in an apparent robbery-gone-wrong in the same week, the careful balance of Dana's life is sent into flux. Agreeing with the police that this is more than just a simple botched burglary, she begins to sift through the pieces of her brother's life, a life she thought she knew as well as her own, to find out who would want him dead and why. But bad things happen in threes, her mother has told her. When Dana discovers her husband cheating, she throws herself headlong into the investigation. Delaying cancer treatment, she teams with an intuitive detective to find the link between a one-of-a-kind earring found in her brother's bedroom and a mysterious girlfriend no one seems to be able to identify. But those connected to the murder are beginning to turn up dead, the evidence trail is growing cold and someone is masquerading as a police officer, cleaning up the details as they go along

  20. Sliver of Truth

    3.93

    #2 in the Ridley Jones Series

    In Beautiful Lies, Ridley Jones stepped off a street corner and into an abyss of violence, deception, and fear. Now, she is just trying to get on with her life when another seemingly mundane act--picking up some prints at a photo lab--sends her on a mission to find a ghost from her past. A figure of the same man appears in too many pictures she's taken in the last year, lurking just far enough away to make identification impossible. But, she is not the only one who wants to know who the man is, and soon finds herself in the middle of a deeper investigation and unsure who to trust. The only thing Ridley knows for sure is that she has to get to the truth about herself and her past if she is ever going to find her way home.

  21. #1 in the Taylor Jackson Series

    When a young woman is found dead just outside of Nashville, strangled and handless, homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson is quick to the scene. So is FBI Special Agent John Baldwin, whose presence suggests that the murder is not the work of a random opportunist. A love poem left nearby alludes to something more sinister: This is the work of the "Southern Strangler," a serial killer terrorizing women from Louisiana to Virginia. It's the kind of case Jackson thrives on. At thirty-five, Metro Nashville's youngest lieutenant is still an idealist, hell-bent on protecting the city she calls home. And she's determined to avoid the broken, lonely path she's seen other cops take. But while she and Baldwin share more than a working relationship, she's not ready to go public. With victims across multiple states, Jackson and Baldwin race to find a pattern before the killer strikes again. But then a shocking connection between the Strangler and a local reporter brings them closer to the truth behind the killer's identity—one that could unveil a family's darkest secrets.

  22. Skin and Bone

    3.94

    #3 in the Dr. Anya Crichton Series

    Homicide detective Kate Farrer took a four-month leave from the force when the stress of the job threatened to crush her. Now she's back, at a crime scene as brutal as any she's ever witnessed. The charred corpse of a young woman, burned beyond recognition, smolders on a bed near a bag full of baby items. An autopsy reveals that the victim had recently given birth. Yet no child has been found. Teaming up with a new partner, Oliver Parke, Kate struggles to hold her own demons at bay—while also pursuing leads in the seemingly unrelated affair of a missing teenager who was keeping secrets that may have cost her her life. But as disturbing clues begin linking their two investigations—and another unspeakably cruel murder secures the knot—Kate and Oliver realize with horror that a desperate killer's next victim might be the most innocent one of all.

  23. Sharp Objects

    4.10

    Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.

  24. Judge & Jury

    4.21

    Andie DeGrasse is not your typical juror. Hoping to get dismissed from the pool, she tells the judge that most of her legal knowledge comes from a bit part curling around a stripper's pole in The Sopranos. But she still ends up as juror #11 in a landmark trial against a notorious mob boss. The case quickly becomes the new Trial of the Century. Mafia don Dominic Cavello, known as the Electrician, is linked to hundreds of gruesome, unspeakable crimes. Senior FBI agent Nick Pellisante has been tracking him for years. He knows Cavello's power reaches far beyond the courtroom, but the FBI's evidence against the ruthless killer is iron-clad. Conviction is a sure thing. As the jury is about to reach a verdict, the Electrician makes one devastating move that no one could have predicted. The entire nation is reeling, and Andie's world is shattered. For her, the hunt for the Electrician becomes personal, and she and Pellisante come together in an unbreakable bond: they will exact justice ... at any cost. James Patterson spins an all-out heart-pounding legal thriller that pits two people against the most vicious and powerful mobster since John Gotti.

  25. Proof Positive

    4.15

    #4 in the Amanda Jaffe Series

    Defense attorney Doug Weaver believes his client, Jacob Cohen, is innocent—but the forensic evidence proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that the meek, mentally ill homeless man killed and dismembered a woman . . . Hired to defend gangster Art Prochaska against charges that he murdered an informer, lawyer Amanda Jaffe and her father, Frank, have their work cut out for them—because, as improbable as it seems, the forensic clues scream that Prochaska is guilty . . . And now people are dying inexplicably—as Amanda and Doug join forces to find answers hidden somewhere in the darkest corners of crime scene investigation, where a god-playing madman holds the lethal power to alter the truth.