Bøker utgitt av Crooked Lane Books

Perfect for fans of Practical Magic and The Lager Queen of Minnesota: a coming-of-age novel following three generations of witches in the 1960s, this enchanting and heartwarming debut explores the importance of family and the delight and heartbreak of discovering who you truly are.It’s 1968, and the Watry-Ridder family is feared and respected in equal measure. The local farmers seek out their water charms, and the teenagers, their love spells. The family’s charms and spells, passed down through generations of witches descending from the Black Forest, have long served the small town of Friedrich, Minnesota.Eldest daughter Elisabeth has just graduated high school—she is expected to hone her supernatural abilities to take over for her grandmother, the indomitable Magda. She’s also expected to marry her high school sweetheart and live the rest of her life in Friedrich. But all she can ask is, why her? Why is her path set in stone, and what else might be out there for her?She soon discovers that magic isn’t the only thing inherited in her family. That magic also comes with a great price—and a big family secret. The more she digs, the more questions she has, and the less she trusts the grandmother she thought she knew. Who is Elisabeth without her family? She must ultimately decide what she’s willing to sacrifice for her family, for their secrets and their magic, or risk it all to pave her own way.Navigating the bittersweet tension between self-discovery and living up to familial expectations, What We Sacrifice for Magic is a touching look at coming into one’s own.

Irish step dance takes a deadly turn in this Celtic cozy series debut, perfect for fans of Carlene O’Connor and Paige Shelton. Single-mom and police chief’s daughter Kate Buckley is all about family. After she receives an urgent text from her younger sister Colleen, she puts her life on hold and rushes to her Irish-themed hometown of Shamrock, Massachusetts, where her family owns and operates a bed and breakfast. With her two daughters in tow, she’s ready to fight if it means she can help her charming but hapless sibling. When they arrive, Colleen claims it was all a misunderstanding. But everything changes in an Irish minute when Colleen’s best friend, Deirdre, a dance show star, is found dead in the parish hall. With the discovery of a possible witness, a chilling motive, and a wee bit of incriminating evidence, Colleen quickly becomes a person of interest in Deirdre’s murder. Convinced her sister isn't a killer, Kate is determined to clear Colleen’s name. As Kate investigates, Colleen takes charge of Shamrock’s popular Irish dance show in honor of her late friend—with disastrous results. With the St. Patrick’s Week festivities in full swing, Kate must catch the killer before the celebrations are ruined and her sister’s Irish luck runs out.

An expectant mother gets more than she bargained for when she marries into a seemingly perfect family in this gripping debut novel–a must read for fans of A. J. Finn and B. A. Paris. After surviving a nightmarish childhood, Anneliese Bakker is on the mend and searching for her birth mother. But when she meets Willem, she falls madly in love and finally finds a safe place to land. Engaged and expecting her first child, she moves into the Veldkamp mansion on a stately, tree-lined avenue in Amsterdam. And yet, nothing about Willem’s family is as it seems. Instead of the loving home she has longed for her entire life, she’s confronted with a cold and hostile household.Increasingly isolated, Anneliese is drawn to a creepy basement shrine to Louisa, Willem’s mother. Louisa Veldkamp was a legendary Dutch pianist who presumably drowned–but whose body has never been found. Though still revered by her fans, Louisa is a taboo subject in the family home. Haunted by her own demons, Anneliese must dig into the family’s past to untangle a dark web of secrets, inadvertently putting herself and her unborn child in grave danger.Not knowing who to trust, Anneliese has to decide just how far she is willing to go to safeguard the family life she so desperately seeks.

There are always two sides to a story. This dark and twisted reimagining of Cinderella, told from her stepsister's POV, is perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher and Naomi Novik.Eunice lives her life by three simple rules: One, always refer to Cinderella as family. Two, never let Cinderella gain access to rats or mice. Three, never look upon Cinderella between the hours of twelve and three a.m. Cinderella has dark and terrifying powers. As her stepsister, Eunice is expected to care for her and keep the family’s secret. For years, Eunice has faithfully done so. Her childhood flew by in a blur of nightmares, tears, and near-misses with the monster living in the cellar. But when she befriends the handsome Prince Credence and secures an invitation to the ball, Eunice is determined to break free. When her younger sister, Hortense, steps up to care for Cinderella, Eunice grabs her chance to dance the night away—until Cinderella escapes. With her eldritch powers, Cinderella attends the ball and sweeps Prince Credence off his feet, leaving behind a trail of carnage and destruction as well as a single green glass slipper.   With Cinderella unleashed, Eunice must determine how much of herself she is willing to sacrifice in order to stop Cinderella. Unsettling and macabre at every turn, this page-turning horror will bewitch horror fans and leave its readers anxiously checking the locks on their cellar doors.

The slay bells are ringing in this festive seventh installment of national bestselling author Vicki Delany’s Year-Round Christmas mystery series, perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Donna Andrews.Rudolph, New York, shop owner Merry Wilkinson’s best friend Vicky Casey is newly engaged to Chef Mark Grosse and is moving into the historic Cole House–a home surrounded by drama, intrigue, and a possible haunting that is in desperate need of renovation. The wedding is just three weeks away, but all is not bliss for the newly engaged couple as estranged relatives of the late owner fight over her will. Then, late one night, Vicky and Merry come across a dead body in the garden of Cole House–and Mark is the one standing over the corpse. As Detective Diane Simmonds focuses on Mark as the prime suspect, Vicky asks for Merry’s help to clear her fiancé’s name in time for the wedding. As they dig deeper into the connection between the house, Cole relatives, and town residents, past and present, it becomes clear that plenty of people wanted the victim dead.With a bakery to run, the busy Easter weekend fast approaching, a house to renovate, and a fiancé to clear of a murder accusation, Vicky’s wedding may end up on the chopping block. It’s up to Merry to put aside the chocolate bunnies and stuffed rabbits and help her best friend save her wedding–and her life.

Lydia Barnes has to thread the needle in order to discover the killer locked in with her amidst a sewing retreat in this second installment of the series, perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Molly MacRae.Lydia Barnes has made the picturesque town of Peridot, Georgia her home. But as the new owner of the Measure Twice fabric store, all financial burdens fall on her. In an effort to unspool herself from this tangle of thread and boost the store’s income, she invites her regular customers to a sewing retreat at her friend Fran’s Cherry Log mountain home. In between sewing lessons and quick lunches, a severe winter storm approaches. When Fran’s body is discovered murder is the only explanation, and the remaining six attendants are all suspects. Trapped, with the power and phone lines out, Lydia is restless to unmask Fran’s murderer. With the help of Auden, the cabin’s caretaker, Lydia must unravel the hidden lives of people she considered close neighbors and even friends, especially when another body is found along with a suicide note and a suspicious confession. In a daring plan to uncover the killer, Lydia must risk it all, including her life, before she is cut asunder and the bobbin runs out.

The sole survivor of a serial killer might hold the key to stopping a new spree of murders in this propulsive horror thriller in the vein of The Black Phone and The Whisper Man.Dark and twisting at every turn, fans of Catriona Ward will love this chilling new tale from the deviously inventive horror author that Peter Farris calls the "clear heir to Stephen King.”Beware the one who got away . . . Father Silence once terrorized the rural town of Twisted Tree, disguising himself as a priest to prey on the most vulnerable members of society. When the police finally found his "House of Horrors," they uncovered nineteen bodies and one survivor–a boy now locked away in a hospital for the criminally insane.Nearly two decades later, Father Silence is finally put to death, but by the next morning, the detective who made the original arrest is found dead. A new serial killer is taking credit for the murder and calling himself the Outcast.The detective’s daughter, Tess Claibourne, is a detective herself, haunted by childhood trauma and horrified by the death of her father and the resurgence of Father Silence’s legacy.When Tess’s daughter is kidnapped by the Outcast, Tess is forced to face her worst fears and long-buried memories. With no leads to follow, she travels back to Twisted Tree to visit the boy who survived and see what secrets might be buried in the tangled web of his broken mind.With captivating prose and an old-school horror flair, Sleep Tight is a must-read, haunting tale from a true master of the genre.

Haunted by childhood abuse, a woman is forced to care for her cruel elderly mother in this electrifying horror novel exploring generational trauma, perfect for fans of Cassandra Khaw and T. Kingfisher.Tamar Glass fled an abusive mother when she was eighteen, running away from home to find a better life elsewhere. She has lived in freedom from her mother, Ruth, for decades, until one night she wakes to find her now-elderly mother standing over her bed, disoriented and confused. When Tamar reluctantly takes in her mother, strange events start happening inside her home: the house becomes oppressively hot, lights flicker, and cupboards open and shut on their own. Whispers filter beneath her bedroom door. Tamar learns that Ruth has been kicked out of her assisted living home, and other facilities refuse to house her and endanger their own residents. Tamar has spent years suppressing her childhood trauma, but it comes rushing back with each strange event in her home.As Tamar copes with their disturbing past, which her mother stubbornly refuses to admit to, she can’t shake the feeling that there’s something worse than her mother lurking in the shadows. Perfect for fans of The Haunting of Hill House, this terrifying novel unravels one dark strand at a time.

In this gothic debut novel, perfect for fans of Tread of Angels and Gail Carriger’s Soulless, Miss Radhika Dhingra, a newly minted lawyer in 19th century New York, never expected that her first client would be a vampire accused of murder. Having a resident vampire is just the thing for upper-class New Yorkers–besides being a status symbol, they make excellent butlers or housekeepers. The only thing they require in return is a drop or two of blood and a casket to shut out the dawn’s early light. Tolerated by society only if they follow a strict set of rules, vampires are seen as “less than”–and as the daughter of immigrants, Radhika knows firsthand how this feels. Accused of murder, her undead client Mr. Evelyn More, knows that the cards are stacked against him.With the help of a journalist friend and a diminutive detective inspector, Miss Dhingra sets out to prove her client’s innocence and win his freedom. Failure will mean Mr. More’s death, the end of her dreams of becoming a successful attorney, and the loss of the vampire Miss Dhingra has begun to call her friend.Offering an alternative paranormal history, delightful characters, and insightful social commentary, The Vampire of Kings Street will thrill readers of Deanna Rayburn and Rebecca Roanhorse.

This powerful debut novel brings to life the hard choices Parisians made--or failed to make--under Nazi occupation, in the tradition of Pam Jenoff and Fiona Davis. 1938. Paris Opera legend Madeleine Moreau must keep newcomer Yvonne Chevallier, whose talent she fears, off the stage. As the long-standing star of the opera, she is nowhere near ready to give up her spotlight. The perfect solution: enlist Yvonne as her understudy so she can never be upstaged. When Madeleine is invited to headline at Germany’s preeminent opera festival, she is sure this will cement her legacy. But war is looming, and when she learns that Adolf Hitler himself will be in attendance, she knows she’s made a grave error. As Madeleine makes a hurried escape back to France, Yvonne finds herself unexpectedly thrown into the limelight on the German stage.When a newspaper photograph shows Hitler seemingly enraptured by Yvonne, Yvonne’s life is upended. While she is trying frantically to repair her reputation at home, Yvonne’s son is captured and held as a prisoner of war. Desperate to free her son, she makes an impossible choice: turn to the enemy. As the Nazis invade Paris, both women must decide what they are willing to do in pursuit of their art. They form an unlikely alliance, using their fame to protect themselves and the people they love from the maelstrom of history.Painting an enrapturing portrait of resilient wartime women, The Paris Understudy is a love letter to the arts and a stark depiction of the choices we make to survive, for fans of Kate Quinn and Kristen Harmel.

Told in alternating timelines, this gripping mystery about a PI and her quest for answers is full of twists and turns, perfect for fans of Allison Brennan and Gytha Lodge. Struggling private investigator Kate Myles is shattered to learn her late father isn’t her biological dad. She’s still reeling when she discovers that an unknown distant relative is the prime suspect in a decades-old murder investigation. Trying to convince her to take on the case for free, an old colleague recommends her as an investigator for a recent arson murder in the same small town.After giving up on a failed acting career, Abby Coburn is starting over as a promising social work student. With her life on the right track, she’s determined to help her brother, Jacob, whose meth addiction triggered a psychotic break and descent into crime. But when Abby dies in a fire that kills two other people and destroys part of the town, the police immediately suspect Jacob. As the Coburn family grapples with the tragedy, Kate begins unraveling the cold case but finds herself caught in the middle of an emotional minefield. Pretty soon, she discovers that this town is full of dark secrets, and as she comes closer and closer to figuring out the truth, Kate must solve both murders before she becomes the next victim.

From some of the biggest names in horror comes an Advent calendar of short holiday horror stories perfect for the darkest nights of the year. Edited by award-winning author and anthologist Lindy Ryan and with contributions from masters of horror like Josh Malerman, Eric LaRocca, and Clay McLeod Chapman, this horrific anthology will chill you to the bone.From New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box, Josh Malerman, comes a story of a dark Christmas past in “Children Aren’t the Only Ones Who Know Where the Presents Are Hidden.” From national bestselling author Rachel Harrison, in “Thaw,” a couple spends their first Christmas together in a cabin—but are they alone, or does something else watch them from the tree line? New York Times bestselling authors Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon’s “Wintry Blue” sets an innocent child on the road with a strange and monstrous creature. From the Bram Stoker Award–winning screenwriter of Netflix’s Haunting of Bly Manor and The Fall of the House of Usher, in Jamie Flanagan’s “Bruiser,” something sinister stalks the chilling hallways of a nursing home at night. Author of Such a Pretty Smile, Kristi DeMeester, tells a tale of “Eggnog”: a Christmas party, an overfriendly female coworker, and an angry wife are the recipe for a deadly cocktail party. Plus stories by Nat Cassidy, Darcy Coates, Clay McLeod Chapman, Tim Waggoner, and many more, with an introduction by George C. Romero and art by renowned British horror artist Mister Sam Shearon.

Bookstore owner Phoebe Winchester is putting on her first major author event when a body is discovered and the plot goes off the rails in this cozy mystery, perfect for fans of Cleo Coyle and Jenn McKinlay.Amateur witch Phoebe Winchester is excited to host her first big author event at the Earl’s Study, her book and tea store. The author, Sebastian Marlow, is a famous birder excited to put Raven Creek on the map for his rediscovery of a presumed-extinct bird. When Sebastian is found dead before his planned bird hike, where he expected to prove the existence of the bird to fellow birding enthusiasts, it’s obvious someone wanted him to be extinct, too. Sebastian had a few unfriendly encounters with his staff—including his recently fired manager, who was seen arguing with him at the author event. Phoebe is determined to figure out who killed Sebastian, worried that it will negatively affect her store’s image that her biggest guest author got killed. With the clock ticking, she enlists the help of Rich Lofting, the handsome local private investigator, to help her look into the murder. It’s not long before another victim is pecked off and someone close to Phoebe is the suspect. She’ll have to work quickly to uncover the killer and figure out who’s up to fowl play in the third charming book in this warm and witchy series.

"A podcaster digs into strange connections between a cult's mass suicide and the murder of a local beauty queen in this twisty psychological thriller about true crime culture, perfect for fans of Riley Sager and Lisa Jewell. The mass suicide of a cult known as the Flock sent shockwaves through the small rural town of Iola, Michigan. Led by the charismatic Dominic Bragg, the Flock camped at an abandoned bird sanctuary before their sudden and shocking demise. The deaths came just weeks after one of their members, Laurel Tai, a local pageant queen, was abducted. The town turned its blame and fear onto the sole survivor, Claire Kettler-Laurel's best friend. Burdened by grief and unanswered questions about her friend's murder and her fellow cult members' deaths, Claire can't help but wonder what really happened, especially when the cult leader is nowhere to be found. When podcaster Arlo Stone begins poking around ten years later, determined to uncover the truth about the cult and Laurel's murder, Claire is propelled back into action. In a desperate attempt to puzzle out the past and keep her secrets from being spilled for the entertainment of thousands of listeners, Claire must dig into a tangle of unanswered questions before time runs out and history repeats itself"--

For fans of Julia Keller and Sheena Kamal, All We Buried disturbs the long-sleeping secrets of a small Washington State mountain town.Interim sheriff Elizabeth "Bet" Rivers has always had one repeat nightmare: a shadowy figure throwing a suspicious object into her hometown lake in Collier, Washington. For the longest time, she chalked it up to an overactive imagination as a kid. Then the report arrives. In the woods of the Cascade mountain range, right in her jurisdiction, a body floats to the surface of Lake Collier. When the body is extricated and revealed, no one can identify Jane Doe. But someone must know the woman, so why aren't they coming forward?Bet has been sitting as the interim sheriff of this tiny town in the ill-fitting shoes of her late father and predecessor. With the nightmare on her heels, Bet decided to build a life for herself in Los Angeles, but now it's time to confront the tragic history of Collier. The more she learns, the more Bet realizes she doesn't know the townspeople of Collier as well as she thought, and nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover.

"Tasha Weaver has seen her fair share of divas come and go while working as the costume shop head at the Eastbrook Playhouse, but her beloved theater is put at risk when the star of the show is killed. Tasha Weaver is most at home in the cozy backstage world of the Eastbrook Playhouse. As the costume shop head at the charming regional theater, she's used to watching dramatic acts of love and revenge from the shadows. But when Kurt Mozer--the insufferable Broadway reject who stars in their production of Annie Get Your Gun--is shot center stage, the spotlight turns to her. Everyone knows Kurt was difficult to work with, and after he got into a fight with both director Marnie Mason and artistic leader Arthur Winston, he promptly decided to quit the show. In deep financial trouble, the Eastbrook Playhouse depended on a big name like Kurt to keep afloat. With reporters coming in from the Big Apple to Tasha's little corner of Connecticut, she realizes it's up to her to save their local theater and keep her community safe. After all, the show must go on...but what do you do when the killer could very well be one of your loved ones? With the help of her friends, her long-time crush Bruno Machado, and her feline colleague Hilly, Tasha must catch a murderer before the shining lights of the playhouse go out forever."--

"Featuring a neurodiverse lead living with Tourette's syndrome, Ellie Marlowe is ready for a curtain call as her latest production sells out, but when the starring male lead drops dead, and everyone in the cast is a potential suspect or the next victim, she must catch a killer before they pull another show-stopping murder."--Provided by publisher.

"Denver, 1992. Claudette Cooper and Moses King have been failed by the justice system. Claudette was sexually assaulted and brutally attacked--blinded by the perpetrator, she s not able to identify him until she has a dream about the attack where she sees the face of Moses King. When Claudette testifies that she s identified her attacker from her dream, Moses is wrongfully convicted and sent to prison for the crime. Lawyer Liza Brown has seen firsthand the failings and shortcomings of the justice system--her father also suffered the injustice of a wrongful conviction. As she s working at a nonprofit to free those who have been wrongfully imprisoned, Moses reaches out to her. Liza sees the obvious cracks in the evidence against Moses, and when he confesses that he knew her father, she s determined to help. Recruiting her old friend Eli Stone to assist, Liza sets out to prove Moses s innocence. But Eli is dealing with demons of his own: corrupt cops are targeting Black residents of Denver, and when his nephew is beaten by the police, Eli doubles down on his efforts to expose them."--

Told with deadpan humor and brutal honesty, this debut novel follows Vietnamese American Linh Ly s unraveling as she reckons with the traumas of both her past and present.

"A YouTubing cruiser couple sails the world living their best lives, until one of them goes missing and their whole world capsizes, in this captivating psychological thriller perfect for fans of Something in the Water and Saint X. Sawyer Stone III and Dani Fox, a young couple who spend their time circumnavigating the globe aboard their 42' sailboat and documenting it for their fledgling YouTube channel Sailing with the Foxes, have anchored in Exuma, in the Bahamas. As they wait for the price of crypto to rebound so they can provision and continue their journey, they're partying and exploring with their fellow cruisers off-shore. On the surface, everything looks perfect. But one night, Dani vanishes after a boat party, and Sawyer has no memory of her disappearance. The search for Dani is initially fueled by concerns that she drowned during one of her daily ocean swims, but Dani's prescheduled video posts, recorded before she went missing, soon reveal a darker side to her relationship with Sawyer. Meanwhile, Royal Bahamas Police Force Inspector Veronique Knowles has her hands full trying to keep the investigation on course as the story of the American woman missing in the Bahamas goes viral and the internet sleuths unearth secrets from Sawyer's past. Sawyer Stone is far from perfect, but is he a murderer?" --

Told with poetic prose and an imaginative voice, this “beautifully composed [and] original” (Joyce Carol Oates, New York Times bestselling author) debut novel explores family, trauma, and belonging through one woman’s journey to reconnect with her roots.Abby Rodier was a “drop-box baby,” a Korean orphan whose mother could not take care of her and left her as an infant. Abby’s tumultuous experience in the American foster care system has led her to live a solitary and guarded life, closed off to almost everyone except her best friend Iseul, whose parents took Abby into their home as a child. Abby’s work studying the origins of life in sea slugs and bacteria leads her to wonder about her birth parents and question her place in this world. It's not long before Abby stumbles upon a biological discovery that will change the course of her life. Meanwhile, Iseul’s devotion to their ill brother leads to an entanglement between her work as an investigative journalist and the murky world of black-market medicine. After a tragic event, Abby’s life is thrown into a tailspin. With the rug pulled from under her feet, she spirals into a disorientation of grief, apparitions, and compulsions. With the help of those around her, Abby must embark on a journey to understand her true roots and make peace with her present. From an exciting new voice in literary fiction, We Carry the Sea in Our Hands is a complex and layered ode to found family, perfect for fans of The Last Story of Mina Lee and Goodbye, Vitamin.

"Returning to her Vermont hometown to reopen the inn she co-owns with her sister, Reggie, Hannah, with Reggie going off the rails, finds a friend in an 80-year-old recluse, but when he's found dead on her property, she discovers that secrets lurk beneath the charming surface of the town she once again calls home"--