Bücher von Lori Armstrong

Given the trainwreck my life has become, I've earned my cynical attitude. I'm trapped in a dead-end job at the Bear Butte County Sheriff's Office-a position I took out of desperation after the brutal murder of my Lakota half-brother. Three years have passed, his case is cold, and my coping mechanisms-tequila, cigarettes and dubious men-no longer serve as excuses for my grief; they define who I am.Welcome to my world-Julie Collins, harbinger of doom and a sucker for lost causes.So when the body of a sixteen-year-old white girl surfaces and the death details are alarmingly similar to my brother's murder, Kevin Wells-my best pal and local PI-admits he'd been hired to find the missing kid before she turned up dead.I'm roped into helping Kevin tie up loose ends regarding the girl's disappearance…and that's when things begin to unravel. Lies are revealed. Bullets start flying. Yet nothing-not even death threats-will stop me from digging for the truth and finding the justice for this girl that my brother was denied.But the killer is willing to kill again to make sure these secrets stay buried. And this time, I'm in the crosshairs.

It's horrifying to watch someone die.My partner and I witnessed a fatality during a routine surveillance case-a case that took a bizarre turn when we questioned the victim's wife about the mysterious hole that had caused the accident. The widow admitted that hunters had discovered human remains and rather than alerting the authorities, she and her late husband just…reburied the bones. The out-of-sight -out-of-mind approach is never a smart option, particularly when it's oh…illegal, and especially now that the bones in the hole have vanished.Who was buried there? And how long ago?Local, state and tribal authorities want answers. My overworked former boss at the Bear Butte County Sheriff's office hires our PI agency to separate facts from speculation. I bury myself in the investigation because it leaves me little time to obsess about the screwed-up situation in my personal life-why Martinez asked me to go undercover in his strip club as a bartender…and why in the hell I agreed.I never imagined this new case would cause total chaos in my world, creating new enemies, opening old wounds with my father, reviving disputes with my half-brother's Lakota family, and generating dangerous employee rivalries.But the information I uncover leads me back to my brother's unsolved murder…and I finally come face to face with his killer.

A kid in trouble is my weakness. That's why Tony Martinez, president of the Hombres motorcycle club, hires me to track down a five-year-old Native American girl who's become a pawn in her parents' custody dispute.Simple, right? Find kid, collect fat fee, and celebrate my superior PI skills with the dangerously sexy MC overlord. Except…Martinez neglected to mention a few crucial details. Like the girl's father is the foreman on the controversial new Indian casino under construction, and the girl's mother works at a rival Deadwood gaming hall run by an East Coast crime family.After bullets start whizzing at me, I'm in Martinez's face, demanding answers. Turns out plenty of people are determined to stop the casino from opening, including competitors, local ranchers, and a Lakota holy group.As the violence escalates and the bodies pile up, everything around me begins to tumble like a house of cards. My search for a missing girl puts me on the wrong side of tribal politics and at odds with everyone-Kevin, Martinez, and even my father.In a fight for my life after I attract the killer's attention, I realize no place is safe…not even hallowed ground.

From award-winning author Lori Armstrong comes a gripping tale of brutal murder, as former army sniper Mercy Gunderson learns anew when she returns to the family ranch that, for the weak, the western plains of South Dakota hold...NO MERCY. The body of a teenage Indian boy found on land belonging to the Gunderson ranch is just the beginning. When a second teen is killed, the crime moves even closer to home for Mercy. The Iraq veteran is no stranger to death, but these murders are deeply personal, recalling all too clearly a childhood marred by violence and tragedy. The local sheriff seems strangely apathetic, so Mercy throws herself into an investigation that is driven by a desire for justice . . . and retribution. But as she digs up the truth behind the shocking crimes, she uncovers dark and dangerous secrets involving those she loves. Now she must race to stop a killer before everything she’s fought for is destroyed forever.

MWA Grand Master Margaret Maron, Edgar Award winner Tom Franklin, and New York Times bestselling novelist Ron Rash headline a new anthology of 21 tales spanning from traditional detective stories to comic capers to darkest noir and more-something for all tastes. Murder Under the Oaks is published in conjunction with Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, held in 2015 in Raleigh, North Carolina-the City of Oaks. As with the convention itself, the anthology spreads a broad canopy across a wide range of crime writers from across the country and around the world-including both veteran writers and the brightest up-and-coming talents in the field. Several of the stories in Murder Under the Oaks draw on the region's history and culture-including the birth of a secret society at the University of Virginia, a mystery from Edgar Allan Poe's childhood days, and a series of less-than-welcome visits by everyone's favorite hometown sheriff. All participants contributed their efforts to support our charity-the Wake County Public Libraries-and by extension readers and writers everywhere. All profits go to the library. Edited by Art Taylor Including Stories By J.L. Abramo J.D. Allen Lori Armstrong Rob Brunet P.A. De Voe Sean Doolittle Tom Franklin Toni Goodyear Kristin Kisska Robert Lopresti Robert Mangeot Margaret Maron Kathleen Mix Britni Patterson Karen Pullen Ron Rash Karen E. Salyer Sarah Shaber Zoë Sharp B.K. Stevens Graham Wynd