Books like 'Desert Heat'
Readers who enjoyed Desert Heat by J.A. Jance also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery small town thriller crime suspense western law-enforcement police-procedural whodunit
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How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsChristmas is approaching, and in Québec it's a time of dazzling snowfalls, bright lights, and gatherings with friends in front of blazing hearths. But shadows are falling on the usually festive season for Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté de Québec... -
![Fortune Funhouse by Jana Deleon]()
Fortune Funhouse by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe traveling carnival has made its stop in Sinful and everyone is ready for thrilling rides, challenging games, and most importantly, funnel cake. But when a man is murdered in the funhouse and Emmaline LeBlanc is knocked unconscious so the killer can escape, the good times are over... -
![A Merciful Promise by Kendra Elliot]()
A Merciful Promise by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe Wall Street Journal bestselling series continues as Mercy Kilpatrick becomes embedded in the nightmare of a terrorist conspiracy.The job: infiltrate a militia amassing illegal firearms in an isolated forest community. FBI agent Mercy Kilpatrick is the ideal candidate. She knows Oregon. She’s near the compound...Categorized as:
crime drama family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure -
![A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny]()
A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsWhen an intricate old map is found stuffed into the walls of the bistro in Three Pines, it at first seems no more than a curiosity. But the closer the villagers look, the stranger it becomes. Given to Armand Gamache as a gift the first day of his new job, the map eventually leads him to shattering secrets. To an old friend and older adversary... -
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![One Foot in the Grave by Denise Grover Swank]()
One Foot in the Grave by Denise Grover Swank
Rated: 4.64 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe third book in the Carly Moore series by Denise Grover Swank.The dead can’t speakAfter months of living in the Smoky Mountains town of Drum, Tennessee, Carly knows firsthand the financial hardship the citizens face. Still, she can’t muster the same excitement as everyone else when town patriarch Bart Drummond breaks ground on his new resort that promises more jobs and money... -
![Right Behind Her by Melinda Leigh]()
Right Behind Her by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe discovery of human remains unearths another nightmare from Sheriff Bree Taggert’s past in a bone-chilling thriller by #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.Twenty-seven years ago, Sheriff Bree Taggert’s father killed her mother, then himself. Now Bree and her younger brother, Adam, find human bones on the grounds of their abandoned family farm... -
![A Merciful Fate by Kendra Elliot]()
A Merciful Fate by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the next book in the Wall Street Journal bestselling Mercy Kilpatrick series, there are no such things as little secrets…Raised by preppers, survivalist and FBI agent Mercy Kilpatrick has a deep-rooted need for a safe place. Her getaway in the Cascade Foothills is her secret... -
![What I've Done by Melinda Leigh]()
What I've Done by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Amazon Charts bestseller.In the fourth book of the multimillion-copy bestselling series, Morgan Dane’s new client has blood on her hands—and no recollection of what happened.Haley Powell wakes up covered in blood, with no memory of the night before...Categorized as:
crime drama female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense whodunit action-adventure -
![In the Air Tonight by Marie Force]()
In the Air Tonight by Marie Force
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsI was there. I saw what you did.BlaiseI wasn’t supposed to be there that night, but my friend Sienna talked me into going to the party in Land’s End so she could spy on her boyfriend. While hiding out in the woods, we witnessed an unspeakable crime. And we did everything wrong afterward.Connections run deep in our small town... -
![Bones Don't Lie by Melinda Leigh]()
Bones Don't Lie by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsShocking evidence hits close to home for attorney Morgan Dane and PI Lance Kruger as Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s acclaimed series continues. Private investigator Lance Kruger was just a boy when his father vanished twenty-three years ago...Categorized as:
crime family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense whodunit action-adventure -
![A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny]()
A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 33 ratings"Hearts are broken," Lillian Dyson carefully underlined in a book. "Sweet relationships are dead."But now Lillian herself is dead. Found among the bleeding hearts and lilacs of Clara Morrow's garden in Three Pines, shattering the celebrations of Clara's solo show at the famed Musée in Montréal... -
![The Blue Pool Murders by Rachel McLean]()
The Blue Pool Murders by Rachel McLean
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDCI Lesley Clarke is a busy woman.She's dealing with the reopened investigation into DCI Mackie's death, supporting DS Dennis Frampton through recurring mental health problems, and making plans for her own future.And then prominent crime boss Arthur Kelvin is found dead at a local beauty spot... -
![The Millionaire Murders by Rachel McLean]()
The Millionaire Murders by Rachel McLean
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn anonymous murder victim and a missing journalist: can Lesley uncover the truth?DCI Lesley Clarke has too many suspects to choose from when a wealthy lawyer and her unidentified companion are found brutally murdered in a Sandbanks mansion... -
![Wolf Pack by C.J. Box, David Chandler]()
Wolf Pack by C.J. Box, David Chandler
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWyoming game warden Joe Pickett encounters bad behavior on his own turf--only to have the FBI and the DOJ ask him to stand down.The good news is that Joe Pickett has his job back, after his last adventure in The Disappeared...Categorized as:
crime family law-enforcement police-procedural suspense western thriller action-adventure -
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![Glass Houses by Louise Penny]()
Glass Houses by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsWhen a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. Then wary. Through rain and sleet, the figure stands unmoving, staring ahead.From the moment its shadow falls over the village, Gamache, now Chief Superintendent of the Surete du Quebec, suspects the creature has deep roots and a dark purpose... -
![Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny]()
Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhen a peculiar letter arrives inviting Armand Gamache to an abandoned farmhouse, the former head of the Sûreté du Québec discovers that a complete stranger has named him one of the executors of her will. Still on suspension, and frankly curious, Gamache accepts and soon learns that the other two executors are Myrna Landers, the bookseller from Three Pines, and a young builder... -
![A Cold Trail by Robert Dugoni]()
A Cold Trail by Robert Dugoni
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni’s riveting series, Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite returns home to a brutal murder and her haunted past. The last time homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite was in Cedar Grove, it was to see her sister’s killer put behind bars... -
![Bake Off by Denise Grover Swank]()
Bake Off by Denise Grover Swank
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMaddie Baker hasn’t seen Detective Noah Langley since he ghosted her a month ago, but now she needs his help to find a missing woman. When Maddie Baker offers a self-defense course, a terrified young woman asks her for private lessons to escape a chokehold. Maddie readily agrees to meet Amy the next morning, but when she doesn’t show up, Maddie becomes concerned... -
![The Wrong Bones by Melinda Leigh]()
The Wrong Bones by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA frantic chase to catch a grave robber reveals a startling discovery in this tenth installment of the Widow’s Island novella series by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.Deputy Tessa Black spots a man disturbing a grave in the local cemetery and gives chase. But when Tessa catches him, she learns that the ghoulish trespasser wasn’t robbing graves; he was burying a box of bones...Categorized as:
cozy crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure -
![The Killer's Girl by Helen Phifer]()
The Killer's Girl by Helen Phifer
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratings‘Mama, wake up.’ The little girl reached for her mother’s face with one pudgy hand. But the eyes stayed closed, and the blood continued to trickle across the floor. When the body of a young woman is found, tied to her bed and the victim of a brutal attack in her own home, Detective Morgan Brookes is sickened by what she finds as she searches the house... -
![Backrush by Jana Deleon]()
Backrush by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe sea heals all things.Tempest Island has weathered the worst of storms and still stands proud, providing its residents with the healing power of the sea and sun. When Alayna Scott’s life falls spectacularly apart, both professionally and personally, the executive chef’s only thought is getting back home to the island and her aunt Bea... -
![Blind Bake by Denise Grover Swank]()
Blind Bake by Denise Grover Swank
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen a young woman is at the wrong place at the wrong time, she becomes a person of interest in a murder investigation. Maddie Baker just wants to make ends meet. She gave up her school librarian career to return to her hometown and take care of her elderly aunt... -
![A Merciful Secret by Kendra Elliot]()
A Merciful Secret by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn this Wall Street Journal bestseller, a pair of ritual murders could expose Mercy Kilpatrick to something terrifying: her own past…Raised off the grid by survivalists, Mercy Kilpatrick believed in no greater safeguard than the backwoods of Oregon. Unforgiven by her father for abandoning the fold for the FBI, Mercy still holds to her past convictions. They’re in her blood...Categorized as:
crime drama family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure -
![The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny]()
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsChaos is coming, old son. With those words the peace of Three Pines is shattered. As families prepare to head back to the city and children say goodbye to summer, a stranger is found murdered in the village bistro and antiques store. Once again, Chief Inspector Gamache and his team are called in to strip back layers of lies, exposing both treasures and rancid secrets buried in the wilderness... -
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![In the Clearing by Robert Dugoni]()
In the Clearing by Robert Dugoni
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsListening Length 10 hours and 20 minutesDetective Tracy Crosswhite has a skill, and a soft spot, for tackling unsolved crimes. Having lost her own sister to murder at a young age, Tracy has dedicated her career to bringing justice and closure to the families and friends of victims of crime...Categorized as:
crime drama female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure -
![Bred in the Bone by Kendra Elliot]()
Bred in the Bone by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the fourth Widow’s Island novella by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kendra Elliot, the truth of a twenty-year disappearance will finally come to light. When the town drunk ends up dead in a hit-and-run, FBI special agent Cate Wilde expects that solving the case will be cut and dried. But evidence quickly surfaces that the victim was involved with another crime... -
![Bad Memory by Lisa Gray]()
Bad Memory by Lisa Gray
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsPrivate investigator Jessica Shaw is leading a quiet life in a Californian desert community, where she spends her days working low-level cases. But when a former resident asks Jessica to help her sister, Rue Hunter—a convicted murderer whose execution is days away—Jessica can’t resist the offer... -
![Hide Away by Jason Pinter]()
Hide Away by Jason Pinter
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of the Henry Parker series comes a page-turning thriller about a vigilante who’s desperate to protect her secrets—and bring a killer to justice.On the surface, Rachel Marin is an ordinary single mother; on the inside, she’s a fierce, brilliant vigilante... -
![Bone Deep by Kendra Elliot]()
Bone Deep by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen two men kidnap former FBI agent Cate Wilde’s fiancé, the boldness of the crime rattles the community. Desperate to find the man she loves, Cate joins forces with the FBI and the local sheriff’s department to launch an investigation and bring Dr. Henry Powers home...Categorized as:
cozy crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure -
![Buried Bones by Melinda Leigh]()
Buried Bones by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA college student’s murder shines light on community secrets left in the dark in the seventh Widow’s Island novella by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.All communities have their secrets…but on Widow’s Island, there’s a skeleton in every closet, as Deputy Tessa Black knows all too well... -
![A Broken Bone by Melinda Leigh]()
A Broken Bone by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe mysterious death of a local teen leads to a hunt for a killer in the sixth Widow’s Island novella by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.On Widow’s Island, the secrets are dark…and everybody has one. So when Deputy Tessa Black responds to a call about an explosion in a quiet neighborhood, she gets more than she bargained for: the body of a teen who went missing weeks ago... -
![The Monument Murders by Rachel McLean]()
The Monument Murders by Rachel McLean
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen a body is found draped over Swanage's iconic Globe monument, DCI Lesley Clarke is called in.A message points to the Go Home.Is this a hate crime? Or something closer to home?Lesley must find the killer before he or she strikes again, all while dealing with a mutiny in her team and political pressure from her boss... -
![Domestic Animals by Gregory Ashe]()
Domestic Animals by Gregory Ashe
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSometimes, the most dangerous animals are the ones you let inside.When a man hires Emery Hazard to track down a teenager who, he claims, robbed him, Hazard isn’t convinced. The story has holes in it, and the client seems eager—too eager—to keep the authorities from getting involved. But Hazard is willing to play along; he suspects something much darker is going on, and he wants to know what it is... -
![Rest in Pink by Jennifer Crusie, Bob Mayer]()
Rest in Pink by Jennifer Crusie, Bob Mayer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom the NY Times Bestselling duo that wrote Agnes and the Hitman, the second book in a new series.Liz Danger is a ghostwriter, trapped in her old hometown for the summer... -
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![Track Her Down by Melinda Leigh]()
Track Her Down by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFor Sheriff Bree Taggert, a gruesome double murder exposes the secrets of the dead in a shocking novel of suspense by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.A teenager returns home from work and finds her parents shot to death in their bed. Responding to the call, Sheriff Bree Taggert realizes the crime wasn’t a burglary gone wrong. The couple was executed... -
![Walking on Her Grave by Melinda Leigh]()
Walking on Her Grave by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe electrifying conclusion of the romantic suspense novella series from Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot. The sleepy town of Solitude, Oregon, has turned into ground zero for a turf war between the manufacturers and distributors of a lethal new drug. When a teenage witness disappears, social worker Carly Taylor must find him before he’s silenced permanently... -
![Dirty Laundry by Liliana Hart]()
Dirty Laundry by Liliana Hart
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA new novel in the New York Times bestselling series: Coroner JJ Graves and her husband Sheriff Jack Lawson are back on the job when the body of an elderly woman is found in Bloody Mary. Rosalyn McGowen is everyone’s favorite great-grandmother. She always has baked treats in her bag, she smells of roses, and she takes in stray cats. No one knows who could hurt a sweet old lady... -
![Beneath Devil's Bridge by Loreth Anne White]()
Beneath Devil's Bridge by Loreth Anne White
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratings11 hours, 42 minutes A true crime podcast yields new revelations about a shocking murder in a riveting novel of suspense by Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author Loreth Anne White. True crime podcaster Trinity Scott is chasing breakout success, and her brand-new serial may get her there. Her subject is Clayton Jay Pelley... -
![Fallen by Linda Castillo]()
Fallen by Linda Castillo
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn New York Times bestselling author Linda Castillo’s new thriller Fallen, a rebellious Amish woman leaves the Plain life, but the secrets she takes with her will lead Chief of Police Kate Burkholder down a dark path to danger and death.When a young woman is found murdered in a Painters Mill motel, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is shocked to discover she once knew the victim... -
![Below the Bones by Kendra Elliot]()
Below the Bones by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA former FBI special agent must come out of retirement to solve a murder in the fifth novella in the Widow’s Island series from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kendra Elliot.Former FBI special agent Cate Wilde is a new bakery and bookstore owner—and retirement is now complete with a doctor boyfriend... -
![Truth Be Told by Kendra Elliot]()
Truth Be Told by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA torrential two-day storm has cut off the small town of Solitude, Oregon, from the outside world. But for police officers Stevie Duncan and her husband, Zane, the ravages of nature have nothing on the nature of man... -
![Burned by Her Devotion by Melinda Leigh]()
Burned by Her Devotion by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the second Rogue Vows novella, the town of Solitude, Oregon, will learn that good TV makes for terrible reality. When Chase Ryan, a popular crime TV star, turns up dead, the entire town of Solitude is shaken—but the show isn’t over yet. The confessed murderer is violently abducted on the way to the county jail, and now Detective Seth Harding must find both the killer and the kidnapper... -
![Her Last Goodbye by Melinda Leigh]()
Her Last Goodbye by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsWall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s Morgan Dane series continues as the fearless attorney and her partner, investigator Lance Kruger, take on a disturbing disappearance…Young mother Chelsea Clark leaves the house for a girls’ night out…and vanishes. Her family knows she would never voluntarily leave her two small children... -
![Her Grave Secrets by Kendra Elliot]()
Her Grave Secrets by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThere are no secrets in a small town—until someone has one worth dying for. Local cop Stevie Taylor and police chief Zane Duncan have startling new proof that a deadly street drug is expanding its poisonous grip on their small town: a skull found on the banks of the Rogue River has two bullet holes in the back... -
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![A Dirty Job by Liliana Hart]()
A Dirty Job by Liliana Hart
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA new chapter begins...J.J. Graves is trying to put the wounds caused by her father behind her. She and Jack have a shot at peace for the first time in their marriage, and it's new territory for them.A mortuary convention on a South Carolina island has J.J. and Jack combining work with pleasure...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense adult audiobook billionaire -
![The Canal Murders by J.R. Ellis]()
The Canal Murders by J.R. Ellis
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLife moves at a slower pace on the canals. But death always comes when you least expect it. The last thing DS Stephanie Johnson and DS Andy Carter expected during their much-needed canal holiday was a murder. When retired folk musician Annie Shipton is found stabbed through the neck at the helm of her barge, the couple can’t help investigating the seemingly impossible crime... -
![Vanishing Girls by Lisa Regan]()
Vanishing Girls by Lisa Regan
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsShe was close enough to see that the girl had written a word on the wall in bright, warm red blood. Not a word, actually. A name… Everyone in the small American town of Denton is searching for Isabelle Coleman, a missing seventeen-year-old girl. All they’ve found so far is her phone and another girl they didn’t even know was missing... -
![A Gathering of Secrets by Linda Castillo]()
A Gathering of Secrets by Linda Castillo
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA deadly fire exposes the dark side of Amish life in this harrowing new thriller in the New York Times bestselling series.When a historic barn burns to the ground in the middle of the night, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called in to investigate. At first, it looks like an accident, but when the body of eighteen-year-old Daniel Gingerich is found inside—burned alive—Kate suspects murder... -
![An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo]()
An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsChief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates the brutal death of a young Amish man in An Evil Heart , the latest installment of the bestselling series by Linda Castillo.On a crisp autumn day in Painters Mill, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder responds to a call only to discover an Amish man who has been violently killed with a crossbow, his body abandoned on a dirt road... -
![Marshal by Jodi Burnett]()
Marshal by Jodi Burnett
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe U.S. Marshals service seeks a K9 Unit for their elite strike team tasked with hunting down America's most wanted criminals. Caitlyn Reed and her K9 partner, Renegade, are called up to the varsity to face this harrowing challenge. Has she bitten off more than she can handle?Moose Creek Sheriff Colt Branson finds himself in the foray as a part of the U.S...
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