Blood Trails complete series bundle

DEADLINE

Shade’s To Do List:

– Investigate a haunting
– Find undead crime lord’s stolen book of blackmail
– Survive

An FBI contact comes to Shade for help when a ghostly presence indicates a missing architect with ties to the mob might have been murdered. Even for a village witch recently turned private investigator, it should have been an easy assignment. Show up, look for the ghost, determine if it’s the missing architect.

Easy peasy.

Then an unexpected twist brings a vampire to her doorstep.

A bold thief stole the “reputable businessman’s” little black book of secrets—and he’ll pay a lot more than an FBI consulting fee to get it back.

Powerful suspects make powerful enemies.

Soon the question isn’t whether or not Shade can solve the case—it’s whether or not she can survive it if she does.

MONSTER

Still recovering from the political and personal consequences of her last case, Shade Renard is in no shape for a visit from her mentor. But when the most powerful witch in existence offers you a chance at an unqualified, unlimited favor, you take it. To collect, Shade must find out who–or what–killed a human in one of Cleveland’s peaceful metroparks. The challenge? The lead suspect is a cop, found with the victim’s blood all over him. The complication? He’s a werewolf. As are several of the park rangers. And they’re not happy Shade is on the case…

Success means a favor from Baba Yaga. Failure means quitting her private investigative career–forever.

Favors are never free…

TAKEN

A cold case puts Shade on the trail of three teenagers who disappeared from a homeless shelter the night before a charity art auction. The cops think they left willingly, but Shade knows some of the most frightening monsters from the Otherworld can be as seductive as they are dangerous.

Talented artists vanishing without a trace. Willing participants in their own disappearance. Shade knows exactly what fate has befallen the teenagers. But what will she risk to get them back?

CORRUPTION

An exorcism went horribly, horribly wrong.
Did the ritual fail?
Or was it sabotaged…

Shade is a witch, not an exorcist. But when two priests are killed during an exorcism, the surviving witness begs Shade to find out who–or what–is responsible.

And what good is a private investigator who’s afraid of the tough cases?

Danger mounts as Shade plunges into a world of hedonism to wade through the muddy waters of good vs evil. If she’s going to survive against the army of enemies piling up, she’s going to need help. But who can she trust when the demon who survived the exorcism creates chaos among allies and suspects alike?

After all, with the proper temptation, anyone can be corrupted…

MERCENARY

Political intrigue is for wizards.

Shade has never agreed with her old mentor’s advice more than she does now. But if unraveling a political conspiracy is her only chance to escape the past month of magical boot camp and goblin-sparring, interspersed with seductive attempts by her sidhe master to make their relationship permanent, then so be it.

A government spook saw something he shouldn’t have—a glimpse of the Otherworld. Now his life is in danger, and it’s up to Shade to save him. Unfortunately, there are a lot of monsters behind the scenes pulling political strings. Demons, sidhe, sorceresses, even the vampiric crime lord of Cleveland himself.

Any one of them could have frightened the political fixer into madness.

And they’ll do much worse to Shade if she threatens to uncover their secrets…

CAGED

When a murder investigation starts with a mutilated corpse and a savage, newly-turned werewolf, it’s normal to hope things improve from there.

But in Shade’s experience, it’s more likely things will get worse.

Much worse.

A mutiny is brewing in the local werewolf pack, and a homicide involving a close ally of the alpha—Detective Sergeant Liam Osbourne—is exactly the crack in his armor his enemies have been waiting for.

Together with Liam and her FBI partner, Agent Andrew Bradford, Shade will need to stretch her powers to dangerous limits to find the conspirator—not only to prevent another grisly killing, but to halt a campaign of terror reaching far beyond the blood-stained crime scene.

Can they solve the case before treason rips Liam’s pack in two?

BETRAYAL

Thieves. Curses. Trouble.

Shade’s Unseelie master has a new case for her. Someone is stealing Unseelie artifacts, piecing together the tools to perform a lost ritual. Shade must recover the artifacts and return them to their rightful owners—

But only after the thief has finished the spell.

Shade’s contract is clear, but her conscience isn’t. The ritual is dangerous, and if she lets the thief succeed, their blood will be on her hands. To make matters worse, this case is full of familiar faces. Faces that still haunt her nightmares.

Every revelation raises the stakes, and soon Shade finds her professional life becoming a lot more personal, and the path ahead less and less clear. When Shade finds the thief, she’ll have a choice to make. And there’s no guarantee that the friends she begins with will still be by her side when it’s all over…

THRALL

The dream sorceress who once tried to kill Shade is after her again—
To hire her.

An evil being from the astral plane is building an empire in the physical world. One of his victims sought sanctuary with Arianne—and was turned away. When that same poor soul is murdered, a shocking revelation exposes personal stakes for Cleveland’s most powerful sorceress.

Now Arianne wants Shade’s help to hunt down the killer—and the thralls who serve him. But Arianne isn’t the only danger from Shade’s short, but eventful career as a PI that’s making a reappearance.

Shade soon finds herself playing deadly games of cat and mouse with enemies old and new. To make matters even more complicated, she must also navigate awkward alliances with a persistent masochistic goblin and a tempting, but off-limits alpha werewolf.

Being a village witch was simple. Being a private investigator? Not so much…

CONVICTION

Shade’s FBI partner has shot a kelpie.
Again.
And this time, the law may not be on his side…

Agent Andrew Bradford once used deadly force to stop a kelpie from kidnapping a human teenager. And now Shade has gotten a call saying he’s done it again. Flesh-eating kelpie dead, human victim saved.

At least, he thinks that’s what happened.

He doesn’t remember.

His inability to clearly recall the night’s events forces Shade to seek answers among the monsters of the Otherworld. She’ll have to question scheming leannan sidhe, malicious waterhorses, and take a dangerous step into the world of vampire politics.

Otherworlders are nothing if not opportunistic. And there are plenty of powerful players ready to take advantage of Shade’s desperation to do whatever it takes to save her partner…

MISDIRECTION

Family can be tricky.
In the Otherworld, tricky can get you killed.

Shade’s latest case from her Unseelie master drags her into the home of a ruthless Seelie lord. A set of enchanted goblets has been stolen, and he wants her to find the thief. To make matters interesting, Flint has a relationship with the Seelie lord in question—

He’s his stepbrother.

Cael is proof that not all horrors come from the darkness. As the most infamous interrogator for the Court of Light and Illusion, he’s built a reputation for torture that goes beyond the physical. And he’s looking for a reason—any reason—to subject his stepbrother to his tender mercy.

The stakes are raised when a member of the household is murdered, and Shade’s group joins the suspect list. Surrounded by secrets and treachery, Shade is forced to question the loyalties and motives of everyone around her.

Unfortunately, Cael’s patience is running out. Now he’s given Shade an ultimatum:

Catch the thief. Catch the killer.

Or pay for both with her own blood.

SACRIFICE

When Agent Andrew Bradford returns from his post-demonic corruption hiatus, Shade is ready to give him time and space to heal. A nice quiet rest, free from magic, monsters, and murder.

Too bad Andy has other ideas.

The now less-than-human FBI agent is ready to get back to work, and he’s not taking no for an answer. Fortunately, a case falls into Shade’s lap that is perfect for the freshly returned law man—a rogue zombie a group of kids raised to celebrate Halloween.

Silly witch. Nothing in the Otherworld is easy.

The necromancer Shade calls to return the zombie to her grave finds one corpse too many in the cemetery.

A corpse that leads to a desecrated church.

An evil altar.

Someone tried to summon an elder demon. And with Halloween only two days away, Shade knows they’ll try again.

It’s Andy’s worst nightmare. And when he refuses to abandon the case, it becomes Shade’s worst nightmare too.

SHROUD

Someone has kidnapped the vampire’s son.
And they’d better pray Shade finds Dimitri before daddy finds out he’s missing…

After barely surviving Halloween—physically and emotionally—Shade is ready for a distraction. She gets her wish when Dimitri Winters, son of vampiric crime lord, Anton Winters, hires her to look into a disappearance—

His own.

And she’s got to do it without his father finding out.

According to a cryptic audio file sent to her by Dimitri himself, and information delivered to Shade by her technology-savvy ally, Silence, while investigating a top secret security breach, Dimitri followed a potential suspect to a motel room—and was taken prisoner.

Now Dimitri is gone.

And his suspect is dead.

Evidence suggests Dimitri was held captive by the victim before he escaped, but there’s no clue to what happened to him after the murder, and Shade is forced to call on unusual allies to help her in her search—allies as chaotic as they are helpful. Piece by piece, they start to put together a picture of what happened.

Unfortunately, the first murder isn’t the last, and keeping secrets from Cleveland’s most notorious vampire is as dangerous as it is difficult. To make matters worse, Shade begins to realize that someone is working against her behind the scenes…

The line between friend and enemy blurs, and Shade suddenly understands that a choice between two evils is no choice at all…

LUNACY

A witch has no business meddling in the affairs of werewolves.
Still…

Witch PI Shade Renard and werewolf Detective Sergeant Liam Osbourne have come a long way since their hostile first attempt to work together. But even in her wildest dreams, Shade never dared to imagine he would ask not only for her supernatural help on a case—but for her to take the lead in the investigation itself.

There’s been a murder on the doorstep of New Moon, the shifter rehabilitation center run by Liam as alpha of the local werewolf pack. The number one suspect has killed once before and gotten away with it. If she’s proven guilty this time—of a murder committed while she was in Liam’s charge—it could be the leverage a rival alpha needs to oust Liam from New Moon, or worse, seize control of the Rocky River pack itself.

A rival alpha like Liam’s vicious patriarch, who arrives eager to remake New Moon in his own violent image.

Solving this murder is about more than bringing a killer to justice. It’s about making sure that Osbourne Sr. doesn’t get the chance to destroy the sanctuary his son has worked so hard to build.

Fortunately, Shade isn’t just a private investigator. She’s a witch.

And she knows how to handle tyrants…

SNAPDRAGON (short story)

GUILT

Scath has been arrested by the Unseelie Court. Multiple homicides, along with a crime the fey consider even worse than murder.

Magic theft.

Conviction will mean execution unless Scath can return the power she took. And for that, she’ll need Shade’s help.

Fortunately, Shade has allies in high—and low—places. A demon lawyer hired by the Queen of Air and Darkness herself. A determined pixie. An alpha werewolf. And an old friend who’s learned a lot about the truth of good vs evil…

The only thing standing in Shade’s way? A century old murder. To save Scath’s life, Shade will need to find the killer before closing arguments.

And the dark court believes in a speedy trial.