While attending a month-long writing retreat at the estate of a feminist horror writer who issues a life-changing challenge, Alex, determined to win this seemingly impossible contest, ignores the strange happenings around her until the disappearance of a fellow writer leads her on a desperate search for the truth. Alex has all but given up on her dreams of becoming a published author when she receives the opportunity to attend an exclusive, month-long...

"DI Vera Stanhope is not one to make friends easily, but her hippy neighbors keep her well-supplied in homebrew and conversation, and somehow bonds have formed. When one of them goes missing, Vera tracks the young woman down to the Writers' House, a country retreat where aspiring authors work on their stories. Things get complicated when a body is discovered, and Vera's neighbor is found with a knife in her hand. Calling in the team, Vera knows that...

Sarah Vernon has spent twenty years trying to make it as a novelist, and she's never even come close. None of her novels has sold more than five thousand copies, and she's never earned enough money to make fiction her full-time job. After her last disappointing publication, Sarah's agent dumped her, and it seems like her dream is dead. Sarah vows that she'll do anything for one last shot at the bestseller list. Enter Will Presser. Nicknamed The Viper,...