10 Thrilling Police Procedurals

	Title	Author	More by the Author
1.	Still Waters	Viveca Sten	Closed Circles	Guiltless
2.	The Body Counter	Anne Frasier	The Body Reader	The Body Keeper
3.	Two Days Gone	Randall Silvis	Walking the Bones	A Long Way Down
4.	Lost Lake	Emily Littlejohn	Inherit the Bones	A Season to Lie
5.	The Missing Girls	Carol Wyer	The Silent Children	The Chosen Ones
6.	Chimera	Celina Grace	Echo	Creed
7.	Pretty Girls Dancing	Kylie Brant	Cold Dark Places	Touching Evil
8.	The Vanishing Season	Joanna Schaffhausen	No Mercy
9.	River Bodies	Karen Katchur	Cold Bones	The Sisters of Blue Mountain
10.	The Killing Lessons	Saul Black	LoveMurder

Crime In The 10 Largest US Cities

Living in a big city can be great. It's easy to do anything from seeing a movie to going out to eat. But with such high population density, these places also tend to be more dangerous. Here are the violent crime rates in the ten largest (by population) cities in the United States (as of 2014).

Population Ranking	City	Violent Crime Rate (per 100,000 population)
1.	New York City, NY	596.7
2.	Los Angeles, CA	490.7
3.	Chicago, IL	903.8
4.	Houston, TX	991.4
5.	Philadelphia, PA	1,021.4
6.	Phoenix, AZ	571.9
7.	San Antonio, TX	539.3
8.	San Diego, CA	380.9
9.	Dallas, TX	664.7
10.	San Jose, CA	321.1

The History of Police in America

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In Depth

Nothing keeps a reader on the edge of their seat like a crime story. Diving into this genre means feeling the excitement of unmasking mysterious culprits and discovering shocking revelations. In no particular order, here are ten thrilling police procedurals that you won't be able to put down.

#1: "Still Waters " by Viveca Sten. The island of Sandhamn is a beautiful tourist destination in Sweden. The area is relatively peaceful until one day, a corpse is found at the beach. Detective Thomas identifies the victim as Krister, a man who has been missing for several months. Most of the evidence suggests that his death was an accident. However, after a few days, another dead body is discovered. Interestingly, the new victim is Krister's cousin.

The case becomes too perplexing for the main character to deal with on his own. He calls Nora, a lawyer, to help him solve it. As the protagonists try to find clues, they remember their younger days, back when they were in love.

As the protagonists try to find clues, they remember their younger days, back when they were in love.

#2: "The Body Counter" by Anne Fraiser. Jude is a detective who carries a bitter past. When she was young, she was kidnapped, raped, and tortured for three years. Now she is tasked with investigating a series of mass killings. With the help of her fellow agent, Uriah, she tries to determine if there is a pattern to the killings. The two are almost convinced that the murders are random. However, a math professor presents a different possibility. According to him, the crimes are orchestrated and follow a numerical sequence. As Jude probes deeper, she finds out that if the mathematician's theory is right, she will be the next victim.

#3: "Two Days Gone" by Randall Silvis. A quiet town in Pennsylvania is shattered by the news that Claire and her three children have been killed. Thomas, Claire's husband, is missing from the crime scene. Because of this, he automatically becomes the prime suspect. Sergeant Ryan, who is handling the case, believes that Thomas is innocent. However, he needs to find evidence to prove that he is right.

#4: "Lost Lake" by Emily Littlejohn. Four good friends go camping at Lost Lake. In the morning, Sari, a curator at a local museum, goes missing. According to her buddies, she was supposed to host a gala the night before, but never showed up. Meanwhile, Detective Gemma Moore goes to the campsite and interrogates Sari's friends and notices something odd. Her expertise tells her that one of them is lying.

According to her buddies, she was supposed to host a gala the night before, but never showed up.

#5: "The Missing Girls" by Carol Wyer. Detective Robyn Carter is investigating the murder of a teenage girl who was found wrapped in plastic inside a trunk. A few days later, another corpse is discovered in a storage unit in the town center, already decomposing. Robyn believes that the two incidents are connected. As she tries to prove her theory, a third casualty emerges. This time, the victim is someone Robyn knew personally. The protagonist is certain that the killer will strike again, and that only she can stop him.

#6: "Chimera" by Celina Grace. Kate is a detective dealing with many problems, both in her personal life and her career. She is recently divorced and very busy preparing for an upcoming inspector exam. At the same time, she is investigating a series of killings taking place during the town's pagan festival. The number of dead bodies is increasing, as new victims are discovered almost every day. Kate begins to tie the mysterious deaths with robbery cases that she handles. As she examines the evidence, an old foe from her past resurfaces to exact vengeance on her.

#7: "Pretty Girls Dancing" by Kylie Brant. The story features two separate kidnapping incidents. The first case involves the disappearance of Kelsey Willard, who was abducted and murdered. The event was completely devastating for her family. Ten years later, Agent Mark Foster leads the investigation of a new case. While he is searching for evidence, he discovers similarities between the two crimes. Further probing leads him to the Willards, and the grim secrets that they have been keeping for years.

While he is searching for evidence, he discovers similarities between the two crimes.

#8: "The Vanishing Season" by Joanna Schaffhausen. Ellery is a cop who has a dark past. Fourteen years ago, she almost became the 17th victim of a serial killer named Francis Cohen. Thanks to Agent Reed, Ellery was saved from certain doom, and emerged as the lone survivor of the killing spree. The experience traumatized her and changed her life forever. Now, she is getting signs that the killer is on the loose, and it looks like he remembers her. The new victims are being murdered each year, near the date of her birthday. She knows that Cohen is after her and that, once again, only Agent Reed can help her.

#9: "River Bodies" by Karen Katchur. When Becca was a child, a man was murdered and thrown into a river in her hometown. Twenty-one years later, an eerily similar murder comes to light. Detective Parker, the protagonist's childhood friend, handles the case. Becca helps Parker uncover the mystery behind the recent killing. While she does this, she is forced to confront the ghost of her past and the secrets that go with it.

#10: "The Killing Lessons" by Saul Black. Rowena Cooper and her children are trapped inside their house during a severe storm. Suddenly, two men burst in and murder them. One child, Nell, survives the massacre. She must be protected at all costs, as she is the sole witness to the heinous crime. Meanwhile, Detective Valerie is tasked with solving the case. Aside from keeping Nell safe, she also needs to decipher the details of the incident.

10 Thrilling Police Procedurals