Nikki Stern

Pickett County Sheriff Samantha (Sam) Tate must hunt down a serial killer who's taken up residence in her jurisdiction, killing a young brunette each spring and dressing her like a bride. Sam must cope with recurring nightmares about a wedding massacre she witnessed as a child and her feelings about Special Agent Terry Sloan, her partner on the case. Can she stop more murders without losing her cool, her heart, or her life?

A Sam Tate Mystery

The Wedding Crasher

Judge Not

Suzanne Foster---wife, mother, former assassin--- wants to retire. Her boss wants her dead. After decades as Victor Kemp's off-the books killer, Suzanne finally quits. Not until five years later does Kemp discover how thoroughly she's deceived him. Determined to punish her, he tracks her to Wales to watch her die. Instead, he walks into a trap. Believing themselves safe at last, Suzanne and her family relocate to London, where she hopes to find the peace that has eluded her for so long. Her son is engaged to a nobleman's daughter; her husband has a good job with British Intelligence. Yet she still struggles with restless dreams and the premonition that her nemesis has survived. He has: Kemp, though severely injured, is rebuilding his empire and plotting revenge. He's prepared to risk everything to end the former assassin. He may not be the only one. Suzanne has no choice: to protect those she loves, she will be forced to kill again. Assassins, it seems, can never retire

The Former Assassin

The body that washes out of the Chesapeake Bay belongs to Arley Fitchett, a local guide and treasure hunter. Was he the victim of a burgeoning drug war that has spread from Baltimore to Maryland's Eastern Shore? Or was he done in by his obsession with finding an 18th century carving that may not exist?Lieutenant Sam Tate, former Tennessee sheriff, has relocated to the sheriff's office in Talbot County, Maryland. She's come east to care for her mother and has jeopardized her career in the process. Worse, her nightmares involving a childhood trauma may contain the seeds of her own destruction. No matter. Her job is to find out how many others shared Fitchett's fixation. Any of them might become victims. One of them is definitely a murderer.

Bird in Hand

When Nikki Stern left suburban Melbourne for Europe in the early 1980s, little did she know that her life was about to change dramatically. Adopted into a well-connected family and educated at an exclusive school, she fell instantly and hopelessly in love with a charming and charismatic cartoonist in Amsterdam. Paul and Nikki embarked on a passionate love affair, enjoying the hedonistic days of the 80s before eloping and returning to Australia. But soon Nikki found herself in a world she never imagined. Descending into the depths of the sex industry - as a dominatrix, stripper, prostitute and porn star - there was almost nothing she didn't do. Despite a stormy marriage, she and Paul starred in and marketed their highly successful Horny Housewife X-rated videos as she became the queen of Australian erotica. Leading a double life as a mother of three small children, Nikki struggled not merely with censorship but with child welfare authorities and the judgement of mainstream society. In this extraordinary memoir, Nikki vividly recounts her intriguing past with emotional honesty and great insight, making it an unflinching and absorbing account of the incredible life of the Horny Housewife.

How the man I loved led me into a world I had never imagined

Not Your Ordinary Housewife

The body that washes up onto Maryland’s Eastern Shore belongs to popular guide and treasure hunter Arley Fitchett. The investigation into his suspicious death falls to Sam Tate, now lieutenant with Talbot County Sheriff’s Office. Sam struggles with past secrets and future choices, but she is determined to get at the truth. Sam discovers Fitchett was hunting a 300-year-old carving of a bird with a sapphire eye. Based on historical letters of questionable origin, Fitchett was convinced the rare bird had been stolen and hidden by pirates roaming the Chesapeake Bay. Several others share Fitchett’s obsession. Any one of them may be the next victim—or the killer

BIRD IN HAND

What do a bartender, a priest, and a librarian have in common? They all work in New York City. They’re all true crime fans. And they’re all dead, courtesy of a predator with a chilling approach to murder. Talbot County, Maryland Lieutenant Sam Tate is in the Big Apple to find answers about her own tragic past when she is pulled onto the case of the Dry Ice Killer by an old friend with the NYPD. She finds herself attracted to a new colleague and questions her long-time relationship with her FBI boyfriend. Meanwhile, she finds herself caught between the demands of an impatient bureaucracy and an especially sadistic sociopath. This may be Sam's most dangerous case yet--if she survives.

FREEZE BEFORE BURNING: A Sam Tate Mystery (book three)

What do a bartender, a priest, and a librarian have in common? They all work in New York City. They're all true crime fans. And they're all dead, courtesy of a predator with a chilling approach to murder. Talbot County, Maryland Lieutenant Sam Tate is in the Big Apple to find answers about her own tragic past when she is pulled onto the case of the Dry Ice Killer by an old friend with the NYPD. She finds herself attracted to a new colleague and questions her long-time relationship with her FBI boyfriend. Meanwhile, she's caught between the demands of an impatient bureaucracy and an especially sadistic sociopath. This may be Sam's most dangerous case yet-if she survives.

Freeze Before Burning

What is hope? Is it instinctive or learned? How do we add it to our lives? In HOPE IN SMALL DOSES, author Nikki Stern searches to find hope after tragedy strikes. She devises a version that doesn't require guarantees but relies on the promise of possibility. The perfect antidote to our cynical troubled times, HOPE IN SMALL DOSES offers a workable blueprint for a happy life. Original photography by Cherie Siebert.

Hope In Small Doses

David Landau

This '40s detective story come to life features Rick Archer, P.I., out to find a curvaceous runaway on the forgotten island of Mustique, a place stuck in a black-and-white era. The owner of the Cafe Noir has washed ashore, murdered, and Rick's quarry was the last person seen with him. Rick employs his hard-boiled talents to find the killer. Was it the French madame and club manager, the voodoo priestess, the shyster British attorney, the black marketeer, or the femme fatale? The a

Nikki Stern

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