Lauren Carr

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About Lauren Carr

An Amazon All-Star Author, Lauren Carr writes mysteries that have made Amazon's best-selling ranks internationally.

Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, Thorny Rose Mysteries, and the Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries--over twenty-five titles across four fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!

Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr's seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor.

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, and three dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

Order! Order!

Numerous readers have asked the order of Lauren Carr's titles. All of Lauren Carr's books are stand alone. However for those readers who want to start at the beginning, here is the list of Lauren Carr's mysteries in order. The number next to the book title is the actual order in which the book was released.

Joshua Thornton Mysteries:
Fans of the Lovers in Crime Mysteries may wish to read these two books which feature Joshua Thornton years before meeting Detective Cameron Gates. Also in these mysteries, readers will meet Joshua Thornton's five children before they have flown the nest.
1) A Small Case of Murder
2) A Reunion to Die For

Mac Faraday Mysteries:
3) It's Murder, My Son
4) Old Loves Die Hard
5) Shades of Murder (introduces the Lovers in Crime: Joshua Thornton & Cameron Gates)
7) Blast from the Past
8) The Murders at Astaire Castle
9) The Lady Who Cried Murder (The Lovers in Crime make a guest appearance in this Mac Faraday Mystery)
10) Twelve to Murder
12) A Wedding and a Killing
13) Three Days to Forever
15) Open Season for Murder
16) Cancelled Vows
17) Candidate for Murder
23) Crimes Past

Lovers in Crime Mysteries
6) Dead on Ice
11) Real Murder
18) Killer in the Band
25) The Root of Murder

The Thorny Rose Mysteries
14) Kill and Run
19) A Fine Year for Murder
22) Murder by Perfection

The Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries
21) Ice
24) Winter Frost
26) The Last Thing She Said (Summer 2019)

20) Twofer Murder (Mystery Novel featuring protagonists from Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries)

Jana DeLeon

Vanessa Gray Bartal

A. E. Howe

Dustin Stevens

Kathi Daley

Faith Martin

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Author Updates

Books By Lauren Carr

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Crimes Past (A Mac Faraday Mystery Book 13) Oct 16, 2018

by Lauren Carr

( 89 )

$2.99

It’s a bittersweet reunion for Mac Faraday when members of his former homicide squad arrive at the Spencer Inn. While it is sweet to attend the wedding of a late colleague’s daughter, it is a bitter reminder that the mother of the bride had been the victim of a double homicide.

The brutal slaying weighing heavy on his mind, Mac is anxious to explore every avenue for a break in the cold case—even a suggestion from disgraced former detective Louis Gannon that one of their former friends is the killer.

When the investigator is brutally slain, Mac Faraday rips open the cold case with a ruthless determination to reveal which of his friends is a cold-blooded murderer.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

The Last Thing She Said (A Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery Book 3) Jul 26, 2019

by Lauren Carr

( 82 )

$2.99

“I’m working on the greatest mystery ever,” was the last thing noted mystery novelist Mercedes Livingston said to seven-year-old Chris Matheson before walking out of Hill House Hotel never to be seen again.

For decades, the writer’s fate remained a puzzling mystery until an autographed novel and a letter put a grown-up Chris Matheson on the trail of a cunning killer. With the help of a team of fellow retired law enforcement officers, each a specialist in their own field of investigation, Chris puts a flame to this cold case to uncover what had really happened that night Mercedes Livingston walked out of Hill House Hotel. Watch out! The clues are getting hot!

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Winter Frost (A Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery Book 2) Jan 28, 2019

by Lauren Carr

( 64 )

$2.99

It all started with a chance encounter in the city with Blair, his late wife.

Chris Matheson and the Geezer Squad, working under the guise of a book club, dig into the events surrounding his late wife’s supposed death halfway around the globe. A state department employee shoots himself in the back three times. A CIA operative goes missing. A woman is targeted by an international assassin three years after being declared dead in a terrorist attack overseas.

Nothing is as it seems.

In his most personal cold case, Chris fights to uncover why the state department told him that Blair, the mother of his children, had been killed when she was alive. What had she uncovered that has made her a target? Who terrified her so much that she had gone into hiding and why are they now after him?

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Killer Deadline (A Nikki Bryant Cozy Mystery Book 1) Apr 23, 2020

by Lauren Carr

( 54 )

$2.99

Folks in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, claim that where Nikki Bryant goes, trouble is not far behind. Her refusal to back down from a challenge has made Nikki Bryant a top investigative journalist.

When an online friend nudges her to join him in a pact to reconnect with their first loves, Nikki and her boxer dog Elmo leave the bright lights of Las Vegas for the charming town of Pine Grove. There, she must face the biggest challenges in her career and life—the first love she had left behind and her father’s unsolved murder.

But before she has time to unpack her car, Nikki stumbles upon the dead body of local news anchor, Ashleigh Addison, her childhood rival. Could Ashleigh’s death be connected to an explosive news story that she had teased about airing live? Did that explosive story have anything to do with the murder of Nikki’s father?

With the clues in her father’s cold case hot again, Nikki intends to chase down the story of her life until she catches his killer—no matter what it takes.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Twofer Murder Nov 17, 2017

by Lauren Carr

( 83 )

$2.99

Twofer murder? What’s a twofer murder?
Twofer Murder is a treat for fans of best-selling author Lauren Carr’s fast-paced mysteries! Lauren’s latest novel contains the main characters from her three successful series: Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose mysteries. The guys go away for a fishing weekend only to get caught up in the murder of a journalist investigating fraud at a timber company. Meanwhile, the ladies are spending the weekend in the presidential suite at a posh resort where Jessica Faraday is to accept a lifetime achievement award for her late grandmother at a murder mystery writers conference. But before they have time to get their facials, they get wrapped up in their own real mystery when an up and coming author ends up dead!
Lauren Carr’s Twofer Murder is a 2-for-1—making it a must-read for any mystery fan!

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Candidate for Murder (A Mac Faraday Mystery Book 12) Jun 16, 2016

by Lauren Carr

( 263 )

$2.99

It’s election time in Spencer, Maryland, and the race for mayor is not a pretty one. In recent years, the small resort town has become divided between the local year-round residents who have enjoyed their rural way of life and the city dwellers moving into their mansions, taking over the town council, and proceeding to turn Deep Creek Lake into a closed gate community—complete with a host of regulations for everything from speed limits to clothes lines.
When the political parties force-feed two unsavory mayoral nominees on the town residents, Police Chief David O’Callaghan decides to make a statement—by nominating Gnarly, Mac Faraday’s German shepherd, to run as mayor of Spencer!
What starts out as a joke turns into a disaster when overnight Gnarly becomes the front runner—at which point his political enemies take a page straight out of Politics 101. What do you do when you’re behind in a race? Dig up dirt on the front runner, of course.
Seemingly, someone is not content to rest with simply embarrassing the front runner by publicizing his dishonorable discharge from the United States Army, but to throw in a murder for good measure.
With murder on the ballot, Mac Faraday and the gang—including old friends from past cases—dive in to clear Gnarly’s name, catch a killer, and save Spencer!

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Kill and Run (A Thorny Rose Mystery Book 1) Sep 4, 2015

by Lauren Carr

( 263 )

$2.99

Five women with seemingly nothing in common are found brutally murdered in a townhome outside Washington, DC. Among the many questions surrounding the massacre is what had brought these apparent strangers together only to be killed.

Taking on his first official murder case, Lieutenant Murphy Thornton, USN, believes that if he can uncover the thread connecting the victims, then he can find their murderer.

Before long, the case takes an unexpected turn when Murphy discovers that one of the victims has a connection to his stepmother, Homicide Detective Cameron Gates. One wintry night, over a dozen years before, her first husband, a Pennsylvania State trooper, had been run down while working a night shift on the turnpike.

In this first installment of the Thorny Rose Mysteries, the Lovers in Crime join newlyweds Lieutenant Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday to sift through a web of lies and cover-ups. Together, can the detectives of the Thorny Rose uncover the truth without falling victim to a cunning killer?

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Murder by Perfection (A Thorny Rose Mystery Book 3) May 31, 2018

by Lauren Carr

( 56 )

$2.99

Beware! Perfection has a dark side!

Frustrated with their busy schedules, Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday attempt to find togetherness by scheduling a weekly date night. The last thing Jessica expected for her date night was a couple's gourmet cooking course at the Stepford Kitchen Studio, owned by Chef Natalie Stepford--the embodiment of feminine perfection.

When Natalie ends up dead and Murphy goes missing, the Thorny Rose detectives must peel back the layers of Natalie Stepford's flawless life to discover that perfection has a very sinister dark side.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

The Nutcracker Conspiracy (A Thorny Rose Mystery Book 4) Jan 30, 2020

by Lauren Carr

( 84 )

$2.99

Three years ago, the nation gasped in horror when the President of the United States barely escaped an assassination attempt that left two dead—the vice president’s wife and the attempted assassin. Even after numerous investigations proved otherwise, conspiracy theorists argue that the assassin was acting on orders from the CIA, FBI, and every federal agency within a hundred miles of the capital.

Aspiring Author Dean Conway is the last person Lieutenant Commander Murphy Thornton wants to spend his Saturday afternoon when they end up at the same wedding reception table. While their wives tend to bridesmaid duties, Murphy is trapped listening to Dean’s latest work-in-project—completing the manuscript of an investigative journalist who’d disappeared months earlier.

“She was number twelve,” Dean says. “Twelve?” Murphy asks.

“Twelve witnesses connected to or investigating The Nutcracker shooting have died either in an accident or suicide.”

Two days later, Dean dies suddenly―but not before sending a text message to Murphy: “13”

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Cancelled Vows (A Mac Faraday Mystery Book 11) Jan 28, 2016

by Lauren Carr

( 250 )

$2.99

Police Chief David O’Callaghan and Chelsea Adams’ wedding day is fast approaching. Unfortunately, at the last minute, David discovers that there is one small problem to be taken care of before he can walk down the aisle—divorce his first wife!

Lauren Carr takes fans of the Mac Faraday mysteries to the Big Apple in this nail biting adventure. In Cancelled Vows, David, Mac, and Gnarly, too, rush to New York City to dissolve David’s marriage to an old girlfriend—and he’s got five days to get it done. When murder throws up a road block, it is up to David’s best man, Mac Faraday, and Gnarly, K9-in-waiting, to sort through the clues to get David to the church in time!

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Ice (A Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery Book 1) Feb 26, 2018

by Lauren Carr

( 98 )

$2.99

When Sandy Lipton and her unborn child disappeared, the court of public opinion found young Chris Matheson guilty. Decades later, the retired FBI agent returns home to discover that the cloud of suspicion cast over him and his family has never lifted.

With the help of a team of fellow retired law enforcement officers, each a specialist in their own field of investigation, Chris Matheson starts chipping away at the ice on this cold case to uncover what had happened to Sandy and her baby and the clues are getting hot!

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

A Wedding and a Killing (A Mac Faraday Mystery Book 8) Sep 13, 2014

by Lauren Carr

( 252 )

$2.99

When Mac Faraday decides to do something, there’s no stopping him … even murder!

Not wanting to wait until their big day to start their life of wedded bliss, Mac Faraday and his lady love, Archie Monday, decide to elope to the little church where his ancestors had all married—along the tranquil shore of Deep Creek Lake. However, before they can say, “I do,” the sanctuary erupts into chaos when Gnarly finds a dead body in the church office.

As they dive into the investigation, Mac and his team discover more questions than answers. What kind of person walks into a church and shoots a man for no apparent reason? How do you solve the murder of a man who has no enemies in the world? Which of the seemingly kind-hearted church members is really a cold-blooded killer?

Then, there is the all-important question, how long do Mac Faraday and his lady love have to wait to get married?

PLUS: SPECIAL BONUS FEATURE: THE GNARLY REHABILITATION PROGRAM (A Gnarly Mystery Short): Bert and Ernie learn the hard way that crime does not pay when they dog nap Gnarly.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

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