The Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels
They say that dead men tell no tales. They don’t know Ann Kinnear.
Ann Kinnear has a gift she never asked for: she can sense the dead. To most people it sounds like a parlor trick or a con. To the families of the missing and the murdered, it's the one thing that might finally reveal the truth.
From a townhouse off Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square to a shuttered hotel on the Maine coast, from a fatal plane crash in the Pennsylvania Wilds to a deserted Maryland beach in the dead of winter, Ann is drawn into cases the living would rather keep buried. The dead know what happened—the problem is the people willing to kill to keep them quiet.
Guarded about her gift and the attention it inevitably draws, Ann works alongside her brother and business manager, Mike, Philadelphia detective Joe Booth, and a small circle of allies. But every case that brings her closer to the truth also brings her closer to danger, and her ability to hear the dead is no guarantee she won't join them.
Perfect for readers who love suspense and mystery with a reluctant amateur sleuth, closed-circle settings, families with buried secrets, and cold cases that refuse to stay cold.
Book 1 THE SENSE OF DEATH is Ann's origin story; from there, the books can be read in any order.
“It’s impossible to pick a favorite between Dalrymple’s outstanding Ann Kinnear and Lizzy Ballard series. Meticulously plotted and brilliantly imagined, the characters leap off the pages as the tension—and your heart rate—ratchets higher and higher.” —Pamela Fagan Hutchins, USA Today Bestselling Author of the Patrick Flint and Delaney Pace series
“A gifted mystery author, Matty Dalrymple spins entertaining tales of intrigue and suspense like no other.” —Bruce Robert Coffin, International bestselling author of The Turner and Mosley Files
“It’s impossible to pick a favorite between Dalrymple’s outstanding Ann Kinnear and Lizzy Ballard series. Meticulously plotted and brilliantly imagined, the characters leap off the pages as the tension—and your heart rate—ratchets higher and higher.” —Pamela Fagan Hutchins, USA Today Bestselling Author of the Patrick Flint and Delaney Pace series “A gifted mystery author, Matty Dalrymple spins entertaining tales of intrigue and suspense like no other.” —Bruce Robert Coffin, International bestselling author of The Turner and Mosley Files
Book 1: The Sense of Death
"Wonderfully creepy, suspenseful, compelling, and guaranteed to keep you turning pages." —Lisa Regan, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Crime Fiction Author
The dead will not be silenced—and Ann Kinnear will risk everything to uncover the truth.
Ann has built a peaceful life in an isolated cabin in the Adirondack woods, far from the people who fear or exploit her ability to sense spirits. But when Philadelphia socialite Elizabeth Firth disappears, Detective Joe Booth has few clues and nowhere else to turn.
What begins as a routine sensing-for-hire takes a chilling turn when Ann encounters Elizabeth’s spirit and realizes the missing woman was murdered. The trail leads to Elizabeth’s elegant Philadelphia townhouse—and to a husband whose wealth and privilege conceal secrets he will do anything to protect.
As Ann draws closer to the truth, the investigation follows her home, shattering the safety of her mountain refuge. To bring Elizabeth’s killer to justice, Ann must trust her extraordinary gift and face a threat that could make her the next spirit crying out to be heard.
Perfect for readers who love paranormal mysteries, atmospheric suspense, gifted heroines, and murder investigations in which the dead provide the most important clues.
THE SENSE OF DEATH is the first book in the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels series.
Book 2: The Sense of Reckoning
“Crisp, fresh, and spooky. Dalrymple’s depiction of the great Bar Harbor Fire of 1947 is so exactly and emotionally rendered, I could feel the blasts of heat from the pages.” —Robert Blake Whitehill, Bestselling Author of The Ben Blackshaw Series
Will Ann Kinnear fit together the pieces of the puzzle, or will she miss the vital piece ... and its warning of the danger that lies in wait?
Ann Kinnear thinks that her midnight visit to a shuttered Maine hotel with a haunted past is simply a favor for a friend ... until she finds that more than secrets are buried there. Will Ann be able to unlock the secrets hidden within those walls, or will she succumb to an eternity trapped there herself?
After solving the Philadelphia Socialite murder, Ann Kinnear should be riding high. Instead, she's depressed and considering abandoning her spirit sensing business. To add to her problems, she has suffered a series of injuries to her hands—could these be the ghostly repercussions of the violence that ended her last case?
Ann goes to Maine to solicit help from fellow spirit senser Garrick Masser. Ann and Garrick find more trouble than they bargained for in a tale of obsession and misplaced loyalty that has its roots in a crumbling summer hotel, international art theft, and the historic wildfire that raged across Mount Desert Island in 1947.
For readers who love decaying seaside hotels, priceless paintings with dangerous pasts, and families whose loyalties turn deadly, THE SENSE OF RECKONING builds to a life-or-death showdown on a remote Maine peninsula. Get it now to follow Ann as she uncovers a mystery with roots stretching back to the fire that devastated Mount Desert Island generations ago!
Book 3: The Falcon and the Owl
"Matty Dalrymple draws upon her knowledge of the world of flying and spins a tale of mystery and intrigue that keeps the reader engaged to the very end. For a pilot like myself, the realistic airport setting and characters made the book a highly entertaining read." —Vicky Benzing, Aerobatic performer and air racer
A small plane crashes in the Pennsylvania Wilds ... and only Ann Kinnear has the ability to discover the force that brought it down.
Ann is indulging her love of aviation by working toward her pilot’s license at Avondale Airport—and protecting her privacy by discouraging the attentions of a filmmaker intent on documenting her spirit-sensing abilities.
Little does she know that a fiery plane crash will embroil her in a race to track down a contract on which two rivals are banking their futures. And when airshow pilot Gwen Burridge launches a smear campaign against her, Ann is even more determined to uncover the truth.
Ann travels to the crash site and learns what brought the plane down—but it’s only part of the story.
Will Ann land safely, or be the latest victim of a secret someone is willing to kill to keep?
Book 4: A Furnace for Your Foe
"A super-twisty, unpredictable, rollercoaster of a mystery, with secrets around every corner. I love this series in part because of the unique mix of suspense, mystery, and the supernatural. Just as important, though, is the excellent writing that combines in-depth characters, family drama, and humor with the suspense. The author also provides wonderful details about the settings (here, one of my favorite places) that help to immerse the reader in the story. There were plenty of surprises in store in this novel, as well as some breathtakingly close calls for Ann and her friends. Each novel in this series just gets better and better. I can't wait to read the latest entry, book 5, A Serpent's Tooth, and I'm not waiting until next fall!" —Sue Jackson, Book by Book Reviews
Will Ann overcome hell and high water to plumb the depths of a Maine island's secrets, or will this be her fall from grace?
Spirit senser Ann Kinnear is back on Mount Desert Island, Maine, to take part in a documentary with her colleague and competitor, Garrick Masser. The topic? The recent death of Leo Dorn, head of the Stata Mater research lab, who fell from a cliff-side trail on his wife's estate.
Ann has barely unpacked before Dorn's hiking partner and fellow researcher Shelby Kim disappears, and now Ann wonders if Leo's fall really was an accident. But when Ann finally locates Shelby, the young woman isn't talking.
Then a warehouse on the Manset waterfront burns to the ground, and Ann realizes that whatever happened to Leo Dorn is bigger—and more dangerous—than anyone suspected. As Ann digs into the science, secrets, and rivalries behind Stata Mater's research, she finds a killer willing to burn down anything—or anyone—that stands in the way.
For readers who love psychic suspense, small-town Maine intrigue, corporate conspiracy thrillers, and rival investigators forced to work together, A FURNACE FOR YOUR FOE builds to an explosive showdown on the waters off Mount Desert Island.
Book 5: A Serpent’s Tooth
"Brilliant, satisfying, suspenseful, and gripping! One of my favorite authors." —Lisa Regan, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Crime Fiction Author
When the owners of a local winery hire Ann Kinnear to contact the deceased family patriarch, will what she learns provide a satisfying finish or yield a fatal harvest?
Spirit senser Ann Kinnear is juggling a long-distance relationship and continuing her search for a place to call home. She thinks she has found the solution to both when she learns that her favorite Chester County, Pennsylvania winery has a guest house for rent.
When the body of the terminally ill head of the winery is found on the grounds, Ann assumes that the torch will pass to the next generation ... but the terms of the will leave a sour taste in the mouth of some family members. Does that explain the patriarch’s daughter’s clandestine trips to a grand but derelict home in Philadelphia, tended by a mysterious man in Victorian garb? The woman's husband secretly asks Ann’s brother Mike to investigate.
Then a second body is found in a watery grave, and it seems that both deaths may have been murder.
Can Ann root out the evil or will her plan to move into the winery’s guest house bear deadly fruit?
Book 6: Be with the Dead
"As with the other Ann Kinnear books, this one is propulsive, filled with action, danger, and unexpected twists. Besides being great thrillers, these books also feature Dalrymple's excellent writing. The characters feel real and three-dimensional (Ann and her family are practically close friends to me by now!), and she makes her settings come alive with details. I loved the subject matter here, focused on thriller writers, editing, bookstores, and the publishing industry. This is another great entry in this engaging, addictive series!" —Sue Jackson, Book by Book Reviews
An invitation to speak at the Gotham Crime Fiction Conference draws Ann Kinnear into a mystery within a mystery, where the stakes are not just reputation and riches—they're life and death.
In an almost-deserted condo complex overlooking the wintry Atlantic, some secrets are stored away just as carefully as the summer deck chairs—until Ann Kinnear arrives.
Hired for what should be a straightforward speaking engagement at a writer’s conference, Ann is soon drawn into a tangle of ambitions, grudges, and dangerous bargains. An author desperate to break free of a suffocating publishing contract, a calculating editor juggling clients and agendas, and a shadowy figure slipping in and out of a thirteenth-floor unit all become part of a web Ann can’t ignore—especially when her unique ability starts picking up threads no one else can perceive.
As icy winds rattle the condo’s walkways and the off-season streets grow darker, Ann must decide whom to trust in a community where every favor comes with strings, and where the next knock at the door could bring a breakthrough … or a one-way descent.
For readers who love atmospheric settings, amateur sleuths with an extraordinary edge, tangled motives, and slow-burn suspense that builds toward a deadly confrontation, BE WITH THE DEAD blends the eerie isolation of a winter beach town with the pulse-pounding stakes of a narrow ledge negotiation, where a single misstep could be the last step Ann takes.
Book 7: Something Rich and Strange
On the cruise ship Meridian Blue, the dead are easier to find than the truth.
Ann Kinnear has talked to plenty of dead people. She's never had to impersonate a living one to do it. When her newest client asks her to board a cruise ship as his fiancée—disguise, fake ring, and all—Ann takes the job. But the closer she gets to the spirit she came aboard to find, the less certain she is that she won't be joining him.
Pharmaceutical CEO Adam Novak's father died of a sudden cardiac event aboard the Meridian Blue, and Adam wants the chance to say what he didn't get to say in life. Ann's job is to find Arthur and mediate the conversation. Simple enough—until the fiancée back on shore whom Ann is impersonating goes inexplicably silent.
While Ann's brother Mike chases inconsistencies back in Pennsylvania, Ann is left to work out what her client isn't telling her, and which of the strangers circling them aboard ship is not what they seem. The dead want to be heard. The living want something else entirely. And as an Atlantic storm closes in around the ship, Ann begins to suspect that her gift for speaking with the dead may not be enough to keep her among the living.
For readers who love paranormal suspense, undercover heroines, and closed-circle mysteries with nowhere to run.
Get the seventh book in the popular Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels series to discover why, on the Meridian Blue, the dead are easier to find than the truth!
Ann Kinnear Ebook Box Set: Books 1-3
They say that dead men tell no tales. They don’t know Ann Kinnear.
Save with the box set, which includes
Book 1: THE SENSE OF DEATH
Book 2: THE SENSE OF RECKONING
Book 3: THE FALCON AND THE OWL