Merry Jones

Nora Warren is the wife of a lawyer, mother of two young girls, and a murderer. At least, she feels like one. Nora is plagued by secrets surrounding her brother's death years before, so she lives as though he never existed. Now in her 30's, Nora suspects that her husband Dave is having an affair with her friend, the wife of a leading candidate for the U.S. Senate. When her friend's body is discovered, police determine she died by suicide. But Nora knows better. Her haunting memories leap to life, as does the hidden grim side of her nature. Will she act on her impulses and confront the killer, no matter the cost? Must she? How much will Nora risk for the sake of justice? And far will she go to protect the life she has built for herself?

When Harper Jennings' geologist husband is invited to participate in a global symposium on water, she and their baby accompany him to Israel. While in the Old City of Jerusalem, Harper sees an American in trouble. Because she's with the baby, she doesn't intervene. Later, she finds out he was murdered. When she's invited to take part in a dig fifty miles away, she accepts, thinking it will be safer away from the city. But Hagit, the nanny she hires to watch the baby disagrees, saying that the evil eye is to blame, and that it follows Harper wherever she goes. This is a story of cults, Biblical interpretations, international terrorism, and survival.

Iraq War veteran Harper Jennings is studying for a degree in Archeology. While cataloguing Pre-Columbian artifacts, she finds a fellow student murdered. Harper's PTSD flares up, and life goes haywire. She hears noises in the walls when she examines the relics—even thinks she sees hunted by a shape-shifter (half human, half jaguar). Are the artifacts cursed? Is her life in danger? The closer Harper gets to the relics, the more danger she faces. The relics can't really be cursed. Can they?

Since her husband's murder two years earlier, life hasn't been easy for Elle Harrison. Now, at the start of a new school year, the second grade teacher is determined to move on. She's selling her house and delving into new experiences—like learning trapeze. Just before the first day of school, Elle learns that a former student, Ty Evans, has been released from juvenile detention where he served time for killing his abusive father. Within days of his release, Elle's school principal, who'd tormented Ty as a child, is brutally murdered. So is a teacher at the school. And Ty's former girlfriend. All the victims have links to Ty. Ty's younger brother, Seth, is in Elle's class. When Seth shows up at school beaten and bruised, Elle reports the abuse, and authorities remove Seth and his older sister, Katie, from their home. Is Ty the abuser?Ty seeks Elle out, confiding that she's the only adult he's ever trusted. She tries to be open-minded, even wonders if he's been wrongly condemned. But when she's assaulted in the night, she suspects that Ty is her attacker. Is he a serial killer? Is she his next intended victim?Before Elle discovers the truth, she's caught in a deadly trap that challenges her deepest convictions about guilt and innocence, childhood and family. Pushed to her limits, she's forced to face her fears and apply new skills in a deadly fight to survive.

Birthmothers presents intimate and stirring accounts of more than seventy women who surrendered babies for adoption. It follows their lives long-term, from discovery of their pregnancies through the present, and identifies the Birthmother Syndrome—a pattern of behaviour and emotions resulting from surrender. With heart-warming candour, Birthmothers reveals the stories of the invisible side of the adoption triangle, and touches everyone involved in adoption, as well as anyone interested in motherhood, family, and women in our society.

A taut, fast-paced suspense novel in the tradition of Mary Higgins Clark, " The Deadly Neighbors "again features the tension-packed storytelling of the talented Merry Jones.""In this third novel featuring art therapist Zoe Hayes, the neighbors are shocked when a woman's body is discovered in the kitchen of Zoe's estranged father, Walter. In fact, they suspect Walter of killing her. But as Zoe investigates further, it seems that the neighbors are up to some pretty shocking shenanigans themselves.As Zoe tries to prove her father's innocence, she encounters a cruel ring of organized criminals who specialize in dark and deadly forms of entertainment. Trying to escape their grasp, Zoe---with her daughter, Molly, in tow---must solve a series of grisly murders, but in the process, stumbles into secrets that force her to reconnect with a lost and very frightening part of her own past.

"Merry Jones delivers a novel of page-turning suspense as it "plunges headlong to a breathtaking conclusion" (Masters Rowing Association)..." "Jones keeps the plot zipping along." ---"Publishers Weekly" While on vacation, divorced Philadelphia art therapist Zoe Hayes decides to take a sculling class on the Schuylkill River with her best friend, Susan--just for fun. One evening, while their children watch from the riverbank, Zoe rows off with Susan to practice for an upcoming regatta.... "A thoughtful and complex heroine." ---Faye Kellerman When Susan's oar catches on some flotsam (which turns out to be a woman's dress), the boat flips, and the two friends find themselves in deep waters with not just one but an entire throng of floating bodies. Someone along Boathouse Row is a murderer, but who could it be? "Fast-paced...engaging." ---"Booklist" After Zoe argues with the enigmatic Detective Nick Stiles, who happens to be her boyfriend, she and Molly head out to the river at night in search of clues. There, Zoe uncovers a sinister plot that she and Molly might not be able to stop...or escape.