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About Mary Burton
Mary is routinely featured among the top twenty writers in Amazon's Author Rankings for romantic suspense, and her recent novel The Last Move claimed the number ten fiction slot in the Kindle eBooks Store.
Research is a favorite part of Mary's day. She never tires of learning more about police work, evidence collection and analysis. She's known for taking a hands-on approach, whether it means interviews with professionals in the field, forensic seminars or lessons at the firing range.
A Richmond native, Mary has lived there for most of her life. She is a graduate of Virginia's Hollins University and worked in marketing before she began writing full time. Her first book was published in 2000 and she's now the author of thirty-four published novels, five novellas and four works of contemporary women's fiction written as Mary Ellen Taylor.
A member of International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Novelists, Inc., and Romance Writers of America, Mary is known for creating multiple suspense stories connected by characters, such as her recent The Forgotten Files novels. Her new book, Her Last Word, and The Last Move, break that mold.
When not traveling for research or visiting with readers at bookstores, book festivals and conferences, Mary remains very much a homebody. She and her husband spend time alternately enjoying and lamenting their empty nest and spoiling their four-legged babies Buddy, Bella and Tiki.
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Blog postGet the Book Prologue
Missoula, Montana
May 13, 2010
1:00 a.m.
Ten Years Ago
The college campus bar was packed with students celebrating the end of another school year. All eyes were on the small stage, now flashing with blue and white spotlights as a singer gripped the mike and hit the high notes on the song’s last chorus. Everyone was mesmerized, including Joan and Ann who were standing
6 months ago Read more -
Blog postForensic psychologist and single mother Ann Bailey has joined forces with Montana Highway Patrol officer Bryce McCabe. An expert in untangling the motives of depraved minds, Ann is tasked to help solve the mystery of two murdered women doused with gasoline and set aflame.
It’s not hard for Ann to be reminded of the charismatic Elijah Weston, who served a decade in prison for arson—a crime that nea
6 months ago Read more -
Blog postI’m thrilled to share the Publisher’s Weekly review of Burn You Twice!
“Burton does a good job balancing gentle romance with high-tension suspense.”
And advanced praise from reads is just as fantastic.
“It is blazing fantastic! “Hated that it ended,” “This is a scorcher!!! and “MUST READ.”
6 months ago Read more -
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Blog postNashville, Tennessee
Monday, August 17, 10:30 p.m.
Heat and humidity punched up the bleach’s faint scent in the van’s dark interior. It made his eyes water, his throat burn, and his palms itch under the latex.
Scrubbers and fine brushes cleaned surfaces well enough, but disinfectants seeped into unseen crevices and obliterated pesky droplets of blood. Trace evidence sowed the seeds of a cavalier man’s downfall.
Perhaps the second dous
10 months ago Read more -
Blog postAmazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | IndieBound A Criminal Profiler Novel . . . After multiple women go missing, Agent Melina Shepard of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation makes the impulsive decision to go undercover as a prostitute. While working the street, she narrowly avoids becoming a serial killer’s latest victim. As much as it pains her to admit, she needs backup.
Enter lone wolf
10 months ago Read more -
Blog post
The building manager’s gaze dropped to the creased bills carefully smoothed out so they did not look like they had been jammed in a pantry mason jar. “I could lose my job.”
Nikki’s cash reserves were on vapors, and her credit cards bumped against their respective limits. What resources she still had needed to last until the end of the month, when her corporate freelance gig coughed up the two grand needed for rent. “No worries. Open the door, and no one w1 year ago Read more -
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Blog postJoin me to celebrate the release of my latest suspense novel I SEE YOU! Enter to win one of eight $25 Amazon gift cards. Winners will be announced on I SEE YOU’S Pub Day, October 8, 2019. Please include your name and an active email address. The first winner will be announced at 10:00 a.m. EDT on my Facebook page. Winners will be announced throughout the day.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
1 year ago Read more -
Blog postA Mary Burton Killer Recipe
Sav
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
½ t baking powder
2 T pumpkin pie spice
Cinnamon sugar
Cream together the butter and sugar. When the mixture is smooth, add in one egg at a time. In another bowl shift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and pumpkin pie spice. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the b1 year ago Read more -
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Blog postPreview Changes (opens in a new tab)
Special Agent Zoe Spencer stepped back from the clay bust she had been working on for weeks. The woman’s likeness featured an angled jaw, a long narrow nose, and sculpted cheekbones. She had chosen brown for the eyes, a guess based on statistics. And it was not lost on her that the most telling part of who this woman had been was conjecture.
Zoe’s attention to detail was both her superpower and her Achilles’ he1 year ago Read more -
Blog post
Special Agent Zoe Spencer stepped back from the clay bust she had been working on for weeks. The woman’s likeness featured an angled jaw, a long narrow nose, and sculpted cheekbones. She had chosen brown for the eyes, a guess based on statistics. And it was not lost on her that the most telling part of who this woman had been was conjecture.
Zoe’s attention to detail was both her superpower and her Achilles’ heel. Many questioned her ceaseless fretting ov1 year ago Read more -
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Twin sisters separated by the past are reunited by unspeakable crimes in New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton’s throat-clutching novel of suspense…
Trauma victims are not new to medical examiner Faith McIntyre, but this one is different. The unconscious woman clinging to life after a hit and run is FBI agent Macy Crow. What the woman from Quantico was doing in a dark alley after midnight is just one mystery. The other is more unsettling: Macy is Faith’s mirror image—the twin sister she never knew she had.
Faith knew that she was adopted, but now she’s finding that her childhood concealed other secrets. Following the trail of clues Macy left behind, Faith and Texas Ranger Mitchell Hayden make a shocking discovery on an isolated country ranch—a burial ground for three women who disappeared thirty years before.
They weren’t the only victims in a killer’s twisted plot. And they won’t be the last.
As the missing pieces of Faith’s and Macy’s dark lives snap into place, Faith is becoming more terrified by what she sees—and by what she must do to save her sister and herself from the past.
Even behind bars, serial killer Harvey Lee Smith exudes menace. Psychologist Jolene Granger has agreed to hear his dying confession, vowing not to let the monster inside her head. And Harvey has secrets to share—about bodies that were never found, and about the apprentice who is continuing his grisly work . . .
AND NOW HE’LL TEACH THEM
He buries his victims alive the way his mentor Harvey did, relishing their final screams as the earth rains down. And as one last gift to the only father he knew, he’ll make the most perfect kill of all.
HOW TO DIE
Everything about this investigation is unnerving Jo, from Harvey’s fascination with her to the fact that she’s working alongside Texas Ranger Brody Winchester, her ex-husband. Harvey’s protégé is growing bolder and more vicious every day. And soon the trail of shallow graves will lead them to the last place Jo expected, and to the most terrifying truth of all . . .
“A thrill a minute . . . there is no escaping the fact that with No Escape, Mary Burton delivers again.”
—The Jefferson County Post (Tennessee)
A disturbing case jogs the traumatic memories of a Nashville forensics specialist in this psychological thriller by the New York Times bestselling author.
When police rescue five-year-old Jenna Thompson from the closet where she's been held captive for days, they tell her she's a lucky girl. Compared to the rest of her family, it's true. But twenty-five years later, even with their killer dead of an overdose, Jenna is still trying to find peace.
On leave from her forensic artist job, Jenna returns to Nashville, the city where she lost so much. But instead of closure, she finds a new horror. Detective Rick Morgan needs Jenna's expertise in identifying the skeletal remains of a young child. The case jogs hazy half-buried memories—and a nagging dread that Jenna's ordeal hasn't ended.Now other women are dying. And as the links between these brutal killings and Jenna's past becomes clear. She knows that this time, the madman will leave no survivors.
Now other women are dying. And as the links between these brutal killings and Jenna's past becomes clear, she knows this time, a madman will leave no survivors. . .
Fire can destroy the past. It can also uncover secrets in this novel of searing suspense by New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton.
Ten years ago as an undergrad, Joan Mason escaped an arsonist’s fire. Shaken, she fled the small collegiate Montana town, leaving behind friends and not looking back. Now a Philadelphia homicide detective, Joan’s trying to put her traumas to rest. It’s not easy. Elijah Weston, the classmate who torched her house, is out of prison and returning to Missoula. Gut instinct tells Joan he’ll strike again. To stop him, she must return to the past as well. To face not only the man she fears but Detective Gideon Bailey, too. The man she loved and left behind.
When a local woman dies tragically in another fire, it can’t be a coincidence. Can it be Elijah? He has a solid alibi for the night of the blaze. Reunited by the tragedy, Joan and Gideon have their doubts. So does Gideon’s sister, Ann—Joan’s old college roommate.
The investigation draws Joan and Gideon together, but it also sends them down a dangerous path—into a troubling history that Joan, Elijah, and Ann all share. As more lives go up in flames in Missoula, this town’s secrets are just beginning to rise from the ashes.
A Virginia attorney’s deadly past returns with a travelling carnival in this thriller that “will have readers sleeping with the lights on” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
In death, they are purified. Holding his victims under water, he washes away their sins as they struggle for their last breath. Then he exposes them for what they really are: witches, sent to tempt and to corrupt…
Virginia defense attorney Charlotte Wellington doesn’t talk about her childhood—not how she was put to work as a carnival fortuneteller, or her sister’s brutal murder. But now the carnival she escaped all those years ago has come to town. For Charlotte, what’s past is past. But others don’t agree. And as a serial killer terrorizes the area, Charlotte and Detective Daniel Rokov are drawn into a case that becomes terrifyingly personal.The killer has waited many years for Charlotte to be within his reach. All his victims deserve their fate, but her guilt is greatest. And he is determined to make her suffer and repent—before she dies.
He Will Never Forget
The broken body hanging from a tree in Texas Hill Country . . . the frozen figure huddled in a meat locker . . . only at second glance does the truth become apparent. What seems like suicide is far more sinister, and the terror is only beginning . . .
Never Forgive
One devastating moment changed Greer Templeton’s life and ended two others. Now, with a body found on her property and Texas Ranger Tec Bragg on her doorstep, Greer’s nightmare has returned. With each new victim, her link to Tec’s case grows, and soon it will be too late to run.
And Never Let Them Live . . .
Greer hoped the past was behind her, but an obsessed killer has never forgotten the bond that unites them. One by one, he will track down his victims, finish what was started—and make Greer’s dying wish come true . . .
“Murder with unsettling, eerie elements grabs the reader’s attention from the get-go. Mary Burton weaves a tale of mystery and suspense that made me shudder at times.”—Long and Short Reviews
“Burton plays cat-and-mouse with the reader through a tight plot, with credible suspects and romantic spice keeping it real.”—Publishers Weekly
“Kept me engaged and guessing from beginning to end . . . chilling.”—Smart Bitches Trashy Books
“The story is intense and fast paced and the characters are well written.”—Dive Under the Cover
In a scorching novel of obsession and revenge, New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton ignites fear in the heart of a woman targeted by a killer who knows her secrets.
Forensic psychologist and single mother Ann Bailey has joined forces with Montana Highway Patrol officer Bryce McCabe. An expert in untangling the motives of depraved minds, Ann is tasked to help solve the mystery of two murdered women doused with gasoline and set aflame.
It’s not hard for Ann to be reminded of the charismatic Elijah Weston, who served a decade in prison for arson—a crime that nearly cost Ann her life. Elijah may have been exonerated, but the connection to these rage killings is impossible for Ann to ignore. One of the victims has been identified as an obsessed Elijah groupie. Elijah has obsessions, too. Ever since Ann returned to town, he can’t take his eyes off her. And as a mother with a secret, she’s the perfect victim for an infatuated psychopath.
The deeper Ann and Bryce’s investigation goes, the nearer they get to each other and to danger. After another murder hits close to home, Ann fears a clue is hidden in her own past. Only one thing terrifies her more than the reveal of her long-held secret. It’s that the secret itself has put Ann into a killer’s line of fire.
The Nashville woods hold a killer’s deadly secrets in this cold case thriller by the New York Times bestselling author of You’re Not Safe.
Years ago, three Nashville teenagers went into the woods for a hike—and only one came out. While her two friends disappeared without a trace, Amber Ryder was discovered at the bottom of a ravine with a broken arm, head trauma, and zero memory of the horror that put her there. With no leads, the investigation hit a dead end.Now another woman’s body is found it the woods. When the trail leads to the missing teens’ remains, the cold case becomes a fresh hell for forensic technician Georgia Morgan. But while Georgia works with Amber to try and reawaken her memories, her gut tells her the worst is yet to come.
Homicide Detective Jake Bishop can’t be sure whether Amber is an expert manipulator or the killer’s next target. Either way, he’s determined to protect Georgia. Because the more she digs into the past, the more deadly secrets emerge. And a nightmare years in the making is about to come to a bloody, terrifying end.
An unsolved crime pits a desperate woman against a relentless killer in New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton’s heart-stopping novel of psychological suspense…
Fourteen years ago, Kaitlin Roe was the lone witness to the abduction of her cousin Gina. She still remembers that lonely Virginia road. She can still see the masked stranger and hear Gina’s screams. And she still suffers the guilt of running away in fear and resents being interrogated as a suspect in the immediate aftermath. Now Kaitlin has only one way to assuage the pain and nightmares—by interviewing everyone associated with the unsolved crime for a podcast that could finally bring closure to a case gone cold.
But when a woman Kaitlin questions is later found stabbed to death, she fears that she’s drawn a killer out of hiding. It’s Detective John Adler’s fear that the murders have only just begun. Now his job is to keep Kaitlin safe.
As a bond between Kaitlin and Adler builds, the past closes in just as fast—and it’s darker than Kaitlin remembers. Soon, her wish will come true. She’s going to find out exactly what happened to Gina. Someone has been dying to tell her.
A cold case heats up in this gritty, suspenseful thriller from New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton.
FBI special agent Zoe Spencer uses skeletal remains to recreate the faces of murder victims through sculpture. Though highly scientific, the process is also sensitive and intimate; she becomes attached to the individuals she identifies, desperate to find justice for each.
As Zoe examines old remains, she sees a teenage girl looking back at her—the victim in a cold case from over a decade ago. Zoe wants nothing more than to tell this young woman’s story and to bring her killer to justice.
Zoe’s case leads her to the victim’s hometown and to homicide detective William Vaughan, Zoe’s on-again, off-again lover. As the two become more involved in the case, they quickly realize that it isn’t as cold as they first believed: someone’s still out there hunting women. And with more women gone missing, time’s running out. Can they work together and stop this madman before he kills again?
No Pity
Each skeleton is flawless—gleaming white and perfectly preserved, a testament to his skill. Every scrap of flesh has been removed to reveal the glistening bone beneath. And the collection is growing . . .
No Compassion
When bleached human bones are identified as belonging to a former patient of Dr. James Dixon, Detective Malcolm Kier suspects the worst. Dixon was recently acquitted of attempted murder, thanks to defense attorney Angie Carlson. But as the body count rises, Kier is convinced that Angie is now the target of a brutal, brilliant psychopath.
No Escape
Angie is no stranger to the dark side of human nature. But nothing has prepared her for the decades-long legacy of madness and murder about to be revealed—or a killer ready to claim her as his ultimate trophy . . .
“Terrifying . . . this chilling thriller is an engrossing story.” —Library Journal
“[A] feverish sequel to Senseless . . . convincing detective lingo and an appropriately shivery murder venue go a long way.”—Publishers Weekly
Praise for the novels of Mary Burton
“Absolutely chilling.”—Brenda Novak
“A twisted tale . . . I couldn't put it down!”—Lisa Jackson
“Taut, compelling . . . delivers a page-turner.”—Carla Neggers
“A chilling thriller.”—Beverly Barton
At first, they struggle to escape. Then a torrent of blows rains down upon their bodies until their eyes cloud over in final agony. The killer shows no remorse—just a twisted need to witness each victim’s last terrified moments.
DON’T SPEAK
Public defender Rachel Wainwright is struggling to reopen a decades-old case, convinced that the wrong man is in prison. Homicide detective Deke Morgan doesn’t want to agree. But if Rachel’s hunch is correct, whoever fatally bludgeoned young, beautiful Annie Dawson thirty years ago could be the source of a new string of brutal slayings.
JUST PREPARE TO DIE
Rachel’s investigation is about to reveal answers—but at a price she never thought to pay. Now she’s become the target of a rage honed by years of jealousy and madness. And a murderer is ready to show her just how vicious the truth can be . . .
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