Traci from crime-writing duo P.J. Tracy on a mother's love

PJ_Tracy.jpg

Features

Traci from crime-writing duo P.J. Tracy on a mother’s love

The Guilty Dead

The Guilty Dead is the ninth book in P.J. Tracy's addictive and internationally bestselling Twin Cities series. 
 
Gregory Norwood, wealthy businessman and close friend of Minnesota's leading candidate for Governor, is found dead on the first anniversary of his son's drug overdose. It seems clear to Detectives Gino and Magozzi that grief drove him to suicide. 
 
Until they realise the left-handed man seems to have used his right hand to pull the trigger. 
 
And they find the second body. 
 
As the seemingly open-and-shut case becomes a murder enquiry, the detectives begin to delve into the dark secrets of one of the city's most powerful families. It seems the murders are not the first in the Norwoods' tragic story - and they won't be the last . . . 
 
 
PRAISE FOR P. J. TRACY: 
 
 
'Outrageously suspenseful' Harlan Coben 
 
 
'A fast-paced gripping read with thrills and devilish twists' Guardian 
 
 
'A powerful thriller and an ingenious plot' Observer Review

The Guilty Dead is a cut above. The stakes are higher, and nothing is as it seems. This is Tracy at her gritty, elegant best. Do not miss it.

JT Ellison, New York Times bestselling author of Lie to Me

In this high-stakes thriller, Tracy demonstrates once again her masterful ability to juggle the dynamics of a tight, fast-paced plot, the riveting details of a fine police procedure, and the compelling emotional complexities of human relationships. There's so much to savor in the writing itself, but I'm sure readers will consume this offering in one quick binge. Another winner in one of the most satisfying series on the market today

William Kent Krueger, Edgar Award-winning author of Ordinary Grace

Snappy dialogue and supercharged storytelling, with thrills and spills aplenty

P. J. Tracy was the pseudonym for the mother-and-daughter writing team of P. J. and Traci Lambrecht. Together P. J. and Traci were authors of the bestselling thrillers Want to Play? (a Richard and Judy Book Club pick), Live Bait, Dead Run, Snow Blind, Play to Kill, Two Evils, Cold Kill and Nothing Stays Buried. P. J. passed away in 2016, but Traci has continued the series with The Guilty Dead and Ice Cold Heart.

Gregory Norwood, wealthy businessman and close friend of Minnesota's leading candidate for Governor, is found dead on the first anniversary of his son's drug overdose. It seems clear to Detectives Gino and Magozzi that grief drove him to suicide. 
 
Until they realize that this left-handed man seems to have used his right hand to pull the trigger. 
 
And they find the second body. 
 
As the seemingly open-and-shut case becomes a murder enquiry, the detectives begin to delve into the dark secrets of one of the city's most powerful families. It seems that the murders are not the first in the Norwoods' tragic story - and they won't be the last . . .

A heartwarming Christmas story

Return of the Magi

Warm your heart this Christmas with this wonderful festive tale from bestselling author P.J. Tracy - perfect for fans of It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street. 
 
Emil Rice has a silver tongue and sticky fingers, the only problem is that his charm always gets him into trouble and he's never been very good at not getting arrested. Twenty-two times he's been caught and twenty-two times he's sworn never to steal again, but it's on his twenty-third arrest when Emil realises he may have picked up more than he bargained for. Sentenced to community service at a secure mental health facility, Emil is unwillingly befriended by two elderly female patients who believe he is the final part of a big cosmic plan that will change their lives forever... 
 
This heartwarming Christmas tale of kindness, friendship and redemption will be perfect for the cold winter nights!

Caught with his hand in a church Christmas collection just hours after his latest release from prison, lifelong petty thief Emil Rice can't believe his luck when he's spared another festive season behind bars. 
 
Sent instead to carry out community service at a local mental health facility, Emil's plan is to flee at the first opportunity. However this is no ordinary facility - isolated in the middle of the desert, Emil realises he has no choice but to stick it out. 
 
To make matters worse, a number of the inmates immediately take a shine to him - especially eccentric sisters Gloria and Edith. The elderly duo are convinced they're the reincarnation of two of the wise men from the nativity story, and they've waited their whole lives to find the third and final wise man. 
 
And they're convinced Emil fits the bill.... 
 
Warm and wise, funny and festive, this is a wonderful Christmas tale from Sunday Times bestselling author P.J. Tracy

Nothing Stays Buried

DISCOVER THE GRIPPING THRILLER FROM THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLING TWIN CITIES SERIES 
 
'Supercharged storytelling' DAILY MAIL 
________ 
 
 A young woman is murdered in a park in Minneapolis. When detectives Gino and Magozzi discover a playing card near the body, they recognise the work of a serial killer who has already struck the city once before. 
 
 But it's worse than they imagined. The card is the four of spades; the last victim's was an ace: it seems they're already two murders behind. 
 
 Once again working with Grace MacBride and her team of analysts, they discover a web of evidence stretching back into the past. 
 
And there is little time to untangle it: 
 
This killer has a taste for blood, and he's intent on playing out the deck . . . 
________ 
 
 PRAISE FOR P. J. TRACY: 
 
 'Outrageously suspenseful' Harlan Coben 
 
 'A fast-paced gripping read with thrills and devilish twists' Guardian 
 
 'A powerful thriller and an ingenious plot' Observer Review 
 
 'Some of the best new blood work in the genre . . . Scary funny, witty, and genuinely perplexing right to the end' Glasgow Herald

A fast-paced gripping read with thrills and devilish twists

A powerful thriller and an ingenious plot

Some of the best new blood work in the genre . . . Scary funny, witty, and genuinely perplexing right to the end

A young woman is murdered in a park in Minneapolis. When detectives Gino and Magozzi discover a playing card near the body, they recognise the work of a serial killer who has already struck the city once before. 
 
But it's worse than they imagined. The card is the four of spades; the last victim's was the ace: it seems they're already two murders behind. 
 
Once again working with Grace MacBride and her team of analysts, they discover a web of evidence stretching back into the past. And there is little time to untangle it: this killer has a taste for blood, and he's intent on playing out the deck . . .

Cold Kill

*US edition title: THE SIXTH IDEA* 
 
Cold Kill is the seventh book in P.J. Tracy's bestselling Twin Cities series. 
 
Two dead bodies. 
 
On a cold winter's night in Minneapolis, two friends are brutally murdered on opposite sides of the city. It's clear to homicide detectives Gino and Magozzi that the men were targets - but why? 
 
A decades-old conspiracy. 
 
As Gino and Magozzi begin to uncover evidence, the clues rapidly start to disappear. Lost websites and missing CCTV footage lead them once more to Grace MacBride and her eccentric team of computer analysts - the only ones who can help. 
 
A deadly attack that could bring a city to its knees. 
 
But as more bodies appear, the team begin to realize that this isn't fresh blood - this is a case that stretches back sixty years. And something that has been lying dormant is now awakening. 
 
As Gino and Magozzi race to find answers, they slowly uncover an unimaginable horror: one that they must stop if any of them are to get out alive . . . 
 
PRAISE FOR P. J. TRACY: 
 
'Outrageously suspenseful' 
Harlan Coben 
 
'A fast-paced gripping read with thrills and devilish twists' 
Guardian 
 
'A powerful thriller and an ingenious plot' 
Observer Review 
 
'Scary funny, witty, and genuinely perplexing right to the end' 
Glasgow Herald 
 
'Eclectic characters and zingy dialogue . . . exhilarating' 
People 
 
 
Filled with the same crackling dialogue, pace and rich vivid characters as in previous novels, Cold Kill is the new gripping instalment in the internationally bestselling Monkeewrench series. Follow the characters' journeys in the rest of the series: Want to Play?, Live Bait, Dead Run, Snow Blind, Play to Kill and Two Evils.

Eclectic characters and zingy dialogue . . . exhilarating

The Christmas season in Minneapolis is shattered when two friends, Chuck Spencer and Wally Luntz, scheduled to meet in person for the first time, are murdered on the same night, two hours and several miles apart, dramatically concluding the winter vacation for homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth. 
 
This series of inexplicable events sends the detectives sixty years into the past to search for answers - and straight to Grace MacBride's Monkeewrench. What they find is an unimaginable horror - a dormant Armageddon that might be activated at any moment unless Grace, along with Leo and Gino, can find a way to stop it.

Two Evils

*US edition title: OFF THE GRID* 
 
Two Evils is the sixth book in P.J. Tracy's bestselling Twin Cities series. 
 
As the nights draw in so the killings begin... 
 
A missing girl is found dead in a parking lot, her throat cut. Two young immigrants are gunned down in their apartment. And with each passing day the body count rises... 
 
For Minneapolis homicide detectives Gino and Magozzi it seems that this autumn the bodies are falling faster than the leaves. With few leads to go on, yet evidence that these killings are linked to others taking place in other cities, the pair turn to Grace McBride, maverick computer analyst. 
 
What Grace uncovers forces Gino and Magozzi to make a dreadful and fateful choice: down which twisted path does the lesser of two evils lie... 
 
P.J. Tracy's cult thriller characters Grace MacBride and Detectives Gino and Magozzi are back once again in the sixth book in the Monkeewrench series. Follow their journeys in the rest of the series: Want to Play?, Live Bait, Dead Run, Snow Blind and Play to Kill. 
 
Praise for P.J. Tracy: 
'Outrageously suspenseful' Harlan Coben 
'A fast-paced gripping read with thrills and devilish twists' Guardian 
'A powerful thriller and an ingenious plot' Observer 
 
P.J. Tracy is the pseudonynm for the mother-and-daughter writing team of P.J. and Traci Lambrecht. They are the authors of the award-winning and best-selling thrillers Live Bait, Dead Run, Snow Blind, Play to Kill, Two Evils and the Richard and Judy Book Club pick Want to Play?. All six books feature detectives Gino and Magozzi and maverick computer hacker Grace MacBride. P.J. and Traci both live near Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
 
www.pjtracy.net

All of the elements that made the previous books under the Tracy banner so successful are in evidence in Two Evils... plotting of immense ingenuity and the authors' gift for genuinely speakable, sardonic dialogue

A truly brilliant crime thriller, fast-paced and edgy, full of deception and retribution with the essential incredible twist!

A missing teenage girl lies dead in a parking lot. Two young immigrants are killed in their apartment. Three men are found dead in the street nearby. 
 
As the police struggle to establish what's happened, they realize that the deaths may not be as random as they first appear. As the killings continue, homicide detectives Magozzi and Rolseath turn to maverick computer analyst Grace McBride for help, drawing her into an investigation that will threaten her life. 
 
And as the evidence mounts, it reveals terrifying intent. Ultimately, it forces the two detectives to make a dreadful choice: down which path does the lesser of two evils lie . . .

Dead Run

Dead Run is the third book in P.J. Tracy's bestselling Twin Cities series. 
 
It should have been a simple journey - a drive from Minneapolis to Green Bay, Wisconsin. But a couple of unplanned detours lead Grace MacBride, Annie Belinsky and police Deputy Sharon Mueller deep in the northern woods, far from civilization and a mobile phone signal. Then the car breaks down. 
 
The nervous search for a landline and a mechanic leads the women to Four Corners, a sleepy crossroads town. And place they soon wish they'd never stumbled on - because something terrible happened in Four Corners... 
 
Filled with the same crackling dialogue, pace and rich vivid characters as in previous novels, Dead Run firmly establishes P.J. Tracy as one of the most exciting thriller writers in the world. Fans of Karen Rose should be paying attention. Follow the characters' journeys in the rest of the series: Want to Play?, Live Bait, Snow Blind, Play to Kill and Two Evils. 
 
Praise for PJ Tracy: 
'A thrilling page-turner with a nail-biting finish' Sunday Telegraph 
'P.J. Tracy is about to become a household name' Daily Mirror 
 
P.J. Tracy is the pseudonynm for the mother-and-daughter writing team of P.J. and Traci Lambrecht. They are the authors of the award-winning and best-selling thrillers Live Bait, Dead Run, Snow Blind, Play to Kill, Two Evils and the Richard and Judy Book Club pick Want to Play?. All six books feature detectives Gino and Magozzi and maverick computer hacker Grace MacBride. P.J. and Traci both live near Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
 
www.pjtracy.net

PJ Tracy is about to become a household name

It should have been a simple journey - a drive from Minneapolis to Green Bay, Wisconsin. But a couple of unplanned detours lead Grace MacBride, Annie Belinsky and police Deputy Sharon Mueller deep in the northern woods, far from civilization and a mobile phone signal. Then the car breaks down. 
 
The nervous search for a landline and a mechanic leads the women to Four Corners, a sleepy crossroads town. And place they soon wish they'd never stumbled on - because something terrible happened in Four Corners... 
 
Filled with the same crackling dialogue, pace and rich vivid characters as Want to Play? and Live Bait, Dead Run firmly establishes PJ Tracy as one of the most exciting thriller writers in the world.

Snow Blind

Snow Blind is the fourth book in P.J. Tracy's bestselling Twin Cities series. 
 
The Dead of Winter... 
 
Minneapolis, winter's first white flakes; a park full of snowmen. But the layers of packed snow hide a ghoulish surprise. 
 
First, the bodies of two cops are found inside the snowmen and then a day later, in the countryside to the north, Sheriff Iris Rikker makes a similarly shocking discovery. Soon Detectives Gino and Magozzi are sent north through the worst blizzard Minnesota's seen for years to find what else links the investigations. 
 
But some secrets you don't want to uncover. And as the cases unravel, it seems snowmen aren't the only ones with something to hide... 
 
P.J. Tracy's cult thriller characters Grace MacBride and Detectives Gino and Magozzi are back for more in the fourth book in the Monkeewrench series. Follow their journeys in the rest of the series: Want to Play?, Live Bait, Dead Run, Play to Kill and Two Evils. 
 
Praise for P.J. Tracy: 
'A fast-paced, gripping read with thrills and devilish twists' Guardian 
'Outrageously suspenseful' Harlan Coben 
'P.J. Tracy is about to become a household name' Daily Mirror

The Dead of Winter... 
 
Minneapolis, winter's first white flakes; a park full of snowmen. But the layers of packed snow hide a goulish surprise ... 
 
First, the bodies of two cops are found inside the snowmen and then a day later, in the countryside to the north, Sheriff Iris Rikker makes a similarly shocking discovery. Soon Detectives Gino and Magozzi are sent north through the worst blizzard Minnesota's seen for years to find what else links the investigations. 
 
But some secrets you don't want to uncover. And as the cases unravel, it seems snowmen aren't the only ones with something to hide ...

Want to Play?

There's a killer on the loose, and he wants to play . . . Discover the runaway bestselling Richard and Judy pick, the gripping first thriller in the million copy bestselling Twin Cities series 
 
Want to play a game? 
 
A small American town. 
 
A brutally cold autumn. 
 
A killer is at work. 
 
Two bodies are found; two slayings that the police treat as unrelated. But games-creator Grace MacBride knows different. 
 
The murders are exact copies of those in a game she's designing - one that already has hundreds of eager players. 
 
As the copycat killings mount up, Grace knows that she is both suspect and potential victim. 
 
And with the serial killer getting closer, she is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse . . . 
 
Want to Play? introduces P.J. Tracy's cult thriller characters Grace MacBride and Detectives Gino and Magozzi. Follow their journeys in the rest of the series: Live Bait, Dead Run, Snow Blind, Play to Kill, Two Evils, Cold Kill, Nothing Stays Buried and The Guilty Dead. 
 
Praise for P.J. Tracy: 
 
'The thriller debut of the year' Harlan Coben 
 
'Fast paced . . . a gripping read' Guardian

Want to play a game? 
 
A small American town. 
 
A brutally cold autumn. 
 
A killer is at work. 
 
Two bodies are found; two slayings that the police treat as unrelated. But games-creator Grace MacBride knows different. 
 
The murders are exact copies of those in a game she's designing - one that already has hundreds of eager players. 
 
As the copycat killings mount up, Grace knows that she is both suspect and potential victim.

Live Bait

Live Bait is the second book in P.J. Tracy's bestselling Twin Cities series. 
 
When elderly Morey Gilbert is found, lying dead in the grass by his wife, Lily, it's a tragedy, but it shouldn't have been a shock - old people die. But when she finds a bullet hole in his skull, the blood washed away by heavy rain, sadness turns to fear. It looks like an execution... 
 
Soon a whole city is fearful as new victims are found, killed with the same cold precision. All elderly. All apparently blameless. 
 
Detectives Gino and Magozzi, race to uncover a connection and their best hope of doing so may be Grace McBride, beautiful, damaged survivor of an earlier killing spree. And the answers, it seems, are buried in a terrible past. 
 
Grace MacBride and Detectives Gino and Magozzi are back in P.J. Tracy's Live Bait, the follow-up to debut Want to Play? Fans of Karen Rose should be paying attention. Follow the characters' journeys in the rest of the series: Want to Play?, Dead Run, Snow Blind, Play to Kill and Two Evils. 
 
Praise for P.J. Tracy: 
'Her second offering doesn't disappoint. Vivid scenes, realistic characters and humorous dialogue' Time Out 
'A fast-paced, gripping read with thrills and devilish twists' Guardian 
 
P.J. Tracy is the pseudonynm for the mother-and-daughter writing team of P.J. and Traci Lambrecht. They are the authors of the award-winning and best-selling thrillers Live Bait, Dead Run, Snow Blind, Play to Kill, Two Evils and the Richard and Judy Book Club pick Want to Play?. All six books feature detectives Gino and Magozzi and maverick computer hacker Grace MacBride. P.J. and Traci both live near Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
 
www.pjtracy.net

When elderly Morey Gilbert is found, lying dead in the grass by his wife, Lily, it's a tragedy, but it shouldn't have been a shock - old people die. But when she finds a bullet hole in his skull, the blood washed away by heavy rain, sadness turns to fear. It looks like an execution ... 
 
Soon a whole city is fearful as new victims are found, killed with the same cold precision. All elderly. All apparently blameless. 
 
Detectives Magozzi and Rolseth, race to uncover a connection and their best hope of doing so may be Grace McBride, beautiful, damaged survivor of an earlier killing spree. And the answers, it seems, are buried in a terrible past. 
 
Filled with the same crackling dialogue, pace and rich, vivid characters as the author's debut Want to Play?, PJ Tracy's Live Bait is an electrifying thriller that explores the chilling extremes of evil and retribution.

Play to Kill

Play to Kill by P.J. Tracy is the fifth novel in the bestselling Twin Cities crime series. 
 
Call it murdertube... 
 
Minneapolis homicide cops Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth fish a murdered drag queen out of the Mississippi. Another day, another corpse. Except the victim's death throes quickly appear in a video posted online. And there are other videos, other murders. 
 
Unable to trace who is posting the videos, the cops turn to Grace MacBride and her crew of eccentric computer mavericks. But as the bodies and videos stack up, the team desperately try and answer a terrifying question: 
 
Is this the work of a lone individual? Or of several killers who have taken social networking to the darkest extreme... 
 
P.J. Tracy's cult thriller characters Grace MacBride and Detectives Gino and Magozzi are back for more in the fifth book in the Monkeewrench series. Follow their journeys in the rest of the series: Want to Play?, Live Bait, Dead Run, Snow Blind and Two Evils. 
 
Praise for P.J. Tracy: 
'A thrilling page-turner with a nail-biting finish' Sunday Telegraph 
'P.J. Tracy is about to become a household name' Daily Mirror 
 
P.J. Tracy is the pseudonynm for the mother-and-daughter writing team of P.J. and Traci Lambrecht. They are the authors of the award-winning and best-selling thrillers Live Bait, Dead Run, Snow Blind, Play to Kill, Two Evils and the Richard and Judy Book Club pick Want to Play?. All six books feature detectives Gino and Magozzi and maverick computer hacker Grace MacBride. P.J. and Traci both live near Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
 
www.pjtracy.net

Call it murdertube . . . 
 
Minneapolis homicide cops Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth fish a murdered drag queen out of the Mississippi. Another day, another corpse. Except the victim's death throes quickly appear in a video posted online. And there are other videos, other murders. 
 
Unable to trace who is posting the videos, the cops turn to Grace MacBride and her crew of eccentric computer mavericks. But as the bodies and videos stack up, the team desperately try and answer a terrifying question: 
 
Is this the work of a lone individual? Or of several killers who have taken social networking to the darkest extreme. . .

P. J. Tracy

Intense and fast paced...[Ice Cold Heart] includes the best elements for crime fiction readers: an intricate plot weaving multiple story lines

On a bitterly cold winter night, Kelly Ramage leaves her suburban home, telling her husband she's going to meet a friend. 
 
 She never comes back. 
 
 When her body is discovered, murdered in what seems to be a sex game gone horribly wrong, Detectives Gino and Magozzi take the case, expecting to find a flirtatious trail leading straight to the killer. 
 
 However, Kelly's sinister lover has done a disturbingly good job of hiding his identity. This isn't his first victim - and that she won't be the last...

P. J. Tracy

Praise for Ice Cold Heart

Intense and fast paced...[Ice Cold Heart] includes the best elements for crime fiction readers: an intricate plot weaving multiple story lines

Books by P. J. Tracy

Series by P. J. Tracy

Twin Cities Thriller

Articles featuring P. J. Tracy

Traci from crime-writing duo P.J. Tracy on a mother’s love

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter