I Think I Was Murdered is up for pre-sale! I can’t wait to share this unique look at AI as it morphs from something seemingly innocent to the first clue of a murder. Here’s the back cover copy!

A grieving young widow. The AI program that allows her to continue to “talk” to him. And a message she never expected: “I think I was murdered.”

Just a year ago, Katrina Berg was at the pinnacle of her career. She was a rising star in the AI chatbot start-up everyone was talking about, married with an adoring husband, and had more money than she knew how to spend. Then her world combusted. Her husband, Jason, was killed in a fiery car crash. Her CEO was indicted and, as the company’s legal counsel, Katrina faces tough questions as the Feds take over and lock her out of her office. The final blow is the passing of her beloved grandmother.

Her most prized possession is the beta prototype for a new, ultra-sophisticated chatbot loaded onto her phone. The contents of Jason’s email, social media backups, pictures, and every bit of data she could find were loaded into the bot, and Katrina has “talked” to him every day for the past six months. She has been amazed at how well it works. Even the syntax and words the bot uses sound like Jason. Sometimes, she imagines he isn’t really dead and is right there beside her. She knows it’s slowing her grief recovery, but she can’t stop pretending.

On a particularly bad day, she taps out: Tell me something I don’t know. The cursor blinks for several moments and seems frozen before the reply flashes quickly onto the screen: I think I was murdered.

Distraught, Katrina returns to her cozy Norwegian-flavored hometown in the northern California redwoods and enlists the help of Seb Wallace, local restaurateur and longtime acquaintance, to try to parse out the truth of what really happened. They must navigate the complicated paths of grief, family dynamics, and second chances, as well as the complex questions of how much control technology has. And staying alive long enough to do that is far more difficult than either of them dreamed.

Love legal suspense? I think you’re going to LOVE What We Hide, the first novel in the Tupelo Grove series set in the Gulf Shores area near my Pelican Harbor series. It’s hitting stores July 2, 2024.

Rick Acker is a good friend and a Supervising Deputy Attorney in the CA Department of Justice and he’s an awesome writer. We have been having so much fun co-writing, and we can’t wait to share this first novel with you! Our styles are so similar I don’t think you’ll be able to tell which of us wrote which scenes! Here’s a little about the novel:

Family secrets. Historical wrongs. And the truths that refuse to stay buried.

Savannah Webster is trying to find her way forward. She and her husband, Hez, have been separated since tragedy tore them apart and he began numbing his grief and guilt with alcohol. She returned to Tupelo Grove University, which her family helped found over a century ago, to teach history.

When Hez turns up in her classroom asking for a second chance, she rejects the idea immediately. But twenty-four hours later she’s under suspicion for murder, and since Hez is the best attorney she knows, she reluctantly asks him for help. They suspect the murder is tied to someone selling off the university’s pre-Columbian artifacts, but the secrets go much deeper than they realize.

The only hope they’ve got is each other, and they’re going to have to put their past behind them if they’re going to stay alive long enough to uncover all that’s hidden.

Fragile Designs is available for preorder! This new standalone has been percolating in my brain for well over ten years, and I’m so excited to share it with you. Early reviews are wonderful. Here’s a little bit about it:

There’s only one thing more dangerous than family secrets.

Since her police-officer husband Eric’s mysterious murder, Carly Harris has been struggling to support herself and their infant son. Her career as an antique dealer isn’t sustainable, nor is her dream of becoming a novelist. So when her grandmother proposes she and her two sisters restore the family’s large Beaufort home and turn it into a bed-and-breakfast, she immediately gets to work clearing out the house. In the process, she uncovers a family secret that Eric kept hidden. And an heirloom that the wrong person wouldn’t hesitate to kill for.

Homicide detective Lucas Bennet isn’t his neighbor’s biggest fan, not since she broke his brother’s heart years ago. But when Carly turns to Lucas for help, believing she’s found a lost Fabergé egg that would be worth millions and that could put her family’s lives in danger, he can’t help but get involved. Soon, they’re entangled in a mystery with threads that lead all the way to the Russian mafia. Lucas has gotten in deep, and while he trusts his ability to keep Carly and her family safe, he begins to realize he’s vulnerable to an unexpected kind of danger. And he’s helpless to stop the freefall. As they continue working closely together, Carly and Lucas realize they may have found something more precious than gold. Yet it’s only a matter of time before Carly—or, worse, someone she loves—gets hurt.

I’m so excited to share the wrap-up to the Annie Pederson Series! It’s got intense suspense and a finale I hope you’ll love. Go here for links to your favorite online seller https://colleencoble.com/books/break-of-day/ or go to Bookshop.org to order from a great Indie store.

I can’t wait to hear what you think! Here’s a little about the book:

Annie Pederson’s happily ever after is finally within sight . . . If she can stay alive long enough to grasp it.

Law enforcement officer Annie Pederson’s life has been rocked by tragedy, but things finally seem to be heading in the right direction. Her relationship with the love of her life—who’s also the biological father of her precious daughter—has never been better, and it looks like an engagement ring is in Annie’s future. She’s also slowly building back trust with her sister, Sarah, after a separation that lasted for decades.

When a man escapes law enforcement custody and Sarah’s safety is suddenly in question, Annie’s personal and professional lives once again merge. Meanwhile, her investigation of hikers who have gone missing in the remote woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula puts her in the crosshairs of a deadly game.

Now, Annie is the one being hunted. When she discovers the terrible truth about the men who are stalking her, she realizes that she’s in for the fight of her life if she’s going to redeem the sister she once lost, build the family she dreams of, and keep all those she loves safe.

Return to the beloved town of Rock Harbor in the final installment of the Annie Pederson trilogy by bestselling suspense author Colleen Coble.

I’m super excited about my new Pelican Harbor series launching March 3 with One Little Lie! I was honored with a great endorsement from Lisa Wingate (author of the blockbuster Before We Were Yours) who had this to say:

Colleen Coble once again proves she is at the pinnacle of Christian romantic suspense. Filled with characters you’ll come to love, faith lost and found, and scenes that will have you holding your breath, Jane Hardy’s story deftly follows the complex and tangled web that can be woven by one little lie.” — Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Before We Were Yours

Here’s a little about the novel:

It started with one little lie. But Jane Hardy will do everything in her power to uncover the truth in this gripping new romantic suspense.

Jane Hardy is appointed interim sheriff in Pelican Harbor, Alabama, after her father retires, but there’s no time for an adjustment period. When her father is arrested for theft and then implicated in a recent murder, Jane quickly realizes she’s facing someone out to destroy the only family she has.

After escaping with her father from a cult fifteen years ago, Jane has searched relentlessly for her mother—who refused to leave—ever since. Could someone from that horrible past have found them?

Reid Bechtol is well-known for his documentaries, and his latest project involves covering Jane’s career. Jane has little interest in the attention, but the committee who appointed her loves the idea of the publicity.

Jane finds herself depending on Reid’s calm manner as he follows her around filming, and they begin working together to clear her father. But R

eid has his own secrets from the past, and the gulf between them may be impossible to cross—especially once her father’s lie catches up with him.

You can go here for preorder links: https://colleencoble.com/books/17986/

The preorder links are up for The House at Saltwater Point! Here’s a little bit about the book:

The dangerous beauty of Lavender Tides is harboring secrets that reach around the world.

Ellie Blackmore is making a name for herself as a house flipper. But when her sister Mackenzie disappears, Ellie can’t focus on anything but uncovering what happened. Her only clue is the bloodstain on the deck of Mackenzie’s boat. Ellie knows her sister isn’t on the best of terms with her ex-husband, Jason, but he wouldn’t kill her—would he?

Coast Guard intelligence officer Grayson Bradshaw believes Mackenzie faked her own death after stealing a seized cocaine shipment. The problem is convincing Ellie, who seems to view him as the true enemy.

Both Ellie and Grayson want truth, but truth—and family—is often more complex than it first appears. From international terrorism to the peaceful lavender fields of Puget Sound, The House at Saltwater Point is a thrilling race to uncover the truth before it’s too late.

The House at Saltwater Point

It’s nearly here! The first book in my new Lavender Tides series releases in January, and early reviews have this to say:

“Coble (Twilight at Blueberry Barrens) keeps the tension tight and the action moving in this gripping tale, the first in her Lavender Tides series set in the Pacific Northwest.”—Publishers Weekly

“Set on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula, this first volume of Coble’s (“Sunset Cove” series) new suspense series is a tensely plotted and harrowing tale of murder, corporate greed, and family secrets. Devotees of Dani Pettrey, Brenda Novak, and Allison Brennan will find a new favorite here.” –Library Journal

I love lavender so it was a no brainer to want to set a book series in what is called the Lavender Capital of the U.S. Here’s a little bit about The View From Rainshadow Bay.

After her husband, Jack, dies in a climbing incident, Shauna has only her five-year-old son and her helicopter charter business to live for. Every day is a struggle to make ends meet and she lives in constant fear of losing even more than she already has.

When her business partner is murdered, his final words convince Shauna that she’s in danger too. But where can she turn? Zach Bannister was her husband’s best friend and is the person she blames for his death. She’s barely spoken to him since. But right now he seems her only hope for protecting her son.

Zach is only too happy to assuage his guilt over Jack’s death by helping Shauna any way he can. But there are secrets involved dating back to Shauna’s childhood that more than one person would prefer to stay hidden.

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