Wednesday’s Mystery eBooks
30 Second Death
by Laura Bradford
Rating: 4.5 #ad
When Tobi Tobias opened her own advertising agency, Carter McDade was there for her every step of the way. A brilliant hairdresser, Carter has just landed his dream project: doing hair and makeup for a theatrical production of Rapunzel. But the dream turns into a nightmare when he runs into Fiona Renoir, a cruel, talentless starlet who won’t let Carter touch a hair on her head.
To get Fiona out of Carter’s hair, Tobi hires the difficult actress for a bit part in her latest commercial. But true to character, Fiona is a terror on set, and Tobi is starting to think she’s made the biggest mistake of her life…
ThunderTree
by S. Cox
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Ben Evers is a drifter that never stays in one place too long, always hankering to see what’s over the next horizon. His traveling companion—an eagle. He lives by two rules. Mind his own business and always treat women with respect. The first rule stands him in good stead until he meets former Texas Ranger John T. McAllen and his niece Kate Landon. The two are drawing him into their lives and Ben knows from personal experience no good ever comes from getting involved in other folks’ trouble. John T. and his neighbor are caught up in a feud over land and Clary’s daughter. When danger strikes, swift and hard, Ben has a decision to make. Turn his back and ride away from people he’s grown to care about or break his rule of minding his own business, and stay and fight.
Bone Deep
by Kendra Elliot
Rating: 4.5 #ad
When two men kidnap former FBI agent Cate Wilde’s fiancé, the boldness of the crime rattles the community. Desperate to find the man she loves, Cate joins forces with the FBI and the local sheriff’s department to launch an investigation and bring Dr. Henry Powers home.
Cate soon learns that a brotherhood of bank robbers abducted Henry in the hopes that he might be able to save their youngest brother, who had been shot during a robbery. But this man is beyond saving, which spells life-threatening danger for Henry.
Pigeon Tony’s Last Stand
by Lisa Scottoline
Rating: 4.7 #ad
In this emotional short story by number one bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, one man’s past drives him to take a stand against his neighborhood’s criminal underbelly, whatever the personal cost.
When amiable Italian immigrant Pigeon Tony discovers that local drug dealers are pressuring his young neighbor into joining their ranks, he resolves to put an end to the crime wave before it can take over the community. Pigeon Tony knows the law isn’t always on the right side, but it takes only one person to rally a revolution.
The Casino Murder Case
by S.S. Van Dine
Rating: 4.7 #ad
The “tremendous popularity” of the Philo Vance series stems in part from author S. S. Van Dine’s preference for ripping his plots from the headlines of the day (The New York Times). By the early ’30s, when Casino came around, those headlines included some creepy chemical discoveries and scandalous doings at secret Manhattan gambling dens, where rich folks knocked back cocktails and played roulette, snickering at both the Depression and the Volsted Act. Philo, of course, is no stranger to cocktails or to snickering, and he knows more about creepy chemicals than the management at Dow.
The Beautiful Mystery
by Louise Penny
Rating: 4.6 #ad
When the renowned choir director is murdered, the lock on the monastery’s massive wooden door is drawn back to admit Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Sûreté du Québec. There they discover disquiet beneath the silence, discord in the apparent harmony. One of the brothers, in this life of prayer and contemplation, has been contemplating murder. As the peace of the monastery crumbles, Gamache is forced to confront some of his own demons, as well as those roaming the remote corridors. Before finding the killer, before restoring peace, the Chief must first consider the divine, the human, and the cracks in between.
Into the Fire
by Rick Mofina
Rating: 4.5 #ad
INTO THE FIRE, introduces Ray Wyatt, a veteran reporter grappling with the tragic loss of his wife and son while searching for answers in the crime stories he covers.
Hikers find a traumatized boy wandering in a remote corner of New York’s Adirondack Mountains. Retracing his steps to a cabin, they make a terrifying discovery that leads to an investigation entangling crime reporter Ray Wyatt and FBI Special Agent Jill McDade.
Wyatt is dispatched to cover the disturbing case, while still haunted by the loss of his son and wife years earlier.
Written in Bone
by Simon Beckett
Rating: 4.5 #ad
A forensic pathologist discovers a vicious killer loose on a remote Scottish isle in this British thriller by “one of the country’s best crime writers” (Sunday Express).
Dr. David Hunter should be at home in London with the woman he loves. Instead, as a favor to a beleaguered colleague, he’s on the remote Hebridean island of Runa to inspect a grisly discovery. David is shocked by what he finds: a body almost totally incinerated except for the feet and a single hand. The local police are certain it’s an accidental death, but David is not convinced.