Thursday’s Mystery eBooks
Miracles in Maggody
by Joan Hess
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Another outrageous Maggody mystery, starring police chief Arly Hanks alongside a smooth-talking televangelist and a whole town full of sinners.
Some days, police chief Arly Hanks can’t help but see Maggody, Arkansas, as little more than a cesspool of poverty, ignorance, and incest—the kind of glorified trailer park that gives the South a bad name. But hey, it’s home. So when silver-tongued televangelist Malachi Hope swoops into town, with a revivalist laser light show and plans to build a Christian theme park, Arly worries her beloved, if crazy, neighbors are about to be swindled. But it’s Malachi who should be terrified.
Brothers
by Jesse Storm
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Jameson Cooper has always been a law-abiding citizen in Blakemore. A few years ago, he was fortunate enough to get deputized. His brother, Holden Cooper, is the complete opposite. Holden could never keep down a job or hang on to a healthy relationship. For the most part, he is always getting himself in trouble.
One night, Holden Cooper is leaving a poker game after losing all of his money when he hears a gunshot. He turns around and runs toward the sound of trouble. When he gets there, Holden is shocked to discover a body. The man who won the poker game has been shot.
In the morning, the sheriff of Blakemore and all of the town’s citizens are quick to put the blame on Holden.
Check out:
(Western Frontier Justice War)
The Favor
by Nicci French
Rating: 3.9 #ad
In this twisty new stand-alone novel from internationally bestselling author Nicci French, a young woman agrees to do a favor for her first love—but when things go horribly wrong, one small task turns into a murder investigation that completely upends her life, ensnaring her in a deadly web of secrets and lies. It’s a simple enough favor.
Jude hasn’t seen Liam in years, but when he shows up at her work asking for a favor, she finds she can’t refuse. All Jude has to do is pick Liam up at a country train station—without telling anyone. So what if she has to lie to her fiancé? Jude is still committed to him and their imminent wedding, even if she and Liam were in love once. She owes him.
Cities in Flight
by James Blish, Betty Ballantine
Rating: 4.4 #ad
They Shall Have Stars, humankind has thoroughly explored the solar system, yet the dream of going even farther seems to have died in all but one man. His battle to realize his dream results in two momentous discoveries: anti-gravity and the secret of immortality. In A Life for the Stars, it is centuries later and antigravity generations have enabled whole cities to lift off the surface of the earth to become galactic wanderers. In Earthman, Come Home, the nomadic cities revert to barbarism and marauding rogue cities begin to pose a threat to all civilized worlds.
The Killing of Polly Carter
by Robert Thorogood
Rating: 4.4 #ad
When Polly Carter is found dead at the foot of a cliff, it looks like suicide, but DI Richard Poole is not convinced. Famous for her looks and wild party-girl lifestyle, her friends are adamant she would never have killed herself.
Seconded from London to the Caribbean island of Saint Marie, DI Poole is already at his wit’s end with the blinding heat. Unpicking the conflicting motives of a number of suspects and their stream of alibis is infuriating enough; a visit from his mother is the cherry on the cake.
An absolutely gripping crime thriller, The Killing of Polly Carter is perfect for fans of Midsomer Murders and Agatha Christie.
Murder in Plain English
by Michael Arntfield
Rating: 3.9 #ad
The book also analyzes the written work of killers, using a combination of machine-based linguistic patterning, predictive modeling, and symbolic interpretation, to make sense of the screeds of everyone from the Son of Sam and the Zodiac Killer to the Columbine attackers, the Unabomber, and the recent spate of mass shooters using social media as their preferred narrative platform.
They present a theoretical perspective of murder that is based on both the criminological evidence and written works. In addition, the authors examine famous literature that has dealt ingeniously with murder and its relationship with real crime, from the Greek tragedians to Truman Capote to modern-day productions such as Making a Murderer.
Hunter’s Quest
by Lynnea Lee
Rating: 4.4 #ad
MORGAN There’s a Xarc’n warrior stalking my land. Rhaz’k claims I’m “his,” but I belong to no one, especially not to a bossy purple alien with massive horns, sharp fangs, and huge muscles. But when the deadly space bugs invading Earth start showing up around my home, the overprotective warrior tosses me over his shoulder and carries me to his shuttle. Who does he think he is?
RHAZ’K Morgan calls me bossy, but her body scents of lust every time I’m near. I’ve been patient all season, giving her time to accept that she’s mine. She might scream at me now, but soon she’ll be screaming my name. Nothing will stop me from claiming my mate.
Guilty Knowledge
by Linda Griffin
Rating: 3.8 #ad
Detective Jesse Aaron has no leads in the murder of Rosa Logan when pretty blonde Sariah Brennan claims to have seen the killer – in a vision. Unfortunately the man she identifies is dead – or is he?Sariah is an unsophisticated small town girl, but her background and her motives are mysterious, and she seems to be hiding something. Jesse is increasingly convinced she has guilty knowledge of the crime, even as he finds himself more and more attracted to her. How can he unravel the web of secrets, without putting Sariah at risk, before the killer strikes again?