Mysteries

Fat Tuesday
by Sandra Brown
Kindle $1.99 Rating: 4.4 #ad

Burke Basile is a cop with nothing left to lose. Haunted by his partner’s death, the end of his marriage, and the destruction of his career, he targets his nemesis, a flamboyant attorney who helps killers evade justice. Burke’s shocking revenge centers around kidnapping Remy, the lawyer’s trophy wife.

But Burke hasn’t planned on the scorching desire he’ll feel for this desperate woman, who rose from the slums of New Orleans to marry a man she can never love.

The Back Bedroom
by Gregg Olsen
Kindle $1.99 Rating: 3.8 #ad

In 1976, in the sealed back bedroom of a home in Washington state, authorities found the decomposing body of three-year-old Davey Weilbacher, beaten to death nearly two months prior.

Beyond that bedroom door was self-proclaimed prophet Leon Cunningham, who convinced his sheltered cult of family and friends—including Davey’s lost young mother—that the boy was possessed by the Devil. Exorcism was the only way to save him, leading to a ritualistic campaign of abuse, control, unimaginable violence, and murder.

Under Cover of Chaos
by Liz Wanic and Rebekah Wanic
Kindle $0.99 Rating: 4.7 #ad

When young women are found dead in the capital of the Central African Republic, United Nations official Stella Fairmont is reminded of the unsolved disappearance of a friend. As she investigates, she uncovers what may be a chilling pattern-similar deaths in another UN location.

The deeper she digs, the more twisted the view becomes, and Stella finds herself up against a system built on compromise where accountability is often an illusion. When the truth gets blurred and personal histories can be hidden, the only way to survive is to trust her instincts.

When the Bough Breaks
by Jonathan Kellerman
Kindle $1.99 Rating: 4.2 #ad

Dr. Morton Handler practiced a strange brand of psychiatry. Among his specialties were fraud, extortion, and sexual manipulation. Handler paid for his sins when he was brutally murdered in his luxurious Pacific Palisades apartment. The police have no leads, but they do have one possible witness: seven-year-old Melody Quinn.

It’s child psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware’s job to try to unlock the terrible secret buried in Melody’s memory. But as the sinister shadows in the girl’s mind begin to take shape, Alex discovers that the mystery touches a shocking incident in his own past.

The Wizards of Wall Street
by John Brooks
Kindle $0.50 Rating: 4.0 #ad

For decades, author and New Yorker staff writer John Brooks was renowned for his keen intelligence, in-depth knowledge, and uniquely engaging approach to the dramas and personalities of the financial and business worlds. With a style of prose that “turns potentially eye-glazing topics . . . into rollicking narratives,” Brooks proved that even the bottom line can be moving, hilarious, and infuriating all at once (Slate).

Here are three of his most fascinating works, which still resonate today.

Fire Weather
by John Vaillant
Kindle $1.99 Rating: 4.6 #ad

In May 2016, Fort McMurray, the hub of Canada’s oil industry and America’s biggest foreign supplier, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster melted vehicles, turned entire neighborhoods into firebombs, and drove 88,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the lens of this apocalyptic conflagration—the wildfire equivalent of Hurricane Katrina—John Vaillant warns that this was not a unique event, but a shocking preview of what we must prepare for in a hotter, more flammable world.

Fire has been a partner in our evolution for hundreds of millennia, shaping culture, civilization, and, very likely, our brains.

The Painting
by Sheila Myers
Kindle $0.99 Rating: 4.1 #ad

When Petula Kerslake returns to her childhood home in the Catskill Mountains, she discovers that the family painting hanging above the library mantel-long suspected to be valuable-is actually worth a staggering fortune. But the Fleming Foundation, which inherited the historic mansion and its contents, immediately moves to auction off the Sarah Cole masterpiece, citing fiduciary responsibility.

Determined to keep the painting in the family and community where it belongs, Petula and her siblings must navigate a web of family secrets, legal battles, and small-town politics.

48 Hours
by William R. Forstchen
Kindle $2.99 Rating: 4.5 #ad

In 48 hours, the Earth will be hit by a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from the Sun, a “Carrington Event” that has the power to shut down and possibly destroy the world’s electrical infrastructure. To try and prevent permanent damage, everything goes dark prior to the hit: global communications are shut down; hospital emergency generators are disconnected; the entire internet, media broadcasting, and cell phone systems are turned off.

Will the world’s population successfully defend itself in the wake of the CME, or will mass panic lead to the breakdown of society as we know it?

The Third Victim
by Phillip Margolin
Kindle $1.99 Rating: 4.2 #ad

A woman stumbles onto a dark road in rural Oregon—tortured, battered, and bound. She tells a horrific story about being kidnapped, then tortured, until she finally managed to escape. She was the lucky one—two other women, with similar burns and bruises, were found dead.

The surviving victim identifies the house where she was held captive and the owner, Alex Mason—a prominent local attorney—is arrested. Although he loudly insists upon his innocence, his wife’s statements about his sexual sadism and the physical evidence found at the scene, his summer home, is damning.

Mr. Whiskers
by Joshua Koester
Kindle $0.99 Rating: 4.6 #ad

To the universe, he is a Class Omega entity of undefined chaos, capable of rewriting reality and staring down elder gods. To Detective Emily Chen, he is Mr. Whiskers: a stray black cat who appeared at a crime scene, eats too much Fancy Feast, and refuses to stay off the furniture.

It is 1982 in Chicago, and the cracks in the world are starting to show. A cult obsessed with an ancient serpent is stealing artifacts, bodies are vanishing from the morgue, and a comet is hurtling toward Earth with an appetite for destruction.

The Baggers
by James Hale
Kindle $2.99 Rating: 4.7 #ad

But beneath the surface of Main Street USA, after nightfall, the streets belong to a new breed of scavengers: the Baggers—young men chasing quick cash and fleeting purpose, whose choices go far beyond stolen copper pipes and discarded DVD players.

When a seasoned outsider arrives and organizes the Baggers into something more dangerous, Saint Albans becomes a battleground—not just between rival crews, but for the souls of its youth. As violence erupts and alliances shift, crime families from distant cities tighten their grip.

Red Fox Woman
by Judy Ann Davis
Kindle $2.99 Rating: 4.3 #ad

Rancher Flint Ashmore never expected to find a redware potter squatting on the property he purchased along Cherry Creek with his four brothers and sister.

With a ruthless fiancé on her heels, Julia Gast has fled from Pennsylvania to the Colorado Territory to set up her pottery business and raise horses. She desperately needs not only the rich clay deposits of Cherry Creek, but also cash to survive. Against her better judgment, she aligns herself with a renegade Indian who helps her gather wild horses to sell to the same Army which is hunting him.

The Perfect Match
by Dandy Smith
Kindle $1.99 Rating: 4.1 #ad

Zara has always felt a little ordinary next to her spirited best friend Ivy. Even her dreams seem mundane: a boyfriend, marriage, children… Besides, who would pick her when they could choose lvy? So when Zara meets Henry and there’s an instant spark, she can’t believe her luck. A wealthy CEO who wants to settle down? He’s perfect…until Ivy insists he’s too good to be true.

As Henry and Ivy repeatedly clash, doubts creep into Zara’s mind.

Zero Hour (The NUMA Files)
by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown
Kindle $0.99 Rating: 4.4 #ad

It’s called zero point energy – a state of energy contained in all matter everywhere, and all but unlimited. Nobody has ever found a way to tap into it, however . . . until one scientist does.

The problem is, his machines also cause great earthquakes, even fissures in tectonic plates. One machine is buried deep underground; the other submerged in a vast ocean trench. If Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala and the rest of the NUMA team aren’t able to find and destroy them – and soon – the world will be on the threshold of a new era of catastrophe and unchecked volcanism.

Blood Moon
by Heather Graham and Jon Land
Kindle $1.99 Rating: 4.4 #ad

They may have managed to win a major battle against the powerful enemy determined to destroy civilization as we know it. But the war continues, with Alex and Sam embarking on a desperate journey to save mankind, even as their friendship blossoms into something much more.

The roadmap for their journey lies in a mysterious book, the language of which has never been deciphered, until Alex finds himself able to translate the words that may hold the keys to saving the future.

When You Call My Name
by Sharon Sala
Kindle $0.99 Rating: 4.6 #ad

Rediscover this romantic suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author Sharon Sala.

When Glory Dixon sees an injured man in her dreams who shares her same rare blood, she knows she must help by giving Wyatt the most precious gift of all—the gift of life. After the life-saving transfusion, Glory and Wyatt develop a connection that extends beyond blood. When Glory’s life is in danger, she communicates without words, and Wyatt jumps into action without hesitation to protect the stranger who saved his life.