Mysteries
Friday’s Mystery eBooks
murder@maggody.com
by Joan Hess
Rating: 4.2 #ad
When the uproarious town of Maggody, Arkansas, plugs into the Internet, the digital age turns deadly.
Aside from the odd stolen dog or vandalized lawn ornament, there’s been no recent crime in Maggody, Arkansas, population 755, and that’s how Chief of Police Arly Hanks likes it. Things have been so quiet she’s taken to sitting in on school-board meetings, and she’s doing just this when the high school announces the new computer lab, which will be open to everybody in town. To Arly—who doesn’t trust her neighbors to handle a toaster, much less a computer—it seems like an invitation to disaster. Little does she know that when Maggody logs on, the results will be murderous.
The Year of Secrets
by Silvia Villalobos
Rating: 5.0 #ad
A mystery novel in the style of Michael Connelly’s stories set against the backdrop of Los Angeles.
After a difficult year, Zoe Sinclair seeks solace in vain. Her life takes an unexpected turn when her law mentor is found dead, and a series of disappearances grip everyone’s attention. In the midst of L.A.’s captivating but mysterious scenery, she is soon pulled into a web of secrets that have been kept hidden for too long. Unexpected encounters reveal that strangers know too much about her. Her friends become suspicious, and secrets, once whispered, ignite the flames of reckoning. She defies caution and joins forces with the LAPD.
A Stranger’s Game
by Colleen Coble
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Even though Torie Bergstrom hasn’t been back to Georgia since she was ten, she was happy to arrange a job for her best friend at one of the family properties on Jekyll Island. But when Torie learns that Lisbeth has drowned, she knows it is more than a tragic accident: Lisbeth was terrified of water and wouldn’t have gone swimming by choice.
Torie goes to the hotel under an alias, desperate to find answers. When she meets Joe Abbott and his daughter while they are rescuing baby sea turtles, she can only hope they are as trustworthy as they seem.
The Jake Grafton Collection
by Stephen Coonts
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Navy pilot Jake Grafton took the fight to the enemy in the Vietnam War, winning the Congressional Medal of Honor and becoming a legend in the military community. But now he must navigate life both in the cockpit and in the halls of power as he finds himself on the front lines of a new kind of war . . .
The Intruders: In this sequel to Flight of the Intruder, Grafton is stationed in the South Pacific on the USS Columbia, where his new mission is to educate an unruly group of Marines in the art of flying from an aircraft carrier. They better be fast learners, because they’ll have to work together to survive against an enemy unlike any they’ve ever faced.
Never Ignore Monica!
by Jim Lively
Rating: 3.8 #ad
All young Simon Steed wants is to be accepted by his peers, his teachers, and his family, and to be recognized for his special talents and superior intellect. Yet when everyone rejects and teases him instead, even accusing him of being “weird,” he hopes someday they’ll get what’s coming to them. One by one, each of them meets with sudden and dangerous accidents, some of them fatal. All the while, Simon observes in silence or learns later of their tragic outcomes. Could these coincidences be…?
After he meets a beautiful young woman named Monica in college, he’s smitten by her devoted attention and charm, but her abrupt disappearance breaks his heart. Did he ignore her? What went wrong?
The Child
by Fiona Barton
Rating: 4.2 #ad
As an old house is demolished in a gentrifying section of London, a workman discovers human remains, buried for years. For journalist Kate Waters, it’s a story that deserves attention. She cobbles together a piece for her newspaper, but at a loss for answers, she can only pose a question: Who has been found at the building site?
As Kate investigates, she unearths connections to a crime that rocked the city decades earlier: A child was stolen from the maternity ward in a local hospital and was never found. Her heartbroken parents were left devastated by the loss.
Paragon Walk
by Anne Perry
Rating: 4.2 #ad
When innocent Fanny Nash of exclusive Paragon Walk dies in the arms of her exquisite sister-in-law, Jessamyn, Inspector Pitt is assigned to investigate her rape and murder. Every man of Paragon Walk is under suspicion, even Pitt’s brother-in-law, Lord George Ashworth, who was the last to have seen her.
Could it be the charming, enigmatic Frenchman? Fanny’s cruel brother? Wealthy Dilbridge, who hosts wild, decadent parties?
The Eagle Has Landed
by Jack Higgins
Rating: 4.5 #ad
In November of 1943, an elite team of Nazi paratroopers descends on British soil with a diabolical goal: to abduct Winston Churchill and cripple the Allied war effort. The mission, ordered by Hitler himself and planned by Heinrich Himmler, is led by ace agent Kurt Steiner and aided on the ground by IRA gunman Liam Devlin.
As the deadly duo executes Hitler’s harrowing plot, only the quiet town of Studley Constable stands in their way. Its residents are the lone souls aware of the impending Nazi plan, and they must become the most unlikely of heroes as the fate of the war hangs in the balance.
The Last Hawk
by Catherine Asaro
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Reeling from a battle, pilot Kelric Valdoria crash-lands his Jag starfighter on Coba, the closest safe planet he can find after a Trader squad cripples his ship. Although the military of Kelric’s people have given Coba Restricted status, Kelric sees no reason for such draconian measures to isolate the seemingly benign world.
While recovering, the dashing Kelric becomes the target of affection for high-powered women in Coba’s matriarchal society, including Deha Dahl, an Estate Manager, and young Ixpar Karn, the chosen successor of the Minister. Distracted by their flirtations, Kelric doesn’t at first realize the Restricted status of the planet was their own choice—and that they can’t risk letting him go.
Thursday’s Mystery eBooks
Pineapple Valentine Mystery
by Amy Vansant
Rating: 4.6 #ad
USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Amy Vansant finds romance deadly in the latest installment of the fun, thrilling, twisty Pineapple Port Mysteries!
When Matchmaker Lady Venus drops dead on the Pineapple Port community center’s stage during a Valentine’s event, Charlotte and the new detective agency she’s started with her fiance Declan are called to the scene.
As danger mounts, she’ll need everyone’s help to keep Venus’ family safe, which means tapping into Declan’s giant, former employee salesman and his crazy Uncle Seamus—both of whom are falling for the ladies in their lives.
Niergel Chronicles – Last Hope
by D. I. Hennessey
Rating: 4.6 #ad
An ancient mystery… A skeptical genius… Powerful evil ancestors… A dangerous underworld Crime Syndicate… A horde of disembodied offspring of fallen angels who threaten the entire world!
A renowned scientist was orphaned at age eight and has grown to adulthood with no knowledge of his own ancestry. When he is awakened by an unusual visitor with an extremely urgent message, it leads to events that topple everything he has believed about reality.
Niergel Chronicles – Last Hope tells of a journey of discovery, danger, and extraordinary mysteries. It follows the fantastic adventure of a young man with a surprising heritage as he uncovers the astonishing truth about his family history and the earth’s past.
Ride Out the Storm
by Max Hennessy
Rating: 4.3 #ad
A gripping historical thriller set during the nine days which decided World War II—the Battle of Dunkirk – from the author of The Sea Shall Not Have Them.
26 May, 1940: The allies, faced with a shameful defeat, are trapped between the onslaught of the mighty German army and the tumult of the ocean’s waves. Those that do not die face capture and surrender to the Nazis.
Nine days later more than a quarter of a million men have been rescued, returned safely to the shores of England, and saved by an assorted flotilla of barges, tugs, rowing boats and dinghies.
The Black Widow
by Wendy Corsi Staub
Rating: 4.2 #ad
In a chilling new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub, one woman looking for love online is entangled in a killer’s terrifying scheme.
In the moonlight, shovelfuls of earth fall on a wooden crate at the bottom of a deep pit. Soon the hole will be filled and covered over with leaves, erasing all trace of the victim below, waking to the horror of being buried alive.
Newly divorced Gaby Duran isn’t really expecting to find her soul mate on a dating site like InTune. She just needs a distraction from pining over her ex-husband, Ben, and the happy marriage they once had.
Put a Lid on It
by Donald E. Westlake
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Meehan, a career thief staring at life without parole, is awaiting sentencing at the Manhattan Correctional Center when he is called to a meeting by someone masquerading as his lawyer.
The man, it turns out, represents the presidential re-election campaign committee — now finding itself in need of a little professional help. So they “outsource” Meehan in return for a walk from all pending criminal charges. All he has to do is steal a compromising video tape before the other side springs an “October Surprise” on the president.
The Forgotten Sister
by Nicola Cornick
Rating: 4.0 #ad
1560: Amy Robsart is trapped in a loveless marriage to Robert Dudley, a member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Surrounded by enemies and with nowhere left to turn, Amy hatches a desperate scheme to escape—one with devastating consequences that will echo through the centuries . . .
Present Day: When Lizzie Kingdom is forced to withdraw from the public eye in a blaze of scandal, it seems her life is over. But she’s about to encounter a young man, Johnny Robsart, whose fate will interlace with hers in the most unexpected of ways. For Johnny is certain that Lizzie is linked to a terrible secret dating back to Tudor times.
Scratch One
by Michael Crichton
Rating: 5.0 #ad
BRAND NEW RELEASE From the creator of Jurassic Park and ER
A pulp-fiction thrill ride through a deadly case of mistaken identity
Playboy Roger Carr is handsome, wealthy, and connected. As an occasional lawyer, he’s the right man to send to the French Riviera to secure a villa for an important client. It’s the perfect assignment, complete with fast cars and fast women, until strange things begin to happen and Roger realizes that someone is trying to kill him.
Gable: A Western Frontier Story
by James Leonard
Rating: 5.0 #ad
After Gable Heath’s wife is murdered by rogue Confederate soldiers, he retreats to the mountains with his young daughter to live in isolation.
But rancher Montgomery Widener doesn’t want anyone living in peace. The more trouble Widener and his outlaw gang cause, the more likely people will sell him their land for pennies on the dollar.
Once he owns everything. Once he owns everyone. He’ll divert the water to his private reservoir and charge townsfolks a fortune if they want to use it.
Pay and they can live. Don’t pay, and they can die.
The Secret Poisoner
by Linda Stratmann
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Murder by poison alarmed, enthralled, and in some ways even defined the Victorian age. Linda Stratmann’s dark and splendid social history reveals the nineteenth century as a gruesome battleground where poisoners went head-to-head with scientific and legal authorities who strove to detect poisons, control their availability, and bring the guilty to justice.
Separating fact from Hollywood fiction, Stratmann corrects many misconceptions about particular poisons and their deadly effects.
Wednesday’s Mystery eBooks
The Waitress
by Emily Shiner
Rating: 4.0 #ad
Anne Marie would love a son who is kind, respectful, obedient. But she’s got Dave.
Anne Marie’s life isn’t easy. She’s a single mom in a dead-end waitressing job with a beater car and bills to pay. Adding to the pressure, her teenage son, Dave, is out of control, and no matter what she does, Anne Marie can’t seem to get through to him.
Then, out of the blue, Dave completely changes. He’s kind, he’s thoughtful, he helps out around the house and looks after his mom. Anne Marie can’t believe her luck…
If It Bleeds
by Stephen King
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Readers adore Stephen King’s novels, and his novellas are their own dark treat, briefer but just as impactful and enduring as his longer fiction. Many of his novellas have been made into iconic films, including “The Body” (Stand by Me) and “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” (Shawshank Redemption).
The four brilliant tales in If It Bleeds prove as iconic as their predecessors. In the title story, reader favorite Holly Gibney (from the Mr. Mercedes trilogy and The Outsider) must face her fears, and possibly another outsider—this time on her own. In “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” an intergenerational friendship has a disturbing afterlife. “The Life of Chuck” explores, beautifully, how each of us contains multitudes. And in “Rat,” a struggling writer must contend with the darker side of ambition.
The Night of Four Hundred Rabbits
by Elizabeth Peters
Rating: 4.2 #ad
An unexpected “gift” has arrived for Carol Farley this Christmas: an envelope with no return address containing a newspaper clipping. Blurred but unmistakable is a photo of a man missing for years and feared dead – Carol’s father. It is a summons calling her to a world she has never known, to a place of ancient majesty and blood-chilling terror. Surrounded by towering pyramids on Mexico City’s Walk of the Dead, a frightened yet resolute young woman searches for a perilous truth and for the beloved parent she thought was gone forever.
The Orphans’ Amish Christmas
by Tracy Fredrychowski
Rating: 4.8 #ad
It will take an Amish miracle to save Christmas for the Willow Springs Children’s Home orphans.
When presents are stolen right before the annual Christmas benefit, Lydia Troyer and Aaron Shetler join forces with Detective Lewis Powers to unravel the mystery. The town’s Christmas spirit is tested by strange events that leave the community ready to cancel all holiday festivities.
When prominent Amish businessman Milo Glick goes missing, it will take special detective skills to discover the truth behind his sudden disappearance…
The Man in the Brown Suit
by Agatha Christie
Rating: 4.3 #ad
On a ship from London to South Africa, a young woman gets wrapped up in a deadly scheme, in this classic novel by the master of mystery.
New to London, Anne Beddingfeld is hungry for adventure, when she witnesses a shocking accident. At the Hyde Park tube station, a man named L. B. Carton falls onto the tracks, dying instantly. An address for Mill House is found on Carton’s person, but only Anne notices the slip of paper he dropped—with the name of a ship and an inscrutable series of numbers…
Lady Apprentice
by Toni Cabell
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Linden is the worst mage apprentice at her school. Her latest disaster: accidentally destroying her classroom when a small hooded fay pops up inside the fireball she’s just conjured.
Linden is sent to the headmaster’s office to be formally expelled, when she is saved by the bell—quite literally. Someone is frantically ringing the bell inside the watchtower overlooking the western frontier. Raiders are coming, in broad daylight, wearing the uniforms of the enemy army.
Collateral Damage
by Dale Brown, Jim DeFelice
Rating: 4.4 #ad
The fires still burn in Libya years after the fall of Gaddafi, forcing NATO to intervene in a new war that could have devastating consequences for the volatile region. But something has gone terribly wrong with a foolproof new superweapon, resulting in the shocking deaths of innocents.
The latest military miracle to come out of the Whiplash group was designed to eliminate any possibility of human error—yet the computer-controlled UAV drone inexplicably goes rogue while the whole world watches. With the entire Whiplash program under fire, the weapon’s creator heads into the warzone determined to find evidence of sabotage.
Eater of Souls
by Lynda S. Robinson
Rating: 4.4 #ad
In the city of Memphis in ancient Egypt, multiple victims have been found with their hearts torn from their chests, and white feathers left in their place. The latest corpse belongs to a Hittite prince who insulted King Tut—in whose service Lord Meren works. Now Meren must put aside his quiet inquiries into the death of Queen Nefertiti to investigate this new string of killings. The circumstances suggest the likely culprit is the god Ammut. But if the murderer is in fact mortal, it’ll be up to Meren and his adopted son to end the carnage . . .
A Six Letter Word for Death
by Patricia Moyes
Rating: 4.4 #ad
It’s a slow day at Scotland Yard, so Inspector Henry Tibbett takes a busman’s holiday, immersing himself in the world of puzzling puzzlers. The hijinks kick off with an amusing gift: Someone unnamed has sent Henry the beginnings of a crossword puzzle. Even more mysterious: The clues point to the group of mystery writers to whom Henry has pledged to give a presentation. Most mysterious of all: None of the writers are who they claim to be, and one is a murderer. Which one? For that you’ll need to solve the puzzle. Six across and then down, down, down.
Long, Lean, and Lethal
by Heather Graham
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Anything can happen on Valentine Valley. People recover from amnesia, awake from comas, and rise from the dead – all to the delight of the daytime soap’s millions of fans. But while Valentine Valley may be glamorous onscreen, behind the camera the soap’s grueling production schedule punishes actors, directors, and writers in the name of ratings. Soap star Jennifer Connolly is near her breaking point, and a murderer is about to push her over the edge. As Jennifer struggles to care for her ill mother, a serial killer stalks the lot, committing a gory string of murders inspired by classic Hitchcock films.
Evidence of Murder
by Lisa Black
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Eight months ago, forensic investigator Theresa MacLean lost her fiancé in a bank robbery gone wrong, and she’s had trouble concentrating on her work ever since. But when she investigates the death of a young mother that may have consequences for an innocent child, her attention is riveted by the harrowing case.
Jillian Perry has been found dead in the woods, leaving behind a husband of three weeks and a young daughter. The police can’t determine how she died—her body shows no visible marks, and the autopsy reveals nothing suspicious—and the leading theory is that she purposely wandered into the forest and succumbed to the freezing weather. But something doesn’t feel right to Theresa, and she can’t let it go.
The April Dead
by Alan Parks
Rating: 4.5 #ad
From an Edgar Award finalist: A cop tracks a shadowy, fanatical group in a “tightly plotted and fast-moving” noir mystery set in 1970s Glasgow (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
When an American sailor from the Holy Loch Base goes missing, Harry McCoy is determined to find him. But as he investigates, a wave of bombings hits Glasgow. Soon McCoy realizes that the sailor may be part of a shadowy organization led by a dangerous fanatic, and committed to a very different kind of Scotland. A Scotland its members are prepared to kill for.
Tuesday’s Mystery eBooks
“A” is for Alibi
by Sue Grafton
Rating: 4.1 #ad
A IS FOR AVENGER. A tough-talking former cop, private investigator Kinsey Millhone has set up a modest detective agency in a quiet corner of Santa Teresa, California. A twice-divorced loner with few personal possessions and fewer personal attachments, she’s got a soft spot for underdogs and lost causes.
A IS FOR ACCUSED. That’s why she draws desperate clients like Nikki Fife. Eight years ago, she was convicted of killing her philandering husband. Now she’s out on parole and needs Kinsey’s help to find the real killer. But after all this time, clearing Nikki’s bad name won’t be easy.
Wreck
by Shawn Luther
Rating: 3.9 #ad
Five seemingly unrelated stories become entwined during the course of a single night in this climactic novella. It all starts when Darya and her boyfriend Brian witness a man being held at gunpoint on the side of the highway. Despite Brian’s protests, Darya follows the perpetrator, determined to stop him somehow. The chase ensues until events begin to spiral out of control, mistakes are made, and people are forced to choose who lives and who dies.
A suspenseful thriller as well as an intimate character study, Wreck investigates a day in the life of five ordinary individuals who don’t always realize their presence in other’s lives. Short but effective, this book will have you clinging to each page.
The Heist
by Janet Evanovich, Lee Goldberg
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Nicolas Fox is an international con man, famous for running elaborate scams on very rich and powerful people. He knows that the FBI has been hot on his trail for years—particularly FBI Special Agent Kate O’Hare. But just when it seems that Fox has been captured for good, he pulls off his greatest con of all: He convinces the FBI to offer him a job, working side by side with O’Hare.
Their first assignment takes them to the side streets of Berlin, the California desert, and remote Indonesian islands as they team up to catch Derek Griffin, a corrupt investment banker charged with stealing millions from his clients.
The Survival Rule
by Stephen Penner
Rating: 4.3 #ad
A family on top of the world. With a long, long way to fall.
Attorney Daniel Raine is hired by Adam Harper, the son of Seattle’s biggest real estate developer. Adam wants to seize control of the family company by declaring his father mentally unfit.
There’s only one problem. It soon becomes clear that the old man is very much in possession of his mental faculties and Raine is going to lose the case. Ever the pragmatist, Raine decides to stick with it and rack up some billable hours.
But he soon finds himself in the middle of a deadly dispute as various members of this powerful family fight to gain control of the business. Each more ruthless than the last, they will stop at nothing to get what they want. Including murder.
Winter Counts
by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
Rating: 4.3 #ad
A groundbreaking thriller about a vigilante on a Native American reservation who embarks on a dangerous mission to track down the source of a heroin influx.
Virgil Wounded Horse is the local enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When justice is denied by the American legal system or the tribal council, Virgil is hired to deliver his own punishment, the kind that’s hard to forget. But when heroin makes its way into the reservation and finds Virgil’s nephew, his vigilantism suddenly becomes personal. He enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend and sets out to learn where the drugs are coming from, and how to make them stop.
Unsigned Card Murder
by Stephanie Parker McKean
Rating: 4.3 #ad
It’s a hoot-and-a-half when Rik Patience – who has no patience – sets out to discover why a “hot” guy at her church refuses to sign the pastor’s birthday card and ends up as a suspect in a murder investigation.
Rik engages the over-sixties members of the Closure Club book reading and mystery-solving group – who refuse to let the grey streaks in their hair define them – in her quest to answer the question – why does her secret heartthrob refuse to sign anything? Is he in witness protection, or is he a criminal?
Before Rik solves that mystery, she finds a body behind his house; is tackled by a ‘black bear’; is accused of poisoning an obnoxious woman who attends her church; and is threatened with the confiscation of her wild animal rescues – a fox, raccoon, jaguarondi, squirrel, and raven.
Immune
by Shannon Mayer
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Torn between a missing child, a friend in danger, and an FBI agent on her tail, she has no choice but to take help from a dangerous quarter. “My name is Rylee, and I am a Tracker.”
When children go missing, and the Humans have no leads, I’m the one they call. I am their last hope in bringing home the lost ones. I salvage what they cannot.
Underestimating demons is a bad idea, and it’s a mistake that may cost me not only my own life but the life of a missing child.
Empire of Shadows
by Vincent Valentean
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Vinnie Romano had it all. As the Don of a powerful Mafia crime family, he ruled over an empire with his wife and daughter at his side. But when an EMP attack decimates the nation’s power grid, Vinnie quickly comes to realize that his perfect life is over. As rival crime families and what’s left of law enforcement battle it out in the streets, Vinnie’s wife and daughter go missing in the chaos. Now armed with nothing more than his side arm and the knowledge imparted by his late father, Vinnie will fight his way through the apocalypse to find his family and make sure they get to safety, no matter the cost.
RECLAIMING ME
by Multiple Authors
Rating: 4.9 #ad
After years of deception, tragedy, lies, and trauma, these women need a change. Meet five incredible women who have been through the wringer, but never gave up. Join them as they fight to reclaim themselves, and forge forward to build a new and better life.
Watch out world, it’s time for RECLAIMING ME!
Mission: Believe – Stacy Eaton, USA Today Bestselling Author
The Bootlegger’s Legacy – Denise Devine, USA Today Bestselling Author
The Blue Dragon – Susanne Matthews
The Set Up – Dani Haviland, USA Today Bestselling Author
A Change of Heart – Patrice Wilton, NY Times Bestselling Author