Mysteries
Monday’s Mystery eBooks
Murder on a Bad Hair Day
by Anne George
Rating: 4.6 #ad
It’s hard to believe practical, petite ex-schoolteacher Patricia Anne and amiable, ample-bodied, and outrageous Mary Alice are sisters, yet sibling rivalry has survived decades of good-natured disagreement about everything from husbands to hair color. No sooner do the Southern sisters discover a common interest in some local art, when they’re arguing the artistic merits of some well-coiffured heads at a gallery opening. A few hours later, one of those pretty ladies ends up dead — with not a hair out of place. The other shows up on Patricia Anne’s doorstep dazed, disheveled, and telling a wild tale of a narrow escape from some deadly cuts. Now the sisters are once again combing for clues to catch a killer with a bizarre style in art — and murder.
Dr. No: A James Bond Novel
by Ian Fleming
Rating: 4.5 #ad
JAMES BOND IS PUT TO THE TEST AGAINST AN EGOTISTICAL SCIENTIST WITH NEFARIOUS AIMS
Dispatched by M to investigate the mysterious disappearance of MI6’s Jamaica station chief, Bond was expecting a holiday in the sun. But when he discovers a deadly centipede placed in his hotel room, the vacation is over.
On this island, all suspicious activity leads inexorably to Dr. Julius No, a reclusive megalomaniac with steel pincers for hands. To find out what the good doctor is hiding, 007 must enlist the aid of local fisherman Quarrel and alluring beachcomber Honeychile Rider.
The Bones Will Speak
by Carrie Stuart Parks
Rating: 4.5 #ad
A killer with a penchant for torture has taken notice of forensic expert Gwen Marcey . . . and her daughter.
When Gwen Marcey’s dog comes home with a human skull and then leads her to a cabin in the woods near her Montana home, she realizes there’s a serial killer in her community. And when she finds a tortured young girl clinging to life on the cabin floor, she knows this killer is a lunatic.
Yet what unsettles Gwen most is that the victim looks uncannily like her daughter.
Turkey Trot Trouble
by C.K. Fyfe
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Nothing good happens in the morning.
Case in point: the Turkey Trot 5K Race. For a night owl like Kenzie, the idea of dragging her bones out of bed to go running at the crack of dawn would typically be a nonstarter, especially on Thanksgiving Day. But her long-time best friend Blaise insisted, and the idea of disappointing him was even worse.
Trotting along with a bunch of cheerful folks in full-on turkey garb is bad enough. But when several runners collapse without explanation, Kenzie realizes she also has a mystery on her hands…
Picture Me Dead
by Heather Graham
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Police rookie Ashley Montague is shocked by the discovery of a body on the highway—and her glimpse of a mysterious hooded figure watching from the side of the road.
At another crime scene in the heart of the Everglades, Detective Jake Dilessio stares at the mutilated body of a woman—and notes the striking resemblance to previous victims he’s seen. But he put away a cult leader for those murders five years ago. Is this a copycat killing, or is the wrong man behind bars?
Interview with the Vampire
by Anne Rice
Rating: 4.5 #ad
The spellbinding classic that started it all, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author—the inspiration for the hit television series
Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly sensual, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force—a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses. It is a novel only Anne Rice could write.
The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft
by H. P. Lovecraft
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Another excellent edition in the Knickerbocker Classics series, The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft collects the author’s novel, four novellas, and fifty-three short stories. Written between the years 1917 and 1935, this collection features Lovecraft’s trademark fantastical creatures and supernatural thrills, as well as many horrific and cautionary science-fiction themes, that have influenced some of today’s writers and filmmakers, including Stephen King, Alan Moore, F. Paul Wilson, Guillermo del Toro, and Neil Gaiman. Included in this volume are The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, “The Call of Cthulhu,” “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath,” “At the Mountains of Madness,” “The Shadow Over Innsmouth,” “The Colour Out of Space,” “The Dunwich Horror,” and many more hair-raising tales.
A Life Stolen
by Vanessa Luther
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Through the initial days at home to hospital stays, living in a memory care unit, rehab stints and eventually hospice care, this book reveals many of the struggles encountered while facing Alzheimer’s in a world not quite ready for it. It is based on actual events depicted exactly as they happened while travelling the heartbreaking and harrowing road through this horrific illness. Its purpose is to give guidance and insight to others caring for loved ones with this terrible affliction, whether it is in providing helpful information, feelings of support or simply words of encouragement. Most importantly, the hope is that it will make the road for others an easier one to travel. May the many tears in this journey be the fortitude that helps others deal with the adversity from this overwhelming disease.
Sunday’s Mystery eBooks
A Terrible Village Poisoning
by Hannah Hendy
Rating: 4.1 #ad
The local mayor has a dinner date with death…
With school out for the summer, Margery and Clementine Butcher-Baker are taking advantage of the break to go on holiday. They plan to explore the village of St-Martins-on-the-Water and rest before the chaos of Mrs Smith’s impending hen do. By the end of their first night, the local mayor lies dead on the floor of the hotel restaurant, having been poisoned by his meal. The villagers are convinced: The Poisoner is back.
As the residents turn to the duo with suspicion and begin to freeze them out, Margery and Clementine are left with more questions than answers.
Black Sun
by Cameron Curtis
Rating: 4.3 #ad
The bad guys want her dead. But first they have to get past Breed.
Breed is on vacation in Arles, France when he sees a group of men open fire on a car. In the gun battle that ensues, a young girl escapes from the vehicle and runs for her life.
Breed pulls her to safety. Her name is Julia and she was abducted by the gang in the car. They forced her to take heroin, and when she was addicted, used her as a sex slave.
The slavers want to recapture Julia, and it soon becomes clear that the anonymous men who fired on the car want her dead. Breed is determined to keep Julia alive, but to do that, he’ll need to figure out who is after her and why.
Check out:
(A Breed Mysteries)
Whiskey Beach
by Nora Roberts
Rating: 4.4 #ad
#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts weaves together passion and obsession, humor and heart, in a novel of two people opening themselves up to the truth—and to each other.
For more than three hundred years, Bluff House has sat above Whiskey Beach, guarding its shore—and its secrets. But to Eli Landon, it’s home.
A Boston lawyer, Eli has weathered an intense year of public scrutiny and police investigations after being accused of—but never arrested for—the murder of his soon-to-be ex-wife.
Zero Cool
by Michael Crichton
Rating: 4.0 #ad
From the creator of Jurassic Park and ER
For American radiologist Peter Ross, it sounded like the perfect vacation: deliver one study in Spain and then spend the rest of his time on a Mediterranean beach. But he wasn’t planning on meeting Angela Locke, a dark-haired beauty with a big problem—she’s on the run from two warring gangs, each dead set on finding a mysterious artifact, and they’ll kill anyone who stands in their way.
It’s a desperate fight for survival across the European continent as Peter and Angela race to uncover a centuries-old secret before they become its next victim.
Clean Kill
by Stephen Leather
Rating: 4.6 #ad
‘Enthralling’ Financial Times *** ‘Explosive’ The Sun *** ‘Grabs the reader by the throat’ Daily Mail
Terrorists have shot down a British helicopter in West Africa and taken the crew hostage. Their lives are on the line and the British government is refusing to negotiate. The pilot is Liam Shepherd, and only his father – Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd of MI5 – can help.
Shepherd and an SAS team fly out to the badlands of Mali to rescue the kidnapped Brits.
Necrosis
by C. L. Schneider
Rating: 4.8 #ad
How far would you go to survive—when every breath could be your last?
Amidst the chaos and fear of an apocalyptic virus, a mother fights to protect her daughter from the rotting remains of society. Navigating a frightening new world where survival is paramount and trust is a gamble, infection is only a misstep away. Despite her doubts and imperfections, Amy’s love and resolve are without question. But are they enough? Can she shield her daughter from the violence and savagery, and keep them both alive another day? For, at the end of the world, there’s no second chance. With a single bite, necrosis will set in.
Courting Betsy
by Judy Ann Davis
Rating: 5.0 #ad
When Betsy Ashmore, adopted sister to a family of four brothers, discovers U.S. Marshal Luke Ashmore is lying wounded in a renegade Indian camp, she can’t refuse to help a brother in peril—especially one she has loved all her life. With the help of a wily Ute Indian, the spunky shopkeeper saddles up to rescue him.
Marshal Luke Ashmore never expected to be bushwhacked while escorting the young boy of a murdered army scout northward to Fort Collins in the Colorado Territory. Outlaws want the boy and believe he knows the location of a hidden treasure.
Saturday’s Mystery eBooks
The Crystal Crypt
by Fiona Veitch Smith
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Reporter sleuth Poppy Denby is asked to investigate the mysterious death of an up-and-coming female scientist in an Oxford laboratory known as the Crystal Crypt. The official verdict is that Dr June Leighton died in a tragic accident, but Dr Leighton’s lab assistant believes it was murder. However, when Poppy discovers that the colleague has spent time in a mental institution and has an unresolved murder in her own past, Poppy wonders if she is being misled. But then, another female academic is attacked, and Poppy herself becomes a target.
Dragon Sparks
by Lea Carter
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Nothing ever happens in Herrixka. That’s part of what drew Leuna back after she completed her medical training. She just wants to catalogue the local flora, tend scraped knees, and live quietly. Her peaceful life is upended by the arrival of a dark-skinned stranger from the land of Marroi who has no memories. While treating him, she discovers that he has an extremely rare and dangerous condition–mind fevers. He saved her life, but can she save his? Or is he doomed to insanity? **Story includes a field-dressing scene.
The Secret of Adam Grey
by Amy Cross
Rating: 5.0 #ad
Brand new Release
The year is 1782, and Crowford is a town of danger and intrigue. Smugglers are running riot, controlling the streets as they move their contraband from the beach to the shadows. Drunks and murderers fill the inns, threatening danger to anyone who dares disrupt their hushed conversations. Blood flows freely.
And above all this madness hangs the constant fear of soldiers arriving from London to visit their own blend of violence and terror upon the town.
Adam Grey is a man on a mission. Equally comfortable with the dregs of society and the richest aristocrats, he moves between two worlds, constantly trying to keep his plans in motion…
Deep Focus
by Gloria Repp
Rating: 4.6 #ad
A scheming woman.
A man she can’t fathom.
A mystery that endangers her career.
Is this how God answers Lindsey’s prayers?
Lindsey Dumont, photographer, travels to the rugged coast of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula to finish her photo essay on a rare breed of Makah dogs. But disaster looms for her project, and she decides to fight back. Now she must confront the man who deceived her and unravel a threatening mystery.
Clash of Eagles
by Alan Smale
Rating: 4.2 #ad
Perfect for fans of action-adventure and historical fiction – including novels by such authors as Bernard Cornwell, Steve Berry, Naomi Novik, and Harry Turtledove – this stunning work of alternate history imagines a world in which the Roman Empire has not fallen and the North American continent has just been discovered. In the year 1218 AD, transported by Norse longboats, a Roman legion crosses the great ocean, enters an endless wilderness, and faces a cataclysmic clash of worlds, cultures, and warriors.
Ever hungry for land and gold, the Emperor has sent Praetor Gaius Marcellinus and the 33rd Roman Legion into the newly discovered lands of North America. Marcellinus and his men expect easy victory over the native inhabitants, but on the shores of a vast river the Legion clashes with a unique civilization armed with weapons and strategies no Roman has ever imagined.
Robert Ludlum’s
by Douglas Corleone
Rating: 4.1 #ad
Prominent U.S. Senator James Wyckoff hires former government agents-turned-private security consultants Janson and Kincaid to locate his teenage son Gregory. Gregory’s girlfriend Lynell has been found strangled in a Seoul hotel, and Gregory has fled the city to avoid being arrested for the crime. But Senator Wyckoff insists that his son is innocent, suggesting that Lynell, who was a translator, may have been murdered because of something she overheard at a recent international conference. And when Janson and Kincaid realize they’re being hunted by an assassin, they suspect that this crime–and the cover-up–were orchestrated by a shadowy unit of the U.S. State Department as part of a larger plot to provoke violence between North and South Korea.
Papa and the Little Queen
by Kathleen Vincenz, Daniel Vincenz
Rating: 5.0 #ad
Four-year-old Thérèse skipped to the garden to tell her papa she has learned to read her first word, Heaven. After a make-believe tea party, they head for a walk through the city of Lisieux to celebrate. Along the way, Therese and Papa meet many people and share their simple, joyous love for God and each other. When it begins to rain, they hurry home but not before Therese learns that God and Heaven are always near.
A delightful story that illustrates the joy and faith exuded by St. Thérèse, Michelle Buckman, award-winning writer and editor.
Life after Life
by Beatrice Brunner
Rating: 4.2 #ad
In this book 12 deceased human beings describe their initial experiences and encounters in the beyond. These personal accounts, transmitted through the Swiss deep trance medium Beatrice Brunner, are impressive testimonies of the continuation of life after death and provide revealing insights into the world that awaits us. Each of these accounts gives us information which goes far beyond what has been ascertained by classical thanatology.
“My name is Mathys … When I arrived here in the beyond, I was astonished at the reception I was given. My parents, who had returned to the spirit world a long time before, came to greet me and were overjoyed to see me. ‘Now you need never worry again about your daily bread!’ they told me.”
Friday’s Mystery eBooks
Southern Discomfort
by Caroline Fardig
Rating: 4.2 #ad
Southern hospitality meets deadly deception in the start of a charming new mystery series from the USA Today bestselling author of the Java Jive novels.
Quinn Bellandini loves her life in Savannah, Georgia, where she runs her grandfather’s B&B with her sister, Delilah. From baking fresh scones and serving up grits every morning to ensuring the guests see the best of their historic city, Quinn can’t imagine doing anything else—even if it means dealing with nuisances like the occasional malfunctioning commode. But when Quinn drops by the local restaurant owned by her friend Drew Green, and stumbles upon a murder, her whole world comes crashing down.
Buried Sins
by Marta Perry
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Wanted: Dead or Alive. Had her brand-new husband been involved in something criminal? Before Caroline Hampton could confront him, he was killed in a car crash . . . or so it was claimed.
Unsettling incidents – escalating in danger – warned her he could be very much alive. And so Caroline fled for the safety of her sisters’ Amish country inn. But someone who suspected her – handsome police chief Zachary Burkhalter – was waiting for Caroline. Waiting for her to slip up. And watching her every move. Daring her to trust him with all of the truth.
Broken Rhodes
by Kimber Silver
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Kinsley Rhodes blows into Harlow, Kansas like a tornado, twisting Sheriff Lincoln James’ life into knots. Her grandfather has been murdered and she wants answers.
As if the town’s first homicide in twenty years wasn’t enough, the beleaguered sheriff now has to deal with Henry Rhodes’ bobcat of a granddaughter, plunging his life deeper into chaos. As a dark storm threatens, long-held secrets are exposed, placing Kinsley directly in harm’s way.
In a race against time, Lincoln’s prime objective is to discover the killer’s identity before Miss Rhodes becomes the next victim…
Gunmetal Magic
by Ilona Andrews
Rating: 4.6 #ad
After being kicked out of the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, Andrea’s whole existence is in shambles. She tries to put herself back together by working for Cutting Edge, a small investigative firm owned by her best friend. When several shapeshifters working for Raphael Medrano—the male alpha of the Clan Bouda, and Andrea’s former lover—die unexpectedly at a dig site, Andrea is assigned to investigate. Now she must work with Raphael as her search for the killer leads into the secret underbelly of supernatural Atlanta. And dealing with her feelings for him might have to take a back seat to saving the world…
A Broken Bone
by Melinda Leigh
Rating: 4.5 #ad
The mysterious death of a local teen leads to a hunt for a killer in the sixth Widow’s Island novella by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.
On Widow’s Island, the secrets are dark…and everybody has one. So when Deputy Tessa Black responds to a call about an explosion in a quiet neighborhood, she gets more than she bargained for: the body of a teen who went missing weeks ago.
Until recently, Gavin was living in a reputable foster home. But now that he is found dead—Tessa can’t help but wonder if sinister forces are at play. Who would want to hurt him, and why?
The Shining
by Stephen King
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Jack Torrance’s new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he’ll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote . . . and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.
The Crowded Cosmos
by Hagai Netzer, Ami Ben Bassat
Rating: 4.8 #ad
A comprehensive exploration of our search for life in the cosmos and its implications on understanding where we came from – and where we are headed.
Are we alone in the universe?
In mid-2021, the US Congress was presented with an unprecedented report on possible encounters with objects of unexplained origin, officially dubbed “Unidentified Arial Phenomena.”
With the official backing of scientific and defense communities, the possibility of a cosmos crowded with intelligent life grows ever more likely. But what would intelligent life beyond Earth look like? Could we even begin to comprehend it? How far are we from the definitive answer we’re looking for?