Mysteries
Tuesday’s Mystery eBooks
Wine and Dead, Another Murder
by Christa Nardi
Rating: 4.7 #ad
A murder and a toxic substance in a vineyard would spell doom for the manager of any winery. And when that manager is a woman, a rarity in the wine industry, people are quick to place the blame on her shoulders. Even though Sheridan’s husband, Brett, and his partner are already on the case, the amateur sleuth, is quick to jump in. In her search for clues, Sheridan and her friends explore the offerings at several nearby vineyards, where they discover more than great wine.
Check out:
(A Sheridan Hendley Mysteries)
The Excursion
by T.O. Paine
Rating: 3.9 #ad
“The end blew my mind. I did not see that coming. . .” ★★★★★ – Readers’ Favorite
Randall the Hunter goes to the window. Opens the curtains. The blizzard rages outside. He says no one is leaving. He says nothing will stop the hunt. Nothing will stop the excursion.
Charly Highsmith is a survivor. Abandoned by her parents, she spent her teens looking after her autistic brother on the bitter streets of Denver, Colorado, with nothing but a jacket and a backpack.
The Last Party
by Clare Mackintosh
Rating: 4.2 #ad
On New Year’s Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests. His vacation homes on Mirror Lake are a success, and he’s generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbors.
But by midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake.
On New Year’s Day, Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects. The tiny community is her home, so the suspects are her neighbors, friends and family—and Ffion has her own secrets to protect.
Special Agent Maximilian
by Mimi Barbour
Rating: 4.6 #ad
In this electrifying romantic suspense set in the steamy streets of New Orleans, Lieutenant Commander Nik Baudin accidentally meets up with an identical twin he never knew existed. When his brother Max goes missing, Nik assumes his identity as Special Agent Maximilian. This gives him access to FBI files making it easier to arrest the gangsters who attacked his brother and to stop their trafficking of underage girls. Being that Nik has specialized commando training, he’s the perfect man for the job – that’s if his PTSD doesn’t kick in and leave him cowering in a corner…
Check out:
(Undercover FBI Mysteries)
The Sword of Reckoning
by Lea Schizas
Rating: 4.4 #ad
A fatal judgment call from the past comes back to haunt the now prestigious Detective Savannah Flowers, unmasking long-forgotten memories, and quickly realizing her deadliest enemy may be someone closest to her.
An event from fifteen years ago pushed Savannah to pursue a career as a homicide detective. A current case now stirs that horrific night to the surface, with all mounting evidence pointing it has something to do with her past. Teetering solely on intuition, she pushes to discover answers to the multitude of questions that will not only help solve the crimes but perhaps unravel intuitions stirring lately.
I’m Not Scared
by Niccolò Ammaniti
Rating: 4.0 #ad
Southern Italy, 1978. In the midst of a relentlessly hot summer, as the adults stay inside tending to their own business, six children explore the scorched wheat fields that enclose their tiny Italian village. When the gang find a dilapidated farmhouse, nine-year-old Michele Amitrano makes a discovery so momentous that he doesn’t dare tell a soul. It is a secret that Michele doesn’t fully understand, yet it will force him to question everything and everyone around him, and will bring his innocent world toppling down.
EMP Shelter In Place
by James Hunt
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Ben will encounter an enemy with no moral compass, and an unrelenting fire that threatens to burn his home, and his family, to ash.
When an EMP sends the small mountain town of Bear Ridge into darkness, Firefighter Lieutenant Ben Riker must hike to the city of Asheville to rescue his two young sons. But on his journey, Ben discovers that the EMP was only the beginning of a far deadlier plot.
Monday’s Mystery eBooks
Partners in Lime
by Bree Baker
Rating: 4.6 #ad
It all seems to be smooth sailing for Everly Swan. The island of Charm, North Carolina is hosting tons of fun summer events, her iced tea shop is a hit, and best of all, she’s finally dating the handsome Detective Grady Hays. But their romantic bubble bursts when tragedy strikes: a surf-pro is found murdered on the beach, killed with a theater prop.
Grady follows the evidence, all of which points to Matt, Everly’s friend and one-time fling. As Grady does his job, so does Everly—her unofficial chef-turned-sleuth-job, that is…
Secrets
by Fern Michaels
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Every antique tells a story. Cullen and Luna Bodman learned that through their parents’ furniture business. Now, with their restoration shop and café, they often find themselves at the center of those stories, unraveling mysteries for their clients. The old steamer chest that Cullen receives from an anonymous source is fascinating in its own right. But inside, Cullen discovers more—a locked diary accompanied by a letter, asking for the diary to be restored to its rightful owner. Also in the trunk is a wooden box containing ticket stubs and an undated carnival flyer.
The Fifth Doctrine
by Karen Robards
Rating: 4.7 #ad
With her back against the wall, everything’s on the line for Bianca St. Ives. She’s either going to save the world—or die trying.
It took one hell of an effort for the authorities to finally get the jump on master manipulator Bianca St. Ives, but now that they have, it’s far from the capture she expected. Instead of taking her in, there’s an offer on the table, a one-shot deal that would allow Bianca to walk away scot-free as if they’d never found her. And all she has to do is run one last mission—the kind she might never return from. But if Bianca wants to go back to her normal life in Savannah, it’s not like she has a choice.
The Evening and the Morning
by Ken Follett
Rating: 4.6 #ad
It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns.
In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined. A young boatbuilder’s life is turned upside down when his home is raided by Vikings, forcing him and his family to move and start their lives anew in a small hamlet where he does not fit in. . . .
Double Agent
by Tom Bradby
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Kidnapped in Venice by a Russian defector, Kate knows she’s in trouble. But when he offers her conclusive video evidence that the British Prime Minister is a live agent working for Moscow, Kate’s holiday quickly becomes the start of her next mission.
Riddled with doubt that the evidence she is presented with may not in fact be as bulletproof as it seems, Kate reopens the investigation into the PM. As she works through the case, Kate runs up against key people at the heart of the British Establishment who refuse to acknowledge the reality in front of them. And, more worryingly, clear signs that there’s still a mole in her department.
The Girls of Atomic City
by Denise Kiernan
Rating: 4.3 #ad
The incredible story of the young women of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, who unwittingly played a crucial role in one of the most significant moments in U.S. history.
The Tennessee town of Oak Ridge was created from scratch in 1942. One of the Manhattan Project’s secret cities, it didn’t appear on any maps until 1949, and yet at the height of World War II it was using more electricity than New York City and was home to more than 75,000 people, many of them young women recruited from small towns across the South. Their jobs were shrouded in mystery, but they were buoyed by a sense of shared purpose, close friendships–and a surplus of handsome scientists and Army men!
The Pain Tourist
by Paul Cleave
Rating: 4.3 #ad
James Garrett was critically injured when he was shot following his parents’ execution, and no one expected him to waken from a deep, traumatic coma. When he does, nine years later, Detective Inspector Rebecca Kent is tasked with closing the case that her now retired colleague, Theodore Tate, failed to solve all those years ago.
But between that, and hunting for Copy Joe – a murderer on a spree, who’ s imitating Christchurch’ s most notorious serial killer – she’ s going to need Tate’ s help … especially when they learn that James has lived out another life in his nine-year coma, and there are things he couldn’ t possibly know, including the fact that Copy Joe isn’ t the only serial killer in town…
First Survivor
by Mark Unger
Rating: 4.8 #ad
An inspirational real life cancer memoir of a family’s journey and the impossible miracle that led to their son’s becoming a childhood cancer survivor.
This is a thriller about a family’s battle to save their toddler son from a “zero chance of survival” diagnosis. With the world’s best doctors and the advocacy of his parents, Louis Unger would fight a 5-year battle for his young life. His grit and incredible attitude led to a breakthrough that would change how cancer is treated today. This is not a medical journal or a how-to guide. It is a true page-turner that gives you a front row seat to a miraculous story of courage, inspiration and determination. All proceeds from this book will go to the Carrot Seed Foundation where they will be used to fund Neuroblastoma clinical trials and support the children and families who are stricken by this disease.
Sunday’s Mystery eBooks
Misery Loves Maggody
by Joan Hess
Rating: 4.5 #ad
When Chief of Police Arly Hanks came home to Maggody, Arkansas, after a bad divorce, she thought life here would be simpler than it was in New York City. But it’s been one insane episode after another, and the latest eruption of chaos may just drive poor Arly around the bend. After all, Maggody is more than a town; it’s a state of mind—and that mind is a bit deranged.
When Arly’s mother, Ruby Bee Hanks, and a few fanatics leave town on a pilgrimage to Graceland, Arly hopes for a few days of peace and quiet. But before you can say, “Blue Suede Shoes,” one of the Elvis enthusiasts has been found dead, and the Memphis police are flummoxed by the tourists’ unique brand of crazy…
Never Go Back
by Lee Child
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Former military cop Jack Reacher makes it all the way from snowbound South Dakota to his destination in northeastern Virginia, near Washington, D.C.: the headquarters of his old unit, the 110th MP. The old stone building is the closest thing to a home he ever had.
Reacher is there to meet—in person—the new commanding officer, Major Susan Turner, so far just a warm, intriguing voice on the phone…
Utopia House Murder
by Stephanie Parker McKean
Rating: 4.4 #ad
When Lolia Davenport is gifted a winning lottery ticket, she doesn’t use the money for herself. She purchases a historic mansion in Brady, Texas, and fills it with friends who have end-of-life ambitions, but lack funding to make their dreams reality. With a name like “Utopia House” and an eclectic mix of people who quickly become friends – and with plenty of money – Utopia House should be as perfect as the name.
But something dark and sinister hides within the iconic building – murder. And when murder escapes from its hiding place – no one is safe.
Creatures of the Otherworld
by Brogan Thomas
Rating: 4.8 #ad
They howl, burn, bleed, and curse with the best of them. But can these fierce supernatural gals stay alive until the big showdown?
Forrest Hesketh craves freedom. Unable to escape her wolf form, she snarls at her abusive pack while trying to help the scant few who’ve ever offered her a kind word. But when she breaks back into human shape and becomes a highly desirable mate, she draws a dangerous amount of unwanted attention.
Immersed in a shadowy otherworld where the only rule is might makes right, Forrest battles vampires, unicorns, and demonic beasts as she searches for allies…
Loves Music, Loves To Dance
by Mary Higgins Clark
Rating: 4.6 #ad
After college, best friends Erin Kelley and Darcy Scott move to the city to pursue exciting careers—Erin is a promising jewelry designer and Darcy finds success as a decorator. On a lark, Darcy persuades Erin to help their TV producer friend research the kinds of people who place personal ads. It seems like innocent fun…until Erin disappears.
Erin’s body is found on an abandoned Manhattan pier—on one foot is her own shoe, on the other, a high-heeled dancing slipper. Soon after, startling communiques from the killer reveal that Erin is not the first victim of this “dancing shoe murderer.”
Whispers of Betrayal
by Michael Dobbs
Rating: 4.1 #ad
Wayward backbencher Tom Goodfellowe makes his third appearance in the new novel of treachery at the highest levels from the bestselling author of House of Cards.
Colonel Peter Amadeus is an old soldier with a grievance. He wants an apology from the Prime Minister. But this Prime Minister does not believe in apologizing for anything.
For Amadeus it becomes a matter of honour – and retribution. Soon London is a city under siege, its lifelines cut. Then comes his ultimatum: the Prime Minister must resign – or London will be destroyed.
Triggers
by Terry Toler
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Suspense with a touch of romance from International best selling author, Terry Toler.
Ginny moves to Winters, Texas to hide from her abusive husband who intends to kill her.
When she takes a self-defense firearms class, she meets Jake. A war hero with PTSD. He wants to protect her. Will she let him? Sparks fly. So do bullets when her husband finds her. Will Trigger, the loveable German Shepherd with military skills, help save both of them?
Saturday’s Mystery eBooks
Flirting With Death
by Patricia Grasso
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Zara Romano sees dead people. New England’s best mortician, Zara and two of her older brothers own Romano Funeral Home in Salem, Massachusetts. Zara is a mingling of two nationalities, Irish and Italian. She’s Irish on the outside, complete with red hair, blue eyes and freckles, but she’s Italian on the inside, with a temper to match. The youngest sibling of seven and the only female, Zara loves her brothers but thinks they’re too bossy. Two of her brothers serve on the Salem Police Force, one is police chief and the other a detective.
Zara’s two widowed nanas live next door. She can always rely on a home-cooked meal, unless her nanas are trolling funerals for new boyfriends. Another bossy man in her life is Zara’s ex-boyfriend, Marcello Ponti…
Dead Like You
by Peter James
Rating: 4.3 #ad
The Metropole Hotel, Brighton. After a heady New Year’s Eve ball, a woman is attacked as she returns to her room. A week later, another woman is assaulted. Both victims’ shoes are taken by the offender . . .
Roy Grace soon realizes that these new cases bear remarkable similarities to an unsolved series of crimes in the city back in 1997. Dubbed ‘Shoe Man’, the perpetrator was believed to have attacked five women before murdering his sixth victim and vanishing. Could this be a copycat, or has Shoe Man resurfaced?
Tricks and Treachery
by Sherri Stewart
Rating: 5.0 #ad
Was she her sister’s keeper? Leah was all the family Brynn Kingston had left, and she’d made that promise to her mother before she passed away to take care of her little sister. But when she learned Leah was engaged to a man she’d met online—a man who probably didn’t exist at least in the form he presented online—Brynn knew she had to expose the scammer before her sister’s small nest egg was gone. But then she met the scammer face-to-face. Best-laid plans.
Was he his brother’s keeper? Although Ben Fisher had been shunned by his community and his parents, he stayed as close as he dared so he could keep an eye on his family—his ailing father who depended on his younger brother, Samuel, to run the farm, and Sam himself who spent a few afternoons a week helping out in Ben’s office.
The Fourth Shadow
by Amy Cross
Rating: 4.4 #ad
The year is 1970, and Sister June arrives in New York to investigate reports of a vampire. Teaming up with an old friend, she soon finds herself drawn into the world of the mysterious Count Bastiani. But is Bastiani really what he seems to be, or has the First Order been duped?
As June continues her investigation, she’s forced to confront a shocking crisis of faith. When tragedy strikes, all her certainties begin to fade and she finds herself questioning some of her deepest beliefs. Can she discover the truth about Bastiani, or will he bring her entire world crashing down? And what other sinister force is lurking in the shadows, waiting to make its move?
The Curse of the Shadow God
by Abbey Fox
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Forced into an arranged marriage, a sorceress will stop at nothing to regain her freedom.
Violet Elder escapes her wedding night and sets out to find the family she was stolen from as a child. The Society of Crows is already hunting her, and every moment she spends in the Kingdom is one moment closer to death.
When her new husband, Gavin Luna catches her in the City of Scoria, undeniable chemistry blurs the line between friend and foe. He’s her enemy, and after being betrayed by everyone she considers a friend, how can she let down her guard to trust him of all people?
Deep River
by Karl Marlantes
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Born into a farm family, the three Koski siblings – Ilmari, Matti, and Aino – are raised to maintain their grit and resiliency in the face of hardship. This lesson in sisu takes on special meaning when their father is arrested by imperial Russian authorities, never to be seen again. Lured by the prospects of the Homestead Act, Ilmari and Matti set sail for America, while young Aino, feeling betrayed and adrift after her Marxist cell is exposed, follows soon after.
The brothers establish themselves among a logging community in southern Washington, not far from the Columbia River. In this New World, they each find themselves – Ilmari as the family’s spiritual rock; Matti as a fearless logger and entrepreneur; and Aino as a fiercely independent woman and union activist who is willing to make any sacrifice for the cause that sustains her.
No More Darkness
by Stacey Wilk
Rating: 4.0 #ad
Wedding Planner Aria Scirocco has her life on track after her divorce. She’s engaged to a stable and pragmatic man. Her company is doing well, and her biggest client is getting married this weekend. Nothing can jeopardize all her hard work. Except a snowstorm derails her plans and dumps her ex-husband and their unfinished business in her path.
Hawk Egan wants his ex-wife back. When the storm strands Aria, he jumps at the opportunity to come to her rescue. Getting stuck in a hotel without power is a bonus. As long as the snow continues to fall, he has a shot to make her love him again…