Mysteries
Thursday’s Mystery eBooks
Christmas Cupcake Murder
by Joanne Fluke
Rating: 4.4 #ad
While Hannah speeds through a lengthy holiday checklist, drama in town grows like Santa’s waistline on Christmas Eve. Her sister Andrea wants to stave off the blues by helping out at The Cookie Jar, Michelle’s love life is becoming complicated, Lisa needs Hannah’s advice, and Delores has a Christmas secret she’s not willing to share. But nothing dampens the holiday mood more than the chilling mystery surrounding the man found near death in an abandoned storefront two doors down from Hannah’s bakery . . .
Check out:
(A Hannah Swensen Mysteries)
The Secrets We Keep
by A J Wills
Rating: 4.1 #ad
With every passing minute, hopes of finding Annie Warren alive are fading fast. The ten-year-old should have been home from school hours ago and her parents, Cathy and Kit, are frantic with worry.
The police seem completely clueless while the Warrens’ house is besieged by a news-hungry press pack.
Among them is Yannick Kellor, an ambitious TV reporter who’s spotted an opportunity to make name for himself. But that’s not his only reason for wanting to solve the mystery of Annie’s disappearance.
Vampire Librarian
by Kristin Kova
Rating: 4.2 #ad
Save London from an impending vampire apocalypse? Sorry, my week is all booked.
That’s a book pun—I’m a librarian. Specifically, the arcane archivist at the Witching Library in the heart of London.
Humans don’t know about the secret magical world of witches, shifters, and seers like me. So when vampires steal a dark codex from the library, no police come to save me when I’m caught in the crossfire. I’m left in a pool of blood, with a searing scratch on my arm.
When I transition and lose control of my new thirst, a dangerously powerful—and hot as hell—vampire pulls me back from the edge.
The Usual Santas Collection
by Multiple Authors
Rating: 3.9 #ad
Finally: the perfect stocking stuffer for the crime fiction lover in your life! With a foreword by CWA Diamond Award-winner Peter Lovesey, these eighteen delightful holiday stories by your favorite Soho Crime authors contain laughs, murders, and plenty more.
This captivating collection, which features bestselling and award-winning authors, contains laughs aplenty, the most hardboiled of holiday noir, and heartwarming reminders of the spirit of the season.
New Castle’s Kadunce Murders
by Dale Richard Perelman
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Author Dale Richard Perelman tells the tragic story of the 1978 murders and the mystery surrounding them.
In the summer of 1978, a mother and her four-year-old were stabbed to death in the quiet town of New Castle. Police suspected the husband, Lou Kadunce, but were unable to find either a weapon or a motive. Sitting in a Lawrence County jail in 1981, convicted serial killer Michael Atkinson accused Frank Costal – a carny, petty thief and Satanist – of having an affair with the Kadunce husband and participating in the murder. A series of intense trials ensued as Costal was convicted of the homicides and a jury found the husband not guilty. Questions surrounding the case gripped the region and grabbed headlines in the Pittsburgh Press.
Dory Returns
by William Black
Rating: 4.3 #ad
It’s 1869 in the New Mexico Territory and the frontier legend of Dory McLee is only growing. The farm girl is as skilled at riding, shooting and chasing criminals as much as her male counterparts.
Back east, thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, know about Dory thanks to the sensationalized dime books and pamphlets, yelling out her western moxie. Their stories, including the taming of a grizzly bear, may be exaggerated. Yet people have become enchanted with the young woman.
Funeral for a Friend
by Brian Freeman
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Jonathan Stride’s best friend, Steve Garske, makes a shocking deathbed confession: he protected Stride by covering up a murder. Hours later, the police dig up Steve’s yard and find a body with a bullet hole in its skull.
Stride is pretty sure he knows who it is. Seven years ago, an out-of-town reporter disappeared while investigating anonymous allegations of rape against a prominent politician. Back then, the police believed that the reporter drowned at a dangerous swimming hole called the Deeps … but the discovery of the body changes everything. Now Stride’s partner, Maggie Bei, is forced to ask Stride an uncomfortable question: Did you kill him?
Check out:
(The Jonathan Stride Mysteries)
Niergel Chronicles – Quest
by D. I. Hennessey
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Niergel Chronicles – Quest continues the fantastic adventures of Jeff Sutherland, a brilliant young scientist who encounters a closely guarded secret that topples everything he has believed about reality.
Dangerous enemies are stepping up their attacks as dark forces grow increasingly threatened by our hero’s discoveries. He is, meanwhile, drawn more deeply into his search for the truth about his heritage and the earth’s past.
Book Two, Quest is the story of Jeff’s soul-stirring pursuit of truth. Not just the truth about his lost family but also the most extraordinary reality of all. One that upends everything he ever believed, as he realizes that it is the only defense against the dark forces who now threaten the entire world.
Wednesday’s Mystery eBooks
Shifting and Shenanigans
by Elizabeth Pantley
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Paige and her adventurous Aunt Glo inherit a country inn from eccentric GeeGee. They pack up and hit the road, arriving at the charming place they both loved since childhood. Finally! They can get into the secret room in the basement that GeeGee kept locked! They discover it’s a wonderful library filled to the brim with mystery books. But more than the room was a secret – it’s a magical place that houses enchanted books. Paige and Glo find themselves smack-dab in the middle of a murder mystery, along with a motley group of book club friends.
Check out:
(Magical Mystery Book)
A Strike to the Heart
by Danielle Grandinetti
Rating: 4.4 #ad
She’s fiercely independent. He’s determined to protect her.
Wisconsin, 1933—When a routine mission becomes an ambush that kills his team, Craft Agency sniper Miles Wright determines to find the persons responsible and protect the woman he rescued. But the fierce independence that led Lily Moore to leave her family’s dairy business for the solitary life of a dog trainer and the isolation of her farm don’t make that easy. Neither does his unwanted attraction to her. Meanwhile, escalating incidents confirm that she’s far from safe.
Lily fears letting the surprisingly gentle retired marine into her life almost as much as she fears whoever is threatening her.
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(Strike to the Heart Series)
Half-Told Truths
by Amy O. Lewis
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Kim Jackson is starting to get used to life on the run. In Durango, Colorado, she has found work as a part-time bookkeeper and as a live-in housekeeper for Lena Fallon, an ex-cop paralyzed in the line of duty. Kim’s old life as a corporate accountant—when she was framed for murder and forced to go on the run—feels far away until someone from her past spots her in the tourist town. Too soon, danger comes to her doorstep, reminding her that she can’t be safe while the man who set her up remains free.
Kim’s housemate and boss, Lena, is no stranger to the dark side of humanity. Lena is still reeling from the unsolved crime that ended her law enforcement career. She doesn’t give a damn about her latest housekeeper, until she senses Kim is hiding something.
Check out:
(Colorado Skies Series)
A Fools Quest To Moon Water
by Gary Diamond
Rating: 4.2 #ad
Moon Water, an Apache legend, where supposedly, they have a cave of gold. Some women and children, white captives, are also held at Moon Water.
But where is Moon Water? Does it really exist? One white man has been there and was allowed to leave. Ethan Garrett.
The year is 1865, the last few weeks of the American Civil War. A Confederate troop steal a consignment of Union gold and attempt to take it across the border to Mexico. They are stopped by the Apache and most of the people, including civilians, from a wagon train are butchered. White captives are taken and the Confederate captain is blindfolded and taken to Moon Water, along with the stolen gold. Somehow the captain escapes; the white captives are not so lucky…
The Terminal List
by Jack Carr
Rating: 4.7 #ad
A Navy SEAL has nothing left to live for and everything to kill for after he discovers that the American government is behind the deaths of his team in this ripped-from-the-headlines political thriller that is “so powerful, so pulse-pounding, so well-written—rarely do you read a debut novel this damn good” (Brad Thor, #1 New York Times bestselling author).
On his last combat deployment, Lieutenant Commander James Reece’s entire team was killed in a catastrophic ambush. But when those dearest to him are murdered on the day of his homecoming, Reece discovers that this was not an act of war by a foreign enemy but a conspiracy that runs to the highest levels of government.
The Family at No. 12
by Anita Waller
Rating: Brand New Release #ad
The explosive new thriller from international bestseller Anita Waller.
When Janette answers the door to a potential customer looking to board his dog, she never imagines he has nefarious plans. But minutes later he’s dead and in her cellar.
Weeks later she realizes she’s pregnant. And so she becomes Mother and the baby Child, and a hidden life begins. But all secrets come out eventually . . .
Lost Gods
by Brom
Rating: 4.7 #ad
A young man descends into Purgatory to save his wife and unborn child in this gorgeous, illustrated tale of wonder and terror from the mind of master storyteller and acclaimed artist Brom.
Fresh out of jail and eager to start a new life, Chet Moran and his pregnant wife, Trish, leave town to begin again. But an ancient evil is looming, and what seems like a safe haven may not be all it appears . . .
Snared and murdered by a vile, arcane horror, Chet quickly learns that pain and death are not unique to the living. Now the lives and very souls of his wife and unborn child are at stake.
Tidal Falls
by Jacquie Biggar
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Great book! This is a suspense/romance that will keep you on your toes as well as touch your heart! by Barb
ALL SHE WANTS IS TO LIVE HER LIFE Abused, Sara Sheridan finds the courage to escape her husband. She has no interest in getting mixed up with another alpha, attitude-laden male. Especially with her ex hot on her trail.
ALL HE CRAVES IS PEACE AND QUIET Marine, Nick Kelley prefers solitude, away from the memories haunting him. So what is it about his reticent neighbor and her child that tempts him to give it up?
UNTIL LOVE GETS IN THE WAY
Check out:
(Wounded Hearts Series)
Dopesick
by Beth Macy
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Journalist Beth Macy’s definitive account of America’s opioid epidemic “masterfully interlaces stories of communities in crisis with dark histories of corporate greed and regulatory indifference” (New York Times) – from the boardroom to the courtroom and into the living rooms of Americans.
In this extraordinary work, Beth Macy takes us into the epicenter of a national drama that has unfolded over two decades. From the labs and marketing departments of big pharma to local doctor’s offices; wealthy suburbs to distressed small communities in Central Appalachia; from distant cities to once-idyllic farm towns; the spread of opioid addiction follows a tortuous trajectory that illustrates how this crisis has persisted for so long and become so firmly entrenched.
My Kind of Kitten
by LJ Peace
Rating: Brand New release #ad
Kids! MY KIND OF KITTEN is about an imaginative girl named Crissy, who finds adventure each summer in the very special town of Cliffside. She will have to be brave to face a very mean vulture named Buzz.
Join Crissy as she learns about anger, pride, envy, and love-in-action. She will also need to sort out her relationship with a moody, selfish friend.
Warning. Crissy has a very active imagination. In her make-believe worlds, she faces train robbers, space pirates, and a lava monster. She must also stand up against a very real, unfriendly vulture who could be a little frightening to sensitive people.
Tuesday’s Mystery eBooks
Made in Savannah Cozy Mystery Novels Box Set
by Hope Callaghan
Rating: 4.6 #ad
After the mysterious death of her mafia “made man” husband, Carlita Garlucci makes a shocking discovery. Follow the Garlucci family saga as Carlita and her daughter try to escape their NY mob ties and make a fresh start in Savannah, Georgia. They soon realize you can run but can’t hide from your past.
Treat yourself to this deluxe box set featuring the first 10 novels from bestselling author Hope Callaghan’s “Made in Savannah Mystery Series.”
If you like family sagas and clean cozy mysteries that keep you guessing till the end, you’ll love the Made in Savannah Mystery Series!”
After the mysterious death of her mafia “made man” husband, Carlita Garlucci makes a shocking discovery. Follow the Garlucci family saga as Carlita and her daughter try to escape their NY mob ties and make a fresh start in Savannah, Georgia. They soon realize you can run but can’t hide from your past.
If you like family sagas and clean cozy mysteries that keep you guessing till the end, you’ll love the Made in Savannah Mystery Series!”
BONUS: RECIPES INCLUDED!
House
by Frank Peretti
Rating: 4.3 #ad
A mind-bending supernatural thriller from the creators of This Present Darkness and Sinner.
Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti – two of the most acclaimed writers of supernatural thrillers – have joined forces for the first time with this non-stop thrill ride. Enter House – where you’ll find yourself thrown into a killer’s deadly game in which the only way to win is to lose . . . and the only way out is in.
One game. Seven players. Three rules. Game ends at dawn.
Murder up to Bat
by Elizabeth McKenna
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Mystery with a whiff of romance…
After falling in love with the quiet lake life and a certain police detective, former Chicago Tribune reporter Emma Moore trades interviewing jocks for chasing champion cows at the county fair. As a small-town newspaper reporter, she covers local topics both big and small, but when her friend Luke is arrested for the murder of the head coach of his club softball team, she’ll need to hone her investigative skills to clear his name. Emma calls up best friend Grace for help, and together the women go up against cutthroat parents willing to kill for a chance to get their daughters onto a premier college sports team.
Check out:
(A Front Page Mysteries)
Defending Britta Stein
by Ronald H. Balson
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Defending Britta Stein is a story of bravery, betrayal, and redemption – from Ronald H. Balson, the winner of the National Jewish Book Award
Chicago, 2018: Ole Henryks, a popular restauranteur, is set to be honored by the Danish/American Association for his many civic and charitable contributions. Frequently appearing on local TV, he is well known for his actions in Nazi-occupied Denmark during World War II – most consider him a hero.
Check out:
(Liam Taggart and Catherine Lockhart Mysteries)
The Darkest Place
by Phillip Margolin
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Defense attorney Robin Lockwood faces an unimaginable personal disaster and her greatest professional challenge in the next New York Times bestselling Phillip Margolin’s new legal thriller, The Darkest Place.
Robin Lockwood is an increasingly prominent defense attorney in the Portland community. A Yale graduate and former MMA fighter, she’s becoming known for her string of innovative and successful defense strategies. As a favor to a judge, Robin takes on the pro bono defense of a reprehensible defendant charged with even more reprehensible crimes. But what she doesn’t know – what she can’t know – is how this one decision, this one case, will wreak complete devastation on her life and plans.
Check out:
(A Robin Lockwood Mysteries)
The Last Astronaut
by David Wellington
Rating: 3.9 #ad
Sally Jansen was NASA’s leading astronaut, until a mission to Mars ended in disaster. Haunted by her failure, she lives in quiet anonymity, convinced her days in space are over. She’s wrong.
A large alien object has entered the solar system on a straight course toward Earth. It has made no attempt to communicate. Out of time and out of options, NASA turns to Jansen. But as the object reveals its secrets, Jansen and her crew find themselves in a desperate struggle for survival — against the cold vacuum of space, and something far, far worse…
A World of Curiosities
by Louise Penny
Rating: BRAND NEW RELEASE #ad
It’s spring and Three Pines is reemerging after the harsh winter. But not everything buried should come alive again. Not everything lying dormant should reemerge. But something has.
As the villagers prepare for a special celebration, Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir find themselves increasingly worried. A young man and woman have reappeared in the Sûreté du Québec investigators’ lives after many years. The two were young children when their troubled mother was murdered, leaving them damaged, shattered. Now they’ve arrived in the village of Three Pines. But to what end?
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(Chief Inspector Gamache Mysteries)
The Girl from Oto
by Amy Maroney
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Two women. Separated by centuries. Linked by a 500-year-old mystery…
1500: Born during a time wracked by war and plague, Renaissance-era artist Mira de Oto grows up in a Pyrenees convent believing she is an orphan. When tragedy strikes, Mira learns the devastating truth about her own origins. But does she have the strength to face those who would destroy her?
2015: Centuries later, art scholar Zari Durrell unearths traces of a mysterious young woman named Mira in two 16th-century portraits. Obsessed, Zari tracks Mira through the great cities of Europe to the pilgrim’s route of Camino de Santiago – and is stunned by what she finds. Will her discovery be enough to bring Mira’s story to life?
Check out:
(The Miramonde Mysteries)
Where Dandelions Sway
by Vanessa Luther
Rating: 4.3 #ad
My name is Paul. About a year ago, I moved my family to the country for some peace of mind and security. I love them and would do anything in my power to protect them. They think I have a temper. A bad temper. Maybe I do. Three armed men are in our home right this very moment holding us hostage. My wife and children are shaken to the core. The last thing I ever expected was intruders in my own home. The last thing they ever expected was me.
On a Friday afternoon in the small town of Glen Ridge, three armed men invade the home of Paul and Alexis Hudson. The Hudson’s find themselves in a life or death situation where tempers flare, demands soar and repercussions loom. On the surface, the invasion appears to be a simple robbery. Until one of the assailants demands a mysterious safe. Nothing is as it seems.
Monday’s Mystery eBooks
Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off
by Darci Hannah
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Tucked away inside an old lighthouse in Beacon Harbor, Michigan, bakeshop café owner Lindsey Bakewellis ready to make her first Christmas in town shine bright. But her merry plans crumble fast when murder appears under the mistletoe . . .
With the spirit of the holidays wafting through the Beacon Bakeshop, Lindsey thinks she has the recipe for the sweetest Christmas ever—winning the town-wide cookie bake-off. Unfortunately, striving for a picture-perfect December in Beacon Harbor is a lot like biting into stale shortbread. Low on staff and bombarded by visits from family, Lindsey can barely meet demands at work, let alone summon the confidence to face fierce competition . . .
Check out:
(A Beacon Bakeshop Mysteries)
Secrets
by Fern Michaels
Rating: 4.5 #ad
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fear Thy Neighbor and No Way Out blends mystery and drama in this twisty new Lost and Found novel, as siblings Cullen and Luna set out to uncover the secrets behind a long-lost diary.
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…
The Murder Of Seth Madison
by Gary Diamond
Rating: 4.5 #ad
When the stagecoach arrives at Winchester Flats, two people disembark, an attractive woman called Julie Jefferson and an old Polish gentleman called Abraham Ziberman, who was once a police detective in London’s Scotland Yard. They are greeted by Sheriff Lincoln Lane who is dressed in all his finery, ready to go to a wedding out at the Maddison ranch. But then everything changes.
Firstly, they discover that the father of the bride, Seth Maddison, has been murdered at his daughter’s wedding. Secondly, Abraham Ziberman declares that he believes he might be Seth Maddison’s father, although he has never met him.
Forming a connection with the sheriff, he uses his detective training to investigate Seth’s murder in true whodunnit style.
Autopsy
by Patricia Cornwell
Rating: 4.4 #ad
In this relaunch of the electrifying, landmark #1 bestselling thriller series, chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta hunts those responsible for two wildly divergent and chilling murders.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Kay Scarpetta has come almost full circle, returning to Virginia, the state where she launched her storied career, as the chief medical examiner. Finding herself the new girl in town once again after being away for many years, she’s inherited both an overbearing secretary and a legacy of neglect and potential corruption.
Check out:
(Kay Scarpetta Mysteries)
Preacher on the Run
by Jayna Baas
Rating: 4.4 #ad
STANDING FOR TRUTH COULD COST HIM HIS FREEDOM. FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM COULD COST HIM HIS LIFE.
It’s 1771, and North Carolina is at war. On one side stands the power of the Crown. On the other side stands a dangerous freedom of conscience.
Former circuit rider Robert Boothe has spent the last four years leading the tyrant-hating Regulators against North Carolina’s corrupt British government. All he wants is a safe place for his little Baptist church to worship God. But when Colonel Charles Drake arrives in town, Robert becomes a target. The Church of England wants him to shut up. The governor wants him dead…
Memory’s Legion: The Complete Expanse Story Collection
by James S. A. Corey
Rating: 4.7 #ad
From Leviathan Wakes to Leviathan Falls, James S. A. Corey’s Hugo Award-winning Expanse series has redefined modern space opera. Now, available in print for the first time comes the complete collection of short fiction set in the Expanse universe, including both a brand-new novella set after the events of Leviathan Falls and author’s notes on each story.
On Mars, a scientist experiments with a new engine that will one day become the drive that fuels humanity’s journey into the stars.
On an asteroid station, a group of prisoners are oblivious to the catastrophe that awaits them.
On a future Earth beset by overpopulation, pollution, and poverty, a crime boss desperately seeks to find a way off planet.
On an alien world, a human family struggles to establish a colony and make a new home.
My Canvas Bag
by Lucas Kinkaid
Rating: 4.4 #ad
“A heart -wrenching story about a young man who is born into a family who at times, I felt that I disliked so strongly, I wish he’d have run away and never seen them again. But resilience is his best ally, humor, wit, wisdom, and bravery. This story is told so well that I was riveted to each page. I could visualize every scene unfolding through this writer’s amazing words. A great book for discussions in family groups, and good for others who may have gone through a dysfunctional childhood and felt as if they were the only one.” Karen Malena, Author
Mark is a young man born into a bad situation. His parents drink too much, and his family often forgets him. He works hard to hide the harsh reality of his home life from those around him. Mark does this to avoid feeling shame. He escapes the chaos of his family by spending time in nearby woods. Mark keeps a canvas bag hidden close to his house. It contains blankets, a flashlight, cans of food, a transistor radio, things to read, and more. It has everything he needs to escape from his family’s dysfunction for a while. Mark truly enjoys the peace and solitude he finds in the woods.
The Dinosaur Who Roared Very Loud
by Cynthia Hickey
Rating: 5.0 #ad
New release from Cynthia Hickey
Ethan loved to roar more than anything, but his family and friends got very upset when he did.
Ethan’s roar was very, very LOUD! He should save his roar for something important. When disaster strikes, and Ethan is separated from his family, he must rely on his God-given talent to find his way and make an unlikely friend as he learns when it’s okay to be loud.
Carrie Soto Is Back
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two.
But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan…
As Silent as the Night
by Danielle Grandinetti
Rating: 4.7 #ad
He can procure anything, except his heart’s deepest wish. She might hold the key, if she’s not discovered first.
Chicago, 1933―Lucia Critelli will do anything for her ailing grandfather, including stand in a breadline to have enough food to make him a St. Nicholas Day meal. When she catches the eye of a goon who threatens her grandfather, she discovers the end of Prohibition doesn’t mean the end of the mafia’s criminal activity.
Retired Marine Scout Giosue “Gio” Vella can find anything, especially if it helps a fellow Italian immigrant, so he has no doubt he can locate his neighbor’s granddaughter, who has gone missing from a local church. Keeping her safe is another matter. Especially when he chooses to hide out with his Marine buddy in Eagle, Wisconsin, the site of a barely-held truce among striking dairy farmers.