Mysteries
Thursday’s Mystery eBooks
Bearly Departed
by Meg Macy
Rating: 4.2 #ad
As manager of the family teddy bear shop and factory, thirty-one-year-old Sasha Silverman leads a charmed life. Well, except for the part about being a single divorcée with a ticking biological clock in small-town Silver Hollow. And that’s just kid’s stuff compared to Will Taylor, the sales rep who’s set on making drastic changes to the business her parents built from scratch – with or without Sasha’s approval . . .
But before Will digs his claws in, someone pulls the stuffing out of his plan . . . and leaves his dead body inside the factory. Reeling from shock, Sasha’s hit with more bad news—police suspect her hot-tempered Uncle Ross may have murdered him.
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(A Teddy Bear Mysteries)
Fear Thy Neighbor
by Fern Michaels
Rating: 4.3 #ad
At twenty-nine, Alison Marshall is ready to find a place to call home. With no family and no ties, she’s drifted from one small Florida town to another since high school, working odd jobs, saving hard, and building a nest egg. Once she finds the right place to settle down, she’ll know. And when she reaches beautiful Palmetto Island, she thinks she may have found it.
The small, close-knit island community seems to have everything Alison needs. On a hunch, she contacts the island’s only realtor, and learns that an old beach house is on the market. Miraculously, it’s in her budget, and Alison takes it as another sign that she’s in the right place.
The Smell of the Night
by Andrea Camilleri
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Half the retirees in Vigáta have invested their savings with a financial wizard who has disappeared, along with their money. As Montalbano investigates this labyrinthine financial scam, he finds himself at a serious disadvantage: a hostile superior has shut him out of the case, he’s on the outs with his lover Livia, and his cherished Sicily is turning so ruthless and vulgar that Montalbano wonders if any part of it is worth saving. Drenched with atmosphere, crackling with wit, The Smell of the Night is Camilleri at his most addictive.
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(The Inspector Montalbano Mysteries)
Bjorn Cursed
by N.J. Walters
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Lucifer is up to his old tricks, causing problems for the Forgotten Brotherhood. This time, he’s had a woman removed from the Norse afterlife and placed her right in the path of Bjorn Knutson. After the slaughter of his wife and family centuries ago, tortured and broken, Bjorn was cursed as the first Norse werewolf. Now he’s been tasked by Odin himself with killing the woman who escaped. Failure is not an option.
Before he can track her, he stumbles across a woman being accosted by three men in the middle of the night. Even though she’s human, he intervenes and is shocked to recognize the face of the one woman he could never kill – his wife Anja.
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(Forgotten Brotherhood)
Locke & Key Vol. 5
by Joe Hill
Rating: 4.8 #ad
Tyler and Kinsey Locke have no idea that their now-deceased nemesis—Lucas “Dodge” Caravaggio—has taken over the body of their younger brother, Bode. With unrestricted access to Keyhouse, Dodge’s ruthless quest to find the Omega Key and open the Black Door is almost complete. But Tyler and Kinsey have a dangerous key of their own—one that can unlock all the secrets of Keyhouse by opening a gateway to the past. The time has come for the Lockes to face both their own legacy and the darkness waiting behind the Black Door. Because if they don’t learn from their family history, they may be doomed to repeat it, and time is running out…
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(Locke & Key Mysteries)
Heart Full of Lies
by Ann Rule
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Liysa — attractive, charismatic, seductive, an acclaimed surf photographer, with a tanned, perfect body. Their son, Bjorn, looked just like his dad, and they were raising Liysa’s son by a previous marriage. They had beautiful homes on the mainland and in Hawaii.
But it wasn’t long before Chris saw a side of Liysa that he hadn’t glimpsed before. Nothing was quite enough for her — she wanted more money, more property, and a future that included fame as a Hollywood screenwriter. She complained to her closest friends that her husband was a heavy drinker who beat her…
The Clan of the Cave Bear (with Bonus Content)
by Jean M. Auel
Rating: 4.7 #ad
A natural disaster leaves the young girl wandering alone in an unfamiliar and dangerous land until she is found by a woman of the Clan, people very different from her own kind. To them, blond, blue-eyed Ayla looks peculiar and ugly—she is one of the Others, those who have moved into their ancient homeland; but Iza cannot leave the girl to die and takes her with them. Iza and Creb, the old Mog-ur, grow to love her, and as Ayla learns the ways of the Clan and Iza’s way of healing, most come to accept her.
Wednesday’s Mystery eBooks
The Walking Bread
by Winnie Archer
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Beloved Mexican bakery Yeast of Eden has scored the catering deal at the annual Santa Sofia, California, art car parade and ball. But when a contestant turns up dead, making bread will be the yeast of their problems . . .
Apprentice baker Ivy Culpepper sees art cars everywhere she turns. Besides helping prepare the bread and pastry for Santa Sofia’s annual spring event, she’s the official photographer, documenting the elaborate cars, outspoken artists, and riotous celebrations. Even her family’s in on the act: her brother Billy has been runner-up in the competition more times than she can count—but this is going to be the year he celebrates his win in the victory lane.
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(A Bread Shop Mysteries)
The Forbidden Door
by Dean Koontz
Rating: 4.7 #ad
She was one of the FBI’s top agents until she became the nation’s most-wanted fugitive. Now Jane Hawk may be all that stands between a free nation and its enslavement by a powerful secret society’s terrifying mind-control technology. She couldn’t save her husband, or the others whose lives have been destroyed, but equipped with superior tactical and survival skills—and the fury born of a broken heart and a hunger for justice—Jane has struck major blows against the insidious cabal.
But Jane’s enemies are about to hit back hard. If their best operatives can’t outrun her, they mean to bring her running to them, using her five-year-old son as bait…
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(A Jane Hawk Mysteries)
The Eden Stories Boxset (Books 1-3)
by Terry Toler
Rating: 5.0 #ad
Award Winning Series.
What if there has been more than one Garden of Eden? What if every planet in our solar system has had intelligent life, an Adam and an Eve, and a tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
Nine planets. Nine garden of Edens. Nine Adam and Eves. Nine trees of the knowledge of good and evil. Would they all eat the fruit? Is that why the other eight planets are desolate?
Filled with biblical truths. Ripped from yesterday and today’s headlines. You won’t want to put them down until you devour every word. A great read for believers and seekers.
Book One: The Longest Day (Winner of 2020 Best Book Award for Religious Fiction)
Book Two: The Reformation of Mars
Book Three: The Late, Great Planet Jupiter (Finalist 2021 Best Book Award for Religious Fiction)
Wings of Fury
by Emily R. King
Rating: 5.0 #ad
From Emily R. King, author of the Hundredth Queen series, comes an epic novel of ancient Greece, Titans and treachery, and the women who dare to rise up against the tyranny of the Golden Age.
My mother told me that men would speak about the Golden Age as a time of peace and happiness for all… However, the women of our age would tell a very different story…
Cronus, God of Gods, whose inheritance is the world. Among his possessions: women, imprisoned and fated to serve. The strong-minded Althea Lambros controls her own fate and lives to honor her dying mother’s plea to protect her two sisters at all costs. Althea’s journey toward crushing the tyranny has begun. It is a destiny foretold by the Fates. And she is following their visions.
Special Agent Sophia
by Mimi Barbour
Rating: 5.0 #ad
Sophia’s mane of silver hair gives her the look of a mystical warrior, a female not of this world. Some colleagues defend her, others are jealous, most fear her, yet everyone respects her abilities. An ace sharpshooter, she’s called on for the most difficult cases. Her uncanny ability to remain cool under duress makes her the perfect person to rescue the twins of the frantic governor whose rejected husband intends to make her suffer. The fact that they are whisked to Greece also works in her favor since she’s spent most of her summers in Rhodes visiting family and can show up there without anyone becoming suspicious. Problems begin when a cocky hero hits on her in the marketplace. Why her?
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(Undercover FBI Mysteries)
The Serial Killer’s Girl
by L. H. Stacey
Rating: 5.0 #ad
Does a killer’s blood run in the family? Lexi Jakes thought she could run from her past…she was wrong.
Because when her biological mother is found dead, with all the same hallmarks of her own serial killer father, Lexi knows someone is out for revenge, and that she and her small daughter, Isla, could be next.
Determined to protect Isla, Lexi travels back to Lindisfarne, the small remote island where she grew up. There, cut off from the mainland, Lexi hopes they’ll both be safe.
But as the tide comes in and the causeway slowly closes, Lexi’s greatest fear comes true: now they are trapped with no way out.
Serpentine
by Thomas Thompson
Rating: 5.0 #ad
There was no pattern to the murders, no common thread other than the fact that the victims were all vacationers, robbed of their possessions and slain in seemingly random crimes. Authorities across three continents and a dozen nations had no idea they were all looking for same man: Charles Sobhraj, aka “The Serpent.”
A handsome Frenchman of Vietnamese and Indian origin, Sobhraj targeted backpackers on the “hippie trail” between Europe and South Asia. A master of deception, he used his powerful intellect and considerable sex appeal to lure naïve travelers into a life of crime. When they threatened to turn on him, Sobhraj murdered his acolytes in cold blood.
Tuesday’s Mystery eBooks
One Fete in the Grave
by Vickie Fee
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Party planner Liv McKay has outdone herself this time. She’s put together an unforgettable Fourth of July celebration for the town of Dixie, Tennessee—including breathtaking fireworks and an exciting Miss Dixie Beauty Pageant. Maybe a little too exciting.
As the party is winding down, Liv’s sense of triumph fizzles when the body of town councilman Bubba Rowland is discovered on the festival grounds. And now the prime suspect in his murder is Liv’s mother’s fiancé, Earl, who had a flare-up recently with Bubba. To clear Earl’s name, Liv and her best friend Di burst into action to smoke out the real killer before another life is extinguished . . .
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(A Liv and Di in Dixie Mysteries)
Trace: Scarpetta
by Patricia Cornwell
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Now freelancing from south Florida, Dr. Kay Scarpetta returns to Richmond, Virginia, the city that turned its back on her five years ago. Investigating the death of a young girl, she must follow the twisting leads and track the strange details in order to make the dead speak-and to reveal the sad truth that may be more than even she can bear.
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(Kay Scarpetta Mysteries)
Connor Wilson
by D.C. Brockwell
Rating: 5.0 #ad
Before The Rubber Duck, before Philo Beddoe, and even before The Bandit, there was Trailblazer!
In April 1976, Denver, Colorado, ex-Rodeo rider-turned hit sensation country singer, Connor ‘Trailblazer’ Wilson is forced to go on a month-long tour of the Midwest to earn enough cash to pay off a huge debt owing to New York mob boss, Anthony Dellucci.
On the morning of the first tour date, Connor wakes up in his trailer next to a young woman. Connor’s troubles have only just begun, he realises, when he finds out the young woman, Darlene, is married to Deputy Sheriff Brad Morris, a relentless man-mountain, who has just arrived in the bar’s parking lot. With help from his band, Connor subdues Brad and orders him to relinquish his gun, badge, and clothes.
Bones To Pick
by Carolyn Haines
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Intrepid P.I. Sarah Booth Delaney has been known to single-handedly save her family’s Mississippi plantation, converse with Dahlia House’s ghost, and capture a killer or two. But when a local girl is found dead in a cotton field, it’s enough to make a lady toss back a Bloody Mary before noon on Sunday.
Someone held twenty-three-year-old Quentin McGee’s face down in the rich Southern soil until she suffocated. The lawmen think Quentin’s lover killed her. When the suspect’s brother hires Sarah to prove his sibling innocent, Sarah quickly learns that the victim had plenty of wealthy, powerful enemies.
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(Sarah Booth Delaney Mysteries)
A Split Worlds Omnibus
by Emma Newman
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Now in one volume: the first three novels in the urban fantasy series “that playfully mixes magic and interesting characters into an intriguing mystery” (Kirkus Reviews).
Between Mundanus, the world of humans, and Exilium, the world of the Fae, lies the Nether, a mirror-world where the social structure of 19th-century England is preserved by Fae-touched families who remain loyal to their ageless masters. Born into this world is Catherine Rhoeas-Papaver, who escapes it all to live a normal life in Mundanus, free from her parents and the strictures of Fae-touched society. But now she’s being dragged back to face an arranged marriage, along with all the high society trappings it entails.
Between Two Thorn
Any Other Name
All Is Fair
Love, Death, and the Art of Cooking
by Linda Griffin
Rating: 3.9 #ad
Software engineer Reid Lucas loves to cook and has a history of falling in love with married women. When he leaves his complicated past in Chicago for a job in California, he runs into trouble and must call a virtual stranger to bail him out of jail.
Alyssa Knight, a tough street cop waiting for a church annulment from her passive-aggressive husband, is the roommate of the woman Reid calls for help, and she reluctantly provides bail for Reid.
He falls for her immediately, and cooking for her is an act of love. She just wants to be friends, but they keep ending up in bed together. When his boss is murdered, Reid is a suspect…or is he the intended target?
Sand
by Hugh Howey
Rating: 4.3 #ad
The old world is buried. A new one has been forged atop the shifting dunes. Here in this land of howling wind and infernal sand, four siblings find themselves scattered and lost. Their father was a sand diver, one of the elite few who could travel deep beneath the desert floor and bring up the relics and scraps that keep their people alive. But their father is gone. And the world he left behind might be next.
Welcome to the world of Sand, a novel by New York Times best-selling author Hugh Howey. Sand is an exploration of lawlessness, the tale of a land ignored. Here is a people left to fend for themselves. Adjust your ker and take a last, deep breath before you enter.
My Chaotic Light
by L.E. Hallow
Rating: 4.1 #ad
Loren struggled to convince academics of her research to improve creativity through guided intuition. When she pushed that frustration into darkness, it took form. One frightful night, she was overwhelmed by a dark presence and called for help. After banishing that entity, the guide arranged a learning, intuitive path suited to her restless energy. She learnt much along the way, although her hasty actions sometimes came with a price. When it was time, ill-formed soul experiments resurfaced from an age long gone, created by her kind in a past life. Had she learnt enough to help them? Was she worthy?
Readers have described this book as realistic, relatable and insightful. It is a rare, enjoyable gem filled with surprises, support and understanding.
Monday’s Mystery eBooks
The Gun Also Rises
by Sherry Harris
Rating: 4.7 #ad
A wealthy widow has asked Sarah Winston to sell her massive collection of mysteries through her garage sale business. While sorting through piles of books stashed in the woman’s attic, Sarah is amazed to discover a case of lost Hemingway stories, stolen from a train in Paris back in 1922. How did they end up in Belle Winthrop Granville’s attic in Ellington, Massachusetts, almost one hundred years later?
Before Sarah can get any answers, Belle is assaulted, the case is stolen, a maid is killed, and Sarah herself is dodging bullets.
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(A Sarah W. Garage Sale Mysteries)
The Club Dumas
by Arturo Perez-Reverte
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Lucas Corso is a book detective, a middle-aged mercenary hired to hunt down rare editions for wealthy and unscrupulous clients. When a well-known bibliophile is found dead, leaving behind part of the original manuscript of Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers, Corso is brought in to authenticate the fragment. He is soon drawn into a swirling plot involving devil worship, occult practices, and swashbuckling derring-do among a cast of characters bearing a suspicious resemblance to those of Dumas’s masterpiece. Aided by a mysterious beauty named for a Conan Doyle heroine, Corso travels from Madrid to Toledo to Paris on the killer’s trail in this twisty intellectual romp through the book world.
Body from the Scottish Castle Murder
by Stephanie Parker McKean
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Comedy and chaos ensue when Rik Patience – who has no patience – takes a ghost hunting trip to Scotland with her colorful friend, Hooter. Rik doesn’t believe in ghosts. Hooter probably doesn’t either—but she wants to be sure. When Rik witnesses a murder, she is stalked by the killer, who can’t take the chance that she will recognize him.
Hooter’s ghost hunting friends resent Rik and her disbelief in paranormal events. She can survive their dislike, but can she survive the constant attempts on her life? Meanwhile, Hooter – who is unaware of the animosity between Rik and her ghost hunting friends – proves that no one is too old for love when she falls for a Scottish pastor.
The Seduction of Tallchief
by Doreen Owens Malek
Rating: 4.4 #ad
THE SEDUCTION OF TALLCHIEF concerns the criminal pursuit of a multi-millionaire serial child molester, George Walden, who has used his wealth and connections to escape detection for decades. A reluctant, unconventional agent, Jefferson Tallchief, is sent into Walden’s New Jersey mansion to assemble the case against him. The relationship that develops between Walden’s bitter and reclusive daughter, Victoria, and the new hire acting as her driver forms the core of the story. As they get to know one another, their prejudices (he’s Native American and she’s mostly WASP) dissipate and a bond slowly develops between them. While Tallchief works covertly to uncover evidence that will bring Walden to justice, he’s increasingly conflicted about his deceptive role in Victoria’s life.
Unseen (with bonus novella “Busted”)
by Karin Slaughter
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Will Trent is a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent whose latest case has him posing as Bill Black, a scary ex-con who rides a motorcycle around Macon, Georgia, and trails an air of violence wherever he goes. The cover has worked and he has caught the eye of a wiry little drug dealer who thinks he might be a useful ally. But undercover and cut off from the support of the woman he loves, Sara Linton, Will finds his demons catching up with him.
Although she has no idea where Will has gone, or why, Sara herself has come to Macon because of a cop shooting: Her stepson, Jared, has been gunned down in his own home.
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(Will Trent Mysteries)
Relic
by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum’s dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human…
But the museum’s directors plan to go ahead with a big bash to celebrate the new exhibition, in spite of the murders. Museum researcher Margo Green must find out who–or what–is doing the killing. But can she do it in time to stop the massacre?
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(Pendergast Mysteries)
Live and Let Work
by Tim Allard
Rating: 5.0 #ad
It’s a typical workday.
Your calendar is overloaded with meetings. Your inbox is filled with unread email. You hear the ringing of buzzwords and corporate jargon in your head. Your job might be rewarding, and you might even enjoy your day, if not for these annoyances. Isn’t this just ‘normal’ for a corporate job? Does it have to be this way?
No. There is a better approach to work.