Mysteries
Friday’s Mystery eBooks
A Plus One for Murder
by Laura Bradford
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Entrepreneur Emma Westlake discovers that friendship can be murder in this exciting new mystery series from USA Today bestselling author Laura Bradford.
Emma Westlake has always wanted to be her own boss. But after sinking all her cash into a business that went belly-up, Emma finds herself in a penniless pickle. Dottie Adler, Emma’s elderly teatime companion, suggests she try to get paid for doing something she’s really good at—being a friend. Emma thinks it’s a crazy idea until requests start pouring in. Big Max, an eccentric local, wants her to act as his wingwoman at the local senior center’s upcoming dance, nurse practitioner Stephanie needs a workout partner, and writer Brian Hill asks Emma to be his cheering section at an open mic night.
Unplanned Princess Complete Boxed Set
by Michael Anderle
Rating: 5.0 #ad
What is the difference between ignorance and stupidity?
Ignorance can be solved if you live long enough. Zaena has been sent as an Elven emissary to learn and build a relationship with humanity. There are a few problems with that: her attitude, naivete, and ignorance.
Pick up your copy of this 9 book boxed set to find out how one clueless Princess first came to the shores of America. and if she can create a bridge to save her people.
Afraid: Three Riveting Stories of Suspense
by Lisa Jackson, Alexandra Ivy, Lisa Childs
Rating: 4.4 #ad
A thrilling new book featuring the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Third Grave, that fans of Allison Brennan and Lisa Gardner won’t want to miss! Dark secrets and revenge converge as former students from an elite boarding school, which is also a haven for the daughters of the rich and famous, come face to face with the crimes of the past…
LUCY
RAYNE
ERIN
Variation on a Theme
by Thomas Watson
Rating: 4.6 #ad
On a bitterly cold night under the stars, an old man willingly embraces the end of his life. Illness and a revelation of betrayal have convinced him that the time has come. But in dying, Gregory Williamson discovers that time is not what he believes it to be, and neither are life and death. By the shadowy being who calls herself Lucy, he is given a new awareness of the complexity of existence and offered the chance to live another life. A life that will show him the powerful truth of love. A life that could make the world a better place.
More Twisted: Collected Stories, Vol. II
by Jeffery Deaver
Rating: 4.3 #ad
While best known for his twenty-four novels, Jeffery Deaver is also a short story master – is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Reader’s Award for Best Short Story, and he won the Short Story Dagger from the Crime Writers Association for a piece that appeared in his first short story collection, Twisted. The New York Times said of that book: “A mystery hit for those who like their intrigue short and sweet…[The stories] feature tight, bare-bones plotting and the sneaky tricks that Mr. Deaver’s title promises.” The sneaky tricks are here in spades, and Deaver even gives his fans a new Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs story.
The Munich Girl
by Phyllis Edgerly Ring
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Anna Dahlberg grew up eating dinner under her father’s war-trophy portrait of Eva Braun.
Fifty years after the war, she discovers what he never did—that her mother and Hitler’s mistress were friends.
The secret surfaces with a mysterious monogrammed handkerchief, and a man, Hannes Ritter, whose Third Reich family history is entwined with Anna’s.
Plunged into the world of the “ordinary” Munich girl who was her mother’s confidante—and a tyrant’s lover—Anna finds her every belief about right and wrong challenged. With Hannes’s help, she retraces the path of two women who met as teenagers, shared a friendship that spanned the years that Eva Braun was Hitler’s mistress, yet never knew that the men they loved had opposing ambitions.
Darkness Falls
by Robert Bryndza
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Kate Marshall’s fledgling PI agency takes off when she and her partner, Tristan Harper, are hired for their first big case. It’s a cold one. Twelve years before, journalist Joanna Duncan disappeared after exposing a political scandal. Most people have moved on. Joanna’s mother refuses to let go.
When Kate and Tristan gain access to the original case files, they revisit the same suspects and follow the same leads – but not to the same dead ends. Among Joanna’s personal effects, Kate discovers the names of two young men who also vanished without a trace.
Check out:
(A Kate Marshall Mysteries)
Thursday’s Mystery eBooks
Picture Perfect Frame
by Lynn Cahoon
Rating: 4.6 #ad
As the owner of Coffee, Books, and More, Jill Gardner likes to support other Main Street businesses, so she attends a paint-and-sip event where, sadly, her brushstrokes look more like blobs. It’s still a fun night of DIY crafts and full glasses of wine though—except for a disruption by a couple doing more sipping than painting. Jill’s police-detective boyfriend is on alert, but when a designated driver volunteers to take the drunken pair back to their bed and breakfast, everything seems resolved. Until the wife’s body turns up the next morning back in the studio.
Check out:
(A Tourist Trap Mysteries)
The Secrets She Carried
by Barbara Davis
Rating: 4.6 #ad
When a young woman returns to North Carolina after a thirty-year absence, she finds that the once grand tobacco plantation she called home holds more secrets than she ever imagined.
Though Peak Plantation has been in her family for generations, Leslie Nichols can’t wait to rid herself of the farm left to her by her estranged grandmother Maggie – and with it the disturbing memories of her mother’s death, her father’s disgrace, and her unhappy childhood. But Leslie isn’t the only one with a claim to Peak…
Baggage Claim
by Cathe Swanson
Rating: 4.6 #ad
He’ll do anything to protect the family he recently discovered—and the woman charged with caring for them.
The last thing Jonah Campbell expected was a son and four grandkids to come out of the woodwork–the results of a teenage fling nearly thirty years ago. He lives isolated in the upper peninsula, and when his newly discovered son explains why his family needs to be hidden, Jonah is happy to open his home and get to know his grandkids.
Between college, his kids, and his job, Ben Taylor is already in way over his head. Piece by piece, his busy-but-comfortable life crumbles as he becomes caught up in a dangerous network of fraud and deception at his workplace…
Check out:
(Hope Again Mysteries)
Paper Money
by Ken Follett
Rating: 3.7 #ad
An explosive novel of high finance and underworld villainy from Ken Follett, the grand master of international action and suspense.
Crime, high finances, and journalism are interconnected in this early thriller by the author of On Wings of Eagles and Lie Down With Lions. In one suspenseful, action-packed day, fortunes change hands as an ambitious young reporter scrambles to crack the story. A suicidal junior minister, an avaricious tycoon, and a seasoned criminal with his team of tough guys all play their parts in a scheme that moves “paper money” around at a dizzying pace.
An Itch for Justice
by Christa Nardi
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Can a stalled murder investigation in Halcyon Springs pull Izzie Di Sante back into investigative journalism?
The mere thought of getting involved in the investigation shifts Izzie’s mind into overdrive. A former reporter turned restaurant owner, she’s determined to find out everything she can. Only the more she discovers about Drew Scanlon’s murder and his new wife’s hurried placement in a psychiatric facility, the more questions she has.
With the detective instructed to tread carefully given the social status of the family, the investigation of Drew’s murder stalls. His parents spin a story that casts his wife, Bethany, as the prime suspect.
The Last Days of Want
by Derek Shupert
Rating: 4.4 #ad
At the end of the world, who will survive the last days?
For ten years, war and famine ravaged the population. Lawlessness spread across the country. What was Dylan willing to do to keep his family together?
In Las Vegas, Nevada, Dylan, his family, and their loyal Australian Kelpie, Pepper, are like everyone else. They scrape for food and do whatever it takes, but at least they’re in one of the few remaining cities where they can keep the family together. It was hard, but everything changed the day Dylan’s daughter decided to leave.
Check out:
(Last Days Mysteries)
Loose Ends
by Amy Martinsen
Rating: 5.0 #ad
Who killed Nahla? This question haunts CIA Officer Kate Ross.
Even after collecting a box full of evidence in a secret, obsessive manhunt, Kate isn’t able to discover who killed the most valuable agent she’s ever handled. When the box goes missing, Kate must go against all her spy training to find Nahla’s killer, propelling John and the U-Tap team on a harrowing race against time.
Will Kate find the killer, or will she suffer the same fate as Nahla?
Check out:
(An Untapped Source Mysteries)
A Wicked Snow
by Gregg Olsen
Rating: 4.3 #ad
“Olsen will scare you – and you’ll love it.” – Lee Child
Hannah Griffin was a girl when tragedy struck. She still remembers the flames reflected against the newly fallen snow and the bodies the police dug up—one of them her mother’s. The killer was never found….
Twenty years later Hannah is a talented CSI investigating a case of child abuse when the past comes hurtling back. A killer with unfinished business is on the hunt.
The Funny Thing Is…
by Holly Schindler
Rating: 5.0 #ad
So a dog (part Irish Setter, part Snuffleupagus), a would-be gas station robber, and a girl with a plane ticket to the other side of grief (literally!) all walk into a bar…
Joking aside, these are characters in Holly Schindler’s funny shorts, compiled here into a single download of chuckles and smiles.
This compilation features all the short stories published in the following humorous collections: Funny Meeting You Here, Funny You Should Mention That, and Once Upon a Punchline.
Wednesday’s Mystery eBooks
Up to No Gouda
by Linda Reilly
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Back in Balsam Dell to heal after the death of her husband, Carly Hale is finally pursuing her lifelong dream – opening Carly’s Grilled Cheese Eatery. After only five months, business is booming as Vermont vacationers and townspeople alike flock to lunch on her Party Havartis and other grilled cheese concoctions. All but Lyle Bagley, Carly’s one-time high school boyfriend and now town bully who just bought the building that houses her eatery and wants Carly out. After a muenster of a fight, Carly’s forced to put her nose to the rind and find a solution to keep her business afloat.
Red-Line: The Shift
by J. T. Bishop
Rating: 4.6 #ad
After a difficult year, Sarah Randolph is living a solitary life. But after meeting a handsome stranger, she’s hopeful her luck is about to change. When their first date turns dangerous though, she’ll discover that she’s the one about to change…in more ways than she can imagine.
After that frightening encounter, John Ramsey will be forced to remove Sarah from her quiet existence. He’ll risk everything, including himself and the lives of the group he’s assembled, to keep her alive and prevent an unexpected rival from using her for his own cruel desires.
Check out:
(Red-Line Mysteries)
Strawberry Shortcake Murder
by Joanne Fluke
Rating: 4.6 #ad
When the president of Hartland Flour chooses cozy Lake Eden, Minnesota, as the spot for their first annual Dessert Bake-Off, bakery owner Hannah Swensen is thrilled to serve as the head judge. But when a fellow judge, Coach Boyd Watson, is found stone-cold dead, facedown in Hannah’s celebrated strawberry shortcake, Lake Eden’s sweet ride to fame turns very sour indeed.
While perfecting her Cheddar Cheese Apple Pie and Chocolate Crunchies, Hannah’s also snooping into the coach’s private life, which yields plenty of suspects.
Check out:
(Hannah Swensen Mysteries)
In Blood and Duty Bound
by Erin S. Bales
Rating: 5.0 #ad
When there are several paths before you, which one will you choose? Princess Renn, the youngest of six and fourth in line for the throne, is a lost young woman searching for direction. Palace Guard Getha is on the road to joining the most elite fighting force in the country, but she must battle for every step.
Lady Helenia was forced to leave her homeland in disgrace, so she travels through the shadows in the hopes of emerging back into the light.
For four hundred years, the Fallen of Ombratos have lived in safety, secure behind the wall they call the Gift. However, there are few things in the world more fragile than peace. A single bloody event will shake a nation to its core and set these women on the paths leading to their destinies.
The Hidden
by Melanie Golding
Rating: 4.1 #ad
One dark December night, in a small seaside town, a little girl is found abandoned. When her mother finally arrives, authorities release the pair, believing it to be an innocent case of a toddler running off.
Gregor, a seemingly single man, is found bludgeoned and left for dead in his apartment, but the discovery of children’s toys raises more questions than answers.
Every night, Ruby gazes into Gregor’s apartment, leading to the discovery of his secret family: his unusually silent daughter and his mentally unstable wife, Constance, who insists that she is descended from the mythological Selkies. She begs Ruby to aid in finding the sealskin that Gregor has hidden from her, making it impossible to return to her people.
Not My Mother
by Miranda Smith
Rating: 4.3 #ad
What if the person you trust most in the world is lying to you?
I’d heard of the Baby Caroline case, of course. When a baby is snatched from her mother’s arms, the whole country knows about it. I knew about the parents left lying by the swimming pool, the open window in the nursery. But I never dreamed it had anything to do with me.
Today, my beautiful daughter turned one. We were unwrapping gifts and blowing out candles when the knock came at the door, and they took my mother away.
Return to Redemption
by Jack R. Stanley
Rating: 5.0 #ad
A brand new Western adventure from Jack R. Stanley!
A Confederate officer returned to his home and ranch in Texas. He discovered his whole world was in ruin. His ranch was falling down and his young bride had become a whore. Everyone he knew has been damaged by the war and he has scars from the conflict himself. He must find a way to survive – and if he can, help those around him who have been forever altered. Is that possible?
Night Broken
by Patricia Briggs
Rating: 4.8 #ad
When her mate’s ex-wife storms back into their lives, Mercy knows something isn’t right. Christy has the furthest thing from good intentions—she wants Adam back, and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get him, including turning the pack against Mercy.
Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. As the bodies start piling up, she must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.
Check out:
(Mercy Thompson Mysteries)
Tuesday’s Mystery eBooks
Murder in First Class
by Helena Dixon
Rating: 4.4 #ad
All aboard a train bound for… murder.
Kitty Underhay is looking forward to a week of long lunches and wedding planning with her husband-to-be, Captain Matthew Bryant. But the plan is derailed when he is called on to collect a former comrade-in-arms, arriving on the 15:50 from Bakerloo. As the train bearing Simon Travers pulls up to the platform, a piercing scream rises over the screech of its brakes. Travers is dead in his seat, a dagger in his heart.
Who gave this defenceless man a one-way ticket to the next life? And why? And could Matt’s close connection put him at risk? Only a few individuals had access to Travers’s compartment, and Kitty must find out which of these seemingly benign passengers is in fact a cross-country killer.
Check out:
(A Miss Underhay Mysteries)
The Resentment
by T. O. Paine
Rating: 4.4 #ad
An Emotional Thriller With a Shocking Twist
“An energetic, enthralling tale of dangerous family secrets.” – Kirkus Reviews
Lauren Kaine has everything she ever wanted — a fabulous home, a shiny Lexus, a bright sixteen-year-old son, and a loving husband with a lucrative internet career. Tonight, she walks hand-in-hand with William beneath the lustrous Seattle sky, celebrating twenty-two years of marriage.
But they’re not alone.
A mysterious black Audi comes out of nowhere and chases William onto a bridge. He shouts, “They’re here for the card,” and falls to his death. Enraged, Lauren attacks the car, but the tinted windows hide the driver’s face, and it speeds away.
Running with the Enemy
by Lloyd Lofthouse
Rating: 4.2 #ad
While serving in Vietnam, Ethan Card, a loyal U.S. Marine, is framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Labeled a traitor, he’s on the run, desperate to prove his innocence, or he’ll never go home again. Ethan has a choice to make, save the Vietnamese woman he loves from two murdering psychopaths, or prove his innocence. He can’t have both.
“Ethan Card, a Marine fighting in Vietnam, is about to become a patsy for a cruel, power hungry rogue CIA agent who only wants to cover up his own crimes…” by Amazon Customer
Dragon Teeth
by Michael Crichton
Rating: 4.2 #ad
The year is 1876. Warring Indian tribes still populate America’s western territories even as lawless gold-rush towns begin to mark the landscape. In much of the country it is still illegal to espouse evolution. Against this backdrop two monomaniacal paleontologists pillage the Wild West, hunting for dinosaur fossils, while surveilling, deceiving and sabotaging each other in a rivalry that will come to be known as the Bone Wars.
Into this treacherous territory plunges the arrogant and entitled William Johnson, a Yale student with more privilege than sense. Determined to survive a summer in the west to win a bet against his arch-rival, William has joined world-renowned paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh on his latest expedition…
Escape from Yokai Land
by Stross Charles
Rating: 4.0 #ad
Escape from Yokai Land explains what he was doing there.
Bob’s been assigned to work with the Miyamoto Group, checking the wards that lock down Japan’s warded sites—a task previously handled by his predecessor Dr. Angleton, the Eater of Souls. This mostly involves policing yokai: traditional magical beings, increasingly grown more annoying and energetic.
But then Bob’s simple trip turns into a deadly confrontation with the ultimate yokai. It’s massively powerful. It’s pink. And it says “Hello.”
Check out:
(Laundry Files Mysteries)
Servant of The Skull
by Edita A. Petrick
Rating: 4.0 #ad
History at your fingertips can be a dangerous thing…
Gia was sixteen years old when a terrifying jumble of images invaded her head. The swirl of lives lived was horrifying and fascinating at once. The former made her conceal her gift with education. She became a student of history—forensic reconstructive specialist. It was the only way she could let her talent drive her hands—to recreate images of those who lived, loved and lost their lives thousands of years ago. The latter made her accept a dangerous consulting job in Greece.
It sounded simple: Reconstruct skulls of three plane crash victims. Positive identification was needed for insurance purposes. A tragic, but seemingly routine job of identification. Except her extraordinary abilities show her it’s anything but…
Untamed
by James Leonard
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Lawman Nathan Pace was looking forward to retirement. Until the Thrasher brothers forced him back into action.
One minute, Nathan was talking to a pretty girl on the train. The next, they were off the tracks and surrounded by Brent Thrasher’s men. Or is it?
When the smoke cleared, Nathan’s mother and brother were dead…
By the time they run into each other again, Nathan’s not alone. He’s joined by Sarah Meade, a beautiful woman intent on seeking revenge against Brent Thrasher. Together, they chase the brothers down. But getting to the outlaws isn’t as easy or as straightforward as they’d hoped. The Thrashers have a gang of men ready to do their bidding.
Real Murders
by Charlaine Harris
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Author of the books that inspired True Blood on HBO and Midnight, Texas on NBC
Aurora Teagarden, small town librarian and true crime buff, is looking forward to the monthly meeting of the Real Murders Society, a group of fellow crime enthusiasts who share a unique interest in historical murders. The Society meetings are the highlight of Roe’s social life in sleepy Lawrenceville, Georgia, and she’s ready for a quiet night of discussion, coffee, and cookies. But after she finds the body of a Society member in a staged crime scene eerily similar to the one the group was supposed to discuss that very night, Roe finds herself at the center of a murderous story of her own.
Check out:
(An Aurora Teagarden Mysteries)