Mysteries
Wednesday’s Mystery eBooks
Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder
by Joanne Fluke
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Spring has sprung in Lake Eden, Minnesota, but Hannah Swensen doesn’t have time to stop and smell the roses – not with hot cross buns to make, treats to bake, and a sister to exonerate…
Hannah’s up to her ears with Easter orders rushing in at The Cookie Jar, plus a festive meal to prepare for a dinner party at her mother’s penthouse. But everything comes crashing to a halt when Hannah receives a panicked call from her sister Andrea—Mayor Richard Bascomb has been murdered . . . and Andrea is the prime suspect.
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(A Hannah Swensen Mysteries)
Island of Gold
by Amy Maroney
Rating: 4.5 #ad
1454. A noble French falconer. A spirited merchant’s daughter. And a fateful decision that changes their destiny forever…
When Cédric is recruited by the Knights Hospitaller to the Greek island of Rhodes, his wife Sophie jumps at the chance to improve their fortunes. After a harrowing journey to Rhodes, Cédric plunges into the world of the knights—while Sophie is tempted by the endless riches that flow into the bustling harbor. But their dazzling new home has a dark side.
Slaves toil endlessly to fortify the city walls, and rumors of a coming attack by the Ottoman Turks swirl in the streets. Desperate to gain favor with the knights and secure his position, Cédric navigates a treacherous web of shadowy alliances…
Saving Chase
by Irene Onorato
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Three lives on a collision course with destiny… Logan Construction Services CEO Dan Logan desperately wants to get away and lick his wounds after being dumped by his fiancée and suffering through a devastating jobsite fatality on the same day. He retreats to a secluded island alone, but his vacation takes a dangerous turn when he rescues a teenage boy who shipwrecks on the rocky shore. A battle of wills ensues that threatens both their lives.
Dory Devereaux, a widow of six years, flees Massachusetts with her delinquent sixteen-year-old son, Chase, hoping to keep him from being placed in juvenile detention until he’s deemed an adult at eighteen. Her world crumbles when she finds Chase missing the morning after arriving at her former in-laws’ house in South Carolina. Can things get any worse?
The Case of the Lazy Lover
by Erle Stanley Gardner
Rating: 4.2 #ad
Defense lawyer Perry Mason is surprised to receive two checks from a stranger named Lola Allred. And when he speaks with Lola’s husband, he discovers the woman has run off with her daughter’s boyfriend—who happens to be an important witness in a lawsuit. Soon Mason’s caught up in a complicated case involving not only a missing witness but forgery and murder as well . . .
This mystery is part of Edgar Award–winning author Erle Stanley Gardner’s classic, long-running Perry Mason series, which has sold three hundred million copies and serves as the inspiration for the HBO show starring Matthew Rhys and Tatiana Maslany.
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(The Perry Mason Mysteries)
The Blood Is Still
by Douglas Skelton
Rating: 4.2 #ad
A riveting, immersive thriller from the author of Thunder Bay—”If you don’t know Skelton, now’s the time” (Ian Rankin).
When a man in eighteenth-century Highland dress is found dead on the site of the Battle of Culloden, where Bonnie Prince Charlie led his forces to a rout seared into Scottish memory, Rebecca Connolly takes up the case for the Chronicle. A controversial film about the rebellion and battle is being shot nearby, and it has drawn the ire of the right-wing nationalist movement Spirit of the Gael. Is there some link between the murder—the weapon used to impale the man leaves no doubt it was murder—and Spirit of the Gael or the shadowy militant group New Dawn, thought to be associated with them?
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(A Rebecca Connolly Mysteries)
Madhouse at the End of the Earth
by Julian Sancton
Rating: 4.6 #ad
In August 1897, the young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three-year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica.
But de Gerlache’s plans to be first to the magnetic South Pole would swiftly go awry. After a series of costly setbacks, the commandant faced two bad options: turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters. De Gerlache sailed on, and soon the Belgica was stuck fast in the icy hold of the Bellingshausen Sea. When the sun set on the magnificent polar landscape one last time, the ship’s occupants were condemned to months of endless night. In the darkness, plagued by a mysterious illness and besieged by monotony, they descended into madness.
The Silent Witness
by Carolyn Arnold
Rating: 4.7 #ad
In August 1897, the young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three-year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica.
But de Gerlache’s plans to be first to the magnetic South Pole would swiftly go awry. After a series of costly setbacks, the commandant faced two bad options: turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters. De Gerlache sailed on, and soon the Belgica was stuck fast in the icy hold of the Bellingshausen Sea. When the sun set on the magnificent polar landscape one last time, the ship’s occupants were condemned to months of endless night. In the darkness, plagued by a mysterious illness and besieged by monotony, they descended into madness.
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(Detective Amanda Steele Mysteries)
Tuesday’s Mystery eBooks
Meet Isabel Puddles
by M.V. Byrne
Rating: 4.4 #ad
The only thing widow Isabel Puddles loves as much as her hometown of Gull Harbor on the shores of Lake Michigan is cozying up to a good mystery—but she never expected to be caught in the middle of one . . .
To the tourists and summer residents, Kentwater County is a picturesque community of small-town charm, fruitful farmland, and gorgeous freshwater beaches. To middle-aged widow Isabel Puddles, it’s where she enjoys breakfast every morning at a local café with her childhood best friend and spends her evenings cozying up with a good book and her devoted Jack Terrier, Jackpot. In between, Isabel makes ends meet through a variety of trades—preserving pickles, baking pies, working the counter at her cousin’s hardware shop, and occasionally helping “fix-up” the hair of corpses at the local funeral parlor.
Star Mother
by Charlie N. Holmberg
Rating: 4.4 #ad
When a star dies, a new one must be born.
The Sun God chooses the village of Endwever to provide a mortal womb. The birthing of a star is always fatal for the mother, and Ceris Wenden, who considers herself an outsider, sacrifices herself to secure her family’s honor and take control of her legacy. But after her star child is born, Ceris does what no other star mother has: she survives. When Ceris returns to Endwever, however, it’s not nine months later—it’s seven hundred years later. Inexplicably displaced in time, Ceris is determined to seek out her descendants.
One Step At A Time
by Emmaline Givens
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Merigold hadn’t left her house in years… Not because she was physically unable to or that she didn’t desire to once again run barefoot on the beach… her mind wouldn’t cooperate. It had taken her months to gather up the courage just to walk outside onto her patio, and then a few more to be able to venture out into the yard without being frozen by the panic that had taken root in her chest. And as fate would have it, just as she was beginning to feel comfortable again within her fenced-in space, he moved in. Finn Shepherd, the handsome, flavor-of-the-year, fan-stalked, over-paid actor had bought the beach house next to hers. She should have just bought it herself when it went on the market. If she had, she could have avoided the drama he was undoubtedly going to attract to her once secluded section of the coastline.
Karen Kingsbury True Crime Novels
by Karen Kingsbury
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Four chilling true crime novels by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author and former Los Angeles Times reporter.
Final Vows: Murder, Madness, and Twisted Justice in California
Deadly Pretender: The Double Life of David Miller
The Snake and the Spider: Abduction and Murder in Daytona Beach
Missy’s Murder: Passion, Betrayal, and Murder in Southern California
Game On
by Janet Evanovich
Rating: 4.6 #ad
When Stephanie Plum is woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of footsteps in her apartment, she wishes she didn’t keep her gun in the cookie jar in her kitchen. And when she finds out the intruder is fellow apprehension agent Diesel, six feet of hard muscle and bad attitude who she hasn’t seen in more than two years, she still thinks the gun might come in handy.
Turns out Diesel and Stephanie are on the trail of the same fugitive: Oswald Wednesday, an international computer hacker as brilliant as he is ruthless. Stephanie may not be the most technologically savvy sleuth, but she more than makes up for that with her dogged determination, her understanding of human nature, and her willingness to do just about anything to bring a fugitive to justice.
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(Stephanie Plum Mysteries)
Forest of Shadows
by Hunter Shea
Rating: 4.1 #ad
The dead still hate!
John Backman specializes in inexplicable phenomena. The weirder the better. So when he gets a letter from a terrified man describing an old log home with odd whisperings, shadows that come alive, and rooms that disappear, he can’t resist the call. But the violence only escalates as soon as John arrives in the remote Alaskan village of Shida. Something dreadful happened there. Something monstrous. The shadows are closing in…and they’re out for blood.
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(Jessica Backman’s Death in the Afterlife Mysteries)
The Secret, Book & Scone Society
by Ellery Adams
Rating: 4.4 #ad
A quirky club in small-town North Carolina holds the keys to health, happiness, friendship—and even solving a murder—all to be found within the pages of the right book…
Strangers flock to Miracle Springs hoping the natural hot springs, five-star cuisine, and renowned spa can cure their ills. If none of that works, they often find their way to Miracle Books, where, over a fresh-baked “comfort” scone, they exchange their stories with owner Nora Pennington in return for a carefully chosen book. That’s Nora’s special talent—prescribing the perfect novel to ease a person’s deepest pain. So when a visiting businessman reaches out for guidance, Nora knows exactly how to help. But before he can keep their appointment, he’s found dead on the train tracks.
Monday’s Mystery eBooks
Full House
by Janet Evanovich
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Polo instructor Nicholas Kaharchek senses danger the minute he sees Billie Pearce. She represents everything he’s always avoided. Happy in her home life, a divorced mother of two, Billie is the epitome of stability. She’s also irresistibly fascinating to the footloose Nick, who is instantly attracted…in a car crash sort of way. Their fateful meeting will put them on a collision course of seduction, dysfunction, mayhem, murder—and maybe even love…
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(Janet Evanovich’s Full Mysteries)
The Royal Wulff Murders
by Keith McCafferty
Rating: 4.4 #ad
When a fishing guide reels in the body of a young man on the Madison, the Holy Grail of Montana trout rivers, Sheriff Martha Ettinger suspects foul play. It’s not just the stick jammed into the man’s eye that draws her attention; it’s the Royal Wulff trout fly stuck in his bloated lower lip. Following her instincts, Ettinger soon finds herself crossing paths with Montana newcomer Sean Stranahan.
Fly fisher, painter, and has-been private detective, Stranahan left a failed marriage and lackluster career to drive to Montana, where he lives in an art studio decorated with fly-tying feathers and mouse droppings…
Check out:
(Sean Stranahan Mysteries)
Five Years in Yemen
by Luana Ehrlich
Rating: 4.4 #ad
A CIA contractor goes missing in Iraq. Five years later, he turns up in Yemen. Now, it’s up to Titus to find out if he’s a traitor or a patriot.
After Titus accepts an assignment to bring rogue CIA contractor Jacob Levin back to the States, he learns the operation has been put on hold pending Presidential approval. That’s fine with him. He’s looking forward to spending time in Oklahoma with his fiancée, Nikki Saxon.
But then, his boss needs a favor. After that, everything changes.
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(Titus Ray Thrillers)
Dead or Alive
by Michael McGarrity
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Living in London while his wife serves as a military attaché at the American Embassy, recently retired Santa Fe police chief Kevin Kerney gets an early morning phone call that changes everything and sends him hurrying home to his New Mexico ranch. Riley Burke, his partner in a horse-training enterprise, has been mowed down on Kerney’s doorstep by an escaped prisoner cutting a murderous swath through New Mexico.
Check out:
(Kevin Kerney Mysteries)
Small Town Mysteries
by Multiple Authors
Rating: 5.0 #ad
New release. Small Towns aren’t always as nice as they seem.
LILLY AND THAT NICE DETECTIVE: Can they find the secret of Mercy House Gardens before the killer takes another life?
SMALL TOWN INJUSTICE: Brody has known love, and the loss of that love through death. He can’t risk another such loss.
CASCADE MASQUERADE: How can she tell what she knows, when it will destroy her father?
UNDERCOVER DOG DAD: How can they reach their happily-ever-after with 1,600 miles between them?
ALOHA MAYHEM: hit man is on the Big Island causing havoc. Is he someone from Chuck’s past or Kevin’s present? And, is Steven even the real target?
Death in Daylesford
by Kerry Greenwood
Rating: 4.5 #ad
When a mysterious invitation for a spa vacation arrives for Miss Phryne Fisher from an unknown retired Captain Herbert Spencer, Phryne’s curiosity is piqued. Spencer runs a retreat in Victoria’s rural spa country for shell-shocked veterans of World War I. It’s a cause after Phryne’s own heart, but what can Spencer want from her?
Phryne and her faithful servant Dot set out for Daylesford, viewing their rural sojourn as a short holiday. While Dot gets to know the remarkable women who run the hotel where they are lodging, Phryne enjoys an enticing meal—and dessert—with the attractive Captain Spencer.
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(Phryne Fisher Mysteries)
Earthly Remains
by Donna Leon
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Guido Brunetti has to deal every day with crimes big and small, suffocating corruption, and a never-ending influx of tourists. But at least he gets to do it in Venice, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. In this mystery in the bestselling series, the police commissioner’s endurance will truly be tested.
During an interrogation of an entitled, arrogant man suspected of giving drugs to a young girl, Brunetti acts rashly, doing something he will quickly come to regret. In the fallout, he realizes that he needs a break…
Check out:
(Commissario Brunetti Mysteries)
Tangles: Poems
by Holly Schindler
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Award-winning author Holly Schindler has channeled her love of lyrical writing, metaphors, and wordplay into a unique collection of love poems that range from joyful first encounters to heart-wrenching loss. As a young music teacher, Schindler often dabbled in songwriting, and her poetic turns of phrases have been sprinkled throughout her work from the beginning.
Tangles is the first of what she hopes will be many book-length journeys into the expressive, melodic world of poetry.
Sunday’s Mystery eBooks
Hearts & Haunts
by Nyx Halliwell
Rating: 4.7 #ad
When a rival wedding planner is murdered with one of Ava’s bridal shoes at the Hearts Forever Fair, she’ll need everyone’s help—including an angry ghost with a tragic past—to help her prove her innocence and bring the culprit to justice.
The Hearts Forever Bridal Fair is the biggest wedding event in Georgia, making it the perfect time to unveil my new gown designs. It’s also my chance to take Aunt Willa’s business to the next level. The hotel hosting it may be haunted, but not even the spirits who require my assistance will keep me from achieving my goal.
Check out:
(Confessions of a Closet Medium)
The Caretaker
by Paul Doiron
Rating: 4.3 #ad
In “The Caretaker,” an original short story from bestselling author Paul Doiron, Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch tracks down a sinister prowler turning a couple’s dream vacation home into a nightmare.
New owners of a dream cottage on a remote Maine lake find themselves taunted, then menaced by an unknown figure. When the local authorities refuse to help, they turn to retired Maine game warden Charley Stevens and his young protege Mike Bowditch for protection. But Charley begins to suspect there is more to the mystery than the couple is letting on–and if he and Mike don’t act fast, the situation will explode into violence.
Trace of Doubt
by DiAnn Mills
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Fifteen years ago, Shelby Pearce confessed to murdering her brother-in-law and was sent to prison. Now she’s out on parole and looking for a fresh start in the small town of Valleysburg, Texas. But starting over won’t be easy for an ex-con.
FBI Special Agent Denton McClure was a rookie fresh out of Quantico when he was first assigned the Pearce case. He’s always believed Shelby embezzled five hundred thousand dollars from her brother-in-law’s account. So he’s going undercover to befriend Shelby, track down the missing money, and finally crack this case.
Quiver
by Lisa Borne Graves
Rating: 4.4 #ad
What would you do if you could live forever? Could you hide it from the one you truly loved, especially if her life depended on it?
Thanks to his dysfunctional Olympian family, Archer Ambrose finds out firsthand how difficult this can be. He never falls in love but bestows it on others—until he meets Callie.
When Callie Syches moves to the Upper East Side to prepare for her father’s impending death, she doesn’t expect to meet the boy of her dreams. She also never believed her father’s harebrained theory about myths, but her uncanny ability to “see” uncovers godly secrets Callie can hardly fathom.
The Brothers Bulger
by Howie Carr
Rating: 4.4 #ad
For years their familiar story was of two siblings who took different paths out of South Boston: William “Billy” Bulger, former president of the Massachusetts State Senate; and his brother James “Whitey” Bulger, a vicious criminal who became the FBI’s second most-wanted man after Osama Bin Laden. While Billy cavorted with the state’s blue bloods to become a powerful political force, Whitey blazed a murderous trail to the top rung of organized crime. Now, in this compelling narrative, Carr uncovers a sinister world of FBI turncoats, alliances between various branches of organized crime, St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans, political infighting, and the complex relationship between two brothers who were at one time kings.
Rogue Strike
by David Ricciardi
Rating: 4.4 #ad
CIA agent Jake Keller and his partner, Curt Roach, are in Yemen on an important mission. They’ve been tipped off to a secret meeting of top al Qaeda leaders. The plan is to interrupt the meeting with a few unexpected visitors—a pair of Hellfire missiles from an orbiting drone. But the drone stops responding to their signals and soon disappears over the horizon. When next seen, the drone is attacking innocent pilgrims in Mecca.
Jake and Curt are staggered. The U.S. government is desperate to disavow this atrocity. Who better to blame than a couple of rogue CIA agents?
Check out:
(A Jake Keller Thriller)
My MacArthur
by Cindy Fazzi
Rating: 4.2
The year is 1930. The place: Manila. Douglas MacArthur is the most powerful man in the Philippines, a United States colony. He’s fifty years old, divorced, and he falls in love at first sight with a ravishing young Filipino woman. He writes her a love note on the spot. Her name is Isabel Rosario Cooper, an aspiring movie actress. One glance at his note and she thinks of him as my MacArthur.
MacArthur pursues his romantic obsession even though he’s breaking numerous taboos. She reciprocates his affection because he could open doors for her financially struggling family. That MacArthur happens to be handsome compensates for the fact that he’s as old as her father…