Mysteries
Monday’s Mystery eBooks
Murder on the Pilgrims Way
by Julie Wassmer
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Pearl receives a surprise present from her mother, Dolly – an early summer break at a riverside manor house that has been recently transformed into an exclusive hotel – the newly named Villa Pellegrini.
Pellegrini – the Italian word for pilgrims – reflects the fact that the building lies on the old Pilgrims Way into Canterbury, and Pearl is looking forward to the break, not least because DCI Mike McGuire has been neglecting her due to his work. But when she discovers that she’s actually booked in for a cookery course from the Italian celebrity chef, Nico Caruso, she begins to think again . . .
The Deception of Fear
by Kevin M. Mansoor
Rating: 4.8 #ad
Haunted by nightmares and feelings of loss, Sarah struggles to be strong for her family. She should be happy. . .
Seven years after the conclusion of Avenging Love, deep within the ocean, a familiar demon stirs, deep within Hell, a new plot is unleashed, and deep within David’s heart, the seed of fear takes root.
Which David will show up for the fight? In an ending that surprised even the author, this novel continues the fast-paced thrill ride of Avenging Love yet leaves the reader at the edge of. . .
The Artist
by Cathryn Grant
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Sitting for an oil painting might feel like torture, but what if it truly is? What if you wind up dead?
Everyone keeps telling Morgan she’s incredibly lucky to get the chance to have her portrait painted by the fabulous Ember West. But Ember’s demands are increasingly uncomfortable and almost impossible to meet.
The rest of her family is gushing with praise for Ember’s talent, but slowly Morgan begins to uncover a family with secrets, a family who lies as easily as they enjoy Ember’s wealth and fame.
Rosie
by Jonathan Dunne
Rating: 4.7 #ad
A deep well of the darkest wishes.
Rosie and Victor Ryan, real estate investors, land a massive sale to the mystery buyer of Wishing Well House. But the same night the Ryan family celebrate the sale, a bizarre accident robs Rosie of her mobility, freezing their idyllic life in tragedy.
Victor volunteers to be quadriplegic Rosie’s full-time caregiver. But the accident has turned his wife into a paranoid stranger in a wheelchair she calls Winter. Rosie is convinced an evil entity of untold horror lurks outside their house and is trying to come in. Her obsession with protecting the household triggers Victor’s descent into madness.
Cup of Blood
by Jeri Westerson
Rating: 4.5 #ad
ACTION-PACKED MEDIEVAL DETECTIVE: When a corpse turns up at his favorite tavern, Crispin Guest—disgraced knight turned detective–begins an inquiry, but the dead man turns out to be a Templar knight, an order thought to be extinct for 75 years, charged with protecting a certain religious relic which is now missing. Before he can begin to investigate, Crispin is abducted by shadowy men who are said to be minions of the French anti-pope. Further complicating matters are two women: one from court with an enticing proposition, and another from Crispin’s past, dredging up long-forgotten emotions he would rather have left behind. And as if all that weren’t enough, a cunning young cutpurse by the name of Jack Tucker has insinuated himself into Crispin’s already difficult life
Thunder Heights
by Phyllis A. Whitney
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Camilla King knows little of her family history, having never met her estranged relatives. Her late father wanted it that way. But when she receives a startling invitation from her immeasurably wealthy and ailing grandfather, Orrin Judd, to return to Thunder Heights, the crumbling mansion on the Hudson where her mother died under mysterious circumstances, Camilla complies, partly out of curiosity for the family she never had, and partly because of whispers of an inheritance.
What she finds there is a demanding and unwelcoming tyrant, two wraithlike aunts haunted by an unnamable grief, a cunning idler living off the Judd fortune, and her grandfather’s rigid and suspicious aide.
Wrecked
by Joe Ide
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Isaiah Quintabe — IQ for short — has never been more successful, or felt more alone. A series of high-profile wins in his hometown of East Long Beach have made him so notorious that he can hardly go to the corner store without being recognized. Dodson, once his sidekick, is now his full-fledged partner, hell-bent on giving IQ’s PI business some real legitimacy: a Facebook page, and IQ’s promise to stop accepting Christmas sweaters and carpet cleanings in exchange for PI services.
So when a young painter approaches IQ for help tracking down her missing mother, it’s not just the case Isaiah’s looking for, but the human connection.
The Cutting Edge
by Jeffery Deaver
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs return to New York City to investigate a triple murder and confront a killer terrorizing couples at their happiest–and most vulnerable in this explosive New York Times bestseller.
In the early hours of a quiet, weekend morning in Manhattan’s Diamond District, a brutal triple murder shocks the city. Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs quickly take the case. Curiously, the killer has left behind a half-million dollars’ worth of gems at the murder scene, a jewelry store on 47th street. As more crimes follow, it becomes clear that the killer’s target is not gems, but engaged couples themselves.
Alien – Inferno’s Fall
by Philippa Ballantine, Clara Carija
Rating: 4.1 #ad
A gargantuan, horseshoe-shaped ship appears over the mining planet Shānmén, unleashing a black rain of death that creates Xenomorph-like monsters worse than the darkest of nightmares.
As war breaks out among the colonies, a huge ship appears over the UPP mining planet Shānmén, unleashing a black rain of death that yields hideous transformations. Rescue is too far away, and the colonists’ only hope appears in the form of the vessel Righteous Fury. It carries the Jackals—an elite mix of former Colonial Marines and Royal Marines. Led by Zula Hendricks, the Jackals seek to rescue the few survivors from the depths of the planet, but have they arrived time?
Sunday’s Mystery eBooks
The Copenhagen Connection
by Elizabeth Peters
Rating: 4.3 #ad
A strange twist of fate at the Copenhagen Airport brings Elizabeth Jones face to face with her idol, the brilliant, eccentric historian Margaret Rosenberg. An even stranger accident makes Elizabeth the esteemed scholar’s new private assistant. But luck can go from good to bad in an instant—and less than twenty-four hours later, the great lady is kidnapped by persons unknown.
Suddenly desperate in a foreign land, Elizabeth must cast her lot with Rosenberg’s handsome, insufferable son Christian in hopes of finding her vanished benefactor.
I Remember Now
by Robert W. Kirby
Rating: 4.0 #ad
Melinda never really knew her husband. Until he died.
When Melinda’s husband, Gabriel, is murdered while walking their dog in some local fields, her world is smashed to pieces.
Melinda, who was also attacked and knocked out during the terrifying ordeal, tries to get her life back on track, but the grief is overwhelming. Then, months after the incident, she has an intense flashback. The killer said something to Gabriel in the moments before stabbing him, something that seems to indicate they knew each other.
Christmas Family Style
by Hope Callaghan
Rating: 4.7 #ad
BONUS: RECIPE INCLUDED!
The Garlucci Family is reunited as they prepare to celebrate Christmas in historic Savannah, Georgia. Carlita is thrilled to have all of her children and grandchildren with her once again.
Pete treats Carlita and her family to a special surprise when he invites them to join him on board The Flying Gunner for the Merry Bay Christmas boat parade. There is dinner and dancing, and even Santa is on hand for the children.
Killing Women
by Rod Sadler
Rating: 4.3 #ad
This true crime biography reveals the disturbing story of a serial killer who terrorized central Michigan—and now has a chance to go free.
As a former youth pastor who attended the Michigan State University School of Criminal Justice, Don Miller seemed like a decent young man. But in 1978, he was arrested for the attempted murder of two teenagers. Police soon connected Miller to the disappearances of four women. In exchange for a controversial plea bargain, he led police to the missing women’s bodies.
Now, thanks to the deal he was offered and changes to Michigan law, Miller is allowed to seek parole once a year. In Killing Women, author Rodney Sadler examines the crimes, the “justice” meted out, and the possibility that Miller could be unleashed on the world once again.
Search the Shadows
by Barbara Michaels
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Haskell Maloney was cruelly orphaned when she was just a baby. Now, twenty-two years later, she receives confirmation of the bitter truth she always suspected: the fallen war hero whose name she shares was not her father. Her quest for answers—and a personal history—brings Haskell to the famed Oriental Institute in Chicago, a city in which her mother lived and thrived before her strange, untimely death. But by rummaging around in the darkness, Haskell’s exposing much more than she bargained for. And now she’s racing against the clock to discover who she really is . . . and why someone is suddenly determined to kill her.
Shadow’s Secret
by Mary Stone
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Hidden secrets lead to deadly lies…
Following the incident that brought justice to her parents’ killers but ended her career, former FBI Special Agent Rebecca West needs a fresh start. Hoping to find peace, she decides to spend a few months in the sleepy beach town of Shadow Island, where she spent idyllic summers as a kid.
However, her vacation is cut short when a seventeen-year-old goes missing with no leads or clues. When the girl’s body is found in a nearby marsh with strangulation marks around her neck, Rebecca can’t say no when the overworked sheriff asks her to help investigate.
The Extinction Trials
by A.G. Riddle
Rating: 4.2 #ad
After a mysterious event, six strangers wake up in an underground bunker. They don’t know where they are. Or how much time has passed. They soon learn that they’re part of an experiment to restart the human race. What they don’t know is that this experiment hides a secret. And so does the world outside.
From the bestselling author of Departure and Winter World, comes a standalone novel with a twist you’ll never forget.
The Christmas Scorpion
by Lee Child
Rating: 3.9 #ad
On Christmas Eve, Jack Reacher stumbles into a no-name bar in the California desert, desperate to take refuge from an unexpected snowstorm. Reacher came to Barstow for a little R&R. Instead, he’s sequestered in a dark little roadhouse with a bartender, a bewildered elderly couple—and two members of Britain’s Royal Military Police. They tell Reacher they were escorting a VIP to a top-secret meeting at a U.S. military base when they became separated from their charge. That’s when the threat came in from a notorious assassin: the Christmas Scorpion. Now they need a miracle to save the day. Or maybe all they need is Jack Reacher.