Sunday’s Mystery eBooks
The Salvation Project
by Joe Rothstein
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Finalist for Political Thriller of The Year!–Pacific Reviews
U.S. President Isabel Aragon Tennyson (“Tenny,” as the world knows her) is running for reelection, unaware that her opponent is a Manchurian-like candidate created by a shadowy group that calls itself the Salvation Project, bent on taking control of the United States. The election will determine not just who will be president, but likely the future of humanity.
Project Hail Mary
by Andy Weir
Rating: 4.7 #ad
“If you loved The Martian, you’ll go crazy for Weir’s latest.” – The Washington Post
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission – and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
A Conjuring of Ravens
by Azalea Ellis
Rating: 4.5 #ad
In a world where magic is a science, Siobhan is a genius. But even geniuses need schooling.
When Siobhan stumbled into the theft of a priceless magical book, she thought her dreams of becoming the world’s most powerful sorcerer were destroyed. But then a mysterious spell changed her life forever…
Siobhan is now wearing the body of a strange man and has a new identity – Sebastien. With a new chance for a new start, she allies herself with a local gang – secretly a revolutionary party funding itself through crime. Now, she is bound by vow to repay them in magic and favors.
Dreaming Spies
by Laurie R. King
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Laurie R. King’s novels of suspense featuring Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, are critically acclaimed and beloved by readers for the author’s adept interplay of history and adventure. Now the intrepid duo is finally trying to take a little time for themselves—only to be swept up in a baffling case that will lead them from the idyllic panoramas of Japan to the depths of Oxford’s most revered institution.
After a lengthy case that had the couple traipsing all over India, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are on their way to California to deal with some family business that Russell has been neglecting for far too long. Along the way, they plan to break up the long voyage with a sojourn in southern Japan…
The Missing Piece
by John Lescroart
Rating: 4.4 #ad
The beloved New York Times bestselling Dismas Hardy series returns with a “perfect piece of entertainment from a master storyteller” (Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author) about a relentlessly twisty murder mystery.
No one mourned when San Francisco DA Wes Farrell put Paul Riley in prison eleven years ago for the rape and murder of his girlfriend. And no one is particularly happy to see him again when he’s released after The Exoneration Initiative uncovered evidence that pinned the crime on someone else. In fact, Riley soon turns up murdered, surrounded by the loot from his latest scam. But if Riley was innocent all along, who wanted him dead?
The Alien Chronicles Collection
by Multiple Authors
Rating: 4.1 #ad
Intelligent life on other planets: it’s the brass ring of space exploration. Do extra-terrestrial species exist? Will we ever make contact? Perhaps, have we made contact already?
In the latest addition to the Future Chronicles series of sci-fi anthologies, the answer to all of these questions is a resounding yes. From first contact to last stand, these original short stories range from quiet tales of personal connection to adrenaline-infused inter-species space conflicts. Each tale promises to present you with a different look at what intelligent alien life might be like — and how we Earthlings might respond to it.
The Fearless Moral Inventory of Elsie Finch
by Lynn Byk
Rating: 4.1 #ad
There’s a filigree setting for every family secret. What Elsie covets is the truth. Consequences come with being an heir of the Finch family estate, consequences no one bargained for.
This story is the story of one woman learning to grieve.
Finalist in The SOMERSET Book Awards recognizes emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs). This story delivers.
Richard and Gail Finch designed their estate to carry ramifications for misplaced loyalties, but there are results neither one contemplated. When the third generation aims for a cache of treasure, someone is expendable…
Saturday’s Mystery eBooks
Imitation In Death
by J. D. Robb
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Summer, 2059. A man wearing a cape and a top hat approaches a prostitute on a dark, New York City street. Minutes later, the woman is dead. Left at the scene is a letter addressed to Lieutenant Eve Dallas, inviting her to play his game and unveil his identity. He signs it, “Jack.”
Now Dallas is in pursuit of a murderer who knows as much about the history of serial killers like Jack the Ripper and the Boston Strangler as she does…
Dead in the Water
by Ann Granger
Rating: 4.3 #ad
In a sleepy Cotswold village, heavy rains reveal the body of a barmaid and troubling mystery for a local police inspector.
As Christmas approaches in the sleepy English village of Weston Saint Ambrose, the rains bring the wettest winter on record and the farmer’s fields are submerged. The water uncovers all manner of things, however, including a dead body, dredged up from its watery grave.
Reclusive writer Neil Stewart is shocked to find the victim snagged on the jetty at his house, and even more surprised when he recognizes her. And he’s not the only one.
Peace Talks
by Jim Butcher
Rating: 4.7 #ad
HARRY DRESDEN IS BACK AND READY FOR ACTION, in the new entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files.
When the Supernatural nations of the world meet up to negotiate an end to ongoing hostilities, Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, joins the White Council’s security team to make sure the talks stay civil. But can he succeed, when dark political manipulations threaten the very existence of Chicago—and all he holds dear?
The Yawning Gap
by C.V. Vobh
Rating: 4.4 #ad
“Absolutely stellar. Vobh’s prose is a wonder.” –Tellest
Invisible boundaries have isolated Cor’s village for centuries. He discovers a way out.
What he finds outside is a blighted and violent world in decline. Similar boundaries have fragmented the earth, while draining it of life – and he is tasked with fixing it, together with several fellow wanderers.
They soon gain the power to cross those boundaries and venture into the unknown lands beyond them. What will they find waiting there … ?
Chrysalis
by Lincoln Child
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Like millions of people around the world, Jeremy Logan (famed enigmalogist, or investigator of unexplained things) has grown to rely on his incredible new tech device. Made by Chrysalis, the global multibillion dollar tech company, the small optical device connects people in a stunning new way, tapping into virtual reality for the first time on a wide scale.
And yet, when Logan is summoned by Chrysalis to investigate a disturbing anomaly in the massive new product rollout, Logan is shocked to see the true scope of the massive company. He also quickly realizes that something in Chrysalis’s technology is very wrong, and could be potentially devastating.
Murder in the Place of Anubis
by Lynda S. Robinson
Rating: 4.4 #ad
The body of a much-hated scribe has been found in the sacred place of embalming, and the resulting outrage could threaten the reign of Tutankhamun. So the boy king tasks his investigator, Lord Meren, to look into the crime. The quest will take Meren into the worlds of nobles, slaves, and schemers in the royal court—all while he fights to keep the teenaged pharaoh safe from those who would take advantage of this crisis . . .
“It’s always a pleasure to negotiate the treacherous corridors of power with Lord Meren.” – The New York Times Book Review
The Mine
by Antti Tuomainen
Rating: 4.1 #ad
An investigative reporter sets out to uncover the truth about a mining company in Northern Finland, whose activities have caused an environmental disaster. Timely, atmospheric and chilling Nordic Noir from one of Finland’s finest writers…
A hitman. A journalist. A shattered family. A mine spewing toxic secrets that threaten to poison them all…
In the dead of winter, investigative reporter Janne Vuori sets out to uncover the truth about a mining company, whose illegal activities have created an environmental disaster in a small town in Northern Finland.
Friday’s Mystery eBooks
Flowers and Foul Play
by Amanda Flower
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Reeling from the loss of her fiancé and flower shop, Fiona Knox is surprised to find her new-found inheritance comes with magic, mystery, and murder.
Florist Fiona Knox’s life isn’t smelling so sweet these days. Her fiancé left her for their cake decorator. Then, her flower shop wilted after a chain florist opened next door. So when her godfather, Ian MacCallister, leaves her a cottage in Scotland, Fiona jumps on the next plane to Edinburgh. Ian, after all, is the one who taught her to love flowers. But when Ian’s elderly caretaker Hamish MacGregor shows her to the cottage upon her arrival, she finds the once resplendent grounds of Duncreigan in a dreadful shambles—with a dead body in the garden.
Junkyard Dogs
by Craig Johnson
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Junkyard Dogs, the sixth installment in the New York Times bestselling Longmire Mystery Series, the basis for LONGMIRE, the hit Netflix original drama series, takes us to Durant, Wyoming. It’s a volatile new economy in Durant when the owners of a multimillion-dollar development of ranchettes want to get rid of the adjacent Stewart junkyard. Meeting the notorious Stewart clan is an adventure unto itself, and when conflict erupts—and someone ends up dead—Sheriff Walt Longmire, his lifelong friend Henry Standing Bear, and deputies Santiago Saizarbitoria and Victoria Moretti find themselves in a small town that feels more and more like a high-plains pressure cooker.
Broken Rhodes
by Kimber Silver
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Kinsley Rhodes blows into Harlow, Kansas like a tornado, twisting Sheriff Lincoln James’ life into knots. Her grandfather has been murdered and she wants answers.
As if the town’s first homicide in twenty years wasn’t enough, the beleaguered sheriff now has to deal with Henry Rhodes’ bobcat of a granddaughter, plunging his life deeper into chaos. As a dark storm threatens, long-held secrets are exposed, placing Kinsley directly in harm’s way.
In a race against time, Lincoln’s prime objective is to discover the killer’s identity before Miss Rhodes becomes the next victim…
THE GARDENER IN THE GRAVEYARD
by LIS HOWELL
Rating: 5.0 #ad
Suzy Spencer is branching out — she’s working with local retiree gardeners on a podcast about rewilding the graveyard garden in Norbridge. But a body is found in a wheelie bin and chaos begins . . .
Queen bee of the gardening gang, Lorna Duxford, discovers the dead woman. She’s been bludgeoned to death.
It turns out the victim wasn’t local – nobody knew her. So why did Lorna whisper ‘Deirdre’ when she saw her? Then the wife of another gardener dies in a car crash. But the police quickly discover that this was no accident.
Sentenced to War
by J.N. Chaney, Jonathan P. Brazee
Rating: 4.4 #ad
2021 Dragon Award Nominee for Best Military Science Fiction
Sit in prison or join the military. The choice is yours.
Convicted of a minor traffic violation, Rev Pelletier is conscripted into the Perseus Union Marine Corps… for up to a thirty-year term of service. Anxious to get back to his civilian life and job, he opts for a shorter term as a Marine Raider, taking the fight to the enemy.
But with extremely high mortality rates, can he and his friends survive until their term of service is over?
The Perfect Escape
by Daniel Hurst
Rating: 4.0 #ad
I just wanted a place where we could get away from it all. But coming here was one of the worst mistakes of my life…
After the year Aidan and I have had, we needed some respite. My husband is overworked, whilst I’m anxious about the past, so renting a night at this converted barn house in the countryside seems like the perfect place for the pair of us to relax and unwind. It might be situated at the bottom of a large garden, but it’s private enough that we don’t have to mingle with the homeowners who live nearby. Or at least that’s what I thought…
Dark Force Rising
by Timothy Zahn
Rating: 4.7 #ad
In this essential Star Wars Legends novel, the sequel to Heir to the Empire, Grand Admiral Thrawn’s sinister plan threatens to spell doom for the fledgling New Republic and its most iconic heroes.
The dying Empire’s most cunning and ruthless warlord, Grand Admiral Thrawn, has taken command of the remnants of the Imperial Fleet and launched a massive campaign aimed at the New Republic’s destruction. Meanwhile, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian race against time to find proof of treason inside the highest Republic Council—only to discover instead a ghostly fleet of warships that could bring doom to their friends and victory to their enemies.
Thursday’s Mystery eBooks
Freshly Ground Murder
by Tonya Kappes
Rating: 4.6 #ad
The holidays have arrived, and nothing is going to steal the joy of Roxanne Bloom’s first Christmas in Honey Springs. The town’s annual Christmas in the Park is underway and includes a Christmas Pawrade that’ll help the furry residents at Pet Palace get a home for Christmas. It’s not the four-legged creatures that steal the show, it’s the pair of legs sticking out from the Christmas tree lighting ceremony that has all the town talking. The suspects are piling up faster than the falling snow, while a murderer is on the loose. Roxy can’t let this ruin her first Christmas in Honey Springs and soon realizes it’s the ghosts of Christmas past that holds the real clues…
Calculated Risk
by Lynn Shannon
Rating: 4.7 #ad
He carries the burden of his mistakes. The wounds on Jason Gonzalez’s body are nothing compared to the ones on his heart. The former Marine avoids getting close to anyone new, especially his gorgeous next-door neighbor. Until he hears a scream coming from her house in the middle of the night.
Her enemies are too numerous to count. Addison Foster escaped an abusive marriage and has become an advocate for others. When an intruder breaks into her home and nearly kills her, Addison is rescued by an unlikely protector. But the threats against her aren’t over and she needs help.
Danger around every corner.
Don’t Let Go
by Harlan Coben
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Suburban New Jersey Detective Napoleon “Nap” Dumas hasn’t been the same since senior year of high school, when his twin brother Leo and Leo’s girlfriend Diana were found dead on the railroad tracks—and Maura, the girl Nap considered the love of his life, broke up with him and disappeared without explanation. For fifteen years, Nap has been searching, both for Maura and for the real reason behind his brother’s death. And now, it looks as though he may finally find what he’s been looking for.
Say Something
by N. Gemini Sasson
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Love – especially a dog’s love – can change a person.
Not yet sixteen, Bellamy Larson – or Beam, as she’d rather be called – remembers everything. Truthfully, there’s a lot she’d just rather forget. Beam never knew her father and doesn’t ever want to. Her little brother died while saving her. And her mother self-medicates, leaving Beam to fend for herself.
Desperate for a normal life, Beam carjacks a rusty pickup and drives south to live with her grandparents in Faderville, Kentucky. Unfortunately, as Beam soon figures out, ‘normal’ doesn’t exist. She could use a friend, but friends are hard to come by when you’re an outsider.
One Foot in the Grave
by Jeaniene Frost
Rating: 4.6 #ad
You can run from the grave, but you can’t hide . . .
Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is now Special Agent Cat Crawfield, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. She’s still using everything Bones, her sexy and dangerous ex, taught her, but when Cat is targeted for assassination, the only man who can help her is the vampire she left behind.
Being around him awakens all her emotions, from the adrenaline kick of slaying vamps side by side to the reckless passion that consumed them…
I Know Where You Live
by Gregg Olsen
Rating: 4.0 #ad
Violet knows that time is a futile healer. When she thinks of her happily married grandfather—a predator lovingly referred to as Papa—the feelings of rage and betrayal still swell. Her younger sister, Lily, just discovered the numbing truth about him. Their mother, Rose? She can’t believe it. Not Papa. Leave it alone, Violet. Focus on the now.
When Papa suffers a sudden, and suspicious, fatal heart attack at Violet’s wedding, she can barely conceal her joy. Maybe the fellow survivor at her support group is right: moving on is possible only when monsters are removed from society permanently. Violet is focusing on the now. Even if doing so calls for extremes.
A Memory of Summer
by Grace Draven
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Spinsterhood has never bothered or embarrassed the independent Emerence Ipsan, and the winter festival of Delyalda keeps her far too busy managing her father’s shops to worry about matters as trivial as marriage.
Until the arrival of a young Quereci warrior with old eyes and an admiring gaze makes her question that notion.