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?
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(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…
Saturday’s Mystery eBooks
The Red Hunter
by Lisa Unger
Rating: 4.4 #ad
What is the difference between justice and revenge? Claudia Bishop’s perfect life fell apart when the aftermath of a brutal assault left her with a crumbling marriage, a newborn daughter, and a constant sense of anxiety about the world around her. Now, looking for a fresh start with a home restoration project and growing blog, Claudia takes on a crumbling old house–one that unbeknownst to her has an ugly history and may hide long buried secrets.
For Zoey Drake the defining moment of her childhood was the horrific murder of her parents. Years later, she has embraced the rage that fuels her. Training in the martial arts has made her strong and ready to face the demons from the past–and within.
Winter’s Mourn
by Mary Stone
Rating: 4.5 #ad
A killer is watching… Thirteen years ago, Winter Black came home early from a sleepover to find her parents brutally murdered and her little brother gone—taken by a serial killer called The Preacher.
Now a rookie FBI agent assigned to her first murder case, Winter has returned to the small Virginia town where she grew up. But when bones found by a hunter lead to the discovery of a secret burial ground containing the remains of children, the investigation suddenly hits close to home as the past and future collide with each new shocking discovery. Will they find her brother’s bones in the makeshift graveyard next?
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(Winter Black FBI Mysteries)
Season of Madness
by Robert Scott
Rating: 4.1 #ad
California Nightmare. . .
Annette Edwards was a vivacious 19-year-old on her way to watch the Fourth of July fireworks. Eighteen-year-old Pam Moore was a former beauty pageant contestant, hitching a ride on a busy street. Linda Slavik was a young mother enjoying a night out with a friend. Annette Selix was just eleven, an innocent child on her way home from the market. Each of them was attacked without warning, brutally assaulted, and left for dead by a bitter, disfigured man in the grip of a violent frenzy: the so-called “Hilltop Rapist.” But serial predator Darrell Rich didn’t stop at just four victims. He couldn’t stop. . .
Summons to Murder
by J. C. Briggs
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Dickens investigates the death of a man embroiled in scandal…
London, 1851. Pierce Mallory, a gentleman journalist, is found dead in his lodgings with a gunshot wound in his head and a duelling pistol beside him.
Though the death is deemed a suicide, Mallory’s friends — including Charles Dickens — don’t believe that he would have taken his own life. Dickens therefore returns to the scene of Mallory’s demise, along with Superintendent Sam Jones from Bow Street. On further investigation, they soon find evidence that Mallory was murdered.
Of Love and Magic
by Eric Wilder
Rating: 4.0 #ad
Sometimes the only way home is a trip in the opposite direction
Attie Johnson didn’t plan on becoming widowed or losing her only child before turning fifty. She also didn’t plan on falling in love again, especially with a much older man. When this attractive woman meets John Warren during an unexpected encounter, her plans fly out the window. What ensues is an unforgettable exploration of life. Take a magical journey with John and Attie, fall in love again, take the plunge, and go skinny-dipping before you die.
The Book of the Unwinding
by J.D. Horn
Rating: 4.3 #ad
The struggle for power continues in the sequel to The King of Bones and Ashes from Wall Street Journal bestselling author J.D. Horn.
With their magic diminishing, warring factions of New Orleans witches desperately search for the Book of the Unwinding—a legendary grimoire, hidden by spells, that holds the key to unimaginable powers. As a ruthless struggle erupts in a maelstrom of malevolent magic, psychic Nathalie Boudreau finds her destiny intertwined with that of an exiled witch.
Her name is Alice Marin, a vulnerable young woman trapped in a realm of illusion. Only Nathalie can free her, but first she must come to understand and master her own extraordinary abilities.
Check out:
(Witches of New Orleans)
The Passing Storm
by Christine Nolfi
Rating: 4.3 #ad
A gripping, openhearted novel about family, reconciliation, and bringing closure to the secrets of the past.
Early into the tempestuous decade of her thirties, Rae Langdon struggles to work through a grief she never anticipated. With her father, Connor, she tends to their Ohio farm, a forty-acre spread that itself has enjoyed better days. As memories sweep through her, some too precious to bear, Rae gives shelter from a brutal winter to a teenager named Quinn Galecki.
Quinn has been thrown out by his parents, a couple too troubled to help steer the misunderstood boy through his own losses…
Friday’s Mystery eBooks
Wine Tastings Are Murder
by Libby Klein
Rating: 4.7 #ad
It’s vintage Poppy McAllister when the gluten-free baker and B&B owner tries to solve a murder at a Cape May winery . . .
When Poppy and Aunt Ginny agreed to host a Wine and Cheese Happy Hour for a tour group at their Butterfly House Bed and Breakfast on the Jersey Shore, they never anticipated such a sour bunch. Grumpy guest Vince Baker should be in a better mood—he’s filthy rich and on his honeymoon with his much younger wife Sunny, who seems to dote on him almost as much as her high-spirited teacup Pomeranian, Tammy Faye Baker.
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(A Poppy McAllister Mysteries)
Grin
by Angela Breen
Rating: 4.7 #ad
With the discovery of a family friend’s body on display in a park, a rookie detective discovers a terrifying pattern. She knows one thing for certain. More women will die if she can’t get others to see it too.
Tanvi Nightingale may be a rookie, but her instincts are spot on. A serial killer is terrorizing Indianapolis. Her boss, however, can’t see the connections even as Tanvi falls down the rabbit hole. Desperate to prove herself and stop the killings, Tanvi finds an unexpected ally in the annals of cold cases. Former FBI profiler, Frank Tench.
While Frank sees more than enough evidence to warrant a full investigation, his contact at the BAU remains unconvinced. Instead of a team, she sends in a hothead she thinks can benefit from time under Frank’s tutelage. A Boston Native, Lucas McGinn is used to getting under people’s skin.
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(What’s in a Name?)
Spirit of Gettysburg
by S. Elizabeth Calvert
Rating: 4.1 #ad
Epic…Spellbinding…Thrilling Love Story Extraordinaire! Can ghosts die twice? Apparently so!
Washington, D.C. psychic to the powerful elites headstrong, vulnerable Maureen McAlister flees a contemporary, shattered life into the ghostly, loving arms of Confederate soldier Major Clayton Fontaine Douglas, her former husband and one-true-soulmate. He is the only man she loves and trusts. Clayton, an unrepentant Rebel and proud, brave officer in General Robert E Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, is now a ghost stuck in time in her inherited Gettysburg, Pennsylvania estate. He is furious at God for the loss of his Country and her. He is dying again because of her. Once more she must try to save him, change his fate and rewrite karma.
Final Exam
by Carol J. Perry
Rating: 4.7 #ad
The witchy TV reporter of Salem, MA, is out to solve a cold case—and predict a killer’s next move—in this cozy mystery by the author of Caught Dead Handed.
Life at the house on Winter Street is abuzz with preparations for Aunt Ibby’s 45th high school reunion, and Lee Barrett is happy to pitch in, tracking down addresses and licking envelopes. But as a field reporter for Salem’s WICH-TV, she drops everything to get the scoop on the town’s latest news—and this time it’s a doozy.
The local police have dredged up a vintage sports car containing human remains, and Lee is the first reporter on the scene.
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(A Witch City Mysteries)
Calculated
by Nova McBee
Rating: 4.7 #ad
She has many names – Octavia, Double 8, Phoenix, Josephine. She’s a math prodigy, a calculating genius and everyone wants her.
In seventeen-year-old Jo River’s complicated world of numbers, there’s no such thing as coincidence. When she is betrayed by someone she loves, kidnapped by the world’s most wanted smuggler, and forced to use her talent to shore up a criminal empire, Jo deems her gift a curse—until she meets Red.
Fellow captive and unlikely sage, Red teaches Jo to harness her true potential, so she can do more than just escape. Before he dies, Red reveals a secret about her enemies and makes her vow to right his wrongs. But Jo has a vow of her own.
Check out:
(Simulated)
Her Perfect Family
by Teresa Driscoll
Rating: 4.2 #ad
It’s their daughter’s graduation and Rachel and Ed Hartley are expecting it to be one of their family’s happiest days. But when she stumbles and falls on stage during the ceremony, a beautiful moment turns to chaos: Gemma has been shot, and just like that, she’s fighting for her life.
PI Matthew Hill is one of the first on the scene. A cryptic message Gemma received earlier in the day suggests someone close to her was about to be exposed. But who?
The Peeling & Other Terrifying Tales
by Iain Rob Wright
Rating: 4.2 #ad
The world’s most deadly disease is loose. Anyone who catches it is doomed. Symptoms include coughing, sneezing, abdominal pain, and rotting of the flesh. There is no cure. Infection is 100% fatal.
Stay calm. Please do not panic. The situation is under control. It is under control.
The Peeling & Other Terrifying Tales is a collection of novellas and short stories from bestselling horror author Iain Rob Wright. It begins with the 80-page novella THE PEELING, and also includes several short stories, most of which have never been published before.
White Wasteland
by Jeff Kirkham, Jason Ross
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Black Autumn drove them to the edge of oblivion, but that was before the winter set in…
December descends on a broken nation, and the Homestead survival clan trembles beneath a tide of human suffering crashing at the gates of their mountain refuge. A fanatical warlord arises and drives the Mormons* of the Rocky Mountains toward civil war.
While threats surge around the Homestead, Special Forces veterans and civilian fighters face a moral collapse at home, as the founder of the community struggles with personal demons, and a secretive group of women follow their hearts into uncharted waters. Strange visions, precarious faith and troubled dreams gnaw at the Homestead’s survival. Is their salvation hiding in the dim corners of their nightmares.
Check out:
(The Black Autumn Mysteries)
Thursday’s Mystery eBooks
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards
by Lilian Jackson Braun
Rating: 4.6 #ad
The world of modern art is a mystery to many. But for Jim Qwilleran, it turns into a mystery of another sort when his assignment for The Daily Fluxion leads down the path to murder. A stabbing in an art gallery, vandalized paintings, a fatal fall from a scaffolding—this is not at all what Qwilleran expects when he turns his reporter talents to art. But Qwilleran and his newly found partner, Koko the brilliant Siamese cat, are in their element—sniffing out clues and confounding criminals intent on mayhem and murder. This riveting beginning to the Cat Who series is the perfect cozy mystery for cat lovers to start sleuthing!
Check out:
(Cat Who… Mysteries)
Naked Prey
by John Sandford
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Two people are found hanging naked from a tree in the woods of northern Minnesota. What makes the situation particularly sensitive is the bodies are of a black man and a white woman. Lynching is the word everyone’s trying not to say, but as Lucas Davenport begins to discover, the murders are not at all what they appear to be. And there is worse to come – much, much worse.
“All but impossible to put down.” – The Washington Post
Check out:
(The Prey Mysteries)
Deputy Cooper
by Frank Wheeler
Rating: 4.5 #ad
He lost his family. He won’t lose the war.
When Deputy Cooper Franklin found his sister’s body among the rubble of an overturned carriage, he thought it was a terrible accident. Then he saw the bloody arrows. Now he wants justice, and if he can’t have that, he’ll take vengeance.
But it’s been years since Indians bothered the people of Tightwater, and Cooper isn’t convinced they’re the ones behind the series of attacks taking place now.
Elijah Bentley is a railroad baron who cares more about money than he does about people. With the help of the Predators, a notorious Texas gang known for their brutality and ruthlessness, he plans to take what’s his… and what isn’t.
Check out:
(A Western Adventure Fiction)
Danger in Numbers
by Heather Graham
Rating: 4.6 #ad
On the edge of the Everglades, an eerie crime scene sets off an investigation that sends two agents deep into a world of corrupted faith, greed and deadly secrets.
A ritualistic murder on the side of a remote road brings in the Florida state police. Special Agent Amy Larson has never seen worse, and there are indications that this killing could be just the beginning. The crime draws the attention of the FBI in the form of Special Agent Hunter Forrest, a man with insider knowledge of how violent cults operate, and a man who might never be able to escape his own past.
The Jackal Man
by Russell C. Connor
Rating: 4.4 #ad
A creature older than legend stalks the small Texas town of Asheville. A beast rarely seen but greatly feared, the Jackal Man has haunted the minds of this sleepy hamlet for ages from the uninhabited woods to the south.
Now, a land developer has purchased the area with the intent to build houses, and Frank Stanford has moved into the strange town with his family to oversee the project. He and his punk son Willie will be forced to deal with the truth behind the myth, along with an obsessed cop…a quirky zookeeper…and a sadistic hunter that may be more dangerous than the beast…
Raised in Fire
by K.F. Breene
Rating: 4.6 #ad
The exciting continuation of the Top 10 Amazon Store Bestseller by Wall Street Journal Bestselling author, K.F. Breene!
It is a common truth in my life that when it rains, it pours.
The killings that once plagued New Orleans are cropping up again in Seattle. The local office is stumped. I’m called out to lend a fresh set of eyes, and my unique magical touch. It’s only when I get there that I realize the Seattle office isn’t stumped at all.
They’re being silenced by the Mages’ Guild, a corrupt magical institution that doesn’t want word to get out of what is plaguing the city. Worse, news of my magic might’ve slipped down to the underworld, hitting the ears of some extremely powerful demons.
Check out:
(Demon Days, Vampire Nights World Mysteries)
Knife Edge
by Blake Banner
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Two crime scenes, two multiple murders. Two multiple murders that had too much in common to be mere coincidence.
Cherise Brown, her small daughter Shevron, her husband Earl. The only survivor, eight year-old Leroy who witnessed the whole thing. His story, that his father broke his sister’s neck, his mother stabbed his father in the back and his dad, before dying, in a kind of berserker rage, took the knife and killed his mother.
Four years later Leroy Brown is murdered along with his adoptive sister, Lea. He is stabbed in the back, while his sister’s throat is cut, in a tool shed in the back yard of his adoptive family.
Check out:
(A Dead Cold Mysteries)