Wednesday’s Mystery eBooks
The Accurate Accounts of Agent Jinni the Cat
by Clara Szalai
Rating: 4.9 #ad
Don’t be fooled by her fluffy, lovable exterior – Jinni the Cat is far more interested in solving the mysteries of the universe than making nice or catching mice.
Jinni’s mission could not have been any simpler – study all she can about the human condition, and report back to her superiors so they can determine once and for all what is the state of human existence. But Jinni isn’t exactly the best agent Homeworld has to offer – she’s a wisecracking troublemaker, too smart for her own good. So, when she finally does reach Earth, she shapes into the most appropriate, elegant form imaginable.
Which is why she is currently stuck looking like a cat.
Dead Lions
by Mick Herron
Rating: 4.4 #ad
The CWA Gold Dagger Award-winning British espionage novel about disgraced MI5 agents who inadvertently uncover a deadly Cold War-era legacy of sleeper cells and mythic super spies.
The disgruntled agents of Slough House, the MI5 branch where washed-up spies are sent to finish their failed careers on desk duty, are called into action to protect a visiting Russian oligarch whom MI5 hopes to recruit to British intelligence. While two agents are dispatched on that babysitting job, though, an old Cold War-era spy named Dickie Bow is found dead, ostensibly of a heart attack, on a bus outside of Oxford, far from his usual haunts.
Berserker of Gambria
by pdmac
Rating: 5.0 #ad
With their spaceship destroyed, the remaining two survivors of a failed colonization mission jettison down to a planet with the hope they can survive. Duncan, a bookish linguist, and Alexis, a beautiful gladiator in the prime of her career, suddenly find themselves drawn into the struggles between two warring kingdoms. Their fortunes improve when Alexis’ combat skills are discovered, and she is challenged by the nation’s berserker who underestimates his opponent and pays dearly for it. Yet no sooner is she awarded his position, title, and wealth when she is called upon to lead the nation’s warriors in the first full scale battle she has ever experienced, against an enemy who take no prisoners.
With the very real possibility that Alexis might not survive the battle, Duncan is left alone to fend for himself. Calling himself a Wizard of the Universe, he is brought before the Council of Prelates to explain his obvious heresy.
Blackout
by Simon Scarrow
Rating: 4.5 #ad
As the Nazis tighten their chokehold on the capital, panic and paranoia fester as blackout is rigidly enforced. Every night the city is plunged into an oppressive, suffocating darkness—pitch-perfect conditions for unspeakable acts.
When a young woman is found brutally murdered, it’s up to Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke to solve the case quickly. His reputation is already on the line for his failure to join the Nazi Party. If he doesn’t solve the case, the consequences could be fatal.
The House of Thunder
by Dean Koontz
Rating: 4.1 #ad
Susan Thornton watched in terror as her lover died a brutal death in a college hazing. And in the four years that followed, the four young men who participated in that grim fraternity ritual also died violently – or so she thought.
Twelve years later, Susan wakes in a hospital bed. Apparently involved in a fatal accident, she can’t remember who she is or why she is there. All she knows is that her life is unfolding into a menacing nightmare – and that the faces that surround her, are those of the four men involved in that murder years ago.
The Messy Man Trilogy
by Chris Sorensen
Rating: 5.0 #ad
THE NIGHTMARE ROOM, THE HUNGRY ONES, and THE MESSY MAN…
From the bestselling author of SUCKERVILLE and BEE TORNADO comes the trilogy that started it all. Three unique haunted tales that intertwine in ways that will frighten and surprise you. With enough ghosts, demons, and hauntings to keep you up all night, THE MESSY MAN TRILOGY is filled with horror and heart. Originally released as three separate books, the entire ghostly tale is available for the first time as one haunted tome.
The Nature of Fragile Things
by Susan Meissner
Rating: 4.5 #ad
April 18, 1906: A massive earthquake rocks San Francisco just before daybreak, igniting a devouring inferno. Lives are lost, lives are shattered, but some rise from the ashes forever changed.
Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome. Sophie quickly develops deep affection for Kat, Martin’s silent five-year-old daughter, but Martin’s odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn’t right.
Redshirts
by John Scalzi
Rating: 4.2 #ad
Redshirts is John Scalzi’s Hugo Award-winning novel of the starship ensigns who were expendable…until they started comparing notes.
Tor Essentials presents new editions of science fiction and fantasy titles of proven merit and lasting value, each volume introduced by an appropriate literary figure.
Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, with the chance to serve on “Away Missions” alongside the starship’s famous senior officers.
Tuesday’s Mystery eBooks
The Perfect Neighbors
by Sarah Pekkanen
Rating: 3.9 #ad
How well do you ever really know the family next door?
Bucolic Newport Cove, where spontaneous block parties occur on balmy nights and all of the streets are named for flowers, is proud of its distinction of being named one the top twenty safest neighborhoods in the US. It’s also one of the most secret-filled.
Kellie Scott has just returned to work after a decade of being a stay-at-home mom. She’s adjusting to high heels, scrambling to cook dinner for her family after a day at the office—and soaking in the dangerous attention of a very handsome, very married male colleague…
The Jealous Wife
by James Caine
Rating: 4.5 #ad
She wants my husband. She wants my life. She wants me- gone.
About to become parents, my husband and I decide to move to my small hometown to be closer to my family. Everything was perfect until I met our new neighbor- the reason I moved away to begin with.
Kelly Van Patten.
She’s the epitome of beauty. With her radiant blond hair, captivating blue eyes and a smile so warm and caring, it’s no wonder everyone adores her… except me.
A Mortal Mortgage
by Peter Ralph
Rating: 4.4 #ad
An innocent woman, Stella Tyson, is accused of the murder of her 62yo property entrepreneur husband, Jack. Borrowing via a reverse mortgage shouldn’t be mortal!
If Jack had had a crystal ball, he would never have borrowed and been more careful in his choice of partners. Josh and his faithful dog, Tsar, put their lives on the line when they dig into Jack’s background and confront the mob.
A wall of silence in the small town where Stella lives threatens to convict her. Only Josh and Tsar stand between her and thirty years in prison …
A House With Good Bones
by T. Kingfisher
Rating: 4.2 #ad
Her brother’s words echo in Sam Montgomery’s ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.
She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam’s excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.
High Midnight
by Stuart M. Kaminsky
Rating: 4.3 #ad
A forties Hollywood PI does not forsake Gary Cooper: “Like all of Toby [Peters’s] adventures, High Midnight is high entertainment” (The Cincinnati Post).
When laconic leading man Gary Cooper needs a detective, he does the smart thing and hires Toby Peters, sleuth to the stars. But the man he finds in Peters’s office isn’t the famously discreet private eye—it’s the dentist who shares his office, who’s always had a fantasy of playing gumshoe, and happily agrees to take care of Cooper’s blackmail problem. Impersonating Peters, the dentist bungles the case disastrously, and setting it right will be like pulling teeth.
Into the Mist
by P. C. Cast
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Practical Magic meets Station Eleven in this gripping take on female power and the inevitable, destructive path of violent patriarchies.
As men fall to the mist, the age of womankind begins to rise.
The world as we know it ends when an attack on the U.S. unleashes bombs that deliver fire and biological destruction. Along with sonic detonations and devastating earthquakes, the bombs have also brought the green mist. If breathed in, it is deadly to all men—but alters the body chemistry of many women, imbuing them with superhuman abilities.
Freak Bloodline
by Tamara Holub
Rating: 4.8 #ad
At its heart, Freak Bloodline is an interstellar romance set in a hypnotic alien world. Three misfits—a psychic woman, an alien-human hybrid, and a cyborg—navigate a love triangle and the possibility of an interplanetary war.
Jaynie Parker, an artist and young entrepreneur by day, struggles to control her psychic ability. When her mind-blowing visions warn her about a dangerous hybrid, she begins to question her sanity. Follow her unforgettable journey as alien relationships transform her life, and she finds her true calling on a mystical rainforest planet.
On the faraway planet of Limaxia, Ethan lives alone with only his robots for company. A lonely and isolated scientist, he yearns for connection…
The Reef
by Nora Roberts
Rating: 4.5 #ad
A marine archaeologist and a salvager join forces to search for a legendary treasure in this novel that takes readers to the depths of the Caribbean and the heights of passion and suspense—from #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts.
Tate Beaumont has a passion for treasure-hunting. Over the years, she and her father have uncovered many fabulous riches, but one treasure has always eluded them: Angelique’s Curse—a jeweled amulet heavy with history, dark with legend, and tainted with blood. In order to find this precious artifact, the Beaumonts reluctantly form a partnership with salvagers Buck and Matthew Lassiter.