Friday’s Mystery eBooks
When Did We Lose Sylvia?
by Vera Day
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Southern humor, faith, and murder intersect in the tiny town of Tulip, Texas.
Betty Bell is a famous poet, or at least a local celebrity, in the tiny town of Tulip, Texas. Gossip runs amok when a Goth teenager, Sylvia Smith, and her elderly grandfather arrive. Even worse, they’ve moved into the creepy, old Sanchez place on the outskirts of town.
Betty volunteers to teach a summer poetry class to restless Tulip teens. Soon, the kids are expressing themselves in stellar stanzas and heart-rending rhymes. But what was supposed to be a summer of ministering to the teens becomes a season of sleuthing when one of Betty’s students, the spooky Sylvia, goes missing.
THE GIRLS IN THE CABIN
by CALEB STEPHENS
Rating: 4.1 #ad
A dad will do anything to keep his daughters safe. But the phone lines are down. The roads are blocked. And the woman in the cabin is hiding a terrible secret . . .
This camping trip is Chris’s last chance to repair his relationship with his daughters, Kayla and Emma. Nothing’s been the same since they lost their mom. But things go wrong as soon as they get to the mountains.
When they make camp, nine-year-old Emma runs off into the woods. By the time they find her, there’s a snowstorm rolling in. And Emma’s leg is badly broken. They need to find shelter, fast…
Lapidius
by Matthew Runals
Rating: 4.8 #ad
Novum Albion had been the melting pot of the world, where cultures, intellect, ideas, and even freedom defined the young nation. Yet, many no longer had the hope that once defined Novum Albion. Sadly, inspiration and confidence drained from the land. Hope became nothing more than feeble happiness, and happiness turned to selfish desires. Selfish desires turned to greed, and greed turned into numbness to life. Many citizens of Novum Albion were trapped in their own minds, yet they were still filled with pride, though they accomplished nothing.
As the young of the land grew ignorant of their identity and their past, the very fiber of the home started to unwind, and uncertainty and ignorance in every aspect of life began to grow. Thus Lapidius, a martial institute for children, found a place among the offspring of the compromised nation. And though it would be hard for some to think a school could be home for its students, it was just that for many.
Sex Crimes
by Alice Vachss
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Sequel plus original:
After being fired from her post as Chief of the Special Victims Unit for refusing to “go along to get along,” Alice Vachss published the incendiary Sex Crimes, described as “a stark, passionate closing argument in [her] broader case against the criminal justice system” by the NY Times, which named it as a Notable Book of the Year. Nick (Goodfellas) Pileggi called it “the single best book about prosecuting sex crimes in America, period.” Now, twenty years later, Alice Vachss becomes Special Prosecutor for Sex Crimes in a new environment … on the opposite coast, in a small rural community. And asks the critical question: What has changed?
A Strike to the Heart
by Danielle Grandinetti
Rating: 4.5 #ad
She’s fiercely independent. He’s determined to protect her.
Wisconsin, 1933 – When a routine mission becomes an ambush that kills his team, Craft Agency sniper Miles Wright determines to find the persons responsible and protect the woman he rescued. But the fierce independence that led Lily Moore to leave her family’s dairy business for the solitary life of a dog trainer and the isolation of her farm don’t make that easy. Neither does his unwanted attraction to her. Meanwhile, escalating incidents confirm that she’s far from safe.
Lily fears letting the surprisingly gentle retired marine into her life almost as much as she fears whoever is threatening her. As Wisconsin farmers edge toward another milk strike, one that will surely turn violent, it becomes clear that the plot against Lily may be part of a much larger conspiracy.
Serpent Dominion
by Christopher Mitchell
Rating: 4.8 #ad
Lahnos Laimos is not ashamed of his horns.
For refusing to file them down, Lahnos is cast out by his family and expelled from his home in the mountain village where he was born.
The horns reveal a dark secret, that Lahnos shares his ancestry with the Bullan – the feared and loathed soldiers occupying the Serpent Isle. When the Island rebels against the ruling Dragon Dominion, Lahnos has a choice to make – fight for a homeland that hates him, or sit back and watch the Serpent Isle burn?
When Things Get Dark
by Multiple AUthors
Rating: 4.5 #ad
The Stoker Award-winning chilling anthology of 18 short stories in tribute to the genius of Shirley Jackson, collecting today’s best horror writers.
Featuring Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand and more.
A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by, and in tribute to, Shirley Jackson.
Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today. Chilling, human, poignant and strange, her stories have inspired a generation of writers and readers.
Chronicles of Winland Underwood Complete Series
by Martha Carr, Michael Anderle
Rating: 5.0 #ad
Winland Underwood has been running and hiding most of her life. Today is the day she will stop and stand her ground. Can she protect the magical refugees while searching for her mother? What other challenges await the Fixer’s daughter?
Grab the Chronicles of Winland Underwood Complete Series Boxed Set today to find out!
She’s no stranger to running and hiding but she’s used to doing it alone. Winland Underwood, daughter to the legendary “Fixer”, has seen her fair share of magical mayhem. She’s just never wanted to be a part of it.
But when a group of magical refugees needs her help, she’s finding it hard to say no. This half Light Elf and half Witch has her work cut out for her. How do you hide a whole group of people in plain sight?
The Dead Woman of Deptford
by Ann Granger
Rating: 4.3 #ad
On a cold November night in a Deptford yard, dock worker Harry Parker stumbles upon the body of a dead woman. Inspector Ben Ross is summoned from Scotland Yard to this insalubrious part of town, but no witness to the murder of this well-dressed, middle-aged woman can be found. Even Jeb Fisher, the local rag-and-bone man, swears he’s seen nothing.
Meanwhile, Ben’s wife Lizzie is trying to suppress a scandal: family friend Edgar Wellings has a gambling addiction and no means of repaying his debts. Reluctantly, Lizzie agrees to visit his debt collector’s house in Deptford, but when she arrives she finds her husband is investigating the murder of the woman in question.
The Munich Girl
by Phyllis Edgerly Ring
Rating: 4.2 #ad
Anna Dahlberg grew up eating dinner under her father’s war-trophy portrait of Eva Braun. Fifty years after the war, she discovers what he never did – that her mother and Hitler’s mistress were friends.
The secret surfaces with a mysterious monogrammed handkerchief, and a man, Hannes Ritter, whose Third Reich family history is entwined with Anna’s.
Plunged into the world of the “ordinary” Munich girl who was her mother’s confidante—and a tyrant’s lover—Anna finds her every belief about right and wrong challenged. With Hannes’s help, she retraces the path of two women who met as teenagers, shared a friendship that spanned the years that Eva Braun was Hitler’s mistress, yet never knew that the men they loved had opposing ambitions.
The Summer We Fell in Love
by Trisha Ridinger McKee
Rating: 5.0 #ad
He reached for her hand, never quite making contact. “But beneath all the mess, it’s a love story.”
One phone call, one softly spoken nickname, takes Poppy back twenty-four years when she was an eighteen-year-old finding her own way.
With an old camper and plans for a better future than living with an alcoholic, bitter mother, Poppy sells her jewelry by the side of the road. Those plans are tossed upside-down when she meets Silas, a charming, carefree guy who only has his sights on the moment, not the future. Together, they face their first summer as adults, and Poppy has to decide whether she wants to follow her dreams… or her heart.
Thursday’s Mystery eBooks
Bones Behind the Wheel
by E. J. Copperman
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Proprietress Alison Kerby and her ghostly guest detective “auto” know better than to dig into the case of a long-buried sedan and its now-skeletal driver . . .
Innkeeper Alison Kerby is determined to keep her mind, body, and soul focused on bringing high-spirited hospitality to her lodgers at the Haunted Guesthouse. She simply has no time for any more murder investigations, no matter what Paul Harrison, her resident ghost detective, says.
But this time, the mystery comes looking for Alison. Workers unearth a 1977 Lincoln Continental buried in the sand behind Alison’s guesthouse – and they discover a skeleton still belted in behind the steering wheel.
A Place of Hiding
by Elizabeth George
Rating: 4.2 #ad
An isolated beach on the island of Guernsey in the English Channel is the scene of the murder of Guy Brouard, one of Guernsey’s wealthiest inhabitants and its main benefactor. Forced as a child to flee the Nazis in Paris, Brouard was engaged in his latest project when he died: a museum in honor of those who resisted the German occupation of the island during World War II.
It is from this period of time that his murderer may well have come. But there are others on Guernsey with reason to want Guy Brouard dead: his wives, his business associates, his current mistress, the underprivileged teenagers he mentored – any of whom might have harbored a secret motive for murder.
Getting Even
by Lisa Jackson
Rating: 4.2 #ad
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author – two timeless novels of revenge in one volume, perfect for fans of Jeneva Rose, Freida McFadden, and Lucinda Berry.
“Trask McFadden is back.” Those are words that Tory has been waiting to hear, half in dread, half with longing. It’s been five years since Trask landed her father behind bars for horse swindling, using things she’d told him in confidence. Her father died there, but now Trask insists he has information that could help prove who was really responsible for the crime, not to mention his own brother’s death. Trask needs her help. But he won’t get it, not after destroying her family, her ranch, and the love they shared.
After the Fall
by Patricia Gussin
Rating: 4.2 #ad
A tragic accident ends Laura Nelson’s career as a surgeon. After accepting a position as Vice President for Research in a large pharmaceutical company, Laura works to finalize the imminent approval of the company’s groundbreaking new drug. But Jake Harter, a malicious Food and Drug Administration employee, cannot let that happen. He is obsessed with Adawia Abdul, the beautiful Iraqi scientist who discovered the drug. As soon as the drug is approved, Adawia will collect a substantial bonus and reluctantly return to replace her dying father, the lead scientist in Saddam Hussein’s bioweapon program. As Hussein’s henchmen apply brutal pressure to assure Dr. Abdul’s speedy return to Iraq, Harter uses his influence to stall the drug’s approval. If Laura gets in his way, he will eliminate her as he has her predecessor and his own wife.
The Sanctuary
by Emma Haughton
Rating: 3.9 #ad
Very few people get the opportunity to stay here. And some don’t get to leave …
Zoey doesn’t remember anything about last night. But she knows something went badly wrong. For she is no longer in New York. She’s woken up in the desert, in a white building she doesn’t recognise, and she’s alone.
When she discovers she’s been admitted to The Sanctuary, a discreet, mysterious, isolated refuge from normal life, to avoid jail, she is stunned. She knows she has secrets, troubles, but she thought she had everything under control. But as she spends more time with other residents, she begins to open up about what she’s running from. Until she realises that not everyone in The Sanctuary has her best interests at heart, and someone might even be a killer . . .
Shadow and Bone
by Leigh Bardugo
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Orphaned and expendable, Alina Starkov is a soldier who knows she may not survive her first trek across the Shadow Fold—a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters. But when her regiment is attacked, Alina unleashes dormant magic not even she knew she possessed.
Now Alina will enter a lavish world of royalty and intrigue as she trains with the Grisha, her country’s magical military elite—and falls under the spell of their notorious leader, the Darkling. He believes Alina can summon a force capable of destroying the Shadow Fold and reuniting their war-ravaged country, but only if she can master her untamed gift.
A House to Call Home
by Igal Sarna
Rating: 4.4 #ad
An unforgettable memoir of a journalist in exile.
When confronted with the choice between living as a pariah in his homeland or escaping with his partner – Igal Sarna chose exile.
At 65, with a distinguished 35-years career as an investigative journalist in a country torn by national struggles, Sarna’s search for a place in the world brings him all the way to the tip of the European continent. Surrounded by lush lands and even more colorful characters, he finds his repose in Portugal, in an old house by the banks of the Alto Minho and the Atlantic Ocean.
Her Shifter Wolf Assassin
by Serena Meadows
Rating: 4.6 #ad
I was done being an assassin when I was hired to find her. She was the beautiful wolf shifter that shook my world.
Sparks flew from the moment I laid eyes on her. But I had to lie to get the job done. Jolene’s wolf shifter clan is after her life. She escaped them as a child but has no clue how much danger she’s in.
Pretending to be just a guest at her bed and breakfast is one thing. Telling her I don’t love her is another. It was my job to capture her. Now I’ve made it my duty to protect her.