Sunday’s Mystery eBooks
To Live and Die in Dixie
by Mary Kay Andrews
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Former Atlanta police officer Callahan is known for scrubbing all kinds of muck, but she has no idea what she’s getting herself into when she is hired by Elliott Littlefield, a notorious Atlanta antiques dealer.
Right from the start, Callahan’s job turns into a lively quest to find a priceless Civil War diary penned by an infamous madam. Soon Callahan and her team become entangled with a motley group of Civil War collectors, right-wing extremists, and nosy teens, making the case messier and tougher to clean.
Atonement
by Ian McEwan
Rating: 4.4 #ad
On a hot summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses a moment’s flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant and Cecilia’s childhood friend. But Briony’s incomplete grasp of adult motives – together with her precocious literary gifts – brings about a crime that will change all their lives.
As it follows that crime’s repercussions through the chaos and carnage of World War II and into the close of the twentieth century, Atonement engages the reader on every conceivable level, with an ease and authority that mark it as a genuine masterpiece.
Fire & Blood
by George R. R. Martin
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen—the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria—took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire & Blood begins their tale with the legendary Aegon the Conqueror, creator of the Iron Throne, and goes on to recount the generations of Targaryens who fought to hold that iconic seat, all the way up to the civil war that nearly tore their dynasty apart.
What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons? Why was it so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom? What were Maegor the Cruel’s worst crimes?
Zero In
by Dean Koontz
Rating: 4.6 #ad
This could be the most important mission of Nameless’s life. Because it’s putting him on a collision course with his own past and the nation’s future.
The target: a fortified redoubt in the golden hills of California, the hub of a new world order that’s unthinkably close at hand. The time has come for Nameless to face its designer: the nihilist mastermind behind the One Solution. It’s also time for Nameless to discover who he is and was, and what brought him to this fateful endgame. But will the truth be a breaking point? Or a turning point?
Nine Dragons
by Michael Connelly
Rating: 4.6 #ad
After what seems like a routine murder investigation, LAPD Detective Harry Bosch finds himself in Hong Kong facing the highest-stakes case of his life: bringing his kidnapped daughter home.
Fortune Liquors is a small shop in a tough South L.A. neighborhood, a store Bosch has known for years. The murder of John Li, the store’s owner, hits Bosch hard, and he promises Li’s family that he’ll find the killer.
The world Bosch steps into next is unknown territory. He brings in a detective from the Asian Gang Unit for help with translation — not just of languages but also of the cultural norms and expectations that guided Li’s life. He uncovers a link to a Hong Kong triad, a lethal and far-reaching crime ring that follows many immigrants to their new lives in the U.S. And instantly his world explodes.
The Stand
by Stephen King
Rating: 4.7 #ad
When a man escapes from a biological testing facility, he sets in motion a deadly domino effect, spreading a mutated strain of the flu that will wipe out 99 percent of humanity within a few weeks. The survivors who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge–Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious “Dark Man”, who delights in chaos and violence. As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them–and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity.
The Broken God
by Gareth Hanrahan
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Enter a city of dragons and darkness . . .
The Godswar has come to Guerdon, dividing the city between three occupying powers. A fragile armistice holds back the gods, but other dangerous forces seek to exert their influence. Spar Idgeson, once heir to the brotherhood of thieves has been transformed into the living stone of the new city. But his powers are failing and the criminal dragons of the Ghierdana are circling.
Meanwhile, far across the sea, Carillon Thay—once a thief, a saint, a god killer; now alone and powerless—seeks the mysterious land of Khebesh, desperate to find a cure for Spar.
Saturday’s Mystery eBooks
A Spoonful of Murder
by J.M. Hall
Rating: 3.8 #ad
Every Thursday, three retired school teachers have their ‘coffee o’clock’ sessions at the Thirsk Garden Centre café.
But one fateful week, as they are catching up with a slice of cake, they bump into their ex-colleague, Topsy. By the next Thursday, Topsy’s dead. The last thing Liz, Thelma and Pat imagined was that they would become involved in a murder.
But they know there’s more to Topsy’s death than meets the eye – and it’s down to them to prove it…
It Began With a Lie
by Michele PW
Rating: 4.3 #ad
An award-winning, gripping psychological suspense mystery. All Becca wanted was a fresh start. That wasn’t what she got.
Becca was sure the move from New York to Redemption, Wisconsin was exactly what her troubled family needed. A way to get her crumbling marriage back on track, and to bond with her difficult 16-year-old stepdaughter.
But instead of a new beginning, Becca is thrust into a mysterious past she barely remembers. A past that includes the complications of interacting with her old teenage crush, Daniel, as well as living in her aunt’s old house. A house with a violent past. A house the locals swear is haunted.
Check out:
(Secrets of Redemption Mysteries)
Second Chance Protectors Collection
by Alexa Verde, Autumn Macarthur
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Book 1: Brett, Her Bodyguard: A brother missing, two children in jeopardy… The bodyguard will keep those he loves safe, but how safe is his heart?
Book 2: Colt, Her Reunion: When the serial killer who almost murdered Mirabella once before threatens her life, Colt will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. Even if it means falling in love with her all over again.
Book 3: David, Her Cowboy: As the danger surrounding them escalates, can David and Aster keep the baby safe – along with their hearts?
The Hanging Valley
by Peter Robinson
Rating: 4.3 #ad
When a faceless body is found in a tranquil valley just south of the village of Swainshead, Chief Inspector Alan Banks soon finds that no one in the village is willing to talk about it, except to say, “Not again.”
An unsolved murder from five years before and the unsolved disappearance of a prominent local man’s girlfriend appear to be connected. As Banks delves deeper into the mystery, someone begins to intentionally slow down the investigation. When events take a turn, Inspector Banks must track his killer across the Atlantic and find a way to make a break in the case before time runs out.
With No One As Witness
by Elizabeth George
Rating: 4.6 #ad
When an adolescent boy’s nude body is found draped over a tomb in a graveyard, the police recognize the work of a serial killer who’s been murdering boys in London. This is the killer’s fourth victim but the first to be white.
Hoping to avoid charges of institutionalized prejudice in their failure to pursue the earlier crimes to their conclusion, New Scotland Yard takes the case and hands it over to Lynley and his colleagues Detective Constable Barbara Havers and Detective Sergeant Winston Nkata.
Voices in the Wind
by Stephanie Parker McKean
Rating: 5.0 #ad
Two accusations of murder against her, a lack of belief in God and a loveless marriage cause Rhoda to label herself as “unlucky,” so when she hears voices in the wind, she follows them.
Rhoda finds herself in a land that exceeds all her dreams and expectations, as do the two men vying for her love – rain man Tal and sun man Victor. She could have it all, but Treasury is God’s secret holding place for rain and wind. Rhoda must prove herself worthy to the Protectors who guard Treasury.
To prove her worthiness, Rhoda must ascend dangerous Verboten Mountain to bring back a jar of dry dirt. Verboten is as forbidden as its name and to succeed in her quest, Rhoda faces warlike cave men, dinosaur birds, enormous serpents and an army of Great Dane-sized Bullet Train Ants.
Raised On Freedom
by Gail McGuire
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Through brave encounters, rollicking fun, and transformative heartbreak my friends and I rambled, romped, and explored in wide open spaces largely unencumbered by adult supervision.
These are stories of an exceptionally fulfilling and spectacular childhood growing up during the pinnacle of patriotism and belief in the good of society that was the Baby Boomer era.
We drank from garden hoses, rode in the back of pickups, rode horses bareback, sought adventures miles away from our homes, courageously faced frightening ordeals, and lived to tell these favored tales.
Titans of War
by Wilbur Smith
Rating: 4.4 #ad
A RUTHLESS ENEMY. A CIVILIZATION IN RUINS. A QUEST FOR SALVATION.
For over fifty years Egypt has known nothing but war and devastation at the hands of the Hyksos, a bloodthirsty barbarian people from the distant east who continue to advance, crushing armies in their wake. Times are desperate, but throughout the conflict, a brave resistance fights on under the great Taita, a slave who has risen far beyond his ranks.
Piay, entrusted into Taita’s care by his parents at the age of just five, has been trained to become a great spy, unmatched by any other…
An Excellent Mystery
by Ellis Peters
Rating: 4.6 #ad
In the year of our Lord 1141, August comes in golden as a lion, and two monks ride into the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul bringing with them disturbing news of war—and a mystery.
The strangers tell how the strife between the Empress Maud and King Stephen has destroyed the town of Winchester and their priory. Now Brother Humilis, who is handsome, gaunt, and very ill, and Brother Fidelis, youthful, comely—and totally mute—must seek refuge at Shrewsbury. From the moment he meets them, Brother Cadfael senses something deeper than common vows binds these two good brothers. What the link is he can only guess.