Tuesday’s Mystery eBooks
Miss Julia’s School of Beauty
by Ann B. Ross
Rating: 4.4 #ad
In her latest romp, Miss Julia – now Mrs. Sam Murdoch – returns from her whirlwind elopement, only to find herself roped into Hazel Marie’s scheme to raise money by throwing a beauty pageant. Though it all seems a tad distasteful, it’s nothing compared to the revelation that Pigeon Forge, the marriage mill across the state line that wedded Julia and Sam, might not be legitimate. And a flustered Julia can’t help wondering whether she and Sam can keep up appearances before the town finds out they might be living in sin.
Paradise Valley
by C.J. Box
Rating: 4.6 #ad
For three years, Investigator Cassie Dewell has been on a hunt for a serial killer known as the Lizard King whose hunting grounds are the highways and truck stops where runaways and prostitutes are most likely to vanish. Cassie almost caught him…once.
Working for the Bakken County, North Dakota sheriff’s department, Cassie has set what she believes is the perfect trap and she has lured him and his truck to a depot. But the plan goes horribly wrong, and the blame falls on Cassie. Disgraced, she loses her job and investigation into her role is put into motion.
The Huntsman’s Revenge
by Kirsten S. Blacketer
Rating: 5.0 #ad
Once upon a time, the huntsman loved the queen, until she betrayed him and the entire kingdom of Revaria.
Rumors of Queen Emery’s power had become legend. The wicked queen who cursed those who bore the Inkling and enslaved their animus. But there is more to her story than the ever-changing whispers flowing through the villages.
Overthrown and banished by her daughter, the queen surrenders at the mercy of her huntsman, Rowan…the man she once loved. Seeking shelter in the sacred village of his ancestors, Rowan unravels the complicated past he shares with Emery in an effort to redeem not only himself but the fallen queen.
The Other Mother
by Miranda Rijks
Rating: 4.2 #ad
Who took Florrie? What do they want? And how far will they go to get it?
When Jane is asked to pick up her friend’s daughter, Florrie, from school, she can’t imagine the horror that will unfold. Because someone pretending to be Jane has already collected Florrie. And now the little four-year-old is missing…
Things don’t get any easier when Jane starts receiving anonymous letters that include intimate details about her life. As a psychologist and agony aunt, she’s used to getting letters asking for advice, but these are different. Are they somehow connected to the missing child?
Desperation in Death
by J. D. Robb
Rating: 4.8 #ad
New York, 2061: The place called the Pleasure Academy is a living nightmare where abducted girls are trapped, trained for a life of abject service while their souls are slowly but surely destroyed. Dorian, a thirteen-year-old runaway who’d been imprisoned there, might never have made it out if not for her fellow inmate Mina, who’d hatched the escape plan. Mina was the more daring of the two—but they’d been equally desperate.
Nightwork
by Nora Roberts
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Greed. Desire. Obsession. Revenge . . . It’s all in a night’s work.
Harry Booth started stealing at nine to keep a roof over his ailing mother’s head, slipping into luxurious, empty homes at night to find items he could trade for precious cash. When his mother finally succumbed to cancer, he left Chicago—but kept up his nightwork, developing into a master thief with a code of honor and an expertise in not attracting attention—or getting attached.
The Dragon King Collection
by Stephen Lawhead
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Bestselling author Stephen R. Lawhead’s Dragon King Trilogy—now available in one volume.
In the Hall of the Dragon King
The Warlords of Nin
The Sword and the Flame
Sunday’s Mystery eBooks
Blessing of the Lost Girls
by J. A. Jance
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Driven by a compulsion that challenges his self-control, the man calling himself Charles Milton prowls the rodeo circuit, hunting young women. He chooses those he believes are the most vulnerable, wandering alone and distracted, before he strikes. For years, he has been meticulous in his methods, abducting, murdering, and disposing of his victims while leaving no evidence of his crimes—or their identities—behind. Indigenous women have become his target of choice, knowing law enforcement’s history of ignoring their disappearances.
The Traitor
by Ava Glass
Rating: 4.3 #ad
An MI6 operative is found dead, locked in a suitcase inside his own apartment. Despite an exhaustive search, no fingerprints are found at the scene. Emma Makepeace and her handler, Ripley, know an assassination when they see one, and such an obvious murder can mean only one thing: Someone is sending a message.
As she digs into his past, Emma discovers that the unfortunate spy had been investigating two Russian oligarchs based in London. He’d become obsessed with the idea that the two were spies, aided by a third man—whose identity he had yet to uncover.
Robert Ludlum’s The Treadstone Rendition
by Joshua Hood
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Adam Hayes has stepped away from the field for the last time. He’s promised his wife that he won’t put his life on the line any more, and there’s nothing that will make him break a promise to his wife.
Well…almost nothing. With America withdrawing from Afghanistan and the Taliban closing in, Abdul Nassir reached out to his old friend. Ten years ago, he saved the American’s life, and the time has come for repayment. The Afghan is desperate to flee his homeland.
Star of Wonder
by J. Gunnar Grey
Rating: 3.8 #ad
The gorgeous woman leaned closer, almost into his personal space, her dark hair falling in gentle waves to her shoulders. Kennie glanced around, uncomfortable even in his fascination. But none of the joggers passing them seemed to notice her, and she wasn’t a woman to be ignored. “Do you believe in holiness?” she asked.
NATO Rapid Response sapper Captain Kenneth Rutland needs something to believe in. His life has gone too far off course, and he’s easily sucked in when a beautiful stranger gives him a chance to escape his cynical, disappointing reality. She offers her hand and he takes it, not caring what awaits him.
The Traitor Among Us
by Anne Perry
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Not far from the sprawling grounds of Wyndham Hall, the body of longtime MI6 agent John Repton is found, shot dead with a single bullet to the heart. The corpse’s proximity to the estate sends ripples of concern through the intelligence community: Repton was killed while surveilling the members of a household with alleged ties to fascists who threaten the security of the country, as Hitler’s influence spreads across Europe. Elena Standish is assigned the case, thanks to her new connection to the Wyndham family: Her older sister, Margot, is being courted by Lady Wyndham’s brother.
Don’t Let Her Stay
by Nicola Sanders
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Richard was over the moon that his daughter wanted to come back into his life. ‘You’ll love her,’ he’d said, beaming. ‘She’s very sweet. She just had a wobble about me marrying again, but that’s over now.’
Well, she was going to find out she had nothing to worry about. I’d been fantasising non-stop about the two of us becoming close. I had visions of us baking together while Richard was at work, chatting about her boyfriends, her studies, what kind of job she’d like to do…
Anyway, let’s just say things haven’t quite worked out that way.
DIEGO THE SMELLY DOG
by A.G. Russo
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Ava is a feisty little girl who loves dogs and likes bandaids. One day a large old dog follows Ava and Gramps home. Ava’s mom won’t let her have a pet so she can’t keep him. But she does name him Diego. He is smelly. They take him to the rescue shelter the next day but Ava and Gramps visit him there every week. Who will give Diego a home? A heartwarming adoption story of unconditional love.
Saturday’s Mystery eBooks
Widow’s Tears
by Susan Wittig Albert
Rating: 4.5 #ad
After losing her family and home in the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, Rachel Blackwood rebuilt her house a hundred miles inland and later died there, still wrapped in her grief.
In present-day Texas, Claire, the grandniece of Rachel’s caretaker, has inherited the house and wants to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast. But she is concerned that it’s haunted, so she calls in her friend Ruby—who has the gift of extrasensory perception—to check it out.
Break of Day
by Colleen Coble
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Annie Pederson’s happily ever after is finally within sight . . . If she can stay alive long enough to grasp it.
Law enforcement officer Annie Pederson’s life has been rocked by tragedy, but things finally seem to be heading in the right direction. Her relationship with the love of her life—who’s also the biological father of her precious daughter—has never been better, and it looks like an engagement ring is in Annie’s future. She’s also slowly building back trust with her sister, Sarah, after a separation that lasted for decades.
ONLY OUR DESTINY
by A.G. Russo
Rating: 4.4 #ad
The Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy).
Up to 85 per cent of Italian Americans have their roots in this region. The story of the Coriello family begins in the fictional fishing village of Punto Roccioso along the Amalfi Coast. Alta Italia (Northern Italy) looks down on their southern countrymen as uneducated peasants. With limited opportunities available, many southern Italians dream of escaping poverty by leaving the land they love for a better life in America. But like all dreams, hardships, sacrifices, and realities intrude.
The Bridge
by Matt Brolly
Rating: 4.4 #ad
Accident? Dangerous game gone wrong? Or murder? DI Blackwell faces her toughest case yet.
When the body of a young woman is discovered in a shipping container in Bristol, the police suspect she was an illegal immigrant whose death was a tragic accident. But their theory is shot down by two pieces of evidence: the container was due to ship out, not in; and, even more sinister, a video camera with a live feed was filming her from a hidden compartment.
Someone watched her die. Slowly.
Murder Most Royal
by SJ Bennett
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Evidence that an aristocrat has gone missing—and was possibly murdered—near Sandringham House sets Queen Elizabeth II on the path to discover unsavory family secrets and much more in this new installment of the series the New York Times Book Review calls “sheer entertainment.”
Queen Elizabeth II is looking forward to a traditional Christmas gathering with her family in Sandringham when a shocking discovery interrupts holiday plans. A severed hand has been found—but even more unsettling, she recognizes the signet ring still attached to a finger.
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
by Roshani Chokshi
Rating: 4.0 #ad
A sumptuous, gothic-infused story about a marriage that is unraveled by dark secrets, a friendship cursed to end in tragedy, and the danger of believing in fairy tales—the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.
Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. He was a scholar of myths. She was heiress to a fortune. They exchanged gifts and stories and believed they would live happily ever after—and in exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past…
A Chill Wind
by Erica Einhorn
Rating: 4.1 #ad
When Jenna Leyton stumbled into the nineteenth century, she had no idea that she would find love there with the local sheriff. But when he rejects her after she confesses “when” she is from, Jenna decides that she wants to live in the old Red Bluff whether he likes it or not.
Sheriff Josiah Stone felt pleased with himself for running off all the outlaws in Red Bluff. But if he was so brave, why couldn’t he control his feelings for Jenna—the woman from the future whom he did not want to fall in love with?
Friday’s Mystery eBooks
The Quick and the Thread
by Amanda Lee
Rating: 4.2 #ad
When Marcy Singer opens an embroidery specialty shop in quaint Tallulah Falls, Oregon, she throws a soiree and a Stitch-In. Soon, Marcy’s sign- up sheet for embroidery classes fills up and everyone in town seems willing to raise a glass-or a needle-to support the newly-opened Seven Year Stitch.
Then Marcy finds the shop’s previous tenant dead in the store-room, a message scratched with a tapestry needle on the wall beside him. Now Marcy’s shop has become a crime scene, and she’s the prime suspect. She’ll have to find the killer before someone puts a final stitch in her.
Double Indemnity
by Robert Whitlow
Rating: 4.7 #ad
Someone stands to gain millions of dollars from a hunter’s accidental death . . . unless that death wasn’t an accident.
Matt and Elena Thompson present the picture of perfection. But their enviable life isn’t all it seems. Their marriage is on the rocks, and financial disaster looms. Then Matt is killed in a hunting accident, and the questions and accusations begin to mount.
Attorney Liz Acosta, newly arrived in the mountains of north Georgia after graduating from law school, plans to get some job experience on her resume before returning home to seek a position with a big-time firm.
Pandemic in Progress
by JK Lincoln
Rating: 4.4 #ad
As the pandemic sweeps across the United States, the President confronts a situation that may expose him to a new variant of concern. Should he worry about the virus, or should he be more concerned about the chicanery in the White House that could prove far more lethal? (Now available as an audiobook, too!)
Long Shadows
by David Baldacci
Rating: 4.6 #ad
When Amos Decker is called to South Florida to investigate a double homicide, the case appears straightforward: A federal judge and her bodyguard have been found dead, the judge’s face sporting a blindfold with two eye holes crudely cut out, a clear sign that she’d made one too many enemies over her years on the bench.
What at first seems cut and dry is anything but: Not only did the judge have more enemies than Decker can count—from violent gang members, drug dealers, and smugglers to a resentful ex-husband—but the bodyguard presents additional conundrums that muddy the waters even further. Who was the real target in this vicious attack?
Horses, Heartaches, and Hope
by Brooks Wright
Rating: 5.0 #ad
In the heart of Montana, two broken hearts find renewed faith, healing, and love on a horse farm. After losing her parents, Jessa decides to start anew on her family’s horse farm in Montana.
However, she soon discovers that farm life presents its own set of challenges with running a farm, but also when someone wants to harm her!
Sheriff Tate, a rugged man dealing with his own crisis of faith, unexpectedly becomes Jessa’s ally and protector.
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.
The Investigator
by John Sandford
Rating: 4.5 #ad
“Sandford fans rejoice! Davenport next generation has arrived and Letty is exactly the kind of cool-eyed, smart-mouthed, lethally dangerous heroine we’ve been waiting for.” –Lisa Gardner, author of One Step Too Far
By age twenty-four, Letty Davenport has seen more action and uncovered more secrets than many law enforcement professionals. Now a recent Stanford grad with a master’s in economics, she’s restless and bored in a desk job for U.S. Senator Colles. Letty’s ready to quit, but her skills have impressed Colles, and he offers her a carrot: feet-on-the-ground investigative work, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security.
Nona the Ninth
by Tamsyn Muir
Rating: 4.5 #ad
Her city is under siege. The zombies are coming back. And all Nona wants is a birthday party.
In many ways, Nona is like other people. She lives with her family, has a job at her local school, and loves walks on the beach and meeting new dogs. But Nona’s not like other people. Six months ago she woke up in a stranger’s body, and she’s afraid she might have to give it back.
Dream Town
by David Baldacci
Rating: 4.4 #ad
It’s the eve of 1953, and Aloysius Archer is in Los Angeles to ring in the New Year with an old friend, aspiring actress Liberty Callahan, when their evening is interrupted by an acquaintance of Callahan’s: Eleanor Lamb, a screenwriter in dire straits.
After a series of increasingly chilling events—mysterious phone calls, the same blue car loitering outside her house, and a bloody knife left in her sink—Eleanor fears that her life is in danger, and she wants to hire Archer to look into the matter.