Monday’s Mystery eBooks
Blackberry Pie Murder
by Joanne Fluke
Rating: 4.3 #ad
It’s been a sleepy summer for the folks of Lake Eden, Minnesota. In fact, it’s been a whole four months since anyone in the Swensen family has come across a dead body—a detail that just made the front page of the local paper. And that means Hannah Swensen can finally focus on her bakery…or can she?
Life is never really quiet for Hannah. After all, her mother’s wedding is about a month away and guess who’s in charge of the planning? Just when Hannah believes her biggest challenge will be choosing buttercream or fondant for the cake, she accidentally hits a stranger with her cookie truck while driving down a winding country road in a raging thunderstorm.
Check out:
(Hannah Swensen Mysteries)
House of Windows
by John Langan
Rating: 3.9 #ad
For the last few years, Veronica Croydon has been at the center of scandal, first as the younger woman for whom her famous professor left his wife, and then as his apparent widow. When a writer staying at the same vacation home as Veronica has the chance to hear her story, he jumps at it. What follows takes him to the dark heart of a father’s troubled relationship with his only son, in a story that stretches from the Hudson Valley to Afghanistan; and from post-9/11 America to Victorian England.
House of Windows is a haunting exploration of a marriage under strain from forces both psychological and paranormal. With its combination of literary complexity and chilling supernatural violence, it is widely considered a masterpiece of contemporary horror fiction.
One By One
by Freida McFadden
Rating: 4.3 #ad
A night spent sleeping on dirt and leaves is not how Claire Matchett expected to spend her vacation.
She thought this would be a break from the stresses of work and raising her young children. A chance to repair her damaged marriage. A week of hiking and hot tubs with two other couple friends. It sounded like heaven.
Then Claire’s minivan breaks down on a lonely dirt road. With no cell reception, the group has no choice but to hike the rest of the way to their hotel. But it turns out the woods aren’t as easy to navigate as they thought.
Hours later, they are lost. Hopelessly lost.
Girl in Bed Three
by Sarah Sheridan
Rating: 3.9 #ad
When Sophie Macreavey wakes up in the hospital, suffering from stab wounds, detectives are quick to question her—hoping to make sense of the horrific scene where she was found. Sophie’s adoptive parents and sister are dead. Her brothers are missing. Sophie can’t remember anything—but reveals the abusive nightmare she’s been through as part of the family.
The social worker assigned to her case eventually brings Sophie home, but soon notices discrepancies in Sophie’s story. She claims she hadn’t been allowed to use technology, yet there’s a social media account, extensive messages between herself and a boy, and videos of Sophie online. The more that comes out, the worse it looks for Sophie. She has told some lies. But will the full truth be uncovered?
Lost in the Land of the Midnight Sun
by Christina Cattane
Rating: 3.9 #ad
The last Bible torn in two. A people bound by law. A girl in need of grace.
Angelica longs for redemption. Her mother has vanished and Angelica believes it’s her fault. But no matter how many sacrifices she brings to the altar, it seems God refuses to forgive her. Just when Angelica despairs of ever getting it right; God chooses her to go and find the lost New Testament. Is this finally the penance she seeks?
Angelica must journey across the Alaskan wilderness, battle the forces of evil, and venture into the dark city to find absolution. Or she, and her people will be lost forever.
The Hanging Judge
by Michael Ponsor
Rating: 4.2 #ad
When a drive-by shooting in Holyoke, Massachusetts, claims the lives of a drug dealer and a hockey mom volunteering at an inner-city clinic, the police arrest a rival gang member. With no death penalty in Massachusetts, the US attorney shifts the double homicide out of state jurisdiction into federal court so he can seek a death sentence.
The Honorable David S. Norcross, a federal judge with only two years on the bench, now presides over the first death penalty case in the state in decades. He must referee the clash between an ambitious female prosecutor and a brilliant veteran defense attorney in a high-stress environment of community outrage, media pressure, vengeful gang members, and a romantic entanglement that threatens to capsize his trial—not to mention the most dangerous force of all: the unexpected.
The Bullet
by Iris Johansen
Rating: 4.6 #ad
Diane Connors is a dedicated doctor with the world’s biggest secret, a discovery that could have shocking global ramifications. But while conducting private research trials, word has gotten out. The wrong people have heard the news and now want to hide Diane’s achievement for their own ends.
With nowhere else to turn, Diane finds herself on the doorstep of the last man she wants to ask for help: her ex-husband, Joe Quinn. Joe has remarried, and he and his wife, Eve Duncan, seem blissfully happy in their quiet, rural life until they are faced with the challenge of risking it all—even their marriage itself—for the greater good …
Check out:
(Eve Duncan Mysteries)
The Old Scrapbook
by Dennis Higgins
Rating: 4.5 #ad
The Old Scrapbook is real. The characters within its pages were real as well. This story is an attempt to fill in the blanks of their actual relationship. Bet and Ray met, fell in love, and got engaged until a war separated them, World War II.
Seventy years later, the old scrapbook was found, and the mysteries involved rediscovered.
I became obsessed with the scrapbook and what could have become of the young woman, Bet, who created it. I felt that woman was somehow guiding me as I wrote the story. That’s how I felt from the beginning, like I was led to that war-time scrapbook by an unseeing hand that I could feel something from its pages.
Sunday’s Mystery eBooks
Forgotten in Death
by J. D. Robb
Rating: 4.8 #ad
The body was left in a dumpster like so much trash, the victim a woman of no fixed address, known for offering paper flowers in return for spare change—and for keeping the cops informed of any infractions she witnessed on the street. But the notebook where she scribbled her intel on litterers and other such offenders is nowhere to be found.
Then Eve is summoned away to a nearby building site to view more remains—in this case decades old, adorned with gold jewelry and fine clothing—unearthed by recent construction work…
Check out:
(In Death Mysteries)
Rejectors
by Kyle Watson
Rating: 4.8 #ad
What would you do as last of the Rejectors? They are coming. Run.
Rejecting the system has a price, and the last rejectors are on the run and must outpace the evil forces that are hunting them. Vowing to never bend to the will of evil leader, will the rejectors be able to escape capture and avoid the delusion that overtakes those who are forced to accept the system?
Wrestling with the reality that the battle is taking place in both the seen and unseen realms, the rejectors will stop at nothing to fight for their souls and lives.
Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead
by Elle Cosimano
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Finlay Donovan is—once again—struggling to finish her next novel and keep her head above water as a single mother of two. On the bright side, she has her live-in nanny and confidant Vero to rely on, and the only dead body she’s dealt with lately is that of her daughter’s pet goldfish.
On the not-so-bright side, someone out there wants her ex-husband, Steven, out of the picture. Permanently. Whatever else Steven may be, he’s a good father, but saving him will send her down a rabbit hole of hit-women disguised as soccer moms, and a little bit more involvement with the Russian mob than she’d like.
Check out:
(Finlay Donovan Is Killing It)
The Washington Prophecy
by Robert Rapoza
Rating: 5.0 #ad
When a docent at Mt. Vernon is brutally executed by hired mercenaries searching for a mysterious book written by George Washington, a secretive government agency asks archeologist Nick Randall to investigate. Randall and his son John not only discover the book, but a relic tied to a conspiracy involving President Washington and Benjamin Franklin. Their discoveries lead to a startling revelation of how the United States won its independence.
But Randall and John aren’t the only ones searching. Former Spetsnaz agent turned mercenary, Vasily Aminov, wants the relic and is bent on using its power to destroy the governments of Western Civilization, killing millions of innocent people in the process.
Check out:
(Nick Randall Mysteries)
Reckless Girls
by Rachel Hawkins
Rating: 4.0 #ad
ONE ISLAND. Beautiful, wild, and strange—Meroe Island is a desolate spot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, and even rumors of murder. It’s the perfect destination for the most adventurous traveler to escape everything… except the truth.
SIX VISITORS. Six stunning twentysomethings are about to embark on a blissful, free-spirited journey—one filled with sun-drenched days and intoxicating nights. But as it becomes clear that the group is even more cut off from civilization than they initially thought, it starts to feel like the island itself is closing in, sending them on a dangerous spiral of discovery. COUNTLESS SECRETS
The Body in the Casket
by Katherine Hall Page
Rating: 4.2 #ad
For most of her adult life, resourceful caterer Faith Fairchild has called the sleepy Massachusetts village of Aleford home. While the native New Yorker has come to know the region well, she isn’t familiar with Havencrest, a privileged enclave, until the owner of Rowan House, a secluded sprawling Arts and Crafts mansion, calls her about catering a weekend house party.
Producer/director of a string of hit musicals, Max Dane—a Broadway legend—is throwing a lavish party to celebrate his seventieth birthday. At the house as they discuss the event, Faith’s client makes a startling confession. “I didn’t hire you for your cooking skills, fine as they may be, but for your sleuthing ability. You see, one of the guests wants to kill me.”
Check out:
(Faith Fairchild Mysteries)
Illegal
by K. J. Gillenwater
Rating: 4.3 #ad
Alone, desperate, and beautiful. When bullets fly, she must rely on a handsome stranger or face death. Together, they will risk it all for love.
Her whole life was a lie… After discovering she was brought to the United States illegally as a young child, Selena Hernandez decides to do the responsible thing and return to Mexico, her country of origin. Selena vows to become a legal immigrant.
When she asks for help with a visa at the US Embassy, she meets attractive Wyatt Demko, a helpful embassy employee. But they are surprised to discover shocking details about her past and connections to a notorious drug cartel.
City of Time and Magic
by Paula Brackston
Rating: 4.7 #ad
She must choose from three treasures that sing to her; a beautiful writing slope, a mourning brooch of heartbreaking detail, and a gorgeous gem-set hat pin. All call her, but the wrong one could take her on a mission other than that which she must address first, and the stakes could not be higher. While her earlier mission to Regency England had been a success, the journey home resulted in Liam being taken from her, spirited away to another time and place. Xanthe must follow the treasure that will take her to him if he is not to be lost forever.
Xanthe is certain that Mistress Flyte has Liam and determined to find them both. But when she discovers Lydia Flyte has been tracking the actions of the Visionary Society, a group of ruthless and unscrupulous Spinners who have been selling their talents to a club of wealthy clients, Xanthe realizes her work as a Spinner must come before her personal wishes.
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(Found Things Mysteries)
A Panther Crosses Over
by Sam Foster
Rating: 4.1 #ad
A clash of civilizations, two powerful leaders, and a dramatic outcome that ripples through generations.
Following the French and Indian War, white settlers pour over the Appalachians and down the Ohio River. But native tribes of the Northwest Territory have long inhabited this land—and they are willing to fight to remain. Leading the Shawnee is Tecumseh—courageous, discerning, and capable of assembling fifty thousand warriors to rise together to chase the white settlers back east when he commands. How will warriors from Florida to Canada know when the command has come? For twenty years his answer has been the same: “I will stomp my foot.”