Buyer’s Guides

Then There Were … Two Murders? by P.C. James

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Then There Were … Two Murders? by P.C. James

‘Then There Were … Two Murders?’ is the second book in the Miss Riddell Cozy Mystery series. It follows directly after ‘In the Beginning, There was a Murder’ where, at the end, Miss Riddell receives a letter asking for her help.

The letter is from an elderly widow living out in the English countryside. It’s winter 1953/54 and England is still suffering from the after-effects of WW2 and the costs of the ongoing Korean War. Miss Riddell goes to meet the woman, arrives at her house only to find her dead, suicide apparently.

She tells the police why she was invited by the woman — the woman thought her friend had been murdered months before. However, the police and coroner rule this death to be suicide and dismiss the idea the earlier old woman’s death was anything but natural causes.

Miss Riddell sets out to prove them wrong with her friend Poppy and the old lady’s dog, Jem. Unfortunately, like the police, Miss Riddell can find no conclusive evidence and her supporters give up. Her only hope in the end is to put herself in harm’s way and hope the murderer takes the bait.

In the Beginning, There Was a Murder: An Amateur Female Sleuth Historical Cozy Mystery by P.C. James

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In the Beginning, There Was a Murder: An Amateur Female Sleuth Historical Cozy Mystery by P.C. James

When her best friend is murdered, Pauline Riddell finds she must take the law into her own hands if she is to see justice done.

It’s northern England, 1953, rationing is still in place and the Cold War is heating up. Her fiancé is out in Korea, where thankfully that war is winding down, and she’s just setting out in adult life working at a local armament factory. She’s hard-up, everyone is, but Pauline can see better times ahead, a home, a family, a responsible job, and she’s preparing for that future. Then her friend, Marjorie, is stabbed to death.

At first, Pauline is only concerned with helping the police. She’s intelligent and resourceful but also inexperienced, just out of school and still believing the world runs in trustworthy ways.

Then she finds the police think they’ve caught her friend’s killer and they’re winding down the investigation. Pauline now realizes this is a world where you can’t always leave things to others, you have to get involved yourself. But, as she investigates and puts pressure on the police for more action, she finds the killer wants her out of the way and the police have come to suspect she killed her friend. Can she catch the killer before she either faces the same fate as Marjorie or is hanged for killing her?

Chasing Time by Thomas Reilly

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Chasing Time by Thomas Reilly

A time-bending adventure like no other! A Literary Titan Gold Award winner, Chasing Time takes the reader on a thrilling adventure as history professor Tony Lucas seeks to unravel clues from an ancient time-bending key in an effort to save his wife from the throes of a devastating and deadly disease. The story takes the classic medical drama, historical fiction, and fantasy genres, and turns them all completely on their heads. With its sharp, precise, and witty style, Chasing Time is an engaging, must-read story like nothing like you have read before.

The Trouble with Murder: A Hetty Carson Mystery by Vanessa A. Ryan

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The Trouble with Murder: A Hetty Carson Mystery by Vanessa A. Ryan

Hetty Carson was once one of the upperly mobile of the Los Angeles jet-set. Then her husband walked off with millions of embezzled funds and all of Hetty’s credibility. What began as a search for the ex has turned into a new career: detective.

The Trouble with Murder is book one of the Hetty Carson Mystery Series. The story opens with Hetty being interrogated by the police about the murder of a bar owner. The man was a potential customer for her side hustle of selling tequila mixers, a job she takes because her PI business was slow. Of course, Gerry Delaney’s murder is a tragedy, but Hetty figures it has nothing to do with her. Unfortunately, someone thinks it does, and now she has to investigate why if she wants to stay alive.

Hollow Stars by Lauryn Dyan

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Hollow Stars by Lauryn Dyan

Discover the dire side effects of partying like a rock star.

As lead singer of popular, emerging rock band, Tracing Stars, Kennedy has the swagger of a badass, or at least she used to. While caught up in the booze, passion, and chaos of her first major rock tour, her dreams are erased by a string of ever-worsening blackouts. Now, the instability of her mind has landed her in a psychiatric hospital. Despite being convinced one of her tour mates sabotaged her, she lacks any evidence. Trapped in the asylum, she alternates between the past and the present determined to recover her lost memories so she can return to her band before she’s just a footnote in their rise to fame.

Ten Threads by Richard R Becker

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Ten Threads by Richard R Becker

Ten Threads is a brisk 125-page, 10-story companion to the bestselling, award-winning collection 50 States.

Published as a Kindle exclusive, it can be read as a stand-alone anthology or as a continuation of stories found in 50 States. Specifically, this collection features stories set in Idaho, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Utah, Pennsylvania, California, Vermont, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky.

• An Idaho farmer who earns a second chance at life finds that the past has a hard time letting him go.
• A risk-averse young man must make a bold move after stumbling into a nightmarish government biohazard. • An aging alcoholic vigilante finds common ground with a teenager in a secret witness protection program.

50 States readers will find that eight stories feel like continuations. The other two, while connected to their counterparts, aren’t strongly linked. Whether read together or alone, Becker’s body of work plays out like a puzzle with new little bits shared a few pieces at a time.

Rock House Grill by D. V. Stone

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Rock House Grill by D. V. Stone

Aden House, successful but driven chef and TV personality, refuses to slow down. His life implodes one night, damaging him both physically and emotionally. He’s rescued by a woman he thinks of as his angel.
Shay McDowell has rebuilt her life after her divorce. She juggles volunteer EMT duties and her job, while dreaming of becoming a chef. She finds her way to Rock House Grill and back into the life of the man she helped save.
Can love be the ingredient needed to survive the many obstacles they face?

Walk the Plank by Marilyn Barr

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Walk the Plank by Marilyn Barr

Branko learns he will be sold into slavery when they dock in Charles Town, so he doesn’t hesitate to jump ship onto a neighboring sloop in the harbor. This boat will weigh anchor with him at the helm–once he decides what to do with the lady chained in the cargo hold who claims she’s a vampire.

Magda Dashkovari’s body has been given to science while she’s still living in it. Her prayers are answered when a pirate boards her boat, but she should have asked for her rescuer to be less bloodthirsty than she is…

Scientists hunt her in town, plantation owners hunt him from the north and south, Blackbeard blocks Charles Town Harbor to the east, and a war rages between settlers and natives to the west. These unlikely allies will have to link together to escape a life in chains…but will their trust in each other endure their journey to freedom?

The Order of the Dark Rose by P. H. Solomon

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The Order of the Dark Rose by P. H. Solomon

Arch-mage Manny Mandeheim fell under a curse, watched his fiancé die, and then lost his job as a spy. What’s an unemployed arch-mage to do? Start his own magical investigation service while he works to clear his good name and avenge his lost love.

With his very un-magical partner, Wish Ackford, Manny discovers the menace of a conspiracy looming behind his curse. But the limitations from the hex leave him at a distinct disadvantage as he and Wish investigate.

Assassins lurk at every corner or in every tram car. The threat of an unknown mastermind with murky intentions lingers just out of sight. A questionable source offers the hint of a secret order hounding Manny’s footsteps. A murder leads to wrenching discoveries.

Nothing an arch-mage can’t handle…

Unless the curse limits how much magic he can use or kills him outright.

Journeys: the Archers of Saint Sebastian by Jeanne Roland

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Journeys: the Archers of Saint Sebastian by Jeanne Roland

15-year-old Marieke disguises herself as a boy to hide in the all-male archers’ guild of Saint Sebastian to escape her father’s killers. Soon she’s determined to discover the truth about her father’s mysterious past at the guild, and to help the most charming young Journeyman archer in the place win the annual guild trials – without ever letting him discover her secrets. Robin Hood meets Princess Bride and Mulan in this historical adventure set in 14th-century Belgium and packed with romance, humor, intrigue, and of course, longbow archery trials.