Mystery Reads

The Secret of Heaven by Felix Alexander

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The Secret of Heaven by Felix Alexander

When investment banker Lazzaro de Medici is found dead, Professor of Biblical Studies at University of Illinois at Chicago Aiden Leonardo is the prime suspect. In possession of an encrypted letter given to him by Lazzaro, Aiden utilizes his extensive knowledge of Scripture to piece together clues that lead to a Lost Bible dating back to the time of Christ.

Hidden within the text is an ancient truth about the most controversial message Jesus left to His disciples. But as Aiden embarks on his quest to unravel the mystery of redemption and faith, a secret organization known only as The Group hunts him down to destroy the Lost Bible and tie up loose ends.

With the help of his fiancé Dr. Miriam Levin—a cultural anthropologist and a professor of historical archaeology in her own right, their friend Nagi, a philologist, religious historian and an eccentric cryptographer, Aiden soon realizes the Lost Bible was written by a disciple who walked with Jesus and had his gospel omitted from Scripture.

Things are further complicated when a mysterious stranger warns Aiden that possessing the secret of heaven could cost him his life. Pursued by the F.B.I. for the ancient Black market relic and the Chicago PD in connection to the murder of Lazzaro de Medici, Aiden races against the clock to prove his innocence and fulfill his mentor’s dying wish.

“Expose the secret of heaven.”

Faking It with the Detective by Rose Bak

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Faking It with the Detective by Rose Bak

She’s always wanted an adventure, and she’s going to get it, even if she has to pretend to be someone else!

All her life, Michelle has longed for the kind of adventures that she reads about in books. Instead, the forty-year-old cashier has a boring life, a boring job, a boring apartment, and a cat who hates her. Nothing exciting ever happens to her. Until she meets Derrick…

The handsome detective thinks that she’s his FBI contact. When he crashes into the café where she works, demanding that she go with him to find their target, she figures she might as well go for it. Sure, she doesn’t know how to investigate a case. She’s never handled a gun or thrown a punch. And the only time she runs is, well, never. But she was in drama club in high school, so surely she can fake it?

There’s something strange about Michelle. Derrick can’t put his finger on it, but she’s not like any cop he’s ever worked with. She’s sassy and sweet and she flinches every time she sees his gun. But there’s something about her that makes him dream about finally settling down. If they can just figure out where this mob boss is hiding…

She was assigned to help him, but Michelle is the distraction he doesn’t need. If they manage to get out of this alive, he just might need to hold her close — forever.

Sometimes a girl has just gotta fake it. You know what I mean!

Death by Chocolate by Sally Berneathy

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Death by Chocolate by Sally Berneathy

Over a thousand five-star reviews! USA Today Bestseller!
Lindsay’s only secret is the recipe for her chocolate chip cookies, but she is surrounded by people with deadly secrets. Book 1 in series of 8.
Come for the cookie chip cookies, stay for the murder, mayhem and fun!

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.

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.

Phantom in the Pines by R.K. Latch

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Phantom in the Pines by R.K. Latch

Henry Lawton is a young man in 1930’s Mississippi. He works for his father in the family moonshining business and is one of the best bootleggers around.

He is secretly in love with the granddaughter of a woman the locals consider a true-to-life witch. So he has plenty to keep him busy.

But, when a relentless federal agent enlists the aid of the corrupt local sheriff, things take a turn for the worse. Lives and families are destroyed.

As the death toll mounts and the situation grows dire, perhaps the only thing that can fight man’s evil is the supernatural.

When the spirit of the trees walks free, evil runs in fear.

50 States by Richard R. Becker

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50 States by Richard R. Becker

An Idaho farmer who aches for absolution after a tragedy is given one more chance at redemption. Two runaways cross paths in a Tennessee bus station with only one ticket between them. A family sees looters racing toward their home as they escape an Oregon wildfire. A young couple takes a reckless turn off a state highway in Utah and find themselves in a nightmarish government biohazard area.

These and 46 more shorts make up an anthology that will surprise readers with each new thought-provoking story as they skip effortlessly across different genres, moods, and states of mind. Together, they provide a character-driven sampling of the American experience over the last 60 years — the kind and the cruel, the heroic and criminal — in unpredictable and exciting ways.

50 States is a debut collection of short stories that captures the human condition and reveals how perception shapes destiny. The book spans several literary genres with each short story set in a different state across America. It is soon to be released as an audiobook, narrated by a 5-time Emmy winner.

Dani and the Outcast by R.E. Hargrave

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Dani and the Outcast by R.E. Hargrave

NEW RELEASE FROM R.E. HARGRAVE!

A princess.
A tramp.
A hunger for revenge.

Danielle Olivier has never wanted for anything material—some labeled her spoiled, a princess—and yet, she has a heart of gold. Unlike her father. Of course, as the head of the Olivier Crime Famiglia in Louisiana, he can’t afford to be soft. Or kind. Her station in life also means Dani has grown up under an ever-watchful eye. From private tutors to a driver, not to mention two nutty nannies with a penchant for 70s classic rock, she’s rarely had a moment to herself. When her father’s watch dogs aren’t hovering, her mother is—fretting and nitpicking Dani’s appearance, posture, fashion… anything and everything are fair game to her mother, including choosing her friends. It should be a fairytale existence, but if Dani can’t chase butterflies and fall down her own rabbit holes, dire consequences and all, the next best thing is to lose herself in simmering sauces and aromatic spices. And getting all the doggy cuddles from her best friend Dame.

Antoine Desjardins was raised by his maman and auntie in the 15th Ward of New Orleans. With no father figure urging him “to be a man,” he spent a lot of time in their small kitchen, watching, learning, and dreaming of bigger things. Brighter kitchens. Fusion flavors bringing not only palates, but people of all walks, together. Maybe even finding love one day. Young and full of life, working the French Quarter lets Juan set his own hours and decide how he wants to bring home the pay. How much of it gets added to his cooking school savings fund, however, depends on how hard he hits the pavement, and how many trades he’s Jack of. Not every day in the Quarter is peachy keen, though. Not when seen as a panhandler, and prejudice steers customers away from his dark skin and unusual accent. And not when having an ear to the ground sometimes uncovers things he’d be safer not knowing.

Returning from boarding school in France to the house Dani grew up in the Garden District may prove to be the excitement Dani has been looking for. Or it may bring the hardest lesson she’s ever had to learn. Things are different with her parents, and all clues indicate her father is up to no good.

Love hurts, and knowing who to trust, when feelings and judgement run deep, is almost impossible to do.

Bleeding Souls Saved by Love! A Fabled Retelling of LADY AND THE TRAMP

Taken, A Detective Al Warner Novel by George A Bernstein

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Taken, A Detective Al Warner Novel by George A Bernstein

The corpse of a Miami hooker is discovered in the Everglades. As Detective Al Warner investigates, he learns other streetwalkers also have disappeared, and this homicide is now a case of human trafficking. Nicki, a female undercover cop, goes as a streetwalker, hoping to be taken so she can use a tracking device, but it’s stripped from her before she can activate it.
Meanwhile, Maggie is offered a lucrative deal as a birth surrogate for a secretive, wealthy couple. She’s living nine months in luxurious seclusion but begins to worry when another surrogate disappears a month before her term. Maggie discovers her fetus is a tool of extortion, and fears for her life. She attempts to flee the mansion, but her “hosts” refuse to let her go. Her life is trivial to them, but they need the child she carries.
Trapped at the bordello on a remote ’Glades island reached only by airboats, Nicki embarks on daring foray to find and activate the tracker. If she fails, she’ll become a sex slave like the other women imprisoned there, with little hope of rescue. Warner and his team eagerly await Nicki’s signal. Without that, there’s no clue to her location, and no idea of the deadly confrontation that awaits them. Warner is thrust into danger as he seeks to free the sex slaves and also rescue Maggie and a second infant before it’s too late. Lives are on the line, and only Al Warner can save them.