Mystery/Suspense

Mercury Rising by J.B. Aspen

By Mystery Reads Curator Leave a Comment

Mercury Rising by J.B. Aspen

Midlife—when the magic really begins…
Happy Birthday and hello Mid-life crisis. Hi, I’m Mercury Rodgers and at forty-five I thought life was over. Dead-end job, empty nest…it was just me and the cat starting over. Again.
But when I lost my house and moved in with my pickleball playing, ballroom dancing, super social senior citizen mom—that was the icing on my midlife birthday cake. Then, out of nowhere, my luck changed.
Or so I thought…
I won an all expenses paid trip to the Phoenix Inn. Now the bodies are piling up and I’m a suspect in a murder investigation. But the real surprise is: I’m not just a broke, divorced, empty-nester—I’m a witch.
And the magic is just beginning…
Join Mercury and her cat Mr. Yow, as she discovers her hidden past, murder, and the world of magic waiting for her at the Phoenix Inn.
The mystery begins at midlife…

The Trash Harem by Marilyn Meredith

By Mystery Reads Curator Leave a Comment

The Trash Harem by Marilyn Meredith

Now retired from her job as a sheriff’s deputy, she receives a message from friends who once lived in Bear Creek and attended her husband’s, Pastor Hutch, church. The friend, Jonathan, is a suspect in a murder of one of the residents in a retirement community in Temecula where he and his wife now live. The retirement community includes many quirky individuals who might have had a better motive than Jonathan While attempting to solve the mystery; Tempe has several visitations by Earle Stanley Gardner, the famous mystery writer who gives her some suggestions. A bit of history of the Pechanga Indians is woven in including the revered Pechanga Old Oak. You’ll have to read the book to find out what a trash harem is.

Blood on Their Hands by Bob Brink

By Mystery Reads Curator Leave a Comment

Blood on Their Hands by Bob Brink

Little does racist attorney Hiram Garbuncle know the danger he’s getting into when he reluctantly defends a black man brutally beaten by two policemen during a traffic stop and charged with resisting arrest. Plot twists and turns take the reader on a suspense-filled roller coaster ride as the attorney’s negligence causes a mistrial. He then discovers incriminating evidence against the cops, and his new challenge becomes how to keep himself and his client alive pending a new trial. Garbuncle is an alcoholic, and his courtroom remarks and outlandish attire startle the judge, whom the attorney brings to his side in arguing a legal conundrum. His miserly ways cause a tug of war with his burly apartment tenant, who ends up helping with the probe of the cops. But when the woman Garbuncle falls in love with is caught up in the investigation, tragedy results.

Escape to Osprey Cove by Luisa Marietta Gold

By Mystery Reads Curator Leave a Comment

Escape to Osprey Cove by Luisa Marietta Gold

The mystery begins with an unusual find in the secret compartment of Doug’s new Corvette, changing his and Catherine’s life forever. Doug’s mysterious behavior afterward forces Catherine to escape to The Osprey Cove Lodge, where she finds something even more valuable. The series spans seven geographic locations, from the scenic Canadian region of the Rideau Lakes to the shores of the Caribbean. An exciting web of mystery develops as the characters’ lives intertwine. The description of the lodge is so inviting that you will want to pack your bags and head there.

The Secret of Heaven by Felix Alexander

By Mystery Reads Curator Leave a Comment

The Secret of Heaven by Felix Alexander

A lost Bible dating back to the time of Christ, and written by one of his disciples, is at the center of the murder of disgraced investment banker, Lazzaro de Medici. Wanted for questioning in connection to the murder, Professor of Biblical Studies, Aiden Leonardo races against the clock to find the lost Bible, while flying from the F.B.I., the Chicago PD, and a secret organization intent on destroying the ancient relic and tying up loose ends.
With only an encrypted letter and the help of his fiance, Miriam, and their close friend Nagi, Aiden utilizes his extensive knowledge of scripture to unravel the clues and find the secret of heaven, lest it be lost to forever.

Gemini Rising (Mischievous Malamute Series, Book 1) by Harley Christensen

By Mystery Reads Curator Leave a Comment

Gemini Rising (Mischievous Malamute Series, Book 1) by Harley Christensen

There’s a body in your alley…

Arianna Jackson—AJ to her friends—and her occasionally well-behaved Alaskan Malamute, Nicoh, live a normal, uneventful, admittedly mundane existence, where nothing out of the ordinary ever happens.

Until it does.

Early one morning, AJ stumbles upon a horrifying scene—a girl’s body lies broken in the dumpster behind her home, her face beaten and mutilated.

A secret reveals you’re living a lie…

As if that weren’t enough to upset the balance of normal, things go from bad to worse when she learns of her connection to the murdered girl. Suddenly, AJ realizes her entire life has been filled with secrets and lies.

A killer hunts for you…

Together with her trusty sidekick, Nicoh, and BFF, Leah, AJ must search for answers. But can she, when finding the truth proves to be more deadly than living the lie?

Would you search for the truth if you knew it could kill you?

Join AJ and her pals as they race to unravel the mystery of her past, where the pieces of the puzzle bring more questions than answers and the only certainty is the killer’s end game—AJ’s life.

Find your truth…

Grab your copy of Gemini Rising TODAY and join others who’ve enjoyed this suspense-filled page-turner that keeps you guessing to the end…and beyond.

The Secret of Heaven by Felix Alexander

By Mystery Reads Curator Leave a Comment

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.”

A Town Called Potato: Galactic Detective Agency Book One by Gary Blaine Randolph

By Mystery Reads Curator Leave a Comment

A Town Called Potato: Galactic Detective Agency Book One by Gary Blaine Randolph

It’s a lighthearted murder mystery … with space aliens!

Gabriel Lake is a not so hard-boiled computer guy who finds himself swept up into a web of interstellar crime when he is recruited into the Galactic Detective Agency, led by the brilliant Oren Vilkas. Can a mere Earthling track a killer across the stars before more lives are lost? Can he negotiate his way around other worlds and understand the ways of extra-terrestrial cultures? Can he even figure out how to use a bathroom designed for aliens? And can he uncover the mystery of A Town Called Potato?

The Case at Barton Manor (Mrs. Lillywhite Investigates #1) by Emily Queen

By Mystery Reads Curator Leave a Comment

The Case at Barton Manor (Mrs. Lillywhite Investigates #1) by Emily Queen

1920’s London
If one more person gives Rosemary Lillywhite unwanted advice on when to stop mourning the loss of her beloved husband, she fears she will lose control of her sensibilities. All she wants is to be left alone to drown her misery in a glass of gin and tonic, but when Grace Barton knocks on the door of her dead husband’s investigative office, Rosemary faces a choice: come out of hiding or turn away someone in need of help.
As Grace recounts her tale of intrigue, Rosemary discovers a shared connection with the woman that has her accepting an invitation she can’t refuse. With bright young thing, Vera Blackburn, by her side Rosemary trades her widow weeds for a party dress and heads to a fancy do at Barton Manor where the drinks flow freely, but there’s an undercurrent of unease.
The night ends in a murder for which Rosemary’s brother is the prime suspect. What’s worse, the handsome chief inspector on the case is a man Rosemary knows well. He was her husband’s best mate, and he takes a dim view of lady detectives. Or maybe just of Rosemary becoming one.
What will it take for Rosemary to solve the crime before her brother hangs for a murder he didn’t commit?

Book one in The Mrs. Lillywhite Investigates series.

Are you ready to escape to the roaring twenties? For fans of Beth Byers, Leighann Dobbs, Lee Strauss, and cozy historical murder mysteries.

A light, cozy mystery with no swearing, graphic scenes, or cliffhangers.

Ghost Mortem (Haunted Everly After Book #1)

By Mystery Reads Curator Leave a Comment

Ghost Mortem (Haunted Everly After Book #1)

By ReGina Welling & Erin Lynn
You might not believe in ghosts, but sometimes they believe in you…

Everly Dupree is having a bad day. The kick you in the teeth, set your pants on fire, make you question everything kind of bad day.

At the end of it, her marriage is over, she’s essentially homeless, and finds herself in a moving van headed back to her hometown of Mooselick River, Maine.

At least, she tells herself, things can’t get any worse.

But, of course, they can. The next things she knows, Everly’s staying at the Bide-A-Way motel with a deadline of a week to get her life in order, and it isn’t looking good.

Enter Martha Tipton who offers Everly the chance to buy the town’s haunted house for the ridiculously low amount owed in back taxes. Everly signs on the dotted line, but before she can move into her new place, the dead body of Hudson Montayne, her high-school sweetheart, turns up in the next motel room.

Just when Everly thinks she’s won the grand prize in the bad luck sweepstakes, her life takes a turn into the paranormal.
Hudson’s ghost comes haunting, and since she is the only one who can see him, refuses to leave until Everly solves the mystery of his death.

Will Everly bring a killer to justice? Or will the end of her story read, and she lived Haunted Everly After?

If you like plucky heroines, lovable characters, and ghost mysteries set in Maine, you’ll love this cozy, paranormal series.

Books in this series:
1. Ghost Mortem
2. Bargain Haunter
2.5. Found Haunting (a short story)
3. Christmas Presence
4. Ghost Haste
4.5. Teen Spirit
5. Fortune Haunter
6. Wedding Ghost
7. Ghostly Dead
8. Haunting Season
9. Ghost Writer