Mystery Reads

Featured Book: Croak, Monsieur! by Susan Kiernan-Lewis

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When Jules goes to Marseille to run an errand for the twins, she meets an exotic new friend who offers her a day trip on a French yacht to wash away the gloom of the post-apocalyptic winter Jules has just endured.
The trip promises everything Jules has been craving for the last six months…sunshine, rosé wine, exciting company, bracing sea air…and murder.
What starts out as a pleasure cruise quickly turns into the sail of the damned as, trapped on a boat with a killer, Jules scrambles to find out who not to turn her back on.

Buy Croak, Monsieur! Here

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The Killing Men by Reece Pocock

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If you like #Lee Child’s #Jack Reacher, #Michael Connelly’s #Harry Bosch, #James Patterson’s #James Cross, you will love #Reece Pocock’s #Dan Brennan.
In this ebook crime thriller, a killer is on the loose. A task force headed by Detective Sergeant Dan Brennan is on the case to solve the mystery.
All the victims are criminals; murderers, rapists, drug runners and crooked cops, all previously set free by the authorities, a vigilante has decided to do what the police and the judiciary can’t. And soon the newspapers report ‘hoodymen’ killings in other states and the suspense begins about who the killer could be.
What begins as a routine murder investigation becomes a national crisis, and Brennan’s task takes him to the highest levels of the army and the government, revealing deep secrets, conspiracy, corruption and ruthlessness.
The war begins.
After an assassination attempt, Brennan realises he is in a fight for his own life.
Brennan falls in love, Tracy his lover has a baby, and they get married.
In The Killing Men, Reece Pocock presents his third Dan Brennan novel.

Targeted Age Group:: General Adult Readers

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I was interested in how many criminals get away with crimes. I brought in to my story a vigilante who rights the wrongs of the courts. The police try to find him but many people are behind the killer and it becomes much more than a criminal escaping from justice.

Misguided Honor by J. S. Marlo

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Fascinated by the Legend of the Cornwallis Ghost, Becca sneaks into a military base to see the ghost’s tombstone.

When she finds and follows a secret tunnel to the Officers’ Mess, Becca meets a living and breathing Eve, the betrayed young woman who hanged herself and haunts Cornwallis.

Trapped in the past with Eve in the days leading up to her tragic death, Becca becomes Rebecca, a woman devastated by a shattering loss and failing marriage.

Can Becca unravel the past to give Rebecca and Eve a second chance, and escape with her heart and future intact?

Targeted Age Group:: 18-99

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
In the late 1980s, my husband and I enjoyed a three-year posting at CFB Cornwallis, a training military base in Nova Scotia, Canada. We attended many functions inside the Officers' Mess. It was a beautiful building, rich in history, but what fascinated me the most was the sad story of a nameless young woman who allegedly hanged herself in one of the upstairs rooms after her married lover, a sailor in the British Navy, abandoned her.

The legend of her ghost was very much alive. While I didn’t know of anyone who had ever seen her, there were reports of strange activities inside the Mess, but was there really a ghost roaming the Officers' Mess and only showing herself to unfaithful married men?

Despite all the research I did, I couldn’t find any evidence that a young woman ever killed herself inside the Mess, but the basement of the Base Commander’s Residence did shelter grave markers. The dead no longer rest in the basement, their remains were moved to a different burial site, but two of the markers still stand side by side, each engraved with the names of two young children. The four siblings—Edward (1 month), Amelia (1 yr & 6 months), Gilbert (3 yrs), and W.C. (3 yrs)—died between 1850 and 1858.

"Misguided Honor" is a work of fiction set in the background of this folk legend.

Survival Instinct (Jeannie Parker, #1) by Katherine Carlson

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Jeannie Parker no longer shivers.

She’s too frozen for that, still hiding in a run-down cabin. She was mad-lucky to find the decrepit shack–a blip inside the awful wilderness. But the psychopath is near; she can’t hide from her husband forever.

Only Nag, her Survival Instinct, can root out the demons and pull her back from the brink.

Targeted Age Group:: 20-60

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I wanted to find a book showcasing a perpetual chase–something with sustained tension. I didn't need to read gore; I wanted to be scared. I wanted to explore the origins of evil behavior and craft a piece delving deep into the mind's defense mechanisms.

I craved all the above so I wrote the book I most wanted to read.

Why Juan Can’t Sleep: A Mystery? by Karl Beckstrand

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“Original…intriguing…entertaining…reader-friendly.” – Midwest Book Review Humorous Bedtime finding book Why Juan Can’t Sleep: A Mystery? Worn-out Juan “Must sleep!” Tonight he’ll dream of dragons…or will he? Soft cover or e-book (ages 4 – 8), 32 illustrations

Targeted Age Group:: 4-8

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
Insomnia

Featured Book: Rizzo’s Rules by George Mazzeo

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A classic Hard-Boiled mystery in the style of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Mickey Spillane. Lou Rizzo is a private eye with a drinking problem. He barely scratches out a living catching wayward husbands. Not very glamorous, but it pays the bills. When his best friend dies in a suspicious accident, the victim’s family asks him to investigate. He reluctantly agrees and soon finds himself drawn into a web of lies and intrigue. Add to that, someone is trying to kill him. To solve the case, he must conquer his personal demons, sort out the clues and stay alive.

Buy Rizzo’s Rules Here

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It Came from Under the Highchair – Salió de debajo de la silla para comer: A Mystery in English & Spanish by Karl Beckstrand

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(Bilingual humor). Debuted at #1 in its category. In Publisher’s Weekly. A mysterious visitor brings intrigue, excitement, and humor to a biracial family. A picture book of prepositions, interjections, monsters, and heroes—with Spanish-English pronunciation guide, finding/counting activity, and online SECRETS for ages 4 – 7/ESL. Free on KU. 36-pages, 800 words; available in single language, hard/soft/e-book

Targeted Age Group:: 4-7

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
A real mess!

DESCENDED ~ JETT by Dana Pratola

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SOME SAY HE’S A CULT LEADER. OTHERS SAY HE’S NOT HUMAN. One thing is certain ~ Jett Cestone is an enigma with a disconcerting connection to the young women in his employ. When the reclusive billionaire takes an interest in Haven’s painting, she wants to believe it’s an answer to prayer, but what if her father is right? What if he’s dangerous?

Haven is the most interesting woman to ever cross Jett’s path. But being as naïve and pure as she is, he can’t have her learning what goes on in his home, or his connection to sex trafficking. That would be bad enough, but she would never accept him if she knew of his abilities, and that his life is much more paranormal than normal. He has to keep her at a distance, even though she’s living in his home. Too bad he wants her more than he’s wanted anyone or anything in his life.

What readers are saying about the Descended Series:
“Jane Eyre meets Batman!”
“Romantic Suspense at its finest.”
“Who doesn’t appreciate inspirational paranormal romance with angels and shapeshifters?”

Targeted Age Group:: 17+

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
This book started off as a piece called Conversations with the Master. I thought it would be interesting to see what topics a woman would talk about with an enigmatic stranger she couldn't see. How intimate would she allow herself to get? How would she hold back, not knowing what he looked like, or what he was really capable of? From there it grew into a story of mystery, love, and self-sacrifice and I brought in three "brothers" (in other books) each with their own ambitions and powers, to help 🙂

Sugar And Spice And Not So Nice by Janet McNulty

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Mellow Summers just wanted to go to college and get her film degree. She moved into a furnished apartment with her friend Jackie only to find that it already had a tenant: the ghost of a girl who was murdered a year earlier. Now it is up to Mellow to not only discover who the murderer is, but to prove it as well. With the help of the ghost Rachel, Mellow sets out to solve the year old mystery. She soon finds out that she may have taken on more than she can handle. Pursued by someone who wants the identity of the killer to remain a secret, Mellow will have to use all her resources to outwit him and help the spirit of Rachel move on.

Targeted Age Group:: 15-18+

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I've always liked cozy mysteries and decided that it would be fun to write one myself. The idea for Mellow just popped into my head one day and I thought that it would be fun if she just happened to move into a haunted apartment with a ghost that has an energetic and flamboyant personality. It went with it and 15 books later, Mellow is still solving mysteries with a paranormal twist.

Killing The Girl by Elizabeth Hill

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A perfect life, a perfect love – and a perfect murder.

For over forty years Carol Cage has been living as a recluse in her mansion, Oaktree House. Fear is her constant companion. She’s been keeping a secret – and it’s about to be unearthed.

When she receives a compulsory purchase order for her home, she knows that everyone is going to find out what she did to survive her darkest weeks in 1970. She writes her confession so that we can understand what happened because she wasn’t the only one living a lie. The events that turned her fairy-tale life into a living hell were not all they seemed.

She’s determined not to pay for the mistakes of others; if she has to face justice, then they will too.

Carol Cage has a terrible secret … and she’s about to exact retribution on everyone who’d abandoned her.

Targeted Age Group:: 18+

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I wanted to explore why women kill and what would push a young girl to that point. My novel is set over two time periods, 1970 and today, to further examine the different social restrictions on women in those different time periods. I also wanted to write about secrets and lies and how we can be so wrapped up in ourselves that we fail to acknowledge others around us.