Mystery Reads

Secret Gifts by Satin Russell

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Secret Gifts by Satin Russell

Tom wants to move their relationship to the next level, but will Jackie’s past get in the way of their future?

Jackie Davis is no stranger to hardship. After a strict upbringing, her parents abandoned her when she got pregnant out of wedlock. Years later, she’s the co-owner of a successful café, mother to a beautiful six-year-old daughter named Abby, and dating a man who makes her heart race. For the first time in a while, she’s actually excited for the holidays.

When Tom Molsem applied as a cook at the local café, he wasn’t looking for a relationship. Haunted by demons from his military service, he was just happy to have a job he could handle. Now he’s the co-owner of that same restaurant and dating a woman who helped lay those ghosts to rest. With the past buried, he wants to build a future with his newfound family.

Tom and Jackie are eager to celebrate Christmas, but when Abby goes missing, the two must band together and discover the true gifts of the season: love, forgiveness, and new beginnings.

Featured Book: Mark IV by James Ostby

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About Mark IV by James Ostby

In our world of increasing complexity and the resultant human and physical constraints–overpopulation, global warming, rampant stupidity, unchecked evil, corruption, scientific advances used for ill–what is to be done? Are even the best governments incapable of maintaining order? Is the future of humankind at stake?
How many of us have wondered what we would do if we had some kind of world dictatorial power or other absolute influence? Many would find that conjecture to be overwhelming. Yet what if we limited our scope to, say, evil and corruption? The next barrier to fighting such iniquity would be the realization that too often world governments are inept when it comes to such endeavors. Inadequate due to legal, religious, intellectual, political and traditional moral strictures.
In view of that, what then if a choice had to be made between the world falling into chaos, and one in which there is secular salvation, but only through efforts that lie outside the normal bounds of the best of civilizations? There are immeasurable individuals and groups outside the laws who are vile and malevolent; why not a last-resort counterpart–unfettered by normal laws; practical and down-to-earth–dedicated to good, but who find it necessary to resort to harsh measures? Those who realize that we have come to a point in history where we must fight fire with fire.
Enter Ragnarök, a secret organization that inflicts punishments in the forms of Mark I, II, III, IV, or worse, Mark V (death).

This Fiction book is available in these Formats: eBook, Print

Buy Book Here.

Roadkill (Double Barrel Mysteries #1) by Barbara Ellen Brink

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Blake and Shelby Gunner think they’re living the perfect life. He’s a hotshot homicide detective and she is doing what she loves best, small theatre acting. But after an arrest goes badly and Blake is shot and injured, they decide to leave the crime-ridden city for the quiet, quirky little hamlet where he grew up. Nestled along Lake Superior in the upper peninsula of Michigan, Port Scuttlebutt isn’t as calm and serene as they anticipated. Below an innocent Mayberry surface are secrets as dangerous as the great lake’s rip currents.
Staying at The Drunken Sailor Bed and Breakfast they learn that the proprietor’s wife was killed in an unsolved hit-and-run and there’s more to this mystery than meets the eye. The mayor, the librarian, a homeless man, and a rich old woman all have legitimate motives for murder. Can the Gunners figure it out before the killer’s next victim is lying dead in the road?
Roadkill is the first mystery in the Double Barrel series, but with Blake’s background as a homicide detective and Shelby’s ability to “act” like a detective, sleuthing comes naturally to these two and murder has nowhere to hide in Port Scuttlebutt.

Targeted Age Group:: teens to adults

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
My husband and I took a road trip to the Upper Peninsula. It was fall and the bold colorful forest leaves, the blues of the lake and sky, and the quaint little shops in every tiny town we drove through remained vivid in my mind. There are many interesting places, people, and things to see. I took a lot of pictures at the time. I thought it would make a great setting for a book one day, but didn’t really pursue it until about a year later. I woke up in the middle of the night with the names of my characters, the town, the bed and breakfast in the story, and other crazy details as clear in my mind as if I’d actually been to this place. Usually when I get an idea at night, if I don’t write it down that very minute I tend to forget about it. But the next morning, it was still nagging at me. So I wrote everything down I could remember and started doing online research. A few months ago, we took another trip to the area to fuel my writing. I still plan to go in the winter when the ice caves are open. I think that would be a great place for a body to turn up.

Pinot Noir by Lorraine Evanoff

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Louise Moscow hops from one undercover assignment to another, aided by both a curiosity about how the world works and a determination to make it work for her. Equal parts scholar and sensualist, she will find out the answer but enjoy herself while doing so. One moment she’s deploying her brand of “forensic accounting” to uncover some obscure financial information that may blow up the case; the next she’s swooning over the complex “barnyard smells” of a particular Burgundy. Evanoff is clearly besotted with French history and effectively blends it with her heroine’s struggles against uncooperative witnesses, a mysterious vine disease, a gun-wielding monk, and a secret society. Moscow glides through it all with a James Bondian flair. Able to handle a high-powered speedboat, an ex-lover, or a ginger-haired villain with equal ease, this international spy is a protagonist you’ll want to follow.

Targeted Age Group:: 15 and up

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
Before I even began writing PINOT NOIR, I had already decided to make Book Two a fictionalized version of the real-life ‘bankers grave’ scandal, the un-solved murder of billionaire Edmund J. Safra. My mother suggested the title during an event associated with my first novel, FOLIAGE. It stuck with me, and I began my research of Pinot Noir wine, which pointed to the Burgundy region of France. What shocked me was the real-life crimes of the region I discovered, which were linked to high level public officials leading all the way to the capital of the European Union, Brussels, Belgium.

Foliage by Lorraine Evanoff

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Investment banker Louise Moscow loves her new career in late 1980s Paris. With a high-profile dream job wooing rich clientele, she enjoys the lavish lifestyle in a glamorous city. When she stumbles upon criminal activity at her company, the FBI and CIA force her to cooperate and bring down the murderous bankers in what turns out to be one of the greatest financial scandals of the twentieth century.

Targeted Age Group:: 18-80

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
When I lived in Paris, several of my close friends worked at the BCCI Paris branch. When the bottom fell out, they lost their jobs and it was a really big deal. When I decided to write my novel around that scandal and began to dig deeper, I realized how complicated the story was and I needed to conduct more research beyond what I learned from my friends. The opening scene of my book was my invention, but was loosely based an event mentioned in a book called “The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI,” written by journalists Jonathan Beaty and S.C. Gwynne. I found more helpful facts in the “Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate,” by Senator John Kerry and Senator Hank Brown. (Toni Nealie)

Featured Book: Let Me Go by Willow Rose

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About Let Me Go by Willow Rose

ONLY 99 cents a limited time!

The #1 Bestselling Mystery Series on Amazon continues!

What if a stranger tells you that she believes your child is about to be killed? What if that woman is an ex-FBI profiler with a disputable reputation?
Would you believe her?

Eva Rae Thomas is chasing down a vicious killer, but no one will believe he even exists. If there are no unexplained dead bodies or missing persons, then how can there be a killer on the loose?

What they don’t understand is that the perfect murder is the one that doesn’t look like murder.

Can Eva Rae convince local law enforcement to help her with this case before the killer strikes once more? Or will she have to take matters into her own hands – again?

LET ME GO is the fifth book in the Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Series and can be read as a standalone.

This Mystery book is available in these Formats: eBook, Print

Buy Book Here.

LORI DANIELS MYSTERY: PILLOW TALK by Tom Preschutti

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RATED 4 OUT OF 5 STARS ON GOODREADS BY READERS
Police Detective Lori Daniels has a knack for picking the wrong guy as a lover. This complicates her assignment on a task force established to end drug trafficking in the city.
One former lover from high school is now the front man for a major illegal drug distributor. Another former lover is the captain of the Police Internal Affairs Division, who vows to have Lori kicked off the police force, even if it means framing her as a gang informant. Her present lover is the hot shot detective from another precinct who is super successful in bringing down the drug gangs and has a super ego to match.
Strategies devised by the State Police, City Police, Internal Affairs, and a Drug Gang, including using moles and informants, all go haywire. In the end, the trust between friends, along with steady and reliable police work, regarding the death of a female police officer, leads to the capture of a major drug lord.
The book combines the wit and charm of characters in an O’Henry tale with the suspense and twists of a M. Night Shyamalan plot to take the reader on an exciting journey, while leaving a craving for more.

Targeted Age Group:: Women 21 to 60

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
Pulp fiction about detectives is my favorite reading material. Also, I have met talented, successful, single women who talk about falling in love with someone who turns out to be mister wrong.
These two factors gave me the twist for my mystery series.

REALM OF THE UNKNOWN by James McPike

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After a mass murder in Israel, a renowned investigator from the Ministry—Vince Ramsey—is called in. Some experts at the scene believe only something supernatural could be responsible for such an atrocity. Ramsey finds an artifact which leads him to the Antiquities Authority. There, he teams up with historical specialist April Fulton. Together they learn the artifact is linked to an ancient secret society founded by a famous Greek philosopher. Only it’s much more sinister than they could have ever imagined. Being hunted down at every turn of their journey by ruthless assassins, they race to discover the truth—and finally encounter the diabolical villain controlling a powerful force only spoken about in the Book of Revelation.

“A riveting thriller exploring the end of the world…”
—Midwest Book Review

Targeted Age Group:: Adult

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I've always been curious about secret societies and ancient Greek history, so I did a lot of research to come up with this compelling mystery/thriller.

Featured Book: Forgotten Valor by Richard Thomas Lane

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About Forgotten Valor by Richard Thomas Lane

An untested lieutenant. An unwinnable war. An impossible choice that could tear his platoon apart. Korea, 1950. Lt. Jonas Stuyvesant’s privileged upbringing hadn’t prepared him for the hardships of war. But when North Korea launches a surprise attack, he and his ragtag platoon suddenly find themselves on the front lines of a war not even Washington expected. And instead of North Korean peasants armed with pitchforks, Jonas and his fellow soldiers find themselves up against armored Soviet tanks and battle-tested hardened soldiers.

Outgunned and outnumbered, his platoon retreats from Osan through Taejon on down the whole length of the Korean Peninsula until their backs are pressed against the sea. As the war-weary troops hunker in for a final stand, a twist of fate gives Jonas a chance to leave the deadly frontline far behind. Before their attackers close in, Jonas must make an impossible choice: leave his brothers-in-arms facing the enemy alone or sacrifice everything to stand by their side to the bitter end.

This Thriller book is available in these Formats: eBook, Print

Buy Book Here.

The Gourmet Gangster: Mysteries & Menus by The Family by Marcia Rosen & Jory Rosen

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My son Jory and I had a great time collaborating on this book. I wrote the mysteries and he provided the recipes. Together we created some murderous titles for the recipes and decided which types of food would best fit the various mystery stories.
Some of my stories were influenced by being a gangster’s daughter.
Really. My father was a gangster.
He was a bookie, owned a gambling ‘place’ and when he was ready to move on, he and his partner opened a restaurant and bar at the heart of Main Street in Buffalo, New York.
The book is a series of short mysteries all taking place in a restaurant called Manhattan Shadow. The character, Zero the Bookie is fashioned after my father. He also appears in my Senior Sleuths Mystery Series along with Dick and Dora Zimmerman, reminiscent of the Thin Man characters.
Level Best Books, our publisher, suggested putting the recipes before each story.
And so we did, with titles such as: “Chicken Piccata Caper,” “The Sacrificial Lamb,” “The Quiche (Kiss) of Death.” Near the end we added, “A Deadly Delicious Dessert.” Donuts!

Targeted Age Group:: All adults

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
My love of writing, especially mysteries and my sons love of cooking inspired us to work together to write this unique and fun book.
These are some of Jory’s thoughts concerning his love of cooking: “Some of my earliest memories about my grandfather includes making donuts with him. I remember his kindness, patience, and love for the process as well as the end result. It gave me a lifetime passion for cooking. It did, of course, also have the effect of creating a lifetime love affair with donuts (come on, they are nature’s perfect food). I have three kids (2 girls, 9 and 7, and a boy 3): my grandfather would have adored them. What I cook allows my children to get know my grandfather, and for him to live on through every bite of the cuisine he created. I hope these recipes inspire good memories and experiences in others, too.”
As for me, when I considered mysteries stories for the book I thought about places familiar to me.
The story “He’s A Dead Duck,” was a reminder of a duck pond we lived near on Long Island, years ago. I loved the idea of creating a story beginning with a duck recipe.
“The Chicken Piccata Caper” was the easiest. It reminds me of family. I always ask Jory to make his delicious recipe for me when I visit his family.