Mystery Reads

Featured Book: Bubble Screen by David Chill

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It starts with some missing warehouse inventory, but the case quickly moves beyond simple larceny. And when theft turns to murder, the stakes rise dramatically.

The story leads Private Investigator Burnside onto the trail of some people who will do anything to acquire money — and they will use any means necessary to keep it. And as he plunges into the investigation, Burnside also has to make a life altering decision about his own future.

Interweaving the world of business with the world of football, Bubble Screen is set in the heart of Los Angeles. It is a captivating thrill ride that combines fascinating characters, wry humor, and an explosive ending that is both stunning and unexpected.

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Murder at Wisteria Pines by Jon Randall

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“This is definitely a ‘read it in one night page-turner’ which I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.” —Bree, Verified Amazon Purchaser

“I love it! A classic locked room mystery with all the ambience of Britain set in the 1970s American South.” —Stephen L. Brayton, Writer Beat

Cornelius Astor-Beaudry, fondly known as “the Colonel,” invades the serene sanctity of Raymond Hilary’s antiquarian bookstore in a dire search for a particular book on poisons. A maid at a local Georgia mansion called Wisteria Pines has been found dead, the deed done apparently by poisoning.

From the moment the Colonel steps into Raymond Hilary’s life, Raymond is caught up in a flood of events racing and raging beyond his control. Their first evening together becomes a white-knuckled ride to Wisteria Pines on the news that the patriarch, Angus Callahan, has also been found dead—but in a locked room with bars on its windows.

It had happened right after a voodoo doll had been found nailed to the mansion’s door. Somehow three different wills appear to be involved, along with missing precious stones, Cajun legacies and legends, the founding of Acadia, the French Revolution, the British Crown Jewels, and an inheritance worth $6 million. Read “Murder at Wisteria Pines” today.

Targeted Age Group:: Young adult to adult

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I grew up in Georgia and Alabama, which certainly inspired the settings, but I also have always been fascinated with crime literature, both fact and fiction. I spent untold hours immersed in the mesmerizing worlds of the great fiction detectives. When I read the Sherlock Holmes stories, I knew, even as a boy, that one day I would attempt to entertain others the way Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had entertained me through so many sleepless nights. To invoke Doyle’s name and that of his great detective is an honorable homage, not hubris, and I don’t aspire even to walk in their shadow. I do hope, though, that readers might find in my work something magical, something fun, something that will hold them in guileless wonder as they struggle to guess whodunnit, and in doing so that they will find something of the deep love I have for the endless wonders of the American South.

Featured Book: Mystery at Pima Point by J B Clemmens

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While waiting for the wedding of his nephew, Lieutenant Eli James enjoys a mini vacation at the fabulous Pima Point Resort near Phoenix. When the bride disappears and one of her bridesmaids is murdered, he reverts to his NYPD homicide detective status and investigates some shady business at the spa and resort. But drug trafficking and illegal plastic surgery are secondary to finding the killer and his nephew’s bride-to-be before the wedding.

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Poetic Justice by Lori James

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Poetic Justice is a murder mystery with a romantic twist. It’s set on a backdrop of characters ranging from a single mom, to high powered attorneys who are sure to draw you into their lives.

When Homicide Detective Mark Stevens receives a phone call to report to a bloody crime scene, he has no idea how his life is about to change. He faces the normal challenges of solving a murder. He also faces the challenge of confronting his past. Mark’s past has closed his heart. He chooses to be alone. When his heart is opened, by an unlikely visitor, he finds himself having feelings for the murder victim’s sister. However, he’s determined to remain professional. Now that he’s found his heart; can love be far behind?

The new, ambitious prosecuting attorney John Martin can’t wait to sink his teeth into his first murder trial. Seemingly lucky for him, a murder victim’s body is found his first day on the job. Not so luckily for him, there’s a tough judge and feisty defense attorney in his future.

Targeted Age Group:: 17+

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I’ve always had an interest in true crime and trial watching. When I decided to write a book, I knew it would be a murder mystery.

It Had to Be You by Delynn Royer

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New York City, 1924

Determined to pursue her dream of becoming a crime reporter, heiress Trixie Frank believes she’s off to a running start when she lands a job at the most successful tabloid in Manhattan. Unfortunately, her high hopes fade fast when she’s assigned to the rewrite desk.

Sean Costigan is a demoted homicide detective on the commissioner’s blacklist. The last thing he needs complicating his life is a perky debutante with delusions of becoming the next great American journalist. Too bad she happens to hold one of the keys to solving his latest case, the Central Park murder of a notorious gangster. The other key? Sean’s childhood sweetheart, the victim’s widow, who has gone missing.

Sean soon has more trouble with dames than any good man deserves. But that’s the least of his worries. When he suspects deadly corruption within his own department, it’s not just his and Trixie’s careers that depend on finding the killer. It’s their lives.

Targeted Age Group:: Adult

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
My love of mystery, romance and classic cinema. I’ve been a fan of old movies since I was a teenager, and one of my favorite romantic mystery films is The Thin Man. The dialogue is top-notch and the romantic chemistry between William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles is playful and fun.

Add to that, I love Manhattan as a setting, and I’ve always been fascinated by the 1920s—the bootleggers, the flappers, the speakeasies, the post-war abandon. It was a combination of all these elements that inspired me to try my hand at creating a sleuthing couple of my own.

The Bleak by Keith Dixon @keithyd6

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Sam Dyke is back! The private investigator who never gives up until the bad guys are caught—or worse.

For Sam, taking this particular case is not promising. His client is a secretary who’s watching her boss fall apart, and she can’t bear it. The case requires subtlety and finesse and so isn’t his usual kind of job. But he likes her and takes it anyway.

And he soon discovers that it’s not the pressures of work that are getting to her boss. It’s his colleagues, a group of cultish scientists. Their leader is a hyper-intelligent seer/visionary who has a personal philosophy that is taking him towards one final act—to produce a calamitous event that will destroy the lives of hundreds of people. Or more.

Dyke sets himself on a course to prevent this madman from achieving his ends. A course that endangers him, his new partner and it seems anyone else who gets in the way of this doomsday plan …

Targeted Age Group:: 16+

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
The Bleak is the fourth in a series featuring my character Sam Dyke. The premise of the story came to me when reading about a Japanese cult that attempted a series of mass murders in the 1990s.