Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Review: 12 Rose Street by Gail Bowen

Mysterious Reviews: Reviews of New Mysteries, Novels of Suspense, and Thrillers

A Mysterious Review of 12 Rose Street by Gail Bowen. A Joanne Kilbourn Mystery.

Review summary: The primary appeal of this well-structured mystery is the central character. She's a loving spouse and mother and very perceptive of what goes on around her, solving crimes more by thoughtful consideration and aggressive action. Overall, a solid entry in this series, and one that is recommended. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating: 4 of 5 stars

12 Rose Street Gail Bowen

12 Rose Street
Gail Bowen
A Joanne Kilbourn Mystery
McClelland & Stewart (March 2015)

Available from Amazon.comAvailable from Barnes & NobleAvailable from iTunesAvailable from Kobo

Publisher synopsis: Joanne's husband Zack is the leading progressive candidate in a neck-and-neck race, with the existing mayor, for Regina's top job. The tough campaigning is well underway when a disturbing threat disrupts the celebration for the opening of the Racette-Hunter Centre — a project Zack has been spearheading, intended to benefit the impoverished community of North Central Regina. Joanne soon realizes that sinister interests are working behind the scenes of the election, and another savage act makes clear that someone will stop at nothing to maintain the status quo.

The Shreve campaign perseveres, but when Zack's opponents share some shocking information about the past, the revelation sends Joanne reeling. As tensions around the election build, Joanne tries to hold herself together, keep her family intact, and get to the bottom of why a series of violent incidents, seemingly related to the mayoral race, all lead back to a mysterious property in North Central, 12 Rose Street.

New This Week: Mistake Creek, A Novel of Suspense by Rachel Amphlett

Omnimystery News is pleased to present a mystery, suspense, or thriller ebook that we recently found by sleuthing (as it were) through new or recently reissued titles from independent publishers during June 2015 and priced $4.99 or less …

Mistake Creek by Rachel Amphlett

Mistake Creek by Rachel Amphlett

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Rachel Amphlett

Price: $3.99 (as of 06/30/2015 at 6:30 PM ET).

Mistake Creek by Rachel Amphlett, Amazon Kindle format

There's a storm coming …

When Nina O'Brien returns to the small town of Mistake Creek after ten years, she's in a race against time to protect her father's business from an incoming storm so it can be sold to pay for his urgent medical treatment.

As flood warnings echo over the radio and the storm breaks with enormous force across the tiny Californian community, Nina is joined by others seeking shelter from the onslaught.

Her life is changed forever when a stranger appears at her door, bloodied and incoherent.

With a ruthless killer exposed among the small group, Nina is thrust into a deadly conspiracy involving a military veteran seeking revenge and an FBI agent desperate to prevent a catastrophic terrorism threat.

Alone, with no means to raise the alarm, Nina realises that to save one man, she must learn to trust another.

Mistake Creek by Rachel Amphlett

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Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Mister Darcy's Dogs, A Mister Darcy Mystery by Barbara Silkstone, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the author …

Mister Darcy's Dogs by Barbara Silkstone

Mister Darcy's Dogs by Barbara Silkstone

A Mister Darcy Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Barbara Silkstone

Price: 99¢ (as of 06/30/2015 at 6:00 PM ET).

Mister Darcy's Dogs by Barbara Silkstone, Amazon Kindle format

Doctor Lizzie Bennet, struggling against her conservative English countryside upbringing, determines to prove her worth as a dog psychologist. Nothing will deter her from her career until she meets the uppity and oh-so mysterious Londoner, Mister Darcy. His on-again, off-again flirtatious manner, and his pompous putdowns challenge Lizzie's short temper. When Mister Darcy hires her to train his lovable basset hounds for an important foxhunt, Lizzie accepts the task despite knowing next to nothing about the sport and harboring an intense fear of horses.

Two of the villains Austen fans love to boo and hiss arrive to torment Lizzie: Caroline Bingley, in hot pursuit of Mister Darcy does all she can to discredit and humiliate Lizzie. Mister Darcy's old nemesis, George Wickham, stalks the Bennet family.

Will Lizzie keep her focus or succumb to her fate? And what, pray tell, is her fate?

Mister Darcy's Dogs by Barbara Silkstone

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New This Week: Staying Cool, A Novel of Suspense by Catherine Todd

Omnimystery News is pleased to present a mystery, suspense, or thriller ebook that we recently found by sleuthing (as it were) through new or recently reissued titles from independent publishers during June 2015 and priced $4.99 or less …

Staying Cool by Catherine Todd

Staying Cool by Catherine Todd

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Diversion Books

Price: $4.99 (as of 06/30/2015 at 5:30 PM ET).

Staying Cool by Catherine Todd, Amazon Kindle format

This is a new ebook edition of a book published in hardcover by Hodder & Stoughton in 1998.

Art consultant Ellen Santiago Laws thinks the spark has gone out of her life. Five years a widow, she has a grown daughter, a senile mother and very few prospects for adventure. But after she serves on a jury that convicts a man for murdering the flashy head of an exclusive matchmaking service catering to the wealthy, overworked Southern California elite, she discovers that not all the evidence came out in the courtroom — and the victim might not have been quite as virtuous as the prosecution made her out to be.

With the help of an unlikely group of friends (including a weight-obsessed cardiologist with a penchant for Beach Bimbos, a high school frenemy, and a decorator with an uncanny resemblance to Vlad the Impaler), Ellen begins her investigation into the chic world of California matchmaking, where she enrolls as a love-starved client. What she discovers is enough to make anyone scared single, but when she is matched with a not-so-unattractive lawyer, life starts to get a lot more interesting. Just as it seems things are looking up, though, the real killer catches on and Ellen has to stay cool — to stay alive.

Staying Cool by Catherine Todd

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The Mayor of Lexington Avenue, A Jack Tobin Mystery by James Sheehan, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Center Street …

The Mayor of Lexington Avenue by James Sheehan

The Mayor of Lexington Avenue by James Sheehan

A Jack Tobin Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Center Street

Price: $1.99 (as of 06/30/2015 at 5:00 PM ET).

The Mayor of Lexington Avenue by James Sheehan, Amazon Kindle format

Growing up on the mean streets of New York City, Johnny and Mikey always had each other's back. Mikey was a loyal friend, but even he knew that Johnny was headed for bigger things. That's why he dubbed him the "Mayor of Lexington Avenue".

The two friends were inseparable — until one fateful night set them on their different paths: Johnny to life as a high-powered lawyer in Miami, and Mikey to a shattered existence behind bars. Now, haunted by guilt over Mikey's conviction, and numbed by the excesses of a successful life, Johnny finds his one last shot at redemption: A young Florida man is framed for a murder he didn't commit, and Johnny feels compelled to fight for him — and, in a way, for Mikey. But there are powerful people who want the truth hidden, and Johnny will have to risk everything and everyone he cares about to save the young man … and himself.

The Mayor of Lexington Avenue by James Sheehan

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Femme Fatale, An Irene Adler Mystery by Carole Nelson Douglas, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Forge Books …

Femme Fatale by Carole Nelson Douglas

Femme Fatale by Carole Nelson Douglas

An Irene Adler Mystery (7th in series)

Publisher: Forge Books

Price: $2.99 (as of 06/30/2015 at 4:00 PM ET).

Femme Fatale by Carole Nelson Douglas, Amazon Kindle format

Irene Adler is the only woman ever to have outwitted Sherlock Holmes … and the one who has come closest to stealing his heart.

She has competed (and sometimes cooperated) with the famous fictional detective over six popular and acclaimed novels, featuring her daring investigations across the Continent. All along, the beautiful and brilliant American diva-turned-detective has managed to conceal her background and history, even from her dashing barrister husband, Godfrey Norton, and her devoted companion and biographer, English spinster Nell Huxleigh.

But she has had some help along the way to do this, from such unlikely sources as the Baron de Rothschild, Sarah Bernhardt, and Bram Stoker, as well as the soon-to-be-infamous Nellie Bly, a daring American journalist who helped Irene hunt Jack the Ripper. Now Nellie has wired Irene some astounding news, news that will shake her world: Irene's mother is the target of an assassin.

Irene's past is shrouded in secrecy, and at first she is unwilling to divulge anything that would link her to America. But a series of bizarre killings in New York City draws her reluctantly back to her native country, where she must race with a murderer to find her mother, a woman of mystery who may turn out to be the most notorious woman of the nineteenth century.

As Irene forges a trail into her own hidden past, Nellie Bly draws another ace investigator across the Atlantic to join in the hunt for a serial killer, the last man on earth Irene Adler wants to discover anything about her shocking past … Sherlock Holmes.

Femme Fatale by Carole Nelson Douglas

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Black Valley by Charlotte Williams, New on the Mystery Bookshelf during June 2015

New on the Mystery Bookshelf during June 2015 …

Black Valley by Charlotte Williams

Black Valley by Charlotte Williams, A Jessica Mayhew Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: Bourbon Street Books

Black Valley by Charlotte Williams, Amazon Kindle format

Jessica Mayhew has enough problems without getting wrapped up in her patients' drama. Her separation from her husband doesn't seem as amicable as she once thought, and her daughters are drifting away as fast as they're growing up. But her new client — chic, moody, obsessive painter Elinor Powell — has a way of drawing people in and soon Jessica's getting involved with what seems to be a most artful murder.

Elinor presents a rare professional challenge. She blames herself for keeping a valuable portrait in her studio, where her mother was killed in an unsolved robbery. An attack of claustrophobia is interfering with her work, as is her deepening paranoia about her twin sister, Isobel, and her brother-in-law, Blake, a ruthless art dealer. But when Jessica meets the entire unhappy family at the debut show of Blake's protégé — a reclusive ex-miner producing gloomy canvases in the Black Mountains of southeast Wales — she starts to wonder whether Elinor might be on to something. Might there be more to her mother's death? Could Blake have been involved? And just what's going on in those lonely hills?

Black Valley by Charlotte Williams

To see more new paperback titles scheduled to be published this month, visit The Mystery Bookshelf for June 2015. For new hardcover mysteries, visit New Mysteries where for a list of June 2015 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers is provided.

The Mystery at Darcy's Discount Store by Angie Wilson, a New Gracie's Mysteries Mystery for Junior Sleuths

Omnimystery News is pleased to present in this post a new First Clues: Mysteries for Kids series title published this month …

The Mystery at Darcy's Discount Store by Angie Wilson

The Mystery at Darcy's Discount Store by Angie Wilson

Series: Gracie's Mysteries

Publisher: Headline Books

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Recommended for Junior Sleuths, Ages 7 to 9

The Mystery at Darcy's Discount Store by Angie Wilson, Amazon Kindle format

Gracie is ready to begin her summer vacation, but her inquisitive mind takes her on an adventure that lands her in the hospital. Crutches and stitches do not slow her down, but opens up a new opportunity to help the employees at Darcy's solve a mystery.

The story takes on a twist when the criminals are caught but merchandise is still disappearing. Gracie has an idea about the thief, but no one believes her. Can she convince the management to check out her lead?

The Mystery at Darcy's Discount Store by Angie Wilson

Sharpshooter, A Sunny McCoskey, Napa Valley Mystery by Nadia Gordon, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Chronicle Books …

Sharpshooter by Nadia Gordon

Sharpshooter by Nadia Gordon

A Sunny McCoskey, Napa Valley Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Price: $1.99 (as of 06/30/2015 at 3:00 PM ET).

Sharpshooter by Nadia Gordon, Amazon Kindle format

Sunny McCoskey is the independent chef/owner of Wildside, a little cafe nestled in Napa Valley, where the food is exactly right. When the heir apparent to a major vineyard is shot dead, and Sunny's eccentric winemaker friend, Wade, is arrested for the murder, she launches her own investigation.

The solution lies in the tangled personalities and politics of the wine industry, and in the threat posed to the valley by the glassy-winged sharpshooter.

Sharpshooter by Nadia Gordon

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Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

The Silenced by Heather Graham, New in Bookstores during June 2015

Today's featured new hardcover mystery, suspense, or thriller title scheduled to be published during June 2015 is …

The Silenced by Heather Graham

The Silenced by Heather Graham, a Krewe of Hunters Mystery (15th in series)

Publisher: Mira

The Silenced by Heather Graham, Amazon Kindle formatThe Silenced by Heather Graham, Nook formatThe Silenced by Heather Graham, iTune iBook formatThe Silenced by Heather Graham, Kobo format

Lara, a congressman's media assistant, suddenly quits her job — and disappears on the way to her Washington, DC, apartment.

Novice FBI agent Meg Murray, a childhood friend of Lara's, gets a message from her that same night, a message that says she's disillusioned and "going home." To Richmond, Virginia. Meg discovers that she never got there. And bodies fitting Lara's description are showing up in nearby rivers … Could she be the victim of a serial killer?

Meg is assigned to work with special agent Matt Bosworth, a hard-nosed pro in the FBI's unit of paranormal investigators — the Krewe of Hunters. They trace the route Meg and Lara took more than once in the past, visiting battlefields and graveyards from Harpers Ferry to Gettysburg. Places where the dead share their secrets with those who can hear … As Meg and Matt pursue the possibility of a serial killer, they find themselves in the middle of a political conspiracy. Is there a connection? If so, has Lara been silenced for good? And whom — besides each other — can they trust?

The Silenced by Heather Graham

For a list of more new hardcover titles to be published this month, visit our New Mysteries page for June 2015. For new paperback mysteries, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where a selection of June 2015 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers are shelved.

All Dressed Up and No Place to Haunt by Rose Pressey, New on the Mystery Bookshelf during June 2015

New on the Mystery Bookshelf during June 2015 …

All Dressed Up and No Place to Haunt by Rose Pressey

All Dressed Up and No Place to Haunt by Rose Pressey, A Cookie Chanel, Haunted Vintage Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: Kensington

All Dressed Up and No Place to Haunt by Rose Pressey, Amazon Kindle format

When a film crew wakes up a sleepy Georgia town, murder is in fashion …

Sugar Creek is all abuzz. A film is being shot on a historic plantation, and vintage clothing store owner Cookie Chanel is thrilled to provide authentic period outfits for its stars. When Cookie discovers the temperamental leading lady drowned in a pond, wearing a lovely vintage dress, she's suddenly on location for a real-life crime scene. And when a ghost says the dress belongs to her, the number of clues Cookie has to investigate rivals the size of her shoe collection.

With the supernatural support of her psychic cat, Cookie must find a killer in the cast of suspects, and avoid starring in her own final scene …

All Dressed Up and No Place to Haunt by Rose Pressey

To see more new paperback titles scheduled to be published this month, visit The Mystery Bookshelf for June 2015. For new hardcover mysteries, visit New Mysteries where for a list of June 2015 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers is provided.

The Dog Who Knew Too Much, A Rachel Alexander and Dash Mystery by Carol Lea Benjamin, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Open Road …

The Dog Who Knew Too Much by Carol Lea Benjamin

The Dog Who Knew Too Much by Carol Lea Benjamin

A Rachel Alexander and Dash Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: Open Road

Price: $1.99 (as of 06/30/2015 at 1:00 PM ET).

The Dog Who Knew Too Much by Carol Lea Benjamin, Amazon Kindle format

Open Road titles are often discounted for one day only, so if you are interested in buying this book, please confirm the price before you purchase it.

The path to enlightenment is fraught with danger when Greenwich Village PI Rachel Alexander and her pit bull, Dash, investigate the death of a tai chi practitioner …

Did she jump or was she pushed? Devastated by the loss of their only child, David and Marsha Jacobs hire Rachel to find out why Lisa leaped to her death from the fifth-floor window of her martial arts studio. The tai chi instructor, who was studying to be a Zen Buddhist priest, seemed to have it all: beauty, brains, a vocation she adored, a sexy lover — and her beautiful, sad-eyed Akita, who may have been the only witness to her death and is still grieving the loss of his mistress.

Refusing to believe that Lisa would abandon her beloved pet — and with only a suspicious suicide note to go on — Rachel and her canine assistant, Dash, hit the streets of downtown New York, retracing the dead woman's steps to figure out whether she was yin to a killer's yang.

The Dog Who Knew Too Much by Carol Lea Benjamin

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The Warning, A Suspense Short Story by Sophie Hannah, New This Week from Witness Impulse

Every week, Witness Impulse — an imprint of William Morrow — releases new suspense and thriller digital originals, typically priced at just $2.99 each.

Omnimystery News is pleased to present you with one of this week's titles …

The Warning by Sophie Hannah

The Warning by Sophie Hannah

A Suspense Short Story

Publisher: Witness Impulse

Price: $1.99 (as of 06/30/2015 at 12:30 PM ET).

The Warning by Sophie Hannah, Amazon Kindle format

Don't say I didn't warn you …

When a kindly stranger does Chloe a good deed, she decides she must repay him. But in tracing him, she meets a sympathetic woman named Nadine, who warns Chloe to stay away from the man at all costs. "Give him nothing, tell him nothing, don't trust him," she says. "Avoid him like the plague."

Chloe knows the sensible thing to do: walk away. But her curiosity gets the best of her. What is the truth about the good Samaritan? How dangerous could he be? And can Chloe find the answers without putting herself and her daughter in harm's way?

The Warning by Sophie Hannah

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An Excerpt from Bye, Bye Love by K.J. Larsen

Omnimystery News: An Excerpt courtesy of K.J. Larsen

We are delighted to welcome back the three sisters writing as K.J. Larsen to Omnimystery News.

Earlier this month we had the chance to talk to them about their new Cat DeLuca mystery Bye, Bye Love (Poisoned Pen Press; April 2015 hardcover, trade paperback, and ebook formats) and today we are pleased to bring you an excerpt from it, the first chapter.

— ♦ —

Bye, Bye Love by K.J. Larsen

I WAS STAKING OUT THE LEGRANDE HOTEL ON Asher and sucking the creamy filling out of a cannoli. My fingers absently drummed out a beat on the steering wheel while I kept an eye on a brunette in the hotel parking lot. Her name is Cookie Allen. Cookie's married to Jerry, a wiry man with a birdlike face and a wild nest of yellow hair. Jerry's an inquisitive kind of guy. He wants to know why his wife reeks of Brut Cologne.
  It's not exactly rocket science. Cookie Allen has a lover. She left telltale signs and a big trail of cookie crumbs. A dumbass could figure it out. But not Jerry. He's hired me to spell it out for him.
  I'm a great speller.
  My name is Cat DeLuca and I'm a Private Dick — though I prefer Jane. I don't investigate for insurance companies or work for ambulance-chasers. I won't find your high school sweetheart. But if you're in Chicagoland and you suspect your partner is stepping out, call me. I kick ass at catching cheaters.
  Last week Jerry showed up at my office, his brain in deep freeze. His wife's betrayal was slapping him in the face, but he was swimming in denial. It happens in this business. You know your relationship is in the toilet but you're not ready to go there. So your mind creates an alternative scenario as a coping mechanism. It's a temporary state of insanity.
  That's where I come in.
  "What do you think is happening with your wife, Jerry?"
  His small, birdlike chin quivered. "What do you mean?"
  "I dunno. The late nights, unexplained absences. A sudden disinterest in sex and all things you."
  "I think it's the change. I hear it affects women that way."
  "Your wife is twenty-six years old."
  "So?"
  "It's not the change."
  Jerry scrunched his face, searching for an explanation other than the obvious. I stopped him before he could decide his wife had a part-time job moonlighting for Brut.
  "The Brut Factory is in Texas," I said.
  "What does that have to do with anything?"
  "Just sayin'."
  Jerry sighed and gnawed on beakish lips. "I don't wanna make no trouble."
  "God, no."
  "So what will you do?"
  "I'm gonna shadow her."
  His eyes flashed alarm. "If Cookie thinks I don't trust her … "
  "She won't know I was there. It's what I do".
  He dragged out a roll of antacids, popped a handful in his mouth, and chewed furiously.
  "Here's the plan. I'll be in the hospital parking lot when your wife's shift ends on Sunday. I'll tail her — "
  His eyes widened.
  "Not to worry. I'm the queen of discretion. I'll keep a diary of her movements. Make a note of anyone she has contact with."
  He nodded staring through me, his brain still on ice.
  I wanted to shake him, but I put a hand on his arm and flashed an encouraging smile.
  "I got this, Jerry. You're going to be OK. I'm armed with spy-eye binoculars and my super, high-powered camera. I'll snag some steamy 8 by 10 glossies and when I deliver them to you your brain will thaw."
  He nodded and then his head did a double take. "Huh?"
  "Exactly."

***

A horn blared from the street in front of the hotel. Cookie was too busy fidgeting with her hair to notice. She was primping for Brut Boy. I popped the newest Pink album into the CD player, stretched my legs, and waited.
  Cookie Allen works as an X-ray tech at Mercy Hospital and I was waiting when her shift ended at 2:30. At 2:31 she bolted out the door and barreled to her car. She gave her face a five-minute touch up and perked up the girls before pulling the red Mazda Miata out of her parking spot. I was on her like sauce on spaghetti. She headed down Twenty-sixth and hit the Dan Ryan toward the west end, hell and gone from her house in Bridgeport. Her first stop was a dry cleaner's on South Ashland. Cookie dropped off a small bag of clothes, then took a quick spin by Lovers Package. Next stop was Walgreen's for a Snickers bar, some mints, and a copy of Soap Opera Digest. And like a cherry on top, a can of whipping cream. I didn't have to be a top-notch detective to know one thing. Some Mama's son was gonna get lucky tonight.
  The G in the neon LeGrande Hotel sign sputtered, making it quiver almost hypnotically. I mentally slapped myself and opened my surveillance cooler. It was stocked with Tino's pizza, sausages, and Mama's Mediterranean chicken. As well as her unrivaled cannoli. It will drop you to your knees.
  I tossed a sausage to the beagle in the backseat. Inga is my partner at the Pants on Fire Detective Agency. She has soulful brown eyes and an ever-joyful tail. She's fiercely loyal and better company than most people I know.
  I poured a cup of coffee and let the steam warm my face. I get what Jerry's going through. My brief marriage to Johnnie Rizzo was a crash course in infidelity. It was like a knife to the gut. Johnnie was a serial cheater, scoring like an Olympic athlete.
  But then, love can be brutal.
  Sometimes you gotta get up, brush yourself off, and take your life back. You go out with your friends and exorcise your lying ex with shameless quantities of tequila and chocolate. You listen to the voice inside you that says you'll create a better life than you ever imagined. Even if it's the tequila talking.
  A cool late autumn breeze blew off the lake. I hunched down in my silver Honda Accord and tugged my coat tighter around me. I didn't want to fire up my engine and draw attention to myself. I figured this gig wouldn't last long. The LeGrande is known for renting rooms by the hour. I doubt the sheets change as often as the guests.
  Inga kissed my cheek and jumped into the passenger seat to negotiate for more sausages. A beat up blue construction van pulled into the hotel parking lot. Cookie lept from the car, feet dancing, before Brut Boy killed the engine. Her husband, Jerry, may look like a bird. But her lover was a big burly bear of a guy with dark curly hair exploding from his neckline. Cookie seemed to be exploring a wide spectrum of the animal kingdom.
  They ran into each other's arms and held tight for a long time. When they pulled back, they gazed deep in each other's eyes and laughed.
  I've been in this business a long time. And I've found people are driven to cheat for a variety of reasons: for the thrill, revenge, self-undoing, conquest, boredom, emptiness, or a sense of loss. Sometimes, it's just for a lack of good sense. Some people cheat because they think they won't get caught. Others just wanna get busted.
  I'd probably never know how the affair between Cookie and her bear of a lover began. But I believed she was here today because they were in love. I aimed my camera, knowing I'd hate passing the pics on to Jerry. Cookie's lover wore a wedding ring. I knew Cookie and Jerry didn't have kids. It would be too much to hope her lover's marriage would dissolve so cleanly.
  She put an arm around his waist and they drifted my way. I buried my face in the latest O! Magazine. The lovers ambled past me and into the hotel, his hand resting on her bum.
  I tossed another sausage into the backseat. "Back in a flash, Inga. This won't take long."
  I grabbed my flower print handbag with the hidden camcorder and strode to the heavy oak and glass doors. I was locked, loaded, and ready for love.
  Or at least ready to expose it on 8 by 10 color glossies. I paused a moment beneath the quivering neon G and taking a deep, heady breath of Brut, tromped into the hotel behind them.

— ♦ —

K.J. Larsen
Photo provided courtesy of
K.J. Larsen

Sisters Kari, Julianne, and Kristen write under the pen name K.J. Larsen. Writing a novel together was second nature for the three sisters who created their own Nancy Drew mysteries as kids.

Kari Larsen lives at the foothills of Mt. Rainier and loves hiking, stand-up comedy, and the Blues. She's written a column for a local paper as well as numerous plays and children's stories. She's a mean baker and a bit like Cat's crazy Mama. Her cannoli will drop you to your knees.

Julianne is the youngest of the six Larsen girls and spoiled as God intended. She teaches classes in organic gardening and is a gifted artist and poet. She lives on a farm with her horses, her beagle, and more four legged children than any person with good sense. Like Cat, she prefers jeans and a sweater but she cleans up nice.

Kristen is a gifted writer, weaver and actress and has appeared in plays off off Broadway. Her eyes are green like Cat's and she's a shoe-in for the role in the blockbuster movie to come. She lives in the Chicago area and was recently spotted dancing in Bridgeport with Chance Savino.

For more information about the author, please visit their website at KJLarsenAuthor.com and their author page on Goodreads, or find their on Facebook and Twitter.

— ♦ —

Bye, Bye Love by K.J. Larsen

Bye, Bye Love by K.J. Larsen

A Cat DeLuca Mystery

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

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Chicago's Pants On Fire Detective Agency targets liars and cheats. But PI Cat DeLuca is once again up to her smokin' skinny jeans in murder. Cat is out running in a neighborhood park when she crashes over the faceless body of Bernie Love. Bernie was the finance guy to the scary Provenza family, with whom he grew up. And friend to Cat's shady, Ferrari-wheeling-cop Uncle Joey. As she hauls out her phone, Cat is assaulted by someone with a Rolex, stun gun, and wheelbarrow.

When the cops show up, the killer is gone. And so is the body. Captain Bob, a stickler for habeas corpus, blows off Cat's story. Stung by a chorus of snickers from the Ninth Precinct, home base for DeLuca men, Cat vows to make her case and goes after Rolex man. The murderer, desperate to silence the only person who can place him at the park, comes after Cat. She's quickly on a collision course with the deadliest adversary she's ever encountered―but she has the help of her beagle partner, her gun-happy assistant, an ex-spy (or two), and her outrageous, interfering Italian family. Meanwhile her hot, FBI-boyfriend seems sidelined in Vegas.

Bye, Bye Love by K.J. Larsen

Today's Selection of Daily Deals for Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature a selection of today's Daily Deals found on Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at 7:30 AM ET …

Last Man Standing by Cindy Gerard

Last Man Standing by Cindy Gerard

A Black Ops Novel of Romantic Suspense (7th in series)

Publisher: Pocket Books

Kindle Daily Deal Price: $1.99

Last Man Standing by Cindy Gerard, Amazon Kindle format

Black Ops, Inc. operative Joe Green is determined to bring to justice the man responsible for former team member Bryan Tompkins's death. He's convinced the ambush that killed Bryan was no coincidence, but a setup. Unsure of the consequences of the battle he's about to start, Joe distances himself from both his Black Ops, Inc. team members and the woman he loves, Bryan's sister, Stephanie Tompkins.

But Stephanie knows there must be some reason Joe broke it off, and when she hears Joe's charged with a murder in Sierra Leone, she wastes no time in breaking him out of prison. Then they must unravel the mystery behind the ambush, and bring resolution to a long-ago betrayal …

Last Man Standing by Cindy Gerard

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The Strain Trilogy (1st in series)

Publisher: HarperCollins

Kobo Daily Deal Price: $1.99 (price-matched by Amazon)

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, Amazon Kindle formatThe Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, Kobo format

They have always been here. Vampires. In secret and in darkness. Waiting. Now their time has come. In one week, Manhattan will be gone. In one month, the country. In two months — the world.

A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK and is on its way across the tarmac, when it suddenly stops dead. All window shades are pulled down. All lights are out. All communication channels have gone quiet. Crews on the ground are lost for answers, but an alert goes out to the CDC. Dr. Eph Goodweather, head of their Canary project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats, gets the call and boards the plane. What he finds makes his blood run cold.

In a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, a former professor and survivor of the Holocaust named Abraham Setrakian knows something is happening. And he knows the time has come, that a war is brewing …

So begins a battle of mammoth proportions as the vampiric virus that has infected New York begins to spill out into the streets. Eph, who is joined by Setrakian and a motley crew of fighters, must now find a way to stop the contagion and save his city — a city that includes his wife and son — before it is too late.

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

For more deals that may have been found after this post was created, see our Daily Deals page on Omnimystery News for an updated list.

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of the purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Today's Selection of Free MystereBooks for Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature a selection of Free MystereBooks found on Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at 6:30 AM ET …

Murder on the Night Shift by Kathy Cohen

Murder on the Night Shift by Kathy Cohen

A Murder Mystery

Publisher: Kathy Cohen

Price: FREE!

Murder on the Night Shift by Kathy Cohen, Amazon Kindle format

Soul Meaning by A. D. Starrling

Soul Meaning by A. D. Starrling

A Seventee Series Novel

Publisher: A. D. Starrling

Price: FREE!

Soul Meaning by A. D. Starrling, Amazon Kindle format

Blank by Richard C. Hale

Blank by Richard C. Hale

A Lincoln Delabar Thriller

Publisher: Three Thirty A.M. Publishing

Price: FREE!

Blank by Richard C. Hale, Amazon Kindle format

Beneath the Mall of Madness by A. D. Folmer

Beneath the Mall of Madness by A. D. Folmer

A Jaspar Windisle Adventure

Publisher: Melete Publishing

Price: FREE!

Beneath the Mall of Madness by A. D. Folmer, Amazon Kindle format

Eleven by Carolyn Arnold

Eleven by Carolyn Arnold

A Brandon Fisher FBI Series Thriller

Publisher: Carolyn Arnold

Price: FREE!

Eleven by Carolyn Arnold, Amazon Kindle format

This is a repeat freebie that was last featured on our site on November 09, 2012.

For a summary of all of today's titles, plus any that may have been added since this post was created, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of the purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

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