Monday, February 29, 2016

Countdown City, The Last Policeman Trilogy by Ben H. Winters, 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, Quirk Books …

Countdown City by Ben H. Winters

Countdown City by Ben H. Winters

The Last Policeman Trilogy (2nd in series)

Publisher: Quirk Books

Price: $3.99 (as of 02/29/2016 at 8:00 PM ET).

Countdown City by Ben H. Winters, Amazon Kindle format

Click here to take a Look Inside Countdown City.

There are just 77 days before a deadly asteroid collides with Earth, and Detective Palace is out of a job. With the Concord police force operating under the auspices of the U.S. Justice Department, Hank's days of solving crimes are over … until a woman from his past begs for help finding her missing husband.

Brett Cavatone disappeared without a trace — an easy feat in a world with no phones, no cars, and no way to tell whether someone's gone "bucket list" or just gone. With society falling to shambles, Hank pieces together what few clues he can, on a search that leads him from a college-campus-turned-anarchist-encampment to a crumbling coastal landscape where anti-immigrant militia fend off "impact zone" refugees.

Countdown City by Ben H. Winters

See also the Edgar Award-winning first mystery in this series, The Last Policeman, now also $3.99 for Kindle.

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

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.

A Catered Christmas, A Mystery with Recipes by Isis Crawford, 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, Kensington …

A Catered Christmas by Isis Crawford

A Catered Christmas by Isis Crawford

A Mystery with Recipes (3rd in series)

Publisher: Kensington

Price: $2.99 (as of 02/29/2016 at 7:00 PM ET).

A Catered Christmas by Isis Crawford, Amazon Kindle format

Click here to take a Look Inside A Catered Christmas.

As picturesque Longley, New York, gets ready to ring in the holiday season, caterers Bernadette and Libby Simmons are coping with their busiest time of year. If that's not enough to make them run around like crazed elves, they're recruited for a cooking show contest that pits celebrity chefs against each other — and gives rise to murder …

Visions of sugar plums are most decidedly not dancing in Libby's head — especially since she and her sister are set to appear on the Hortense Calabash Cooking Show. The premise is to give six professional caterers random ingredients and have them whip up a holiday meal. The icing on the fruitcake is that Hortense Calabash is a grinch of year-round proportions. And the other contestants are some of the most demanding — and difficult — chefs in the business.

Bernie and Libby are thrown into the mix as arguments and accusations simmer on the set. Holiday spirit has left the building — and leaves a body — when Hortense, all dressed up as Santa Claus for the opening sequence, is killed by an exploding oven.

With the holiday rush in full swing and a killer still on the loose, Bernie and Libby have no choice but to wrap up the mystery before their geese are well and fully cooked …

A Catered Christmas by Isis Crawford

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

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.

New This Week: 3:46 AM, A Henry Bins Adventure by Nick Pirog

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 February 2016 and priced $4.99 or less …

3:46 AM by Nick Pirog

3:46 AM by Nick Pirog

A Henry Bins Adventure (5th in series)

Publisher: Nick Pirog

Price: $2.99 (as of 02/29/2016 at 6:30 PM ET).

3:46 AM by Nick Pirog, Amazon Kindle format

Click here to take a Look Inside 3:46 AM.

Saturday, February 27th, 2016. 3:00 a.m. — 4:00 a.m.

It's the wedding that everyone has been waiting for …

What could possibly go wrong?

3:46 AM by Nick Pirog

See more titles in the highly reviewed Henry Bins Series for $3.99 or less each on Kindle. The 1st book in the series, 3:00 AM, is currently FREE!

Visit our New Indie MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News for a complete list of titles featured today.

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.

While Still We Live, An Espionage Thriller by Helen MacInnes, 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, Titan Books …

While Still We Live by Helen MacInnes

While Still We Live by Helen MacInnes

An Espionage Thriller

Publisher: Titan Books

Price: 99¢ (as of 02/29/2016 at 6:00 PM ET).

While Still We Live by Helen MacInnes, Amazon Kindle format

Click here to take a Look Inside While Still We Live.

English girl Sheila Matthews' innocent holiday to Poland becomes a nightmare when the German Army invade in the summer of 1939. Working for the Polish underground as a double-agent, she plays a dangerous game, and is soon suspected by the Germans.

Forced to flee to the forest and hunted by a ruthless German officer, she must rely on the dashing Captain Adam Wisniewski to help her home.

While Still We Live by Helen MacInnes

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

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.

New This Week: The House on Mulberry Street, An Historical Mystery by Maan Meyers

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 February 2016 and priced $4.99 or less …

The House on Mulberry Street by Maan Meyers

The House on Mulberry Street by Maan Meyers

An Historical Mystery

Publisher: Speaking Volumes

Price: $4.99 (as of 02/29/2016 at 5:30 PM ET).

The House on Mulberry Street by Maan Meyers, Amazon Kindle format

Click here to take a Look Inside The House on Mulberry Street.

This is a new ebook edition of a book published in hardcover by Bantam in 1996.

It's 1895, and the face of Manhattan is rapidly changing. From the electric-lit elegance of Delmonico's Restaurant and Broadway to a netherworld of stifling immigrant tenements, bordellos, and rotgut whiskey, the city simmers in the summer heat. Graft is everywhere — and most of all at 300 Mulberry Street, Metropolitan Police Headquarters, where the men in blue mingle with crooks and corrupt lawyers of every stripe.

Here young police detective John "Dutch" Tonneman observes firsthand the behind-the-scenes backstabbing between top brass and would-be reformers. But it's a suspicious waterfront blaze and a union rally turned violent that threaten to tear the city apart at the seams.

Tonneman arrives on the scene just in time to save a pretty, vivacious young photographer from a vicious assault. Esther Breslau is a lovely Polish Jewish immigrant who worked her way from the sweatshops to a job as a photographer with a crusading newspaper reporter. But when the reporter turns up murdered and Esther's photographic plates are smashed, it's obvious that Esther's pictures were something someone wanted very badly indeed. And now the only living eyewitness to what Esther saw through her camera lens is Esther herself.

As the sweltering city reaches the boiling point and a murderer stalks the cobblestoned streets, it's up to Detective Tonneman and Esther to unravel a dangerous mystery whose roots are buried deep in the sordid underbelly of Manhattan — but whose branches may reach to the heights of political power.

The House on Mulberry Street by Maan Meyers

Visit our New Indie MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News for a complete list of titles featured today.

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.

Don't Scream, A Novel of Suspense by Wendy Corsi Staub, 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, Zebra …

Don't Scream by Wendy Corsi Staub

Don't Scream by Wendy Corsi Staub

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Zebra

Price: $1.99 (as of 02/29/2016 at 5:00 PM ET).

Don't Scream by Wendy Corsi Staub, Amazon Kindle format

Click here to take a Look Inside Don't Scream.

In a remote, heavily wooded area near the Berkshires of Massachusetts, Rachel Lorant died on her birthday. But she didn't die alone. That night, her four sorority sisters make a solemn, trembling pledge. They will never reveal what has just happened in those woods — ever. Instead, they will take their terrible secret to their graves …

Now, ten years later, their secret is coming back to haunt them as each receives a card in the mail from Rachel: "Happy Birthday to Me. xoxo R." It's clear that someone knows what happened that night. Someone is stalking them and sending mysterious, chilling gifts that only they can understand — deadly warnings of what is to come. For the sins of the past have come back with a vengeance, and a killer will see that they all pay in blood …

Brynn Costello has never felt such pure fear. She didn't want any part in what happened so long ago, but now, the mother of two will do anything to stay alive and protect her family — even if it means matching wits with a killer she can't see … a twisted psychopath who is closer than she thinks and who is saving her death for last …

Don't Scream by Wendy Corsi Staub

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

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.

New This Week: Daffodils and Drizzle Cake, A Camille Carter Cozy by Lindsey Paley

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 February 2016 and priced $4.99 or less …

Daffodils and Drizzle Cake by Lindsey Paley

Daffodils and Drizzle Cake by Lindsey Paley

A Camille Carter Cozy (5th in series)

Publisher: Purple Heather Publishing

Price: $2.99 (as of 02/29/2016 at 4:30 PM ET).

Daffodils and Drizzle Cake by Lindsey Paley, Amazon Kindle format

Click here to take a Look Inside Daffodils and Drizzle Cake.

Camille Carter is back in the Lake District to present the Daffodils and Drizzle Cake cookery course at Craiglea Manor.

But as Millie has a habit of bringing chaos to an empty room, things don't go smoothly …

Daffodils and Drizzle Cake by Lindsey Paley

See all five books in the Camille Carter Cozy Series for $2.99 each on Kindle.

Visit our New Indie MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News for a complete list of titles featured today.

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.

Dead in a Dumpster, A Leah Norwood Mystery by B. L. Blair, 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 …

Dead in a Dumpster by B. L. Blair

Dead in a Dumpster by B. L. Blair

A Leah Norwood Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: B. L. Blair

Price: 99¢ (as of 02/29/2016 at 4:00 PM ET).

Dead in a Dumpster by B. L. Blair, Amazon Kindle format

Click here to take a Look Inside Dead in a Dumpster.

When Leah Norwood finds the body of Isabel Meeks in the dumpster behind her store, she can't believe the police consider her a suspect. Sure, she didn't liked Isabel, but then again, neither did anyone else. Isabel had a condescending attitude and a bad reputation. As manager of the antique store, Patina, she had made a lot of enemies.

There is Patina's assistant manager, the handsome and charming Trent. Isabel was blackmailing him. There is Patina's owner, the aloof and influential Anthony Thorpe. Isabel was smuggling drugs through his store. And there is the entire drug dealing Cantono family. Isabel had lost a box containing heroin from one of their shipments. That is just to name a few and didn't even include the stranger who was seen arguing with Isabel just hours before her death.

The police have too many suspects and too many soft alibis. Leah needs to prove to the sexy new chief of police that she had nothing to do with Isabel's death.

Leah loves a good mystery. Can she find the killer before the police arrest her for murder?

Dead in a Dumpster by B. L. Blair

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

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.

Crosswise by S. W. Lauden, New on the Mystery Bookshelf during February 2016

New on the Mystery Bookshelf during February 2016 …

Crosswise by S. W. Lauden

Crosswise by S. W. Lauden, A Crime Novel

Publisher: Down & Out Books

Crosswise by S. W. Lauden, Amazon Kindle format

Click here to take a Look Inside Crosswise.

Tommy Ruzzo is a disgraced NYPD cop who follows his coke fiend girlfriend back to her hometown in Florida. She leaves Ruzzo high and dry just before he's named Head of Security at Precious Acres, a beachfront retirement community populated by wisecracking New Yorkers. Ruzzo is stranded among the local losers until the day he discovers a murdered senior citizen on the Precious Acres bocce ball court.

The bodies pile up as Ruzzo uncovers a dangerous trail of clues that brings everybody in his new world under suspicion.

Crosswise by S. W. Lauden

To see more new paperback titles scheduled to be published this month, visit The Mystery Bookshelf for February 2016. For new hardcover mysteries, visit New Mysteries where for a list of February 2016 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers is provided.

Whiskey For Breakfast, An Addison Holmes Mystery by Liliana Hart, 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 …

Whiskey For Breakfast by Liliana Hart

Whiskey For Breakfast by Liliana Hart

An Addison Holmes Mystery (3rd in series)

Publisher: Liliana Hart

Price: 99¢ (as of 02/29/2016 at 3:00 PM ET).

Whiskey For Breakfast by Liliana Hart, Amazon Kindle format

Click here to take a Look Inside Whiskey For Breakfast.

The Private Investigator's Handbook
Rule #1: Don't break the law
Rule #2: See Rule #1

 … And then there's Addison Holmes, who makes up her handbook as she goes along.

Addison is licensed to carry and she means business. The only thing getting in her way is a sexy detective, a neighborhood watch from hell, a dead billionaire, a black market sperm bank, and a long lost heir.

Piece of cake …

Whiskey For Breakfast by Liliana Hart

See also the first mystery in this series, Whiskey Rebellion, which is currently FREE!

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

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.

Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O'Connor, New in Bookstores during February 2016

Today's featured new hardcover mystery, suspense, or thriller title scheduled to be published during February 2016 is …

Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O'Connor

Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O'Connor, a Siobhan O'Sullivan Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Kensington

Click here to take a Look Inside Murder in an Irish Village.

Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O'Connor, Amazon Kindle format

In the small village of Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland, Natalie's Bistro has always been a warm and welcoming spot to visit with neighbors, enjoy some brown bread and tea, and get the local gossip. Nowadays twenty-two-year-old Siobhán O'Sullivan runs the family bistro named for her mother, along with her five siblings, after the death of their parents in a car crash almost a year ago.

It's been a rough year for the O'Sullivans, but it's about to get rougher. One morning, as they're opening the bistro, they discover a man seated at a table, dressed in a suit as if for his own funeral, a pair of hot pink barber scissors protruding from his chest.

With the local garda suspecting the O'Sullivans, and their business in danger of being shunned — murder tends to spoil the appetite — it's up to feisty redheaded Siobhán to solve the crime and save her beloved brood.

Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O'Connor

For a list of more new hardcover titles to be published this month, visit our New Mysteries page for February 2016. For new paperback mysteries, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where a selection of February 2016 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers are shelved.

Telemystery: The Fall Series 2 and Strike Back Season 4, New This Week on DVD

Telemystery, the most complete selection of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series now available or coming soon to DVD

Telemystery, your source for one of the most comprehensive listings of crime drama, amateur sleuth, private investigator, mystery and suspense television series, mini-series and made-for-television movies, now available on or coming soon to DVD, Blu-ray disc, or Video-on-Demand, is profiling one series from our site being released this week.

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The Fall: Series Two

The Fall

Series Two

The Fall: Series Two on DVDThe Fall: Series Two on Blu-ray Disc

In this second season of 6 episodes, it's been 10 days since serial killer Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan) fled Belfast, and Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) is running out of time to catch him. Then Spector commits a brazen crime to silence someone from his past, and Gibson finds crucial evidence that puts her hot on his trail once more.

Anderson mesmerizes as the strong, self-possessed detective, while Dornan proves disturbingly charismatic as Spector, a man who is both a sadistic killer and a loving father.

The Fall has been renewed for a third season, which is scheduled to premiere later this year.

Strike Back: Season Four

Strike Back

Season Four

Strike Back: Season Four on DVDStrike Back: Season Four on Amazon Instant VODStrike Back: Season Four on iTunes

This Cinemax thriller series focuses on two members of Section 20, a secret British anti-terrorist organization: Michael Stonebridge (Philip Winchester), a consummate British soldier still struggling to overcome tragedy in his life, and Damien Scott (Sullivan Stapleton), a disgraced U.S. Delta Force operative who has found redemption with S20.

In this fourth and final season, Stonebridge and Scott face their biggest assignment yet: a global threat involving a ruthless network of international terrorists. Scott, Stonebridge and their S20 colleagues Philip Locke (Robson Green), Julia Richmond (Michelle Lukes) and Kim Martinez (Milauna Jackson) try to crack a missing-persons case in Bangkok. But what's on the surface is only the first step in a massive terrorist plot.

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Visit the Telemystery website to discover more television mystery series currently available on and coming soon to DVD, Blu-ray disc, or video on demand.

Brooklyn Justice by J. L. Abramo, New on the Mystery Bookshelf during February 2016

New on the Mystery Bookshelf during February 2016 …

Brooklyn Justice by J. L. Abramo

Brooklyn Justice by J. L. Abramo, A Crime Novel

Publisher: Down & Out Books

Brooklyn Justice by J. L. Abramo, Amazon Kindle format

Click here to take a Look Inside Brooklyn Justice.

Private investigator Nick Ventura knows trouble — but not how to keep his nose out of it. A pool of blood spreading across a casino poker table, a Buick plowing through a storefront with a dead detective aboard, a fatal rendezvous in the shadow of a Coney Island landmark, a childhood friend gunned down walking his dog in the wrong place at the wrong time, a film distributor who thinks he can get away with murder through intimidation and violence, a mob boss assassinated leaving a neighborhood restaurant, and the particular brand of retribution necessary to level the playing field in the fourth largest city in America.

Brooklyn Justice by J. L. Abramo

To see more new paperback titles scheduled to be published this month, visit The Mystery Bookshelf for February 2016. For new hardcover mysteries, visit New Mysteries where for a list of February 2016 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers is provided.

The Skin Collector, A Lincoln Rhyme Mystery by Jeffery Deaver, 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, Grand Central …

The Skin Collector by Jeffery Deaver

The Skin Collector by Jeffery Deaver

A Lincoln Rhyme Mystery (12th in series)

Publisher: Grand Central

Price: $3.99 (as of 02/29/2016 at 1:00 PM ET).

The Skin Collector by Jeffery Deaver, Amazon Kindle format

Click here to take a Look Inside The Skin Collector.

A new killer is on the loose: a criminal inspired by the Bone Collector. And Rhyme must untangle the twisted web of clues before the killer targets more victims — or Rhyme himself …

The killer's methods are terrifying. He stalks the basements and underground passageways of New York City. He tattoos his victims' flesh with cryptic messages, using a tattoo gun loaded with poison, resulting in an agonizing, painful death.

When a connection is made to the Bone Collector — the serial killer who terrorized New York more than a decade ago — Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are immediately drawn into the case.

Rhyme, Sachs, and the NYPD must race against time to answer the many questions the investigation uncovers: Whom will the killer attack next? What is the message behind the victims' tattoos? Does the killer's own inking — a fanged centipede sporting a woman's face — hold any significance? And what is his ultimate mission?

As time runs out, Rhyme discovers that the past has returned to haunt him in the most troubling way imaginable …

The Skin Collector by Jeffery Deaver

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

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.

New This Week: The Cross Killings, A Jordan Jones Thriller by Joe Carter

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 February 2016 and priced $4.99 or less …

The Cross Killings by Joe Carter

The Cross Killings by Joe Carter

A Jordan Jones Thriller (1st in series)

Publisher: Joe Carter

Price: $2.99 (as of 02/29/2016 at 12:30 PM ET).

The Cross Killings by Joe Carter, Amazon Kindle format

Click here to take a Look Inside The Cross Killings.

Jordan Jones is a tough young Homicide Detective looking to make his mark within the department. Just when he allows himself to fall in love, the biggest case of his career pops up and lands him in the cross hairs of a psychopath bent on his divine mission of bloody mayhem.

Plagued by visions of the killer victims and rising pressure from the top brass, detective Jones still manages to focus his attention on his relationship. But as the days go by catching the monster that's leaving a trail of mutilated bodies in his wake has become his main focus.

Desperate to end the rising body count, detective Jones stumbles across a lead that could save the next target of the killer's life.

Now it's a race against time to catch a killer before he kills again.

The Cross Killings by Joe Carter

Visit our New Indie MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News for a complete list of titles featured today.

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.

An Excerpt from Dollar Signs, a Legal Thriller by Manning Wolfe

Omnimystery News: An Excerpt courtesy of Manning Wolfe

We are delighted to welcome author Manning Wolfe to Omnimystery News today.

Manning's new legal thriller is Dollar Signs (Starpath Books; February 2016 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we are pleased to introduce you to it with an excerpt. You can also enter to win a copy of the book!

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THAT CAMERA WASN'T HERE BEFORE."
  He was sure he hadn't been seen, but he could find no way to enter the office without exposing himself to the camera while picking the lock. He looked down the hall seeking another entrance. There were many doors opening onto the hallway from various offices. He took a guess at a door based on the apparent size of the law office and began to work the lock. It was not yielding. Felt like a dead bolt was holding on the inside. As he tried again, he heard the elevator ding and the rustling of fabric with movement. He froze, and then backed up very slowly into the shadows at the end of the hallway.
  Betty walked toward the door humming an old Jerry Jeff Walker standard that Boots recognized, but couldn't name.
  Damn, she's an early bird, Boots thought.
  If he could catch her before she got to the glass door, and the camera, he could get behind her and force her to unlock the door. The camera could catch his face, unless he placed the hat just so and he couldn't be sure she wouldn't knock it off if she resisted. Maybe he could get the recording once he got into the office and destroy it, but what if the recorder was off site or in the security office downstairs? If he was careful, she couldn't identify him, but then his face might be linked to the break in and mugging.
  Betty stopped at the door, keys in hand. She froze for a second. She barely let out her breath, dropped the keys, and reached into her purse, but did not remove anything. Instead, she pointed the end of her handbag at the shadow with her hand inside.
  "I know you're down there," she said. "I'm packin', and I'll be glad enough to shoot your ass."
  Tough old bird, Boots thought. She'll probably shoot me right through that purse.
  "Show yourself," Betty said.
  She could see the outline of a hat and the pointed toe of a boot at the edge of the light.
  Boots stayed in the shadows and assessed his next move. He didn't think she could see him well enough to hit him as long as he stayed in the dark.
  Betty backed slowly down the hall with the handbag out before her …

— ♦ —

Manning Wolfe
Photo provided courtesy of
Manning Wolfe

Manning is an author and attorney, with one foot in the business world and one foot in the creative realm. Her business experience, combined with her vivid imagination manifests in quality services for clients, as well as compelling storytelling for readers. Manning is a graduate of Rice University and the University of Texas School of Law. She makes her home in Austin, Texas.

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

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Dollar Signs by Manning Wolfe

Dollar Signs by Manning Wolfe

The Texas Lady Lawyer Series

Publisher: Starpath Books

Amazon.com Print/Kindle Format(s)BN.com Print/Nook Format(s)

Merit Bridges, an attorney and widowed mother in Austin, Texas, works hard, drinks too much wine, and sleeps with younger men. When Merit goes after a shady corporation threatening her client, she encounters hired gun Boots King. His charge is simple, "Stop her!"

Merit and her team — including Betty, a mothering office manager with a bad-ass attitude — struggle to stay alive, while they navigate a labyrinth of legal issues, and prove once again that you don't mess with a Texas lady lawyer.

Dollar Signs by Manning Wolfe. Click here to take a Look Inside the book.

A Conversation with Mystery Author Ronnie Allen

Omnimystery News: Author Interview with Ronnie Allen

We are delighted to welcome author Ronnie Allen to Omnimystery News today.

Ronnie's second Sign Behind the Crime mystery is Aries (Black Opal Books; January 2016 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we recently had the chance to spend some time with her talking about the series.

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Omnimystery News: Tell us the backstory to the series.

Ronnie Allen
Photo provided courtesy of
Ronnie Allen

Ronnie Allen: The first novel in The Sign Behind the Crime Series, Gemini, was released in June 2015. The second, Aries, was released on January 23rd of this year. Even though it's a series the main characters in each book are different. The protagonist in Gemini is forensic psychiatrist, Dr. John Trenton, a classy Armani suit kind of guy who wears his Rolex to work in a Manhattan hospital for the criminally insane — not when he's with patients, though. Going against hospital or police protocol doesn't faze him in the least and he nearly gets killed in his last attempt. Most thriller and romance authors, myself included, write alpha males. That's not only their physicality, but assertiveness to go beyond the norm or what's expected. For a character to carry a series, they have to go against what other characters tell them to do. In Gemini, Trenton fights the NYPD to solve the case. His colleagues aren't supporting him in the investigation and it's up to him to probe deeper on his own. The results of their non cooperation are disastrous. More murders. On a personal note, for me as a writer, I like characters the opposite of me in their physicality. Because I had a very frail childhood and young adulthood, I admire strong physicality in others. So I create very physically fit characters. I also put a lot of me in my characters. I practice alternative therapies, so my characters do. Dr. Trenton is both psychic and clairvoyant and his use of these skills add to his dimensionality.

The antagonist in Gemini is a psychopathic female who gets dumped into Dr. Trenton's lap for a seventy-two hour observation. She's major and I break the rule of the antagonist having ten percent of page space. I do so because I like to get into the psychopathic mentality. I like the reader to see their dysfunctional behavior and 'why.' Barbara Montgomery is one hot, smart chick. Stripper by night, school psychologist by day. I like her because she had the job I did, not the stripper.

In Aries, I still kept with the forensic psychiatrist, but this time, a 'rough around the edges' type who lives in T-shirts, skinny jeans, and leather jackets. Dr. Frank Khaos is former Special Forces, a BJJ fighter, and he rehabs NYC gang members who were just released from prison, training them in his MMA gym in Harlem. He's tatted, whereas Dr. Trenton is sans tattoos.

Again, I went with an Alpha Male. But even though Dr. Khaos is tougher, he's the gentle giant. I write deep emotionality, because I went through many traumas in my life. So much so, I wrote the dedication of Aries to read: To survivors of life's greatest challenges who picked themselves up and flourished. You'll read more about this in a later question.

Khaos' partner, rookie detective, Samantha Wright is an assertive, bubbly, state her mind kind of gal. She's more excitable than Khaos and the two of them are polar opposites. But they do develop a romantic relationship where they set the sheets on fire. I love forensics and police work. I may have been a detective in a previous life. The crime genre is what I read and write.

The reader will meet Dr. Trenton in Aries, as a consultant. I started Aries before I received my contract on Gemini, so I was undecided about continuing with the same character. So in came Dr. Khaos. I had Dr. Trenton in Aries, to catch up to where he is now.

Presently, I'm writing Scorpio, where Dr. Trenton, his wife, his children, and Dr. Khaos and Det. Sam Wright are in it. It's working well with the two forensic psychiatrists being different types in every way.

OMN: How do you see these characters developing over the course of the series?

RA: I believe a character needs to change. It's part of the plot structure. In Gemini, Dr. Trenton changes his view toward himself about what makes him a worthy man. He recognizes the different points of view across the county and even within his family.

In Aries, Dr. Khaos is a widower with a seven year old son. His wife was murdered in what he thought was a gang initiation in retaliation for him getting members to leave the hood. He closed himself off to relationships. When Det. Sam solves the case of the murder, he questions himself if he's ready for a relationship. Aries ends, happy for now. It will take another book, Scorpio, for Khaos to evolve, and there'll be more emotional issues for both him and Sam to resolve. These new issues were not even alluded to in Aries.

OMN: Into which fiction genre would you place your books?

RA: I definitely write cross genre. Gemini, because my protagonist is both psychic and clairvoyant and uses the psychic sciences, has a lot of paranormal elements. Even though it's a psychological thriller and I delve deep into the mind of the psychopath, the book can also be classified as a Paranormal Thriller. In Gemini there is romance and very high heat romance but that's not the prime focus, so I bill Gemini as having romantic elements. I believe that genre labeling should be correct. Mainly because, I do not like to toy with reader's emotions. Readers have to know what they are getting.

Aries is also cross-genre. In this book, the romance is a main plot. There are a few plots in Aries. One plot pushes the romance and for the second plot, romance pushes it. The first plot forms the relationship between Khaos and Wright, and because they want the relationship, they are pushed to solve the second plot. It's classified as steamy romance with erotic elements, because there's BDSM in the plot. Readers who like inspirational or sweet romance will not like Aries.

OMN: How would you tweet a summary of Aries?

RA: In solving a serial murder, a forensic psychiatrist & rookie detective go on a wild ride thru NYC w/ their relationship going beyond hot. #thriller #romance #paranormal

OMN: Have you included any of your own personal or professional experience in your books?

RA: Okay, this is a loaded question for me. The answer is a resounding "yes!" There's a lot of me in both the protagonist and antagonist in Gemini. Dr. John Trenton uses the alternative healing modalities that I teach. In fact, readers could probably learn how to contact and communicate with their spirit guides, if they want to. The antagonist, Barbara Montgomery, is set up in a classroom situation and another with a disgruntled teacher in the same capacity I was when I taught in NYC. Her point of view is the same as I have toward children and learning. I'm truly an advocate for children and the teachers who work with them. I dedicated Gemini to: Teachers who every day in their classrooms protect and rescue children from the abuse they endure in their lives.

Barbara also uses the Tarot, which I teach on a professional level. So does Dr. Trenton.

Dr. Trenton and I have the same birthday, on a more mundane level.

I'm also in Aries. But not the strong Ronnie who most people know. I suffered with asthma during my childhood and adulthood, as well, and still do, though stabilized. The antagonist, AriellaRose Larcon is a pathetic young woman. I wanted to set her up as the killer the reader would beg me not to kill. I write in very deep point of view. And I wanted the emotionality within AriellaRose to come through. I'm not going to put it out here, but the torment she lets out to Dr. Frank Khaos, I have personally experienced. It's also a testament to the damage smoking can cause during pregnancy.

OMN: Tell us a little more about your writing process.

RA: For sections in my notebook, I hand write first plot notes with diagrams, characterizations, chapter outline with 1-2 sentences that can transform into any amount that I brainstorm, synopsis of each chapter, written chapters. I know my setting ahead of time. Most often it's NYC where I was born and raised. Gemini takes place in NYC and in Central Florida, where I now live. Aries takes place completely in NYC. Some people ask whether setting or characters come first. For me, the setting is a given.

I usually start with my bad girl, first. I write a circle, with her name in it. I'll address creating a name. I don't use a name dictionary. I sit with my eyes closed and let my mind go blank, and focus on what I want my character to look like. Then her name appears. I don't belabor it. The first name that pops into my head is it. Unless, it's a duplicate. You do not want two characters with the same name. Especially if they're in the same field. If you write multi-layered plots like I do, you don't want to confuse your reader, further.

Then I brainstorm, "what can she do to be bad?" In my genre, it's "kill." I draw spokes coming from the circle and I go nuts as ideas flow. People told me about Gemini, that I'd have a hard time finding a killer badder than Barbara Montgomery. In writing Gemini, I had the plot from start to finish in my brain before I hit the laptop. Then I had to research, a lot. When you're writing medical, law, police, weaponry, you have to know the facts, so you can stretch them for the sake of fiction.

So in plotting the antagonist in Aries, to be "badder" than Barbara Montgomery, I decided to create a band of killers whom AriellaRose Larcon calls her "beholden." I brainstorm plot ideas with an open mind. If I get to something I like, I create another layer of spokes and go with it. This takes a lot of time, so be patient.

Re character profiling. This is must. Notice, I said must. No option. You need to know your character on every level, not only their physicality. You need to flush them out so you'd know how they'd react in any situation. There are character profiling sheets you can find online. I have many characters and in Aries, my characters have aliases. You can't imagine how many times I referred to my sheets to check eye color, what they did, who they previously killed. Readers will be quick to find these errors or mis-matches. And, knowing every aspect of your characters will help you avoid the dreaded writer's block.

My next section, chapter outlines. I pretty much go through a least twelve chapters before I hit the laptop. But I know what's going to happen in each chapter after twelve. Now, I have to mention, that even though I'm a plotter, I do let my characters take over. In Gemini, the love interest, Vicki, gave herself more of a role than I had intended. She turned out to be a character that added plot twists that changed the direction of the plot. It works when you allow your characters to take over. In Aries, AriellaRose and her beholden each have their own stories. That makes them empathetic which the reader wants to see.

Now, to how I create my first draft. This may be different from what you've heard — write the first draft without editing from start to "the end." This doesn't work for me. Because I write multi-layered plots and subplots, I need to stop and take a look back so I can see my flow and pacing. I write long. Many novels end around the 65K mark. Mine go twice as long. I print out through chapter twelve. Then I edit those and check to see plot flow, pacing and timing. This is close to the middle and I don't want that "sagging middle." I also count the pages each character appears on so I can balance them.

All I can say is that my system works. I plotted Aries for five months before I sat down at the laptop to type. I typed 122K words in three months and ten days. Then came my critique partners and beta readers. Aries was accepted by my publisher the first time out with a contract coming two weeks later. The manuscript was in such good shape, I need only one round of edits instead of three.

OMN: Where do you most often find yourself writing?

RA: I live in the woods so my writing environment is peaceful. If I'm in my office, I'm surrounded by my huge stacks of research folders. My favorite place to write is by a body of water, manmade or natural. When I was living in NYC, I wrote at the beach. Now, in Florida, I write poolside on my ipad. People know not to come over when they see me engrossed. My startle response is enough to make them jump backward into the pool.

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Ronnie Allen is a NYC native who moved to rural Central Florida eight years ago. In addition to being an educator in the NYC Dept. of Education for 33 years, she holds NYS Licensure as a School Psychologist. In the mid-90s Ronnie began a journey into holistic healing and alternative therapies. She picked up certifications in Reiki, Crystal Therapy, Dream Interpretation, Tarot, and a Ph.D. in Parapsychic Sciences. Ronnie utilizes all of her real life skills in her novels which is perfect for her cross-genre writing.

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

— ♦ —

Aries by Ronnie Allen

Aries by Ronnie Allen

The Sign Behind the Crime

Publisher: Black Opal Books

Amazon.com Print/Kindle Format(s)BN.com Print/Nook Format(s)iTunes iBook FormatKobo eBook Format

Lying. Deception. Cover-ups. Anger. Revenge. Death. That's what happens when an Aries-obsessed killer combines black magick rituals, knives … and murder.

Samantha Wright, a rookie NYPD detective, gets her first case, a big one, by stumbling over the body while jogging in the park. Sam has a lot to prove, both to herself and to her new precinct, on this serial murder case involving fashion icons in NYC. Together with a rough around the edges BJJ fighter, forensic psychiatrist, Frank Khaos, Sam chases down leads through the five boroughs of NYC.

As the bodies pile up, sparks fly and Sam and Frank, polar opposites, go from their dislike for each other to setting the sheets on fire. But their main suspect is hooked up to an IV in a hospital bed, so how has she pulled off five murders in seven days? And can Sam and Frank stop her before even more innocent lives are lost?

Aries by Ronnie Allen. Click here to take a Look Inside the book.

Today's Selection of Daily Deals for Monday, February 29, 2016

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature a selection of today's Daily Deals found on Monday, February 29, 2016 at 7:30 AM ET …

Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline

Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Kindle Daily Deal Price: $1.99

Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline, Amazon Kindle format

Click here to take a Look Inside Keep Quiet.

Jake Buckman's relationship with his sixteen-year-old son Ryan is not an easy one, so at the urging of his loving wife, Pam, Jake goes alone to pick up Ryan at their suburban movie theater. On the way home, Ryan asks to drive on a deserted road, and Jake sees it as a chance to make a connection. However, what starts as a father-son bonding opportunity instantly turns into a nightmare. Tragedy strikes, and with Ryan's entire future hanging in the balance, Jake is forced to make a split-second decision that plunges them both into a world of guilt and lies.

Without ever meaning to, Jake and Ryan find themselves living under the crushing weight of their secret, which threatens to tear their family to shreds and ruin them all.

Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline

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.

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