Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Today's Selection of New or Newly Released Indie MystereBooks

Omnimystery News is pleased to present a selection of newly published and recently released mystery, suspense and thriller titles — mostly from independent publishers — for Wednesday, January 31, 2018.

Love is Murder by Kathy Cranston

Love is Murder by Kathy Cranston

A Bee's Bakehouse Mystery (9th in series)

Published: 01/29/18 by Kathy Cranston

Edition(s): eBook only

eBook Price: $2.99

Love is Murder by Kathy Cranston

Cold Flame by Natalie Hames

Cold Flame by Natalie Hames

A Grace Dalton Mystery (1st in series)

Published: 01/29/18 by Beyond Fiction Publishing

Edition(s): eBook only

eBook Price: 99¢

Cold Flame by Natalie Hames

Dead Ties by Adam Nicholls

Dead Ties by Adam Nicholls

The Bloodline Series (2nd in series)

Published: 01/29/18 by Adam Nicholls

Edition(s): Print and eBook

eBook Price: $3.99

Dead Ties by Adam Nicholls

A Grave Search by Wendy Roberts

A Grave Search by Wendy Roberts

The Bodies of Evidence Series (2nd in series)

Published: 01/29/18 by Carina Press

Edition(s): eBook only

eBook Price: $3.99

A Grave Search by Wendy Roberts

Instinct by Jeremy Robinson

Instinct by Jeremy Robinson

A Jack Sigler Thriller (2nd in series)

Published: 01/29/18 by Breakneck Media

Edition(s): eBook only

eBook Price: $4.99

Instinct by Jeremy Robinson

Hounded by June Whyte

Hounded by June Whyte

A Kat McKinley Mystery (3rd in series)

Published: 01/29/18 by June Whyte

Edition(s): eBook only

eBook Price: $2.99

Hounded by June Whyte

King's Reign by Bradley Wright

King's Reign by Bradley Wright

The Xander King Series (4th in series)

Published: 01/29/18 by Bradley Wright

Edition(s): Print and eBook

eBook Price: $2.99

King's Reign by Bradley Wright

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of 01/31/18 4:30 PM ET. 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 Newly Discounted MystereBooks

Here is a selection of the recently discounted mystery, suspense and thriller titles found on Wednesday, January 31, 2018 …

Fatal Threat by Marie Force

Fatal Threat by Marie Force

The Fatal Series

Publisher: HQN Books

Price: $1.99

Fatal Threat by Marie Force

Dim Sum Asylum by Rhys Ford

Dim Sum Asylum by Rhys Ford

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Price: $2.99

Dim Sum Asylum by Rhys Ford

Shaman's Blues by Amber Foxx

Shaman's Blues by Amber Foxx

A Mae Martin Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: Amber Foxx

Price: 99¢

Shaman's Blues by Amber Foxx

Valley of Bones by Michael Gruber

Valley of Bones by Michael Gruber

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: HarperCollins

Price: $1.99

Valley of Bones by Michael Gruber

Practice To Deceive by David Housewright

Practice To Deceive by David Housewright

A Holland Taylor Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: Open Road

Price: $1.99

Practice To Deceive by David Housewright

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.

Showstoppers by Helen Smith

Showstoppers by Helen Smith

An Emily Castles Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: Tyger Books

Price: 99¢

Showstoppers by Helen Smith

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of 01/31/18 7:24 AM. 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.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Today's Selection of Newly Discounted MystereBooks

Here is a selection of the recently discounted mystery, suspense and thriller titles found on Tuesday, January 30, 2018 …

Blood on the Vine by Donald Bain

Blood on the Vine by Donald Bain

A Murder, She Wrote Mystery (15th in series)

Publisher: Berkley

Price: $1.99

Blood on the Vine by Donald Bain

The Last Good Place by Robin Burcell

The Last Good Place by Robin Burcell

A Krug and Kellogg Thriller (4th in series)

Publisher: Brash Books

Price: 99¢

The Last Good Place by Robin Burcell

A Negro and an Ofay by Danny Gardner

A Negro and an Ofay by Danny Gardner

The Tales of Elliot Caprice (1st in series)

Publisher: Down & Out Books

Price: $2.99

A Negro and an Ofay by Danny Gardner

Fat-Free and Fatal by Jaqueline Gardner

Fat-Free and Fatal by Jaqueline Gardner

A Kate Jasper Mystery (4th in series)

Publisher: Open Road

Price: $1.99

Fat-Free and Fatal by Jaqueline Gardner

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.

Hour of Need by Melinda Leigh

Hour of Need by Melinda Leigh

A Scarlet Falls Novel of Suspense (1st in series)

Publisher: Montlake Romance

Price: $1.99

Hour of Need by Melinda Leigh

This title is included in the Kindle Daily Deal and is available at this price today only.

The Headhunter's Daughter by Tamar Myers

The Headhunter's Daughter by Tamar Myers

A Belgian Congo Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: HarperCollins

Price: $1.99

The Headhunter's Daughter by Tamar Myers

The Bull of Mithros by Anne Zouroudi

The Bull of Mithros by Anne Zouroudi

The Greek Detective Series (6th in series)

Publisher: Kounelaki

Price: $2.99

The Bull of Mithros by Anne Zouroudi

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of 01/30/18 6:16 AM. 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.

Please Welcome Back Mystery Author Lauren Carr

Omnimystery News: Guest Post by Lauren Carr

We are delighted to welcome back author Lauren Carr to Omnimystery News.

Today, Lauren introduces us to the first book in a new series she has written: Ice (Acorn Book Services; February 2018 trade paperback and ebook formats). And, as a bonus, she includes a short excerpt from it!

— ♦ —

Lauren Carr
Photo provided courtesy of
Lauren Carr

Doing new stuff is always exciting.

Granted, as the author of three mystery series, I have enjoyed diving into my series characters, exploring their psyches, and watching them grow. It’s very much like being a parent. Since I average three mysteries a year, I considered my plate full with a new release for each series every year.

Truthfully, I was not looking for inspiration for a new series when Chris Matheson and the Geezer Squad came crashing into my life.

One evening I was looking for a good mystery to watch on Netflix when I happened upon a true crime series entitled The Keepers, which explored the unsolved 1969 murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik in Baltimore, Maryland. As fascinating as this series is (and I do recommend it to any mystery lover), as a writer, was drawn to the “detectives” investigating this cold case. They were former students of the victim. Now, decades later, retired, they were each using their individual skills to solve this case that keeps them up at night. 

Lauren Carr

I couldn’t get the concept out of my mind. The writer in me twisted and turned the idea until the Geezer Squad—a group of law enforcement retirees who work those cold cases that keep them up at night. Surprisingly, I discovered during my research that some police departments actually have Geezer Squads working on contract—retirees tasked with working cold cases.

You will notice that I have named my new series The Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries. A retired FBI agent, my protagonist is a young retiree. Chris is in his mid-forties and the single father of three little girls. His wife had been killed in a terrorist attack in Nice, France. After the sudden death of his father, a retired state police captain, Chris retires from the FBI and returns home to the family farm to live with his mother, a library director.

It is at the his mother’s insistence that Chris agrees to attend a book club meeting at the library with Elliott, one of his late father’s friends. Since the club is made up of law enforcement retirees, his mother believes he would make some new friends.

As you can see from this excerpt from Ice, she had no idea!

Chris watched Helen hurry out into the cold. A gust of wind ruffled her hair while she yanked open the door and climbed into the car.
 “Why didn’t you ask her out?” Jacqui called over to break the memories of adolescent romance flowing through Chris’s mind.
 “Why is it that every time a man admires a hot woman, people think they should immediately slip between the sheets?” Elliott asked.
 Meanwhile, Bruce was pouring red wine into a goblet. His muscular frame and sun kissed face indicated long days working in his vineyard. Peering at Chris with green eyes, he held out the glass to him. “Taste and tell me what you think, Christopher.”
 While Chris tested the wine, Jacqui waved her arm to indicate the work room behind Doris’s office. “I didn’t ask why he didn’t take her into the back room and hook up with her here and now. I asked why he didn’t ask her out. I was thinking about lunch. Your mind went straight to sex.”
 Disregarding his colleagues’ conversation, Bruce stared at Chris. “Well?”
 “It’s good.” He picked up a cracker which he covered with a slice of cheese from the tray.
 “Maybe he didn’t want to be pushy.” Elliott handed a paper plate to Chris. “It isn’t like he doesn’t know where to find her. Her daughter works here.”
 Chris set his copy of the book down on the table to fill his plate with Swedish meatballs, and cheese and crackers.
 “Good?” Bruce’s expression was similar to that of a man who had just lost his job, home, and family. “He said it was… good?”
 Cursing under her breath, Jacqui struggled in setting up the computer and monitor for the remote hook up. Ray snapped instructions to her from a speaker phone.
 Sitting down to eat, Chris noticed that he was the only one who had the copy of the book that Elliott had said they were covering that evening. Everyone else had folders and binders.
 Must be some heavy duty reading group.
 “Screw it, Jacqui!” Ray said. “Where’s Francine?”
 “I’m right here, Ray.” A short woman dressed in a thick winter coat with a furry hat pulled down over her ears ran in from the side entrance. She dumped a book bag thick with folders and notebooks into a chair. “Sorry I’m late!”
 With a sigh of relief, Jacqui backed away from the equipment. She moved on to fill a plate with cheese and crackers.
  “The internet went out at home just as I was leaving,” — Francine checked the settings and pressed buttons on the keyboard — “and my grandson promptly became mildly hysterical. Luckily, all I had to do was reboot the system.”
 Jacqui took a sip of white wine from a goblet. With a grin, she held up the glass in a toast. “This Sauvignon Blanc is lovely, Bruce. Delicate but strong. Its sweet taste compliments the hearty boldness of the cheese. Yet, it’s not a wimpy wine either.”
 “So you don’t think it’s good?” Bruce shot a glance in Chris’s direction.
 Elliott took the seat between Chris and the vineyard owner. “Now, Bruce, not all of us are wine enthusiasts.”
 “I said it was good,” Chris said, “which is a compliment.”
 “Yeah,” Jacqui said, “he could have said it was bad.”
 The face of a man with a gray beard and thick eyeglasses filled the computer monitor.
 “Hey, Ray!” the members of the book group called out almost in unison.
 “Nice to see you guys, too.” Ray saluted them. Abruptly, his smile dropped. “Who’s the kid?”
 Francine spun around to notice Chris on the other side of the table. A broad grin crossed her wide face. “Well, it’s about time we got a touch of class.”
 “Kind of young if you ask me,” Ray said with a grumble.
 “This is Kirk’s boy, Chris,” Elliott said. “He’s retired FBI.”
 “He’s forty-five,” Jacqui said.
 “Forty-six,” Chris corrected her.
 “Still not even fifty.”
 “I’ve got underwear older than he is,” Ray said.
 “And he doesn’t know anything about wine,” Bruce said.
 “I said it was good. Look, I had no idea this book club was so selective about new members.” Chris started to stand up.
 With a hand on his shoulder, Francine, who had rushed to move her seat next to his, shoved him back into his chair. “Elliott says he’s retired FBI. That’s good enough for me.” She leaned over to whisper in his ear. “I’ll do the talking, sweet cheeks. You just keep sitting there looking handsome.” With a salacious grin, she admired his attractive features and let out a moan of pleasure.
 “Chris is Kirk’s son,” Elliott said. “Doris suggested that I invite him to—”
 “That explains everything,” Jacqui said with a heavy sigh.
 “What explains everything?” Chris asked.
 “Doris,” Jacqui said. “Elliott can’t say no to Doris Matheson.”
 “I can so say no to her,” Elliott said. “As a matter of a fact I said no to her just today.”
 “In reference to what?” Francine asked.
 “She asked if I’d got a haircut.” Elliott raised his voice to be heard over their laughter. “But that’s not important. Point is, Kirk was our founder, which means Chris here has a right to be a member of our group. Our primary rule for membership is retired law enforcement. Chris is retired FBI. If that doesn’t allow him in, then what does?”
 “His retirement is basically only a technicality,” Jacqui said. “He’s too young. Some agency or contractor will make him an offer and he’ll be back out there talking about the Geezer Squad.”
 “I’ve said nothing to him about the Geezer Squad,” Elliott said with a crooked grin.
 “What’s the Geezer Squad?” Chris asked.
 “Hey!” Bruce sat up straight in his seat. “What’s the number one rule about the Geezer Squad?”
 “Never talk about the Geezer Squad,” the group, including Ray on the monitor, said in unison.
 In silence, Chris peered at each of them. He pushed his paper plate, still half-filled with food, to the center of the table. “Since you aren’t interested in any new members—”
 Francine shoved him back down into his seat. “Nowhere in our bylaws does it state a minimum age requirement to be eligible for the Geezer Squad.”
 “When did we write up bylaws,” Ray asked, “and why didn’t I get a copy of them?”
 “We don’t have any bylaws,” Bruce said. “but if we did, we’d insist that our members learn something about wine.”
 “Since we have no bylaws,” Francine said, “that means we have no rules saying that this hunk of beefcake here is too young to belong to the Geezer Squad.”
 “And since his father was our founder, and he is retired,” Elliott said, “then I vote that we let him in.”
 “Don’t I have a say in this?” Chris stood up. “Maybe I don’t want to belong to a group that calls itself the Geezer Squad. What it is you guys do anyway?” He held up the book. “I suspect it has nothing to do with reading.”
 “You better hope we decide to let you stay, Christopher.” Bruce poured the last of the pinot noir into a goblet and held it up to the light. “At this point, you’ve seen too much. So if you don’t join our group, then we’re gonna have to kill you.”
 “Are you serious?”
 “No, he’s not,” Jacqui said with a laugh.
 “Yes, I am,” Bruce said. “It’s in our bylaws.”
 “You don’t have any bylaws,” Chris said.
 “Well, if we did have bylaws then that rule would be in them right before the paragraph about knowing the proper way to drink wine.”
 “When did we say that group rejects would have to be killed?” Elliott took a sip from the goblet.
 “Hey, I’ve never been a reject in my life,” Chris said, “and I’m not going to start now.”
 “Don’t you remember back when we came up with our group name? Kirk said that it was imperative that no one know about us, especially Doris, on account that she’d kill—”
 “Shh!” Elliott hissed at Bruce, who, seeing Chris’s questioning expression, drained his glass.
 Chris looked at each person around the table. “You’re all retired law enforcement. You’re not reading books. You’re working—what? Are you private investigators?”
 “Kind of,” Jacqui said.
 Elliott turned in his seat to face Chris. “Your father never wanted to retire. After he got shot, he was itching to get back to work, but he loved your mother more than anything. She became a nervous wreck worrying about losing him.” He shrugged his shoulders. “He retired to make her happy, but he was miserable. He told me that he felt like an old fire horse locked in the barn unable to run when the sirens went off.”
 “That was when he started adopting retired race horses,” Chris recalled.
 “I think your mother saw how unhappy he was,” Elliott said, “but she didn’t want him to be out on the streets.”
 “The worst thing isn’t so much not being out there,” Ray said, “as much as it is not being allowed to use your mind.”
 “Seeing that,” Elliott said, “your mother suggested that your dad join her book club. That’s where I met him.”
 “The book club that you two got kicked out of,” Chris said.
 “So we started our own,” Elliott said.
 “But it wasn’t a book club.”
 “We had every intention of it being a book club, specializing in mysteries and suspense and thriller books. With us all being retired law enforcement folks, we’d be free to go off on our tangents—the type that got us kicked out of your mom’s group.”
 “Man!” Francine said. “We ripped those books to shreds.”
 “The book club lasted two meetings,” Ray said.
 “Then what happened?” Chris asked.
 “The book we had read that month struck me too close to home,” Ray said. “The plot was too similar to—well.”
 “It was the case that kept Ray up at night,” Jacqui said.
 “You know the type of case we’re talking about, don’t you, sweet cheeks?” Francine said.
 Thinking about his conversation earlier that day with his daughter, Chris nodded his head.
 “So,” Elliott said, “we decided to look into Ray’s case. Reopen it. Each of us using our own separate area of expertise to investigate it.”
 “Ray invented cybersecurity at Homeland Security,” Jacqui said. “I’m a retired medical examiner from Pennsylvania.”
 “And I’m a retired investigative journalist from the Associated Press,” Francine said.
 “Suddenly, this group of geezers came to life,” Elliott said. “We each had something to contribute to thaw out the cold cases that kept us up at night. That’s when we became the Geezer Squad.”

— ♦ —

Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!

Now, Lauren has added one more series to her list with the Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries. Set in the quaint West Virginia town of Harpers Ferry, Ice introduces Chris Matheson, a retired FBI agent, who joins forces with other law enforcement retirees to heat up those cold cases that keep them up at night.

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, and three dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

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

— ♦ —

Ice by Lauren Carr

Ice by Lauren Carr

A Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery

Publisher: Acorn Book Services

Amazon.com Print/Kindle Format(s)

When Sandy Lipton and her unborn child disappeared, the court of public opinion found young Chris Matheson guilty. Decades later, the retired FBI agent returns home to discover that the cloud of suspicion cast over him and his family has never lifted.

With the help of a team of fellow retired law enforcement officers, each a specialist in their own field of investigation, Chris Matheson starts chipping away at the ice on this cold case to uncover what had happened to Sandy and her baby and the clues are getting hot!

Ice by Lauren Carr

Monday, January 29, 2018

Today's Selection of New or Newly Released Indie MystereBooks

Omnimystery News is pleased to present a selection of newly published and recently released mystery, suspense and thriller titles — mostly from independent publishers — for Monday, January 29, 2018.

An Occupied Grave by A. G. Barnett

An Occupied Grave by A. G. Barnett

A Brock & Poole Mystery (1st in series)

Published: 01/27/18 by Oddmoor Press

Edition(s): eBook only

eBook Price: $2.99

An Occupied Grave by A. G. Barnett

Closing Time by Nigel Bird

Closing Time by Nigel Bird

A Southsiders Mystery (4th in series)

Published: 01/27/18 by Sea Minor

Edition(s): Print and eBook

eBook Price: $2.99

Closing Time by Nigel Bird

Inn Over Her Head by Dixie Davis

Inn Over Her Head by Dixie Davis

A Dusky Cove B&B Cozy Mystery (1st in series)

Published: 01/27/18 by Dusky Cove Books

Edition(s): eBook only

eBook Price: $2.99

Inn Over Her Head by Dixie Davis

Hollywood Taken by M. Z. Kelly

Hollywood Taken by M. Z. Kelly

A Hollywood Alphabet Mystery (20th in series)

Published: 01/27/18 by Kingston Roads Press

Edition(s): eBook only

eBook Price: $3.99

Hollywood Taken by M. Z. Kelly

Cabo by Davis MacDonald

Cabo by Davis MacDonald

The Judge Series (5th in series)

Published: 01/27/18 by Davis MacDonald

Edition(s): eBook only

eBook Price: $2.99

Cabo by Davis MacDonald

Peril at the Pink Lotus by Alice Simpson

Peril at the Pink Lotus by Alice Simpson

A Jane Carter Historical Cozy Mystery (1st in series)

Published: 01/27/18 by Alice Simpson

Edition(s): eBook only

eBook Price: $3.99

Peril at the Pink Lotus by Alice Simpson

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of 01/29/18 4:30 PM ET. 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.

Omnimystery Blog Archive

Total Pageviews (last 30 days)

Omnimystery News
Original Content Copyright © 2022 — Omnimystery, a Family of Mystery Websites — All Rights Reserved
Guest Post Content (if present) Copyright © 2022 — Contributing Author — All Rights Reserved