Child of Silence by Abigail Padgett is Today's Fourth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Child of Silence by Abigail Padgett as today's fourth free mystery ebook. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically for a limited time only or until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so we urge you to download it while it is still available for free.

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Child of Silence by Abigail Padgett
A Bo Bradley Mystery
Mysterious Press/Smashwords

This mystery, the first of five in the series, introduces Bo Bradley, a child abuse investigator for San Diego County’s Department of Social Services, a job involving an endless chain of crises that range from the merely ridiculous to the flat-out terrifying.

About Child of Silence (from the publisher): When an old Paiute woman finds a four-year-old boy tied to a mattress in an abandoned shack in the hills above San Diego, Bo gets the case. Staff at St. Mary’s Hospital for Children assume the boy is mentally impaired because he cannot talk, but Bo remembers a little sister named Laurie. The boy, like Laurie, is deaf. Bo tangles with the system, first in attempts to place her young client in a foster home where sign language is used, and later, after someone has tried to shoot the child, in a desperate, manicky, midnight flight into the desert to save his life.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Smashwords Free Book Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

The Next Ex by Linda L. Richards is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Next Ex by Linda L. Richards as today's third free mystery ebook. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically for a limited time only or until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so we urge you to download it while it is still available for free.

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The Next Ex by Linda L. Richards
A Madeline Carter Mystery
Mira/Smashwords

This is the second mystery for Madeline Carter, a very appealing and interesting character that we described as a grown-up Nancy Drew in our review of the book.

About The Next Ex (from the publisher): Even by Hollywood standards, five is a big number if you're counting ex-wives.

Teaching an indulged rich wife to dabble in the stock market is the last thing former stockbroker Madeline Carter wants to do. But she's lived among the Hollywood elite just long enough to recognize the ubiquitous "favor for a favor" when she sees it, so she reluctantly agrees to tutor the current wife of "A" list film producer Maxi Livingston.

Up until a couple of days ago the only thing Madeline knew about Maxi was what she'd read in the tabloids. But she soon learns a whole lot more, including the fact that the current Mrs. Livingston has plans to build a nest egg for herself — in the stock market. Interesting.

But "interesting" doesn't begin to cover it when Maxi's ex-wives are killed off one by one and Madeline finds herself in the middle of a scenario worthy of the most imaginative screenwriter — where she is the prime suspect.

Very interesting, indeed.

Read our review of The Next Ex by Linda L. Richards.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Smashwords Free Book Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Judgment by Lee Goldberg is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Judgment by Lee Goldberg as today's second free mystery ebook. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically for a limited time only or until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so we urge you to download it while it is still available for free.

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Judgment by Lee Goldberg
The Jury Series
Adventures in Television

This action/adventure novel was published in 1985 by Lee Goldberg under the pen name Ian Ludlow. Originally titled .357: Vigilante, it is the first of four books in this series.

About Judgment (from the publisher): Brett Macklin was a freewheeling son of sunny California, a collector of vintage cars and a connoisseur of beautiful women. But when his father is murdered by a street gang, Macklin becomes something else — a deadly weapon against crime, a relentless vigilante who won't stop until he's wiped out the killers who have turned Los Angeles into a war zone.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

The Body and the Blood by Michael Lister is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Body and the Blood by Michael Lister as today's free mystery ebook. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically for a limited time only or until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so we urge you to download it while it is still available for free.

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The Body and the Blood by Michael Lister
A John Jordan Mystery
Pulpwood Press

This is the fourth mystery in this series featuring Florida prison chaplain John Jordan.

About The Body and the Blood (from the publisher): It’s known as the Protective Management Unit. It’s a closed society within a closed society, housing Florida state inmates who wouldn’t survive in open population at Potter Correctional Institution. In it, John Jordan witnesses the most baffling crime of his career—a seemingly impossible murder he would swear could not have happened had he not seen it with his own eyes.

John has come to the PM unit because of a note he received announcing a murder would take place during the Catholic Mass. As he observes the priest offering up the body and the blood, an inmate enters the unit, walks over to his cell, and is locked inside alone. A little while later, John notices a pool of blood spreading out from beneath the cell door. The inmate is dead, his body and his blood separated from one another.

The inmate, a talented artist and quite possibly an innocent man, was sensitive and kind, just a few short days from parole. Who would want to kill him and why? Before John can answer these questions, he’s got to figure out how he was killed.

Suspects abound, including the Catholic Priest conducting the mass, the two PM officers, the victim’s sister, who visited him just prior to his death—something she hadn’t done in four years—and a handful of inmates, one of whom was the victim’s lover.

As the investigation proceeds, John uncovers crime after crime, and an openly racists family with plenty they aren’t open about. After taking a closer look at them, John’s best friend, Merrill Monroe, disappears.

Attempting to balance his fragile reconciliation with his ex-wife and the high-stakes investigation, John is soon overwhelmed and wonders if the life he’s hoped for is even possible. Just when he thinks he can’t take anymore, a second disappearance brings with it the demand for a dangerous prison break and a daring exchange. When John finally figures out how the crime was committed and who’s behind it, an exciting climax follows that reveals the shocking solution, sees someone close to John shot, and carries for John the ultimate personal price—one he’s not sure he can pay.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Driven, James Sallis's Sequel to Drive, to be Published in April 2012

Last week Keith Rawson posted the news that Driven, the sequel to James Sallis's thriller Drive — which was adapted into a feature film released earlier this year — would be published in April 2012. The publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, also provided him with draft artwork for the cover (right).

Driven is available to pre-order from Amazon.com, which also has this description of the book:

As we exit the initial novel, Driver has killed Bernie Rose, "the only one he ever mourned," ending his campaign against those who double-crossed him. Driven tells how that young man, done with killing, later will become the one who goes down "at 3 a.m. on a clear, cool morning in a Tijuana bar." Seven years have passed. Driver has left the old life, become Paul West, and founded a successful business back in Phoenix. Walking down the street one day, he and his fiancée are attacked by two men and, while Driver dispatches both, his fiancée is killed. Sinking back into anonymity, aided by his friend Felix, an ex-gangbanger and Desert Storm vet, Driver retreats, but finds that his past stalks him and will not stop. He has to turn and face it.

(Related article: Lit Reactor.)

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for December 12, 2011

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle has been created by the editors of the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is now available on our website.

Godoku is similar to Sudoku, but uses letters instead of numbers. To give you a headstart, we provide you a mystery clue to fill in a complete row or column (if you choose to use it!).

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This week's letters and mystery clue:

E G I M N O R T W

In the title of this 2005 romantic thriller by Andrea Kane, someone is at the wrong place at this (9 letters).

We now have two weeks of our puzzles on one page in PDF format for easier printing. Print this week's puzzle here.

Previous puzzles are stored in the Mystery Godoku Archives.

Enjoy the weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle from the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, and Thanks for visiting our website!

Review: London Calling by James Craig

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: London Calling by James Craig.

The Remains by Vincent Zandri is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Remains by Vincent Zandri as today's second free mystery ebook. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically for a limited time only or until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so we urge you to download it while it is still available for free.

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The Remains by Vincent Zandri
Non-Series
StoneHouse Ink

About The Remains (from the publisher): Thirty years ago, teenager Rebecca Underhill and her twin sister Molly were abducted by a man who lived in a house in the woods behind their upstate New York farm. They were held inside that house for three horrifying hours, until making their daring escape. Vowing to keep their terrifying experience a secret in order to protect their mother and father, the girls tried to put the past behind them. And when their attacker was hunted down by police and sent to prison, they believed he was as good as dead.

Now, it's 30 years later, and with Molly having passed away from cancer, Rebecca, a painter and art teacher, is left alone to bear the burden of a secret that has only gotten heavier and more painful with each passing year. But when Rebecca begins receiving some strange anonymous text messages, she begins to realize that the monster who attacked her all those years ago is not dead after all. He's back, and this time, he wants to do more than just haunt her. He wants her dead.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Apple Free iBook Download Link (via iTunes).

Smashwords Free Book Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

The Sex Club by L. J. Sellers is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Sex Club by L. J. Sellers as today's free mystery ebook. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically for a limited time only or until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so we urge you to download it while it is still available for free.

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The Sex Club by L. J. Sellers
A Wade Jackson Mystery
Spellbinder Press

Eugene (Oregon) police detective Wade Jackson is introduced in this mystery, the first of three in the series (to date).

About The Sex Club (from the publisher): When a bomb explodes at a birth-control clinic and a young client turns up dead, Detective Jackson is assigned both cases. But are they connected? Kera, the clinic nurse who discovers that the girl's Bible group is really a sexual free-for-all, thinks they are. But confidentiality keeps her from telling the police, so she digs for the truth on her own and becomes the bomber's new target. Soon another girl is murdered. Can Jackson uncover the killer's shocking identity in time to stop the slaughter?

Read our review of The Sex Club by L. J. Sellers.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

The Basement by Stephen Leather is Today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Basement by Stephen Leather as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal. The deal price of $0.99 is valid only for today, Sunday, December 11, 2011.

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The Basement by Stephen Leather
Non-Series
AmazonEncore

Stephen Leather is the author of several mystery series as well as a number of stand-alones. The Basement is his latest book, published just last month.

About The Basement (from the publisher): New York is a city full of strangers. For NYPD detectives Turner and Marcinko, none are harder to figure out than the serial killer on the loose torturing and killing young women. In fact, right now, somewhere in the city, a woman is being held captive in a basement and it is up to the detectives to find her and the killer—before it’s too late.

As pressure mounts on Turner and Marcinko, their prime suspect is screenwriter wannabe Marvin Waller. He is becoming increasingly frustrated by his lack of success and the cops think he might be channeling his anger into murder—but he doesn’t seem to be at all concerned that they are hot on his trail. As Turner and Marcinko close in on Waller they have to wonder: is he the killer? And if he isn’t—who is?

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Kindle Daily Deal 12/11/2011 Download Link.