New Carina Romantic Suspense eBooks for May 2012

Each month, Omnimystery News is pleased to present new mystery and suspense titles from Carina Press, an ebook only publisher. Links are provided to purchase the ebook from, where available, Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble, Kobo Books, or the Apple iBookstore.

There are so many titles being released during May and early June 2012 that we're splittling the list into two. This post contains the titles listed as "Romantic Suspense"; our next list will include "Mystery" titles.

And — as of the date and time of this post — Shannon Curtis's book, Guarding Jess, is listed as available for only 99 cents at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. This is, no doubt, a limited time offer, so please check and confirm the price of the book before you complete your purchase.

New ebooks of mystery and suspense for May 2012 from Carina Press include:

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Hunting the Shadows by Alexia Reed
A Shadow Ops Project Thriller (1st in series)

Amy has spent her life in isolation. Locked away in the Centre, a secret government facility where children with extraordinary abilities are raised as highly skilled fighters, she longs for a normal life. A life where being around people doesn't overload her sensitive telepathic mind. A life where she can't see through the eyes of a murderer as he hunts down his next victim …

J.C. Nikolaiev was a top researcher, but when his conscience got the better of him, he tried to destroy his work and free his subjects--and was imprisoned as a traitor. To save himself and prevent more people from dying, J.C. must catch the serial killer stalking the halls of the facility. But his only leads come from a woman whose thoughts have invaded his mind …

Finally out of the psych ward, Amy joins forces with J.C. to find the killer before he closes in on them. Can their growing attraction withstand the truths they uncover?

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Guarding Jess by Shannon Curtis
A McCormack Security Agency Mystery (2nd in series)

Jessica Pennington's work as an etiquette coach requires her to be polite and proper at all times, especially now that she has a book coming out. The only thing that rattles her reserve is the increasingly violent emails and texts from her persistent stalker. With the book launch in jeopardy, she reluctantly hires a bodyguard.

Noah Samuels hates stuck-up, prim people like Jessica. He's more the blunt, straightforward type. But to advance up the ranks at McCormack Security, he has to take the high-profile assignment. After a near miss on his first day on the job, Noah realizes that the stalker isn't just hype cooked up to sell books--the threat is real.

As the stalker escalates from letters to letter bombs, Noah sees a vulnerable side of Jessica that rouses more than just his protective instincts. But can she let down her guard long enough to trust Noah before it's too late?

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Edge of Light by Cynthia Justlin
Non-series

Taken prisoner by a ruthless group of anarchists deep in the Cambodian jungle, anthropologist Jocelyn Hewitt is isolated in a dark prison cell. Without chance of rescue. Or hope. Until the man in the next cell reaches out to let her know she's not as alone as she thinks.

CIA agent Oliver Shaw has been held prisoner for over two years. Forced to witness the brutal torture and slow murder of his entire team, his spirit is not just broken, it's crushed. He no longer believes in hope. Until he hears Jocelyn through the wall, and suddenly feels like a glimpse of light is trying to reach in …

Jocelyn's heart aches for the tortured man whose presence and voice give her the courage to risk their escape. But first she'll have to remind Oliver who he once was, what he once loved, and bring him back to life. Only then will they have a chance for freedom — and the kind of love neither ever thought possible.

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Negotiating Point by Adrienne Giordano
A Private Protectors Thriller Novella

As a hostage negotiator for Taylor Security, Gavin Sheppard has just been given the toughest assignment of his career: securing the release of his boss's pregnant wife. He's uneasy negotiating a rescue without the involvement of the police, but with the life of a woman and her unborn child on the line there's no time to play by the rules. He'll have to work closely with the one woman who could prove to be a distraction …

Janet Fink, the agency's tech geek, is conflicted about working alongside the man she's irresistibly attracted to. Though she's determined not to risk her career by getting involved with a coworker, especially a superior, she can't forget the passionate kiss they once shared …

With the kidnappers' deadline fast approaching, Gavin and Janet must combine their skills to bring the missing woman home alive. But their undeniable chemistry is making it difficult to keep their relationship purely professional …

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Carina Press, a division of Harlequin, is a digital-first publisher offering ebooks in a variety of genres, including mystery. eBooks from Carina can be read on the Apple iPad, Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, B&N Nook, Kobo eReader, BlackBerry and mobile phones.

For more mystery, suspense and thriller ebooks, visit MystereBooks.com.

Rookie Blue Season 3 Premieres Thursday May 24th on ABC

The third season of Rookie Blue premieres tomorrow, Thursday May 24th, on ABC at 10 PM (ET/PT).

Produced (and set) in Canada, the series follows the lives of five rookie cops, who trained together at the Academy. Now they're walking the beat together. They've experienced a learning curve that's steeper than they ever imagined, and they've learned first-hand that making a rookie mistake could cost them — or someone else — their life.

In the third season opener, titled "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life", Andy McNally (Missy Peregrym) faces a tribunal that will decide her reinstatement; and a drunken driver (guest star William Shatner) with a grudge against the police causes a multicar crash.

For some reason, ABC has deleted all its promos for the series from its YouTube channel, so we're embedding the GlobalTV season three trailer. (Rookie Blue airs on GlobalTV in Canada.)

Special Offer: Three eMysteries by J. T. Ellison at Discounted Prices

We've taken to updating our Kindle Mysteries for $2.99 or less webpage on Saturdays, but we wanted to let you know about this special offer today … just in case it's only available for a day or so.

Mira Books has discounted ebook editions of the first three titles in "Taylor Jackson" mystery series by J. T. Ellison to just $1.99 (as of the date and time of this post). We don't know how long they will be available at this price — we couldn't find any information about this deal on either the publisher's or author's website — so please confirm the price before checking out. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book.

The three titles are …

All the Pretty Girls (1st in series: Kindle; NookBook; iTunes): When a local girl falls prey to a sadistic serial killer, Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson and her lover, FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin, find themselves in a joint investigation pursuing a vicious murderer. The Southern Strangler is slaughtering his way through the Southeast, leaving a gruesome memento at each crime scene — the prior victim's severed hand.

Ambitious TV reporter Whitney Connolly is certain the Southern Strangler is her ticket out of Nashville; she's got a scoop that could break the case. She has no idea how close to this story she really is — or what it will cost her.

As the killer spirals out of control, everyone involved must face a horrible truth — that the purest evil is born of private lies.

14 (2nd in series: Kindle; Nookbook; iTunes): Ten victims, each with pale skin and long dark hair. All have been slashed across the throat, the same red lipstick smeared across their lips.

In the mid-1980s the Snow White Killer terrorized the streets of Nashville, Tennessee. Then suddenly the murders stopped. A letter from the killer to the police stated that his work was done.

Now four more bodies are found, marked with his fatal signature. The residents of Nashville fear a madman has returned, decades later, to finish his sick fairy tale. Homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson believes the killings are the work of a copycat killer who's even more terrifying. For this monster is meticulously honing his craft as he mimics famous serial murders … proving that the past is not to be forgotten.

Judas Kiss (3rd in series: Kindle; Nookbook; iTunes): It was a murder made for TV: a trail of tiny bloody footprints. An innocent toddler playing beside her mother's bludgeoned body. Pretty young Corinne Wolff, seven months pregnant, brutally murdered in her own home.

Cameras and questions don't usually faze Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson, but the media frenzy surrounding the Wolff case is particularly nasty … and thorough. When the seemingly model mommy is linked to an amateur porn Web site with underage actresses and unwitting players, the sharks begin to circle.

The shock is magnified when an old adversary uses the sexy secret footage to implicate Taylor in a murder — an accusation that threatens her career, her reputation and her relationship.

Both cases hinge on the evidence — real or manufactured — of crimes that go beyond passion, into the realm of obsessive vengeance and shocking betrayal. Just what the networks love.

Please Welcome Singer/Songwriter Beth Rudetsky

A few weeks ago singer/songwriter Beth Rudetsky wrote us, asking if we'd take a look at a trailer for Zoë Sharp's new Charlie Fox mystery Fifth Victim. We did, and were struck with how well the visual images were paired with the music and gave a real sense of what the book was about. We asked Beth to tell us a little more about her collaboration with the author — which she did — and she was kind enough to allow us to share her story with our readers.

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Zoë Sharp and I began communicating with each other last November. One of the things that Zoë shared with me is that she has a great passion for music and listens to many different kinds of music that inspire her and that fit the mood of the character as she writes. We found that we have a lot of music and artists that we both enjoy listening to and that we also look to be filled up and moved by an artist and their song. I shared with her also that I've had a passion for reading mystery and crime-thriller novels since I was a kid. In reading a great novel, I'm always drawn first to the character's emotions, the struggles that come from these emotions along with the psychology behind how the character's mind works and how he/she got to be in the situation that becomes the story in the book. I then offered to share some of my songs that I had written and recorded for Zoë to listen to, which she loved. She was thrilled and wrote to me how she loves my voice and my vocal range and how my songs stay with her. I was inspired by the characters of the many books that I’ve read that were written by her over the years and wanted to write a song for her specifically. We then decided that I would write the song for a book-trailer/video of her novel, Fifth Victim, which was released in the U.S. this year.

Photo provided courtesy of
Beth Rudetsky

We talked about how her protagonist was struggling with conflicting emotions of staying with someone or letting them go. It was then that I came up with the idea of how I wanted to shape the lyrics into a story about the character not wanting to be a victim emotionally and also tying it into at the same time to being a victim physically, tying it into Zoë's story in Fifth Victim. I write character-driven songs and usually write out the lyrics first that tell a short story about the emotions that consume the character, the questions the character has about their plight that is reflective of the emotions they possess and also the character questioning in the song how their life arrived at this point that makes these emotions so resonant and dominant in their thoughts and lives. Many times, my lyrics reflect the character's plight being unresolved, just like what can happen in life. I don't like to wrap things up neatly with a bow. My songwriting also reflects what I have psychologically observed about people over the years and the questions I have about what makes them tick internally. My songs also question and reflect on my own thoughts and emotions many times.

I majored in Classical Piano performance at Hofstra University and studied piano and music theory with concert pianist Morton Estrin. He trained me to play as well as a concert pianist and I developed a strong technique in my hands and learned how to put together a piano recital, intensely preparing a year in advance for a big concert and to have the time to really know and absorb the compositions in my fingers, heart and mind. My favorite composers that I studied are Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Samuel Barber. I studied fiction writing with novelist and screenwriter Richard Price while also a student at Hofstra University. He taught me that a good writer grabs the reader's attention immediately and I utilize his teaching in writing the first few lines of my lyrics. I studied composing with composer Herbert Deutsch, where I first noticed that I was developing a sadness and yearning in the melodies and chord structure of my songs. These three teachers were instrumental in my development as a musician and songwriter. In my early twenties I discovered that I could sing and started putting together cabaret shows, singing and playing the piano for songs from the 1930's and 1940's, jazz, Broadway, singer-songwriters and popular ballads. One of the thrills I experienced was working for Burt Bacharach as a singer-pianist for three years every weekend at his restaurant on Long Island. I also sang background vocals on many pop and dance recordings over the years and composed music for film as well as singing the songs too.

It is very exciting for me to write songs for authors and I'm being told that I have created a new genre in writing a song specifically for an author's book-trailer. Usually trailers feature only stock sound effects and never an original song. When writing songs for an author, I read the author's novel and in addition I like the author to e-mail me in their own words a synopsis of the story in their book. When I compose a song for a mystery or crime-thriller author's novel, I find that I am able to intuitively tune into the character/s emotional plight as well as combining it with the author's story line. This combination creates a compelling and thrilling song. I am currently at work on writing a song for the book-trailer of crime-thriller author J. Carson Black's novel Icon, which will be released in June.

As well as a composer I am also a singer and approach singing the song that I write the way I approach all songs that I perform, which is using my voice to bring out the melody line and emotions of the character and find that I touch a listener deeply.

When I'm writing the music and lyrics to a song, if I find that I am grasped by the lyrics and jolted by the melody and the chords, then others are just as moved. It's an innate feeling that becomes transcendent and universal. I feel that music and books are very much related. They cannot be left inanimate or turn to dust. Music must be heard. Books must be read.

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Here is the trailer for Fifth Victim by Zoë Sharp, with music and lyrics by Beth Rudetsky …

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About Fifth Victim:

On Long Island, the playground of New York's wealthy and privileged, Charlie Fox is tasked with protecting the wayward daughter of rich businesswoman Caroline Willner. It seems that an alarming number of the girl's circle of friends have been through kidnap ordeals, and Charlie quickly discovers that the girl herself, Dina, is fascinated by the clique formed by these former victims.

Charlie worries that Dina's thrill-seeking tendencies will put both of them in real danger. But just as her worst fears are realized, Charlie receives devastating personal news. The man who put her partner Sean Meyer in his coma is on the loose.

She is faced with the choice between her loyalties to her client and avenging Sean, but the two goals are soon inextricably linked. The decisions Charlie makes now, and the path she chooses to follow, will have far-reaching consequences.

New Interactive Trailer for Snow White & the Huntsman

There's a new interactive trailer for Snow White & the Huntsman, which we've embedded below. As the trailer plays, moving your mouse over the image will present you with options to get more facts about the film, watch actor interviews, see a map of the film's setting, and more. (You might want to watch it full screen as there's a lot packed into a small space.)

Kristen Stewart stars as Snow White, the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen (Charlize Theron) out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) dispatched to kill her.

Directed by Rupert Sanders from a screenplay by Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock, and Hossein Amini, Snow White & the Huntsman opens in theaters a little over a week from now, on June 1st, 2012.

Two T. R. Ragan Mysteries are Today's Featured Free MystereBooks

MystereBooks is pleased to feature two "Lizzy Gardner" mysteries by T. R. Ragan — the first two in the series to date — as today's set of free mystery ebooks. (Thomas & Mercer will publish Abducted in trade paperback this coming July.)

These titles were listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Abducted by T. R. Ragan
A Lizzy Gardner Mystery
Publisher: Theresa Ragan

About Abducted (from the publisher): Elizabeth Gardner (Lizzy) is seventeen-years old when she tells her parents she's going out with her girlfriends. Instead, she meets up with Jared Shayne, her boyfriend of two years. As she walks home beneath an inky black sky, her perfect night becomes her worst nightmare.

Fourteen years later, Lizzy is a licensed PI known as the "one who got away". When she's not searching for runaway teenagers, working on insurance scams, or talking to her therapist, she's at the local high school teaching young girls to defend themselves. But her world is turned upside down for the second time after she receives a call from Jared Shayne. He's an FBI special agent now and he needs her help. Lizzy has no plans to get involved. Not until Jared tells her the kidnapper left her a personalized note.

Escaping from a madman should have been the end of her nightmare … but it was only the beginning.

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Kindle Edition Download Link.

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Dead Weight by T. R. Ragan
A Lizzy Gardner Mystery
Publisher: Theresa Ragan

About Dead Weight (from the publisher): Lizzy Gardner, a private investigator known as the "one who got away", has spent over a decade trying to get over her past and move on. Although she knows that the man responsible for ruining her life is now dead, letting it all go is easier said than done. Hoping murder and mayhem are behind her, she delves into her first cold case: twenty-one years ago, a girl went missing and the girl’s dying mother is more desperate than ever to know what happened to her only child.

After a woman walks into Lizzy’s office and offers her a large sum of money to keep a close eye on a fitness guru, a man she believes is responsible for her sister’s disappearance, Lizzy realizes she might have taken on more than she can handle.

Lizzy calls in the help of her two assistants, forcing Hayley and Jessica to work together. Hayley might be of more use to Lizzy if she wasn’t wandering the streets of Sacramento in the dead of night.

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Kindle Edition Download Link.

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

Mystery Walk by Robert R. McCammon is Today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Mystery Walk by Robert R. McCammon as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal. The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Wednesday, May 23, 2012.

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Mystery Walk by Robert R. McCammon
Publisher: Open Road

About Mystery Walk (from the publisher): Billy Creekmore was born to be a psychic. His mother, a Choctaw Indian schooled in her tribe’s ancient mysticism, understood that the barrier between life and death is permeable. She knew how to cross it, and used that knowledge to help the dead rest easier. She passed that power on to her son, and he has spent his whole life learning how to communicate with the dead to prevent them from meddling with the living.

Though his powers are the same, Wayne Falconer’s background could not be more different. The son of a prominent preacher, he would be disowned if his father learned he was using supernatural powers in service of the church. Though they don’t know each other, Billy and Wayne share a recurring dream—and a common enemy. When a nightmarish monster descends on their community in Alabama, mankind’s fate will rest in their hands.

Important Note: Amazon.com updates its Kindle book deal every day at approximately midnight PT. The title referenced above is available at a discounted price for Wednesday, May 23, 2012 only.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Kindle Daily Deal.

First International Trailer for Skyfall

Sony Pictures has released the first "official international trailer" for the James Bond film Skyfall … but don't get too excited. It appears to us to be identical to the teaser trailer released just yesterday — with one exception: the date at the end. The film has its world premiere in London in October and doesn't open in the US until early November.

And there's still no more information about the storyline; now that would have been news.

Skyfall, based on characters created by Ian Fleming, is directed by Sam Mendes from an original screenplay.

Review: Guilt by Degrees by Marcia Clark

We've just published our Review of Guilt by Degrees by Marcia Clark. A Rachel Knight Mystery. Mulholland Books Hardcover, May 2012.

Our rating:

Available to purchase from …

Mysterious Press Publishes eBook Editions of Novels and Stories by Clayton Rawson and Rex Stout

Mysterious Press announced today the release of new ebook editions of novels and stories written by two classic crime writers.

Clayton Rawson (1906–1971) was a novelist, editor, and magician. He is best known for creating the Great Merlini, an illusionist and amateur sleuth introduced in Death from a Top Hat (1938), a rollicking crime novel which has been called one of the best locked-room mysteries of all time. Rawson followed the character through three more adventures, concluding the series with No Coffin for the Corpse (1942). In 1941 and 1943 he published the short-story collections Death out of Thin Air and Death from Nowhere, starring Don Diavolo, an escape artist introduced in the Merlini series.

Use this link to see a list of Kindle editions of Clayton Rawson's books.

Rex Stout (1886-1975) was one of the most beloved mystery novelists of all-time, best known for creating the corpulent genius Nero Wolfe. Fer-De-Lance (1934) introduced the master of deduction, and his indefatigable assistant Archie Goodwin. Over the next four decades, Stout published dozens of stories and novels starring the quirky pair, earning him a place in the mystery novelist's pantheon along Agatha Christie and Erle Stanley Gardner. Newly released are two collections of the author's short stories — Target Practice and An Officer and a Lady — and an early serialized novel Her Forbidden Knight (1913).

Use this link to see a list of Kindle editions of the above listed Rex Stout books.

The Mystery Bookshelf: Last Call for the Living by Peter Farris

The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a world of mystery and suspense, is pleased to feature a new crime novel we recently received from the publisher.

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Last Call for the Living by Peter Farris
Forge Books (Hardcover)
Publication Date: May 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0-765-33007-9

About Last Call for the Living (from the publisher): For bank teller Charlie Colquitt, it was just another Saturday. For Hobe Hicklin, an ex-con with nothing to lose, it was just another score. For Hobe's drug-addled, sex-crazed girlfriend, it was just more lust, violence, and drugs. But in this gripping narrative, nothing is as it seems.

Hicklin's first mistake was double-crossing his partners in the Aryan Brotherhood. His second mistake was taking a hostage. But he and Charlie can only hide out for so long in the mountains of north Georgia before the sins of Hicklin's past catch up to them.

Hot on Hicklin's trail are a pair of ruthless Brotherhood soldiers, ready to burn a path of murder and mayhem to get their revenge. GBI Special Agent Sallie Crews and Sheriff Tommy Lang catch the case, themselves no strangers to the evil men are capable of. Soon Crews is making some dangerous connections while for the hard-drinking, despondent Lang, rescuing Charlie Colquitt might be the key to personal salvation.

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About the author: A graduate of Yale University, Peter Farris lives in Cobb County, Georgia. His blog is A Depository for Author Peter Farris.

Purchase Options for Last Call for the Living:

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120522)

Here is today's list of the top bestselling free Kindle mysteries, suspense novels and thrillers.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is updated hourly, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

Please Welcome Mystery Author Peg Cochran

We are delighted to welcome mystery author Peg Cochran as our guest blogger today.

Peg is one busy writer! She has two new series coming out this summer and has just published her first mystery in the Patron Saint series, Confession is Murder (April 2012 Kindle edition).

Today Peg tells us more about her "Patron Saint" heroine together with a list of her top ten favorite patron saints.

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"My name is Lucille Mazzarella. That's like mozzarella only with an 'a'." That's how my main character, Lucille, introduces herself in Confession Is Murder. The book is written in very close third person — in Lucille's unique "voice." It's the first and only time I've ever had a character speak so clearly to me. I always knew exactly how Lucille would put something. I knew what she wore, what was in her refrigerator, what kind of car she drove and what was in her heart almost from the moment I conceived her. I didn't need to fill out character profiles or write her biography — I knew exactly who she was from the minute I put my hands on the computer keys.

Photo provided courtesy of
Peg Cochran

I wanted to create an ordinary, middle-aged female heroine. Why? Because there are so few of them. And there are so many of us out here who are readers. Why didn't anyone want to write about us?

Lucille struggles with many of the things we all do — gaining weight, dealing with an elderly parent and a teenaged daughter who seems to be going nowhere, a husband having a seeming mid-life crisis. She is sustained by her faith (but this isn't a religious book even though Lucille's greatest wish is to have an audience with the Pope), her love for her family and her friends. Lucille is an ordinary woman who is a lot smarter than she realizes.

An early critique partner urged me to make Lucille "sexier." To write something like "only Lucille could make a pair of sweats look so sexy." I resisted. Instead, Lucille is always brushing lint, flour or dust balls off her sweatshirt, and even the elastic waist on her pants is getting tight.

I also wanted to write about a mature love affair. Lucille and her Frankie have been married for decades but "he still did it to her even after all these years," as Lucille puts it. Their relationship is threatened when Frankie does something unthinkable, and Lucille begins to worry, "Maybe he was tired of her old flannel gowns, the socks because her feet were always cold, the tattered robe she threw on every morning to make the breakfast."

This is a mystery story, but it's also Lucille's story. I feel privileged to have been able to get to know her.

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Lucille's Top Ten Favorite Patron Saints …

10. Saint Aldegundis, patron saint against sudden death. Because Lucille's brother-in-law's body suddenly dropped out of the confessional at church, and Lucille is pretty sure he's dead.

9. St. John Nepomucene, patron saint against indiscretions. Because it's highly unlikely that Lucille's family members can be persuaded to keep their mouths shut.

8. Saint Marguerite Bourgeous, patron saint against impoverishment. Because Lucille's mother's QVC addiction is sure to send them to the poor house.

7. St. Catherine of Siena, patron saint against temptation. Because Detective Richie Sambucco is hot even if her Frankie is hotter.

6. St. Catherine of Alexandria, patron saint of unmarried girls. Because Lucille's daughter, Bernadette, is pregnant and not married.

5. St. Catherine of Sweden, patron saint against miscarriages. Because Lucille can't decide if she wants St. Catherine to protect her daughter from a miscarriageÉor arrange for one.

4. St. Margaret of Antioch, patron saint of falsely accused people. Because the police are saying her Frankie did it, and Lucille knows that isn't true.

3. St. John of God, patron saint of heart patients. Because being held at gun point by a murderer is certainly going to give Lucille a heart attack.

2. Beatrice da Silva Meneses, patron saint of prisoners. Because someone is going to jail-that's for sure.

And Lucille's number one favorite patron saint …

1. St. Jude, patron saint of lost causes. Because Bernadette is pregnant and unmarried, her boyfriend is in jail, Lucille's husband might be playing around, her best friend could be a murderer, and Lucille has gained ten pounds thanks to her latest diet.

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Peg grew up in a New Jersey suburb about 25 miles outside of New York City. After college, she moved to the city where she managed an art gallery owned by the son of the artist Henri Matisse. After her husband died, Peg remarried and her new husband took a job in Grand Rapids, MI where they now live (on exile from NJ, she likes to joke). She has two cozy mystery series debuting from Berkley Prime Crime — the "Gourmet De-Lite" series set in Connecticut and the "Sweet Nothings Vintage Lingerie" series, written as Meg London, set in Paris, TN … which is also the setting for Confession Is Murder. For more information about the author and her books, visit her website at PegCochran.com.

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About Confession is Murder:

For middle-aged "Jersey girl," Lucille Mazzarella, only two things in life really count — her family and her friends. When her brother-in-law's body falls out of the confessional at church, everything she holds dear is threatened, especially when the police arrest her husband for the murder. Plagued by hot flashes, a thickening waistline, a mother addicted to the home shopping channel and tempted by a sexy old flame come back to town, Lucille really has her hands full. But while Lucille may not know much about solving crimes, she does know her patron saints. With some prayers, fast thinking and even faster talk, Lucille manages to nail the killer and restore order to her life.

Trial Junkies by Robert Gregory Browne is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Trial Junkies by Robert Gregory Browne as today's second free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Trial Junkies by Robert Gregory Browne
Publisher: Penname Press

This title is the first in a new series by this thriller author.

About Trial Junkies (from the publisher): Ethan "Hutch" Hutchinson hasn't seen his old college pals in nearly ten years. Now fate has brought them together again as one of the gang is put on trial for a brutal, senseless murder.

The Chicago police and prosecutor think they have their perp, but Hutch isn't about to sit silently in a courtroom as someone he cares about is wrongfully convicted.

When Hutch and his friends join forces to search for the real killer, what they find shatters every notion they have about friendship, loss and redemption … and may very well cost Hutch — and the woman he loves — their lives.

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Kindle Edition Download Link.

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

Two Ryne Douglas Pearson Thrillers are Today's Featured Free MystereBooks

MystereBooks is pleased to feature two "Art Jefferson" thrillers by Ryne Douglas Pearson — the first two in the series of four — as today's set of free mystery ebooks.

These titles were listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Cloudburst by Ryne Douglas Pearson
An Art Jefferson Mystery
Publisher: Schmuck & Underwood

About Cloudburst (from the publisher): In Los Angeles, the president is killed in a brazen terrorist suicide attack. Halfway across the globe, an American airliner is hijacked by another group of Middle Eastern extremists and forced to make a brief stop in Libya. Events that are first seen as unconnected soon are proven to be part of an interconnected plan to strike at the heart of the United States.

On opposite coasts, FBI Agent Art Jefferson and National Security Adviser Bud DiContino race to manage situations as they spiral toward disaster. With the hijacked airliner racing toward the United States, its cargo hold filled with what intelligence analysts believe is a nuclear weapon, the only hope for the passengers' lives comes in the form of an audacious rescue plan to be executed by the highly secretive Delta Force.

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

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October's Ghost by Ryne Douglas Pearson
An Art Jefferson Mystery
Publisher: Schmuck & Underwood

About October's Ghost (from the publisher): October 1962. It was a time when the world came to the brink of nuclear Armageddon over an island nation ninety miles off the U.S. mainland. Now, decades later, the past is about to be revisited.

The world has changed, but not enough for some. As one element of the United States government strives to build a secure relationship with a tenuous Russian government, another has engineered a plan to topple the Western Hemisphere's last Communist dictator — Castro.

But the aging revolutionary will not go quietly, and, as the CIA-supported rebel elements in his military launch a widespread assault on his leadership, the Cuban dictator secretly readies his trump card--a decades-old nuclear missile. Intelligence reports warn Washington of the weapon, setting a highly secret search in motion. Moscow, however, sees only suspect actions that threaten to destroy all the progress in post-Cold War relations.

As the superpowers brace for a familiar, apocalyptic game of blind man's bluff with each other, elements across the globe struggle to prevent the final countdown to a nuclear apocalypse. From Los Angeles, where FBI Agents Art Jefferson and Francine "Frankie" Aguirre seek to unravel the mystery of a murdered Cuban privy to Castro's secret weapon, to Cuba, where the military's Special Operations Detachment DELTA races to execute a plan to secure the rogue missile before it can be launched.

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Kindle Edition Download Link.

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