Meeting Mayhem by Katy McDermott is Today's Fifth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Meeting Mayhem by Katy McDermott as today's fifth free mystery ebook (A Laurie Kilcannon and Tim Riordan, Meeting Mystery; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, December 11, 2013 at 7:50 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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Meeting Mayhem
Katy McDermott
A Laurie Kilcannon and Tim Riordan, Meeting Mystery
Publisher: Katy McDermott

Amateur detective Laurie Kilcannon and Police Chief Tim Riordan plan to enjoy every moment of their dream honeymoon in an Irish castle hotel. They think their biggest challenges will be Laurie's bad back and Tim's distaste for driving on the left. What they don't plan on is discovering a dead body — one with a bashed-in skull that rules out "natural causes".

As they unravel the mystery of the victim's death, they uncover the secrets that hide in their idyllic location. Infidelity, long-held grudges, a depressed economy, alcoholism, deceit …

Laurie and Tim also join the regulars at McGroary's, the local pub, and adopt it as their home-away-from-home. Among the characters (and possible suspects) they meet are Cormac, the bar manager who doesn't drink, Tommy, the charming server, genial Niall and irascible Paddy, town busybody (and Tim's aunt) Nuala, and novice police officer Sean.

Bad back notwithstanding, animal lover Laurie haunts the castle's stable, and befriends not only grooms Saoirse, Dónal, Áine, and Mary, but also stable residents Byron, Mercutio, and Treacle. Using her natural friendliness and a seemingly endless supply of carrots, she manages to learn information that will prove crucial to the case's solution.

So come along on Laurie and Tim's honeymoon. Spend some time nursing a pint at McGroary's, try to dodge braying tourist Renée if you can, learn how to say "hello" in Gaelic, watch Tim face off against the local sheep population — and see if you can solve the crime.

Laurie and Tim HAVE to solve it.

If they don't, Laurie may wind up a widow while she's still adjusting to being a wife.

  

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.

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

The Blade of Silence by Lei Mi is Today's Fourth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Blade of Silence by Lei Mi as today's fourth free mystery ebook (A Fang Mu, Eastern Crimes Mystery; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, December 11, 2013 at 7:40 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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The Blade of Silence
Lei Mi
A Fang Mu, Eastern Crimes Mystery
Publisher: Beijing Guomi Digital Technology Co.

The chief of the Public Security Bureau himself shoots a hostage-taker, killing him, but the man's corpse goes missing without a trace. Is this a hoax, or part of a deeper conspiracy?

When a popular actress mysteriously disappears, the indecent images sent by her kidnappers are found to contain much more than meets the eye. Can he crack the code in time to save her life? Is he a loyal comrade-in-arms, or a deceptive jackal full of evil intentions?

As they sit before a polygraph, a relaxed reminiscence between friends suddenly transforms into a battle of wits; a refrigerator that rumbles on day and night becomes a scene of hellish fright; in a bath house that has never been open for business, apart from the police officer found dead on his feet, another heart continues beating faintly. In the bleak solitude of the mountains, desperate cries fall flat against a tacit silence between heaven and earth.

Through that remote village in China on which the sun has never shone flows a dark river. Its waters are churning with violence, blood, and despair. When a person's heart is full of darkness, evil grows there. The guilty one is not the person who commits the crime, but rather the one who created the darkness.

Say not that you are innocent. When you choose to become a blind fish in the darkness, then each of us — you, me, and everybody else — becomes a part of that darkness.

Will Fang Mu, who has survived his journey through Profiler and Skinner's Box, continue to choose goodness and strength from the swirling vortex that is his fate?

  

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.

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

The Cut-Out by Jon King is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Cut-Out by Jon King as today's third free mystery ebook (A Spy Thriller; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, December 11, 2013 at 7:30 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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The Cut-Out
Jon King
A Spy Thriller
Publisher: Jon King

Britain in the nineties was obsessed with the X-Files. The high street was awash with X-Files type magazines, and as senior editor of the biggest selling one on the market, I was accustomed to receiving phone calls from anonymous sources promising inside information. So when the American called me up and said he wanted to talk, I took it in my stride. Why wouldn't I? He was a former Special Forces Green Beret, he said. A CIA runner. He also said that the information he had was best not divulged over the telephone. So we arranged to meet. Nothing unusual in that.

What was unusual, though, was what the American told me, not at our first meeting, but at a subsequent one some months later. On this occasion he said he'd been made aware of an imminent prime-target assassination, that "one of the most prominent figures on the world stage" was about to be taken out, "within days from now", though he claimed he was unable to reveal who the target was.

"Watch the news networks. You'll know who it is soon enough." He added: "The media will tell you it was an accident. You'll know it wasn't."

I came away not knowing if I'd been fed a line or let in on the world's most terrible secret. And I had no way of finding out, either, other than to wait, and watch the news.

I didn't have to wait long. Because a week later the “accident” the American had alluded to was all over the news: the assassination he'd forewarned me about had happened.

Of course, at this stage I had no idea I was being set up. Only that I'd been told something I wished I'd never been told. And that, because I had, I now faced the most terrifying challenge of my life — to get to the truth before the intelligence agencies got to me …

  

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.

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

Executive Actions by Gary Grossman is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Executive Actions by Gary Grossman as today's second free mystery ebook (The Executive Series; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, December 11, 2013 at 7:20 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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Executive Actions
Gary Grossman
The Executive Series
Publisher: Diversion Books

A Soviet plot has deadly repercussions for modern America.

An assassin's bullet changes the course of the Presidential election— not by killing Democratic candidate Teddy Lodge, but his wife. Riding a wave of popular sympathy, Lodge surges forward as the man to beat for incumbent President Morgan Taylor.

Secret Service Agent Scott Roarke is ordered by President Taylor to investigate the assassination, and unravels a deadly Soviet plot that has incubated for more than 30 years. Now in the hands of a power hungry Middle Eastern heir to the throne, Agent Roarke must stop a sleeper agent poised to change the course of American policy in the Middle East.

  

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.

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

A Cup of Cozy by Cozy Mystery Magazine is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature A Cup of Cozy by Cozy Mystery Magazine as today's free mystery ebook (Short Mysteries and Holiday Recipes; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, December 11, 2013 at 7:10 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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A Cup of Cozy
Cozy Mystery Magazine
Short Mysteries and Holiday Recipes
Publisher: Cozy Mystery Magazine

Short Christmas mysteries and holiday recipes by the authors of Cozy Mystery Magazine blog.

  

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.

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

Night Train to Memphis by Elizabeth Peters is Today's Kindle Daily Deal

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Night Train to Memphis by Elizabeth Peters as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal.

The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Wednesday, December 11, 2013.

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Night Train to Memphis
Elizabeth Peters
A Vicky Bliss Mystery
Grand Central

An assistant curator of Munich's National Museum, Vicky Bliss is no expert on Egypt, but she does have a Ph.D. in solving crimes. So when an intelligence agency offers her a luxury Nile cruise if she'll help solve a murder and stop a heist of Egyptian antiquities, all 5'11" of her takes the plunge.

Vicky suspects the authorities really want her to lead them to her missing lover, the art thief and master of disguises she knows only as "Sir John Smythe." And right in the shadow of the Sphinx she spots him … with his new flame. Vicky is so furious at this romantic stab-in-the-back, not to mention the sudden arrival of her meddling boss, Herr Dr. Schmidt, that she may overlook a danger as old as the pharaohs and as unchanging … a criminal who hides behind a mask of charm while moving in for the kill.

Important Note: This book was listed at the price mentioned above 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.

Today's Mystery and Suspense Update from Big Fish Games (131211)

Here is today's mystery and suspense update from Big Fish Games …

• Our Featured Title is Gravely Silent: House of Deadlock.

• The current Catch of the Week is Dark Arcana: The Carnival, just $2.99 through Sunday, December 15, 2013 only.

• Today's Special Deal — Customer Appreciation Day: $4.99 for any Standard Edition game! Use coupon code THANKS at check-out to purchase any Standard Edition game for just $4.99. Offer valid December 11th, 2013 only until 11:59 PM PT.

Visit the Omnimystery Entertainment Network for more games of mystery and suspense!

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Our Featured Title today is Gravely Silent: House of Deadlock

Save your sister from the grave! After receiving a troubling phone call from your brother-in-law, you're off on an adventure! Investigate the troubling scene and discover the truth: scour gorgeous Hidden Object scenes for valuable clues and unravel the mystery behind your sister's disappearance.

A sample version is available to download and play for free for one hour.

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The current Catch of the Week is Dark Arcana: The Carnival

Find the missing woman lost in a mysterious Carnival of Horrors. Investigate two worlds: the one you know and an alternate plane existing behind the Hall of Mirrors. There you'll discover the secret of an ancient being known as the Evil One. Travel through dimensions, reveal the story of star-crossed lovers, and stop the Evil One from breaking its magical chains and invading our world in this exciting Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game!

A sample version is available to download and play for free for one hour. You can purchase this game at the special price of $2.99 through Sunday, December 15, 2013.

Mama Gets Trashed, A Mace Bauer Mystery by Deborah Sharp, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Mama Gets Trashed by Deborah Sharp, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Midnight Ink.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $3.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (12/11/2013 at 1:00 PM ET). 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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Mama Gets Trashed by Deborah Sharp
A Mace Bauer Mystery (5th in series)
Publisher: Midnight Ink

Digging around the dump for Mama's prized wedding ring, Mace Bauer suddenly stumbles upon the dead body of librarian Camilla Law. The strait-laced town of Himmarshee is scandalized, not because a killer is on the loose, but because prudish Camilla's leather getup screams sex fetish. Good gravy!

Meanwhile, Mace is desperate to help her down-in-the-dumps sister, who suspects her husband is cheating on her. Tracking the two-timing cad, Mace uncovers a circle of bondage fanatics. Whips and woo-hoo? Mama's blushing pinker than her favorite sweet wine! Mace must figure out what's going on in little ol' Himmarshee before another body gets trashed.

  

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price 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.

Into the Dark, A Brenna Spector Thriller by Alison Gaylin, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Into the Dark by Alison Gaylin, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Harper.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $0.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (12/10/2013 at 5:00 PM ET). 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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Into the Dark by Alison Gaylin
A Brenna Spector Thriller (1st in series)
Publisher: Harper

Can a stranger share your memories?

That's the question that haunts Brenna Spector when she first sees footage of missing webcam performer Lula Belle. Naked but hidden in shadow, the "performance artist" shares her deepest, darkest secrets with her unseen male audience … secrets that, to Brenna, are chillingly familiar.

Brenna has perfect memory, able to recall in astonishing detail every moment of every day of her adult life. But her childhood — those carefree years before the traumatic disappearance of her sister, Clea — is frustratingly vague. When Brenna listens to the stories Lula Belle tells her audience, stories only Brenna and Clea could know, those years come to life again in vivid detail. Convinced the missing internet performer has ties to her sister, Brenna takes the case — and in her quest for Lula Belle unravels a web of obsession, sex, guilt, and murder that could regain her family … or cost her life.

  

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price 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.

A New MystereBook: Heartache Motel by Terri L. Austin, Larissa Reinhart, and LynDee Walker

Here is 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 December 2013 priced $4.99 or less …

Heartache Motel by Terri L. Austin, Larissa Reinhart, and LynDee Walker is a collection of three interconnected mystery novellas. Elvis has left the building, but he's forever memorialized at the Heartache Motel. Filled with drag queens, Rock-a-Hula cocktails, and a vibrating velveteen bed, these three novellas tell the tales of three amateur sleuths who spend their holidays at the King's beloved home.

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Heartache Motel by Terri L. Austin, Larissa Reinhart, and LynDee Walker
A Mystery Novella Collection
Publisher: Henery Press
Publication Date: December 08, 2013
Price: $2.99 (as of 12/10/13 04:30 PM ET)

Diners Keepers, Losers Weepers by Terri. L. Austin. When Rose and the gang head to Graceland right before Christmas, they get all shook up: the motel is a seedy dump and an Elvis impersonator turns up dead. Rose discovers missing jewels tie into the death and her suspicious mind flips into overdrive, questioning her fellow guests, the staff, and even a cute impersonator who keeps popping up. Will Rose be able to find the murderer and get home by Christmas day? It's now or never.

Quick Sketch by Larissa Reinhart. Sassy Southern artist Cherry Tucker and her poker-loving boyfriend, Todd, pop into Memphis to help Todd's cousin who's been hustled out of his savings, right before Christmas. Staying at the shady Heartache Motel, Cherry can't tell a shill from a mark and fears everyone is playing them for chumps. Cherry and Todd quickly find themselves in a dangerous sting that could send them to the slammer or mark them as pigeons from cons looking for an even bigger score.

Dateline Memphis by LynDee Walker. Crime reporter Nichelle Clarke thinks she's going home for Christmas. But a quick stop at Graceland proves news breaks in the strangest places. When the King's home gets locked down with Nichelle inside, she chases this headline into the national spotlight — and the thief's crosshairs. Christmas dreams of blue suede Manolos fade, and all Nichelle wants from Santa is to land the story before the thief cuts off her news feed for good.

  

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

This Pen For Hire, A Jaine Austen Mystery by Laura Levine, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature This Pen For Hire by Laura Levine, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Kensington.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $2.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (12/10/2013 at 4:00 PM ET). 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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This Pen For Hire by Laura Levine
A Jaine Austen Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Kensington

Smarmy personals ads. Daring declarations of love. Writer-for-hire Jaine Austen has penned them all. But when one of the love connections she made is broken up by murder, Jaine finds herself freelancing free-of-charge — and uncovering more than she bargained for …

No one seems to need her help more than geeky, gawky Howard Murdoch. His request is simple enough: a letter proclaiming his undying love for Stacy Lawrence, a gorgeous aerobics instructor. The fact that he's never actually met the woman gives Jaine pause — but she soon overcomes her misgivings, warms up her computer, and starts pitching woo on Howard's behalf.

To Jaine's surprise, the letter is a success — the unlikely Romeo lands a date! But his triumph is, sadly, short-lived. On Valentine's Day, Howard finds Stacy bludgeoned to death with a Thigh Master — and is quickly named the prime suspect.

Upon hearing the news, Jaine is shocked. Sure, Howard's awkward, eccentric, and a tiny bit odd. But a murderer? That's hard to believe. Especially after a little sleuthing turns up a whole bunch of people who harbored less-than-loving feelings towards the svelte Stacy.

But Jaine had better wrangle her clues quickly, before a crafty killer catches on — and puts a whole new spin on her ghost writing career.

  

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price 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.

A New MystereBook: Dead Cold by Ed Gorman

Here is 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 December 2013 priced $4.99 or less …

Dead Cold by Ed Gorman is the first in the Robert Payne series of mysteries, originally published under the title Blood Moon in hardcover by St. Martin's Press in May, 1994. It was reissued as an ebook in May 2012, but this is its first appearance with a new title.

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Dead Cold by Ed Gorman
A Robert Payne Mystery
Publisher: Genius Book Publishing
Publication Date: December 08, 2013
Price: $3.99 (as of 12/10/13 03:30 PM ET)

FBI Criminal Profiler Robert Payne just wants to find a quiet town to retire in, and New Hope, Iowa fits the bill. But when a mysterious, seductive woman offers him $25,000 to find the psychopath who brutally murdered her young daughter, he uncovers secrets the small, close-knit community has tried so desperately to keep hidden.

When his client is found on an abandoned farm with her throat cut, Payne realizes that he is facing an evil criminal mastermind who is determined to keep Payne and New Hope's beautiful police chief, Jane Avery, from standing in the way of his murderous plans.

  

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

Hercule Poirot's Christmas, A Hercule Poirot Mystery by Agatha Christie, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, William Morrow.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $2.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (12/10/2013 at 3:00 PM ET). 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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Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie
A Hercule Poirot Mystery
Publisher: William Morrow

It is Christmas Eve. The Lee family reunion is shattered when the tyrannical Simeon Lee is found dead in a pool of blood, his throat slashed.

When Hercule Poirot offers to assist, he finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion. It seems everyone had their own reason to hate the old man.

  

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price 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.

Scandal at Six by Ann Purser, New in Bookstores This Month

Today's new hardcover mystery title, scheduled to be published this month by Berkley Hardcover, is Scandal at Six by Ann Purser.

For a list of more new hardcover mysteries published this month, visit our New Mysteries page for December 2013. For new paperback mysteries, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where a selection of December 2013 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers are shelved.

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Scandal at Six
Ann Purser
Series: Lois Meade (13th)

Spring has arrived in Long Farnden and with it, a mysterious infestation. Lois Meade's daughter has found her village store overrun by insects and reptiles. And Lois has no time to stop and smell the roses, if she's to stay one step ahead of the creepy crawlies.

As Lois looks into the invasion, she becomes embroiled in yet another "ferretin' case", as her husband would say. Her investigation leads her to Robert Pettinson, a seemingly unhinged zookeeper, and his nephew. The two of them are knee-deep in illegal trade, and they don't take kindly to Lois poking her nose into their business.

Lois enlists the help of her faithful cleaner Dot Nimmo and police inspector Hunter Cowgill to discover more about Pettinson and a suspicious death at the zoo. And death is in store for more people, if Lois doesn't put the killer behind bars soon …

      

MystereBooks: Hard Ground by Joseph Heywood, Available this Month at a Special Price

Every month Amazon releases a new selection of Kindle books priced $3.99 or less.

Today's featured title from the Mystery & Thrillers category is Hard Ground by Joseph Heywood. This Kindle book was listed at $3.99 as of the date and time of this post, Tuesday, December 10, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET, and should be available at this price through the end of the month.

More information about the book is below; if other vendors have priced-matched this title, links to their sites are also shown.

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Hard Ground by Joseph Heywood
A Grady Service, Woods Cop Short Story Collection
Publisher: Lyons Press

A treasure chest of stories for lovers of the outdoors, fans of smart crime fiction, and, of course, the legions of Joseph Heywood fans. Featuring the game-warden colleagues of Woods Cop star Grady Service, the tales in this collection follow the men and women patrolling Michigan's wilds as they encounter everything from poachers determined to defend their kills with deadly resistance to drug pushers selling their wares at an Elvis Convention camping retreat.

There are search-and-rescue operations, a rookie game warden's first day on the job, and much, much more. With Heywood's trademark ability to capture the eccentric characters of the Upper Peninsula, his wonderful ear for dialogue, and his vivid descriptions of hunting, fishing, and outdoorsmanship, these twenty-plus stories will delight Heywood fans and entice any reader who loves stories about the great outdoors or law-and-order.

As an added bonus, one story features Woods Cop protagonist Grady Service early in his career, while another story stars Heywood's new series protagonist Lute Bapcat.

  

Important Note: 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.