Review: Tiger Shrimp Tango by Tim Dorsey

A Mysterious Review of Tiger Shrimp Tango by Tim Dorsey. A Serge A. Storms Mystery.

Review summary: This latest entry is fairly typical of the madcap adventures of the books in this series. There's more than the usual sense of randomness here, however, not so much in how Serge spends his time and the creative ways he kills the bad guys but with the underlying (and presumably unifying) plot that should be the foundation for all that goes on. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Tiger Shrimp Tango
Tim Dorsey
A Serge A. Storms Mystery
William Morrow (January 2014)

Publisher synopsis: With the growth of the Internet, America finds itself plagued by a noxious epidemic of ruthless scam artists. Where do they all come from? If you guessed 110 percent of them are spawned in Florida, you win the cigar …

When a certain new digital scheme goes horribly awry — causing innocents to die and a young woman to go missing — only one person can set things right: obsessive Florida trivia buff and reluctant serial killer Serge Storms.

Aided by his perpetually addled sidekick, Coleman, and latter-day noir private eye Mahoney, Serge launches a crusade to rid his beloved state of predators and save the girl.

But Serge's mission is hampered by one pesky little detail: he's being tracked by a hit man dispatched from his murky past. And all bets are off when Serge learns the same assassin is responsible for killing the love of his life years ago. It's not long before the two begin tracking each other around Florida in a frenzied Möbius loop.

A dance only one can survive — it's the Tiger Shrimp Tango!

      

Fade To Black, A Novel of Suspense by Wendy Corsi Staub, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Fade To Black by Wendy Corsi Staub, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Harper.

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 (02/03/2014 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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Fade To Black by Wendy Corsi Staub
A Novel of Suspense
Publisher: Harper

Sometimes secrets can kill …

I know who you are. When Elizabeth Baxter reads these words, her world crashes. Five years ago, she was Hollywood superstar Mallory Eden — until a mysterious stalker turned her life into a nightmare. Now she hides in the small town of Windmere Cove, Rhode Island, living in fear, constantly looking over her shoulder …

Then her house is ransacked. The phone rings, and no one is on the other end. And very soon Elizabeth realizes she's being hunted again. Her only peace is the solace she's found in the arms of Harper Smith. She longs to tell him the truth — and then she learns of his own secret past … a past that connects to Mallory Eden's.

        

Use this link to see more discounted titles by Wendy Corsi Staub on Amazon.com.

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: The Hilo Hustle by Tom Bradley Jr.

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 February 2014 priced $4.99 or less …

The Hilo Hustle by Tom Bradley Jr. is the second mystery in this series featuring Hawaiian private eye Noelani Lee.

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The Hilo Hustle by Tom Bradley Jr.
A Noelani Lee Mystery
Publisher: Tom Bradley Jr.
Publication Date: February 01, 2014
Price: $0.99 (as of 02/03/14 04:30 PM ET)

Hawaiian private eye Noelani Lee is more comfortable catching philandering husbands in the act than solving murders. But when the body of her archrival washes up on a beach in her hometown of Hilo, the police immediately treat her as a suspect. To complicate things, a disgraced reality TV star hires her to finish the job Noelani's nemesis started — figure out who's trying to put her lucrative home-brew operation out of business.

As if learning more than she ever wanted to know about television divas and craft beer wasn't bad enough, things really start brewing when a handsome U.S. Marshal asks Noelani for her help. He's hunting a fugitive Ponzi scheme operator — a man he believes is the lady brewer's husband. But when a second stiff turns bottoms-up in her client's garage, the action comes to a head as Noelani taps three separate cases in an investigation that could drive her to drink.

  

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.

The Unquiet Bones, A Hugh de Singleton Mystery by Melvin R. Starr, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Unquiet Bones by Melvin R. Starr, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Monarch Books.

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 (02/03/2014 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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The Unquiet Bones by Melvin R. Starr
A Hugh de Singleton Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Monarch Books

Hugh of Singleton, fourth son of a minor knight, has been educated as a clerk, usually a prelude to taking holy orders. However, he feels no real calling — despite his lively faith — and he turns to the profession of surgeon, training in Paris and then hanging his sign in Oxford.

Soon after, a local lord asks Hugh de Singleton to track the killer of a young woman whose bones have been found in the castle cesspool. Through his medical knowledge, Singleton identifies her as the impetuous missing daughter of a local blacksmith. The young man she loved — whom she had provoked very publicly — is quickly arrested and sentenced at Oxford.

But this is just the beginning of the tale. The story of Singleton's adventure unfolds with realistic medical procedures, droll medieval wit, romantic distractions, and a consistent underlying sense of Christian compassion.

  

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.

The Contractors by Harry Hunsicker, a New 1st in Series Mystery Introducing Jon Cantrell

We are pleased to present you with one of this month's new 1st in Series mysteries: The Contractors by Harry Hunsicker and introducing Jon Cantrell.

What we know about the character: Jon Cantrell, a disgraced ex-cop, works as a DEA agent paid on a commission basis, patrolling one of the busiest drug-hubs in the country: Dallas, Texas.

For more information about his first case, see a synopsis of the book, below.

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The Contractors by Harry Hunsicker
Series: A Jon Cantrell Mystery
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Format(s): Trade Paperback, eBook

Private military contractors. They're not just for foreign wars anymore. Jon Cantrell, a disgraced ex-cop, works for one such company. He's a DEA agent paid on a commission basis, patrolling one of the busiest drug-hubs in the country: Dallas, Texas.

When Cantrell and his partner and sometimes lover confiscate the wrong shipment of drugs, they find themselves in possession of a star witness in an upcoming cartel trial that could destroy the largest criminal organization in the hemisphere.

To turn a profit, all they have to do is safely deliver the witness to the US Attorney on the other side of the state. An easy trip, except the witness doesn’t want to go and a group of competing DEA contractors and a corrupt Dallas police officer want everybody involved dead.

In this complex network of drug traffickers, cartels, politicians, and police, no one's hands are clean.

  

This Enemy Town, A Hannah Ives Mystery by Marcia Talley, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature This Enemy Town by Marcia Talley, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Avon.

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 (02/03/2014 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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This Enemy Town by Marcia Talley
A Hannah Ives Mystery (5th in series)
Publisher: Avon

Hannah Ives is always ready to support others like herself who have been through the gauntlet of fear and uncertainty that a diagnosis of cancer often brings. So when friend and fellow survivor Dorothy Hart asks for help building sets for the Naval Academy's upcoming production of Sweeney Todd, Hannah readily agrees.

But it means associating with an old foe — a vindictive officer whose accusations once nearly destroyed Hannah's home life. And when one corpse too many appears during a dress rehearsal of the dark and bloody musical, Hannah finds herself accused of murder — and enmeshed in a web of treachery and deception that rivals the one that damned the "Demon Barber".

Caught up in a drama as sinister as any that has ever unfolded on stage, Hannah stands to lose everything unless she unmasks a killer before the final curtain falls …

      

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.

Cold Storage, Alaska by John Straley, New in Bookstores in February 2014

Today's new hardcover mystery title, scheduled to be published during February 2014 by Soho Crime, is Cold Storage, Alaska by John Straley.

For a list of more new hardcover mysteries published this month, visit our New Mysteries page for February 2014. For new paperback mysteries, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where a selection of February 2014 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers are shelved.

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Cold Storage, Alaska
John Straley

Cold Storage, Alaska, is a remote fishing outpost where salmonberries sparkle in the morning frost and where you just might catch a King Salmon if you're zen enough to wait for it. Settled in 1935 by Norse fishermen who liked to skinny dip in its natural hot springs, the town enjoyed prosperity at the height of the frozen fish boom. But now the cold storage plant is all but abandoned and the town is withering.

Clive "The Milkman" McCahon returns to his tiny Alaska hometown after a seven-year jail stint for dealing coke. He has a lot to make up to his younger brother, Miles, who has dutifully been taking care of their ailing mother. But Clive doesn't realize the trouble he's bringing home. His vengeful old business partner is hot on his heels, a stick-in-the-mud State Trooper is dying to bust Clive for narcotics, and, to complicate everything, Clive might be going insane — lately, he's been hearing animals talking to him. Will his arrival in Cold Storage be a breath of fresh air for the sleepy, depopulated town? Or will Clive's arrival turn the whole place upside down?

        

A New MystereBook: The Scent of Murder by Felicity Young

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 February 2014 priced $4.99 or less …

The Scent of Murder by Felicity Young is the third mystery in this historical series set at the turn of the 20th century in London, and featuring England's first female autopsy surgeon Dody McCleland.

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The Scent of Murder by Felicity Young
A Dody McCleland Mystery
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: February 01, 2014
Price: $3.99 (as of 02/03/14 02:00 PM ET)

If a black dog appears along the old corpse way, the route a funeral procession takes to the churchyard, it is thought to be escorting the dead soul to the afterlife. A black dog sighting without a funeral procession, however, is supposed to foreshadow death.

For Doctor Dody McCleland, the unearthing of an ancient skeleton in a dry riverbed is a welcome break from the monotony of chaperoning her younger sister at a country house near the isolated hamlet of Piltdown. But when she begins her analysis of the bones, Britain's first female autopsy surgeon discovers they are much more recent - and they are the result of murder.

With Chief Inspector Matthew Pike's help Dody begins to investigate. Soon she finds herself pitted against ugly traditionalism, exploitation, spectral dogs, a ghostly hunt and a series of events that not only threaten her belief in scientific rationalism, but threaten her life itself.

    

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.

White Lies, A Crime Thriller by Jeremy Bates, at a Special Price during February 2014

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 White Lies by Jeremy Bates. This Kindle book was listed at $2.99 as of the date and time of this post, Monday, February 03, 2014 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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White Lies by Jeremy Bates
A Crime Thriller
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing

While driving to a charming village tucked away deep in the Cascade Mountains of eastern Washington, where she is to begin a new job teaching high school English, Katrina Burton picks up a young hitchhiker who turns out to be drunk and predatory. Fearful for her safety, she lies about her destination in order to get him out of the car. But when she later discovers that he is a teacher at the same school, she finds herself feeding that initial lie with more lies.

Then Katrina meets a mysterious man. Handsome, charismatic and strong, he is exactly what she needs to extricate her from the expanding network of lies, now spinning out of control. She falls fast and hard for him.

But her perfect solution soon becomes a nightmare that lands her in the middle of a grisly murder. And Katrina's problems don't stop there. She must decide whether to betray her new love or to cover up the murder and hope for the best.

  

Click on the Amazon button to see also the special Whispersync offer associated with this title.

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.

The Saberdene Variations, A Legal Thriller by Thomas Gifford writing as Thomas Maxwell, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Saberdene Variations by Thomas Gifford writing as Thomas Maxwell, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Open Road.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $1.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (02/03/2014 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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The Saberdene Variations by Thomas Gifford writing as Thomas Maxwell
A Legal Thriller
Publisher: Open Road

A powerful lawyer's most famous opponent comes back to kill him …

On his first day at Harvard, working-class student Charlie Nichols is instantly charmed by the debonair rake Victor Saberdene. While Nichols earns tuition playing football, Saberdene’s wealth and charm rocket him to the top of Harvard’s impenetrable social pyramid and beyond — to become the most feared defense lawyer in the country, a man who uses his charisma to manipulate juries.

Nichols becomes an international crime reporter. He hasn’t thought of his old friend Saberdene in years when he reads of the Anna Thorne killing. A beautiful young Massachusetts stagehand disappears after a fling with the handsome, dangerous Carl Varada — who might have escaped had Anna not been Saberdene’s sister-in-law. Saberdene puts Varada behind bars, but years later the killer earns early release. When Varada sets his sights on the great lawyer’s family, no amount of charisma can stop him.

        

Click on the Amazon button to see also the special Whispersync offer associated with this title.

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.

New from Carina Press: Mistress of Fortune by Holly West

Carina Press is a digital-first imprint from Harlequin, publishing books in an interesting and diverse selection of genres including contemporary romance, steampunk, gay/lesbian fiction, science-fiction, fantasy, and — but of course — mystery and suspense.

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Mistress of Fortune by Holly West
A Historical Mystery
Publisher: Carina Press
Price: $3.99 (as of 02/03/14 12:30 PM ET)

London, 1678. Isabel, Lady Wilde, a mistress to King Charles II, has a secret: she makes her living disguised as Mistress Ruby, a fortune-teller who caters to London's elite. It's a dangerous life among the charlatans, rogues and swindlers who lurk in the city's dark corners, but to Isabel, the risk is worth the reward.

Until magistrate Sir Edmund Godfrey seeks Mistress Ruby's counsel and reveals his unwitting involvement in a plot to kill the king. When Isabel's diary containing dangerous details of his confession is stolen, she knows she must find it before anyone connects her to Mistress Ruby. Especially after Sir Edmund's corpse is discovered a few days later …

Isabel is sure that whoever stole her diary is Sir Edmund's killer — and could be part of a conspiracy that leads all the way to the throne. But as she delves deeper into the mystery, not even the king himself may be able to save her.

        

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.