Goodnight and Good-bye by Timothy Harris is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Goodnight and Good-bye by Timothy Harris as today's free mystery ebook (A Thomas Kyd Thriller; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, April 14, 2014 at 6:30 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.

— ♦ —

Goodnight and Good-bye
Timothy Harris
A Thomas Kyd Thriller
Publisher: Endeavour Press

Meet Thomas Kyd, private investigator. He's the guy who picks up the cases that Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe didn't stick around to handle.

"Maybe if I'd followed my real impulses towards Laura Cassidy, a tragedy could have been averted. Maybe not …

The first time Kyd saw her she was driving out of an underground garage with a naked man spreadeagled on the front of the car. Somewhat less than a typical damsel in distress, but Kyd helped out all the same. Laura was irresistible. She was also a pathological liar and a junkie.

Perhaps if she hadn't married a screenwriter and orgy-enthusiast Kyd wouldn't have got himself knee-deep in a case where the light at the end of the tunnel is the glare of the oncoming train …

  

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 Hanging Judge by Michael Ponsor is Today's Kindle Daily Deal

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Hanging Judge by Michael Ponsor as today's Kindle Daily Deal.

The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Monday, April 14, 2014.

— ♦ —

The Hanging Judge
Michael Ponsor
A Legal Thriller
Open Road

When a drive-by shooting in Holyoke, Massachusetts, claims the lives of a Puerto Rican drug dealer and a hockey mom volunteering at an inner-city clinic, the police arrest a rival gang member. With no death penalty in Massachusetts, the US attorney shifts the double homicide out of state jurisdiction into federal court so he can seek a death sentence.

The Honorable David S. Norcross, a federal judge with only two years on the bench, now presides over the first death penalty case in the state in decades. He must referee the clash of an ambitious female prosecutor and a brilliant veteran defense attorney in a high-stress environment of community outrage, media pressure, vengeful gang members, and a romantic entanglement that threatens to capsize his trial — not to mention the most dangerous force of all: the unexpected.

  

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

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.

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for April 14, 2014

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!).

— ◊ —

This week's letters and mystery clue:

C E M N O R S W Y

Tiffany Baker's 2014 thriller set in Titan Falls, New Hampshire, has this title (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!

Today's Mystery and Suspense Update from Big Fish Games (140414)

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

• The New Release is Emberwing: Lost Legacy.

• The current Catch of the Week is Unfinished Tales: Illicit Love, just $2.99 through Sunday, April 21, 2014 only.

• Today's Special Deal — It is Bonus Punch Monday! Receive a BONUS PUNCH with every game purchase, only on Mondays.

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

— ♦ —

The New Release today is Emberwing: Lost Legacy

Dragons have not been seen for hundreds of years and were just a bedtime story for your young son Tevin. Suddenly, a real dragon attacks your house in the dead of night and takes Tevin, believing he has a special power that will help their kind. But elves and other magical races, hidden in the unexplored Dark Forest, are after him as well. Can you save your son from the dragon's clutches before it's too late?

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

Also available for this game:

• Get the Strategy Guide
• Check out the Blog Walkthrough
• For a more in-depth experience, see the Collector's Edition

— ♦ —

The current Catch of the Week is Unfinished Tales: Illicit Love

Thumbelina had the perfect happy ending, until the Raven Queen crashed her wedding, kidnapping her prince. To make matters worse, the Raven Queen locked her up in a dungeon! Will she be able to escape and rescue her prince before he becomes the Raven King? When you're only a few inches tall, you need all the allies you can get, but beware! Anyone you meet could be a spy working for the Queen! Join Thumbelina as she journeys across the fantastic Kingdom of the Floral Elves in this charming 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, April 21, 2014.

Also available for this game:

• Get the Strategy Guide.
• Check out the Blog Walkthrough.
• For a more in-depth experience, see the Collector's Edition.

Review: Poisoned Ground by Sandra Parshall

A Mysterious Review of Poisoned Ground by Sandra Parshall. A Rachel Goddard Mystery.

Review summary: The storyline here is well crafted, creating a puzzle for the main characters but also for the reader, as they continue their efforts to identify the person responsible for the murders in their community all the while wondering what the endgame is. A fine, tension-filled mystery in this series. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Poisoned Ground
Sandra Parshall
A Rachel Goddard Mystery
Poisoned Pen Press (March 2014)

Publisher synopsis: When a powerful development company sets its sights on Mason Country, Virginia, as the location for a sprawling resort for the rich, the locals begin taking sides. Many residents see the resort as economic salvation for the small Blue Ridge Mountains community, while others fear the county will become financially dependent on a predatory company.

Few oppose the development more vocally than veterinarian Rachel Goddard. She sides with locals reluctant to sell their land and, in the process, complicates the life of her new husband, Sheriff Tom Bridger.

When a beloved couple is gunned down on the very farm they refused to sell, it seems supporters will stop at nothing to ensure the success of the resort. Now disagreement in the community has exploded into civil war with both sides lashing out. As the violence escalates, Rachel discovers the attacks are more sinister than they appear.

Can she bring the truth to light before her community tears itself apart?

        

Turning Angel, A Penn Cage Thriller by Greg Iles, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Turning Angel by Greg Iles, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Scribner.

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 (04/13/2014 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.

— ♦ —

Turning Angel by Greg Iles
A Penn Cage Thriller (2nd in series)
Publisher: Scribner

As two of the most prominent citizens of Natchez, Drew Elliott and Penn Cage sit on the school board of their alma mater, St. Stephen's Prep. When the nude body of a young female student is found near the Mississippi River, the entire community is shocked — but no one more than Penn, who discovers that his best friend was entangled in a passionate relationship with the girl and may be accused of her murder.

On the surface, Kate Townsend seems the most unlikely murder victim imaginable. A star student and athlete, she'd been accepted to Harvard and carried the hope and pride of the town on her shoulders. But like her school and her town, Kate also had a secret life — one about which her adult lover knew little. When Drew begs Penn to defend him, Penn allows his sense of obligation to override his instinct and agrees. Yet before he can begin, both men are drawn into a dangerous web of blackmail and violence. Drew reacts like anything but an innocent man, and Penn finds himself doubting his friend's motives and searching for a path out of harm's way.

More dangerous yet is Shad Johnson, the black district attorney whose dream is to send a rich white man to death row in Mississippi. At Shad's order, Drew is jailed, the police cease hunting Kate's killer, and Penn realizes that only by finding Kate's murderer himself can he save his friend's life.

With his daughter's babysitter as his guide, Penn penetrates the secret world of St. Stephen's, a place that parents never see, where reality veers so radically from appearance that Penn risks losing his own moral compass. St. Stephen's is a dark mirror of the adult world, one populated by steroid-crazed jocks, girls desperate for attention, jaded teens flirting with nihilism, and hidden among them all — one true psychopath. It is Penn's journey into the heart of his alma mater that he finds the intersection of the adult and nearly adult worlds is a dangerous place indeed. By the time Penn arrives at the shattering truth behind Kate Townsend's death, his quiet Southern town will never be the same.

  

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: Murder in the Sandbox by Ronald Taylor

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 April 2014 priced $4.99 or less …

Murder in the Sandbox by Ronald Taylor seems to be the second book in this series, though in the previous mystery Robert White is 27 years old while in this one he's 62. Or maybe it's just a coincidence that the two books share a character with the same name!

— ♦ —

Murder in the Sandbox by Ronald Taylor
A Murder Mystery
Publisher: Ronald Taylor
Publication Date: April 11, 2014
Price: $2.99 (as of 04/13/14 4:30 PM ET)

Robert White is a sixty-two year old, former painting teacher at Eastern Iowa University, and while exploring the possibility of directing a study abroad program for art students in his retirement, he joins a group of art and language students from several Iowa colleges and universities who are studying in Rome and Florence. At the same time he is working on a doctorate in European Art History so he relishes the six weeks in Florence and keeps a detailed journal.

He becomes aware of a predatory young woman named Melissa, who is determined to win the affections of Thomas, an art history major who is engaged to a young woman back home to whom he is trying very hard to stay true. Robert also learns that Melissa is blackmailing other students who she has discovered are involved in a variety of indiscretions. In fact, Melissa is not well liked by anyone except for Calley, a lesbian who is in love with her.

A reunion, planned for one year after the study abroad trip concludes, ends in tragedy when a student is shot to death at a late night beer party at a sand pit used for drinking and skinny dipping by the local young people.

Three shots have been fired and the police have two prime suspects, plus one person who, by their own admission, fired the first shot which was probably not fatal. The problem is that the first shooter, has committed suicide and left a note that is ambiguous as to who fired the second and third fatal shots.

  

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.

A Kindle Mystery for $1.99: Left at Oz, A Jennifer Connors Mystery by Sandra Carey Cody

Amazon is offering 80 Kindle Books for $1.99 as part of a promotion that extends until April 16th, 2014.

Most of these 80 books are mystery, thriller or suspense titles, and we are pleased to feature one of them, below.

(Price verified on April 13, 2014 as of 4:00 PM ET.)

— ♦ —

Left at Oz by Sandra Carey Cody
A Jennifer Connors Mystery (4th in series)
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

As crazy as Jennie Connors is about her handsome husband, she dreads his reaction when she tells him her car has been stolen. When she discovers a message on her answering machine hinting that the vehicle was left at Oz, she jumps at the chance to find the car before he returns from the West Coast. Following directions given in the message, Jennie finds the car and the body of Robin Langley, the babysitter for the Connors' two young sons.

What motive could anyone have for killing Robin? Why steal the Connors' car to hide the body, then leave a message directing Jennie to it? Fearing that a direct threat to her family is behind the sinister events, Jennie determines to find the killer herself.

  

A Killing Notion by Melissa Bourbon, New in Bookstores in April 2014

Today's featured paperback original mystery title, scheduled to be published during April 2014 by Signet, is A Killing Notion by Melissa Bourbon.

For a list of more new paperback mysteries, thrillers, and novels of suspense published this month, visit our Mystery Bookshelf page for April 2014. For hardcover titles, visit New Mysteries for a selection of books published during April 2014.

— ♦ —

A Killing Notion
Melissa Bourbon
Series: A Harlow Jane Cassidy, Magical Dressmaking Mystery

Harlow Jane Cassidy is swamped with homecoming couture requests. If only she didn’t have to help solve a murder, she might get the gowns off the dress forms …

Harlow is doing everything she can to expand her dressmaking business, Buttons & Bows — without letting clients know about her secret charm. When she has a chance to create homecoming dresses with a local charity and handmade mums for several high school girls — including Gracie, whose father, Will, has mended Harlow's heart — she is ready to use her magical talents for a great cause.

But when Gracie's date for the dance is accused of murder, Harlow knows things won't be back on course until she helps Gracie clear the football player's name. If Harlow can't patch up this mess before the big game, her business and her love life might be permanently benched.

        

Open Road Mysteries for $1.99: Blood of Paradise, A Crime Thriller by David Corbett

Open Road has discounted 25 titles to just $1.99 as part of their Mystery Deals promotion to celebrate the Edgar Awards.

Titles include winners, nominees, books by Grand Masters and those receiving special Edgars, and we are pleased to feature one of them, below.

(Price verified on April 13, 2014 as of 3:00 PM ET.)

— ♦ —

Blood of Paradise by David Corbett
A Crime Thriller
Publisher: Open Road

In El Salvador, a young American faces his troubled past — and a dangerous present …

Jude McManus has landed on his feet. Following time in the army, he scored work as an “executive protection specialist” in El Salvador, where he safeguards a hydrologist for good money and gets to surf during his downtime. But this slice of paradise comes with post-civil-war dangers, and distance won't erase his cruel memories of Chicago. Ten years earlier, his cop father was outed as part of the Laugh Masters, a group of police officers investigated for robbing and brutally beating drug dealers. In the wake of the scandal, the family fell apart, and his father died under suspicious circumstances.

When McManus gets a call from Bill Malvasio — one of his dad's closest friends and an escaped member of the Laugh Masters, now living in El Salvador — the past comes knocking in a big way. Malvasio opens up about what really happened, and seeks help for another member of McManus's father's old crew. Is the disgraced ex-cop being straight with McManus? Hidden corruption abounds, and it will take all of McManus's wits to come away with the truth — and his life — intact.

  

The Axe Factor by Colin Cotterill, New in Bookstores in April 2014

Today's new hardcover mystery title, scheduled to be published during April 2014 by Minotaur Books, is The Axe Factor by Colin Cotterill.

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

— ♦ —

The Axe Factor
Colin Cotterill
Series: Jimm Juree (3rd)

Since Jimm Juree moved, under duress, with her family to a rural village on the coast of Southern Thailand, she misses the bright lights of Chiang Mai. Most of all, she’s missed her career as a journalist, which was just getting started. In Chiang Mai, she was covering substantial stories and major crimes. But here in Maprao, Jimm has to scrape assignments from the local online journal, the Chumphon Gazette—and be happy about it when she gets one. This time they are sending her out to interview a local farang (European) writer, a man in his late fifties, originally from England, who writes award-winning crime novels, one Conrad Coralbank.

At the same time, several local women have left town without a word to anyone, leaving their possessions behind. These include the local doctor, Dr. Sumlak, who never returned from a conference, and the Thai wife of that farang writer, the aforementioned Conrad Coralbank. All of which looks a little suspicious, especially to Jimm’s grandfather, an ex-cop, who notices Coralbank’s interest in Jimm with a very jaundiced eye. With a major storm headed their way and a potential serial killer on the loose, it looks like Jimm Juree, her eccentric family, and the whole town of Maprao is in for some major changes.

        

A Kindle Mystery for $1.99: The Montauk Mystery, The Montauk Series by Diane Sawyer

Amazon is offering 80 Kindle Books for $1.99 as part of a promotion that extends until April 16th, 2014.

Most of these 80 books are mystery, thriller or suspense titles, and we are pleased to feature one of them, below.

(Price verified on April 13, 2014 as of 2:00 PM ET.)

— ♦ —

The Montauk Mystery by Diane Sawyer
The Montauk Series (1st in series)
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

When rich boy Matt Revington offers Annie Devane a summer job on an archeological expedition to nearby Shell Islands, she had no reason to think her safety would be compromised. The former home of the Montauk Indians is a beautiful, unspoiled group of islands which developers are itching to take out of the hands of local environmentalists.

However, Annie soon discovers the group's true mission. Furthermore, the fate of the islands depend on whether Matt and Annie live to talk about the startling discovery that they make.

  

In Broad Daylight, A Psychological Thriller by Seth Harwood, at a Special Price during April 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 In Broad Daylight by Seth Harwood. This Kindle book was listed at $1.99 as of the date and time of this post, Sunday, April 13, 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.

— ♦ —

In Broad Daylight by Seth Harwood
A Psychological Thriller
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

FBI agent Jess Harding treks back to Anchorage to hunt down a sadistic killer who's reemerged from a five-year hiatus — a killer who has already slipped her grasp once before. The endless days of an Alaskan summer can't thwart the fiend's plans as he slashes his way through the rural community, where everyone knows your name and always distrusts the outside.

With the help of Oscar Linstrom, an old colleague who wants to be more than friends, Jess attempts to immerse herself in the area's culture, leading her to a strange rural village inhabited by Russian Old Believers hell-bent on protecting their way of life. Even the locals are outsiders to the Old Believers, and Jess needs a safehaven in the glare of daylight because a blood-stained message left at the scene of the most recent murder says Jess is no longer the hunter — but the hunted.

  

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 Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense: Wrongly Accused by Laura Scott

Every month Harlequin publishes several new novels of mystery and suspense. We are pleased to present in this post one of its new April, 2014 titles, published in the Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense series.

— ♦ —

Wrongly Accused by Laura Scott
A SWAT: Top Cops Novel
Publisher: Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense
Publication Date: April 01, 2014
List Price: $5.99 (ebook), $5.99 (paperback)

Only one thing matters to Caleb O'Malley: his daughter. Framed for his wife's murder, Caleb's only wish is to see his little girl. But Noelle Whitman, his daughter's foster mother, isn't buying his plea of innocence until bullets start flying and they're running for their lives.

Staying one step ahead of the real killer proves nearly impossible, but former SWAT cop Caleb will risk everything to keep them safe. Because now there is nothing more important than Noelle and his daughter — not his freedom, not even his life.