This week's Amazon TV Deal of the Week is Season Sets of Blue Bloods and Criminal Minds.
The first 3 seasons of Blue Bloods ($16.99 to $22.99) and the first 8 seasons of Criminal Minds ($12.49 to $22.99) are on sale this week.
This week only, save up to 78% on these season DVD sets. Offer ends May 3rd, 2014.
with R. Scott Mackey
We are delighted to welcome back author R. Scott Mackey to Omnimystery News.
Scott visited with us last month with an excerpt from his first in series mystery Courage Matters (RSM Publishing; February 2014 hardcover and ebook formats) and we asked him if we could follow up with a few questions about it.
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Omnimystery News: You've written both non-fiction and young adult books. What promoted you to create a fictional series character?
Photo provided courtesy of
R. Scott Mackey
R. Scott Mackey: Mainly I wanted to create a character that readers could connect with initially with the first book and then watch him evolve based on his past and from the experiences he encounters on the pages of the book. I think readers will be surprised and pleased with the evolution of Ray's character from book one to the second and third books. He definitely turns out to be quite different in the later books than where he starts out in Courage Matters as a fledgling PI. The other characters that I've introduced in Courage Matters will also change and grow in directions that most readers may not see coming. To me that is the challenge — and fun — of creating a series with recurring characters.
OMN: Give us a hint as to how you see Ray evolving as a character.
RSM: Ray starts out quite naïve as a rookie PI. By the end of Courage Matters he has experienced a lot. When the second book opens he is not the innocent he was at the outset of book one. I don't want to give too much away, but by the end of book two Ray will have little resemblance to who he was at the beginning of Courage Matters.
OMN: Have you included any of your own personal or professional experience in the book?
RSM: Only some of the basic elements. The book is set in a part of the country where I live. The main character is about my age and he is a former college professor, though in my case I was just a part-time instructor. Everything else in the book is constructed entirely from my imagination.
OMN: Describe your writing process for us.
RSM: I don't really have a standard place or time for my writing. I prefer to write during the day rather than in the evenings. Sometimes I sit at my desk and write, while other times I prefer to go to a library or coffee shop. On occasion I will go to a place similar to a setting in the book so that I can capture some details or nuances. When I'm on a book project I tend to be pretty disciplined about getting something down every day.
OMN: Your first book was a non-fiction history about baseball. What interested you about that subject?
RSM: Well, I love baseball and I love writing so I thought it would be a great match. The challenge was finding a baseball subject that hadn't been written about extensively and which I could do a decent job of covering. I think I did that. Barbary Baseball does a good job of chronicling 1920s west coast baseball in a way that hadn't been done before or since. The research was exhausting but it was so much fun learning about the people and places that made up the Pacific Coast League back then. I would like to keep writing non-fiction when I can. In fact, I am currently researching and hope to start writing later this year a book about the Heisman Trophy race of 1970.
OMN: Do you plan on writing any more young adult novels?
RSM: I really like the YA genre and believe some of the best literature we have has come from it. However, for now I have enough on my plate that I don't see myself writing a YA novel anytime soon.
OMN: What kinds of books do you enjoy reading for pleasure?
RSM: While I read both fiction and non-fiction, probably ninety percent of what I read are novels. I prefer mysteries, but anything well-written can captivate me. Recent reads have included Beautiful Ruins and The Financial Lives of Poets by Jess Walter and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I really enjoyed Stephen King's Joyland, which I just finished.
OMN: What is the best advice you've received as an author?
RSM: Keep writing and keep trying to get better. Baseball and writing have a lot in common in that most of the time you will fail. In baseball that translates into striking out or hitting into a double play. In writing you will receive 20 rejections or more for each "yes" you get from a publisher. You can't let it get you down and have to keep plugging away.
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R. Scott Mackey is the author of four books, including Barbary Baseball: The Pacific Coast League of the 1920s and the young adult novels Blood Runs Deep and The Bugfish Experiment. Courage Matters, the first in a planned series featuring private investigator Ray Courage, is set in Northern California, where Mackey makes his home.
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Courage Matters
R. Scott Mackey
A Ray Courage Mystery
Rookie Private Investigator Ray Courage is asked by "Stockbroker to the Stars" Lionel Stroud to investigate an employee who's been acting suspiciously. Ray soon learns that not everything is as it appears at Stroud's firm.
When his investigation uncovers a possible Ponzi Scheme orchestrated by Stroud himself, two people are murdered and Ray becomes Suspect Number One. Ray needs to find answers fast to avoid prison … or death at the hands of the killer.
Complicating his efforts are threats from the son of a Mexican drug lord, hostility from an octogenarian with a penchant for lap dances, harassment from a cop bent on putting Ray away for life, and a rekindled love affair with Stroud's daughter.
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Death by the Glass by Nadia Gordon as today's Nook Daily Find.
The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Sunday, April 27, 2014.
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Death by the Glass
Nadia Gordon
A Sunny McCoskey, Napa Valley Mystery
Chronicle Books
High-stakes wine fraud and murder disguised as a heart attack compel Sunny McCoskey to again toss aside her chef's apron and don the role of sleuth. When the list of suspects includes her new lover, the celebrity chef at a posh Napa Valley eatery, the personal risks of her investigation rise dramatically.
With the same eclectic crew of gourmet friends and sassy co-workers who helped her in Sharpshooter, Sunny proves that she has a nose for crime as well as for a good Cabernet Sauvignon.
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.
MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Line by J. D. Horn as today's Fantasy Suspense Kindle Daily Deal.
The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Sunday, April 27, 2014.
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The Line
J. D. Horn
A Witching Savannah Novel
47North
Savannah is considered a Southern treasure, a city of beauty with a rich, colorful past. Some might even call it magical …
To the uninitiated, Savannah shows only her bright face and genteel manner. Those who know her well, though, can see beyond her colonial trappings and small-city charm to a world where witchcraft is respected, Hoodoo is feared, and spirits linger. Mercy Taylor is all too familiar with the supernatural side of Savannah, being a member of the most powerful family of witches in the South.
Despite being powerless herself, of course.
Having grown up without magic of her own, in the shadow of her talented and charismatic twin sister, Mercy has always thought herself content. But when a series of mishaps — culminating in the death of the Taylor matriarch — leaves a vacuum in the mystical underpinnings of Savannah, she finds herself thrust into a mystery that could shake her family apart … and unleash a darkness the line of Taylor witches has been keeping at bay for generations.
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.
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Snapshot by Lis Wiehl as today's Kindle Daily Deal.
The deal price of $2.99 is valid only for today, Sunday, April 27, 2014.
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Snapshot
Lis Wiehl
A Novel of Suspense
Thomas Nelson
Two little girls, frozen in black and white. One picture worth killing for.
The Civil Rights Movement is less than a distant memory to Lisa Waldren — it is someone else's memory altogether, passed on to her through the pages of history. Her life as a federal prosecutor in Boston feels utterly remote from the marches in the South that changed her father's generation — and the entire nation — forever.
But the truth is, she was there.
When a photograph surfaces showing a blond, four-year-old Lisa playing with an African-American girl at a civil rights march in Fort Worth, Lisa is faced with a jarring revelation: the girls may have been the only witnesses who observed the killer of civil rights leader Benjamin Gray … and therefore the only ones who can exonerate the death row inmate falsely accused of the murder.
Soon, Lisa finds herself in the dangerous world her father had shielded her from as a child. After some searching, the Waldrens find the other little girl from the photo and, in the process, uncover conspiracy mere steps away from the likes of Bobby Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and J. Edgar Hoover.
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.
Here is today's mystery and suspense update from Big Fish Games …
• The New Release is The Secret Order: Ancient Times (Collector's Edition).
• The Daily Deal is Phenomenon: Meteorite, just $2.99 today only!
• The current Catch of the Week is Mystery of the Ancients: Curse of the Black Water, just $2.99 through Sunday, April 28, 2014 only.
• Today's Special Deal — This weekend only: Buy One Collector's Edition and Get a Second for Just $1.99! Select two Collector's Editions games, use coupon code FIND199 and the second game will be just $1.99. Use as many times as you'd like. Offer valid through April 27th, 2014 only until 11:59 PM PT.
Visit the Omnimystery Entertainment Network for more games of mystery and suspense!
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The New Release today is The Secret Order: Ancient Times (Collector's Edition)
You have been summoned to the headquarters of the Order of the Griffin, but the place is in a state of chaos when you arrive. The artifacts you recovered in your last adventure have become unstable, breaking down reality and trapping your father! Now you must travel back in time to destroy the artifacts before the reaction destroys the world. Can you track down the mysterious kingdom where the artifacts were made and save the future from destruction? Hop aboard the Royal Griffin to find out in this thrilling Hidden Object Puzzle adventure game!
This is a special Collector's Edition release full of exclusive extras you won't find in the standard version, including: Save Aeronheart from a dangerous force in the bonus game; Gorgeous wallpapers and concept art; Replayable puzzles and mini-games; and An available Strategy Guide.
A sample version is available to download and play for free for one hour.
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Today's Daily Deal is Phenomenon: Meteorite
Discover the extraordinary truth about your family's past! Twenty years ago, your parents left you on the doorstep of a kind family and fled for their lives into the pouring rain. Now you've been given a clue to their whereabouts — an uncharted island, where a strange meteorite landed centuries ago. What secrets does the island hold about you and your family? Find out in this stunning Hidden Object Adventure game!
A sample version is available to download and play for free for one hour. You can purchase this game today only — Sunday, April 27, 2014 — for $2.99.
Also available for this game:
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The current Catch of the Week is Mystery of the Ancients: Curse of the Black Water
You travel to the remote island town of Black Water, investigating the mysterious disappearance of two archaeologists when you encounter a mythical monster straight from the ancient myths of Poseidon! What cursed secrets have these archaeologists unearthed beneath the town? Now it's up to you to save the world from falling into a curse of eternal darkness! Uncover the truth lurking deep below the island's darkening waters.
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 28, 2014.
Also available for this game:
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Bad Men by John Connolly, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Atria Books.
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 (04/26/2014 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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Bad Men by John Connolly
A Suspense Thriller
Publisher: Atria Books
In 1693, the settlers on the small Maine island of Sanctuary were betrayed to their enemies and slaughtered. Since then, the island has known three hundred years of peace. Until now …
A group of men are descending on Sanctuary, their purpose to hunt down and kill the wife of their leader and retrieve the money that she stole from him. All that stands in their way are a young rookie officer, Sharon Macy, and Melancholy Joe Dupree, the island's strange, troubled policeman.
Joe Dupree is no ordinary policeman. He is the guardian of the island's secrets, the repository of its memories. He knows that Sanctuary has been steeped in blood once; it will tolerate the shedding of innocent blood no longer. Now a band of killers is set to desecrate Sanctuary and unleash the fury of its ghosts upon themselves and all who stand by them.
On Sanctuary, evil is about to meet its match …
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.
Every so often Amazon releases a new selection of Kindle books priced up to 85% off as part of The Big Deal Promotion.
Today's featured mystery, suspense, or thriller title is Marfa Shadows by John DeMers. This Kindle book was listed at $0.99 as of the date and time of this post, Saturday, April 26, 2014 at 4:30 PM ET, and should be available at this price through Sunday, May 11, 2014.
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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Marfa Shadows by John DeMers
A Brett Baldwin Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Bright Sky Press
Brett Baldwin is a Texas chef who keeps his life, his emotions, and especially his restaurant Mesquite under careful control. But, when Meridyth Morgan, a Hollywood star and Brett's high school love interest, shows up in Marfa, Texas, and begs him to help find her missing brother and then is kidnapped herself, Brett soon finds himself in a world of drug smuggling, human trafficking, corruption, extortion, and murder.
With the support from his best friend Jud Garcia, an orphaned Native American who raises bison and enjoys smoking illegal substances, Brett embarks on a dangerous journey to reunite with Meridyth and must confront some unfinished childhood business that, no matter how famous he became as a chef, had kept him from truly becoming a 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.
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Appraisal for Murder by Elaine Orr, now available at a special price, courtesy of the author.
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 (04/26/2014 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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Appraisal for Murder by Elaine Orr
A Jolie Gentil Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Elaine Orr
If your name translates to "pretty nice" in French, you've probably gotten used to teasing. It doesn't prepare you to find out that your soon-to-be-ex-husband has a gambling problem, raided your assets, and embezzled from his bank. Jolie Gentil moves to Great Aunt Madge's bed and breakfast at the Jersey shore, taking her cat Jazz, and joining Madge's pair of prune-eating dogs. Jolie does not view this as a retreat, just a smart change. She had no idea her life was about to get even more complicated.
Jolie settles into the rhythm of late fall in a beach town and finds a work as a real estate appraiser with Aunt Madge's friend Harry Steele. But a low-life named Joe Pedone demands that Jolie repay some of her husband's gambling debts and she runs into Michael Riordan, her high school crush — she's not sure which one is more trouble. Michael's good-looking but arrogant, and when she appraises his mother's house and finds Mrs. Riordan dead in bed she's not sure what to think.
At the Riordan home after the funeral, Jolie becomes begins to think that Aunt Madge is right — Michael couldn't have murdered his mother. The police disagree. His mother's death leaves him as owner of the house, adding greatly to the wealth of the estate he is to inherit. After the funeral they arrest Michael.
Soon, the mundane work of appraising real estate and dodging suggestions that she go to the 10-year high school reunion become mixed with calls from reporters, scary suggestions from Pedone, and requests that she help the local busybody with First Presbyterian's social services work. Jolie also runs into Scoobie, the high school friend she hung out with most. With his blue jeans and longer hair, he's the antithesis of oil company executive Michael, and much easier to be with. His haunting poetry reflects how different his life has been since Jolie knew him.
Scoobie cuts Michael no slack. Still, with Aunt Madge upset that her late best friend's son stands accused of murder, Jolie looks for indications he's not guilty. Michael, out on bond, insists that Jolie leave his defense to his lawyer. If only she could.
Jolie takes Aunt Madge's dogs for a run on the boardwalk and runs into Pedone, who has Jolie's roughed-up ex-husband, Robby, in tow. Pedone wants his money, but the exuberant dogs call attention to Pedone's threats, so the thug leaves Robby with Jolie and Scoobie. He warns he'll be back.
Jolie balances her fear of Pedone, conviction that Michael is innocent, and sometimes uneasy friendship with Scoobie. Her growing list of other possible murder suspects includes Michael's soon-to-be-ex wife and a couple other beneficiaries of Mrs. Riordan's will. Those suspicions don't include Scoobie, but he makes it to the police department's list. Jolie plots other ways to prove both friends innocent. But will Pedone's plans leave Jolie alive to find the truth?
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.
Today's featured paperback original mystery title, scheduled to be published during April 2014 by Kensington, is Dead Giveaway by Joanne Fluke.
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.
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Dead Giveaway
Joanne Fluke
Series: A Novel of Suspense
A killer is waiting …
Ellen Wingate thinks she's hit the jackpot when she learns the millions she's inherited comes with a super-exclusive condo in the mountains outside of Las Vegas. But leaving Minnesota for paradise turns out to be the ultimate nightmare. Trapped with her neighbors in a freakish winter avalanche, a chilling discovery at the bottom of an indoor pool signals a frightening turn of events … A ruthless killer has infiltrated the Deer Creek Condos. With each killing more terrifying than the last, the panicked survivors face almost certain death. Their only hope is to band together to escape the unrelenting pursuit of a deadly intruder, but trusting each other could be their most fatal instinct …
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 26, 2014 as of 3:00 PM ET.)
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Clandestine by James Ellroy
A Suspense Thriller
Publisher: Open Road
A murder investigation nearly drives a beat cop to madness …
Despite the sunshine, high necklines, and demure purity of its silver-screen goddesses, Los Angeles in the 1950s is not a gentle place. Even as a young cop, Freddy Underhill knows this. Patrolling one of L.A.’s roughest districts, he sees the lust, rage, and madness that permeate the city—and stands in wonder and dismay at it all. He covers the beat with his partner Wacky Walker, a World War II veteran with a Medal of Honor, a drinking problem, and a serious obsession with death.
When an old flame of Freddy’s is murdered, the investigation takes them deep into the shadiest part of the city, where Freddy will have to embrace the darkness if he wants to emerge with his life.
Today's new hardcover mystery title, scheduled to be published during April 2014 by Soho Crime, is The Marathon Conspiracy by Gary Corby.
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.
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The Marathon Conspiracy
Gary Corby
Series: Nicolaos, Ancient Greece (4th)
Nicolaos, Classical Athens's favorite sleuth, and his partner in investigation, the clever ex-priestess Diotima, have taken time out of their assignments to come home to get married. But if Nico was hoping they'd be able to get hitched without a hitch, he was overly optimistic. When they arrive in Athens, there's a problem waiting for them.
The Sanctuary of Artemis is the ancient world's most famous school for girls. When one of the children is killed, apparently by a bear, and another girl disappears in the night, Diotima's childhood teacher asks her former pupil to help them. Diotima is honor-bound to help her old school.
Meanwhile a skull discovered in a cave not far from the sanctuary has proven to be the remains of the last tyrant to rule Athens. The Athenians fought the Battle Marathon to keep this man out of power. He was supposed to have died thirty years ago, in faraway Persia. What are his remains doing outside the city walls?
Nico's boss, the great Athenian statesman Pericles, wants answers, and he wants Nico to find them.
What makes it all so ominous is that the skull was discovered by the two students of the Sanctuary of Artemis who are dead and missing.
What does a decades-dead tyrant have to do with two young girls? Where is the missing child? Is a killer bear really lurking beyond the walls of Athens? And who is the mysterious stranger who's trying to kill Nico and Diotima? Can the sleuths solve the interlocked crimes and save a child before their wedding?
Every so often Amazon releases a new selection of Kindle books priced up to 85% off as part of The Big Deal Promotion.
Today's featured mystery, suspense, or thriller title is The Case of the Velvet Claws by Erle Stanley Gardner. This Kindle book was listed at $0.99 as of the date and time of this post, Saturday, April 26, 2014 at 2:00 PM ET, and should be available at this price through Sunday, May 11, 2014.
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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The Case of the Velvet Claws by Erle Stanley Gardner
A Perry Mason Novel
Publisher: Della Street Press
Thanks to a bungled robbery at a fancy hotel, the already-married Eva Griffin has been caught in the company of a prominent congressman. To protect the politico, Eva's ready to pay the editor of a sleazy tabloid his hush money. But Perry Mason has other plans. He tracks down the phantom fat cat who secretly runs the blackmailing tabloid — only to discover a shocking scoop.
By the time Mason's comely client finally comes clean, her husband has taken a bullet in the heart. Now Perry Mason has two choices: represent the cunning widow in her wrangle for the dead man's money — or take the rap for murder.
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.
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