Murder at Volcano House by Chip Hughes is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature …

Murder at Volcano House by Chip Hughes

A Surfing Detective Mystery

Publisher: Chip Hughes

… as today's free mystery ebook.

  

This title was listed for free as of August 24, 2014 at 7:00 AM ET. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of the 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.

More on today's free book, below.

Kai Cooke comes to the Volcano House for his strangest case yet — protecting the CEO of a geothermal venture from the wrath of Pele, legendary goddess of volcanoes. Rex Ransom is here in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park to attend the funeral for his second employee to die mysteriously in Pele's domain. His wife sees a pattern and fears that Rex, having offended Pele by drilling in her sacred rainforest, is next.

Kai is not so sure. But his faith in common sense receives a jolt when Ransom turns up in a steam vent, boiled alive. Kai investigates and finds others besides Pele who might want Ransom dead. An ex-wife, a former business partner, an anti-drilling activist, a loony woman who fancies herself Pele's sister, and more.

Did the goddess herself strike down Ransom? Or is the answer closer to home?

— Murder at Volcano House by Chip Hughes

The First Five Books in the Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris is Today's Kindle Daily Deal

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature The First Five Books in the Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris as today's Kindle Daily Deal.

The deal price of $1.99 each is valid only for today, Sunday, August 24, 2014. We're hightlighting the first book in the series in this post.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

A Sookie Stackhouse, Southern Vampire Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Ace

Price: $1.99 (as of 08/24/2014 at 6:20 AM ET).

  

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of "disability." She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He's tall, dark, handsome — and Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life …

But Bill has a disability of his own: He's a vampire with a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of — big surprise — murder. And when one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next …

— Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Butterfly Palace by Colleen Coble is Today's Romantic Suspense Kindle Daily Deal

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature Butterfly Palace by Colleen Coble as today's Romantic Suspense Kindle Daily Deal.

The deal price of $2.99 is valid only for today, Sunday, August 24, 2014.

Butterfly Palace by Colleen Coble

A Novel of Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Price: $2.99 (as of 08/24/2014 at 6:10 AM ET).

  

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Austin, Texas — 1904: Abandoned by the love of her life and still mourning the loss of her mother, Lily Donaldson has turned her back on the pain and come to Austin for a fresh start, working for the Marshall family as a kitchen maid in their luxurious mansion, the Butterfly Palace. The tasks before her are legion, and her mistress less than pleasant, but at least Lily's new life will be, if nothing else, distracting.

But one night, while serving at a dinner party, Lily recognizes the man who abandoned her, Andy, her liaison from the livery stable, the blacksmith's son … sitting among the distinguished guests. Though he recognizes her, Andy does not acknowledge her aloud, and Lily is left reeling, flabbergasted, and irate.

But before she can get an explanation, the path of the Servant Girl Killer swerves very close to the Butterfly Palace, sowing terror among the maids. Having come to Austin to start anew, Lily suddenly feels trapped in a spider web. How can she know who to trust in a house where lies come dressed in fine suits and deceit in silk gowns the colors of butterfly wings?

— Butterfly Palace by Colleen Coble

Today's Mystery and Suspense Update from Big Fish Games (140824)

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

• Our Featured Title is Age of Enigma: The Secret of the Sixth Ghost.

• The Daily Deal is Nearwood, just $2.99 today only!

• The current Catch of the Week is Lake House: Children of Silence, just $2.99 through Sunday, August 24, 2014 only.

• Today's Special Deal — This weekend only: All Standard and Collector's Edition Games are 50% Off! Use coupon code SUMMER to get any Collector's Edition game for just $9.99; use coupon code SALE50 to get any Standard game for just $4.99. Offer valid through August 24th, 2014 only until 11:59 PM PT.

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

— ♦ —

Our Featured Title is Age of Enigma: The Secret of the Sixth Ghost

Help the ghostly inhibitants of a haunted house as you venture into the beyond and discover the secret of the 6th ghost! Mysteriously summoned to a house you have seen only in your nightmares, you will encounter the dark and inscrutable Nathan and help the ghosts held captive there. Explore this spooky Adventure game and escape from hell!

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

Also available for this game:

• Check out the Blog Walkthrough

— ♦ —

Today's Daily Deal is Nearwood

Can a young woman single-handedly change the fate of a magical kingdom? Set out on a voyage with Jane Lockwood into a mysterious world of danger and adventure, into a whirlwind of magic and wonder! As you encounter a host of unusual and amusing creatures and help them in their troubles, you will inch closer and closer to your final goal — finding Jane's long-lost parents, all the while freeing the great and wise Time Keepers from the grip of oblivion. Find out why time came to a standstill, and drive the ancient evil out of Nearwood once and for all! Bring back peace and quiet to the land! Save Nearwood!

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

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 Lake House: Children of Silence

Long-forgotten memories bubble to the surface when the past invades the present! Located at the edge of a gloomy lake and shrouded in fog, the house at the center of this story has stood empty for 15 years. Beckoned by what appears to be a ghost, a woman who lived there as a child returns to the house to solve a mystery that begins with an old photograph and ends in a secret room. Find hidden objects, solve puzzles and prepare yourself for an ending that will take you to a place darker than you can imagine!

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

Also available for this game:

• For a more in-depth experience, see the Collector's Edition.

Review: Close To the Broken Hearted by Michael Hiebert

A Mysterious Review of Close To the Broken Hearted by Michael Hiebert.

Review summary: Far more literary fiction than genre fiction, this is not a fast-paced novel nor a particularly suspenseful one, but it does tend to draw the reader in. The mystery storyline is very thin and takes a long time to develop, but on balance, this is an interesting, if not completely satisfactory, book. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Close To the Broken Hearted
Michael Hiebert
Kensington (June 2014)

Publisher synopsis: At twenty-two, Sylvie Carson has known a lifetime's worth of trouble. When she was a child, her baby brother was shot to death by a man named Preacher Eli. Orphaned by her teens, Sylvie is now raising her own baby with no partner in sight. For all these reasons, Leah Teal, Alvin, Alabama's only detective, tries to stay patient when Sylvie calls the station day and night, always with some new false alarm. But now Preacher Eli is out of prison and moving back to town.

As far as the law is concerned, the old man has paid his dues--though Leah's twelve-year-old son, Abe, vehemently disagrees. Between that and his relentless curiosity about the daddy he hardly knew, Abe's imagination is running in all directions lately. While Leah struggles with how much of the past to reveal to Abe, she's also concerned about Sylvie's mounting panic. Something in her gut tells her the girl might be a target after all. For as Leah knows well, there's danger not just in the secrets others keep from us, but in the lies that corrupt from within. It's a hunch that will be tested soon enough, as tensions mount on both sides.

        

Telemystery News: ABC Developing a Television Series Based on Richard Castle's Derrick Storm Thrillers

ABC is developing a drama series based on the Derrick Storm thrillers by Richard Castle, a (fictional) bestselling author created by the network and featured in its television crime drama Castle. Storm, introduced in 2013 in the novel Storm Front, is "the guy the CIA calls on when it wants something investigated domestically".

Castle creator Andrew Marlowe is executive producing under his overall deal with ABC Studios, along with his wife, Terri Miller, who also works on the series. Missing creator Gregory Poirier will write the script.

Storm Front by Richard Castle

A Derrick Storm Thriller (1st in series)

Publisher: Hyperion

  

More about this book, below …

From Tokyo, to Bonn, to London, high-level bankers are being tortured and murdered. The killer, caught in a fleeting glimpse on a surveillance camera, has been described as a psychopath with an eye patch. And that means Gregor Volkov, Derrick Storm's old nemesis, has returned.

Knowing only one man can match Volkov's strength and cunning, the CIA calls on Storm to track him down, figure out who he's working for and why. With the help of a beautiful and mysterious foreign agent, Storm discovers a plot that could destroy the global economy bringing with it untold chaos and the time he has to stop it is running short.

— Storm Front by Richard Castle

New This Week: Under a Paper Moon, A Dotsie Bradbury, Polka Dot Mystery by J. M. Spear

Omnimystery News is pleased to present 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 August 2014 and priced $4.99 or less …

Under a Paper Moon by J. M. Spear

A Dotsie Bradbury, Polka Dot Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Pitch Pine Publishing

Price: $0.99 (as of 08/23/2014 at 5:00 PM ET).

  

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Dotsie Bradbury thought she had fine-tuned the recipe for a perfect life — marry a loving man, live on a quiet lake and open Polkadot's Café and Catering. That was until she was hired by the Anderson's, seasonal residents on the big lake, to cater their daughter's late-summer wedding. She thought her biggest worry was the bridezilla quotient, but instead, the appetizer turns out to be the brother of the bride's arraignment, the salad course a family brawl and the rest of the family quickly find their way into the soup. Then when someone adds murder to the dessert menu, Dotsie decides to add sleuth to her catering services.

Enlisting her longtime pal Alex, Dotsie uses her charms, wit and pantry full of town gossip to solve the crime. All the while careful the murderer doesn't make her the main course …

— Under a Paper Moon by J. M. Spear

New This Week: Evil in Return, A Suspense Thriller by Weyman Jones

Omnimystery News is pleased to present 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 August 2014 and priced $4.99 or less …

Evil in Return by Weyman Jones

A Suspense Thriller

Publisher: Five Star

Price: $3.99 (as of 08/23/2014 at 4:30 PM ET).

  

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

A contemporary Cherokee is obsessed with his ancient obligation to avenge the murder of his clansmen. He plans to display his revenge murders on YouTube to reawaken the passions of his people. He captures a young woman to help him target her estranged husband.

As their relationship develops, she is faced with agonizing choices. The tension builds as both the Cherokee and his intended victim prepare for a showdown that results in consequences neither had expected.

— Evil in Return by Weyman Jones

Fatal Tide, The East Salem Trilogy by Lis Wiehl with Pete Nelson, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy. Today, we're pleased to feature the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Thomas Nelson …

Fatal Tide by Lis Wiehl with Pete Nelson

The East Salem Trilogy (3rd in series)

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Price: $0.99 (as of 08/23/2014 at 4:00 PM ET).

  

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

In East Salem, the elite St. Adrian's Academy is at the nexus of a satanic apocalypse — and the fatal tide is rising …

When Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights is reunited with the pagans who commissioned it, a dark prophecy begins to unfold in East Salem, beginning with a savage double-murder by hellish creatures straight out of the painting itself. The lone survivor of the attack, a seventeen-year-old Brit, finds sanctuary at Tommy Gunderson's home — and the place is soon surrounded by demons who seem to be biding their time … but for how long?

Tommy's pond has been contaminated with Provivilan — an insidious drug that could transform New York City's children into an army of violence-addicted murderers. But for an occult cabal in the upper echelons of Linz Pharmaceuticals, contaminating the water supply is just part of an ancient conspiracy against all of humankind.

As the clouds gather, Tommy and Dani realize they must infiltrate Linz and St. Adrian's to stop the dissemination of Provivilan. Even then, it could take a tangible eruption of the battle between angels and demons to save humanity from the supernatural evils that have been summoned to East Salem.

— Fatal Tide by Lis Wiehl with Pete Nelson

New This Week: Dismembering the Past, A Matti McAllister, PI Mystery by Helen Ginger

Omnimystery News is pleased to present 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 August 2014 and priced $4.99 or less …

Dismembering the Past by Helen Ginger

A Matti McAllister, PI Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: High Canyon Books

Price: $2.99 (as of 08/23/2014 at 3:30 PM ET).

  

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Mable Blechman, 67, disappears and Private Investigator Matti McAllister is hired to find her. When Mabel's hand turns up displayed in Matti's yard, the FBI move in to corral both Matti and the Texas Butcher, who always kills three women in every town he visits then displays their body parts in increasingly bizarre and prominent places. Matti and the FBI race to find him before he completes his killing spree in Mesquite Cove, the fifth town he's targeted.

While the FBI studies the pieces the Butcher leaves behind, Matti tries to discover why Mabel did the strange things she did before she was taken, which isn't easy since Matti's being tracked by both the FBI and the Texas Butcher.

— Dismembering the Past by Helen Ginger

Stranger Things, A Novel of Suspense by Erin Healy, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy. Today, we're pleased to feature the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Thomas Nelson …

Stranger Things by Erin Healy

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Price: $0.99 (as of 08/23/2014 at 3:00 PM ET).

  

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

In the burnt-out hollow, a house of dark secrets and an eerie beauty beckon …

Serena Diaz's life is imploding. A troubled student has accused the young biology teacher of sexual misconduct, cutting off her promising career just as it was starting to blossom. But that's just the beginning of Serena's problems.

When a therapeutic walk in the woods leads her to a ruined house overtaken by criminals, Serena is assaulted and finds herself witness to the senseless murder of the one man who tries to help her.

Hurled into a world of false accusations and hounded by the press, Serena must confront evil itself to unravel the mysterious visions — and terrifying danger — that pursue her. But she can't ignore the most haunting question: Why would a mysterious stranger give his life to save hers?

The answer, if she can find it, will point the way to her freedom from evil men in a lascivious trade.

— Stranger Things by Erin Healy

Windigo Island by William Kent Krueger, New in Bookstores during August 2014

Today's featured new hardcover mystery, suspense, or thriller title scheduled to be published during August 2014 is …

Windigo Island by William Kent Krueger

The Cork O'Connor Series (14th)

Publisher: Atria Books

        

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

More about our featured title, below …

When the body of a teenage Ojibwe girl washes up on the shore of an island in Lake Superior, the residents of the nearby Bad Bluff reservation whisper that it was the work of a deadly mythical beast, the Windigo, or a vengeful spirit called Michi Peshu. Such stories have been told by the Ojibwe people for generations, but they don't explain how the girl and her friend, Mariah Arceneaux, disappeared a year ago. At the request of the Arceneaux family, Cork O'Connor, former sheriff turned private investigator, takes on the case.

But on the Bad Bluff reservation, nobody's talking. Still, Cork puts enough information together to find a possible trail. He learns that the old port city of Duluth is a modern-day center for sex trafficking of vulnerable women, many of whom are young Native Americans. As the investigation deepens, so does the danger.

Yet Cork holds tight to his higher purpose — his vow to find Mariah, an innocent fifteen-year-old girl whose family is desperate to get her back. With only the barest hope of saving her from men whose darkness rivals that of the legendary Windigo, Cork prepares for an epic battle that will determine whether it will be fear, or love, that truly conquers all.

— Windigo Island by William Kent Krueger

Telemystery News: Keanu Reeves to Star in Television Adaptation of Barry Eisler's John Rain Thrillers

Deadline is reporting that Keanu Reeves will play assassin John Rain in a television series based on the thrillers by Barry Eisler.

"We are extremely excited to be working on a beloved property with such a talented and hard-working actor as Keanu," said producer David Ellender. "This series will be the launch pad for the company and highlight our talent-focused, quality-based approach within the ever-changing and expanding television space."

A search is underway for a screenwriter to pen the script. Eight books in the series have been published, the first of which (originally published in 2002 and later adapted for the film Rain Fall) is A Clean Kill in Tokyo.

A Clean Kill in Tokyo by Barry Eisler

A John Rain Thriller (1st in series)

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Previously published as Rain Fall.

  

More about this book, below …

Name: John Rain.
Vocation: Assassin.
Specialty: Natural Causes.
Base of operations: Tokyo.
Availability: Worldwide.

Half American, half Japanese, expert in both worlds but at home in neither, John Rain is the best killer money can buy. You tell him who. You tell him where. He doesn't care about why …

Until he gets involved with Midori Kawamura, a beautiful jazz pianist — and the daughter of his latest kill.

— A Clean Kill in Tokyo by Barry Eisler

Hunted by Beverly Long, New from Harlequin Intrigue in August 2014

Omnimystery News is pleased to introduce a new mystery, suspense, or thriller title from Harlequin, published this month …

Hunted by Beverly Long

Series: The Men from Crow Hollow

Imprint: Intrigue

  

For more information about the book, see a synopsis, below.

An unexpected reunion turns into a life-and-death situation …

On the run for her life, Chandler McCann never expected to find Ethan Moore, her childhood crush, at her family's Rocky Mountain cabin. Although the former army helicopter pilot had grown up to be honorably protective — and ruggedly handsome — could she confess why she'd really come to this remote hideaway?

Ethan could tell there was more to Chandler's "visit" than she'd say, but with secrets of his own to safeguard, he understood. Still, with unknown assailants suddenly hot on their trail and a brutal snowstorm bearing down on them, Ethan knew he'd do anything to keep the emerald-eyed beauty safe. And keep their spontaneous reunion from ending.

— Hunted by Beverly Long

Murder al Dente, An Andy Buckland, Southern Pasta Shop Mystery by Jennifer L. Hart, New This Week from Gemma Halliday

Gemma Halliday Publishing is a boutique publisher of light-hearted mystery, romantic suspense and romantic comedy novels, perfect for popping into your beach bag for a weekend away or cozying up beside a warm fire for a quiet night in.

We've selected one of their recently published titles to feature here today …

Murder al Dente by Jennifer L. Hart

An Andy Buckland, Southern Pasta Shop Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Gemma Halliday

Price: $0.99 (as of 08/23/2014 at 1:00 PM ET).

  

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Pretty please with spaghetti on top?

Andy Buckland has always dreamed of being a chef. But after a live studio audience is stricken with food poisoning during her debut cooking show, she finds herself blacklisted in the culinary community. The only job open to her is working in her family's southern pasta shop, and, to make matters worse, her first assignment is serving baked ziti to her former lover and his spoiled bride-to-be at their engagement party!

But a broken heart and a bruised ego are the least of Andy's troubles when she discovers a dead body at the party with the words "welcome home" written in flour next to it. Is it a warning? A threat? Or a frame-up job? Andy is determined to find out.

With the help of her over-the-top Italian family, Andy will prove that she has what it takes to not only cook the best dish in town but also catch a killer, too!

— Murder al Dente by Jennifer L. Hart