Deadly in High Heels, A Maddie Springer, High Heels Mystery by Gemma Halliday, 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 …

Deadly in High Heels by Gemma Halliday

A Maddie Springer, High Heels Mystery (9th in series)

Publisher: Gemma Halliday Publishing

Price: $4.99 (as of 02/03/2015 at 4:30 PM ET).

  

When fashion designer Maddie Springer is invited to help style contestants in the Hawaiian Paradise Beauty Pageant, she jumps at the chance! The fantastic publicity coupled with a weeklong vacation with her best friends Marco and Dana, is a win-win. But trouble follows her to paradise when one of the beauty queens winds up dead. Is it a case of a personal grudge, a jealous contestant … or a jealous lover?

Between a pageant director on his way out, a soap star dazzling his way in, a violent anti-fashion protester, and a whole pageant full of competitive beauty queens, Maddie has her hands full sorting through suspects! Luckily for Maddie — or unluckily? — her wacky cast of friends and family, including LAPD Detective Jack Ramirez, are there to help her wade through motives more plentiful than pineapples at a luau.

With the televised crowning approaching, the danger escalating, and a killer on the loose, this is one beauty pageant that's about to turn ugly.

— Deadly in High Heels by Gemma Halliday

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The Judas Strain, A SIGMA Force Thriller by James Rollins, 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 present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, HarperCollins …

The Judas Strain by James Rollins

A SIGMA Force Thriller (4th in series)

Publisher: HarperCollins

Price: $3.99 (as of 02/03/2015 at 4:00 PM ET).

  

From the depths of the Indian Ocean, a horrific plague has arisen to devastate humankind — a disease that's unknown, unstoppable … and deadly. But it is merely a harbinger of the doom that is to follow. Aboard a cruise liner transformed into a makeshift hospital, Dr. Lisa Cummings and Monk Kokkalis — operatives of SIGMA Force — search for answers to the bizarre affliction. But there are others with far less altruistic intentions. In a savage and sudden coup, terrorists hijack the vessel, turning a mercy ship into a floating bio-weapons lab.

A world away, SIGMA's Commander Gray Pierce thwarts the murderous schemes of a beautiful would-be killer who holds the first clue to the discovery of a possible cure. Pierce joins forces with the woman who wanted him dead, and together they embark upon an astonishing quest following the trail of the most fabled explorer in history: Marco Polo. But time is an enemy as a worldwide pandemic grows rapidly out of control. As a relentless madman dogs their every step, Gray and his unlikely ally are being pulled into an astonishing mystery buried deep in antiquity and in humanity's genetic code. And as the seconds tick closer to doomsday, Gray Pierce will realize he can truly trust no one, for any one of them could be … a Judas.

— The Judas Strain by James Rollins

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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.

Mrs. Jeffries and the One Who Got Away by Emily Brightwell, New on the Mystery Bookshelf during February 2015

New on the Mystery Bookshelf during February 2015 …

Mrs. Jeffries and the One Who Got Away by Emily Brightwell, A Mrs. Jeffries Mystery (33rd in series)

Publisher: Berkley

  

Old sins cast long shadows …

Normally dead bodies in a graveyard are buried — but not this one. When a woman is found strangled in a North London cemetery with an old newspaper clipping clutched in her hand, Inspector Witherspoon is surprised to find that he and the victim have crossed paths before.

Alice Robinson was a respectable widow who ran a quiet Islington lodging house. None of her lodgers have any apparent motive to murder their landlady. But nagging suspicions are lodging in the Inspector's mind — only he knows that "Alice Robinson" is not her real name. Now he'll need the help of Mrs. Jeffries to revisit an old case that has haunted him for years and to get the real story.

— Mrs. Jeffries and the One Who Got Away by Emily Brightwell

To see more new paperback titles scheduled to be published this month, visit The Mystery Bookshelf for February 2015. For new hardcover mysteries, visit New Mysteries where for a list of February 2015 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers is provided.

Two Mysteries in the Blossom Valley Series by Staci McLaughlin

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following titles, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Kensington …

All Natural Murder by Staci McLaughlin

A Dana Lewis, Blossom Valley Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: Kensington

Price: $2.99 (as of 02/03/2015 at 3:00 PM ET).

  

Greetings from Blossom Valley, CA, home of the O'Connell Organic Farm and Spa, where the best in healthy living is sometimes spoiled by untimely murder …

As Dana Lewis settles into a quiet life of tofu this and tofu that, murder á la carte is the last thing she wants on her plate. But when she learns about the death of Monster Truck driver Bobby Joe Jones, frequent philanderer and boyfriend to Dana's sister, Ashlee, she has no choice but to wipe up the mess. Especially when witnesses last saw Ashlee angrily up in Bobby Joe's grill at the fairgrounds. With dizzying speed, Dana's life skids out of control. What else can she do but go into overdrive to save Ashlee's soy bacon, and stop a deadly killer in his tracks …

— All Natural Murder by Staci McLaughlin

Green Living Can Be Deadly by Staci McLaughlin

A Dana Lewis, Blossom Valley Mystery (3rd in series)

Publisher: Kensington

Price: $2.99 (as of 02/03/2015 at 3:00 PM ET).

  

Thinking green comes with the territory at the O'Connell Organic Farm and Spa in Blossom Valley, CA. But could a festival be taking things too far, especially when it leads to a fresh case of murder?

When Dana Lewis organizes her Green Living Festival, complete with free range fauna and tempting delicacies of tofu and tempeh, she hopes to inspire Blossom Valley into reducing their carbon footprint. But for some participants, saving the planet should have come second to saving their skin, like green energy guru Wendy Stevens, just found dead in her Invisible Prints booth. Now Dana needs to work fast to stop a killer from turning her big event into the next great environmental disaster …

— Green Living Can Be Deadly by Staci McLaughlin

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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.

Death of a Liar by M. C. Beaton, New in Bookstores during February 2015

Today's featured new hardcover mystery, suspense, or thriller title scheduled to be published during February 2015 is …

Death of a Liar by M. C. Beaton, a Hamish Macbeth Mystery (31st in series)

Publisher: Grand Central

    

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is alarmed to receive a report from a woman in the small village of Cronish in the Scottish Highlands. She has been brutally attacked and the criminal is on the loose.

But upon further investigation, Hamish discovers that she was lying about the crime. So when the same woman calls him back about an intruder, he simply marvels at her compulsion to lie. This time, though, she is telling the truth. Her body is found in her home and Hamish must sort through all of her lies to solve the crime.

— Death of a Liar by M. C. Beaton

For a list of more new hardcover titles to be published this month, visit our New Mysteries page for February 2015. For new paperback mysteries, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where a selection of February 2015 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers are shelved.

Blanche Among the Talented Tenth, A Blanche White Mystery by Barbara Neely, New This Week from Brash Books

Brash Books publishes innovative thrillers and novels of suspense from well-established authors and new voices in crime fiction.

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

Blanche Among the Talented Tenth by Barbara Neely

A Blanche White Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: Brash Books

Price: $4.99 (as of 02/03/2015 at 2:00 PM ET).

  

First published in hardcover by St. Martin's Press in 1994. This is its first appearance as an ebook.

When Blanche White moved north to Boston, she believed it would be a better place to raise her kids, especially after she got them into an elite private school. But now her children are becoming elitist and judgmental, acquiring more attitude than education. So when she and her kids are invited to Amber Cove, an exclusive resort in Maine for wealthy blacks, Blanche jumps at the chance to see how the other half lives and maybe stop her kids turning into people she doesn't want to know.

When one of the guests kills himself, and another is electrocuted in her bathtub, Blanche becomes an accidental detective once again, using her sharp wit and keen social insight to peel back some disturbing color and class distinctions within the black community that may have driven someone to murder.

— Blanche Among the Talented Tenth by Barbara Neely

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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.

Played by the Book by Lucy Arlington, New on the Mystery Bookshelf during February 2015

New on the Mystery Bookshelf during February 2015 …

Played by the Book by Lucy Arlington, A Lila Watkins, Novel Idea Mystery (4th in series)

Publisher: Berkley

  

Lila Wilkins, literary agent and "murder magnet," is planning a book signing garden party. But things aren't coming up roses when she has to weed out a dangerous killer …

The owner of the Novel Idea Literary Agency is thrilled when former local boy and popular television show host Damian York returns to Inspiration Valley, North Carolina, to launch his new gardening book. But Lila is less than excited about the hubbub when she sees her mounting to-do list. Between planning York's gala and sprucing up her yard for another event, she's spread too thin — especially after she finds a skull buried in her flowerbeds.

As Lila's macabre discovery leads to other secrets hidden in Inspiration Valley's past, a member of the local garden club is found slumped over her prize roses — murdered. Now it's up to Lila to dig through old mysteries and new clues to unearth a murderer before someone else is found pushing up daisies …

— Played by the Book by Lucy Arlington

To see more new paperback titles scheduled to be published this month, visit The Mystery Bookshelf for February 2015. For new hardcover mysteries, visit New Mysteries where for a list of February 2015 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers is provided.

The Arnifour Affair, A Colin Pendragon Mystery by Gregory Harris, 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 present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Kensington …

The Arnifour Affair by Gregory Harris

A Colin Pendragon Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Kensington

Price: $2.99 (as of 02/03/2015 at 1:00 PM ET).

  

When a carriage bearing the Arnifour family crest — a vulture devouring a slaughtered lamb — arrives at the Kensington home of Colin Pendragon, it is an ominous beginning to a perplexing new case. Lady Arnifour's husband has been beaten to death and her niece, Elsbeth, left in a coma. Is the motive passion, revenge, or something even more sinister? Police suspicions have fallen on the groundskeeper and his son, yet the Earl's widow is convinced of their innocence.

Even as Colin and his partner Ethan Pruitt delve into the muddy history of the Arnifour family, a young street urchin begs their help in finding his missing sister. Ethan, regrettably familiar with London's underbelly, urges caution, yet Colin's interest is piqued. And in a search that wends from the squalid opium dens of the East End to the salons of Embassy Row, the truth about these seemingly disparate cases will prove disquieting, dangerous, and profoundly unexpected …

— The Arnifour Affair by Gregory Harris

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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.

The Green Muse, An Edouard Mas Mystery by Jessie Prichard Hunter, New This Week from Witness Impulse

Every week, Witness Impulse — an imprint of William Morrow — releases new suspense and thriller digital originals, typically priced at just $2.99 each.

Omnimystery News is pleased to present you with one of this week's titles …

The Green Muse by Jessie Prichard Hunter

An Edouard Mas Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Witness Impulse

Price: $2.99 (as of 02/03/2015 at 12:30 PM ET).

  

In Belle Époque Paris, the morgue is the place to see and be seen …

"This morning I was called upon to photograph the dead again." So begins the story of Edouard Mas, a photographer's assistant with a detective's soul. Edouard's job is to take pictures of corpses before they are carted off to the Paris Morgue. If the bodies are unidentified, they will be put behind glass for the whole city to view, in a morbid display of lost and found.

Edouard begins to come across more and more bodies stripped of their identification and laid out in methodical poses, and he knows he is dealing with those who dabble in art — the art of death. The morgue — their museum.

Edouard's investigation takes him from the sterile halls of La Salpêtrière to the opulent, smoke-filled soirees of high society, but he must do everything in his power to stop the artists of death, before they go after somebody he loves …

— The Green Muse by Jessie Prichard Hunter

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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.

Enter to Win — The Man Who Asked To Be Killed by Gary Garth McCann

Omnimystery News invites you to Enter to Win a copy of The Man Who Asked To Be Killed by Gary Garth McCann, courtesy of the author.

One (1) winner will receive a copy of …

Title: The Man Who Asked To Be Killed
Author: Gary Garth McCann
Genre: A Novel of Suspense
Publisher: A Few Good Books Publishing
Format: Trade Paperback
List Price: $14.95

Use the form below to submit your entry. One entry per person; US residents only. Entry period ends Tuesday, February 10, 2015. (If you cannot see the entry form, use this link.)

Synopsis: What if you learn someone you care about is implicated in murder? What do you do?

Young lawyer Buddy Smith, cousin of Maryland's governor, does four things he never thought he would. He withholds evidence. He confesses love for the governor's wife. He cheats on his fiancée. And he resolves to no longer care what happened to his brother, missing for nine years.

While Buddy confronts his own dark side, he also unwittingly becomes the killer's next target — until they meet on a rainy beach with a result as surprising as inevitable.

— The Man Who Asked To Be Killed by Gary Garth McCann

Please Welcome Suspense Novelist Brian Pinkerton

with Brian Pinkerton

We are delighted to welcome author Brian Pinkerton to Omnimystery News today.

Good morning, you're a murderer. That's the rude awakening for business traveler Bill Rowe in Brian Pinkerton's new suspense thriller Bender (Crossroad Press; November 2014 trade paperback and ebook formats).

Brian asked if he could extend a special offer to our readers, and after hearing what it was, we readily agreed. We hope you take him up on it!

— ♦ —

Photo provided courtesy of
Brian Pinkerton

Hey, you want a piece of me?

Keep reading.

My mystery Bender just came out. It's the story of Bill Rowe, a man who might be a murderer. Or maybe not. He just doesn't know.

While out of town on a business trip, Bill wakes up to discover a naked dead woman in his hotel bed. His memories of the night before are lost to an alcohol blackout from a big city drinking binge. Forced to go on the run, Bill must piece together the events of his fateful night to prove his innocence. Pursued by mysterious assailants, he discovers he's been framed as part of an elaborate scheme to cover up a shocking secret. When they can't reach him, they go after his wife and daughter to bring him out of hiding.

Bender is a new release from Crossroad Press. As an author, it's always exciting to see a published book grow from the seeds of an idea. People often ask me about the writing process for turning a notion into a novel. In the case of Bender, it began with a couple of sentences to define the concept. That expanded into a short outline, which evolved into a sequence of notecards. Each notecard gave birth to a handwritten chapter. When I reached the final notecard and scribbled the final chapter, I had a complete manuscript.

Then I wrote the second draft. Also by hand.

This second draft is then marked up with further edits and ultimately entered into a PC for final changes. That's right, I don't touch a computer until my book is mostly done.

Why? I find it more freeing to compose on paper with pen. It's more intimate. It's less distracting. I want to stay away from the temptation of emails, the Internet, my mp3s, and all those files and folders of digital diversions.

What happens to the handwritten pages after they've been transferred to kilobytes? I give them away.

Here's a contest where everyone wins: anyone who posts something on social media about one of my books — a review, a book cover, a link to this page, anything — can contact me at pinkerton@brianpinkerton.com and I'll send you a free page from the original handwritten manuscript. It's as easy as that.

You want a piece of me? I'm happy to oblige.

— ♦ —

Brian Pinkerton is an American author of fiction in the suspense, thriller, mystery and horror genres. His screenplays have finished in the top 100 of Project Greenlight and top two percent of the Nicholl Fellowship of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Brian received his B.A. from the University of Iowa and Master's Degree from Northwestern University.

For more information about the author, please visit his website at BrianPinkerton.com and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook.

— ♦ —

Bender
Brian Pinkerton
A Suspense Thriller

After a night of heavy drinking, business traveler Bill Rowe wakes up in his Chicago hotel room with an epic hangover: pounding headache, memory loss and a naked dead woman in his bed. Forced to go on the run, Bill must piece together the sequence of events during his alcohol blackout to prove his innocence.

Pursued by mysterious assailants, he discovers he's been framed as part of an elaborate scheme to cover up a shocking secret.

        

Today's Selection of Daily Deals for Tuesday, February 03, 2015

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature a selection of today's Daily Deals found on Tuesday, February 03, 2015 at 7:00 AM ET …

The Hidden Child by Camilla Lackberg

A Patrik Hedström and Erica Falck Mystery (5th in series)

Publisher: Pegasus Books

Kindle Daily Deal Price: $2.99

Beautifully Damaged by L.A. Fiore

The Damaged Series (1st in series)

Publisher: Montlake Romance

Kindle Daily Deal Price: $1.99

We're featuring the first book of two available for $1.99 each as part of today's deal.

For more deals that may have been found after this post was created, see our Daily Deals page on Omnimystery News for an updated list.

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

Today's Selection of Free MystereBooks for Tuesday, February 03, 2015

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature a selection of Free MystereBooks found on Tuesday, February 03, 2015 at 6:30 AM ET …

White Sea Rising by MJ Kephart

A Suspense Thriller

Publisher: Defiant Books

Price: FREE!

  

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Twain Papers by Roger Riccard

A Sherlock Holmes Pastiche

Publisher: Endeavour Press

Price: FREE!

  

For a summary of all of today's titles, plus any that may have been added since this post was created, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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

New This Week: Deep State, An Anton Modin Thriller by Anders Jallai

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 February 2015 and priced $4.99 or less …

Deep State by Anders Jallai

An Anton Modin Thriller (1st in series)

Publisher: Anders Jallai

Price: $2.99 (as of 02/02/2015 at 7:30 PM ET).

  

The most secretive organization in Sweden operates without any accountability to the Swedish people, hiding in the shadows: the Deep State.

Anton Modin, a former Military Intelligence Special Ops officer, is obsessed with exposing his former employer and boss, the ever present and enigmatic Lieutenant Colonel Chris Loklinth. Modin lost loved ones, his two children and beloved wife, in the M/S Estonia ferry disaster in 1994. In great despair, even 14 years later, he still accuses his former department, Special Ops, to have had a part in the accident. What he doesn't know is that since the end of World War II, Special Ops has been cooperating closely with both the American CIA and the British MI6; together these organizations represent the Deep State. Something deeply secret in the kingdom of Sweden.

— Deep State by Anders Jallai

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Review: Shadow of Doubt by Nancy Cole Silverman

A Mysterious Review of Shadow of Doubt by Nancy Cole Silverman. A Carol Childs Mystery.

Review summary: The basic storyline of this series mystery is interesting, as is most of the cast of characters. But the lead character, a flighty, scatterbrained rookie radio news reporter, is unapproachable as such. A somewhat unsatisfactory ending doesn't help, either. On balance, not a solid hit but not a complete miss either. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Shadow of Doubt
Nancy Cole Silverman
A Carol Childs Mystery
Henery Press (December 2014)

Publisher synopsis: When a top Hollywood Agent is found poisoned in the bathtub of her home, suspicion quickly turns to one of her two nieces. But Carol Childs, a reporter for a local talk radio station, doesn't believe it. The suspect is her neighbor and friend, and also her primary source for insider industry news. After a media frenzy pits one niece against the other — and the body count starts to rise — Carol knows she must save her friend from being tried in the court of public opinion.

But even the most seasoned reporter can be surprised, and when a Hollywood psychic shows up in Carol's studio one night and warns her there will be more deaths, things take an unexpected turn. Suddenly nobody is above suspicion. Carol must challenge both her friendship and the facts, and the only thing she knows for certain is that the killer is still out there. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more danger she's in.