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 March 2015 and priced $4.99 or less …
Will To Live by Lucinda D. Davis
A Goodwood and O'Malley Mystery (2nd in series)
Publisher: Lucinda D. Davis
Price: 99¢ (as of 03/04/2015 at 7:30 PM ET).
The skeleton of a baby is found in the hay loft of a once thriving race horse stable just outside of the idyllic village of Coppin's Locks. But who were the parents? Why did the property owners leave the estate in a rush thirty years ago?
Former world class equestrian turned antique store owner Monica Goodwood, is dealing with a permanent leg injury, and a near fatal accident. She and her business partner Erin O'Malley set out to find out who the baby was and why it was left. As they poke and pry they find out that some staff at a deserted hospital were keeping unsavory secrets, an old man in the town with a mysterious past is leaving cryptic calls for help, and a murderer may have got away scott free!
Their search for the truth has the girls rummaging into people and places hiding secrets aplenty, nefarious characters with evil on their minds, and the sins of the past that are gone but not forgotten.
— Will To Live by Lucinda D. Davis
See also the first book in this series, Watered Down Death, for 99¢ on Kindle
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 boxed set of the first three thrillers in the Manny Williams series.
Caribbean Moon: Small-town detective/workaholic, Manny Williams, is thrilled with the prospect of finally taking the long-awaited vacation he had promised his wife, Louise. The couple's exotic getaway begins in sunny San Juan, Puerto Rico, by attending the wedding of a fellow Lansing police officer, followed with an incredible week-long Southern Caribbean cruise on the glamorous Ocean Duchess.
A bizarre, seemingly random murder in their posh San Juan Hotel, and the heinous cruise ship deaths of two of Lansing's law enforcement family, brings Manny, and his unique skills, out of cruise mode and head-long into the FBI-led investigation. Manny soon discovers that in this killer's twisted perception nothing is off limits, prompting a race against time that could cost him everything.
Deceitful Moon: Detective Manny Williams and his partner, Sophie Lee, are called to the scene of a disturbing and gruesome murder at Lansing's local adult playhouse, the White Kitty. The circumstances surrounding the ex-con's murder rocket deeper into the bizarre as the forensic evidence reveals more questions than answers.
As he begins his investigation, Manny is interrupted by a phone call that shakes his world. His nemesis, serial killer Dr. Fredrick Argyle, has killed again, and sent the evidence to prove it. Argyle's heinous actions force Manny and Sophie back to the Caribbean.
All the while, the body count rises in his city. Two serial killers. Each threatening to change his life forever. One succeeds.
Emerald Moon: When Carousel Cruise Line asks Detective Manny Williams to consult with them, and the FBI, regarding a series of hit-like murders of their security staff, he agrees. It has been eleven months since his his unbelievable loss and it's time to join the land of the living, if he can. But his nemesis, serial killer Dr. Fredrick Argyle, has other plans that eventually take Manny and his friends to Galway, Ireland, and a deadly chain of events that will send him to the brink … and beyond.
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.
After selling his company for millions, Colby Walker takes his family — and his son's friend Jess — on vacation, wanting nothing more than to unwind in the sun and surf. But he spots the alarming signs in short order: Jess's downcast eyes, a familiar passivity, and angry red welts marching across the boy's bare back. Walker understands what they mean because he'd been that boy, many years ago.
He'd suffered in silence, too.
Can Walker stand by and let the torment continue? Does he trust the authorities — the same ones who had failed him in his youth — to take care of Jess?
Hell no.
With Jess in tow, Walker packs up the minivan and takes his family on the lam, keeping one step ahead of Jess's cruel father and unhinged ex-con aunt. When the stakes escalate and his headstrong actions put people's lives in jeopardy, Walker must finally conquer his past before he can save those he loves.
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.
Maggie never felt as though she belonged until Chris Stevens showed her what true happiness meant. Ten years into their marriage, miscarriages and infidelities have scarred them both. Despite their perfect-couple image, Maggie can't look at Chris with anything but resentment. When a charismatic stranger offers the opportunity for a little harmless flirtation, she jumps into the game.
But charm soon turns to malice, and a deadly split-second decision forces Maggie and Chris onto a dangerous path fraught with secrets, lies, and guilt. With no one else to turn to — no one she dares trust — Maggie will ultimately learn just how binding marital ties can be.
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.
Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher, promoting and selling ebook editions of works by new authors as well as bringing out ebook editions of out of print books.
We've selected one of their recently published mystery, suspense, thriller or crime titles to feature here today …
Sherlock Holmes on the Western Front by Val Andrews
A Sherlock Holmes Pastiche
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Price: $3.99 (as of 03/04/2015 at 5:30 PM ET).
Sherlock Holmes is comfortably retired. He spends his days in the Sussex countryside, tending his bees. But there is a war on and Mycroft Holmes, a senior ranking official at the War Office, believes his brother's peaceful retirement must come to an end if the allied armies are to defeat the Kaiser.
Dr. Watson, at the behest of Mycroft, is charged with cajoling Holmes away from Suffolk comfort to serve his country. Their mission is simple enough: find out how the Germans are intercepting British communications. But before they get to the front line, the pair uncover an elaborate spy-ring at the British Army's Salisbury headquarters, involving Stonehenge, phosphorous rocks, marionettes and an alarmingly long-range German plane.
The hunt for the conspirators and the secrets they posses takes Holmes and Watson on a wild chase through the English countryside and eventually to the Western Front itself …
— Sherlock Holmes on the Western Front by Val Andrews
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 Brandy Borne, Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Kensington
Price: $1.99 (as of 03/04/2015 at 5:00 PM ET).
Determined to make a new start in her quaint hometown on the banks of the Mississippi, Brandy Borne never dreams she'll become the prime suspect in a murder case …
Moving back in with her eccentric, larger-than-life mother, Brandy Borne finds small-town Serenity anything but serene. It seems an unscrupulous antiques dealer has swindled Vivian out of the family's heirlooms. But when he is found run over in a country lane, Brandy becomes Murder Suspect Number One — with her mother coming in a very close second …
The list of other suspects is impressive — the victim's business seems to have been based on bilking seniors out of their possessions. And when the Borne "girls" uncover a few very unsavory Serenity secrets, they become targets for a murderer whose favorite hobby seems to be collecting victims.
A Brandy Borne, Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery (2nd in series)
Publisher: Kensington
Price: $1.99 (as of 03/04/2015 at 5:00 PM ET).
Halloween may be a time of treats, but for Brandy Borne, there's nothing trickier than keeping her batty mom out of mischief. Opening a booth at the Serenity antiques mall seems like a frightfully sensible solution — until a corpse turns up between the cornucopia and the candy corn. Local law scares up a suspect in the victim's dog, Brad Pit Bull.
But Brandy and Mother see through the killer's clever canine masquerade. Their mission: unmask a murderer — before the witching hour comes, and he mauls again.
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.
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 March 2015 and priced $4.99 or less …
A Nick Bracco / Jack Daniels Thriller (1st in series)
Publisher: Gary Ponzo
Price: $3.99 (as of 03/04/2015 at 4:30 PM ET).
FBI Agent Nick Bracco arrives with a team of agents along with his mafia-connected cousin Tommy to help search the underground for the terrorist. When the teenager kills a Chicago cop, a vicious manhunt engulfs the city. Bracco reaches out to Lieutenant Jack Daniels for her help with local connection like longtime bookie, Tequila Abernathy, and she agrees to join the task force.
What Bracco doesn't realize, however, is that Jack knows of the kid and believes he is trying to escape from the terrorist organization that trained him for the job. A belief based solely on her intuition. The problem: There's powerful intelligence verifying the existence of a terrorist cell with an explosive device set to go off in downtown Chicago on Black Friday.
With just hours to go, Jack finds herself chasing the teenager alone and unarmed, ready to test her instincts. Bracco believes the teenager is there to detonate the bomb. Jack believes she can save the kid and find the bomb before the terrorists push the button.
Someone is wrong. Dead wrong. And the citizens of Chicago will have to pay the price.
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.
It's only been a few days since Bernie and Libby started working together at A Little Taste of Heaven, and already they've got their hands full — baking cookies and slicing rare beef tenderloin to serve at a high school reunion. The dinner has a "Dracula" theme and a very strange guest of honor: Laird Wrenn, a New York Times bestselling author of vampire novels. Libby and Bernie know this will be an evening unlike any other. And they're proven right when Laird pours a glass of water, takes a long sip — and drops stone-cold dead …
Now, with murder on the menu and Libby under suspicion, the sisters will have to put their heads together to figure out whodunit — in a mystery that promises to be deadly to the very last bite.
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.
Omnimystery News is pleased to present you with one of this month's new 1st in Series titles, a mystery, thriller or suspense novel that introduces a recurring character (or characters) …
A Georgia Thornton, Love or Money Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Berkley
What we know about the character: Georgia Thornton's best friend is the producer of the reality show Love or Money. For more information about her first murder, see a synopsis of the book, below.
When brokenhearted Georgia Thornton goes looking for romance on reality TV, she has nothing to lose — apart from a good man, a cash prize, and maybe her life …
What was Georgia thinking? Sure, some cad ditched her at the altar, but can she really find love on TV? Her best friend — and producer of the reality show Love or Money — thinks so. Ten men. Ten adventure-filled dates. What can go wrong? For starters, a faulty bungee cord that hurls Georgia's first date into a tragic spiral off the Golden Gate Bridge.
A Meg Reed, Pacific Northwest Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Kensington
Price: $1.99 (as of 03/04/2015 at 3:00 PM ET).
Portland, Oregon, is the perfect fit for someone like Meg Reed. It's a city with a small town feel, where she can crash on the couch of her best friend Jill, now that she's graduated from journalism school …
But a girl needs a job, so Meg bluffs her way into writing for Northwest Extreme magazine, passing herself off to editor-in-chief Greg Dixon as an outdoor adventure enthusiast. Never mind that Meg's idea of sport is climbing onto the couch without spilling her latte. So when she finds herself clawing to the top of Angel's Rest — a two-thousand-foot peak — to cover the latest challenge in a reality TV adventure show, she can't imagine feeling more terrified. Until she witnesses a body plummet off the side of the cliff. Now Meg has a murder to investigate. And if the climbing doesn't kill her, a murderer just might …
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.
Today's featured new hardcover mystery, suspense, or thriller title scheduled to be published during March 2015 is …
The Hidden Man by Robin Blake, a Titus Cragg and Luke Fidelis Mystery (3rd in series)
Publisher: Minotaur Books
The year is 1742, and the people of Preston are looking forward to their ancient once-every-twenty-years festival of merriment and excess, the Preston Guild. But the prospect darkens as the town plunges into a financial crisis caused by the death of pawnbroker and would-be banker Philip Pimbo, shot behind the locked door of his office. Is it suicide? Coroner Titus Cragg suspects so, but Dr Luke Fidelis disagrees.
To untangle the truth Cragg must dig out the secrets of Pimbo's personal life, learn the grim facts of the African slave trade, search for a missing Civil War treasure and deal with the machinations of his old enemy Ephraim Grimshaw, now the town's mayor. Cragg relies once again on the help and advice of his analytical friend Fidelis, his astute wife Elizabeth and the contents of a well-stocked library.
New on the Mystery Bookshelf during March 2015 …
Suspendered Sentence by Laura Bradford, A Claire Weatherly, Amish Mystery (4th in series)
Publisher: Berkley
In the Amish community of Heavenly, Pennsylvania, shop owner Claire Weatherly has come to appreciate a simpler, more peaceful way of life. But dark secrets are about to complicate things — and lead to murder …
After the Stoltzfus barn catches fire, Claire is awed by the response of the community. Hundreds of Amish men gather together to raise a new barn for the family in a matter of days. But in the midst of the work, a human skeleton is unearthed. Found with the remains is half of a friendship bracelet last seen on Sadie Lehman, an Amish teen long believed to have left her strict upbringing for the allure of English ways.
Now Detective Jakob Fisher — once a member of the Amish community himself — is determined to solve the young woman's murder. With Claire's help, he must dig into the past and bring to light long-buried secrets — secrets that someone is willing to kill to protect …
It's been only a few months since archaeologist Ruth Galloway found herself entangled in a missing persons case, barely escaping with her life. But when construction workers demolishing a large old house in Norwich uncover the bones of a child beneath a doorway — minus its skull — Ruth is once again called upon to investigate. Is it a Roman-era ritual sacrifice, or is the killer closer at hand?
Ruth and Detective Harry Nelson would like to find out — and fast. When they realize the house was once a children's home, they track down the Catholic priest who served as its operator. Father Hennessey reports that two children did go missing from the home forty years before — a boy and a girl. They were never found. When carbon dating proves that the child's bones predate the home and relate to a time when the house was privately owned, Ruth is drawn ever more deeply into the case. But as spring turns into summer it becomes clear that someone is trying very hard to put her off the trail by frightening her, and her unborn child, half to death.
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.
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 March 2015 and priced $4.99 or less …
Concealed Suspicions by Tamara Ward
A Jade O'Reilly Mystery (3rd in series)
Publisher: Tamara Ward
Price: $3.99 (as of 03/04/2015 at 12:30 PM ET).
What begins as a white-collar crime investigation soon becomes deadly complicated with private investigator Jade O'Reilly on the scene …
Trouble arises when Benton Rowe, one of coastal North Carolina's most successful businessmen and eligible bachelors, finds a local store selling embezzled merchandise from one of his shipping companies. Benton bypasses the police to find the embezzler his own way. He hires Jade to work undercover from inside his company to solve the crime.
Jade sees the case as the ideal cover to dig into Benton's possible involvement in her father's death. As Jade is swept into Benton's world of penthouse apartments and fancy yachts, her boyfriend, Keith, isn't as thrilled with Jade's assignment. Nor are the thuggish members of Benton's security team, one of whom appears as suspicious of Jade as she is of him. Will Jade get to the bottom of the embezzlement at Benton's shipping industry and find dirt on Benton before she's permanently exported?
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.
We are delighted to welcome author Dorothy H. Hayes to Omnimystery News today.
Dorothy's second mystery to feature investigative reporter Carol Rossi is Broken Window (Mainly Murder Press; February 2015 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we are pleased to introduce you to it with an excerpt from the first chapter.
— ♦ —
THE SUBWAY WAS DANGEROUS. BUT the three girls wouldn't take no for an answer. Kelly Singleton was moving from her Connecticut home into her NYU dorm, and the subway was part of her new life, she told her concerned parents. Jamie Ryan and Christina Moore were her two best friends and would be visiting Kelly whenever they could. They insisted that they needed to learn how to navigate mass transportation. For all three of them, riding the subway was a rite of passage. That was their final plea. The old, rusted trains they were so anxious to ride broke down regularly, leaving passengers to wait, sometimes forty minutes and longer, in dangerous circumstances, their parents argued. The Daily News and The New York Times frequently reported gang violence on the trains, which in the last ten years had become the symbol of the city's rising crime rate. Gangs, boldly wearing identifying colors, often openly roamed the cars, intimidating passengers, bullying them to hand over their pocket money with no fear of recrimination, as if they owned the trains. Gang-tagged graffiti covered every inch of the filthy trains, including the windows. It was August 1984 and a crisis situation for New York City, with two thousand homicides expected yearly. However, the girls argued that millions rode the subway every day, and crimes usually occurred in the early morning hours. The girls would travel during morning rush hour, and to keep everybody from worrying, they would return home during rush hour in broad daylight. Jack Singleton, a New York City attorney and managing partner of the firm, didn't take well to losing the subway debate; he was only too familiar with the city's crime rate and the subway system. So the Singletons were the last of the parents to acquiesce and Jack only after some arm-twisting from his wife Nina. He wasn't too happy about his daughter attending NYU in the first place. He'd be relieved when the three girls got this trip out of their systems, saw the dangers of the trains and got back home.
— ♦ —
Photo provided courtesy of Dorothy H. Hayes
Dorothy Hayes, a vegan for the last twenty years, has been a teacher, a journalist, a staff writer and a public relations director for a national animal protection organization. She and her husband live in Stamford, Connecticut.
Broken Window Dorothy H. Hayes A Carol Rossi Mystery
The New York City subway was dangerous, the parents told the three Wilton High School graduates, but the girls weren't taking no for an answer. Kelly Singleton, soon to be an NYU freshman, and her two friends board the hazardous subway train. Several stops later, her two friends get off, but Kelly is nowhere to be found.
It is the torrid August of 1984, and crime is at an all-time high. Kelly's desperate parents turn to reporter Carol Rossi and police detective Jerry Stevenson to find their missing daughter.