The last time Annie saw Sam, they were lying in each other's arms beneath a canopy of stars. Now Annie paces a secluded airfield at midnight, awaiting the arrival of an unmarked Navy helicopter. Her assignment: Get this Navy SEAL back into fighting form pronto — and keep his identity a secret. But who's going to protect her from a man who looks at her as if she were a stranger and who doesn't remember the one night she'll never forget?
Six foot four inches of tough, trained professional, Sam risked his life in an act of rare courage, saving a busload of schoolchildren from certain death. But becoming America's newest media hero can be dangerous for a man with an undercover past. Sam could do a lot worse than this secluded beach resort. Ditto the sexy therapist who seems maddeningly familiar — if he only knew where or when. But he's about to find out — as a dangerous enemy surfaces out of his shadowed past, leaving a trail of bodies right to Annie's door.
Now the rugged SEAL who doesn't believe in love or commitment is about to risk everything … because for Sam McKade, protecting this woman, this extraordinary woman, has become the most important mission of his life …
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.
Every week, Witness Impulse — an imprint of William Morrow — releases new suspense and thriller digital originals, typically priced at just $2.99 (or less) each.
Omnimystery News is pleased to present you with one of this week's titles …
A beautiful young girl was walking down the street―when suddenly …
Julia Carroll knows that too many stories start that way. Beautiful, intelligent, a nineteen-year-old college freshman, she should be carefree. But instead she is frightened. Because girls are disappearing.
A fellow student, Beatrice Oliver, is missing. A homeless woman called Mona-No-Name is missing. Both taken off the street. Both gone without a trace.
Julia is determined to find out the reasons behind their disappearances. And she doesn't want to be next …
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 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, Open Road …
Dagger of Flesh by Richard S. Prather
A Shell Scott Caper
Publisher: Open Road
Price: $1.99 (as of 08/18/2015 at 12:00 PM ET).
This Open Road title is listed as discounted for today only. If you are interested in buying this book at a later date, please confirm the price before you purchase it.
Shell Scott. He's a guy with a pistol in his pocket and murder on his mind. The crime world's public enemy number one, this Casanova is a sucker for a damsel in distress. When a pair of lovely legs saunters into his office, he can't help but take the job, even when the case is a killer.
Shell's gotten himself into a heap of trouble this time. Jay's gotten himself killed, and his corpse is pointing a stiff finger directly at our tender-hearted private dick. Is it possible that he has been hypnotized? If so, then maybe the cops won't mind that lie about his whereabouts that night. But lying on top of those white sheets with that sexy dame, now that couldn't be a figment of his imagination, could it?
Nah, even Shell Scott can't come up with something that juicy.
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 always a pleasure to welcome back mystery author Lauren Carr to Omnimystery News.
Lauren begins a new series featuring, in part, a cast of characters from her other series, with Kill and Run (Acorn Book Services; September 2015 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we asked her if she wanted to share any of her writing secrets with us. She titles her guest post for us today, "How To Kill Your Boss Without Getting Arrested … or Sued".
— ♦ —
Photo provided courtesy of Lauren Carr
I can say with confidence that every time I make a new acquaintance who discovers that I write murder mysteries, they are bound at some point to shoot me a worried expression and ask, "Do you ever kill anyone you know in your books?"
I will reply quite honestly, "Yes."
That's why I have no friends.
I don't always kill people I know. Sometimes I kill absolute strangers. Sometimes I make people who tick me off killers. Or sometimes I'll make them just plain so nasty that everyone sees them for the evil villain they are.
However, as anyone who is not living under a rock will tell you, and me, and any writer, to blatantly write someone you know into a book can be a litigiously dangerous operation.
For this article, I am addressing the use of real people and situations from the artistic point of fiction writers can and have been sued and there have been cases in which the plaintiff has won such lawsuits. So, before you kill your mother-in-law into your next whodunit, you should do your legal research on how best to do it without getting sued. Since I am not a lawyer, I am talking about the creative aspects of killing her … or your boss, or your ex, or just that nasty psycho neighbor across the street arrested without ruining your literary masterpiece or getting arrested.
Frankly, writers have every right to kill real people on paper. What writer isn't inspired by the things, people, places, and circumstances around them? If you make all those things off limits for fear of being sued, then you are turning off the faucet for an abundance of material to draw upon.
The best writers will not write someone into a book simply because they got ticked off and wanted the world to know about it, even subconsciously (usually … mostly … okay, generally).
Here's why. Say you're writing a book and your boss really ticks you off. I mean really, really ticks you off and you decide, "I'll get her."
Seventy-two pages into your work-in-progress, you insert your boss. Maybe you even go back to the beginning and insert scenes with her in them. You changed the name and maybe make her a dyed blonde with gray roots, but it's her nonetheless and you're telling the whole world what she did to you in the subplot of your comedy. Most likely, the reader, not knowing anything about what happened between you and the boss, will come away scratching his head and wondering, "What was the point of that subplot?"
Experienced authors use real people and situations in fiction the way an accomplished chef uses ingredients in a delightful recipe. A chef doesn't simply throw spices in because it strikes her fancy. With the first priority being the meal, the chef will only put in that which will improve on the final experience of the diner.
For example, while preparing the plotline for Kill and Run, the first installment of the Thorny Rose mysteries, I discovered that I had a dilemma with the character of Murphy Thornton, the male half of my two protagonists.
A recent naval academy graduate, Murphy Thornton is a lieutenant in the navy. He is also part of a covert elite team who works exclusively for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is also newly wed to Jessica Faraday, the lovely daughter of Mac Faraday, the protagonist in the Mac Faraday mysteries. At the beginning of Kill and Run, the newlyweds have recently moved into their first home together, located on the bank of the Potomac River.
Yep, for the Thorny Rose detectives, life was perfect. For a person, this is great. For a fictional character, perfect is bad. Perfect equals lack of conflict. Lack of conflict equals predictable. Predictable equals boring.
While murder does add conflict in a murder mystery, main characters need some sort of antagonist to make daily life just a little more interesting.
No one can make life less than perfect than a bad boss … believe me, I've had my share to draw from for Kill and Run. Who hasn't? There are bosses who are manipulative, back-stabbing. Others take credit for their employee's work or ideas. Then, I've had bosses who are practically pathological liars. Some are just plain nasty — ugly and foul both on the inside and out. Granted, I have had good bosses — they usually ended up quitting, getting promoted, or dying.
In Murphy's case, his life is so perfect, that I had to curse him with the worst of the worst. The character of Hillary Koch, who Murphy calls "Crotch," is a compilation of many bad bosses I have worked with throughout my years in the workforce. (Note: One way to not get sued is to make your character a Frankenstein — yes, Crotch is a monster, though compiled from many different people.)
To make Murphy's day job even more less than perfect is his boss's distinct hatred toward him in particular. In this excerpt, Murphy has just been awarded the Bronze Star in a surprise presentation at his office — which inadvertently leads to his first official murder case. Upon meeting Hillary for the first time, Jessica, a psychiatry student, hypothesizes Hillary's jealousy and dislike for Murphy:
What had previously been a meeting quickly dissolved into a party with the agents on the staff wanting to get a close look at the Bronze Star now displayed in Murphy's chest, and to meet his heiress wife. "Murphy," Boris shook his hand, "you are one humble guy. All that stuff that the admiral said you did? I never knew. You never told us that." "It was a classified mission," Murphy explained. On the other side of the conference room, he was aware of Hillary Koch hanging back, with a bitter frown on her face. She had her arms folded tightly across her chest. "Did he say domestic terrorism?" Susan asked. "That means it happened here in the United States, but I don't recall seeing on the news anything like that going down." She turned to her partner Perry. "Did you ever see anything like that on the news?" Perry was confirming that he hadn't while Jessica laid her hand on Murphy's elbow. "What about that lunch?" With pride, she fingered the star hanging on his breast pocket. "I know it's early, but I was hoping you could take a couple of hours leave to celebrate." With a naughty grin, she winked at him. Abruptly, Hillary provided Murphy with the answer to Jessica's invitation. "Thornton, come here. I need to talk to you." The tone of her voice made the hair on the back of Murphy's neck stand up on end. Wading through the agents, who sensed by Koch's tone that she was not calling him over to bestow her congratulations, Murphy made his way to the staff chief. "Yes, Crotch —" In response to her glare, he corrected himself, "I meant Koch." "Sure you did," she muttered. Murphy noticed her eying the shiny addition to his chest. She had to refrain from touching it. To do so would be to acknowledge his achievement, and she would be damned if she did that. Instead, she grasped her cell phone with both hands. "The Virginia State Police have what appears to be a home invasion in Reston. Five women murdered in a town house. One of the victims is a petty officer from the Navy Yard." Wondering why she was telling him this, Murphy cocked his head at her. It was the duty of her staff to investigate criminal cases involving military or civilian navy personnel. He was only the liaison. Koch planted her hands on her hips. "Since this petty officer appeared to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, we need someone to go to the scene, scope it out, and then allow the state police to take the lead." "Why are you sending me?" "Because this award ceremony of yours has set us back. This meeting is going to have to go through lunch," she said. "I need the rest of my staff here. This multiple murder was most likely a robbery or one —" "Was it our petty officer's home?" "No," Koch said. "If she was just collateral damage from another crime, then it's not our case. But we have to send someone out there to go through the motions with the state police and then let them take it. Just make sure they know to keep us in the loop on the investigation." She smirked. "I'm sure a super man like you can handle that, Thornton." She glanced over at Jessica who was standing a couple of feet away. "Sorry to ruin your date." Stepping around Murphy, Koch clapped her hands. "Okay, boys and girls, the show is over. We need to get back to work." Jessica murmured into Murphy's shoulder, "What a —" Murphy's mouth clamped over hers to stifle the rest of her protest. Caught off guard, she stumbled on her high heels to fall into his arms, which he wrapped around her tightly while whispering with a husky voice into her ear, "Smile. Don't give her the satisfaction of seeing that she's ruined anything." Seemingly oblivious to the mouths of the agents hanging open at the abrupt display, Murphy gathered his folders and tablet from where he had been sitting before the admiral interrupted the meeting. Jessica smiled broadly and grasped his elbow with both hands. "Are you going to show me your office?" Taking note of her visitor's badge, which meant that she needed to be escorted at all times by someone with security clearance, Murphy took her out of the conference room and down the corridor to his office located next to the staff chief. Admiring their wedding picture displayed on the bookcase behind Murphy's desk, Jessica asked in a casual tone, "Why does Koch hate you so much? Based on the tension I picked up from her, it is more than a simple personality clash. Did she make a pass at you and you turned her down?" She shot a naughty grin to his back, which he didn't notice. Instead, he was taking his gun and holster out of his desk drawer and snapping it on. "I'm the last man she'd make a pass at," Murphy said. "I'm too WASP for her taste." "WASP?" She slipped onto the corner of his desk and crossed her long legs. "White Anglo Saxon Protestant," he replied. "Don't tell me you never heard that term before." "But she's —" "Caucasian," Murphy finished. "And she loves men of every different color — except white." "How do you know that?" "Because she brags about it," he said. "Her sex life is common knowledge. In the four months that I've been here, she's slept with six men. She said at the last breakfast meeting that she's been averaging one and a half men a month." "And none of them are Caucasian?" Jessica asked with a tilt of her head and an arched eyebrow. "Three African-Americans, two Mexicans, and one Native American." "Any of them in the military?" "No," Murphy said with mock disgust. "She hates the military and she despises every suspect and victim her staff investigates." "That sounds like a conflict of interest to me," she said. "Why —" "I have no idea," he said. "It makes me wonder if that is why the Joint Chiefs assigned me here — to investigate her." He muttered under his breath, "They put me here for some reason. Wish they'd give me more direction." "Didn't you tell me that she was former navy?" she asked. "Did she retire?" "Left," Murphy said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I know there's a story there, but no one I've spoken to knows it. She's clearly bitter toward the military, the government —" "And white men," Jessica said. "Murphy, no wonder Koch hates you. You're the personification of everything that she blames for ruining her life." "You're making quite a leap there, aren't you, Dr. Faraday?" Murphy asked. Jessica grinned. She was still in the process of applying to Georgetown University Medical School for her doctorate in psychiatry. She ticked off on her fingers. "You're a successful, handsome, white, male, military officer serving your country." She sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised if there was a white male she blamed for drumming her out of the military." "We don't know if she was drummed out." "I saw her when the admiral pinned that Bronze Star on your chest," Jessica said. "She about dislocated her jaw gnashing her teeth with fury and envy. She was drummed out." "Well," Murphy told her in a low voice, "whatever Crotch's story is, I need to get along with her." "She's not your commanding officer," she replied. "She's my supervisor," Murphy said. "Since CO is not on site and doesn't see me on a daily basis, Crotch sends a regular evaluation report on my performance to her and makes a recommendation about promotion or reassignment. She could very well keep me from getting promoted or get me reassigned to a hell hole someplace." "CO loves you," Jessica whispered to him. "She recommended you for this Bronze Star. I'm sure that if Koch bad-mouthed you, your CO wouldn't believe a word of it."
Admittedly, it is not only my worst enemies who inspire me. I've been inspired by friends and even total strangers who I have not even spoken to.
A few years ago, while on a pit stop on the way to Snow Shoe, West Virginia, I was sitting in the car when I saw a man come out of the bathroom, purchase a soda at the machine, and go to his car. He was medium height, black hair on top of his head with gray from the temples down, like a gray strip around his head. Under a hook nose that was so huge it looked fake, his mustache was bushy and gray and he had a gray goatee. He also had a pot belly above his waist that made him look nine months pregnant and about ready to burst.
This stranger's appearance was so intriguing that I have stored him away in my memory to use later in a book. I still don't know what book yet. I may kill him. Or maybe he'll turn out to be a killer? Maybe. Maybe not. You'll need to read my books to find out.
— ♦ —
Lauren Carr is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes.
The owner of Acorn Book Services, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, editor, cover and layout designer, and marketing agent for independent authors. This year, several books, over a variety of genre, written by independent authors will be released through the management of Acorn Book Services, which is currently accepting submissions. Visit the Acorn Book Services website for more information.
Lauren lives with her husband, son, and three dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
Five women with seemingly nothing in common are found brutally murdered in a townhome outside Washington, DC. Among the many questions surrounding the massacre is what had brought these apparent strangers together only to be killed.
Taking on his first official murder case, Lieutenant Murphy Thornton, USN, believes that if he can uncover the thread connecting the victims, then he can find their murderer.
Before long, the case takes an unexpected turn when Murphy discovers that one of the victims has a connection to his stepmother, Homicide Detective Cameron Gates. One wintry night, over a dozen years before, her first husband, a Pennsylvania State trooper, had been run down while working a night shift on the turnpike.
The Thorny Rose Mysteries, the Lovers in Crime join newlyweds Lieutenant Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday to sift through a web of lies and cover-ups. Together, can the detectives of the Thorny Rose uncover the truth without falling victim to a cunning killer?
Maggie Riley has settled into her new life in Thailand, working aboard her sailboat and doing her best to leave the past behind. When she receives a letter from a World War II vet claiming to have served with her grandfather who went missing in action, Riley is once again pulled into the intrigue that tore her family apart and led to the disappearance of her former search partner — and the love of her life.
Armed with the secret code her grandfather left behind, Riley must head to the Philippines to hunt for a mysterious shipwreck, uncover the truth of Yamashita's gold, and find the answers to old questions about her own family.
When an elderly professor at Cambridge is murdered, a victim of bizarre, ancient Chinese torture, Alex Hawke teams up with his Scotland Yard colleague and friend Inspector Ambrose Congreve to find the killer. But the death is only the opening move in a tense and lethal game of geopolitical brinksmanship.
In the United States the president has begun behaving strangely. Is his mental health deteriorating — or is there something far more sinister behind his questionable moves? The answer is crucial, for tensions are mounting between China, North Korea, and the U.S. And China has launched fighter jets and a mega submarine vastly more sophisticated than any seen before — military technology that leapfrogs anything the U.S. and Great Britain possess.
With the situation edging toward an unthinkable abyss, Hawke must pull off his most daring mission yet: infiltrate the China and neutralize the source of their advantage … or risk witnessing World War III.
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.
Omnimystery News is pleased to feature a selection of Free MystereBooks found on Tuesday, August 18, 2015 at 6:30 AM ET …
Karma's a Bitch by Shannon Esposito
A Pet Psychic Mystery
Publisher: Misterio Press
Price: FREE!
Murder at the Foster Manor by Bon Blossman
A Fiona Frost Mystery
Publisher: Bon Blossman
Price: FREE!
Zinfandel Zanies by Kathleen Tosh
A Lia Jordan, Wine Travel Mystery
Publisher: Kathleen Tosh
Price: FREE!
Carter by Adrienne Bell
The Sinner Saints Series
Publisher: Adrienne Bell
Price: FREE!
The Treasure of Beggar's Bluff by Tommy Davey
A Cora Flash Mystery for Kids
Publisher: Brown PAW Press
Price: FREE!
Immortal by Steven Savile
A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller
Publisher: BadPress
Price: FREE!
Deadly Image by Tamelia Tumlin
A Faithful Hearts Novel of Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Tamelia Tumlin
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.
Partners in the Los Angeles Police Department, they're haunted by terrifying dark secrets of the nightwatch — shared predawn drink and sex sessions they call choir practice.
Each wears his cynicism like a bulletproof jockstrap — each has his horror story, his bad dream, his night shriek. He is afraid of his friends — he is afraid of himself.
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.
When Dr. John Taylor turns up dead in a hotel room, the local police uncover enough incriminating evidence to suspect foul play. Detective Samantha Adams, whose Palo Alto beat usually covers petty crimes, is innocently thrown into a high-profile case that is more complicated than any she has faced before. A renowned reconstructive surgeon and a respected family man, Dr. Taylor was beloved and admired.
But beneath his perfect façade was a hidden life — in fact, multiple lives. Dr. Taylor was married to three very different women in three separate cities. As the circumstances surrounding his death emerge, Detective Adams finds herself tracking down a murderer through a tangled web of marital deception and revenge.
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 August 2015 and priced $4.99 or less …
Retired FBI agent Justin Scott becomes a target for assassination while en route to Rome at the behest of the Vatican's secretary of state …
In wartime London, British Intelligence is working feverishly on an audacious plan to thwart the imminent cross-channel Nazi invasion. With England's fate hanging in the balance, a papal emissary hand-delivers a sealed letter to Adolf Hitler from a source no mortal would dare ignore or disobey. The letter is lost to history in 1945 with the fall of Berlin — only to surface without warning in the Vatican seven decades later.
Penned by an unimpeachable source, it states with a God-given certitude that the time of the Dies Irae (The Day of Wrath) is now. A very troubled pope wants Justin to authenticate or disprove both message and messenger — an admitted all but impossible task as the Doomsday Clock readies to strike midnight.
— The Barbarossa Covenant by Ian A. O'Connor
See also the first book in this series, The Seventh Seal, for $2.99 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.
Paris, 1878: Eccentric antiquarian Lord Littleby and his ten servants are found murdered in Littleby's mansion on the rue de Grenelle, and a priceless Indian shawl is missing. Police commissioner "Papa" Gauche recovers only one piece of evidence from the crime scene: a golden key shaped like a whale. Gauche soon deduces that the key is in fact a ticket of passage for the Leviathan, a gigantic steamship soon to depart Southampton on its maiden voyage to Calcutta. The murderer must be among its passengers.
In Cairo, the ship is boarded by a young Russian diplomat with a shock of white hair — none other than Erast Fandorin. The sleuth joins forces with Gauche to determine which of ten unticketed passengers on the Leviathan is the rue de Grenelle killer.
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 and the Theatre of Death by Val Andrews
Whilst in the middle of a performance, a deadly inferno engulfs the stage. A mysteriously locked door bars the escape route, and the blaze brings down the great theatre to ash and rubble. The tragedy claims the lives of several members of the troupe — including The Great Lafayette himself. In the ensuing chaos, the circumstances of the fire remain unknown, as does the whereabouts of Neuberger's corpse. Holmes and Watson are called upon to help untangle the web mystery shrouding the event. But how can the truth come to light, when everyone who worked for Neuberger has sworn a vow of secrecy and dares not divulge any details?
Their journey of discovery takes Holmes and Watson across the depth and breadth of Great Britain, into the bowels of the theatre, where a gruesome discovery is revealed — along with something that Neuberger has left behind …
— Sherlock Holmes and the Theatre of Death 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.
Former Marine sniper and current NSA agent Jack Stone has a new face to go with his new identity. But he still has the same tortured memories — which include the woman he let get away years ago, when they were teenagers. Now his new assignment in Miami will put him so close to the woman he's never been able to forget, he could reach out and touch her — if only she weren't under suspicion.
When Sophie Moreno uncovers evidence linking the medical supply company she works for with arms smuggling — and worse — she doesn't know who to turn to. After a shocking betrayal, she realizes the only person she can trust is a mysterious new person in the company — a man with hauntingly familiar eyes.
As Sophie questions her intense attraction to this man and Jack struggles not to blow his cover, the two of them must race against the clock to stop terrorists from killing scores of people — starting with them.
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've selected one of their recently published romantic suspense or romantic thriller titles to feature here today …
Undercover With the Enemy by Sharron McClellan
A Novel of Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Entangled Select
Price: $3.99 (as of 08/17/2015 at 4:30 PM ET).
When opposites ignite …
High-risk securities operative Holly Milano usually prefers to work alone. Having a partner is, well, annoying. Case in point-her current assignment with Kane MacMillan. They're working undercover in high society to retrieve a priceless diamond necklace.
And Mr. Plan Everything is seriously cramping Holly's fly-by-the-seat-of-her-sexy-pants style.
Kane takes his job seriously, and he knows from experience that working with Holly usually ends in disaster. Their conflicting approaches could destroy their cover-or worse, get them killed. But when they're forced to pose as an engaged couple, neither Holly nor Kane are prepared for the possibility of an unexpected attraction … or that they're now putting their lives and their hearts on the line.
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.
Hank Thompson is living off the map in Mexico with a bagful of cash that the Russian mafia wants back and many, many secrets. So when a Russian backpacker shows up in town asking questions, Hank tries to play it cool. But he knows the jig is up when the backpacker mentions the money … and the family Hank left behind. Suddenly Hank's in a desperate race to get to his parents in California before anyone can harm them.
Along the way he'll face Federales and Border Patrol, mafiosi and vigilantes, extortionists and drug dealers, and a couple of psychotic surf bums with an ax to grind.
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Revenge of the Chili Queens by Kylie Logan, A Maxie Pierce, Chili Cook-Off Mystery (3rd in series)
Publisher: Berkley
On the chili cook-off circuit to southern Texas revenge is a dish best served hot …
Everyone in San Antonio remembers the Alamo, but how many remember the Chili Queens? Back in the early twentieth century, these spicy señoras sold their lip-smacking chili in plazas all around the city. Now, as part of the Chili Showdown, Maxie and her half-sister, Sylvia, are dressing up as the Chili Queens to raise money for charity.
But someone wasn't feeling too charitable toward a local troubadour, who is murdered at the fundraiser. When their friend Nick Falcone, head of security for the Showdown, actually becomes the prime suspect, it's up to Maxie and Sylvia to turn the heat up on a killer, who's planning a chili reception for them …
