An Excerpt from The Marshal, a Novel of Romantic Suspense by Adrienne Giordano

The Marshal
by Adrienne Giordano

We are delighted to welcome author Adrienne Giordano to Omnimystery News today.

Adrienne's new novel of romantic suspense is The Marshal (Harlequin Intrigue; January 2015 mass market paperback and ebook formats) and we are pleased to introduce you to it with an excerpt from the first chapter.

— ♦ —

THIS WAS A SWITCH.
  Deputy U.S. marshal Brent Thompson stood in a Chicago hotel ballroom among a throng of impeccably dressed political big shots that, for once, he didn't have to protect.
  Tonight, he was a guest.
  Whether that made him happy or not was anyone's guess. But he'd stay another hour for Judge Kline, a woman he'd spent two years watching over after her husband and children were murdered by some nut who'd been on the losing end of a ruling. Judge Kline had ordered him to pay a $1,200 fine and somehow he was mad enough to wipe out her entire family, leaving her to deal with guilt and rage and heartache.
  Crazy.
  Sometimes — sometimes? Really? — Brent didn't understand people. Or maybe it was their motivations he didn't understand, but the human race baffled him.
  Tonight Judge Kline, who'd refused to allow her life to collapse under grief, was smiling. A welcome sight since her eighty-five-year-old mother had decided to throw one hell of a shindig for the judge's sixtieth birthday.
  "Brent?"
  Brent turned and found the ever-polished Gerald Hennings, Chicago's highest-profile defense attorney, weaving through the crowd. Accompanying him was a petite blonde in a floor-length bright blue gown. She had to be over fifty, but may have had a little work done to preserve her extraordinary looks. Her perfect cheekbones, the big blue eyes and sculpted nose were duplicates of the ones Brent recognized from Hennings's daughter, Penny. Didn't take a genius to figure out this woman was Mrs. Hennings. Brent held his hand out. "Mr. Hennings. Nice to see you."
  Five months earlier, Brent had been assigned to protect Penny Hennings after yet another nut — plenty of nuts in his world — had attempted to kill her on the steps of a federal courthouse. Penny had nearly put Brent into a psych ward with her relentless mouthiness and aggressive attitude, but he'd formed a bond with her. A kinship. And, much like Judge Kline, they'd remained friends after his assignment had ended. For whatever reason, emotionally speaking, he couldn't let either one of them go. The fact that they'd all experienced tragedy might be the common denominator, but he chose not to think too hard about it. What was the point? None of them would ever fully recover from their individual experiences. All they could do was move on.
  Hennings turned to the woman at his side. "I don't think you've met my wife, Pamela. Pam, this is Marshal Brent Thompson. He was the marshal."
  She smiled and — yep — he was looking at Penny in twenty-five years.
  "I know," Mrs. Hennings said. She stepped forward and gripped both of his arms. "Thank you."
  The gesture, so direct and heartfelt, caught him sideways and he stiffened. Freak that he was he'd never gotten comfortable with strange women touching him. Most guys would love it. Brent? He liked his space being his.
  But he stood there, allowing Penny's mother to thank him in probably the only way she knew how. He could go on about how he'd just been doing his job, which was all true, but even he understood that he'd worked a little harder for Penny. She reminded him too much of his younger sister, Camille, and he hadn't been able to help himself. "You're welcome. Your daughter has become a good friend. And if I ever need legal advice, I know who to call."
  Mrs. Hennings laughed.
  Mr. Hennings swooped his finger in the air. "You're not working tonight?"
  "No, sir. Judge Kline is a friend."
  "How nice," Mrs. Hennings said.
  "Yes, ma'am. I worked with her for two years. She would always tell me if my tie didn't match. That happened a lot."
  "As the mother of two sons, I'm sure your mother appreciates that."
  Mother.
  Mr. Hennings cleared his throat and, in Brent's mind, the room fell silent. He glanced around, looking for … what? Confirmation that the room at large wasn't listening to his conversation?
  Maybe.
  All around people gabbed and mingled and pretty much ignored Brent. Imagined it. He exhaled and once again the orchestra music — something classical — replaced the fog in his brain.
  He'd fielded comments about his mother almost his entire life. It should have been easier by now.
  Except for the nagging.
  Twenty-three years of gut-twisting, anger-fueled obsession that kept him prisoner. "My mother died when I was seven, ma'am."
  Social pro that she must have been, considering her husband's wizardry with the press, Mrs. Hennings barely reacted. "I'm so sorry." She turned to Gerald, shooting him the stink-eye. "I didn't know."
  Moments like these, a guy had to step up and help his brother-in-arms. "No need to apologize. I think about her every day." And knowing how this conversation would go, the curiosity that came with why and how such a young woman had died, Brent let it fly. "She was murdered."
  Social pro or not, Mrs. Hennings gasped. "How horrible."
  Brent sipped his club soda, gave the room another glance and came back to Mrs. Hennings. "My sister and I adjusted. We have a supportive family."
  "I hope they caught the person who did this."
  "No ma'am. It's still an open case."
  A case that lived and breathed with him and had driven him into law enforcement. If the Carlisle sheriff's office couldn't find his mother's killer, he'd do it himself.
  "Are the police still looking into it?"
  Brent shrugged. "If they get a tip or some new information. I work it on my downtime, but downtime is short."
  Mrs. Hennings, obviously still embarrassed by bringing up the subject of his dead mother, turned to her husband. "Can't one of your investigators help? You do all sorts of pro bono work for clients. Why not this?"
  "Pam, those are cases where we're defending people. This is different."
  Brent held up his hand As much as he'd like help, he didn't want a domestic war started over it. "Mrs. Hennings, it's okay. But thank you."
  Still, down deep, Brent wanted to find the person who'd wrecked his family and had saddled him with a level of responsibility — and guilt — no seven-year-old should have known. Every day, the questions haunted him. Could he have helped her? Should he have done something when he first heard noise? Was he a crummy investigator because all these years later he still couldn't give his mother justice?
  At this point, if he couldn't find this monster on his own, he'd take whatever help available. Ego aside, justice for his mother was what mattered.
  Mrs. Hennings kept her gaze on her husband. "You were just complaining that Jenna is bored with her current assignments. After what Brent did for Penny, give Jenna his mother's case to investigate. It'll challenge her and keep her out of your hair. Where's the problem?"
  Hennings pressed his lips together and a minuscule, seriously minuscule, part of Brent pitied the man. If he didn't agree with his wife, his life would be a pile of manure.
  Mrs. Hennings shot her husband a meat cleaver of a look, then turned back to Brent. "My husband will call you about this tomorrow. How's that?"
  With limited options, and being more than a little afraid to argue because, hey, he was no dummy either, he grinned at Mr. Hennings. "That'd be great. Thank you."

JENNA SLID ONTO one of the worn black vinyl bar stools at Freddie's Tap House, a mostly empty shot-and-a-beer joint on the North Side of Chicago.
  How the place stayed in business, she had no idea. On this Wednesday night the sports bar down the block was packed, while the only people patronizing Freddie's were an elderly man sitting at the bar and a couple huddled at a table in the back.
  The bartender glanced down the bar at her and wandered over. "Evening. Get you something?"
  You sure can.
  "Whatever's on tap. Thanks."
  He nodded and scooped a glass from behind the bar, pouring a draft as he eyed her black blazer and the plunging neckline on her cashmere sweater. "Haven't seen you in here before. New in town?"
  As much as she'd tried to dress down with jeans, she hadn't been able to resist the sweater. When dealing with men, a little help from her feminine wiles — also known as her boobs — never hurt. "Nope. New in here though."
  "You look more Tiffany's than Freddie's."
  Already Jenna liked him. "Are you Freddie?"
  "Junior."
  "Sorry?"
  "Freddie Junior. My dad is Freddie. I took over when he retired."
  He slid the beer in front of Jenna. Once more she looked around, took in the polished, worn wood of the bar, the six tables along the wall and the line of empty bar stools.
  "Slow night," Freddie said.
  Lucky me. She opened her purse, pulled out a fifty and set it on the bar. Next came the photo taken the week prior by a patron in this very bar. He glanced down at the fifty, then at the photo.
  "I'm not a cop," Jenna said. "I'm an investigator working for a law firm."
  "Okay."
  She pointed at the photo of two men with a woman in the background. Jenna needed to find that woman. "Have you seen her in here?"
  He picked up the photo and studied it. "Yeah. Couple of times. When a woman like that walks into a beer joint, there's generally a reason. Kinda like you."
  Figuring it was time to put her cleavage to work, Jenna inched forward, gave him a view of the girls beneath that V-neck and smiled. Most women would love the idea that a fifteen-pound weight gain had gone straight to their chest. Jenna supposed it hadn't hurt her ability to claw information from men — and maybe she used it to her advantage. But she also wanted to be recognized for extracting the information and not for the way she'd done it.
  Did that even make sense? She wasn't sure anymore. All she knew was her need for positive reinforcement had led her to using her looks to achieve her goals. That meant wearing clingy, revealing clothing. Such a cliché. But the thing about clichés was they worked.
  "Any idea what her reason for being here was?"
  Freddie took the boob-bait and leaned in. "No. Both times she met someone. Why?"
  All Jenna could hope was he'd gotten the woman's name. "My client is being held on a robbery charge. He says he was in here the night of the robbery and he met this woman. Her name is Robin."
  "Where'd you get the picture?"
  "Friends of my client."
  He dropped the picture on the bar and tapped it. "Birthday party, right?"
  "Yes. My client and six of his friends. Any idea where I can find her?"
  "Nah."
  "Did she pay by credit card?"
  If she paid by credit card, there would be a record of the transaction, and Jenna would dig into the Hennings & Solomon coffers and pay Freddie a highly negotiated sum for a look at his credit card receipts. From there, she'd get a name and two calls later would have an address for Robin-the-mystery-woman.
  "Cash."
  Shoot.
  Freddie may have been lying. Jenna studied him, took in his direct gaze. Not lying. At least she didn't think so. Again with the wavering? Didn't she have a good sense about these things? Yes, she did. For that reason she'd go with the theory that Freddie seemed to be a small-business owner who wanted to stay out of trouble while trying to make a living. She dug her card and a pen out of her purse, wrote her cell number on the card and placed it next to the fifty on the bar.
  "How about I leave you my card? If she comes in again and you call me, there's a hundred bucks in it for you."
  Freddie glanced at the card. After a moment, he half shrugged. "Sure. If I see her."
  Jenna took one last sip of her beer, slid off the stool and hitched her purse onto her shoulder. "Thanks." She nodded toward the fifty. "Keep the change."

— ♦ —

Photo provided courtesy of
Adrienne Giordano

Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and mystery. She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest with her workaholic husband, sports obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaten Terrorist (Terrier).

For more information about the author, please visit her website at AdrienneGiordano.com and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.

— ♦ —

The Marshal
Adrienne Giordano

His painful past is their present danger …

The last thing US Marshal Brent Thompson needs is distraction from his work. But distraction — in the form of a sexy Chicago investigator — is exactly what he gets. Jenna Hayward is as alluring as she is determined, driven to help apprehend the murderer who killed Brent's mother twenty-three years ago.

With a shared mission — and a steadily rising attraction that jeopardizes Brent's resolve to stay unattached — the pair must work together to get answers … before the murderer makes them his next victims.

        

Please Welcome Mystery Author Tj O'Connor

with Tj O'Connor

We are delighted to welcome back mystery author Tj O'Connor to Omnimystery News.

Tj's second mystery in his Gumshoe Ghost series, Dying for the Past (Midnight Ink; January 2015 trade paperback and ebook formats), is published today, and we asked him to tell us a little more about his series character. He responded by providing us with an interview with the gumshoe ghost himself, Detective Oliver "Tuck" Tucker.

— ♦ —

Photo provided courtesy of
Tj O'Connor

Introduction: What follows is an interview with Detective Oliver "Tuck" Tucker, former detective with the Frederick County, Virginia, Sheriff's Department. A point of fact — Tuck is dead. He was murdered more than a year ago and was back at the job the next day. You could say he now investigates post mortem.

Question: Before we ask some personal background, how about a quick summary of your first case.

A: Well, Dying to Know was not my first case. I've been a homicide cop for more than fifteen years. But it was my first case as a dead detective. The Gumshoe Ghost is my moniker now — and I'm not fond of that, but oh well. Anyway, Dying to Know was how it all started, right? See, I was killed in the beginning of the case and had to come back and help my old partner and wife solve my murder. They were lost without me as always. And what a case! First, poof, I'm dead and back. Then holy-crap-on-a-peanut-butter-sandwich, everyone was a suspect — well, everyone but Hercule. But the wildest thing you ever heard of was that two young wraiths sought me out to solve their homicide, too. Except theirs was fifty years ago. And, along the way, some other bodies were piling up, too. Someone in sleepy Winchester, Virginia, had been very, very bad. Believe me, it was my toughest case — and not just because I was solving my own murder either.

Question: Now, some background, Oliver. Tell us about yourself and your family.

A: First, lose the "Oliver" — I'm Tuck. Oliver was my grandfather's name. Funny about that, I didn't know any of my family until I was murdered. You might say they started coming out of the closet then. I never liked "Oliver," it always reminds me of that sniveling little shit in Oliver Twist. I'm more a Raymond Chandler or Mickey Spillane type. You know, tough, rugged, chiseled jaw, and to-die-for looks.

Question: But you don't have a chiseled jaw and you don't look so rugged. So …

A: Look, I'm dead. So I have to-die-for looks, right? Oh, that could be another of my author's books, "Dying for Looks."

Question: Your author?

A: Yeah, Tj O'Connor. He thinks he's the brains behind me. But, I do the heavy lifting — chase the bad guys, get killed, catch the bad guys, and then … wham … he writes the books and takes all the credit. Yeah, yeah, he was a government agent and international consultant and all that dribble. He chased spies and terrorists — blah, blah, blah … he never lets me forget it either. But I ask you — did he ever get killed? No. Did he ever get shot? No. Do the dead hire him to solve their cases? No. I rest my case.

Question: Sure, okay. So, back to your background …

A: Okay, so, I've been a cop for more than twenty years. I live in Winchester, Virginia — an amazing, historic town in northwestern Virginia. My partner is Bear Braddock — here's a hint, he ain't called Bear because of his darling personality or his gymnast figure. Then, there's Angel — Angela Hill-Tucker — my brilliant university professor and wife. She put the vava in the voom. And Hercule, too, my best pal. He got Angel and I back together after my murder. Oh, he's a dog, too. A black Lab. But don't bring that up, he might chew something up — like you. Last but not least, there's Doc, my dead great grandfather who is my mentor these days. There are a few more, too, but I'll talk about them later.

Question: What was being killed like? How has it affected you?

A: How the hell do I know? One minute I was racing to save Angel and the next I was standing in my den looking down at my body in the foyer. Somewhere in between, I was shot in the heart by a madman. Poof, I was watching me carried out of my own house ten toes up. For the longest time, too, only Hercule could see and hear me. I had to figure everything out on my own, too. I watched a lot of old movies and they gave me a very bad idea of what being a ghost was about. Especially that old movie, Topper — which by the way, our (Tj and my) beautiful and talented agent, Kimberley Cameron, says our books are like. But I figured it out. Poof here. Poof there. As I said in Dying to Know, it's like watching T.V. I just change the channel and I'm where I want to be. Except sometimes, I don't know where I need to go and I have to channel surf.

Question: How is your newest case — Dying for the Past — going? Are you making any headway?

A: Oh, hell yeah. I already solved the case. Although Tj took credit. You can tell he didn't have a clue — he chased false leads and almost nabbed the wrong suspect. I let him dangle for a while before I saved his butt, er, his ending. And what thanks did I get …

Question: Ah, Tuck, the case?

A: Yeah, right. So in Dying for the Past, Angel threw this big-shot charity gala. All the rich and famous were there. Let me tell you, she was looking hot, too. Tj nailed it — "A woman with shoulder-length auburn hair and sparkling green eyes stood in the middle of the mansion's ballroom. Her long, silky gown was icing poured hot over sultry curves." Then, while the champagne and money were flowing … bam! Some mysterious big shot was murdered — shot right through his carnation in front of a hundred witnesses, too. Of course, nobody saw sh … anything. A guest jitterbugged in and murdered Mr. Carnation to Benny Goodman.

And that's just the crime scene!

Then there are the suspects — As always, there's Poor Nic again with one hand in the cookie jar and the other around the Russian mob. Add in a missing federal witness, a tough-as-nails federal prosecutor, a ghost-investigator, the beautiful, conniving widow, and you've got a cast of wild and crazy suspects! Did I mention Vincent? He's the spirit of a 1930's gangster looking for his lost book holding the secrets to modern-day spies, gangsters, and corruption in Washington DC — and oh, my, he's got Sassy on his arm. She's a young, wild vixen giving me a wink and a pinch every time I turn around. You wouldn't believe what everyone is willing to do for that damn book. Or maybe you would.

Dare I go on? No. You'd never believe it.

Question: So, who dunnit?

A: The killer, of course.

Question: No, I mean …

A: I know, I know. But, you can't expect me to tell you, right? Who would buy our book? (Hear that, Tj, our book). And then Tj would blame me, bang his head on the wall, and run around screaming like a baby. Nope, I'm not getting into that!

Question: Okay, on a personal note … what do you like most about being the Gumshoe Ghost, er, dead detective?

I like solving the dead cases — or I should say, the cases for the dead. Their killers think they got away with murder, and for the longest time, maybe they did. Then, surprise! Those victims find me and I'm on the case. I get to dispense a little overdue justice. Yeah, I sure like that.

Question: What do you like least?

A: Oh, where to begin? Well, once you see my Angel, the thing I miss most will be obvious — but it's a cozy (or so my publisher says) so I can't spell it out for you. Let's just say "laughter, bourbon, hangovers. Long nights on stakeouts. Long nights with Angel. Aching for sleep, praying it never came … "

Question: Any closing comments? Thoughts on Dying for the Past?

A: As for me, if you're gonna murder someone — look over your shoulder at the shadow or the wisp in the wind. Listen for the bump in the night or the sigh just beside your ear. That'll be me. And once I find you. It's all over. (Boy, I love the melodrama and the cheap dime store lines, don't you?) As for my partner, Tj, he'd be pissy with me if I didn't say "buy the books." Yes, it's a cheap promotional stunt, but if I didn't pass it along, he might get me exercised, or get exorcised, one or the other.

— ♦ —

As an international security consultant and former government agent, TJ O'Connor has conducted security consulting, investigations, and anti-terrorism operations around the world. Today, he provides independent security consulting to government agencies and private businesses. He lives in Winchester, Virginia.

For more information about the author, please visit his website at TjOConnor.com or find him on Facebook.

— ♦ —

Dying for the Past
Tj O'Connor
A Gumshoe Ghost Mystery

Dying is not for the faint of heart … Neither is the murder of a mysterious philanthropist with ties to the Russian mob and 1939 gangsters …

At an A-list charity ball organized by his wife, Angela, former detective Oliver "Tuck" Tucker is doing his best to prove that ghosts know how to have a good time — until a man is murdered in cold blood on the dance floor.

Never one to let a mystery go unsolved, Tuck is on the case with help from Angela and his former police-detective partners. Together, they must be the first to read "the book" — deceased gangster Vincent Calabrese's journal that names names and reveals the dirty secrets of several modern-day spies.

As Tuck learns the book's secrets, he begins to unravel his own family's wayward past, leading to the question — is being a ghost hereditary? Even while chasing a killer, the biggest challenge Tuck must conquer is how to be back amongst the living … but not one of them.

      

Almost Perfect by Orly Krauss-Winer is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature …

Almost Perfect by Orly Krauss-Winer

A Romantic Thriller

Publisher: Orly Krauss-Winer

… as today's third free mystery ebook.

  

This title was listed for free as of January 08, 2015 at 7:20 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.

The world of Nili Abadi, partner in a successful law firm, is turned upside down when the body of another partner is found in a burned-out car that belongs to her best friend. The fact that her friend is also a colleague and an ex-lover of the deceased, leads the police to arrest her as the main suspect in the murder.

Nili, convinced that her friend is innocent, sets out to help expose the truth. Although the promotion of the police officer in charge of the investigation is on the line and he needs her help to solve the case, he isn't very enthusiastic about her involvement. However, when she exposes dark secrets from the dead man's past that shed new light and complicate the investigation, he is forced to cooperate with her, primarily because he is afraid that her involvement in the case has put her life is in danger.

— Almost Perfect by Orly Krauss-Winer

Imogene in New Orleans by Hunter Murphy is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature …

Imogene in New Orleans by Hunter Murphy

An Imogene McGregor Mystery

Publisher: Rolltop Publishing

… as today's second free mystery ebook.

  

This title was listed for free as of January 08, 2015 at 7:10 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.

Imogene Deal McGregor has lived nearly three-quarters of a century in Alabama. She has a penchant for following her own instincts, as well as more grit and spunk than her hypochondriac son, Billy McGregor, and Billy's impulsive partner Jackson can handle. The boys take Imogene to New Orleans with their devilishly handsome English bulldog Goose, hoping to visit friends and attend a second line parade, but moments after arriving in the French Quarter, they find their friend Glenway Gilbert murdered in his art gallery. Immediately, Imogene and the boys run into a temperamental and ethically-challenged lieutenant who appears hell-bent on neglecting the crime, compelling them to seek answers themselves.

As they delve into Glenway Gilbert's murder, Imogene and the boys realize the deceased artist was surrounded by suspicious friends and lovers. With Goose the bulldog by their side, Jackson and Billy seek answers among old friends and new enemies, while Imogene follows her own ideas on the case. But the sooner they solve the murder, the sooner they can get back to catching beads and eating pralines.

— Imogene in New Orleans by Hunter Murphy

Comatoast by Judith Jackson is Today's First Featured Free MystereBook

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature …

Comatoast by Judith Jackson

A Val Valentyn Mystery

Publisher: Judith Jackson

… as today's first free mystery ebook.

  

This title was listed for free as of January 08, 2015 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.

Things are looking up for Val Valentyn. After their great success at stumbling on to the identity of the real killer of Val's boss, she and her friends, Julie and Rose, have opened their own private detective agency. And after only six weeks in business they're starting to make a name for themselves. There is that minor problem of the client who says she is going to sue, but you can't please everyone.

So, when a woman asks them to find her mother's killer, they're not about to let the fact that they know almost nothing about solving a murder stop them from taking the case. Seriously, how hard can it be?

— Comatoast by Judith Jackson

The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro is Today's Kobo Daily Deal

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro as today's Kobo Daily Deal.

The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Thursday, January 08, 2015, and has been price-matched by Amazon.

The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Algonquin Books

Price: $1.99 (as of 01/08/2015 at 6:40 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.

Almost twenty-five years after the infamous art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — still the largest unsolved art theft in history — one of the stolen Degas paintings is delivered to the Boston studio of a young artist. Claire Roth has entered into a Faustian bargain with a powerful gallery owner by agreeing to forge the Degas in exchange for a one-woman show in his renowned gallery.

But as she begins her work, she starts to suspect that this long-missing masterpiece — the very one that had been hanging at the Gardner for one hundred years — may itself be a forgery.

— The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro

Listening to Voices, A Crime Thriller by Sara MacDonald, New This Week from Endeavour Press

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 …

Listening to Voices by Sara MacDonald

A Crime Thriller

Publisher: Endeavour Press

Price: $3.99 (as of 01/07/2015 at 5:30 PM ET).

  

Find more newly released mystery, suspense and thriller titles on the Omnimystery News Facebook page.

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 Anna married Ian and became a mother to his daughter, Jessie, she knew she was taking a risk. She was aware of his past: of his former wife, Hester, whose campaign of harassment had ended when she was sectioned. But only when the menacing phone calls and vitriolic letters begin to come does Anna catch a chilling glimpse of Hester's world …

A world where Anna is the enemy, the monster who stole Hester's husband and child. For Hester has quite forgotten the true facts. Ian had wanted a normal life; he had had enough of intensity and darkness. Yet, living with his small family in a beautiful house in Cornwall, he has not been happy. Now, the drama he had secretly missed is back. Maybe he needs a reminder of the past, to show him how lucky he is.

Crazy, unpredictable and on the loose, they daren't imagine what Hester would do if she could find them …

Where is she now? And how long will it be before she comes to retrieve what she believes has been stolen from her by Anna?

— Listening to Voices by Sara MacDonald

New This Week: Thread of Fear, A Joe Tyler Mystery by Jeff Shelby

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 January 2015 and priced $4.99 or less …

Thread of Fear by Jeff Shelby

A Joe Tyler Mystery (5th in series)

Publisher: Mission Bay Publishing

Price: $2.99 (as of 01/07/2015 at 4:30 PM ET).

  

Find more newly released mystery, suspense and thriller titles on the Omnimystery News Facebook page.

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.

Joe Tyler has debts to pay …

John Anchor helped Joe find his daughter and now he's asking Joe to repay the favor by locating an employee who has disappeared after stealing money from Anchor. But it's not as simple as finding the man and finding the money. With Anchor, everything is always complicated. And dangerous.

As Joe contemplates how to comply with Anchor's request, he's having second thoughts about his investigative career. He wants something more stable, more normal so that he can be home with Elizabeth, Lauren and the new baby that's on the way. All he needs to do is satisfy Anchor so he can get on with his life.

But satisfying Anchor may require a bigger payment than Joe ever realized.

— Thread of Fear by Jeff Shelby

Twenty Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple Mysteries by Agatha Christie, 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, one of twenty Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot mysteries and collections, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, William Morrow …

Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

A Hercule Poirot Collection (3rd in series)

Publisher: William Morrow

Price: $3.99 (as of 01/07/2015 at 4:00 PM ET).

  

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First there was the mystery of the film star and the diamond … then came the "suicide" that was murder … the mystery of the absurdly cheap flat … a suspicious death in a locked gun-room … a million dollar bond robbery … the curse of a pharoah's tomb … a jewel robbery by the sea … the abduction of a Prime Minister … the disappearance of a banker … a phone call from a dying man … and, finally, the mystery of the missing will.

What links these fascinating cases? Only the brilliant deductive powers of Hercule Poirot!

— Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

Snow Way Out by Christine Husom, a New 1st in Series Mystery Introducing Camryn Brooks

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) …

Snow Way Out by Christine Husom

A Camryn Brooks, Snow Globe Shop Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Berkley

  

What we know about the character: Camryn Brooks owns a curio shop featuring a wide selection of snow globes. For more information about her first murder, see a synopsis of the book, below.

Curio shop manager Camryn Brooks thought she'd seen every kind of snow globe — until she saw one depicting a crime scene …

Ever since she was a child, Cami has loved the sparkling beauty of snow globes, and now, she sells them. In fact, they're so popular, Cami and her friend — coffee shop owner Alice "Pinky" Nelson — are hosting a snow globe making class.

After the flurry of activity has ended and everyone has gone off with their own handmade snow globes, Cami spots a new globe left behind on a shelf, featuring an odd tableau — a man sleeping on a park bench.

On her way home, she drifts through the town park and is shaken to come upon the scene from the globe — a man sitting on a bench. But he isn't sleeping — he has a knife in his back. When the police arrive, it's clear they consider Cami a little flaky and possibly a suspect. After her friends also come under suspicion, Cami starts plowing through clues to find the cold-blooded backstabber — before someone else gets iced …

— Snow Way Out by Christine Husom

The Turtle Mound Murder, A DAFFODILS Mystery by Mary Clay, 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, IF Mystery …

The Turtle Mound Murder by Mary Clay

A DAFFODILS Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: IF Mystery

Price: $2.99 (as of 01/07/2015 at 3:00 PM ET).

  

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Rebecca Leigh Stratton is divorced, depressed, and thoroughly disgusted. Thanks to her two-timing, asset-hiding, lawyer husband, Leigh faces the prospect of starting over at forty-six. Fortunately, her sassy, Southern sorority sisters, Penny Sue Parker and Ruthie Nichols, are old hands at divorce.

The three single-again ladies take off for New Smyrna Beach, their college-days haunt. What they don't bargain for are old flames, fist fights, and gunfire. And, that's just the first day!

— The Turtle Mound Murder by Mary Clay

Viking Bay by M. A. Lawson, New in Bookstores during January 2015

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

Viking Bay by M. A. Lawson, a Kay Hamilton Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: Blue Rider

        

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

More about our featured title, below …

Kay Hamilton, the beautiful, fearless, and audacious DEA agent who went rogue has paid the price for her subversive behavior. She has been fired by the DEA and needs a job to support herself and her teenage daughter.

Kay moves to Washington D.C. and connects with the Callahan Group, a shadowy quasi-governmental agency with an enigmatic agenda. For her first mission, Kay is told only a few facts: that the U.S. government wants Sahid Khan, a provincial Afghan governor, to become the nation's next president, and that Khan's daughter Ara — a Western-educated former party girl — is her father's key political advisor. Kay Hamilton is the perfect undercover operative to learn Ara's secrets and sway her thinking in line with America's interests. But when things go horribly wrong at a clandestine meeting in Afghanistan, Kay emerges at the center of an international plot that makes her question those she loves, those she works for, and her own faith in justice.

— Viking Bay by M. A. Lawson

The Shadow Box, Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thrillers by Various Authors, 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 author …

The Shadow Box by Various Authors

Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thrillers

Publisher: Various Authors

Price: $0.99 (as of 01/07/2015 at 2:00 PM ET).

  

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Ride the cutting edge of dark fantasy in this unique collection of fast-paced, gritty, suspenseful thrillers. Filled with black magic, vampire trailer trash, werewolves, sorcerers, witches, assassins, psychics, clairvoyants, zombie draggers, and old-school gothic horror, a sure bet for fans of paranormal suspense.

DARKER THINGS by Rob Cornell
Fifteen years have passed since Craig Lockman worked for a shadowy agency fighting monsters most think exist only in nightmares. A mysterious teen girl arrives at his door with his fiercest enemy on her tail. Now he must protect the daughter he never knew from the dark world he thought he left behind.

MOTH by Sean Poindexter
Social worker Max Hollingsworth is no stranger to monsters. Supernatural or human, he's faced all kinds. But when he's called upon to investigate a missing child, he may have met his match.

THE SHEPHERD by Travis Luedke
After saving a mysterious girl from a hit and run, 16 yr. old Mike Evans soon finds his life spiraling out of control. Facing clairvoyant visions of grisly death, Mike struggles to avert disaster and make his way through the chaos.

COUNCIL OF PEACOCKS by M. Joseph Murphy
A band of misfit, half-demon teenagers join the ruthless, immortal Wisdom, to stop The Council of Peacocks. The Council, a secret society of sorcerers, has plotted for centuries, and now the time has come for Activation — a hostile takeover of Earth.

A DEATH DISPLACED by Andrew Butcher
When Nicolas Crystan unexpectedly sees the future, he acts fast to save Juliet Maystone from a fatal accident, unintentionally "displacing" her — giving her the power to see ghosts. Together, they must use their newfound abilities to unravel a mystery more connected to Nicolas than he ever imagined …

BOUND BY BLOOD by Shane KP O'Neill
Vlad Dracula: ruler, tyrant, warlord, and champion of the Catholic faith, is seized by Lucifer in his moment of death and becomes a monster, born of Darkness. Vlad is charged with destroying the institution of the Catholic Church, to help turn man against God so that Lucifer may finally return to Heaven and end all of mankind.

LUNA SANGUIS by Simon Okill
A mysterious woman awakes in an asylum in France, 1925, with amnesia. As her memory is restored she reveals her true vampiric nature and unleashes a bloody nightmare that might destroy all humanity.

TELL ME WHEN I'M DEAD by Steven Ramirez
When a contagion decimates the town of Tres Marias, recovering alcoholic Dave Pulaski, his wife, Holly, and a group of armed soldiers and civilians must find a way to survive.

THE LONG WAY DOWN by Craig Schaefer
The death of a porn star leads sorcerer Daniel Faust down a rabbit hole of conspiracy and madness. For the first time, black magic and bullets might not be enough to save him from the brink of damnation.

BLACKJACK by Kristopher Norris
When Vincent Black, a gun for hire, is told vampires are all too real, he thinks it's a joke. But soon he learns that he is not the most dangerous brand of hunter out there …

— The Shadow Box by Various Authors

Everybody Goes to Jimmy's by Michael Mayo, New on the Mystery Bookshelf during January 2015

New on the Mystery Bookshelf during January 2015 …

Everybody Goes to Jimmy's by Michael Mayo

A Jimmy Quinn Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: Mysterious Press

  

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

More about our featured title, below …

An explosion outside his speakeasy draws Jimmy into a life-or-death chase …

Young Jimmy Quinn is delivering a bribe for the infamous racketeer Arnold Rothstein when a bomb goes off on Wall Street, killing thirty people and scaring every banker in the city right down to his spats. Twelve years later, Rothstein is dead, and Jimmy is doing his best to stay out of trouble, running a quiet little Manhattan speakeasy. At a particularly bad moment for him and his favorite waitress, a blast rocks the alley outside and draws him right back into the madness of a dozen years ago.

That morning, a strange package came in with his liquor shipment: four plain books filled with cryptic numbers. It seems the motive behind this bombing may have been the same as that behind the explosion on Wall Street more than a decade ago: money. The incident sets Jimmy off on a mad race to stay out of the line of fire, taking him from the heights of the Chrysler Building to the depths of New York's underworld.

— Everybody Goes to Jimmy's by Michael Mayo

Two Lucille Mazzarella Mysteries by Peg Cochran, 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, Beyond the Page Publishing …

Confession Is Murder by Peg Cochran

A Lucille Mazzarella Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Beyond the Page Publishing

Price: $0.99 (as of 01/07/2015 at 1:00 PM ET).

  

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For middle-aged "Jersey girl" Lucille Mazzarella, only two things in life really count — her family and her friends. When her brother-in-law's body falls out of a church confessional, everything she holds dear is threatened, especially when the police arrest her husband for the murder.

Plagued by hot flashes, a thickening waistline, a mother addicted to the home shopping channel, and a sexy old flame who's come back to town, Lucille really has her hands full. And while she may not know much about solving crimes, this traditional churchgoer with very modern attitudes knows that with some prayers, some fast thinking, and some even faster talk she might just be able to nail the killer and restore order to her life.

— Confession Is Murder by Peg Cochran

Unholy Matrimony by Peg Cochran

A Lucille Mazzarella Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: Beyond the Page Publishing

Price: $0.99 (as of 01/07/2015 at 1:00 PM ET).

  

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Desperate to see her pregnant daughter Bernadette married before the baby comes, Lucille is engrossed in all things wedding. Nothing will distract her from planning this Mazzarella main event. Nothing, that is, except for the murder of the mother of the groom.

Just when things couldn't possibly get any worse, Lucille is named as the prime suspect, and it's a race against time as she and her best friend Flo struggle with shady financial dealings, a family that isn't at all what it seems, a groom that might not be all man, and a little bundle of joy that might make an appearance before the mother can say I do.

— Unholy Matrimony by Peg Cochran

All That Glitters, A Jake & Laura Mystery by Michael Murphy, New This Week from Alibi

Alibi is a digital-only imprint of Random House dedicated to publishing mystery and thriller books.

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

All That Glitters by Michael Murphy

A Jake & Laura Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: Alibi

Price: $2.99 (as of 01/07/2015 at 12:30 PM ET).

  

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The hard-boiled writer and the aspiring movie star head for sun-drenched Los Angeles, where a cold-blooded murderer lurks behind the scenes …

Just arrived from New York, Broadway actress Laura Wilson is slated to star in Hollywood's newest screwball comedy. At her side, of course, is Jake Donovan, under pressure to write his next mystery novel. But peace and quiet are not to be had when an all-too-real murder plot intrudes: After a glitzy party, the son of a studio honcho is discovered dead from a gunshot wound. And since Jake exchanged words with the hothead just hours before his death, the bestselling author becomes the LAPD's prime suspect.

In 1930s Tinseltown, anything goes. Proving his innocence won't be easy in a town where sex, seduction, and naked power run rampant. With gossip columnist Louella Parsons dead-set on publicizing the charges against him, Jake has no choice but to do what everyone else does in the City of Angels: act like someone else. Blackie Doyle, the tough-talking, fist-swinging, womanizing hero from Jake's novels wouldn't pull any punches until he exposed the real killer — nor will Jake, to keep the role of a lifetime from being his last.

— All That Glitters by Michael Murphy

Please Welcome Crime Novelist Marc Krulewitch

with Marc Krulewitch

We are delighted to welcome mystery author Marc Krulewitch to Omnimystery News, courtesy of TLC Book Tours, which is coordinating his current book tour. We encourage you to visit all of the participating host sites; you can find his schedule here.

Marc's second mystery to feature PI Jules Landau is Windy City Blues (Alibi; January 2015 ebook formats), and in his guest post for us today, he provides the backstory to it.

— ♦ —

Photo provided courtesy of
Marc Krulewitch

Windy City Blues is the second book of my crime series featuring private investigator, Jules Landau, the youngest of a family of petty criminals stretching back to Prohibition.

I've always been drawn to quirky characters that are interesting in their own right, while reflecting some aspect of the human condition. That said, the book begins with a peculiar, twenty-something man stopping by Jules' office one morning. For reasons not clearly understood, the man has taken the name of a Holocaust victim and employs the stereotypical mannerisms and affectations often associated with the early Twentieth Century immigrant. "Call me Izzy," he says to Jules. Izzy wants to know why a parking enforcement officer was brutally beaten to death in the neighborhood where Izzy lives.

While genre fiction is generally considered plot-driven, I don't think this has to be the case. After spending two decades imagining myself as a writer of literary fiction, I asked myself: how about combining literary themes and characters within the context of a private investigator conducting a murder investigation? The key to utilizing these characters effectively, I said to myself, is to avoid heavy handedness. Nobody wants to be beaten over the head with a character blathering on about his or her philosophy, unless it's a vehicle the hero can use in discovering something. Jules, for example, does not preach vegetarianism, but while he lunches on a rice, bean, and soy burger, his beloved cat dines on an exclusive diet of raw animal organs. What's the implicit statement the author is making from this juxtaposition? Who the heck knows?

In the course of Jules' investigation, he uncovers a convoluted racketeering scheme involving Russian gangsters, a media mogul, and plenty of Chicago bureaucrats. Admittedly, using Chicago as the backdrop for corruption, is as low-hanging a fruit one could hope to pick. In fact, the fruit is no longer hanging, but laying on the ground not far from the tree. That is, Chicago and corruption are inherently cliché. But golly! Ain't it the truth? I mean, nothing freaking changes except the names of the politicians — and sometimes that doesn't change either.

Bureaucracies are inherently corrupt. They can't help themselves. It's in their DNA. Maybe it's my DNA that makes me extra sensitive to machine-politics corruption. After all, my great-granddad, Morris Eller, was an old fashioned Prohibition-era boss who, according to the newspapers of the time, ruled Chicago's "bloody 20th ward" with an iron fist, and was particularly adept at extorting money from the poor huddled masses of the Maxwell Street Market. Great-granddad was affectionately known by many names in his day, among them political dictator, city hall chieftain, scoundrel, and tyrant. In addition, he was respectfully referred to as Boss Eller while his employees were known as Boss Eller's henchmen, and his election day shenanigans were considered acts of terrorism (yes, they used the word "terrorism" back then). Despite once sharing a headline with Al Capone — the man who put the "bloody" in the bloody 20th ward — Great-granddad was never called a gangster. But nobody's perfect.

Not coincidentally, I spent seven years as a parking officer for a small Colorado city 25 miles northwest of Denver, and saw firsthand how a municipal bureaucracy drifts into a de facto system of corruption, cronyism, and hypocrisy. Yes, bureaucracies are inherently corrupt, a fact that will ensure fiction writers will always have something to write about.

— ♦ —

Marc Krulewitch's Jules Landau mysteries take place in Chicago, where he was born and where his family has lived for generations. He now resides in Colorado.

For more information about the author, please visit his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.

— ♦ —

Windy City Blues
Marc Krulewitch
A Jules Landau Mystery

Jules Landau feels right at home in the ethnic stew of the Windy City, where he's indebted to the hopes and schemes of his criminal ancestors. Street-smart and college-educated, Jules wants nothing more than to go straight and atone for his family's past. But when he investigates a horrific killing, Jules uncovers a hidden world of lucrative corruption.

Jack Gelashvili had his head bashed in and no one knows why. The most obvious answer is that he was a parking cop, a universally loathed job — especially in Chicago. Turns out there's a lot of money to be made on expired meters, and when Jules starts making noise, he starts making enemies — from the head of a media empire to the mastermind of a prostitution ring. When rumors of bloodthirsty Mob connections arise, Jack's gorgeous cousin Tamar objects, and Jules is increasingly swayed by the logic and charms of the sexy baker. Following this beautiful woman into the cloistered world of Georgian immigrants, Jules brings his hunches, his family connections, and his gun. But he's just one man against a pack of criminals with a million reasons to shoot first.