Telemystery: A&E Cancels Longmire after Three Seasons

In what came as a complete surprise to us — and maybe to you, too — A&E has canceled Longmire, a Wyoming-set crime drama based on a character created by mystery author Craig Johnson.

"We would like to thank the phenomenal cast, crew and producers of Longmire, along with our partners at Warner Horizon, for their tireless work on three seasons of quality dramatic storytelling," A&E said in a statement. "We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved together."

The most recently concluded third season ended on a cliffhanger, suggesting the producers and scriptwriters were caught off guard as well. Warner Horizon is expected to immediately start shopping the popular show to other networks.

Murder by the Seaside, A Patience Price Mystery by Julie Anne Lindsey, 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, Carina Press …

Murder by the Seaside by Julie Anne Lindsey

A Patience Price Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Carina Press

Price: $0.99 (as of 08/29/2014 at 1:30 PM ET).

  

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

Armed with a new counseling degree, Patience Price is eager to move back home to Chincoteague Island to help folks with their problems. But she finds the streets awash in more than East Coast charm. There's been a murder, and Adrian Davis, the town golden boy who once stomped her heart into a zillion pieces, is the main suspect. Now he's on the run, claiming he's innocent. Patience finds this … poetic. Not that she holds a grudge.

Adrian's mom is sure that with her FBI background Patience can find the truth. Yes, she was at the FBI — in human resources. Still, she looks into it, but not everyone is happy with her snooping. Either that, or the welcome wagon has some bold new policies involving drive-by shootings.

Things really heat up when a hunky former coworker, an actual FBI agent, arrives to help. But he may be too late; the quaint island harbors deadly secrets — and Patience is running out of time.

— Murder by the Seaside by Julie Anne Lindsey

Pulse, A Frank Quinn Mystery by John Lutz, 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, Pinnacle Books …

Pulse by John Lutz

A Frank Quinn Mystery (7th in series)

Publisher: Pinnacle Books

Price: $2.99 (as of 08/29/2014 at 1:00 PM ET).

  

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

Some killers come back for more …

The killer's depravity is insatiable. What he does to his victims is unthinkable. Homicide detective turned P.I. Frank Quinn has seen this M.O. before. A demented ritual, it's the work of Daniel Danielle — a notorious serial killer who blurs the line between male and female, human and monster.

Danielle disappeared ten years ago. Is a copy cat repeating the crimes? Or has Danielle made a deadly return? Either way, this time the killing won't stop …

— Pulse by John Lutz

New This Week: Hollywood Enemy, A Hollywood Alphabet Series Thriller by M. Z. Kelly

Omnimystery News is pleased to present a mystery, suspense, or thriller ebook that we recently found by sleuthing (as it were) through new or recently reissued titles from independent publishers during August 2014 and priced $4.99 or less …

Hollywood Enemy by M. Z. Kelly

A Hollywood Alphabet Series Thriller (5th in series)

Publisher: M. Z. Kelly

Price: $2.99 (as of 08/29/2014 at 12:30 PM ET).

  

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

So you think you’ve got problems…

Meet LAPD Detective Kate Sexton and her canine partner, Bernie. Thirty years after Kate's father was murdered in cold blood his killer is back and he's coming for her. After the department decides to temporarily assign her to work with the FBI to get her out of harm's way, Kate soon learns that things have gone from bad to worse when she's assigned to help track down The Artist, one of the most deranged and sadistic serial killers in the history of the agency.

As The Artist's killing cycle approaches, Kate teams with hard-headed FBI agent Joe Dawson, who has recently come out of retirement to work the case. As Kate and Joe track the killer, things take an unexpected turn. The Artist returns to the place where his killing cycle began, at the same time Kate herself is stalked by the deranged mad man who shattered her family by killing her father when she was a little girl.

— Hollywood Enemy by M. Z. Kelly

A Conversation with Thriller Writer Daniel O'Neil

with Daniel O'Neil

We are delighted to welcome novelist Daniel O'Neil to Omnimystery News today.

Dan's debut thriller is Bodies on the Potomac (Open Road; July 2014 ebook formats) and we recently had the opportunity to spend some time with him talking about the book.

— ♦ —

Omnimystery News: Introduce us to the lead characters of Bodies on the Potomac.

Photo provided courtesy of
Daniel O'Neil

Daniel O'Neil: Taylor Clark is a former chief of staff to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Now he lives a cushy life in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, but it's not enough. He's driven to help keep his country safe from terrorists, and his arrangement with Loraine Sinatra suits him perfectly.

Loraine heads up a black unit deep within one of America's most visible but misunderstood law enforcement organizations, and Clark is her go-to guy. His arrangement with Loraine is free-lance, creating even more running room than is typical for a black operator. But it's his internal moral compass that keeps Clark within boundaries that he considers acceptable, even if others in Washington might not. While Loraine is a lifer, having clawed her way to the top in Federal law enforcement, she too is willing to turn a blind eye to certain actions if it means capturing or killing those who wish to harm the USA.

Clark and Loraine work well together, enjoy light moments even under the crush of pressure, and both possess an indomitable spirit along with a fierce will to eradicate the bad guys. In the next book, more backstory will emerge about Clark. That manuscript is in the early stages of rewrite.

OMN: Tell us something about the book that isn't mentioned in the publisher's synopsis.

DO: Bodies on the Potomac is about the characters. For instance, Alice Estero and Calloway Ridge are members of the US House of Representatives. Both are enormously corrupt, memorable, and difficult not to love.

Clark's love for his fiancée and his yellow lab paint him with a softer brush than might be expected, and Rasey Campbell is a complex woman whose role in the story has many facets.

OMN: How did you go about researching the plot points of the story?

DO: The Internet is a bonanza for writers. But everything isn't in Dr. Google's brain, and that means sometimes relying on old-fashioned methods such as actually talking with those who would have an answer or valid opinion. Maybe the owner of a restaurant, or a current car dealer, or a firearms manufacturer, a government contractor. Interesting tidbits come from sources such as those, things that would never be found in a written account. And it's an on-going pleasure that nearly every stranger I called out of the clear blue sky was willing to offer time and input. Plus I can never thank friends and colleagues enough for putting up with my pestering.

OMN: How true are you to the settings in Bodies on the Potomac?

DO: The locations portrayed are real, and while literary license was certainly available, it was used sparingly. I believe readers enjoy a taste of travelogue in their fiction, and so I stay pretty true to the locations where I set the action. The choice of locales is obviously subjective, an author's prerogative, and so I used regions that I love personally and with which I'm familiar. I did use a totally fabricated automobile manufacturer, however, as that gave me considerably more flexibility in story construction.

OMN: What is the best advice you've received as an author?

DO: I believe it was the author Michael Connelly who wrote that if you want to be a writer, then write something every day. I always remember that, even if it's a day off. Just a line, just a paragraph. Or a note for a later scene. But something. It keeps me in the game.

OMN: What have you learned, or can others learn, from advice and criticism?

DO: When someone tells you that rejection isn't personal, they're wrong. It is very personal and hurts like hell. But you need to go on.

OMN: What might you say to aspiring writers?

DO: The short answer is, don't take "no" for an answer. That doesn't mean, in my opinion, being obstinate or resisting sound advice from professionals, but if a writer caves at the first sign of resistance, the chances of ever completing the process is quite small. Again, in my opinion.

OMN: Tell us a little more about the book's title and cover.

DO: My publisher/distributor, Open Road Integrated Media, is to be commended for the cover. Once I had the title, the basic concept of the cover was simple: a cool photo across the Potomac with the Lincoln Memorial the focal point (you'll need to read the book to understand the significance of the looming Lincoln Memorial). Once the photo was selected, cropping, intensity, and coloring would make or break the cover. The first effort they sent blew me away. No changes were ever made. One swing, a home run. The title wasn't as quick and easy. I went through a number of working titles, but during one of the rewrites a passage in a certain scene captured my attention. From the mind of the villain I fashioned the title, Bodies on the Potomac .

OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young?

DO: Early in my life I discovered Ian Fleming. Well, better said, I discovered James Bond. And what teenage boy could resist addiction to fast cars, speeding bullets, hot women and high stakes gambling — all in the name of saving the world from ingenious bad guys who hung around with women named Pussy Galore, spoke with deep foreign accents, and were protected by bodyguards they called Oddjob. Heck, the Cold War was at its zenith, yet along comes a book titled From Russia With Love. What would you expect me to do?

OMN: Create a Top Five list for us on any subject.

DO: Top Five place to visit: Santorini; Portofino; Venice; Capri; and San Francisco.

OMN: What's next for you?

DO: More Clark and Sinatra is on the way. It's a chilling story that could easily be tomorrow's headline. Clark is left chasing his tail after a hotel explosion kills or maims hundreds of people. If he doesn't get out ahead of events, the slaughter of innocents will continue …

— ♦ —

Daniel O'Neil is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a former sports broadcaster and current insurance consultant. His personal collection of fiction is extensive and serves as his inspiration to introduce readers to Bodies on the Potomac, his debut novel. O'Neil, the father of two sons, has lived in a variety of locations, including Wisconsin, California, Indiana, Kentucky, and South Carolina. He currently resides in Florida where he is at work on his next book.

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

— ♦ —

Bodies on the Potomac
Daniel O'Neil
A Thriller

Karl Blumenthal's Bluffton, South Carolina automobile dealership is being terminated by Universal Motors. He believes it's because he's failed to financially back the reelection efforts of the sitting US president.

For guidance, Blumenthal calls on good friend and former Washington power broker Taylor Clark. But Clark is skeptical. However, when a live round fired from a silenced pistol narrowly misses him, Clark begins to fear the worst — that the country could be on the edge of the messiest national scandal since Watergate.

Clark immediately engages his boss, Loraine Sinatra, a feared Washington operator who secretly controls a black unit buried deep within one of America's least understood but most powerful and autonomous law enforcement organizations. Clark and Sinatra search desperately for footing in the investigation, tapping sources they haven't called on for years. When they arrive seconds too late to prevent a firearms confrontation on Blumenthal's front lot, it becomes clear that a national catastrophe looms. It isn't long before they discover that Bluffton is nothing more than a single speck in a bold scheme masterminded by Russian billionaire Mikael Azarov to bend the president of the United States to Moscow's will by seizing control of Universal Motors for himself.

Azarov's daring plot places his $25 billion fortune at risk — but he has killed before, and he's willing to kill again if that's what it takes to win. It's up to Clark to stop him.

From the Lowcountry of South Carolina to the halls of power in the nation's capital, from the skyscrapers of San Francisco's famed financial district to the stormy streets of flooded Savannah, Clark's resourcefulness and nerve fuel his pursuit of the truth — a pursuit that ultimately ends in violent public death.