The Alpha Deception, A Blaine McCracken Thriller by Jon Land, 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, Open Road …

The Alpha Deception by Jon Land

A Blaine McCracken Thriller (2nd in series)

Publisher: Open Road

Price: $1.99 (as of 10/04/2014 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.

A space-borne superweapon rains death down on an American small town, and Blaine McCracken races to learn who pulled the trigger before the fearsome beam turns on Washington …

In the last years of the Cold War, policy and trust for the Russians have led to disarmament treaties and hope for a new beginning. But peace is not yet within grasp. An entire American town has been wiped off the map: not by nuclear strike, but rather a space-borne particle cannon capable of reducing the entire nation to dust in hours.

But who pulled the trigger? Was it the Russians, making a final bid for world domination? Or was it a third power — some aspiring conqueror hoping to pit the superpowers against each other?

It's up to Blaine McCracken to find out. An old flame has contacted the rogue op, begging for help protecting her father, a jeweler who has just been robbed of five rare stones — five rubies that could mean life or death for the United States.

— The Alpha Deception by Jon Land

Mystery Bestsellers for the Week Ending October 04, 2014

A list of the top 15 Mystery Hardcover Bestsellers for the week ending October 4th, 2014 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

No change at the top, with the 19th Jack Reacher thriller by Lee Child, Personal, remaining at number one for the fourth week.

One new title enters the list this week; debut position in [brackets].

— ♦ —

[13]: The Lost Key
Catherine Coulter and J. T. Ellison
— A Nicholas Drummond Mystery (2nd in series)

Freshly minted FBI agent Nicholas Drummond is barely out of his Quantico training when he and his partner, Mike Caine, are called to investigate a stabbing on Wall Street.

Their investigation, however, yields more questions than answers. It quickly becomes clear that the victim, John Pearce, was more than the naval historian and antiquities dealer he appeared to be. What Drummond doesn't know is that buying and selling rare books was Pearce's cover, and that he had devoted his life to discovering the whereabouts of a missing World War I U-boat concealing a stash of gold bullion, and an unexpected surprise that only raises more questions. When Drummond and Caine find both of Pearce's adult children have disappeared, the case assumes a new sense of urgency. The FBI agents know their best lead lies in the victim's cryptic final words — "The key is in the lock." But what key? What lock?

The search for Adam and Sophia Pearce takes them on an international manhunt, which threatens to run them afoul of an eccentric billionaire industrialist with his own plans not only for the lost gold, but the creation of a weapon unlike anything the world has ever seen.

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An Excerpt from Death by Donut, a Ruby Wisdom Mystery by J.M. Edwards

Death by Donut
by J.M. Edwards

We are delighted to welcome author J.M. Edwards to Omnimystery News today.

J.M.'s second mystery to feature Ruby Wisdom is Death by Donut (September 2014 ebook formats), a cozy loaded with humor, romance, memorable characters and a sleuth who knows her way around baked goods and sweet treats as well as crime scenes and tricky investigations.

We are pleased to introduce you to this book with an excerpt from the ninth chapter.

— ♦ —

THE MORNING CROWD AT KING TUT'S Donut Hut had come and gone by the time I arrived. A paunchy guy wearing faded blue coveralls was leaning against the glass display case, studying the sweet options. Benny was behind the counter, patiently answering questions.
  "Those got nuts?" Mr. Coveralls pointed at a tray filled with bear claws. "The ones with the icing?"
  "Almond paste," Benny answered. "It's similar to marzipan."
  The guy pressed his nose against the glass. "That made from nuts?"
  "Well, an almond is technically the seed of the fruit of the almond tree," Benny explained. "It's what we call a 'drupe,' which is a one-seeded type of fruit that has a rigid inner layer, a fleshy middle layer and a thin outer layer that's either flexible or leathery." The man in the coveralls stood up and glared at Benny. "For example, a cherry is a drupe with a flexible outer layer, and a leathery — "
  "I just want some donuts," the big man grunted. "Not a science lecture."
  "My apology, sir." Benny smiled and bowed slightly, although the customer had shifted his gaze back to the selection of gooey treats inside the glass case. "So?" Benny's tone was warm and gentle even though his cheeks were red as a raging inferno. "Would you like a bear claw?"
  The guy scrunched up his face. "I don't know," he said. "Those got nuts?"
  Svetlana had been observing the transaction from the sidelines. When she realized that her husband and the customer seemed trapped in an infinite loop of indecision and bewilderment, she swept in to save the day.
  "I think you would love these right over here," she said, guiding the man's bloodshot eyes to the glazed donuts. "Absolutely no nuts." She shot a quick look at Benny. "And absolutely no marzipan or drupes. You can understand them without any scientific drivel."
  The man in the coveralls grinned at Svetlana like a blissful toddler. "Gimme a dozen of them," he said. "As long as you're sure they ain't got no nuts."
  While the patient Ukrainian bride and the babyish Neanderthal discussed the ingredients of a glazed donut, I asked Benny if he had a moment to talk.
  "You want a coffee?" he asked once we were in the kitchen. "Something to eat?"
  "No, thanks. I just wanted to ask a few questions."
  He nodded. "This about your dead friend?"
  "Excuse me?"
  "The dead guy Svetlana found in the alley," Benny explained. "We heard that he had your name and number in his pocket."
  I nodded. "He did," I said. "But he wasn't my friend."
  Benny frowned. "Oh, so you two had a falling out or something?"
  I felt my heart spin in my chest and a surge of adrenalin rocket up my spine. "I didn't even know him," I said. "He just happened to die with my telephone number in his possession."
  "Seems kind of spooky, doesn't it?" asked Benny.
  "In what way?"
  "I don't know," he said. "I guess in a 'dead guy has your name in his pocket' kind of way."
  "Sure," I said, figuring it would move the conversation along. "If you describe it in those terms, it was spooky."
  Benny smiled triumphantly. "Thought so," he said. "It'd spook me if some guy got his brains bashed all over the alley with my name and number in his pocket. I mean, you should've seen it, Ruby. There was blood and bits of bone and this squishy stuff that — "
  I held up my hand. "I was here yesterday," I told Benny. "I saw it all. The blood, the bone, the squishy stuff."
  "Were you coming to meet him or something?"
  I shook my head. "The guy never called me. I don't even know how he got my number."
  "Probably the Google," Benny said.
  "That's possible. Maybe he was searching for private investigators in the area."
  "Or women named for precious stones," Benny suggested.
  I gave him a look.
  He shrugged. "Just trying to lighten the mood, okay? I mean, the guy was killed right outside our door. Svetlana found him just a few inches away from where I make the donuts."
  "That's what I heard from Cletus Winslow," I said. "Svetlana went outside to — what? Empty the trash?"
  "She heard a noise," Benny said. "I've always told her that if she hears anything suspicious in the back, she should come get me immediately. But we were swamped right then and I was working the counter."
  "And she went outside, found the dead guy and screamed at the top of her lungs?"
  Benny frowned. "No, that's not how it happened," he said, wrinkling his brow in confusion. "Well, it's how part of it happened. But Svetlana never screams when she's frightened. If she's angry, she screams like nobody's business. But when she's afraid, there's no yelling at all. She goes mute, just absolutely silent." He waited for me to respond, but I motioned for him to continue. "There was no screaming at the top of her anything," Benny added. "She saw the dead guy. She saw somebody else standing over him. She raced inside. And she yanked my arm so hard I thought it was going to come out of the socket."
  As he described what happened next — calling 911, waiting for the police, frosting two dozen éclairs in an attempt to calm his nerves — I remembered Lana Krenshaw's comments from the previous morning. She said a guy named Roger Ackroyd claimed he heard Svetlana screaming in the alley as he walked in front of the donut shop. He also said he saw the victim drinking alone at Morton's Tap Room the previous night. I'd never met the man who claimed to be Roger Ackroyd. But, for more than one reason, I was beginning to suspect that his aptitude for honesty was potentially problematic.

— ♦ —

Photo provided courtesy of
J.M. Edwards

J.M. Edwards loves crime. But only when it's fictional. A lifelong fan of mystery novels, police procedurals and thrillers, J.M. has worked as a copywriter, bartender, dog walker and newspaper reporter. When it comes to reading, she has a few favorites (Robert B. Parker, Sue Grafton, Dashiell Hammett, Robert B. Parker, Lee Child), but always enjoys learning about new authors to add to the TBR pile. In addition to writing the new Ruby Wisdom cozy mystery series, J.M. spends time gardening, traveling, spoiling a small herd of cats and dogs, doing volunteer work and taking the occasional nap.

— ♦ —

Death by Donut
J.M. Edwards
A Ruby Wisdom Mystery

When Ruby Wisdom learns that she's linked to an unidentified corpse found in the alley behind King Tut's Donut Hut, she sets off to identify the victim and track down the killer. The mission takes her on a zigzag tour through the small town of Wormwood, New York.

Along the way, she encounters the title character from an Agatha Christie classic, a helpful bus company clerk named Moonflower, an abstract artist obsessed with keisters and a tight-lipped shop clerk who unwittingly supplies the intrepid PI with an essential clue to help solve the crime.

    

A Conversation with Mystery Author BV Lawson

with BV Lawson

We are delighted to welcome mystery author BV Lawson to Omnimystery News today.

BV's series character Scott Drayco has been featured in a number of short stories, but she has recently given him a full-length novel in which he can practice his craft — Played To Death (Crimetime Press; July 2014 trade paperback and ebook formats).

We recently had the opportunity to talk with her about both the character and the book.

— ♦ —

Omnimystery News: Introduce us to Scott Drayco. What is it about him that appeals to you as a writer?

Watercolor provided
courtesy of BV Lawson

BV Lawson: Scott Drayco was a promising piano prodigy until a violent brush with crime ended his career and left his right arm scarred. Seeing this as a chance to find justice for other victims, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his formerly-estranged father with a storied career in the FBI, followed by private consulting. But he didn't leave music behind entirely and finds that the complex counterpoint of J.S. Bach helps him puzzle through thorny investigations.

He also has chromesthesia, a form of synesthesia, where he sees all sounds and voices as colors, shapes, and textures. Although he's the first to say this doesn't make him a "Super Detective," his unusual perceptions of the world often work their way into cases. Drayco is a gem to write, not just because of my own musical background, but because his quirkiness and brilliance makes me "up my game" to bring this unusual character to life.

OMN: Scott is familiar to readers of your short stories. How do you see him developing in this series?

BVL: I don't know how long this series will play out, but I have a rough idea of where it's headed. And Drayco will definitely change over time, especially since he's currently in his mid-30s, leaving me quite a bit of room to play with. His relationships with various other characters will also evolve, and I'm looking forward to seeing where this takes him. For instance, his relationships with women are a bit rocky as he seems to attract married women — despite having a personal ban on getting involved with married women — yet it's two married female characters in the first few books who will be keeping him befuddled and unsure of his footing. We'll also eventually learn more about his father, his AWOL mother, and the real reason Drayco left the Bureau.

OMN: Give us a summary of Played To Death in a tweet.

BVL: A body found in a rundown Opera House with a "G" carved on his chest lures a former FBI agent into a web of music, madness and murder.

OMN: Into which mystery genre would you place this series?

BVL: When I started thinking about the Drayco series, I knew I wanted him to be a private consultant, but not a traditional private eye because I prefer writing in third person. Drayco is a consulting detective who primarily assists law enforcement agencies with his FBI experience and knowledge, so I ended up with a "P.I. procedural" that also combines elements of traditional mysteries and suspense. Unfortunately, agents, publishers, and bookstores tend to like more rigid labels, meaning this series is not easily classifiable. I like the general term "crime fiction" to apply to all forms of the genre, or "detective fiction," often used in the U.K. (Plus, my short stories run the gamut from cozies to noir.) But "mystery novel" also works, which is likely where you'd find the Drayco series shelved in a library.

OMN: How true are you to the settings of your stories?

BVL: Drayco lives in Washington, D.C., but his investigations take him all over the Mid-Atlantic. Some of those settings will be real and others fictional. The small coastal town of Cape Unity is fictional, although it's inspired by an amalgam of different towns on the Eastern Shore of Virginia (the characters are entirely out of my own imagination). I'm sure any readers in that region will be surprised to find there's a Prince of Wales County they've never heard of! I became fascinated with the Eastern Shore after several trips there, particularly how unspoiled it is, although that is rapidly changing with the influx of D.C. weekenders and the growing Wallops Island rocket launch facility. That tension of old versus new makes for some fascinating plot possibilities.

OMN: Tell us a little more about your writing process.

BVL: A perfect day would be to go to the gym and get the blood flowing to those "little gray cells," then sit down in front of my laptop in my quiet little writing cave for the next eight hours meeting my daily word count. Unfortunately, life's little interventions often mean I have to write in fits and starts. This is one reason I'm an avowed outliner, creating fairly detailed plot and scene maps using software like Scrivener and yWriter to lay everything out. That way, it's much easier to hop in and out of the story as time permits. I always keep a notebook handy, even beside my bed, for ideas that pop up unexpectedly — which is often.

OMN: How do you go about researching the plot points of your stories?

BVL: Because of my librarian genes, I'm a dedicated researcher. When I found I was going to a lot of the same sites over and over, I decided to create the blog In Reference to Murder and its accompanying site filled with 3,500+ links relating to crime fiction research and writing in general. Due to a limited budget, I can't do a lot of traveling (except for the Eastern Shore as noted above), so I try to find primary, reliable Internet resources to help with details. And I'm really grateful for law enforcement blogs and forums, and especially for Google Earth. Although I do like to haunt local routes and locales mentioned in stories to get the sights, sounds, and logistics just right.

OMN: What kinds of feedback have you received from readers?

BVL: I love hearing from people who have connected with Drayco, because that makes it all worthwhile. One reviewer noted "He is a complex character that leaves you wanting to know more about who he is." It's also gratifying to hear that people enjoyed the setting and getting to know the supporting cast, and are looking forward to reading the next installment. That's all any author could ask.

OMN: Have mystery books always been a part of your life? What kinds of books did you read when you were young?

BVL: My mother, the librarian, was my dealer who fed my book habit. I would read anything she brought home, and indeed she introduced me to a wide variety of literature in almost every genre imaginable. However, her personal favorites were mysteries — Rex Stout, Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Dorothy Gilman — so I naturally gravitated toward mysteries, myself.

OMN: What's next for you?

BVL: Book #2 in the Drayco series, Requiem for Innocence, is scheduled for release in late November or early December. The third and fourth books will hopefully be published next year, schedules willing. I also have a second series I'm working on involving a Vermont police detective and his unusual partner, a con woman extraordinaire, that I hope to get published soon, perhaps 2015. Farther out, I have ideas and very rudimentary outlines for an historical crime fiction saga, as well as a potential trilogy that may or may not be young adult-oriented. Plus, I hope to continue writing short stories and poetry.

— ♦ —

BV Lawson's award-winning stories, poems and articles have appeared in dozens of national and regional publications and anthologies. A three-time Derringer Award finalist and 2012 winner for her short fiction, BV was also honored by the American Independent Writers and Maryland Writers Association for her Scott Drayco series. BV currently lives in Virginia with her husband and enjoys flying above the Chesapeake Bay in a little Cessna.

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

— ♦ —

Played To Death
BV Lawson
A Scott Drayco Mystery

Still suffering nightmares from a case that ended tragically, brilliant freelance crime consultant Scott Drayco considers retiring from crime solving altogether. When a former client bequeaths Drayco a rundown Opera House in a Virginia seaside town, he figures he'll arrange for a quick sale of the place, while nursing his battered soul in a peaceful setting near the shore. What he doesn't count on is finding a dead body on the Opera House stage, a mysterious "G" carved into the man's chest.

With hopes for a quick sale dashed and himself a suspect in the murder, Drayco digs into old secrets buried like shells beneath the sand in order to solve the crime and clear his name. Along the way, Drayco must dodge a wary Sheriff, hostility over coastal development, and the seductive wife of a town councilman — before the tensions explode into more violence and he becomes the next victim.

        

The Riverton Case by P. B. Kolleri is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature …

The Riverton Case by P. B. Kolleri

A Rachel Markham Mystery

Publisher: Notion Press

… as today's second free mystery ebook.

  

This title was listed for free as of October 04, 2014 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.

Jeremy and Rachel set sail for Indian shores on the behest of a fabulously wealthy Indian Maharajah, to solve a case unlike anything they've encountered before. The journey takes them through the lives of Indian Royalty, and gives them a fascinating glimpse into the charmed life of British India.

Rachel and Jeremy must travel back in time to 1945, towards the end of an Era of the British Raj to solve the baffling murder of a beautiful young English woman — Kitty Riverton who was found murdered in a marble folly, on the grounds of the magnificent Dharanpore Palace.

They must also race against time to retrieve the spectacular Royal ruby necklace, "The Pride of Dharanpore", which went missing, on the night of the murder. Their investigation takes them through the murky labyrinth of Palace intrigues and politics, where nothing is as it seems and motives abound.

— The Riverton Case by P. B. Kolleri