Review: Deadly Bonds by L. J. Sellers

A Mysterious Review of Deadly Bonds by L. J. Sellers. A Wade Jackson Mystery.

Review summary: The primary murder mystery plot is well structured and, improbable coincidences aside, a secondary investigation does tie nicely into it. Character development and interpersonal relationships are very well done, probably the best parts of the book. On balance, more positive than negative. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Deadly Bonds
L. J. Sellers
A Wade Jackson Mystery
Thomas & Mercer (August 2014)

Publisher synopsis: When a young mother is found murdered in a derelict Eugene neighborhood — and her terrified young son is discovered hiding beneath the floorboards — Detective Jackson reluctantly takes the case. His own life is already in chaos, with his runaway teenage daughter, Katie, still gone and his girlfriend, Kera, facing her own family crisis. Matters get more complicated when the orphaned boy bonds with Jackson, triggering unexpected emotions and compromising his ability to investigate.

Meanwhile, Detective Evans, one of Jackson's most valuable colleagues, is pulled off the case to look into the death of a University of Oregon football star — leaving the homicide task force shorthanded. As Jackson works to solve the murder and find a home for little Benjie, he soon faces devastating choices that threaten everything he holds dear.

    

The Thin Woman, An Ellie Haskell Mystery by Dorothy Cannell, 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, Crimeline …

The Thin Woman by Dorothy Cannell

An Ellie Haskell Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Crimeline

Price: $0.99 (as of 11/03/2014 at 6:30 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.

Terrified by the prospect of a weekend with her snobby relatives, overweight Ellie Simons decides to distract attention from her personal and professional failings by arriving with an adoring boyfriend in tow. Unfortunately, no such person exists.

Enter Bentley T. Haskell, a devilishly handsome escort who willingly agrees to play the part — for a fat fee. But Ellie and Bentley get far more than a miserable visit with relatives when a weekend with Ellie's eccentric family suddenly turns very, very deadly.

— The Thin Woman by Dorothy Cannell

Shut Your Eyes Tight, A Dave Gurney Mystery by John Verdon, 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, Broadway Books …

Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon

A Dave Gurney Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: Broadway Books

Price: $1.99 (as of 11/03/2014 at 6:00 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.

When he was the NYPD's top homicide investigator, Dave Gurney was never comfortable with the label the press gave him: super detective. He was simply a man who, when faced with a puzzle, wanted to know. He was called to the investigative hunt by the presumptuous arrogance of murderers — by their smug belief that they could kill without leaving a trace. There was always a trace, Gurney believed.

Except what if one day there wasn't?

Dave Gurney, a few months past the Mellery case that pulled him out of retirement and then nearly killed him, is trying once again to adjust to his country house's bucolic rhythms when he receives a call about a case so seductively bewildering that the thought of not looking into it seems unimaginable — even if his beloved wife, Madeleine, would rather he do anything but.

The facts of what has occurred are horrible: a blushing bride, newly wed to an eminent psychiatrist and just minutes from hearing her congratulatory toast, is found decapitated, her head apparently severed by a machete. Though police investigators believe that a Mexican gardener killed the young woman in a fit of jealous fury, the victim's mother — a chilly high-society beauty — is having none of it. Reluctantly drawn in, Dave is quickly buffeted by a series of revelations that transform the bizarrely monstrous into the monstrously bizarre.

Underneath it all may exist one of the darkest criminal schemes imaginable. And as Gurney begins deciphering its grotesque outlines, some of his most cherished assumptions about himself are challenged, causing him to stare into an abyss so deep that it threatens to swallow not just him but Madeleine, too.

Desperate to protect Madeleine and bring an end to the madness, Gurney ultimately discovers that the killer has left a trace after all. Unfortunately, the revelation may come too late to save his own life.

— Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon

New This Week: Moonlight Sonata, A Dick Moonlight P.I. Thriller by Vincent Zandri

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 November 2014 and priced $4.99 or less …

Moonlight Sonata by Vincent Zandri

A Dick Moonlight P.I. Thriller (7th in series)

Publisher: Bear Media

Price: $3.99 (as of 11/03/2014 at 5:30 PM ET).

First published in trade paperback in December 2013 by StoneHouse Ink; this is its first appearance as an ebook.

  

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.

Sometimes a man who goes missing should stay missing …

When a hotshot literary agent by the name of Suzanne Bonchance lures Richard Moonlight into searching for her missing star client — the boozing, womanizing Roger Walls — the private detective finds himself waist-deep in a whole lot of trouble. But when a sexy, young MFA in Writing student who claims to know Walls comes to his rescue, Moonlight not only becomes smitten with her charm, he also finds himself falling in love with a girl he barely knows.

As the trail for Walls narrows, and the truths about everyone who has ever been involved with Roger Walls are revealed, Moonlight finds himself wanting to run away as fast as his legs will take him. One thing he can't outrun, however, are bullets.

— Moonlight Sonata by Vincent Zandri

Hangman, A Novel of Suspense by Stephan Talty, 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, Ballantine …

Hangman by Stephan Talty

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Ballantine

Price: $1.99 (as of 11/03/2014 at 5:00 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.

Hangman, Hangman, what do you see? Four little girls, as cute as can be.

The eerie schoolyard chant still sends ripples of horror through North Buffalo. Not so long ago, serial killer Marcus Flynn preyed upon the community's teenaged daughters — until he was cornered and shot in the head. But Flynn lived, carrying to prison the nickname "Hangman," along with the secret of his last victim's fate. Homicide cop Abbie Kearney wasn't around during Hangman's reign of terror. She hadn't yet come home to wear her dad's old badge in the tough Irish American stronghold known as "the County." Abbie had never experienced firsthand the horror of Hangman. Until now.

Hangman, Hangman, where do they go? Down on the ground, where the daffodils grow.

A corrections officer lies dead, a prison van stands empty … and somewhere out there, the monster who condemned innocents to death at the end of a rope watches and waits to strike again. Abbie leads a desperate manhunt through a city driven to its knees by fear, matching wits with a predator as brilliant as he is elusive. But as more victims are claimed, a rising tide of secrecy, paranoia, and politics forces her to realize that stepping beyond the law may be the only way to find justice. Because with each passing hour, the stakes grow higher — and Hangman's noose gets tighter.

— Hangman by Stephan Talty