Origin by J. A. Konrath is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Origin by J. A. Konrath as today's free mystery ebook (A TechnoThriller; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, February 28, 2013 at 7:10 AM ET. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of 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.

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Origin
J. A. Konrath
A TechnoThriller
Publisher: CreateSpace

When linguist Andrew Dennison is yanked from his bed by the Secret Service and taken to a top secret facility in the desert , he has no idea he's been brought there to translate the words of an ancient demon.

He joins pretty but cold veterinarian Sun Jones, eccentric molecular biologist Dr. Frank Belgium, and a hodge-podge of religious, military, and science personnel to try and figure out if the creature is, indeed, Satan.
br>But things quickly go bad, and very soon Andy isn't just fighting for his life, but the lives of everyone on earth …

  

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Guilt by Degrees by Marcia Clark is Today's Kindle Daily Deal

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Guilt by Degrees by Marcia Clark as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal.

The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Thursday, February 28, 2013.

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Guilt by Degrees
Marcia Clark
A Rachel Knight Mystery
Mulholland Books

Someone has been watching D.A. Rachel Knight — someone who's Rachel's equal in brains, but with more malicious intentions.

It began when a near-impossible case fell into Rachel's lap, the suspectless homicide of a homeless man. In the face of courthouse backbiting and a gauzy web of clues, Rachel is determined to deliver justice. She's got back-up: tough-as-nails Detective Bailey Keller.

As Rachel and Bailey stir things up, they're shocked to uncover a connection with the vicious murder of an LAPD cop a year earlier. Something tells Rachel someone knows the truth, someone who'd kill to keep it secret.

Important Note: This book was listed at the price mentioned above on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Telemystery: Archer Renewed for a 5th Season

FX Networks has renewed Archer for a fifth season of 13 episodes.

"Archer is one of the very best comedy series on television," said Nick Grad, Executive Vice President of Original Programming and Development, FX. "It is truly rewarding the way in which the audience and fans have embraced their work and that the ratings continue to grow."

The fourth season of the animated spy series is currently airing on Thursdays at 10 PM (ET/PT).

Keep up to date on the status of your favorite mystery and suspense television with our Telemystery Scoresheet. We've updated it with today's news.

Review: Holy Smoke by Frederick Ramsay

A Mysterious Review of …

Holy Smoke by Frederick Ramsay. The Jerusalem Mysteries.

Review summary: This murder mystery interweaves historical fact — most notably the figure of Jesus of Nazareth — into a complex tale of fictional intrigue. As a whole, it's a fascinating tale and a worthy challenge for the sleuthing duo investigating the crime, though at times the intersecting subplots are rather difficult to follow. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Holy Smoke
Frederick Ramsay
The Jerusalem Mysteries
Poisoned Pen Press (February 2013)

Publisher synopsis: The year is 29 C. E. and Jerusalem chafes under the Roman Empire's continued presence and oppressive rule. But in spite of that unpleasant fact of life, life goes on — but not for everyone. People die, some because it is their time, others by misadventure. One death in particular brings the City's daily routine to a halt. A badly scorched body is found behind the veil of The Holy of Holies — the Temple's inner sanctum, the most sacred space on earth for the Jews. No one except the High Priest may enter this place and he only once a year on the Day of Atonement. This is no casual violation and the authorities are in an uproar.

Gamaliel, the Rabban of the Sanhedrin, the ranking rabbi in all of Judea, finds himself drawn into solving this delicate mystery while dark agents with unholy interests, plot to seize control of much of the trade in certain highly profitable imports from the east and west.

Loukas, the physician, plays "Watson" to Gamaliel's "Sherlock" as the tangled web of intrigue and murder is slowly unraveled, but not before more bodies, both literal and figurative pop up. All the while Yeshua, the radical rabbi from the Galilee, continues to annoy the High Priest and smoke, Holy Smoke, from the sacrifices rise from the Temple.

      

MystereBooks: Roman Games by Bruce Macbain, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Roman Games by Bruce Macbain, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $0.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (02/27/2013 at 5:00 PM ET). Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Roman Games by Bruce Macbain
A Plinius Secundus Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Rome: September, 96 AD. When the body of Sextus Verpa, a notorious senatorial informer and libertine, is found stabbed to death in his bedroom, his slaves are suspected. Plinius "Pliny" Secundus is ordered by the emperor Domitian to investigate. However, the "Ludi Romani", the Roman Games, have just begun and for the next fifteen days the law courts are in recess. If Pliny can't identify the murderer in that time, Verpa's entire slave household will be burned alive in the arena.

Pliny, a very respectable young senator and lawyer, teams up with Martial, a starving author of bawdy verses and denizen of the Roman demimonde. Pooling their respective talents, they unravel a plot that involves Jewish and Christian "atheists", exotic Egyptian cultists, and a missing horoscope that forecasts the emperor's death.

Their investigation leads them into the heart of the palace, where no one is safe from the paranoid emperor. As the deadline approaches, Pliny struggles with the painful dilemma of a good man who is forced to serve a brutal regime.

      

Click on the Amazon button to see also the special Whispersync offer associated with this title.

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

MystereBooks: Liar, Liar, a Cat DeLuca Mystery by K. J. Larsen, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Liar, Liar by K. J. Larsen, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $0.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (02/27/2013 at 4:30 PM ET). Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Liar, Liar by K. J. Larsen
A Cat DeLuca Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Burned by her run-around ex-husband Johnnie Ricco, Caterina DeLuca took the skills she mastered during marriage and opened her own private eye agency. Now she's a second-story woman, armed with a camera, ready to print 8x10 glossies for use in divorce court.

The men in her big, whacko family, all Chicago cops — one a crook — aren't sure what to make of Cat's career choice. But hey, it's serve and protect!

Then one Rita Polansky retains Cat. Rita's liar-liar husband is the mysterious, but seriously hot, Chance Savino. Cat is hot on his heels when an exploding building hurls her out of her stilettos and into the hospital. The FBI claims Chance was killed in the fireworks, but concussed Cat remembers a different scenario.

She escapes the hospital to meet with her client. But when Rita doesn't show, Cat breaks into her home to find Rita with a knife in her chest and two clues at the murder scene: a clutch of candy wrappers and Chance Savino, rummaging through Rita's drawers.

One surprise after another piles up. As no one else sights Savino, everyone around Cat thinks she's crazy. Everyone except a determined killer who has put her on his "kill" list.

      

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

MystereBooks: Island Blues by Wendy Howell Mills, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Island Blues by Wendy Howell Mills, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $0.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (02/27/2013 at 4:00 PM ET). Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Island Blues by Wendy Howell Mills
A Sabrina Dunsweeney, Island Mystery (2nd in series)
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Read our review of Island Blues by Wendy Howell Mills

Sabrina Dunsweeney desperately needs a job. After moving to isolated Comico Island with her parakeet Calvin to start a new chapter of her life, Sabrina is discovering that life in a beautiful, tropical environment isn't all fun and games.

When the town council offers her employment as the islands first official ombudsman to cope with the burgeoning tourist influx, Sabrina is thrilled. Her first order of business is to deal with a number of burglaries. But as she digs deeper into the theftless break-ins, she begins to suspect that this mystery originated in the rum-soaked days of prohibition.

Then, Sabrina must face the Hummers who have booked a week at one of the local hotels. The Hummers claim that they can hear a hum that no one else can, and they believe they can only rid themselves of the annoying, persistent noise by following very private rituals. When the spokesman of the Hummers is murdered, Sabrina develops a theory that makes her the target of a killers rage. Will survive her first week on the job?

      

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

MystereBooks: The Dangerous Edge of Things by Tina Whittle, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Dangerous Edge of Things by Tina Whittle, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $0.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (02/27/2013 at 3:30 PM ET). Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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The Dangerous Edge of Things by Tina Whittle
A Tai Randolph Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Tai Randolph thinks inheriting a Confederate-themed gun shop is her biggest headache — until she finds a murdered corpse in her brother's driveway. Even worse, her supposedly respectable brother begins behaving in decidedly non-innocent ways, like fleeing to the Bahamas and leaving her with both a homicide in her lap and the pointed suspicions of the Atlanta PD directed her way. Suddenly, she has to worry about clearing her own name, not just that of her wayward sibling.

Complicating her search for answers is Trey Seaver, field agent for Phoenix, an exclusive corporate security firm hired to investigate the crime. Trey is fearless, focused, and — much to Tai's dismay — utterly impervious to bribes, threats and clever deceptions. Still in recovery from the car accident that left him cognitively and emotionally damaged, Trey has constructed a world of certainty and routine. He has powerful people to answer to, and the last thing he wants is an unpredictable stranger "detecting" on Phoenix turf.

Tai's inquiry leads her from the cold-eyed glamour of Atlanta's adult entertainment scene to the gilded treachery of Tuxedo Road. Potential suspects abound, including violent stalkers, vengeful sisters, and a paparazzo with a taste for meth. But it takes another murder — and threats to her own life — to make Tai realize that to solve this crime, she has to trust the most dangerous man she's ever met.

      

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

MystereBooks: Two Silver Rush Mysteries by Ann Parker, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Silver Lies by Ann Parker, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $0.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (02/27/2013 at 3:00 PM ET). Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Silver Lies by Ann Parker
An Inez Stannert, Silver Rush Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

As 1879 draws to a close, this Rocky Mountain boomtown has infected the world with silver fever. Joe Rose, a precious-metals assayer, was found trampled into the muck behind Inez Stannert's saloon. A lady educated on the East Coast, Inez has a past that doesn't bear close scrutiny, including her elopement with a gambling man who has recently disappeared.

Most townsfolk, including Inez's business partner, Abe Jackson, dismiss Joe's death as an accident. But Inez wonders: Why was this loving husband and father carrying a brass token good for "one free screw" at the parlor house of Denver madam Mattie Silks?

When Joe's widow Emma asks Inez to settle Joe's affairs, almost against her will, Inez uncovers skewed assays, bogus greenbacks, and blackmail.

      

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Also available: The second mystery in this series, Iron Ties, priced at just $2.99 (as of the date and time of this post, 02/27/2013 at 3:00 PM ET).

The railroad is coming west, all the way to Leadville and its rich Rocky Mountain mines, not to mention its millionaires. And who is coming to celebrate the arrival of the Denver & Rio Grande but Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States and former commander of the Union armies.

Like other residents in the Colorado boomtown this summer of 1880, Inez Stannert regards the news as mixed. With her business partnership in the Silver Queen Saloon shaky and the bonds of family tightening (her husband is still missing and her young son is still back East), Inez doesn't need the lawlessness of Leadville to turn, once again, into murder.

But Inez isn't the only one with iron ties to the past. Some folks have wicked memories of the war, others have a stake in the competing railroad lines. And photographer Susan Carothers, Inez's friend, is caught in the deadly crossfire …

      

Important Note: These books were listed at the above mentioned price on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

MystereBooks: Two Storm Kayama Mysteries by Deborah Turrell Atkinson, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Primitive Secrets by Deborah Turrell Atkinson, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $0.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (02/27/2013 at 2:30 PM ET). Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Primitive Secrets by Deborah Turrell Atkinson
A Storm Kayama Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

When Storm Kayama walks into her lucrative Honolulu law firm one morning, she's shocked — and grieved — to find her adopted uncle at his desk, stiff and cold. Years before, Miles Hamasaki had fulfilled a promise to Storm's father and brought her to be raised with his own family. But, as questions surround Miles' death and her adopted family begins to close ranks, Storm suspects that he has been murdered.

Heading to the Big Island for a weekend escape from escalating pressures, she narrowly escapes a terrible accident. Storm takes refuge in the home of her Aunt Maile, a traditional Hawaiian healer, and Uncle Keone, a paniolo on the huge Parker Ranch. There she encounters a legend from her youth and a family totem, or 'aumakua, which Aunt Maile promises will protect her. As Storm struggles to heal her own childhood wounds and bring justice to Hamasaki's killer, she also comes to grip with the rifts in her own life and culture.

    

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Also available: The second mystery in this series, The Green Room, priced at just $2.99 (as of the date and time of this post, 02/27/2013 at 2:30 PM ET).

Storm Kayama needs to build her clientele, so when surf promoter Marty Barstow's wife walks into her new law office, Storm agrees to represent her. It looks like a bitter divorce situation, but Storm feels for Stephanie, who seems lonely and frightened.

When Stephanie's son Ben, a promising surfer, invites her to O‘ahu's North Shore to watch a surfing contest, Storm jumps at the chance. Not only will it be a thrill to observe the meet, but Storm will also have the opportunity to watch a distant cousin compete. Nahoa Pi‘ilani has grown from a mischievous kid to a surfer of international renown, and he seems to have put the trouble that once brewed between their families behind him.

Then a child delivers a package to Nahoa. Inside the plain wrapper is an ancient Hawaiian weapon, a wooden club encircled with shark's teeth. Storm recognizes the lei o manō. It's a threat, a call to battle.

Soon, as if she were in the green room — the underwater space where tons of churning water can imprison a surfer — Storm is buffeted and disoriented by local legend, greed, and cutthroat competition, and must confront a killer and a haunting incident from her past.

    

Important Note: These books were listed at the above mentioned price on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.