Love Can Be Murder by Marilyn Rausch and Mary Donlon is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Love Can Be Murder by Marilyn Rausch and Mary Donlon as today's third free mystery ebook (A " … Can Be Murder" Mystery; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, July 31, 2013 at 7:30 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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Love Can Be Murder
Marilyn Rausch and Mary Donlon
A " … Can Be Murder" Mystery
Publisher: North Star Press

Chip Collingsworth, a popular crime writer and newest resident of Turners Bend, Iowa, is working hard on his next thriller, Mind Games, when dead bodies show up. Soon Chip is caught up in the search for a real-life murderer, as he facing a looming publication deadline and navigates a bumpy road to romance with Jane Swanson, town veterinarian.

Once again, real life mirrors fiction in Chip's novel, as the lovely FBI Agent Jo Schwann investigates a series of gruesome murders in Minneapolis and her fragile romance with Dr. John Goodman encounters a frightening turn of events.

  

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.

Trace by Warren Murphy is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Trace by Warren Murphy as today's second free mystery ebook (A Devlin Tracy Mystery; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, July 31, 2013 at 7:20 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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Trace
Warren Murphy
A Devlin Tracy Mystery
Publisher: Gere Donovan Press

Devlin Tracy is a very good insurance investigator in a profession that rewards success. He lives in a luxury condo on the Las Vegas Strip and only works when he feels like it. He also drinks vodka by the pint, cracks wise to damn-near everyone, and has what can charitably be described as a complicated relationship with his girlfriend. None of that matters to the Garrison Fidelity Insurance Company. They're interested in results. Which is why they keep Trace on retainer.

Problem: A patient at a private clinic died, shortly after making his doctor the beneficiary of his insurance policy. Suspicious. Now a wealthy friend of the Garrison Fidelity is a patient at the same private clinic, and he isn't doing well. Troubling. Solution: Send Trace, who has a natural way of shaking things up. On the surface everyone's friendly and nothing points to murder, fraud or larceny. A late-night beatdown from two masked thugs sends a very different message, however, and tells Trace that he's onto something. If only he could figure out what he's onto.

  

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.

Bloodstained by Henry Carver is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Bloodstained by Henry Carver as today's free mystery ebook (A Suspense Thriller; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, July 31, 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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Bloodstained
Henry Carver
A Suspense Thriller
Publisher: FlashBang Books

When his father inexplicably vanishes, Clay Farris returns home for the first time in ten years determined to locate him. His cousin tells him where to start asking questions — a collective of outlaw motorcycle clubs known as the Brotherhood.

But the Brotherhood is also looking for Clay. His father stole something from them, something of great value. They have every reason to believe he knows where it's hidden, and they want to ask him some questions — the hard way.

Now Clay is on the run, turning over every stone, determined to uncover the truth behind his father's disappearance. When the dust settles, the earth will be stained with someone's blood. The only question is: whose?

  

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.

New Book Trailer for Seven Ways To Die by William Diehl with Kenneth John Atchity

A new book trailer for …

Seven Ways To Die
William Diehl with Kenneth John Atchity
A Micah Cody Mystery
Story Merchant Books (March 2012)

There are seven basic ways to die. In 1969 Dr. John C. Cavanaugh catalogued them all in his Primer of Forensic Pathology — Case Studies for the Novice M.E.

Micah Cody is a 30-something NYPD captain of homicide, who's founded a special unit known as TAZ with city-wide license to take over any investigation at all, with special focus on serial killers. Now its ultimate challenge is on the loose in Manhattan, with three victims already whose causes of death seem like intentional defiance of TAZ's existence — and four to go in four deadly days leading up to Halloween. Chronicling it all with great amusement is the Capote-like award-winning crime writer Ward Hamilton who, egged on by his sexually voracious socialite bedmate, is determined to bring TAZ to its knees journalistically.

Captain Micah Cody's Nez Perce name is "Youngest Wolf" from his ability to communicate with the animals and read nature's signs. As all hell is breaking loose in Manhattan, the wolves in Central Park howl, the peregrine falcons shriek their warnings — and Micah is listening.

  

Review: Deadly Devotion by Sandra Orchard

A Mysterious Review of Deadly Devotion by Sandra Orchard. A Port Aster Secrets Novel.

Review summary: There are many characters in this novel of (slightly romantic) suspense, but each is well developed, uniquely identified, and probably more importantly to the reader, easily kept track of. The study of herbs, their benefits and risks, plays nicely into the well crafted murder mystery plot. All in all, this is a very enjoyable mystery and a pleasure to read. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Deadly Devotion
Sandra Orchard
A Port Aster Secrets Novel
Revell (June 2013)

Publisher synopsis: Research scientist Kate Adams and her colleague Daisy are on the brink of a breakthrough for treating depression with herbal medicine when Daisy suddenly dies. Kate knows that if it hadn't been for Daisy's mentorship, she wouldn't have the job she loves or the faith she clings to. So when police rule Daisy's death a suicide, Kate is determined to unearth the truth.

Former FBI agent Tom Parker finds it hard to adjust to life back in his hometown of Port Aster. Though an old buddy gives him a job as a detective on the local police force, not everyone approves. Tom's just trying to keep a low profile, so when Kate Adams demands he reopen the investigation of her friend's death, he knows his job is at stake. In fact, despite his attraction to her, Tom thinks Kate looks a bit suspicious herself.

As evidence mounts, a web of intrigue is woven around the sleepy town of Port Aster. Can Kate uncover the truth? Or will Tom stand in her way?

      

Death Came Dressed in White, an Emerson Ward Mystery by Michael W. Sherer, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Death Came Dressed in White by Michael W. Sherer, now available at a special price, courtesy of the author.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $2.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (07/30/2013 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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Death Came Dressed in White by Michael W. Sherer
An Emerson Ward Mystery (3rd in series)
Publisher: Michael W. Sherer

When your life has reached an all-time low, how can it get any worse? Chicago freelance writer Emerson Ward finds out one steamy August morning when the phone starts ringing too early to be anything but bad news, and bad things happen in threes. Before he can drink his first cup of coffee, he learns that one good friend has gone missing, another has been put in the hospital by a brutal beating, and his phone is tapped. To top it all off, the woman he’s been falling for announces that she’s leaving.

Knowing he’ll be his own worst company after all that, Emerson finds easy distraction in vowing to find out who’s trying to ruin his day. Lending a hand to all those who need it at first takes Emerson in several directions at once. But the more he learns on the trail after the missing friend, the more it appears that all roads lead to dirty dealings on a scale so massive that Emerson will need an entire army to get out alive.

But the forces arrayed against him made two mistakes — they nearly killed his best friend Brandt Williams, and they took the girl, turning Emerson into an army of one.

  

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.

New Book Trailer for Death Be Not Proud by C. F. Dunn

A new book trailer for …

Death Be Not Proud
C. F. Dunn
The Secret of the Journal
Lion Fiction (April 2013)

Following the vicious attack by a psychotic colleague, and reeling from the discovery that Matthew Lynes is not all that he seems, Professor Emma D’Eresby flees the university college in Maine to her home town in England. Broken physically and emotionally, Emma drifts until, fearing for their daughter’s sanity, her parents invite a family friend to assess her. In the course of their conversation, Emma discovers that he spoke to Matthew over thirty years before, and she concludes that Matthew must be hiding a profound secret.

Spurred into action, she traces Matthew’s family name back, making a startling discovery — that Matthew was betrayed during the English Civil War where a clash with his uncle left him fighting for his life.

But instead of dying he not only lived, but persisted, growing steadily in strength and surviving events that would have killed any other man. But Matthew also has the memories, and baggage, that come with his longevity …

      

Time of Death, A PJ Gray Mystery by Shirley Kennett, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Time of Death by Shirley Kennett, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Open Road.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $1.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (07/30/2013 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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Time of Death by Shirley Kennett
A PJ Gray Mystery (5th in series)
Publisher: Open Road

PJ Gray and her partner strive to uncover a murderer — and reveal their feelings for each other …

A serial killer dubbed the Metro Mangler is on the loose in St. Louis. PJ Gray, psychologist and virtual reality sleuth, heads the investigation, alongside her partner, the veteran homicide detective Leo Schultz. Are the killings the work of one criminal, or two? The partners sift through baffling evidence, which links to a thirty-year-old crime and a wealthy family's secrets.

But in this case, there's an added complication: The relationship between the partners is heating up. Gray is a recently divorced single mother, though, and outside of work she's preoccupied with her son's new gaming addiction. And on top of it all, there's another man after her, too—she's next on the Mangler's hit list.

    

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.

Drawing Dead, a Joe Crow Mystery by Pete Hautman, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Drawing Dead by Pete Hautman, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Mysterious Press.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $2.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (07/30/2013 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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Drawing Dead by Pete Hautman
A Joe Crow Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Mysterious Press

After losing a poker hand to a sleazy stockbroker, an ex-cop must work to pay off his debt …

Before cocaine, Joe Crow had a wife and a job with the Big River Police Department. Now he has neither — and he's left behind coke, too. Sober, quiet, and reflective, his only vice is poker. One night he gets into trouble, and winds up in debt to the drug-addled slimeball Dickie Wicky. As repayment, Crow agrees to do Dickie a favor.

Dickie thinks his wife, a slender young thing called Catfish, is running around on him. He wants Crow to find her lover and pay him to leave her alone. But Catfish has charms and troubles of her own, and she will draw Crow into the underbelly of Minnesota — a world of drugs, murder, and the dangerous business of counterfeit comic books. This girl is one fish that Crow should have thrown back.

    

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.

Murder In Thrall by Anne Cleeland, New in Bookstores This Week

Today's new hardcover mystery title, scheduled to be published this week by Kensington, is Murder In Thrall by Anne Cleeland.

For a list of more new hardcover mysteries published this month, visit our New Mysteries page for July 2013. For new paperback mysteries, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where a selection of July 2013 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers are shelved.

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Murder In Thrall
Anne Cleeland

First-year Detective Kathleen Doyle is a plucky Irish redhead. Chief Inspector Michael Acton is a British lord turned cop. He's tall, handsome and enigmatic … to a fault. Acton selects Doyle out of the newbie squad to partner with him on a series of investigations because she always knows when someone is lying — a trait that comes in handy when interviewing suspects and witnesses.

Acton and Doyle are sent to investigate the murder of a trainer at a racetrack. Soon, new killings related to the first start unfolding, dragging the two into ever more perilous situations. But the real danger is the unlikely attachment that develops between the ultra reserved aristocratic Chief Inspector and his plucky working class sidekick … a relationship that will raise plenty of eyebrows — and hackles — among their colleagues at the Yard.

      

Killer Nashville Announces Finalists for 2013 Claymore Award

Killer Nashville has announced the finalists for the 2013 Claymore Award, honoring the best unpublished crime literature manuscript. In alphabetical order (by last name), they are …

Jacob M. Appel, The Man Who Trounced God at Chess
Laura Brennan, The End of All Things
Terri Coop, Dial 1-Pro-Hac-Vice
Vinnie Hansen, Black Beans & Venom
Charles Kingsman, Unbelievers
John Madinger, Hot Shot
Joan Kane Nichols, A Novel By Dickens
Ray Peden, One Tenth of the Law
Elizabeth Visser, Profile of a Killer
Shellie Williams, Deadly Secrets

The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony during the Guest of Honor Dinner and Awards Banquet on the Saturday evening of this year's Killer Nashville conference, which is being held from August 22nd through 25th at the Hutton Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville. Previous winners and finalists have had their books published and optioned for film; read some of their success stories, here.

Into the Darkest Corner, a Novel of Psychological Suspense by Elizabeth Haynes, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Harper.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $1.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (07/30/2013 at 1:30 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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Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
A Novel of Psychological Suspense
Publisher: Harper

Catherine Bailey has been enjoying the single life long enough to know a catch when she sees one. Gorgeous, charismatic and spontaneous, Lee seems almost too perfect to be true. And her friends clearly agree, as each in turn falls under his spell.

But what begins as flattering attentiveness and passionate sex turns into raging jealousy, and Catherine soon learns there is a darker side to Lee. His increasingly erratic, controlling behaviour becomes frightening, but no one believes her when she shares her fears. Increasingly isolated and driven into the darkest corner of her world, a desperate Catherine plans a meticulous escape.

Four years later, Lee is behind bars and Catherine — now Cathy — compulsively checks the locks and doors in her apartment, trusting no one. But when an attractive upstairs neighbour, Stuart, comes into her life, Cathy dares to hope that happiness and love may still be possible … until she receives a phone call informing her of Lee's impending release. Soon after, Cathy thinks she catches a glimpse of the former best friend who testified against her in the trial; she begins to return home to find objects subtly rearranged in her apartment, one of Lee's old tricks. Convinced she is back in her former lover's sights, Cathy prepares to wrestle with the demons of her past for the last time.

      

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.

Scorpion Betrayal, a Scorpion Thriller by Andrew Kaplan, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Scorpion Betrayal by Andrew Kaplan, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Harper.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $1.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (07/30/2013 at 1:00 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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Scorpion Betrayal by Andrew Kaplan
A Scorpion Thriller (2nd in series)
Publisher: Harper

The head of Egypt's State Internal Security is brutally murdered in a Cairo café — his assailant a faceless killer known only as "the Palestinian". It is the opening move in a chilling game of terror that has caught the international intelligence community completely off-guard, and the CIA turns to the one man they believe can get to the twisted roots of a looming nightmare shrouded in mystery: a former Company operative code-named Scorpion.

The breakneck hunt for a mastermind is leading Scorpion from the Middle East to the dangerous underworld of the capitals of Europe. With the fate of the free world in the hands of two well- matched adversaries there is no margin for error. But a shocking truth has been kept from the determined manhunter … and beauty will blind him to the ultimate betrayal.

      

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.