Please Welcome Mystery Author Ian C. Simpson

We are delighted to welcome author Ian C. Simpson to Omnimystery News today.

Ian visited with us last year, when he shared a very entertaining interview with his series character Bagawath Chandavarkar, and now he has a new stand-alone golfing mystery out, Sons of the Fathers (DB Publishing; July 2015 trade paperback and ebook formats). We asked him to tell us more about his new book.

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Photo provided courtesy of
Ian C. Simpson

Do you remember the TV series Hardcastle and McCormick? A maverick judge and a "nice" criminal combined to bring to justice villains whom the courts had not convicted. That was one of the original influences on the plot of Sons of the Fathers. I also knew that a golf tournament would "frame" a crime novel well; at the end the circus would leave town, so the murderer had to be unmasked by then. Where better to put such a story than St Andrews during an Open Championship? And why not incorporate an authentic account of an Open won by my golfing hero, Bobby Jones, a remarkable gentleman as well as a supreme sportsman? So the tale is set in 1927, when Jones won the British Open at St Andrews, which just happens to be my home town.

As the golfers arrive, a boy is brutally murdered. His father is the local sheriff's gardener (a sheriff in Scotland is the local judge). Believing that the police have arrested the wrong man, the sheriff starts his own investigation, aided by a youth he has saved from borstal (a tough penal institution). A variety of father/son relationships are featured in the book, hence the title.

I wrote this a few years ago and punted it round without success. Then I published my light-hearted series (Murder on Page One, Murder on the Second Tee and Murder in Court Three) which attracted many good comments. Earlier this year I got an e-mail from publishers I had approached: was Sons of the Fathers still available? The answer was yes and now it is on sale, published by DB Publishing and available on Amazon and at some bookshops. We have a launch planned at J & G Innes in St Andrews on Saturday, September 5th.

When it came to the cover, the publishers produced a well-composed image of a golfer with trees and a fine sunset; but the golfer was too modern and there are no trees on the course at St Andrews. My wife solved the problem by taking a photo of a painting, by an amateur artist now dead, of the iconic view of the course and adjacent buildings. It was on the wall of my study! The publishers' designer tweaked it and I am delighted with the book's arresting cover.

Unusually for a crime novel it is "faction", but I hope lovers of a good mystery will enjoy it, particularly if they are keen on golf. I describe it as "Golfing history and murder mystery". It's a more substantial book than my others, with less humour. Although I say it myself, I'm proud of it and I hope it will find a place in many golfers' Christmas stockings!

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Ian C. Simpson QC was brought up in St Andrews and held a handicap of three. His legal career included sitting as a judge in High Court murder trials. Shortlisted for the Debut Dagger in 2008, he is also the author of three Flick Fortune and Bagawath Chandavarkar mysteries.

For more information about the author, please visit his website at IanSimpsonAuthor.co.uk and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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Sons of the Fathers by Ian C. Simpson

A Murder Mystery

Publisher: DB Publishing

Is one of the world’s top golfers a child-killer? Or is it a camp follower, or a local?

Sheriff Hector Drummond's gardener's son is murdered — so for him it is personal. It is 1927 and Bobby Jones arrives in St Andrews. He is favourite to retain his Open crown but can he win the hearts of the people of St Andrews?

More murders follow but Hector believes the police have arrested the wrong men. Meanwhile his step-son has a crisis of identity …

— Sons of the Fathers by Ian C. Simpson

Today's Selection of Daily Deals for Tuesday, September 01, 2015

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature a selection of today's Daily Deals found on Tuesday, September 01, 2015 at 7:30 AM ET …

Dangerous Waters by Toni Anderson

The Barkley Sound Series (1st in series)

Publisher: Montlake Romance

Kindle Daily Deal Price: $1.99

Sergeant Holly Rudd arrives in the coastal community of Bamfield after local divers discover a body with a knife jutting from its chest in the waters of Barkley Sound. As she investigates the crime, Holly soon realizes the sleepy town is rife with secrets. But what unsettles her most is the residents' insistence that she bears a striking resemblance to the victim of a murder from three decades earlier. She shrugs off the uncanny likeness as a coincidence. But her simmering attraction to Finn Carver, one of the divers who discovered the corpse, isn't so easy to ignore.

Finn, a former Special Forces soldier, knows it's best to keep his distance from Holly. Yet it isn't long before they both give in to the consuming desire they share. And as the danger escalates, Finn and Holly must rely on each other to thwart the plans of a cold-blooded killer who's intent on keeping the past buried.

— Dangerous Waters by Toni Anderson

Dark Waters by Toni Anderson

The Barkley Sound Series (2nd in series)

Publisher: Montlake Romance

Kindle Daily Deal Price: $1.99

Since her rocky childhood and its abrupt, brutal ending, schoolteacher Anna Silver hasn't given her trust easily. But when her estranged father gets in over his head — again — and winds up dead, his last message to Anna is as clear as it is insistent: she's in danger and Brent Carver, the man with whom he shared a prison cell for five years, is the only person she should turn to for help. With nowhere else to go and with her father's killer on her trail, Anna flees to what she hopes is safety.

Tucked into the west coast of Vancouver Island, Brent Carver's isolated home hasn't seen many visitors. And his friend's daughter is the last person he ever expected to grace his doorstep. She's in trouble, and he can't deny her protection … just as he can't deny his attraction to the independent beauty. As their passion sparks into flame, the perfect storm brews off the coast of his island home, bringing with it a sadistic killer hunting Anna and the secrets she's come close to uncovering.

— Dark Waters by Toni Anderson

The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Akashic Books

Nook Daily Find Price: $1.99

  

In the twilight of a mysterious childhood full of wonder, Billy Argo, boy detective, is brokenhearted to find that his younger sister and crime-solving partner, Caroline, has committed suicide. Ten years later, Billy, age thirty, returns from an extended stay at St. Vitus' Hospital for the Mentally Ill to discover the world full of unimaginable strangeness: office buildings vanish without reason, small animals turn up without their heads, and cruel villains ride city buses to complete their evil schemes.

Lost within this unwelcoming place, Billy finds the companionship of two lonely, extraordinary children, Effie and Gus Mumford — one a science fair genius, the other a charming, silent bully. With a nearly forgotten bravery, Billy treads from the unendurable boredom of a telemarketing job, stumbles into the awkward beauty of a desperate pickpocket named Penny Maple, and confronts the nearly impossible solution to the mystery of his sister's death. Along a path laden with hidden clues and codes that dare the reader to help Billy decipher the mysteries he encounters, the boy detective may learn the greatest secret of all: the necessity of the unknown.

— The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno

Into the Shadows by Glenn Beck

The Agenda 21 Series (2nd in series)

Publisher: Threshold Editions

Kobo Daily Deal Price: $1.99 (price-matched by Amazon)

  

It was once named America, but now it is just "the Republic." Following the worldwide implementation of a UN-led program called Agenda 21, the once-proud people of America have become obedient residents who live in barren, brutal Compounds and serve the autocratic, merciless Authorities.

Citizens mainly keep their heads down and their mouths shut — but Emmeline is different. When the Authorities took her mother away, she started questioning the world around her. What happened to her mom? Why is everyone confined to grim living spaces and made to eat the same food cubes every day? Why was her own baby taken from her to be raised in the Children's Village? And are those who got away during the Relocations — the so-called shadow people — merely a rumor?

When Emmeline's questions lead to the realization that she will never see her child again, she decides to escape the Compound. Fleeing the armed enforcers of the Earth Protection Agency, and facing the unknown for the first time in their lives, Emmeline and her partner David run into the shadows in the desperate hope of finding something they'd only heard stories about from those who'd lived before the Relocations: freedom.

— Into the Shadows by Glenn Beck

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M. C. Beaton

An Agatha Raisin Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Blackstone Audio

Audible Daily Deal Price: $2.95

Putting all her eggs in one basket, Agatha Raisin gives up her successful PR firm, sells her London flat, and samples a taste of early retirement in the quiet village of Carsely. Bored, lonely and used to getting her way, she enters a local baking contest: Surely a blue ribbon for the best quiche will make her the toast of the town. But her recipe for social advancement sours when Judge Cummings-Browne not only snubs her entry — but falls over dead! After her quiche's secret ingredient turns out to be poison, she must reveal the unsavory truth …

Agatha has never baked a thing in her life! In fact, she bought her entry ready-made from an upper crust London quicherie. Grating on the nerves of several Carsely residents, she is soon receiving sinister notes. Has her cheating and meddling landed her in hot water, or are the threats related to the suspicious death? It may mean the difference between egg on her face and a coroner's tag on her toe …

— Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M. C. Beaton

For more deals that may have been found after this post was created, see our Daily Deals page on Omnimystery News for an updated list.

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

Today's Selection of Free MystereBooks for Tuesday, September 01, 2015

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature a selection of Free MystereBooks found on Tuesday, September 01, 2015 at 6:30 AM ET …

The Quantico Connection by Steve Rollins

A Crime Thriller

Publisher: Adventure Ink

Price: FREE!

  

Where Death is a Hunter by Christopher Stookey

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Silver Leaf Books

Price: FREE!

  

Daybreak by T. J. Brearton

The Titan Trilogy

Publisher: Joffe Books

Price: FREE!

  

Runs Deep by R.D. Brady

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Scottish Seoul Publishing

Price: FREE!

  

Litany of Secrets by Luke H. Davis

A Cameron Ballack Mystery

Publisher: Dunrobin Publishing

Price: FREE!

  

Eyeshot by Taylor Adams

A Suspense Thriller

Publisher: Joffe Books

Price: FREE!

  

The Case of the Missing Mascot by Sydney Katt

A Sherlock Shakespeare Mystery

Publisher: Random Distraction

Price: FREE!

  

A Death In Beverly Hills by David Grace

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: David Grace

Price: FREE!

  

Modern Sorcery by Gary Jonas

A Jonathan Shade Mystery

Publisher: Denton & White

Price: FREE!

  

The Gospel Makers by Anthea Fraser

A David Webb Thriller

Publisher: Endeavour Press

Price: FREE!

  

For a summary of all of today's titles, plus any that may have been added since this post was created, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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

Final Appeal, A Novel of Suspense by Lisa Scottoline, 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, HarperCollins …

Final Appeal by Lisa Scottoline

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: HarperCollins

Price: $1.99 (as of 08/31/2015 at 8:00 PM ET).

  

Grace Rossi is starting over after a divorce, and a part-time job with a federal appeals court sounds perfect. But she doesn't count on being assigned to an explosive death penalty appeal. Nor does she expect ardor in the court in the form of an affair with the chief judge.

Then Grace finds herself investigating a murder, unearthing a secret bank account and following a trail of bribery and judicial corruption that's stumped even the FBI. In no time at all, Grace under fire takes on a whole new meaning.

— Final Appeal by Lisa Scottoline

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

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.

Review: Down Among the Dead Men by Peter Lovesey

A Mysterious Review of Down Among the Dead Men by Peter Lovesey. A Peter Diamond Mystery.

Review summary: This is another terrific book in this series. The characters are well drawn, the relationships between the principal characters a treat. The story is a complex one, well-structured, paced and delivered. Often a series this long tends to get stale, but that is not the case with this one. Highly recommended. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Down Among the Dead Men
Peter Lovesey
A Peter Diamond Mystery
Soho Crime (July 2015)

Publisher synopsis: In a Sussex town on the south coast of England, a widely disliked art teacher at a posh private girls' school disappears without explanation. None of her students miss her boring lessons, especially since her replacement is a devilishly hunky male teacher with a fancy car. But then her name shows up on a police missing persons list. What happened to Miss Gibbon, and why does no one seem to care?

Meanwhile, detective Peter Diamond finds himself in Sussex, much against his wishes. His irritating and often obtuse supervisor, Assistant Chief Constable Georgina Dallymore, has made Diamond accompany her on a Home Office internal investigation. A Sussex detective has been suspended for failing to link DNA evidence of a relative to a seven-year-old murder case — a bad breach of ethics. Diamond is less than thrilled to be heading out on a road trip with his boss to investigate a fellow officer, but he becomes much more interested in the case when he realizes who the suspended officer is — an old friend, and not a person he knows to make mistakes.

As Diamond asks questions, he begins to notice unsettling connections between the cold case and the missing art teacher. Could the two mysteries be connected? How many other area disappearances have gone unnoticed and uninvestigated? Diamond and his hapless supervisor have stumbled into a web of related crimes. Will Diamond be able to disentangle them?

Bloom and Doom, A Audrey Bloom, Bridal Bouquet Mystery by Beverly Allen, 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, Berkley …

Bloom and Doom by Beverly Allen

A Audrey Bloom, Bridal Bouquet Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Berkley

Price: $1.99 (as of 08/31/2015 at 7:00 PM ET).

  

As the co-owner of The Rose in Bloom, Audrey Bloom creates magnificent flower arrangements for brides to be. Though helping to plan a wedding can be stressful, it's nothing compared to the groom turning up dead …

A designer of eye-catching bridal bouquets — many of them based on the Victorian meanings behind each flower — Audrey Bloom is used to celebrations that end with happily ever after. In fact, every couple she's worked with is still together, living in wedded bliss. But her perfect record is about to be broken.

Her childhood friend Jenny Whitney has reeled in the most eligible bachelor in Ramble, Virginia, and she's hired Audrey to design the bouquet. But before Jenny can walk down the aisle clutching her blend of anemone, scabious, and pussy willow (a floral disaster in Audrey's mind), the groom is found dead — sprinkled with bits of a bouquet. This is bad for business — not to mention for Jenny, who has become the prime suspect. So Audrey decides to do a little digging herself, hoping she won't be the next Ramble resident pushing up daisies …

— Bloom and Doom by Beverly Allen

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

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.

New This Week: Ten Guilty Men, A David Morton Crime Novel by Daniel Campbell and Sean Campbell

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 2015 and priced $4.99 or less …

Ten Guilty Men by Daniel Campbell and Sean Campbell

A David Morton Crime Novel (3rd in series)

Publisher: De Minimis

Price: $2.99 (as of 08/31/2015 at 6:30 PM ET).

  

An anonymous tip leads DCI Morton to a detached house in Richmond where he finds the body of Ellis DeLange, celebrity photographer and socialite extraordinaire.

Morton must investigate the details of Ellis' private life while keeping the baying mob of journalists out front away from the investigation, dealing with Ellis' highly secretive celebrity friends and trying to answer the one question that keeps on nagging at him: who called in the anonymous tip?

The investigation takes a bizarre turn when a key witness reveals she saw a man fleeing from the crime scene in the dead of night — without any clothes on.

— Ten Guilty Men by Daniel Campbell and Sean Campbell

See all three mysteries in the DCI Morton Crime Novel Series for $2.99 or less each on Kindle. The first book in the series, Dead on Demand, is currently FREE!

Visit our New Indie MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News for a complete list of titles featured today.

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.

Murder, Plain and Simple, A Angela Braddock, Amish Quilt Shop Mystery by Isabella Alan, 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, NAL …

Murder, Plain and Simple by Isabella Alan

A Angela Braddock, Amish Quilt Shop Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: NAL

Price: $1.99 (as of 08/31/2015 at 6:00 PM ET).

  

When Angela Braddock inherits her late aunt's beautiful Amish quilt shop, she leaves behind her career and broken engagement for a fresh start in Holmes County, Ohio …

With her snazzy cowboy boots and her ornithophobic French bulldog, Angie doesn't exactly fit in with the predominantly Amish community in Rolling Brook, but her aunt's quilting circle tries to make her feel welcome as she prepares for the reopening of Running Stitch.

On the big day, Angie gets a taste of success as the locals and Englisch tourists browse the store's wares while the quilters stitch away. But when Angie finds the body of ornery Amish woodworker Joseph in her storeroom the next morning, everything starts falling apart.

With evidence mounting against her, Angie is determined to find the culprit before the local sheriff can arrest her. Rolling Brook always appeared to be a simple place, but the closer Angie gets to the killer, the more she realizes that nothing in the small Amish community is as plain as it seems …

— Murder, Plain and Simple by Isabella Alan

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

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.

The Perfect Crime, A Crime Thriller by Roger Forsdyke, New This Week from Endeavour Press

Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher, promoting and selling ebook editions of works by new authors as well as bringing out ebook editions of out of print books.

We've selected one of their recently published mystery, suspense, thriller or crime titles to feature here today …

The Perfect Crime by Roger Forsdyke

A Crime Thriller

Publisher: Endeavour Press

Price: $3.99 (as of 08/31/2015 at 5:30 PM ET).

  

03:45 hours, Friday 15th February 1974. A small figure stands silently in the gusty breeze. He draws out a strange device from within his pocket and places it firmly on the wooden window frame. After securing it tightly he deftly bores into frame, creating a gap for him to release the latch and enter into the darkness of the frame. Waking the sleeping occupants with a jab of a double-barrelled shotgun he forces them to hand over the keys to the post office safe. It is only the attempted heroism of Donald Skepper that ruins the plan. Unfortunately for Donald, the burglar is quicker on the trigger than he is in his assault and twenty lead pellets rip through the postmaster's ribcage.

This is no ordinary burglar, he is the notorious "Black Panther". A vicious man who has ripped through the post offices of England and whose crimes appear to be becoming increasingly violent. Detective Sergeant — currently Acting Detective Inspector — Groat has been called upon by his colleague Detective Sergeant Ted Pearson to assist him in the pursuit of this brutal criminal.

As their lives become increasingly intertwined and ever more complicated will they be able to catch their man? And as the Panther moves away from simple armed robbery to search for the perfect crime their pursuit is made ever more urgent.

— The Perfect Crime by Roger Forsdyke

Visit our New Indie MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News for a complete list of titles featured today.

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.