Review: Brain Storm by Elaine Viets

A Mysterious Review of Brain Storm by Elaine Viets. An Angela Richman, Death Investigator Mystery.

Review summary: There is much to like about this first in series crime novel. The characters are well-drawn, the murder mystery storyline is intricately crafted with the reader kept in the dark along with the series lead, guessing as to whodunit and why. A strong start to this series. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Brain Storm
Elaine Viets
An Angela Richman, Death Investigator Mystery
Thomas & Mercer (August 2016)

Publisher synopsis: The ultra-wealthy families of Chouteau Forest may look down on a woman like death investigator Angela Richman, but they also rely on her. When a horrific car crash kills a Forest teenager, Angela is among the first on the scene. Her investigation is hardly underway, however, when she suffers a series of crippling strokes. Misdiagnosed by the resident neurologist, Dr. Gravois, and mended by gauche yet brilliant neurosurgeon Dr. Jeb Travis Tritt, Angela faces a harrowing recovery.

It's a drug-addled, hallucinating Angela who learns that Dr. Gravois has been murdered … and the chief suspect is the surgeon who saved her life. Angela doesn't believe it, but can she trust her instincts? Her brain trauma brings doubts that she'll ever recover her investigative skills. But she's determined to save Dr. Tritt from a death-row sentence — even if her progress is thwarted at every turn by a powerful and insular community poised to protect its own.

Death in the Off-Season, A Merry Folger Mystery by Francine Matthews, 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, Soho Crime …

Death in the Off-Season by Francine Matthews

A Merry Folger Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Soho Crime

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/28/2016 at 7:00 PM ET).

  

When Rusty Mason, scion of one of Nantucket's oldest and wealthiest families, is found dead in a flooded cranberry bog one foggy fall night, thirty-two-year-old detective Merry Folger is faced with her first murder case. Merry is the daughter of the local police chief and granddaughter of his predecessor; her father is a strict boss and Merry feels pressure to go the extra mile to prove her promotion to detective isn't just nepotism. But the Mason murder is a demanding first test.

Merry's investigation brings to light all the tensions that plague the tiny community of Nantucket: the decades-old grudges, the skyrocketing real estate that only wealthy weekenders can afford, the resentments of the old Nantucket families who are barely keeping their homes and heritage fishing businesses alive. But Merry knows the island and its politics in a way only a local can.

— Death in the Off-Season by Francine Matthews

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New This Week: Fallacy, A Jade Monroe Crime Thriller by C. M. Sutter

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 September 2016 and priced $5.99 or less.

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

Fallacy by C. M. Sutter

A Jade Monroe Crime Thriller (3rd in series)

Publisher: C. M. Sutter

Price: $4.99 (as of 09/28/2016 at 6:30 PM ET).

  

See all three crime thrillers in the Jade Monroe Series for $4.99 each on Kindle. The 1st book in the series, Maniacal, is currently FREE!

A taunting letter, claiming violence and death to the vile people of Washburn County puts Sergeant Jade Monroe and her staff of detectives are on high-alert. The letter states they will see the author's work soon, but without forensic evidence Jade has no way of knowing who wrote the letter or its validity.

When the first victim is discovered, the carnage promised in the letter is realized, and as the body count escalates, so does the depravity of the murders.

The media tags the perpetrator with the moniker — The North Bend Carver. With the county in a tail-spin, Jade's only chance of stopping the killer is to insert herself right in the middle of the madness.

— Fallacy by C. M. Sutter

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Fatal Identity, A Novel of Suspense by Joanne Fluke, 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, Kensington …

Fatal Identity by Joanne Fluke

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Kensington

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/28/2016 at 6:00 PM ET).

  

Two women. One nightmare.

Except for their gorgeous faces, identical twins Mercedes and Marcie Calder are nothing alike. Mercedes is a movie star in L.A. with a sexy husband, two beautiful children, and an exciting, glamorous lifestyle; Marcie is an art teacher in Minnesota with a shy disposition and a quiet life alone. But when Mercedes is found dead — mysteriously drowned in her swimming pool — Marcie is the only person who can step into her shoes and finish her latest movie. On a Hollywood sound stage, she will take on her sister's greatest role. In her Beverly Hills mansion, she will play mother to her children. In her sister's bed, she will make love to her husband. But there is one part of Mercedes' life that Marcie isn't prepared for — until it's too late …

A deranged psychopath is hiding in the wings. Watching her every move. Waiting for his chance to kill … and kill again.

— Fatal Identity by Joanne Fluke

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New This Week: Murder at the Clinic, A Midwest Cozy Mystery by Dianne Harman

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 September 2016 and priced $5.99 or less.

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Murder at the Clinic by Dianne Harman

A Midwest Cozy Mystery (2nd in series)

Publisher: Dianne Harman

Price: 99¢ (as of 09/28/2016 at 5:30 PM ET).

  

See also the first mystery in this series, Murdered by Words, for $2.99 on Kindle.

Kat Denham, a popular author of steamy romance novels, has decided to write a book in a different genre. She has a friend who's a doctor of acupuncture, has just lost over one hundred pounds, is getting married in mid-life for the first time to a doctor, and seems like the perfect role model for the protagonist in Kat's soon-to-be-written book. But fate intervenes when Kat happens to be at the acupuncture clinic when a patient, Sandy Hendrick, mysteriously dies. Suddenly Kat is involved in a murder mystery she has to solve to save her reputation and that of her friend, Mitzi.

Who was the murderer? Was it Mitzi, Kat's acupuncturist? Or was it a doctor from the clinic who desperately wants Mitzi discredited, so he'll be named the Assistant Dean of Acupuncture? Then there's Sandy's philandering husband, Matt, and Mitzi's fiancee's ex-girlfriend. Or was it the clinic's receptionist, Rochelle? Will the sting Kat devises to help catch the murderer work? And what part does Kat's guard dog, Rudy, play?

— Murder at the Clinic by Dianne Harman

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The Testament, A Suspense Thriller by Eric Van Lustbader, 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, Forge Books …

The Testament by Eric Van Lustbader

A Suspense Thriller

Publisher: Forge Books

Price: $2.99 (as of 09/28/2016 at 5:00 PM ET).

  

Braverman Shaw — "Bravo" to his friends — always knew his father had secrets. But not until Dexter Shaw dies in a mysterious explosion does Bravo discover the enormity of his father's hidden life as a high-ranking member of the Order of Gnostic Observatines, a sect founded by followers of St. Francis of Assisi and believed to have been wiped out centuries ago. For more than eight hundred years, the Order has preserved an ancient cache of documents, including a long-lost Testament attributed to Christ that could shake Christianity to its foundations. Dexter Shaw was the latest Keeper of the Testament — and Bravo is his chosen successor.

Before Dexter died, he hid the cache where only Bravo could find it. Now Bravo, an accomplished medieval scholar and cryptanalyst, must follow the esoteric clues his father left behind. His companion in this quest is Jenny Logan, a driven young woman with secrets of her own. Jenny is a Guardian, assigned by the Order to protect Bravo, or so she claims. Bravo soon learns that he can trust no one where the Testament is concerned, perhaps not even Jenny …

Another secret society, the Knights of St. Clement, originally founded and sponsored by the Papacy, has been after the Order's precious cache since the time of the Crusades. The Knights, agents and assassins, will stop at nothing to obtain the treasure. Bravo has become both a target and a pawn in an ongoing war far larger and more deadly than any he could have imagined.

— The Testament by Eric Van Lustbader

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New This Week: Killer in the Band, A Lovers in Crime Mystery by Lauren Carr

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 September 2016 and priced $5.99 or less.

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

Killer in the Band by Lauren Carr

A Lovers in Crime Mystery (3rd in series)

Publisher: Acorn Book Services

Price: 99¢ (as of 09/28/2016 at 4:30 PM ET).

  

See all three mysteries in the Lovers in Crime Series for 99¢ each on Kindle.

It's a summer of love … and murder!

Joshua's eldest son, Joshua Thornton Jr. (J.J.) has graduated at the top of his class from law school and returns home to spend the summer studying for the bar exam. However, to Joshua's and Cameron's shock and dismay, J.J. moves into the main house at Russell Ridge Farm and Orchards, the largest dairy farm in the Ohio Valley, in order to rekindle a romance with Suellen Russell, the one-time leader of a rock who is twice his age. Quickly, they learn that she has a deep dark secret.

The move brings long buried tensions between the father and son to the surface — not the least of which being J.J.'s inexplicable dislike for his stepmother Cameron. But when a brutal killer strikes, the Lovers in Crime must set all differences with Joshua's son aside to solve the crime before J.J. ends up in the cross-hairs of a murderer.

— Killer in the Band by Lauren Carr

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Ransom River, A Novel of Suspense by Meg Gardiner, 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, Dutton  …

Ransom River by Meg Gardiner

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Dutton

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/28/2016 at 4:00 PM ET).

  

Rory Mackenzie vowed to never return to her hometown of Ransom River, California. But she comes back and does her civic duty. Now she's juror number seven on a high-profile murder case.

While most of the town is focused on the tense and shocking circumstances of the trial, Rory's return to Ransom River dredges up troubling memories from her childhood that she can no longer ignore. And in the wake of a desperate attack on the courthouse, Rory realizes exposing these dark skeletons has connected her to an old case that was never solved, and that bringing the truth to light just might destroy her.

— Ransom River by Meg Gardiner

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The Pick, The Spade and The Crow by Bill Rogers, New on the Mystery Bookshelf during September 2016

New on the Mystery Bookshelf during September 2016 …

The Pick, The Spade and The Crow by Bill Rogers, A National Crime Agency Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

  

When the body of a man is discovered in woodlands outside Manchester, a ten-year missing-persons investigation can finally be filed away. But this was no ordinary death: gagged, bound and buried alive, he was the victim of a sophisticated and sadistic killer. And there is something else that has the National Crime Agency puzzled. A single character carved into a nearby tree.

Newly promoted to the NCA's Behavioural Sciences Unit, Senior Investigator Joanne Stuart is determined to hunt down the perpetrator. Just as Jo's investigation begins to reveal links with other disappearances, there is another murder. This is no longer a cold case; she is dealing with the escalating violence of a chilling serial killer.

Stepping into a sinister world of secrets, symbols and rituals, Jo will have to confront the legacy of her own past and the violent memories that lurk there if she is going to solve this case. But at what cost?

— The Pick, The Spade and The Crow by Bill Rogers

To see more new paperback titles scheduled to be published this month, visit The Mystery Bookshelf for September 2016. For new hardcover titles, visit New Mysteries where for a list of September 2016 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers is provided.

Front Page Fatality, A Headlines in High Heels Mystery by LynDee Walker, 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, Henery Press …

Front Page Fatality by LynDee Walker

A Headlines in High Heels Mystery (1st in series)

Publisher: Henery Press

Price: 99¢ (as of 09/28/2016 at 3:00 PM ET).

  

Crime reporter Nichelle Clarke's days can flip from macabre to comical with a beep of her police scanner. Then an ordinary accident story turns extraordinary when evidence goes missing, a prosecutor vanishes, and a sexy Mafia boss shows up with the headline tip of a lifetime.

As Nichelle gets closer to the truth, her story gets more dangerous. Armed with a notebook, a hunch, and her favorite stilettos, Nichelle races to splash these shady dealings across the front page before this deadline becomes her last.

— Front Page Fatality by LynDee Walker

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Presumption of Guilt by Archer Mayor, New in Bookstores during September 2016

Today's featured new hardcover mystery, suspense, or thriller title scheduled to be published during September 2016 is …

Presumption of Guilt by Archer Mayor, a Joe Gunther Mystery (27th in series)

Publisher: Minotaur Books

 

A forty-year-old skeleton is found encased in a concrete slab at a recently decommissioned nuclear energy site. It becomes a case for the Vermont Bureau of Investigation (VBI) and its leader, Joe Gunther, since they have the resources and the ability to investigate an old, very cold, missing persons case that has now been reclassified as murder. The victim was Hank Mitchell, and Gunther must chase down old rumors and speculations — who benefited from his death and the disappearance of his body? And was his death somehow tied to New York City mafia money being laundered through the construction project?

But what seems the coldest of cold cases roars back to life when one of the central figures in this mystery is shot to death, right after speaking with Gunther. And when a young police officer — the son of VBI investigator Lester Spinney — is kidnapped, is that meant to be a warning to the VBI team to drop the case?

After all these many years, the truth behind the murder still has to the power to kill, and it's up to Gunther and his team to capture the living and finally put the dead to rest.

— Presumption of Guilt by Archer Mayor

For a list of more new hardcover titles to be published this month, visit our New Mysteries page for September 2016. For new paperback titles, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where a selection of September 2016 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers are shelved.

The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti, New on the Mystery Bookshelf during September 2016

New on the Mystery Bookshelf during September 2016 …

The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti, A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Atria Books

  

Zoe Whittaker is living a charmed life. She is the beautiful young wife to handsome, charming Wall Street tycoon Henry Whittaker. She is a member of Manhattan's social elite. She is on the board of one of the city's most prestigious philanthropic organizations. She has a perfect Tribeca penthouse in the city and a gorgeous lake house in the country. The finest wine, the most up-to-date fashion, and the most luxurious vacations are all at her fingertips.

What no one knows is that five years ago, Zoe's life was in danger. Back then, Zoe wasn't Zoe at all. Now her secrets are coming back to haunt her.

As the past and present collide, Zoe must decide who she can trust before she — whoever she is — vanishes completely.

— The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti

To see more new paperback titles scheduled to be published this month, visit The Mystery Bookshelf for September 2016. For new hardcover titles, visit New Mysteries where for a list of September 2016 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers is provided.

The Long and Faraway Gone, A Novel of Suspense by Lou Berney, 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, William Morrow …

The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: William Morrow

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/28/2016 at 1:00 PM ET).

  

Winner of the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original Novel.

In the summer of 1986, two tragedies rocked Oklahoma City. Six movie-theater employees were brutally killed in an armed robbery. Then a teenage girl vanished from the annual state fair. Neither crime was ever solved.

Twenty-five years later, the reverberations of those unsolved cases continue to echo through the lives of those devastated by the crimes. Wyatt, the one teenage employee who inexplicably survived the movie-theater massacre, is now a private investigator in Las Vegas. A case unexpectedly brings him back to a hometown and a past he's tried to escape — and drags him deeper into the harrowing mystery of the movie-house robbery that left six of his friends dead.

Like Wyatt, Julianna struggles with the past — specifically the day her beautiful older sister, Genevieve, disappeared at the fair. When Julianna discovers that one of the original suspects has resurfaced, she'll stop at nothing to find answers.

As Wyatt's case becomes more complicated and dangerous, and Julianna seeks answers from a ghost, their obsessive quests not only stir memories of youth and first love, but also begin to illuminate dark secrets of the past. Even if they find the truth, will it help them understand what happened and why they were left behind that long and faraway gone summer? Will it set them free — or ultimately destroy them?

— The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney

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New This Week: A Charming Voodoo, A Magical Cures Mystery by Tonya Kappes

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 September 2016 and priced $5.99 or less.

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

A Charming Voodoo by Tonya Kappes

A Magical Cures Mystery (10th in series)

Publisher: Krew Publishing

Price: $2.99 (as of 09/28/2016 at 12:30 PM ET).

  

See all ten mysteries in the popular Magical Cures Series for $2.99 or less each on Kindle.

Whispering Falls is abuzz with the new housing development and new shops popping up all over the magical village right before the annual All Hallow's Eve celebration.

June Heal's intuition is on high alert and she just can't shake that something bad is about to happen.

June finds Violet Draper standing over a dead body In the new pumpkin patch hours before it's supposed to open for hayrides.

Once again, June has to put her sleuthing skills to work and figure out who the real killer is before the new citizens pack up and move right back out of town.

— A Charming Voodoo by Tonya Kappes

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Today's Selection of Daily Deals for Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Omnimystery News is pleased to feature a selection of today's Daily Deals found on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 at 7:30 AM ET …

The Crescent Spy by Michael Wallace

A Historical Mystery

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Kindle Daily Deal Price: $1.99

Writing under a man's name, Josephine Breaux is the finest reporter at Washington's Morning Clarion. Using her wit and charm, she never fails to get the scoop on the latest Union and Confederate activities. But when a rival paper reveals her true identity, accusations of treason fly. Despite her claims of loyalty to the Union, she is arrested as a spy and traitor.

To Josephine's surprise, she's whisked away to the White House, where she learns that President Lincoln himself wishes to use her cunning and skill for a secret mission in New Orleans that could hasten the end of the war. For Josephine, though, this mission threatens to open old wounds and expose dangerous secrets. In the middle of the most violent conflict the country has ever seen, can one woman overcome the treacherous secrets of her past in order to secure her nation's future?

— The Crescent Spy by Michael Wallace

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.

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