Showing posts with label A DANGEROUS HARBOR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A DANGEROUS HARBOR. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Mystery Picks of the Day - August 28, 2013

Today the HBS Mystery Reader’s Circle features our Mystery Novels Picks of the Day. These are some of the BEST DEALS from outstanding Mystery Authors for the Kindle at Amazon.

Follow this blog for outstanding Mysteries and great prices.




Femme Fatale

VIGILANTE Series



Author: Claude Bouchard

Price: $ 4.99


GET DEAL at Amazon


Less than two years earlier, Leslie Robb, an accountant in her late twenties working for the Imperial National Bank, had seen her life-partner and co-worker, Gina, shot to death during a bank heist subsequently foiled in part by Chris Barry, millionaire and clandestine operative of the government's 'Discreet Activities'.

Taken as a hostage along with Chris by the remaining robbers onto a helicopter secretly piloted by two 'DA' operatives, including 'DA' head, Jonathan Addley, Leslie had played an integral role in helping bring the offenders down. As a result, thanks to her sang froid, sense of moral justice and martial arts affinities, Leslie left the world of finance to fight crime as a member of the 'DA' team.

Now, Leslie has a new partner in life, Dominique Petit, a Canadian/French dual citizen who suggests Leslie visit Paris with her while she is in the City of Lights on business. Less than twenty-four hours after Leslie arrives, Dominique and her sister, Corinne, disappear, turning Leslie's vacation into her own business trip of justice and revenge…


Author Genre: Mystery & Thrillers

Website: Claude Bouchard Books - Crime Thrillers and other Stuff...
Twitter: @ceebee308
E-Mail: claude@claudebouchardbooks.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Facebook: Check Out Facebook
Pinterest: Check Out Pinterest
Post with Profile + Q/A: HBS Author's Spotlight

Author Description:

I was born in Montreal, Canada, where I still reside with my spouse, Joanne. I completed my studies in human resources, accounting and management at McGill University and worked in various management capacities in the fields of HR and finance for a handful of firms for what seemed like decades, because it was. I should also mention I love pizza, but who doesn't and, in my opinion, nothing rocks more than cooking on the grill.

My first stab at writing was in 1995, the result being my first novel, Vigilante. This was subsequently followed by The Consultant (1996) and Mind Games (1997), all of the same series. Professional obligations and other creative interests led me away from writing for a number of years but I found myself busy at the keyboard in 2009 with The Homeless Killer after having finally published my first three novels. I then followed up with 6 Hours 42 Minutes in 2011, also part of the Vigilante series born from Vigilante. In July 2011, I released ASYLUM, my first stand-alone novel and Discreet Activities, my sixth Vigilante crime thriller was published in January 2012. In October 2012, I penned and released Something’s Cooking, a faux-erotica parody and cookbook under the pseudonyms RĂ©al E. Hotte and Dasha Sugah. My eighth novel and seventh installment of the Vigilante series, Femme Fatale, has just been released. I think I'm really starting to like this writing thing.

Besides writing, editing and promoting my work, I also spend some artistic energy with my five guitars, oil paints and watercolours. Other passions include cooking (big time with fine wine to go with it, of course), reading, traveling and working out just enough to stay fit. It should also be noted that following several years of practice, I now excel at being cat furniture for Krystalle and Midnight, or so they tell me.


Killing Instinct

Michael Sykora Novel



Author: Darcia Helle

Price: $ 2.99


GET DEAL at Amazon


Sandman built his dubious reputation by turning the dreams and nightmares of others into harsh reality. Now he’s pursuing his own twisted dream; the beautiful Maria Milan. But she doesn’t want to become a player in Sandman’s sordid fantasy.

Michael Sykora is a hit man who kills for justice. Sean Riley is a hit man born to kill. Together, they’re out to take down Sandman and his organization. Whether mercy is given depends on who catches him first.


Author Genre: Mystery & Thrillers, Literature & Fiction

Website: Quiet Fury Books
Author's Blog: A Word Please
Twitter: @DarciaHelle
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Facebook: Check Out Facebook

Author Description:
Darcia Helle lives in a fictional world with a husband who is sometimes real. Their house is ruled by spoiled dogs and cats and the occasional dust bunny.

Suspense, random blood spatter and mismatched socks consume Darcia's days. She writes because the characters trespassing through her mind leave her no alternative. Only then are the voices free to haunt someone else's mind.

Join Darcia in her fictional world: http://www.QuietFuryBooks.com The characters await you.


A DANGEROUS HARBOR

Pilgrim's Progress



Author: RP Dahlke

Price: FREE


GET DEAL at Amazon


"This is an engaging, well-written mystery with characters that took up residence in my imagination; moving in with all their baggage and quirks. I found them incredibly difficult to dislodge even several days after I had finished reading the book. I loved the setting; the beauty of the waters and the lovely hillsides existing alongside the abject poverty and ugliness of the slummy, sleazy habitats of those less fortunate. The day to day uncertainly of life is realistically portrayed in an area where powerful drug cartels operate from shadowy positions in almost all levels of government..." LauriJ's Reviews for Night Owl Reviews Reviewer Top Pick

"Take a San Francisco police officer who is on leave for shooting a man who threatened her sister, send her on a sailing trip into Mexican waters where she finds the body of a murdered teenage girl, and you've got the mix for an intriguing mystery. Add an irresistible Mexican-Italian man who happens to be the lead investigator on the case and the romance begins to sizzle. I loved the vivid descriptions of this coastal Mexican town, and the methodic way in which officer Katy Hunter helps with the investigation. A satisfying ending in which all the threads come together into a neatly plotted book." - Connie Shelton, author of the best-selling Charlie Parker mysteries and the new Samantha Sweet mysteries

Here's the set-up:
Bleary-eyed and sleep deprived after a long overnighter into Mexico, solo sailor and SFPD police detective, Katrina Hunter, thinks the mermaid twenty yards behind her thirty-two foot Westsail is nothing more than a sailor's hallucination But everything she knows about floaters convinces her to turn her boat around for another look.

Now, alone and isolated in the Mexican port's police station for six hours she's convinced that reporting a floater to authorities was a mistake. Even the arrival of a handsome, if somewhat dour, Mexican/Italian investigator does nothing to dispel her growing anxiety that she's about to be charged with the murder.

Chief Inspector, Raul Vignaroli, is as surprised by the attractive solo-sailor as he is to find that she's a respected member of the San Francisco police force, and after some well-placed phone calls he's sure that he's found the perfect partner to help him solve a murder, if not the cure for his broken heart. Released, she's free to go. But leaving the police station hits a snag when two policemen march in, dragging a listless prisoner between them. But before Katy can dodge them for the exit, the prisoner raises his head and a startling pair of aquamarine eyes meet hers.

He straightens his back, wincing at the angle of his cuffed wrists. "What the... Whisper?"

Suddenly, the sound of the ceiling fan is terribly loud. Blood pounds in her ears, her mouth goes dry, her palms are damp and her feet are nailed to the floor. In a knee jerk reaction, she hisses, "Don't call me that!"


Author Genre: Mystery, Romance, Humor

Website: R.P. Dahlke
Author's Blog: R.P. Dahlke - Infrequent Blog
All Mystery E-newsletter
Twitter: @rpdahlke
E-Mail: rp@rpdahlke.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
LinkedIn: Check Out LinkedIn
Facebook: Check Out Facebook
Pinterest: Check Out Pinterest
Post with Profile + Q/A: HBS Author's Spotlight

Author Description:

R.P. (Rebecca) Dahlke was raised on her father’s 80 acres of Almonds & crop dusting ranch south of Modesto, California. She’s been writing since 1994, first with a writing group in the East Bay Area and then when she and her husband went sailing, via the Guppies of Sisters in Crime, National.

When they settled in Southern Arizona, Rebecca started a chapter of Sisters in Crime and A Dead Red Cadillac was published by Treble Heart Publishing.

She was doing the rewrite on her second Lalla Baines Novel, A Dead Red Heart when her son, John Shanahan, died in a tragic crop dusting accident in California. Writing about anything, much less crop-dusting became too painful and she stopped writing until 2010.

I sort of fell into the job of running a crop-dusting business when my dad decided he'd rather go on a cruise than take another season of lazy pilots, missing flaggers, testy farmers and horrific hours. After two years at the helm, I handed him back the keys and fled to a city without any of the above. And no, I was never a crop-duster.


Kitty Kitty Bang Bang

The Pampered Pets Mystery Series



Author: Sparkle Abbey

Price: $ 1.99


GET DEAL at Amazon


Caro Lamont—pet therapist—and her cousin Melinda Langston—owner of The Bow Wow Boutique—pamper the kitties and pooches of Laguna Beach’s elites. Unfortunately, their human clients keep turning up dead.

“We were at an art exhibition at The Montage,” I told the detective, “and Kitty asked me to take her cats home because something had come up. Something urgent. It seemed strange, but then the whole evening was strange with dogs and cats. Ones that paint, I mean. And Kitty would never leave her cats, but she did, so it must have been really urgent . . .”

Detective Judd Malone looked past me. “Are those the cats?”

I nodded.

“What kind are they? They’re huge.”

“They’re Bengal cats. Bengals are a hybrid. A cross between a domestic cat and an Asian Leopard Cat. It’s a relatively new breed. Most have . . .”

Malone’s face said TMI. Fair enough, more info than he’d been looking for. “I imagine you know I’m here about Ms. Bardot?” Malone was suddenly all business.

“Yes.” I held my breath and hoped for good news.

“Caro.” He paused. “She didn’t make it.”

“She—” I felt my throat close, and I swallowed hard trying to get control of my emotions. “Too many injuries?” I finally asked. Whatever her emergency had been, it had seemed to upset her. She’d been shaken, and Kitty was never shaken. I remembered her voice as she’d asked me to take care of Tobey and Minou and get them home. The cats. What would happen to the cats now? “Was she driving too fast?”

“Not exactly.” Malone’s voice was serious and grim. “We won’t know until we have a lot more information from the crime lab. It’s too soon to tell, but it may have been a case of road rage. Kitty Bardot was shot.”

Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of two mystery authors (Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter). They are friends and neighbors as well as co-writers of the Pampered Pets Mystery Series. The Pen name was created by combining the names of their rescue pets – Sparkle (Mary Lee’s cat) and Abbey (Anita’s dog). They reside in central Iowa, but if they could write anywhere, you would find them on the beach with their laptops and depending on the time of day, with either an iced tea or a margarita.


Author Genre: Mystery, Crime, Humor And Comedy

Website: Sparkle Abbey - pampered pet mysteries
Author's Blog: Sparkle Abbey
Twitter: @sparkleabbey
E-Mail: SparkleAbbey@gmail.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Facebook: Check Out Facebook
Pinterest: Check Out Pinterest

Author Description:
Our author picture is a shot of us with the real Sparkle and the real Abbey. Don't you love the stare down? Our real names are Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter. We write the Pampered Pets mystery series together. We're also friends and neighbors so you'll often find us writing at ML's dining room table or at our local Starbucks.

We chose to use Sparkle Abbey as our pen name on this series because we liked the idea of combining the names of our two rescue pets - Sparkle (ML's cat) and Abbey (Anita's dog).

We live in the Midwest, but if we could write anywhere, you would find us on the beach with our laptops and depending on the time of day either an iced tea or a margarita.

We have had so much fun writing this series and we hope you enjoy Caro and Mel's adventures!


Crime Wave

A Maggie, P.I. Mystery



Author: Rose Pressey

Price: $ 0.99


GET DEAL at Amazon


Maggie Thomas doesn’t know the first thing about being a private eye. She quickly discovers that running her uncle’s faltering Miami Beach P.I. agency is nothing like watching detective show reruns. Even the private eye app on her iPhone can’t help.

But Maggie’s first case is surprisingly easy… or so she thinks until she stumbles on a dead body. With whizzing bullets, car chases, and spandex clad bodybuilders, Maggie wonders if she’s in over her head. Jake Jackson, the dangerously charming cop, thinks Maggie needs to stick to snapping pictures of cheating husbands and leave the detective work to the professionals.

The danger escalates when another homicide victim washes up on the shore and now someone wants to stop Maggie from solving the murders. With the help of her knitting needle wielding, orthopedic shoe wearing assistant Dorothy Raye, Maggie must solve the case before she’s the next victim of this crime wave.


Author Genre: Romance, Mystery & Thrillers

Website: Rose Pressey - Bestselling Author
Twitter: @rosepressey
E-Mail: rose@rosepressey.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Facebook: Check Out Facebook

Author Description:
Rose Pressey is an Amazon Top 100 bestselling author. She enjoys writing quirky and fun novels with a paranormal twist. The paranormal has always captured her interest. The thought of finding answers to the unexplained fascinates her.

When she's not writing about werewolves, vampires and every other supernatural creature, she loves eating cupcakes with sprinkles, reading, spending time with family, and listening to oldies from the fifties.

Rose lives in the beautiful commonwealth of Kentucky with her husband, son and three sassy Chihuahuas.
Sponsored by: HBSystems Publications
Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the following blogs:
eBook Author’s Corner and HBS Author's Spotlight

HBS has verified prices when this article was posted. Please verify the price before buying and its availability at your location for that price.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

HBS Mystery Reader's Circle features R. P. Dahlke


R.P. Dahlke is in the HBS Mystery Book Reader's Circle.


Author Genre: Mystery, Romance, Humor

Website: R.P. Dahlke
Author's Blog: R.P. Dahlke - Infrequent Blog
Blog: All Mystery E-newsletter
Twitter: @rpdahlke
E-Mail: rp@rpdahlke.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
LinkedIn: Check Out LinkedIn
Facebook: Check Out Facebook
Pinterest: Check Out Pinterest
Post with Profile + Q/A: HBS Author's Spotlight

Author Description:

R.P. (Rebecca) Dahlke was raised on her father’s 80 acres of Almonds & crop dusting ranch south of Modesto, California. She’s been writing since 1994, first with a writing group in the East Bay Area and then when she and her husband went sailing, via the Guppies of Sisters in Crime, National.

When they settled in Southern Arizona, Rebecca started a chapter of Sisters in Crime and A Dead Red Cadillac was published by Treble Heart Publishing.

She was doing the rewrite on her second Lalla Baines Novel, A Dead Red Heart when her son, John Shanahan, died in a tragic crop dusting accident in California. Writing about anything, much less crop-dusting became too painful and she stopped writing until 2010.

I sort of fell into the job of running a crop-dusting business when my dad decided he'd rather go on a cruise than take another season of lazy pilots, missing flaggers, testy farmers and horrific hours. After two years at the helm, I handed him back the keys and fled to a city without any of the above. And no, I was never a crop-duster.

A Dead Red Oleander

The Lalla Bains mystery series


Author: R.P. Dahlke

Amazon
---------------------------------------------

"The main protagonists and all the supporting characters, have larger than life personalities, which lend themselves to some great dialogue exchanges and some pretty strange and esoteric action scenes. In preparation for the couple's forthcoming nuptuals, Lalla's relatives have arrived in California, from Texas and now the fun really starts!!"

When a late in the season emergency forces Lalla Bains to accept a greenhorn ag pilot for her dad's cropdusting business, she sighs in relief . After all, he comes highly recommended, his physical is spotless, and with a name like Dewey Treat, what could possibly go wrong?

Then her quirky relatives arrive from Texas and things go south in a hurry: Dewey Treat drops dead, his tearful widow claims he was murdered, clobbers Sherriff Caleb Stone with his own gun, and makes a run for it. Lalla, convinced the widow is innocent, sets out to prove it--against the express wishes of fiancé Caleb Stone.

Feds, local law, suspicious ag-pilots, nutso relatives, and her daddy's new sidekick, Bruce the goat, make life a living hell for Lalla. Will her nosey nature solve the crime and save the day? Or put them all in mortal danger?
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Chapter One: Six weeks earlier:

Summer progressed as it always does: tires go flat, trucks break down, oil lines in the big Lycoming engines split—in which case, I’m on it—not about to let another split oil line trigger a forced landing, not mine or anyone else’s. I still can’t tolerate the smell of tomatoes, too close to the snootful I got a couple of years back when I was forced down into a field of them. That led to a whole lot of trouble I couldn’t have avoided, but tomatoes and I are still not on speaking terms.

We were in our final season as Bains Aero Ag Service and my dad and I agreed that with my upcoming wedding to Caleb Stone, it was finally time to sell the business. Unfortunately, my second pilot’s bum knee decreed he wasn’t going to make it through this last season. Short-handed and neck deep in work, I was desperate to find a replacement. So naturally I was happy to hear from my dad’s best buddy, Burdell Smith, who was calling to tell me he had just the man for the job.

“The guy may only have one season under his belt,” Burdell said, “but Dewey’s a hard worker, a self-starter, smart as a whip, and won’t be back-sassing just because a woman’s running the show.”

“Done,” I said. “How fast do you think he can get here?”

<><><><>

With a name like Dewey Treat, I was thinking cowboy, broad shoulders, plaid shirt, and too much facial hair. I would have to talk to him about the facial hair. Chemicals cling to beards, get absorbed into the skin, even with the showers and a scrub brush. Flight suits and helmets can’t keep it all out, and I’d be damned if I was going to have a sick pilot to deal with before the end of this season. I’d have to insist he shave. Okay, he can keep it as long as it’s just a mustache, or that little comma thingy on the chin; that’s doable.

So when I heard a motorcycle rumble into the driveway, I knew our new pilot had arrived. Booted footsteps approached and I stood, expecting the big man to duck under the door, filling the office with too much testosterone and sucking up all the oxygen.

What I got was, a short, thin-shouldered man with the uncertain near-sighted squint of someone who’s just had laser eye surgery. Maybe there was some extra swagger in his walk, since he must’ve known I was desperate for the help, but his handshake was firm, dry, and on closer inspection, the gaze was steady, intelligent and sure.

“Ms. Bains,” he said, pumping my hand, “I sure appreciate you taking me on this late in the season.” He squinted, looking to see how I was taking it so far, and added, “Burdell Smith said to say ‘hi’ to your dad.”

That’s right, bucko, tip the scales why don’t you, since Burdell and my dad were old buddies in a dying industry. “No worries in that department, Dewey. I may run the show, but if Burdell vouched for you, you’re in. That way, if you crash and burn, he has no one to blame but himself.”

Dewey’s face blanched and I had to remind myself to back up on the humor. “Just kidding, okay?”

“Oh, sure. You do know Mr. Smith retired soon after I left.”

“I heard that too. Have a seat?”

I passed over the medical information and didn’t add that he was leaving one sinking ship for another. Then I explained our percentage numbers, medical insurance, and handed him the W-2 form and a pen.

“Sounds fair enough to me,” he said, filling in the W-2 and then sliding it back to me across the dusty surface of my desk.

That finished, we stood and shook hands. “Your e-mail said you can start this week. Got a place to stay?”

“Yes’m. Wife and I found a nice rental in a fairly new subdivision between here and Modesto. I hear house sales are suffering from the recession, so if the job works out, that is, if you like my work, we’ll buy it.”

I cringed. Sometime soon, before he heard it from our other pilot, I’d have to tell him he should start looking for next year’s job. “Then let’s get you a look see at your aircraft. Burdell said you knew your way around an Ag-Cat, right?”

“Yes’m. Easy, peasy.”

“First names only here, boss lady included. So, call me Lalla, okay?” I wasn’t going to ask if he and the missus had kids. I have my own merry-go-around with my dad on that subject.

We stepped outside as Mad-Dog Schwartz rounded the corner and saw us. His ginger brows went up a notch when I introduced Dewey as the new pilot. When the two men shook hands, Mad-Dog nodded at us and turned to leave, but not before I noticed the tweak of smug satisfaction on his face. I think the name, Dewey Treat, got the same reaction from Mad-Dog as it did with me, and for once he was pleased to have gotten it wrong.

We were both wrong on that score.

A DANGEROUS HARBOR

Pilgrim's Progress


Author: R.P. Dahlke


Amazon
---------------------------------------------

"This is an engaging, well-written mystery with characters that took up residence in my imagination; moving in with all their baggage and quirks. I found them incredibly difficult to dislodge even several days after I had finished reading the book. I loved the setting; the beauty of the waters and the lovely hillsides existing alongside the abject poverty and ugliness of the slummy, sleazy habitats of those less fortunate. The day to day uncertainly of life is realistically portrayed in an area where powerful drug cartels operate from shadowy positions in almost all levels of government..." LauriJ's Reviews for Night Owl Reviews Reviewer Top Pick

"Take a San Francisco police officer who is on leave for shooting a man who threatened her sister, send her on a sailing trip into Mexican waters where she finds the body of a murdered teenage girl, and you've got the mix for an intriguing mystery. Add an irresistible Mexican-Italian man who happens to be the lead investigator on the case and the romance begins to sizzle. I loved the vivid descriptions of this coastal Mexican town, and the methodic way in which officer Katy Hunter helps with the investigation. A satisfying ending in which all the threads come together into a neatly plotted book." - Connie Shelton, author of the best-selling Charlie Parker mysteries and the new Samantha Sweet mysteries

Here's the set-up:
Bleary-eyed and sleep deprived after a long overnighter into Mexico, solo sailor and SFPD police detective, Katrina Hunter, thinks the mermaid twenty yards behind her thirty-two foot Westsail is nothing more than a sailor's hallucination But everything she knows about floaters convinces her to turn her boat around for another look.

Now, alone and isolated in the Mexican port's police station for six hours she's convinced that reporting a floater to authorities was a mistake. Even the arrival of a handsome, if somewhat dour, Mexican/Italian investigator does nothing to dispel her growing anxiety that she's about to be charged with the murder.

Chief Inspector, Raul Vignaroli, is as surprised by the attractive solo-sailor as he is to find that she's a respected member of the San Francisco police force, and after some well-placed phone calls he's sure that he's found the perfect partner to help him solve a murder, if not the cure for his broken heart. Released, she's free to go. But leaving the police station hits a snag when two policemen march in, dragging a listless prisoner between them. But before Katy can dodge them for the exit, the prisoner raises his head and a startling pair of aquamarine eyes meet hers.

He straightens his back, wincing at the angle of his cuffed wrists. "What the... Whisper?"

Suddenly, the sound of the ceiling fan is terribly loud. Blood pounds in her ears, her mouth goes dry, her palms are damp and her feet are nailed to the floor. In a knee jerk reaction, she hisses, "Don't call me that!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Synopsis:

Bleary-eyed and sleep deprived after a long overnighter into Mexico, solo sailor and SFPD police detective, Katrina Hunter, thinks the mermaid twenty yards behind her thirty-two foot Westsail is nothing more than a sailor’s hallucination But everything she knows about floaters convinces her to turn her boat around for another look.

Now, alone and isolated in the Mexican port’s police station for six hours she’s convinced that reporting the body of a floater to authorities was a mistake. Even the arrival of a handsome, if somewhat dour, Mexican/Italian investigator does nothing to dispel her growing anxiety that she’s about to be charged with the murder.

Chief Inspector, Raul Vignaroli, is as surprised by the attractive solo-sailor as he is to find that she’s a respected member of the San Francisco police force, and after some well-placed phone calls he’s sure that he’s found the perfect partner to help him solve a murder, if not the cure for his broken heart.

Released, she’s free to go. But leaving the police station hits a snag when two policemen march in, dragging a listless prisoner between them. But before Katy can dodge them for the exit, the prisoner raises his head and a startling pair of aquamarine eyes meet hers.

He straightens his back, wincing at the angle of his cuffed wrists. “What the… Whisper?”

Suddenly, the sound of the ceiling fan is terribly loud. Blood pounds in her ears, her mouth goes dry, her palms are damp and her feet are nailed to the floor. In a knee jerk reaction, she hisses, “Don’t call me that!”
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