Thursday, February 13, 2014

Mystery Picks of the Day – February 13, 2014

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.




A DEAD RED HEART

The Lalla Bains Series



Author: RP Dahlke

Price: $ 0.99


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When a lovesick, homeless veteran litters her vintage red caddy with paper snowflakes, Lalla Bains, Aero Ag pilot figures it's time for a showdown. Unfortunately, someone else has the same idea leaving Lalla with a dying man at her feet, and only his strange last words, "The more there is, the less you see," as a clue to his killer.

Compounding her life her tightwad, widowed father becomes a born-again ladies man, a disreputable competitor tries to push her out of business, and last but not least, her antennae twitches that the sultry redhead in Modesto's police department may be vying for Sheriff Caleb Stone's affections.

It soon becomes crystal clear that the police are totally off base on this murder investigation and someone else is going to have to suit up to solve this case. Someone who is just exasperating, pushy, and tenacious enough to get the job done--and that person will be none other than:Ms. Lalla Bains.


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
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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.


Bye Bye Baby


Author: Allan Guthrie

Price: FREE


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"A quick, taut thriller ... not a word is wasted." -- Ian Rankin

An Amazon top ten bestseller with sales of over 50,000 copies, BYE BYE BABY is a short novella that packs a big punch.

When a seven-year-old boy disappears after school, the case is handed to Detective Frank Collins. He's been looking to lead a high-profile case for a while, and sets out determined to prove his worth. But the missing schoolboy is only a trigger for another crime. Someone is intent on exploiting the boy's grief-stricken mother. And they have plans for Frank Collins too.


Author Genre: Crime Fiction

Website: Allan Guthrie
Author's Blog: Noir Zine
Twitter: @allanguthrie
E-Mail: allan@allanguthrie.co.uk
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Author Description:
I was born on Orkney, a small island group off the north coast of Scotland. I went to school in Kirkwall, where my primary five teacher allowed me to write during art classes, given my woeful lack of talent for visual art. I was, however, not too bad a musician, playing piano and bassoon to a half-decent standard. I became a founder member of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland when I was twelve, and was whisked off to music school in Manchester as a fourteen-year-old.

After leaving school, I attended university in Aberdeen, where my plan to support my studies by playing piano in a posh restaurant took a nosedive when I was sacked on my second night because my hair was too long. After a year, I left Aberdeen, degreeless, and moved to Edinburgh.

Having lots of spare time on my hands, I taught myself how to program computers and spent the following twelve years working in IT. It was good while it lasted, but I started to feel the pinch and found a part-time job in a bookshop, where I was so happy I would have worked for free. For a while, at least!

Before long, I was employed full-time in the book trade, and over the nine years that followed I worked in various jobs, from stockroom supervisor to IT trainer, moving between exotic locales such as Brussels, Cork and Stirling, before giving up my day job in 2006 to work as a writer, editor and literary agent.

I'd married in 2000 and it was my wife, Donna, who was instrumental in encouraging me to take my writing seriously. After being short-listed for the CWA Debut Dagger for a book called Blithe Psychopaths in 2001 (renamed Two-way Split for later release), I started to think she might have a point. Three years and hundreds of rejection slips later, I wasn't so sure!

Eventually Two-way Split and Kiss Her Goodbye were picked up (within weeks of one another, oddly enough) by two independent small US presses. In 2006 Kiss Her Goodbye was nominated for an MWA Edgar Award, an Anthony Award and a Mystery Ink Gumshoe Award. Two-Way Split went on to win the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year in 2007.

Since then I've published another three novels, most recently, Slammer, which describes the descent into hell of a young prison officer. I've also published three novellas, including Bye Bye Baby, a police thriller and a Kindle top ten bestseller in the UK.


She's Not There


Author: Marla Madison

Price: FREE


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Women are missing . . .

Is the rising number of abused women who've gone missing a statistical anomaly? Or is a serial killer targeting this vulnerable group of women? When the Milwaukee Police Department refuses to investigate because no bodies have been discovered, Lisa Rayburn, the clinical psychologist who discovers the anomaly, is drawn into an investigation to discover the cause after one of her own clients goes missing. She finds herself forming an unlikely alliance with a former policewoman turned security consultant, TJ Peacock, and the husbands of two of the missing women who may themselves be murderers.

When TJ is attacked, and a woman looking remarkably like Lisa is found murdered, they know . . . someone is willing to kill to protect his secret.

Can they reveal the killer before he gets to them?


Author Genre: Suspense, Mystery & Thrillers

Author's Blog: Marla Madison
Twitter: @MarlaAMadison
E-Mail: mam887@gmail.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Facebook: Check Out Facebook

Author Description:
Marla Madison is a retired Federal Mediator, now working as an Arbitrator for the state of Iowa and the Federal Mediation Service. She's Not There is her debut suspense novel, and Relative Malice, her second. Marla is working on a third suspense story, that while not a sequel to She's Not There, does have some of the same characters.

Marla lives on Prairie Lake in Northwestern Wisconsin with her significant other, Terry, a beloved shelter-dog, Skygge, and Poncho, an opinionated feline from the same shelter.

Also an avid reader of suspense, some of her favorite authors are Tana French, Lisa Gardner, Jeffrey Deaver, Jonathan Kellerman, James Patterson, Tess Gerritson, and Tami Hoag.

When not reading or writing, Marla enjoys playing duplicate bridge, golfing, and going on long walks with her dog.


Who, what, where, when, die

An Avery Shaw Mystery



Author: Amanda M. Lee

Price: $ 0.99


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Avery Shaw is having a bad week. First, she had to cover a story on a barricaded gunman who likes to dance naked in his window. Second, she's receiving death threats with her morning newspaper. Lastly, and most importantly, her mom keeps vetoing her outfit choices.

It's all in a day's work for this hardworking, if easily distracted, reporter. Avery Shaw is hot on the trail of the story, even if it means tangling with her hot ex-boyfriend -- the county sheriff -- and the equally hot, if slightly shadier pawnshop owner down the street.

Getting the story is going to be totally worth it -- that is if Avery can survive the week.

Warning: These books are sarcastic and snarky. Read only if you're not easily offended.


Author Genre: Chick Lit, Paranormal, Young Adult

Amazon Author Page
Twitter: @yodaoneforme
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Facebook: Check Out Facebook

Author Description:
When I was a kid, I was torn between whether or not I was going to grow up and be the Incredible Hulk or Wonder Woman. I flirted with being a Jedi Knight for awhile, but I wasn't up for the intense travel associated with the gig. In my teens, I settled on being a writer -- although I had no idea the effort that would entail.

Not only am I a writer now, but I'm a writer in several different mediums. I'm a longtime newspaper reporter, an avid reader and a voracious science fiction fanatic.


Fashion, Lies, and Murder

Amber Fox Mysteries book #1



Author: Sibel Hodge

Price: $ 0.99


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From award winning author, Sibel Hodge, comes a screwball comedy-mystery, combining murder and mayhem with romance and laughter...

Amber Fox has been making too many mistakes, and something's got to give...

For starters, Amber accidentally shoots Chief Inspector Janice Skipper and gets thrown off the police force. Oops! Then, she accepts a job as an insurance investigator from her ex-fiancé, Brad Beckett. Only Brad thinks they've still got unfinished business in the romance department, making for a steamier working environment than Amber counted on. And when fashion designer, Umberto Fandango, goes missing, Amber's investigative skills are put to the ultimate test. Nothing about the case is what it seems, and to make matters worse Amber's arch-enemy, Chief Inspector Skipper, is also investigating the disappearance. If Amber wants her old job back, she's in a race against time to solve the mystery before Skipper does... all the while dodging her ex-fiancé, her own mixed up feelings, and a couple of crazy mobsters.

Who is Umberto Fandango? Is he dead? And can Amber stay one step ahead to stay alive?

(Formerly published under the title The Fashion Police)

Fashion, Lies, and Murder was runner-up in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Competition 2010 and nominated Best Novel with Romantic Elements 2010 by The Romance Reviews.


Author Genre: Romance, Mystery & Thrillers, Young Adult

Website: My Books - Sibel Hodge
Author's Blog: My Blog - Books & Stuff!
Newsletter
Twitter: @sibelhodge
E-Mail: sibelhodge@gmail.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Facebook: Check Out Facebook

Author Description:
Sibel Hodge is the Amazon Top 100 Bestselling Author of Fourteen Days Later and Money, Lies, and Murder (Amber Fox Mystery). She has 8 cats and 1 husband. In her spare time, she's Wonder Woman! When she's not out saving the world from dastardly demons she writes an eclectic mix of romantic comedies, mysteries, thrillers, children's books, and non fiction. Her other books include My Perfect Wedding, The Baby Trap, Fashion, Lies, and Murder (Amber Fox Mystery), Voodoo, Lies, and Murder (Amber Fox Mystery), Chocolate, Lies, and Murder (Amber Fox Mystery), The See-Through Leopard, How to Dump Your Boyfriend in the Men's Room (and other short stories), It's a Catastrophe, Healing Meditations for Surviving Grief and Loss, A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey, and A Gluten Free Soup Opera. Her work has been shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Prize 2008, Highly Commended by the Yeovil Literary Prize 2009, Runner Up in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Comp 2009, nominated Best Novel with Romantic Elements in 2010 by The Romance Reviews, Runner Up in the Best Indie Books of 2012 by Indie Book Bargains, and Winner of Best Children's Book by eFestival of Words 2013. Her novella Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave has been listed as one of the Top 40 Books About Human Rights by Accredited Online Colleges.
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Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the following blogs:
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HBS has verified prices when this article was posted. Please verify the price before buying and its availability at your location for that price.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Mystery Picks of the Day – February 10, 2014

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.




Shot Through The Heart

Supernature



Author: Ed James

Price: $ 0.99


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Mark Campbell, historian and author, is desperate to finish his new book on the infamous Highland Clearances when his researcher mysteriously disappears. Abandoning his depressed wife and new baby, Mark rushes to a remote Scottish village to investigate.

But when he gets there, all is not what it seems. Who is the attractive landowner, Lady Elizabeth Ruthven, and why is she housebound on a remote loch island? Why are wild dogs hunting him? What really happened to the researcher?

Mark's investigation is soon overwhelmed by a series of unnerving events, plunging him into a nightmare of vampires and devil worship. Can he make it back home to his family in one piece?

SHOT THROUGH THE HEART is a thrill-ride adventure set in the Scottish Highlands, cleverly weaving the supernatural with history. It will grip you right through to its shocking conclusion.

Book one of the SUPERNATURE series.


Author Genre: Crime, Thriller

Website: ed james crime fiction author
Twitter: @EdJamesAuthor
E-Mail: edjamesauthor@gmail.com
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Author Description:
Ed James writes crime fiction novels, predominantly the Scott Cullen series of police procedurals set in Edinburgh and the surrounding Lothians. The first in the series, GHOST IN THE MACHINE is FREE has been downloaded over 33,000 times. Books two and three are available now and book four will be released in late June.

Ed lives in the East Lothian countryside, 25 miles east of Edinburgh, with his girlfriend, six rescue moggies, two retired greyhounds, a flock of ex-battery chickens and rescued ducks across two breeds and two genders (though the boys don't lay eggs). He works in IT, but doesn't wear sandals or have a beard.

His blog - edjamesauthor.com - is a log of his work, his thoughts on his writing, and a place for his word count OCD to express itself. His music tastes will creep in now and again.


Bloody Lessons

A Victorian San Francisco Mystery



Author: M. Louisa Locke

Price: $ 0.99


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In Bloody Lessons, it is the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day, 1880, and the teachers of San Francisco are under attack: their salaries slashed and their competency and morals questioned in a series of poison pen letters. Annie Fuller, the reluctant clairvoyant, has been called in to investigate by Nate Dawson, her lawyer beau, and the case becomes personal when they discover that Laura, Nate's sister, may be one of the teachers targeted for attack.

In this installment in the Victorian San Francisco Mystery series, readers will find the same blend of a cozy mystery and romantic suspense, played out against the historical backdrop of late 19th century San Francisco, that they found in Maids of Misfortune and Uneasy Spirits. If you are new to this series, you will still enjoy spending time with the lively residents of Annie Fuller's boarding house and visiting San Francisco when Golden Gate Park was filled with horse-drawn carriages, politics were controlled by saloon-keepers, and kisses were stolen under gaslight.


Author Genre: Mystery & Thrillers, Historical Fiction, Romance

Website: M. Louisa Locke - Author of the Victorian San Francisco Mystery Series
Author's Blog: Come On In
Twitter: @mlouisalocke
E-Mail: mlouisalocke at gmail.com
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Facebook: Check Out Facebook

Author Description:
M. Louisa Locke is a retired professor of U.S. and Women's History, who has embarked on a second career as an historical fiction writer. The published books in her series of historical mysteries set in Victorian San Francisco, Maids of Misfortune, Uneasy Spirits, and Bloody Lessons, feature Annie Fuller, a boardinghouse owner and clairvoyant, and Nate Dawson, a San Francisco lawyer, who together investigate murders and other crimes.

Her short stories, Dandy Detects and The Miss Moffets Mend a Marriage, give secondary characters from this series a chance to get involved in their own minor mysteries. For those of you who have read her work, Locke would love to hear from you at mlouisalocke@gmail.com, and she would really appreciate it if you would spend a few minutes writing a review on Amazon.com.

Dr. Locke is an active member in the Alliance of Independent Authors, and a Director of the Historical Fiction Authors Cooperative, and she is currently living in San Diego with her husband and assorted animals and working on the next installment of her series.


Old Loves Die Hard

A Mac Faraday Mystery



Author: Lauren Carr

Price: $ 0.99


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Old Loves Die Hard…and in the worst places.

In Old Loves Die Hard, Lauren Carr continues the rags-to-riches story of Mac Faraday, an underpaid homicide detective who inherits two-hundred-and-seventy million dollars and an estate on Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, from his birth mother on the day his divorce becomes final.

Mac is settling nicely into his new life at Spencer Manor when his ex-wife Christine shows up—and she wants him back! Before Mac can send her packing, Christine and her estranged lover are murdered in Mac’s private penthouse suite at the Spencer Inn, the five-star resort built by his ancestors.

The investigation leads to the discovery of cases files for some of Mac’s murder cases in the room of the man responsible for destroying his marriage. Why would his ex-wife’s lover come to Spencer to dig into Mac’s old cases?

With the help of his new friends on Deep Creek Lake, Mac must use all of his detective skills to clear his name and the Spencer Inn’s reputation, before its five-stars—and more bodies—start dropping!


Author Genre: Mystery & Thrillers

Website: Lauren Carr Mystery Writer
Twitter: @TheMysteryLadie
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Facebook: Check Out Facebook

Author Description:
Lauren Carr fell in love with mysteries when her mother read Perry Mason to her at bedtime. The first installment in the Joshua Thornton mysteries, A Small Case of Murder was a finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Award.

Lauren is also the author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, which takes place in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. It's Murder, My Son, Old Loves Die Hard, Shades of Murder, and Blast from the Past have all been getting rave reviews from readers and reviewers. The Murders at Astaire Castle is the fifth Mac Faraday Mystery. The Lady Who Cried Murder, the sixth installment in the series will be released October 2013.

Dead on Ice introduces a new series entitled Lovers in Crime, in which Joshua Thornton will join forces with homicide detective Cameron Gates. Lauren is currently working on the next Lovers in Crime Mystery, Real Murder (coming January 2014).

The owner of Acorn Book Services, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, editor, cover and layout designer, and marketing agent for independent authors. This year, fifteen books written by independent authors will be released through the management of Acorn Book Services.

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes.


Rubber Soul


Author: Greg Kihn

Price: $ 0.99

Book Trailer: Rubber Soul
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Greg Kihn continues to pioneer the ROCK THRILLER GENRE with RUBBER SOUL, a murder mystery and an action packed ride through BEATLEMANIA, featuring THE BEATLES themselves.

Dust Bin Bob runs a second hand shop at the Flea Market at Penny Lane. He has an extensive rep of American R&B singles that he gets from Merchant Marines returning from Baltimore and New York. The action starts when he befriends some blokes by the name of John, Paul, George and Ringo and becomes their lifelong friend sharing the vinyl that will start a revolution.

From then on, it's a rocket ride from their earliest days in Liverpool to six shows a night in Hamburg to the Cavern Club to full-fledged Beatlemania.

Along the way, Dust Bin Bob uncovers a plot by Marcos loyalists to assassinate the Fab Four from in Manila after they snub snub Imelda Marcos, blowing off a reception at the palace and narrowly avoiding an international incident. It could have all happened!

100% historically accurate and including previously unpublished information about the Beatles early days, Rubber Soul is inspired by Greg Kihn's radio interviews with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Pete Best, Patti Harrison, and Yoko Ono. When he asked where the Beatles got those rare American R&B records that inspired their early music, the answer was from Merchant Marines who brought them over from Baltimore to Liverpool.

From a serious Beatles fan who has read every word every written about them, Rubber Soul is a wild ride through Rock 'N Roll history.


Author Genre: Horror, Mystery

Website: Greg Kihn
Twitter: @gregkihn
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Author Description:
Greg Kihn is the author of four previous novels including Horror Show, nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel. In the 90’s, Kihn started a radio career and spent sixteen years hosting the top-rated morning show for KFOX radio in San Francisco. He was inducted into the San Jose Rock Hall Of Fame in 2008 and the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in 2012. The idea for Rubber Soul originated with Greg’s interviews with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Patti Harrison, Yoko Ono and drummer Pete Best. The historical details are 100% accurate. When he asked where the Beatles found the rare American R&B 45’s that constituted their early repertoire, Best revealed that it was from Merchant Marines who carried the records back to Liverpool from America. From there came the fictional Dust Bin Bob, a character who befriends the Beatles from their penniless early days and saves them from an assassination attempt in the Philippines during their world tour in 1966. After a lifetime of rock & roll, and decades on the road and behind the microphone, no one else but Greg Kihn could have written this story.




Permanence

A Novel of Dark Suspense



Author: Vincent Zandri

Price: $ 1.99


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Based on true events, PERMANENCE, is a "Hitchcockian" literary thriller about Mary Kismet, a woman who is holding onto a deep dark secret too painful and startling to reveal. Now, having isolated herself from the world, she attempts to break away from her demons by immersing herself, body and soul, into a passionate and erotic love affair with her psychiatrist. A mystery with a surprising if not frightful climax.

Called "hauntingly beautiful" by bOOk R3vi3ws, PERMANENCE is a tragic novel of obsession, dark compulsions, hard-boiled sexuality, and suspense.


Author Genre: Mystery & Thrillers, Romance, Crime

Website: Vincent Zandri
Author's Blog: Vincent Zandri - Noir Author
Twitter: @VincentZandri
E-Mail: Vazandri@aol.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Google+: Check Out Google+
Facebook: Check Out Facebook

Author Description:
Vincent Zandri is the No. 1 International Bestselling Amazon author of THE INNOCENT, GODCHILD, THE REMAINS, MOONLIGHT FALLS, THE CONCRETE PEARL, MOONLIGHT RISES, SCREAM CATCHER, BLUE MOONLIGHT, MURDER BY MOONLIGHT, THE GUILTY, MOONLIGHT SONATA, MOONLIGHT WEEPS, FULL MOONLIGHT, THE SHROUD KEY, and more. He is also the author of the Amazon bestselling digital shorts, PATHOLOGICAL, TRUE STORIES and MOONLIGHT MAFIA.

Harlan Coben has described THE INNOCENT (formerly As Catch Can) as "…gritty, fast-paced, lyrical and haunting," while the New York Post called it "Sensational…Masterful…Brilliant!" Zandri's list of domestic publishers include Delacorte, Dell, StoneHouse Ink, StoneGate Ink, and Thomas & Mercer, while his foreign publisher is Meme Publishers of Milan and Paris. An MFA in Writing graduate of Vermont College, Zandri's work is translated, or soon to be translated, into many languages including the Dutch, Russian, French, Italian, German, and Japanese. A freelance photo-journalist for Living Ready Magazine, RT, Globalspec, inTravel Magazine, along with several other global news agencies and publications, Zandri lives in New York and Florence, Italy.
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.