Mysteries

Mysteries

Looking to download free and discounted mystery ebooks? Well then, you sleuth, you’ve found the right place. Satisfy your crime solving needs in this category, and never pay more than what you should. We routinely feature the best authors of mystery ebooks, and they always promote their ebooks to you--for free or for a discount.

 

Definition of "Mystery Genre": Fiction in which a detective resolves a crime or series of crimes.  This genre can also be referred to as detective or crime novels.  The plot of a mystery ebook focuses on the crime that needs to be solved, and the detective that will solve it.  Typical elements include the detective being in danger, a host of suspects with their own motives, and clues, motives and alibis.  The genre can vary greatly dependent on the time in which the mystery is set, as that will drive what tools the detective has at his/her disposal.

 

Some examples of the best mysteries of all-time include Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon), Agatha Christie (Murder on the Orient Express), Caleb Carr (The Alienist), Lyndsay Faye (Dust and Shadow), James Cain (The Postman Always Rings Twice).  Of course, many of these are the best mystery ebooks of all time, as well as classics.  We try to bring you free and discounted mystery ebooks on their way to being the tops in their genre.

Murder & The Movie Star: A Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery - Book 12

by Dianne Harman

The last thing Mike Reynolds needed in the final weeks leading up to his run for re-election as sheriff of Beaver County, Oregon, was to have his wife, Kelly, discover the body of a famous movie actress. It didn't help that she'd died under mysterious circumstances from a fall off the cliff behind her home.

Did she accidentally fall over it or was it murder? And if she was murdered, who did it? Was it her daughter who wanted her mother's money, so she could give it to the yoga guru she was studying with at his spartan retreat center located in the nearby forest? Or was it her gardener, who desperately needed money to deal with the terminal diagnosis his wife had been given by her doctor? Or could it have been the director of The Triangle, the movie she was about to film, because he was afraid she'd ruin his chances for an Oscar? What about the supporting actress who'd wanted to have the lead role in the movie? Or the screenwriter, who didn't understand why the movie star refused to read the changes he made to the script? Or even the star's ex-husband, furious with what she'd told a reporter about his acting ability?

Join Kelly, Mike, their dogs, and a helpful neighbor by the name of Roger Babowal, as they try to find out what really happened on the cliff that night.

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Lethal Legacy (Raff Rafferty Mystery Series Book 5)

by Robert Joseph

Fati, recently married to Arch Lindor, a charming but mysterious man she met on a trip to Spain after resigning from the Los Angeles Police Department, learns that she has inherited ‘Florestal’, her Mexican-born, murdered great aunt’s sprawling estate in San Marino, California. Forced to travel alone to the west coast from the home in Florida she shares with her new husband because of his business commitments, Fati finds herself increasingly dependent on her elderly great aunt’s former ‘walker’ (escort), Walter Mulday, who is only too willing to aid her in vital decisions pertaining to the settlement of the deceased relative’s legally contested fortune, which includes many priceless pre-Columbian Mexican art works, an area in which he claims to be an expert. As Walter forces himself into her life against her wishes and other wealthy, elderly women with whom he has been associated are subsequently murdered, Fati pleads with Arch to abandon his business obligations in Florida and join her in California. However, when Arch arrives, Fati is dismayed to discover that Walter is as equally adept at deceiving and manipulating him as he is with her, although employing entirely different means. She quickly realizes that if Walter has selected her as a future victim, which she strongly suspects, she will be forced to rely on her police training and herself alone.

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Missing: The Lady Said No: A Chandler County Novel

by Jacquie Biggar

The Race is on to find a Killer in the heart of Kentucky horse country

Detective Augustus Grant is faced with his most baffling case to date. Well-respected race horse breeder John Jorgenson is murdered in his den days before the Kentucky Derby and the list of suspects is growing.
Complicating matters, Gus' ex-girlfriend is the last person to have seen the victim alive.
Rebecca Hayes owes the Jorgenson family her loyalty. They gave her a new life after a disastrous affair leaves her alone and pregnant.
With all the evidence pointing in Becky's direction, will Gus do his duty?
Or follow his heart?
 

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A Haunted Murder (A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 1)

by J A Whiting

After the death of her grandfather, Lin Coffin returns to the island of her birth, Nantucket, Massachusetts, to make a new start in life, but things don't begin smoothly. After not seeing one for twenty years, a ghost appears in her back yard and her cousin, Viv, becomes a suspect in a murder. Lin and Viv, with the help of several others, work to solve the crime before the killer strikes again.
This story has ghosts and some mild paranormal elements.
About 190 pages in length in paperback format.

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Getting Thin is Murder

by Al Moe

A year ago, baseball player Blair Saxon was enjoying his Major League Debut. Today, he’s wasting away on a west coast beach, the victim of a 95-mile per hour fastball to the head. He’s direct, abrasive, and speaks without filters, so it’s understandable that the police don’t want his help with a deadly case.

When the killer gets too close, Saxon turns to his one remaining friend, Megan, the only one who will tolerate his strange ideas and even stranger plans. Together as amateur detectives, they do what the police detectives can't, they find suspects.

But can they keep themselves alive?

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Before he Kills (A Mackenzie White Mystery—Book 1)

by Blake Pierce

From #1 bestselling author Blake Pierce comes a heart-pounding new mystery series.

In the cornfields of Nebraska a woman is found murdered, strung up on a pole, the victim of a deranged killer. It doesn’t take long for the police to realize a serial killer is on the loose—and that his spree has just begun.

Detective Mackenzie White, young, tough, smarter than the aging, chauvinistic men on her local force, finds herself called in grudgingly to help solve it. As much as the other officers hate to admit it, they need her young, brilliant mind, which has already helped crack cold cases that had left them stumped. Yet even for Mackenzie this new case proves an impossible riddle, something the likes of which she—and the local force—have ever seen.

With the FBI called in, together, an intense manhunt ensues. Mackenzie, reeling from her own dark past, her failed relationships, and her undeniable attraction to the new FBI agent, finds herself battling her own demons as her hunt for the killer takes her to the darkest places of her mind. As she delves into the killer’s mind, obsessing over his twisted psychology, she finds that evil truly does exist. She only hopes it will not be too late to extricate herself from it, as her entire life collapses around her.

As more bodies turn up dead and a frantic race against time ensues, there is no way out but to find him before he kills again.

A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, BEFORE HE KILLS marks the debut of a riveting new series—and a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night.

Book #2 in the Mackenzie White Mystery series will be available soon.

Also available by Blake Pierce is ONCE GONE (A Riley Paige mystery—Book #1), a #1 bestseller with over 350 five star reviews on Amazon—and a free download!

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Myths & Legends: A Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Boxed Set Collection

by Various

The MYTHS & LEGENDS Boxed Set is a compilation of 20 Full-Length Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy reads, including works from New York Times, USA Today bestsellers, Bestselling Harlequin authors, and various Award-Winning authors!

Gear up for a collection packed with an exciting mix of undiscovered existing titles and brand new content! The pages inside are packed with everything from vampires, faeries, witches, and shifters to romantic quests, cities brimming with paranormal activity, secret societies, and ruthless villains.

With over a million words of fiction, this is your one stop shop for vampire and witch romance, urban fantasy, shifter romance, and spellbinding myths from more than twenty bestselling authors!

Scroll up to secure your Limited Edition copy with one click today!

*Estimated Total Page Count: 5,000+ (Please note that Amazon's estimated page count may be inaccurate prior to publication date)

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Dark Moon, A Legal Thriller

by Deborah Hawkins

Legendary criminal defense attorney, Sarah Knight, has spent all of her forty-six years hiding the unspeakable secrets of her past. Now, newly arrived in San Diego from New York, she is appointed to represent Alexa Reed, a former U.S. Supreme Court clerk and the daughter-in-law of Supreme Court Justice Coleman Reed. Alexa is arrested for the murders of her ex-husband, attorney Michael Reed, and La Jolla psychologist, Ronald Brigman. During bitter divorce proceedings, Brigman has declared Alexa’s reports of Michael’s domestic abuse false, has diagnosed her with borderline personality disorder, and has given Meggie and Sam, ages six and five, to their abusive father.

All the evidence points to Alexa. Her gun was the murder weapon and her cell phone places her at the scene of the murders. Sarah is warned that doing anything more than the minimum for her client will be professional suicide. Coleman Reed wants Alexa sentenced to death without delay. But Sarah and her investigator, ex-FBI agent Jim Mitchell, refuse to be intimidated even after attempts on Sarah and Alexa’s lives. They discover Michael Reed’s taste for high-priced call girls and his entanglement in an extensive pattern of criminal financial dealings. But when Coleman manipulates the trial judge to exclude Sarah’s star witness on the eve of trial, she must risk discovery of her own terrible secret to save Alexa's life.

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Cristina

by Jake Parent

A gripping psychological thriller from a #1 Amazon bestselling author.

Desperate to escape her past, Cristina Rodriguez moves into a picturesque hilltop home with an ocean view. The same place where, four years earlier, a young girl was kidnapped and murdered.

Both the house and the scenic California beach town seem perfect. Fresh air. Fresh faces. And the ocean is just ten minutes away. But as Cristina and her daughter set about rebuilding their lives, they soon discover that the past is not about to let go so easily.

A page-turning thrill ride, Cristina will grab you from the first page and keep you guessing until the very end...

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Paying Back The Dead (A Millerfield Village Cozy Murder Mysteries Series 3)

by Carrie Marsh

A page-turning third book in the tradition of Janet Evanovich, Dying To Be Cool, and Pancakes and Corpses, Paying Back The Dead is a cozy mystery & thriller fueled by the baffling crime and brilliant sleuthing investigation skills of pretty Laura--and the race to solve a murder mystery of a distant relative before the murderer strikes again. This time who will be the target?

The only thing worse than death is taxes…

With two solved murders behind her, Laura Howcroft is more than content with her calm, tranquil existence as The Woodend Cottage Hotel receptionist. Little more than a year in the small village of Millerfield and Laura has already seen enough bloodshed to last her a lifetime. Things have been quite recently in the small British village and Laura can only hope they stay that way. Peaceful, calm and simple.

But when Laura discovers she has a cousin in the village, an encounter that rapidly uncovers the unexpected murder of her cousin’s husband, Laura knows that the only way to help out is to investigate for her. With the Police pointing fingers at Judy Hugh, the wife of the recently deceased local tax official, Laura, Howard, and Monty are on the trail again.

After all who in their right mind would want to murder a much-mistrusted tax official..?

Can Laura uncover the real killer that left a tax-man horribly murdered?

Or will her own recently-rediscovered cousin take the fall for the death of her husband?


Page Count: Approx 250 pages. Paying Back The Dead will return to full price, $2.99 on April 21st. Get it now while it is at $0.99 now!

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No Kiss Goodbye: The debut psychological thriller leaving readers emotional.

by Janelle Harris

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING DEBUT

If you enjoy complex, damaged characters like The Girl on the Train you won't want to miss No Kiss Goodbye

Kids change your life, they said.
Things will never be the same again, they said.
Isn't it wonderful, they said.
But no one knows what to say now.

My husband wants to take the kids.
My husband thinks the accident was my fault.
My husband thinks I need help.

But I think he wants rid of me.

Praise for No Kiss Goodbye:

''Wow! What a roller-coaster of a book. Can't wait for more from this author.'' - Tracy Fenton, CompulsiveReaders.com

For a debut novel, No Kiss Goodbye is totally spellbinding. It's one that has the reader desperate for answers and leaves you feeling like you've just walked away from some sort of wreck. - By The Letter Book Reviews

''This book has completely blown me away. No Kiss Goodbye is an incredibly well plotted psychological suspense thriller, and you will not know who to trust.'' - Little Miss No Sleep Daydreams Of Books

''Right from the beginning I knew something wasn't quite right. The psychological game-play is very well written.'' - Natalie K. Martin, #1 Bestselling Author

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People Behaving Badly: A Collection of Short Mystery Stories

by John D. Ottini

Semi-Finalist in the 2015 Royal Palm Literary Award Competition. (Florida Writers Association)

People Behaving Badly is a collection of thirteen short mystery stories exploring the folly of criminal behavior. Welcome to a world filled with strange and quirky characters where murder, vigilantism, jealousy, infidelity, sex, violence and people behaving badly are the norm.

These short mysteries were written as individual bite-size stories that can be devoured in one sitting. Perfect reading for your bus, train or subway commute to work, while you're waiting at the doctor's or dentist's office, having your car serviced, enjoying a latte at your favorite coffee shop, or whenever you have a few minutes of free time.

Stories Include:

Easy Pickings: A cocky thief meets his unexpected match.

Dumpster Rose: The face of murder may not appear evil.

True Confession: A code of ethics which condones murder.

A Shoulder to Die On: A jealous wife discovers more than she bargained for.

Killer Karma: What goes around will more than likely come around.

The Auditor Cometh: What you say, can and will be used against you.

And much more!

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In A Bind: A Private Investigator Crime and Suspense Mystery Thriller

by D. D. VanDyke

When a blackmailed drag queen walks into Cal Corwin's P. I. agency, she quickly throws herself into the investigation, but with each new clue she finds the case gets murkier, its web of lies more tangled. When murder rears its ugly head, it becomes clear more is at stake than money, and Cal must watch her own back even as she tries to find the culprit.

In A Bind is the second book in the Cal Corwin P. I. mystery-thriller series from D. D. VanDyke, though they can be read in any order. Set against the rich backdrop of the San Francisco Bay Area, Cal Corwin novels brim with intrigue and fully fleshed characters from cops and criminals to hit men, oddball family and unexpected allies.

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All That Remains (A Missing and Exploited Suspense Novel Book 1)

by Hannah Holborn

Meet Detective Harvey Sam, a small town cop who wants two impossible things—a happy family and a perfect solve rate. Harvey's training at The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children prepared him for the most important case of his career to date, the abduction of eight-year-old Gabriel Wheeler. Nothing, however, could prepare him for the boy’s blame-shifting mother from hell who shoots up instead of alerting police when the boy goes missing. Nor is Harvey equipped to deal with the heartbreak when his girlfriend leaves him on the same night, taking Effie, the non-biological young daughter Harvey adores.


The case goes cold when Harvey fails to interview Effie’s best friend, the only witness able to identify the perpetrator’s car. As police resources are wasted on dead ends and wrong suspects, Gabriel receives unlikely help to escape from Willard Crawley, a simple-minded abductor seeking a replacement for the infant brother he accidentally suffocated years before.

Book 1 in the Missing & Exploited Suspense Series, ALL THAT REMAINS explores childhood resiliency in a dangerous adult world.

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Elections and Consequences (Canton County Chronicles Mysteries Book 1)

by C.M. Carleton

Prosecutor Kit Babcock is facing imminent unemployment when her prospects brighten: she scores a surprise win in a write-in election for court clerk. But then the defeated incumbent, Gary Moss, publicly and to her face threatens to sue Kit to keep his office.

As Kit ponders whether the job is worth the lawsuit likely to come with it, Gary rather inconveniently turns up dead. And while the death seems to be an accident, information soon comes to light that the late Mr. Moss was actually murdered.

And Kit becomes the prime suspect.

Unless the real murderer is discovered, Kit can forget about being the clerk or going back to her old job--not to mention keeping her law license and her freedom.

Elections and Consequences is the first novel in the Canton County Chronicles Mysteries Series.

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Family Matters (A Gracie Andersen Mystery Book 1)

by Laurinda Wallace

Think your family's dysfunctional? Meet Gracie Andersen's and the peaceful farming community of Deer Creek. Gracie has her hands full--a new business and trying to get her life on track after the loss of her husband and unborn child. When an odd gift from her troubled uncle thrusts her into an investigation of a cousin's tragic death 20 years ago, Gracie meets with opposition from family and friends. What really happened that rainy, October night when her cousin was killed by a hit-and-run driver? As pieces of the truth are wrenched from the past, her new business, Milky Way Kennels teeters on the edge of disaster. And then death strikes again. Someone is determined Gracie won't find the truth. With Haley, her black Labrador by her side, Gracie doggedly pursues the trail of clues to unravel the mystery of her cousin Charlotte's untimely death.

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Sleuthing Women: 10 First-in-Series Mysteries

by

Sleuthing Women: 10 First-in-Series Mysteries is a collection of 10 full-length mysteries featuring murder and assorted mayhem by 10 critically acclaimed, award-winning, and bestselling authors. Each novel in this set is the first book in an established multi-book series—a total of over 3,000 pages of reading pleasure for lovers of amateur sleuth, caper, and cozy mysteries, with a combined total of over 1700 reviews on Amazon, averaging 4 stars.

Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, an Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery by Lois Winston—Working mom Anastasia is clueless about her husband’s gambling addiction until he permanently cashes in his chips and her comfortable middle-class life craps out. He leaves her with staggering debt, his communist mother, and a loan shark demanding $50,000. Then she’s accused of murder…

Murder Among Neighbors, a Kate Austen Suburban Mystery by Jonnie Jacobs — When Kate Austen’s socialite neighbor, Pepper Livingston, is murdered, Kate becomes involved in a sea of steamy secrets that bring her face to face with shocking truths—and handsome detective Michael Stone.

Skeleton in a Dead Space, a Kelly O’Connell Mystery by Judy Alter—Real estate isn’t a dangerous profession until Kelly O’Connell stumbles over a skeleton and runs into serial killers and cold-blooded murderers in a home being renovated in Fort Worth. Kelly barges through life trying to keep from angering her policeman boyfriend Mike and protect her two young daughters.

In for a Penny, a Cleopatra Jones Mystery by Maggie Toussaint—Accountant Cleo faces an unwanted hazard when her golf ball lands on a dead banker. The cops think her BFF shot him, so Cleo sets out to prove them wrong. She ventures into the dating world, wrangles her teens, adopts the victim’s dog, and tries to rein in her mom…until the killer puts a target on Cleo’s back.

The Hydrogen Murder, a Periodic Table Mystery by Camille Minichino—A retired physicist returns to her hometown of Revere, Massachusetts and moves into an apartment above her friends' funeral home. When she signs on to help the Police Department with a science-related homicide, she doesn't realize she may have hundreds of cases ahead of her.

Retirement Can Be Murder, A Baby Boomer Mystery by Susan Santangelo—Carol Andrews dreads her husband Jim’s upcoming retirement more than a root canal without Novocain. She can’t imagine anything worse than having an at-home husband with time on his hands and nothing to fill it—until Jim is suspected of murdering his retirement coach.

Dead Air, A Talk Radio Mystery by Mary Kennedy—Psychologist Maggie Walsh moves from NY to Florida to become the host of WYME's On the Couch with Maggie Walsh. When her guest, New Age prophet Guru Sanjay Gingii, turns up dead, her new roommate Lark becomes the prime suspect. Maggie must prove Lark innocent while dealing with a killer who needs more than just therapy.

A Dead Red Cadillac, A Dead Red Mystery by RP Dahlke—When her vintage Cadillac is found tail-fins up in a nearby lake, the police ask aero-ag pilot Lalla Bains why an elderly widowed piano teacher is found strapped in the driver’s seat. Lalla confronts suspects, informants, cross-dressers, drug-running crop dusters, and a crazy Chihuahua on her quest to find the killer.

Murder is a Family Business, an Alvarez Family Murder Mystery by Heather Haven—Just because a man cheats on his wife and makes Danny DeVito look tall, dark and handsome, is that any reason to kill him? The reluctant and quirky PI, Lee Alvarez, has her work cut out for her when the man is murdered on her watch. Of all the nerve.

Murder, Honey, a Carol Sabala Mystery by Vinnie Hansen—When the head chef collapses into baker Carol Sabala’s cookie dough, she is thrust into her first murder investigation. Suspects abound at Archibald’s, the swanky Santa Cruz restaurant where Carol works. The head chef cut a swath of people who wanted him dead from ex-lovers to bitter rivals to greedy relatives.

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Endless Evil: Alex Gray Book One (Pruitt County Mysteries 1)

by Amanda Feyerbend

Peaceful life in a small Georgia county is shattered when women’s bodies begin turning up on the side of the highway; the women raped and then strangled to death.

At first Detective Alex Gray does not realize these cases are related, but then Megan Crawford survives. Suspected of being an accomplice to a string of rapes in the past, Megan falls under suspicion again. Is she the key to solving this case, or is she part of the deception? With no evidence and no leads Alex must try everything he can to stop this killing spree, even if it means involving the one person who may be hiding secrets of her own.

These books are intended for adult audiences. They contain mature language, depictions of violence, and sexual scenarios.

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The Secret of Seaside (Paige Comber Mystery Book 1)

by Agatha Ball

An endless summer blossoming with new romance. A sleepy seaside village filled with colorful characters, coffee, books... AND MURDER!

Paige Comber dreams of running off to Paris to train at the Cordon Bleu, but fresh out of college, she is stuck running her granny's coffee shop in the island town of Seaside. It looks like a lousy summer until a handsome stranger named Nate arrives. He's here to help his Uncle Byron, one of the town founders, with his affairs. But when his uncle's body washes up on the seashore and Nate is thrown into prison, it is up to Paige to find out which of the town's colorful characters might have been crazy enough to do it.

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Miss Spelled (The Kitchen Witch Book 1): Witch Cozy Mystery Series

by Morgana Best

A fun, humorous cozy mystery - with witches!
A fun mystery with great characters! - Laura Collins
A fun story! - Sheila Crone


I definitely recommend this book if you're a fan of cozy mysteries with a touch of the supernatural! - Clare Kauter, cozy mystery author


Amelia Spelled has had a bad week. Her boyfriend dumps her when she inadvertently gives him food poisoning. Her workplace, a telecommunications center, fires all their staff as they are outsourcing offshore, and she is evicted due to smoke damage resulting from her failed attempts at baking. Amelia thinks her luck has changed when she inherits her estranged aunt's store, two mysterious cats, and beautiful Victorian house.


Yet has Amelia jumped out of the frying pan into the fire? To Amelia's dismay, the store is a cake store, and she discovers that her aunt was a witch. To add to the mix, the house has secrets of its own.


When a man is murdered in the cake store, will Amelia be able to cook up a way to solve the crime? Or will her spells prove as bad as her baking?

All Morgana Best books are clean cozy mysteries.
In The Kitchen Witch series so far:
1) Miss Spelled
2) Dizzy Spells
2) Dizzy Spells
3) Sit for A Spell
4) Spelling Mistake
5) ExSpelled
6) The Halloween Spell

Note: This is a cozy mystery, a supernatural mystery.
Miss Spelled (The Kitchen Witch Book 1) will suit readers who like witches and wizard books, supernatural mystery books, cozy crafts and hobbies mystery books, as well as books about witches.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Best selling Aussie author Morgana Best grew up leaving Tim Tams for the fairies at the bottom of her garden. Now she lives with a half-blind Chocolate Labrador who happily walks into doors, a rescue Dingo who steals zucchinis from the veggie patch, and a cat with no time for nonsense. A former college professor, Morgana enjoys big bowls of pasta, not working out, and visiting the local lighthouse, where she tries to spot the white Humpback whale.

 

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