Thrillers

Thrillers

Has the need for thrills lead you to our page to download free and discounted thriller ebooks? You’ve come to the right place. Satisfy your thrill seeking bones for bestselling thrillers in this category, and never pay more than what you should. We routinely feature the best authors of thriller ebooks, and they always promote their ebooks to you--for free or for a discount. 

 

Definition of "Thriller Genre": The thriller genre is very broad and can be difficult to define.  However, the focus of a thriller ebook is typically on action, danger and suspense.  The genre can be broken into an almost infinite number of sub-genres, including action thrillers (think Clive Cussler ebooks), romance thrillers, psychological thrillers (think Psycho by Hitchcock), science fiction thrillers, and spy thrillers, just to name a few.  Common elements can include car chases, gun shoot outs, explosions, or in the case of psychological thrillers, the elements of danger can be related to the mental manipulation of characters by other characters.  It is an expansive genre, and one of the most popular at eBookHounds.

 

Some examples of the best thriller authors and ebooks of all time: Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code), Robert Ludlum (The Bourne Identity), Michael Crichton (The Andromeda Strain), John Grisham (Time to Kill), John D. MacDonald (Cape Fear); James Patterson (Kiss the Girls).  As you can see, ebooks in the thriller category vary widely in their substance, and the sub-genres can almost be considered genres of their own!

Casey Jones Mysteries Vol 1-3 (Casey Jones Mystery Series)

by Katy Munger

 

THREE HARD-BOILED PAGE-TURNERS AT A RIP-ROARING PRICE!

“Casey Jones joins the ranks of smart and gutsy heroines. The South will never be the same. Don't miss her.”—Janet Evanovich

"Fast-paced and action-packed...The charm here lies in Munger's writing, which is silky-smooth and packs a wallop.”I Love a Mystery

“She is smart, tough, and tenacious…a wonderfully entertaining read.”Publisher’s Weekly

Big, badass Casey Jones, the smart-mouthed female PI with the thunder thighs and the bunny-soft heart, has everything you could possibly need to be an ace private investigator – except an investigator’s license.
Fifteen years ago, this hard-boiled babe walked out of a Florida prison after serving an eighteen-month sentence, sporting 160 pounds of “nobody kicks my ass” and a couple of inches of dark roots at the base of her bleach job (“simply to confuse people into underestimating me”) and swearing she’d never set foot in a prison or trust a man again. Trust, no. But by no means has she given them up. She can love with the best of them, but when it comes to lust she’s in a class by herself.

LEGWORK, Vol. 1
Author Munger masterfully blends nail-biting suspense with Casey’s hilarious wisecracking narration as she navigates an unsavory southern stew of crooked politicians, crooked business deals, old grudges, ancient crimes, and everyone’s favorite, dysfunctional families.

OUT OF TIME, Vol. 2
The family of a death row inmate just isn’t buying the story that she killed her cop husband, and they’ve hired North Carolina’s mouthiest female sleuth to save her from lethal injection—in a month.

MONEY TO BURN, Vol. 3
When a favorite client gets killed on her watch, Casey vows to find the killer no matter what killers, arsonists, rapists, and spoiled rotten socialites get in her way. Then, to the cynical sleuth’s chagrin—everyone all around her starts falling in love…just before Casey herself is smitten.

Always a rip-roaring romp, these will appeal to fans of all female sleuth mysteries—private eyes like Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone, Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski, Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan, Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone, and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum, as well as their tough and witty male antecedents. If you ever flipped over Philip Marlowe, Spenser, or of course, the immortal Wolfe and his buddy Archie, you’ll fall in love with their direct descendant, Casey Jones, Private Eye.

 
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Long Range (A Joe Pickett Novel Book 20)

by C. J. Box


Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett must investigate an attempted murder--a crime committed from a confoundingly long distance--in the riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author C. J. Box.

When Joe Pickett is asked to join the rescue efforts for the victim of a startling grizzly attack, he reluctantly leaves his district behind. One survivor of the grizzly's rampage tells a bizarre story, but just as Joe begins to suspect the attack is not what it seems, he is brought home by an emergency on his own turf. Someone has targeted a prominent local judge, shooting at him from a seemingly impossible distance. While the judge was not hit, his wife is severely wounded, and it is up to Joe to find answers--and the shooter.

The search for the would-be assassin becomes personal when Joe's best friend, Nate Romanowski --just as he's adjusting to the arrival of his first child--falls under suspicion for the crime. It's a race against the clock as Joe tries to clear Nate's name and identify the real shooter, all while deciphering the grizzly encounter. Beset by threats both man-made and natural, the two men must go to great lengths to keep their loved ones safe.

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Asclepius

by Christopher M. Rutledge


Are Alternative Medicine Doctors Being Murdered?

Although Dr. Geoffrey Chance Du Bois is only in his mid-30s, he’s a member of a dying breed. It seems his fellow alternative medicine doctors are vanishing or turning up dead. It’s all one of life’s random coincidences to him until he finds himself in danger.

He turns to Dr. Ola Fulani — a friend and colleague — for help. Suddenly, they both find themselves running for their lives throughout Chicago and Atlanta. As their hunter gets closer, their relationship begins to blossom.

But will they both stay alive long enough to identify and stop the killer before they end up as the next victims?

If you like thrillers that you can’t put down, get your copy of ASCLEPIUS today!

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Next To Disappear (Emily Swanson Thrillers Book 1)

by Malcolm Richards


Be careful what you go looking for…

When troubled nurse Alina vanishes one night, it’s assumed she ran away from her violent husband. Until disgraced ex-teacher Emily Swanson moves into the couple’s former home.

Emily’s life is in ruins and she’s meant to be making a fresh start. But when she learns about the missing nurse, she sees a chance for redemption. Because finding Alina could help right the wrongs of Emily’s past. It could even mark the start of a new career in private investigation.

But what Emily doesn’t know is that Alina had a horrifying secret. One about the care foundation where she worked. And the closer Emily gets to uncovering the truth, the closer she gets to terrible danger.

Inspired by a shocking true crime, Next To Disappear introduces a thrilling, twist-filled series and a refreshingly different take on the private investigator genre.

Revised edition: Previously published as Lost Lives.

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The Remains

by Vincent Zandri

 

It’s been thirty years since the terrifying abduction of twin sisters Rebecca and Molly Underhill by a deranged man who lived in a cabin behind their house in upstate New York. Fearful of retribution against their family, the girls kept the incident secret.

Rebecca, now a painter and art teacher, and alone since Molly died of cancer, suddenly begins getting strange and anonymous text messages—the first with just her name. Is Molly trying to communicate with her? Not possible, thinks Rebecca, who’s never believed in God or an afterlife.

And it couldn’t be their attacker from so many years ago; he was imprisoned for a similar crime at about that same time. Surely he’d still be in jail or dead by now—wouldn’t he?

But things get stranger. Rebecca’s art student Francis, an autistic savant, gives her a series of paintings he’s done. Rebecca, with increasing dread, realizes the sequence of scenes depicted in the paintings match the nightmares she’s had every night since the horrific ordeal three decades earlier. How could Franny know? Is it a ghostly warning of some kind?

Unnerved, Rebecca spills the whole frightening account of the abduction to her ex-husband and friend, Michael, who, dismayed by the story, vows to help sort out the mysterious texts and disturbing series of paintings.

What happens next is a frightening rollercoaster ride that builds up to a soul-shattering climax that will leave the reader checking the locks on their doors and windows…

 
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The Girl Next Door (Emma Griffin FBI Mystery Book 4)

by A.J. Rivers


Sherwood is a sleepy little town. A town full of friendly faces, and even friendlier neighbors.
Which is why FBI agent Emma Griffin isn't surprised when her new neighbor starts stopping by to chat.


Turns out her neighbor has a dark past and secrets that made her run.
As much as Emma wished it wasn’t true, dark past and secrets are things that she is far too familiar with, especially now more than ever.
A chilling unknown filled the air of Sherwood, Virginia.
Strange things are happening around Emma.
Things that no one can explain, and many don't believe.
And when Emma witnesses two figures hidden by sheer curtains, strangling a smaller figure.
A figure she can only assume to be Ruby's.
She becomes a witness to the murder of the girl next door.
But what do you do when no one believes that the girl even existed?
Emma’s world starts to spin, and she begins to wonder…
Is someone taunting her and taking lives to torment her? Or has she truly gone crazy?

The Girl Next Door is the fourth book in the Emma Griffin Mystery series, it can be read as a standalone.

 
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Murder, Malice and Mischief

by Lucy Quinn et al


Enjoy this box set containing 6 Whodunit stories full of humor and mystery from 5 USA Today and bestselling authors who have a clue. The set contains the following stories:

Who Shot the Serif? - Daisy Robyns
When hand letterer Jamie Lang's nemesis turns up dead, Jamie becomes the main suspect. She's prepared to go out with a flourish if that's what it takes to catch the real murderer. She's desperate to save her hand lettering business, but will her quest lead her right into a killer's snare?

The Secret of Seaside - Agatha Ball
Welcome to Seaside! A sleepy island village filled with sweet summer romance, colorful characters... and MURDER. When the town's founder washes up on the beach and her new flame is wrongly accused, aspiring baker Paige Comber must figure out whodunnit.

Vangie Vale & the Murdered Macaron - R.L. Syme
In a quaint mountain village, with its alpine architecture and sleepy, snowy streets, Vangie Vale thinks that starting a bakery will be a nice, quiet life. Making macarons and baking bundt cakes seems harmless, right? But when a movie star comes to town and his mysterious local connections tag Vangie's curiosity... what else can a girl do but get involved?

A Murder at the Country Club (A Canterbury Golf Club Mystery) -- Jessa Archer
On the night of the Canterbury Golf Club's First Annual Glow-ball Golf Tournament, Lady Captain Beatrice Yates argues with Ruddy Agani in front of all the members and invited guests because Ruddy can't get along with anyone. When he is found murdered on the golf club's seventeenth hole soon after, Beatrice becomes the prime suspect.

Stamped Out -- Tonya Kappes
Mail Carrier Bernadette Butler knows her customers better than their inner circle. From family secrets to hush hobbies and when one of Bernadette's customers shows up dead, a neighbor is the prime suspect. Bernadette knows that's not the killer...but other customers on her mail route have motive and she's putting her sleuthing skills to rip those southern secrets out from under the rug.

Peril in Pensacola - Lucy Quinn
Dora Winslow is having a tough day. Not only does she stumble upon a money laundering scheme, but the next thing she knows her boss is dead and she's the prime suspect. Fortunately, her best friend Evie is in her corner. With help from a hot chef, a friendly mailman, and a little white dog, Dora and Evie must balance the scales to save their bottom line.

 
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The Will to Die: A Novel of Suspense

by Joe Pulizzi

 

Will Pollitt is broke. His marriage is over. His business is failing. And now his father and neighbors are turning up dead. WTF!

“A top-shelf crime thriller.” – BestThrillers.com
“I didn’t want to stop.” – Mystery Suspense Reviews

Gambling tore my marriage and family apart. All I have left is my marketing agency and my friend and business partner Robbie. He drinks too much.

If we don’t win this deal, a whole lotta bad is going to happen.

But I just found out my dad died. And his friends are dropping like flies! Sleepy Sandusky, Ohio is hiding a deep, dark secret.

I think everyone is in on it. But am I the one that’s crazy? Some people are trying to kill me! Am I going insane…or am I about to die?

50,000+ downloads and 90% recommended (Apple/Goodreads).

 
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The Manuscript: A Gripping Suspense Novel

by Nathan Hystad


Four old friends.

An unpublished manuscript.

A long-buried secret.


Jeremiah Trent works as a Seattle homicide detective. When he’s contacted by a friend from his childhood, he packs his bags and heads to a mansion in remote Colorado. As he arrives at the best-selling author’s home, Jerry can’t shake the feeling it was a mistake visiting the people from his past.

The mystery deepens when Jay offers them a chance to read his newest manuscript, one chapter at a time. When Jerry digs in, he finds the story is their own from twenty-five years ago, only with different character names and a changed setting.

Abby, Ken, Jay, and Jerry’s tale unravels, and when a body is discovered by the local Police Department, one that has been there for years, everything escalates into a shocking conclusion.

The Manuscript is a suspense thriller by Nathan Hystad, the author of The Event and Lights Over Cloud Lake.

 
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Moon Stalked (Woelfin Awakening Book 1)

by Aimee Easterling


A woelfin. A werewolf. A thief in the night.

Unlike werewolves, I shift into wolf form by wrapping myself in my pelt and falling onto four paws. It's a good life until I screw up and let my cousin's pelt be stolen. Now I'll do anything to steal it back.

Unfortunately, my first attempt to break into a gated mansion is blocked by a dangerous and enticing werewolf who fingers my pelt and offers to team up with me.

In woelfin circles, werewolves are known as the skinless. They steal pelts. They aren't to be trusted.

But murders are dogging my footsteps while my cousin fades daily. I'm willing to lose my pelt to save his life.

The first book in Aimee Easterling's new Woelfin Awakening series is full of pack, adventure, and a healthy helping of romance. Why not come along for the ride?

 
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RUN GIRL RUN (Harry Hunter Mystery Book 2)

by Willow Rose


Willow Rose’s beloved detective, Harry Hunter is back in this thrilling second installment of the bestselling series.

When a mother and her child are pulled out of the harbor in their car, the case seems pretty straightforward for Miami PD and Detective Harry Hunter.

Everything points to a murder-suicide.

They were homeless, living in their car, and the mother decided to end it all for them both by driving into the water.

But the case is not what it looks like, Detective Harry Hunter soon realizes.

Harry’s daughter is carrying devastating knowledge about their deaths, and soon she becomes the killer’s next target.

As Harry races to protect her, he is betrayed by someone he thought he knew, leaving him terrified of trusting anyone in a town filled with liars.

RUN GIRL RUN is the second book in the Harry Hunter Mystery Series.

Scroll up and grab an engulfing mystery today.

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Serenity (The Shelby Alexander Thriller Series Book 1)

by Craig A. Hart


More than 160,000 readers have been thrilled by the Shelby Alexander adventures. Continue the thrills with Serenity Stalked, book two in the series!

Hart is "one of today's master thriller writers. " - San Francisco Review of Books.

About the Series:

Shelby Alexander is an aging ex-boxer and retired fixer who moves back to the small town of his youth to settle down. He'd like to spend his golden years fishing the waters of Michigan. But you don't live life as Shelby has and not make more than a few enemies. Throughout this pulse-pounding series, Shelby faces enemies both old and new, relying on the skills he's learned over the years to stay alive and bring his own brand of vigilante justice to the bad guys. Full of blazing action, close calls, and memorable characters, the Shelby Alexander series is one you'll want to revisit again and again.

About the Book:

A bullet slams into a wall just past Shelby’s head. A drug dealer offers him $10,000 for information regarding his dead sister. The local sheriff has Shelby in his sights. It’s just another day in the small town of Serenity.

What Amazon readers are saying:

★★★★★ "A well written, action packed suspense story that draws you in and doesn't let go until you've finished the book."

★★★★★ "I read this book in one day. I don't do that any more but I couldn't put this one down."

★★★★★ "It’s one of those books that come along once in a while that makes you want to read it non-stop until you get to the end."

★★★★★ "A roller coaster ride, filled with drama, innuendoes, twists and turns, secrets, and betrayal, and a bombshell ending that will leave you spinning."

★★★★★ "Do yourself a favor and read this book. Beware, however. You may get hooked on this series."

★★★★★ "I hate to see a good book end! And this is a good book. Hart writes so understandably and convincingly. His words paint pictures that slap you in the face, give you goosebumps, and cause you to hold your breath. I sat down with this book, and when I looked up, hours had passed."

★★★★★ "I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. If you like books with action and keeps you wanting to keep reading, then this is a must read."

★★★★★ "Best afternoon I've spent with a book in a long time."

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Darkest Fear: A Myron Bolitar Novel

by Harlan Coben


Edgar Award-winner Harlan Coben brings us his most astonishing—and deeply personal—novel yet. And it all begins when Myron Bolitar’s ex tells him he’s a father . . . of a dying thirteen-year-old boy.

Myron never saw it coming. A surprise visit from an ex-girlfriend is unsettling enough. But Emily Downing’s news brings him to his knees. Her son Jeremy is dying and needs a bone-marrow transplant—from a donor who has vanished without a trace. Then comes the real shocker: The boy is Myron’s son, conceived the night before her wedding to another man.

Staggered by the news, Myron plunges into a search for the missing donor. But finding him means cracking open a dark mystery that involves a broken family, a brutal kidnapping spree, and the FBI. Somewhere in the sordid mess is the donor who disappeared. And as doubts emerge about Jeremy’s true paternity, a child vanishes, igniting a chain reaction of heartbreaking truth and chilling revelation.

Praise for Darkest Fear

“A slam dunk . . . You race to turn the pages . . . both suspenseful and often surprisingly funny.”People

“Terrific.”Boston Globe

“A winner.”Orlando Sentinel

“Fast-paced . . . layered with both tenderness and fun . . . Coben [is] a gifted storyteller.”Denver Post

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Black Frog (Doug Bateman Mystery Book 2)

by B.D. Smith

 

2019 Maxy Awards "Best Thriller"

"Get in on the ground floor of this engrossing small-town crime thriller. Highly recommended for fans of C.J. Box and Craig Johnson." –Best Thrillers

Book two of the mystery series featuring Detective Doug Bateman and Investigator Anne Quinn.

When opponents of a planned resort development on Moosehead Lake in northern Maine start turning up dead, Detective Doug Bateman of the Maine State Police is called in. Concurrently, Investigator Anne Quinn with the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office is looking into a series of bizarre assaults on women. As the parallel investigations unfold, Bateman and Quinn each find their cases becoming more complex and more disturbing.

The sexual assaults may be part of a larger pattern that has played out across the country, and the axe murders of environmentalists may not be linked to the Moosehead Lake development project. Emma Lange, a reporter renting a room above Greenville’s Black Frog Restaurant on Moosehead Lake makes life difficult for both Bateman and Quinn as they struggle to solve their respective cases while also sorting out their personal relationship.

 

 
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Found

by Erin Kinsley

 

A MISSING CHILD RETURNS. BUT WHO TOOK HIM?

* BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB CHOICE 2019 *
* SUNDAY TIMES CRIME CLUB PICK *

'Brilliant, utterly compelling, heart-wrenching...I was gripped and loved it.'
PETER JAMES

'An unputdownable thriller.'
ELLY GRIFFITHS

'Sensitive and moving...but with a core of pure tension' SUNDAY TIMES

When 11 year old Evan vanishes without trace, his parents are plunged into their worst nightmare.
Especially as the police, under massive pressure, have no answers. But months later Evan is unexpectedly found, frightened and refusing to speak. His loving family realise life will never be the same again.

DI Naylor knows that unless those who took Evan are caught, other children are in danger. And with Evan silent, she must race against time to find those responsible...

A gripping, heart-wrenching thriller with the emotional power of series like BROADCHURCH and THE MISSING, this is the perfect read for fans of Cara Hunter, Heidi Perks, Claire Douglas, Fiona Barton, Susan Lewis and Nuala Ellwood.

'Critics have hailed FOUND the must read crime thriller' THE SUN

'One of those rare finds - a page turner that is equally remarkable for the beauty of the writing. It will suck you in and take you on a journey' JO SPAIN

'Gripping...once started, impossible to put down!' MINETTE WALTERS

'FOUND took me on the kind of twisting journey that kept me turning the pages until the early hours.' CHRIS WHITAKER

***

Readers and book bloggers are completely gripped and moved by FOUND:

'If you read one book this year make sure it's Found!' ***** Goodreads Reviewer

'Not often I finish a book in one day but I couldn't put it down.' ***** Goodreads Reviewer

'Heartfelt, traumatic ,terrifying...just an amazing read. An easy five stars' ***** Goodreads reviewer

'An amazing read...every single parent's worse nightmare but written in a truly beautiful way' ***** Goodreads reviewer

'It's a perfect book in every way...highly recommended' Short Book & Scribes

'I don't think a thriller has ever brought me to tears like this has...a stunning, compelling read.' The Bookwormery

 

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The Peacetaker Series - Books 1, 2 and 3

by Edita A. Petrick


From the US shores to London, France and Spain, death stalks Stella and Carter as they follow the Peacetaker's bloody trail....

Ribbons of Death (Book 1)

Three months after surviving a deadly riot in Cairo, Timothy Carter is compelled to track down Stella Hunter, a disgraced academic whose book could be the key to deciphering whether the legend of the Peacetaker is more than a dusty myth. She might be a recluse, and people think she’s crazy, but she’s his only hope to find answers to questions he’s been asking himself since receiving the scars that now mar his face.

The Harmony Scroll (Book 2)

Almost a year to date from the time Carter braved a horrible blizzard just to be able to knock on Stella Hunter’s door, the two are following a trail again—this time searching for a mysterious scroll that a few unreliable historians documented in the course of time.

The Byzantine Connection (Book 3)

Stella Hunter is an obsessive reader of all myths and legends. She and her long-time boyfriend, Carter, go to visit their old friend and priest at his church. There the journey begins when Carter sees an old Oriental couple pray, then leave the worship decades younger than when they walked in minutes before. Their story surrounds a bizarre and poorly chiseled granite statue delivered to the church. But is it just an ugly statue?

 

 
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Last Day

by Luanne Rice

 

From celebrated New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice comes a riveting story of a seaside community shaken by a violent crime and a tragic loss.

Years ago, Beth Lathrop and her sister Kate suffered what they thought would be the worst tragedy of their lives the night both the famous painting Moonlight and their mother were taken. The detective assigned to the case, Conor Reid, swore to protect the sisters from then on.

Beth moved on, throwing herself fully into the art world, running the family gallery, and raising a beautiful daughter with her husband Pete. Kate, instead, retreated into herself and took to the skies as a pilot, always on the run. When Beth is found strangled in her home, and Moonlight goes missing again, Detective Reid can’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu.

Reid immediately suspects Beth’s husband, whose affair is a poorly kept secret. He has an airtight alibi—but he also has a motive, and the evidence seems to point to him. Kate and Reid, along with the sisters’ closest childhood friends, struggle to make sense of Beth’s death, but they only find more questions: Who else would have wanted Beth dead? What’s the significance of Moonlight?

Twenty years ago, Reid vowed to protect Beth and Kate—and he’s failed. Now solving the case is turning into an obsession . . .

 

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A Twinkle in the Eyes of God: A Monk Buttman Mystery

by David William Pearce

 

Having successfully survived the Marshan affair, Monk Buttman is looking forward to nothing more than a peaceful life filled with days at the beach. However, an unexpected call from his estranged daughter, Rebekah, pulls Monk back to Virginia and back through his past, something he doesn’t want to do. But family ties run deep, and before Monk can think it through, he, Agnes, and Rebekah, find themselves on the road searching for Rebekah’s runaway husband, encountering ghosts and angels, God and love, and murder along the way.

 

 
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Memories and Murder (A Tourist Trap Mystery Book 10)

by Lynn Cahoon


It’s October in South Cove, California, and the locals in the quaint resort seem to be happily pairing off in the lull before the holidays. Everyone, that is, except for Jill Gardner’s elderly aunt, who just dumped her besotted fiancé—and she won’t say why.
 
When Jill hosts a talk at Coffee, Books, and More on the topic of elder abuse, all that’s really on her mind is lunch. But the topic hits close to home when she discovers Aunt Jackie has been getting mysterious calls. Jill’s certain the caller is a con artist, of course, but her feisty aunt claims to understand this, though she’s still shaken—and Harrold’s still heartbroken. Who’s behind the scam and why was her aunt targeted? When a volunteer from the Senior Project is found murdered, Jill’s detective boyfriend is on the case—and it soon becomes clear no one is safe when a caller from beyond becomes a killer in their midst.  

Praise for The Tourist Trap Mysteries
 
“I love the author’s style, which was warm and friendly . . . [A] wonderfully appealing series.”
Dru’s Book Musings
                                                                                                         
“Light, fun, and kept me thoroughly engaged.”
The Young Folks

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The Abduction of Patient Zero (Joey Mancuso, Father O'Brian Crime Mystery Book 6)

by Owen Parr


THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
As the men around her are dropping like flies

In his sixth labyrinthine hard-boiled puzzler, NYC private eye Joey Mancuso finds himself neck-deep in a maze of a murder mystery—the kind that weaves through military secrets and international espionage—at the center of which is the woman he loves.

Despite a recent drop in New York City’s crime rate, the PI business is booming for acutely-astute investigator Joey Mancuso and his partner-in-solving-crime Father Dominic O’Brian (who happens to be his half-brother). So it’s no surprise when Mancuso is called to the scene of a particularly gruesome and utterly confounding Lower Manhattan murder one otherwise pleasant afternoon.

The vic, Oscar Stanton (name etched into his designer trousers), was gunned down in Washington Square Park in broad daylight, just after a lunchtime rendezvous with a business associate. A quick and dirty ID reveals the real Oscar Stanton was working in cybersecurities for the DOD—and, perhaps unsurprisingly, was KIA in Afghanistan. And since Mancuso’s antics tend to weave a winding yarn as intricately-connected as a satisfying Sherlock Holmes, it’s even less surprise that the imposter Stanton’s lunch date was someone recently tailed by FBI agent Marcy Martinez (who happens to be Mancuso’s wife).

When crucial evidence from the scene is found in Marcy’s car—and Marcy’s hands test positive for gunshot residue—it’s off to the races. Clearly, Mancuso deduces, she’s being framed—elementary, dear Watson. But why? At first, the signs point to her partner, Thomas Lyons. After all, she has a history of shall we say unreliable partners (i.e. murderous psychopaths). And Lyons, as luck would have it, has mysteriously gone awol—until his body is found stuffed in a janitor’s closet at a subway station.

As a complex white collar crimes case unfolds with the usual barrage of infighting between the NYPD, CIA, FBI, and military intelligence, it becomes increasingly evident that, despite personal ties to the case, Mancuso and his associates are Marcy’s only hope. They must race the clock—and a likely well-connected killer, not to mention the intelligence forces the killer certainly has in his back pocket—to catch the FBI’s missing suspect and clear Marcy—before she’s falsely accused of espionage and murder. Or goes the way of the men surrounding her.

Who will like this: It's Matt Scudder meets Father Brown. Fans of both New York PI novels and police procedurals like those by Raymond Chandler, Joseph Wambaugh, Lawrence Block, and Rex Stout — and of clerical mysteries — will love this offbeat detective team. As will devotees of the greatest detective of all time, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.

 
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