Here is a list of some of the new releases for the week of February 4th, 2018. I am going to divide the list into 4 days because there are so very many of them this week. Today is second day of my list. Hope you find some selections for your weekly reading. Enjoy and happy reading.
Now in paperback, the exciting new mystery from the New York Times bestselling author, in which China Bayles fears for her husband’s life as an escaped convict targets him…
A killer McQuaid put away years ago has busted out of Huntsville Prison and appears to be headed for Pecan Springs. China wants to stay by her husband’s side and keep him from harm, but McQuaid insists that she get out of town and go to the Last Chance Olive Ranch, where she’s agreed to teach a workshop on herbs.
The owner, Maddie Haskell, has her own troubles. She inherited the ranch and olive oil business from the late matriarch, Eliza Butler, but Eliza’s nephew is contesting the will. While China throws herself into helping Maddie, McQuaid’s plan to stop the convict backfires. And now McQuaid’s life is not the only one at stake–and this time may really be his last chance… (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook
Journalist Natalie Seachrist sometimes experiences visions. After envisioning a child escaping by boat from Denmark in a murky predawn, she has no idea how scenes from a World War II movie will impact her twenty-first century life in Hawai’i. Soon, she and boyfriend, private investigator Keoni Hewitt, move into the Lanikai cottage she recently inherited. The warm welcome they receive from Miriam Didión, a widowed human rights activist, sets an ideal tone for life in the seaside neighborhood. Unfortunately, their expectations are soon shattered. By the time Natalie throws Keoni a birthday party, she has become close to Miriam and her housemates Joanne and Issy. Even Natalie’s feline companion Miss Una embraces the women by keeping watch over their property at night.
Abruptly, everyone’s life changes when a body is found at Miriam’s home. Eerily, the murder parallels Natalie’s vision of a scuba diver garroting a woman by moonlight. Again, she must reveal a murderous vision to Keoni’s former partner, Honolulu Police Detective John Dias. Hoping her unusual gifts will prove useful, John asks Natalie to read the victim’s journals. The commentary is fascinating, but Natalie finds no clues. Discovery of a nefarious suspect’s body on Diamond Head Beach indicates resolution of the crime. Believing their lives are back on track, Natalie and her new friends schedule a tour of historic Kawai Nui Marsh. Too soon, the day of playing tourist devolves and Natalie and her friends are suddenly in the cross hairs of a dangerous adversary. Does resolution of the gruesome crime lie buried in the deceased’s transnational past? Or does it lie in the visible present among innocuous seeming companions? (Amazon)
When it comes to murder, even brilliant scientists aren’t immune…
The night Harold Munson is shot dead in his car, the primary suspect is the man’s brainiac wife. But Charlotte, who has a passion for science and sex with strangers, swears all she wants is a Nobel Prize for curing brain cancer, even if that requires fudging her research and a few dead patients along the way.
When the next body drops, all signs point to Charlotte, but Detective Sam Lagarde doggedly follows the clues until he has his own Eureka moment. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle
What could possibly go wrong when trying to catch a murderous sorcerer on a remote island?
In their second case, Val, Barry, and Amanda are called to a lonely lighthouse off the west coast of Scotland. Amidst the lively meetings of the Royal Committee for the Preservation and Restoration of Lighthouses, they find that not all is well and harmonious on the island. As a storm gathers and the body count grows, the trio discovers that the murders are connected to the lighthouse’s chilling past. Soon, it’s a race against time before the storm subsides and the guilty party can escape unpunished.
“No Cat Is An Island”:
– is the second novel in the BRAND NEW Cozy Conundrums series.
– classic whodunit setting on a remote Scottish island
– paranormal cozy mystery with loads of twists
– has no graphic scenes or language, though lots of suspense
– is self-contained with a full story arc (no artificial cliffhangers)
No Cat Is An Island is perfect for fans of the bestselling paranormal cozies by Annabelle Chase, Tegan Maher, Adele Abbott, Zoe Arden, Emma Watts, Morgana Best, Amy Boyles, Angela Pepper, and Iris Kincaid. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle
Have you met Tilton Chartwell? She’s a psychic medium and a mom trying to get her life in order after a messy divorce who keeps getting dragged into situations with which she’s barely prepared to deal. Now Tilton finds herself in the land of the Jersey Devil, hunting down the ghosts of the house on Somers Point. Will Tilton find the answers before something – or someone – gets hurt? (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle
Relaxation, a little quiet contemplation…what could go wrong?
Becky was finally doing the one thing that made her the happiest: painting. She had started on a painting that was just missing something, much like her life was missing a little excitement. Though she was now taking care of both her store and teaching a painting class, things had become dull in her life. That was until Summer, the Cookie Queen, was discovered murdered just a few blocks away from her store.
Becky knows that she can’t return to a peaceful life of painting and running her shop until Summer’s murderer is found. But the closer Becky gets to the truth, the more dangerous things become.
This Cozy Mystery Novel is packed with quirky characters, rousing romps and a whodunnit that wraps up cleanly. No cliffhangers, no curse words and no obscenity. (Amazon)
More romance! More mystery! More Mom!
Mom and Christy head to the Philippines to solve a mystery over a decade old—the death of Mom’s sister, Lalaine.
Mom vows to find out what happened, and Christy promises her new beau she won’t be away for long. But when Mom’s prime suspect Judge Hernandez winds up dead, the entire island thinks Mom killed him. Justice moves slow on a small island and Christy’s new relationship and Mom’s freedom hang in the balance.With the help of old and new friends, Mom and Christy must battle bumbling bureaucrats, crashing coconuts, and a cadre of crooks to find the truth. The stakes are higher than ever. But has our favorite mom and daughter amateur sleuthing team finally found a case they can’t crack? Find out in Book 5 of Mom and Christy’s Cozy Mysteries. Hit the order button to get your copy. (Amazon)
Sergeant Kathy Stone has a troubling MISPER (missing person) case to deal with, so the last thing she needs is someone digging holes in a field next to Owen Irvine’s farm. Who is making the mysterious holes, and what are they looking for? Meanwhile DS Ian Mann has made a snap decision to make an arrest while off duty, and it’s one that he might soon come to bitterly regret.
In the eighth novella in J J Salkeld’s best-selling detective series, featuring Lake District shepherd-detective Owen Irvine, other members of the cast take centre stage, even as DI Andy Hall is having to face up to the inevitable consequences of further budget cuts. Can he really rely on a group of paedophile hunters, working with police approval, to bring a guilty man to justice?
Featuring hard-hitting contemporary issues, but handled in a non-violent way, Salkeld’s books continue to be thought-provoking, amusing, and intriguing. Readers come for the crime, but they stay for the lovely Lake District settings and the refreshingly diverse cast of characters. (Amazon)
When Sydney Bonner overhears a fellow mah jongg player arguing on the phone with her husband, she realizes the couple’s “perfect marriage” isn’t all it appears to be. A few days later, the husband is found dead, his head bashed in. Fearing she’ll be considered the most likely suspect, the widow prevails upon Sydney and her three friends—Marianne, Kat and Micki—to find out who really killed him.
Though none of these four fun-loving, take-charge retirees has any training as detectives, the women agree to launch a secret investigation. As they dig under the happy veneer of their community’s social life, they find more than enough suspects, from shady ladies to resentful golf buddies, to keep them looking over their shoulders.
Could the murderer be lurking among the talent in a chaotic production put on by Sydney’s husband, who will do anything to keep busy in retirement? Could the sheriff, who may have more than a professional interest in chanteuse Kat, end up pinning the crime on the women instead? Each discovery during their investigations and their weekly mah jongg game keeps them running as they close in on the killer—but the killer may also be closing in on them.
This cozy mystery, the first in the Mah Jongg Mystery series, features four retired amateur sleuths who live in the small Florida town of Serendipity Springs, all female and all friends who play the game of mah jongg together. Though they don’t set out to investigate murder, after their first experience in this story, others start looking to them to help investigate subsequent homicides and questionable accidents. In this first book, Sydney Bonner takes the lead, although she turns to her three friends for help. Though this series features four protagonists, the others will take the lead in subsequent stories. Two are married, one is divorced and the fourth, who has been single all her life while she tended to her ailing mother, now finds herself the object of the sheriff’s attention in this series.
The four don’t seek out murder; somehow the circumstances and those affected drag them in. Meanwhile, as they attempt to gather information, life goes on in their community in such activities as a women’s club, a social group for those over 50, real estate transactions, numerous stops at the local coffeehouse, and even a shopping trip to Naples. Sydney’s husband, Trip, and her friend Marianne Putnam’s husband, Beau, are golf buddies who spend many a day on the course. When not there, Trip is busy seeking to build a new post retirement life, and Beau is often prevailed upon to join in Trip’s latest activity, which in this first book is a town follies. Kat Faulkner has lived a frugal life until winning big in a lottery shortly after her mother’s death; suddenly, Kat has money and doesn’t know how to spend it. But her divorced friend and freelance writer, Micki Demetrius, does, even if it’s to guide Kat through a makeover and wardrobe change for her lounge act.
This cozy mystery is the first book in the Mah Jongg Mystery series. Barbara Barrett is already published in contemporary romance. She is a member of the Mystery/Romantic Suspense chapter of Romance Writers of America. Like her protagonists, she is retired and is a resident of Florida, although she spends her summers in her home state of Iowa. She spent over three decades as a human resource management analyst with Iowa state government. She can be contacted at barbarabarrett747@gmail.com. Check her website at barbarabarrettbooks.com. (Amazon)
Shawn Reilly Simmons has cooked up something rocky this time, and it’s going to be a delicious read.
After surviving a brazen attack at one of her favorite local cafes, Penelope Sutherland is ready to escape the big city and head to her next film set. She and her Red Carpet Catering crew set up their kitchen on location in the tranquil mountains of Vermont.
But peace and quiet aren’t on the menu.
It starts to get hot when a series of accidents befall the celebrity tennis pro consulting on the film. Then mix in an uptight director, an isolated location, and a quirky bunch of locals with secrets of their own and that’s a recipe for disaster.
Penelope soon suspects a connection between the cafe attack and the incidents on set, and you know what comes next. She must uncover the truth before her goose gets cooked.
This page-turner is serving up the coziest of entertainment, and you do not want to miss it.
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MURDER ON THE ROCKS by Shawn Reilly Simmons | A Henery Press Mystery. If you like one, you’ll probably like them all. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback
I read THE LAST CHANCE OLIVE RANCH some time ago.It is very good and MURDER ON THE ROCKS is good.
Thanks for letting me know. There are so many new books released each week.