New Year’s Book–Part 2

 

 

Between now and New Year’s,  I will spotlight some New year’s books for your reading pleasure. This is the second day of the list of books that I hope you enjoy.  Happy Reading.

 

Pickled…Then Potted

All that remains of Lula Mae Wiggins-who drowned in a bathtub of cheap champagne on New Year’s Eve-now sits in an alleged Etruscan urn in Savannah, Georgia. Further north, at the Den of Antiquity antique shop in Charlotte, North Carolina, plucky proprietor Abigail Timberlake is astonished to learn that she is the sole inheitor of the Wiggins estate. Late Aunt Lula Mae was, after all, as distant a relative as kin can get.

Arriving in picturesque Savannah, Abby makes a couple of startling discoveries. First, that Lula Mae’s final resting pot is more American cheap than Italian antique. And second, that there was a very valuable 1793 one-cent piece taped to the inside lid. Perhaps a coin collection worth millions is hidden among the deceased’s worldly possessions-making Lula’s passoing more suspicious than orginally surmised. With the strange appearance of a voodoo preistess coupled with the disturbing disappearance of a loved one-and with nasty family skeletons tumbling from the trees like acorns-Abby needs to find her penny auntie’s killer p.d.q…or she’ll be up to her ashes in serious trouble!  (Amazon)

Editions Available:  Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the annual parade of Christmas presents in Tinker’s Cove has ended, Lucy Stone and her daughter Elizabeth are ready to ring in the new year in style. Elizabeth has won mother/daughter winter makeovers in Manhattan from Jolie magazine! But the all-expenses-paid trip is bound to have some hidden costs–and one of them is murder. . .

After finally arriving at the offices of Jolie, meeting their fellow makeover candidates, and being treated to a fashion show, Elizabeth is enamored of the extreme outfits and stick-thin models–while Lucy’s having some misgivings. The pampering is nice and the glitz and glamour of haute couture is bizarrely fascinating, but bitterness and aggression lurk behind Jolie’s hipper-than-thou façade. And things turn downright ugly when self-absorbed fashion editor Nadine Nelson falls mysteriously ill and then dies. . .

Lucy saw first-hand some of the backstabbing going on at Jolie. And the red-hot rumor mill soon reveals that the cliquish connection among the magazine’s cabal of high-style executives has stirred up plenty of bad blood over the years. But this Manhattan murder mystery hits too close to home when Elizabeth gets rushed to the hospital with symptoms that are disturbingly similar to Nadine’s. Now, it’s up to Lucy to dress down a killer before the ball drops in Times Square. . .  (Amazon)

Editions Available:  Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An explosive novel of betrayal and blood vengeance featuring Seattle detective J.P. Beaumont.

There are those who don’t deserve to live—and the corpse floating in Elliott Bay may have been one of those people. Not surprisingly, many individuals, too many in fact, are eager to take responsibility for the brutal slaying of the hated biotech executive whose alleged crimes ranged from the illegal trading of industrial secrets to rape. For Seattle Detective J.P. Beaumont—who’s drowning in his own life-shattering problems—a case of seemingly justifiable homicide has sinister undertones, drawing the haunted policeman into a corporate nightmare world of double deals, savage jealousies, and real blood spilled far too easily, as it leads him closer to a killer he’s not sure he wants to find.  (Amazon)

Editions Available:  Kindle, Hardcover, paperback, Audiobook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hoping to turn her friendship with Kyle into something more, Grace Holliday jumps at the chance to accompany him on a pre-New Year’s Eve romantic train ride high in the mountains. But a frightening message scrawled on the bathroom mirror turns their romantic getaway into a nightmare. Soon, she discovers that all of the passengers have been lured to the train under false pretenses and that a sinister presence lurks among the luxurious accommodations. When one of the passengers is murdered, and the train becomes stranded in the middle of nowhere, Grace and Kyle find themselves in a race against time to trap a killer before the clock strikes twelve.  (Amazon)

Editions Available:  Kindle, Paperback

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mack Dalton has named plenty of murderers since she and her barstool detectives began cracking cold cases. But as a new year looms, time is ticking on the hunt for her craftiest villain yet . . .

As Milwaukee counts down to New Year’s Eve, bar owner Mackenzie “Mack” Dalton has but one resolution—unmask the dangerous mastermind who has been taunting her and killed bouncer Gary Gunderson. Mack and her fellow barflies have fleshed out a suspect and arranged an invite-only party to put a cork in the murderer’s game for good. But when the clock strikes midnight and their suspect is found cold and stiff on the basement stairs, it seems the celebration may have come too soon. Now Mack must rely on her special talents to find the real criminal among the crowd of revelers—or someone won’t survive until last call . . .
 
“The first book in the Mack’s Bar Mystery series is a hit!” —RT Book Reviews on Murder on the Rocks

“Murder with a Twist has a lot of sleuthing pleasure packed into its pages.” —Fresh Fiction

* Includes drink recipes *  (Amazon)

Editions Available:  Kindle, Paperback. Audiobook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The New Year’s Day nature hike is a tradition with the New York Coast Walkers club, and reluctant walker Abigail Doyle finds more than foul weather to grouse about on this particular jaunt. A body in a bunker at Breezy Point, Rockaway, is enough to get anybody’s year off to a lousy start. Luckily, efficiency expert cum private investigator Abby is too tough and smart to be shaken–even by the discovery that the victim is an army general, as well as heir to a prominent fortune, and that she is herself among the prime suspects.
The last thing she expects is to form an alliance with a tall, redheaded police detective named Margaret Standish. More bodies turn up–the generals wife, for one–with Abby always suspiciously on the scene, and she needs every ally she can get. Somebody is out to cover up something, and that somebody doesn’t care whom they have to hurt to do it. Abby and her
walking-club friends top the list of possible next victims, but most scary is the danger to her daughter. Even Abby’s wily city smarts and her quick hand with gun and knife may not be enough to save Jackie; after painful years of estrangement from her child. Abby can barely face the possibility of losing her again.
Meanwhile, Abby is up against some powerful adversaries–from big money developers with land–grabbing on their minds to top-echelon army brass intent upon closing ranks to avoid scandal at any cost. They all want Abby off the case…or do they?  (Amazon)

Editions Available:  Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After an early morning machinegun attack by a madman called the Digger leaves dozens dead in the Washington, D.C., subway, the mayor’s office receives a message demanding twenty million dollars by midnight or more innocents will die. It is New Year’s Eve, and with the ransom note as the only evidence, Special Agent Margaret Lukas calls upon retired FBI agent and the nation’s premier document examiner Parker Kincaid to join the manhunt for the Digger—or for hundreds, the first moments of the new year will be their last on earth.  (Amazon)

Editions Available:  Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As New Year’s approaches, a former FBI investigator—“the Armenian-American Poirot”—resolves to find the killer of a Connecticut exercise guru (Kirkus Reviews).
After twenty years in California, Frannie Jay—formerly Frances Jakumbowski—returns to her home turf: New Haven, Connecticut, a university town that has become rife with crime. The depressed aerobics instructor hopes to find new life at the Fountain of Youth—a workout studio whose weight trainer, Tim Bradbury, is the best in the business. But Frannie’s fresh start turns sour just before New Year’s, when she finds Bradbury in the bushes outside the studio, stark naked and stone dead. Former FBI investigator Gregor Demarkian comes to New Haven to assist the local police. Bradbury died of arsenic poisoning—a fate no amount of exercise can stave off—and any instructor and client in the studio could have killed him. Demarkian’s body may not be rock hard, but his mind is sharp, and he will see to it that the next weights the killer lifts will be in the prison yard.  (Amazon)

Editions Available:  Kindle, Paperback

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AT THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT…
When barrister Rex Graves and his fiancée Helen d’Arcy host a New Year’s Eve party at Gleneagle Lodge, friends and colleagues alike enjoy the evening with drinks flowing freely. Despite the oncoming storm, unlucky number of guests, and argument over long-lost treasure, Rex has high hopes that it will be a memorable and murder-free night of celebration. But as the clock strikes midnight and the power goes out, Ken and Catriona Fraser are found dead. Suspecting they were murdered for money or revenge, Rex starts to investigate. Will his formidable intellect and detection skills be enough to uncover the culprit?

“A classic country-house mystery, with modern day twists and turns adding to the fun.” ~Booklist

“Murder at Midnight will delight all Agatha Christie and cozy fans. C.S. creates devilishly complex characters, keeping the reader on edge until the final page.” ~Suspense Magazine 

“This latest Rex Graves story is a nice example of the traditional mystery, and fans of Agatha Christie will most certainly be entertained.” ~Buried Under Books  (Amazon)

Editions Available:  Kindle, Paperback

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No. 6 in The Kate Lawrence Mysteries. It’s almost New Year’s Eve, and Kate finds herself at her 35th high school reunion, where she is confronted by The Mean Girls, circa 1978. Worse yet, she’s put on a little weight, and her high school steady is expected to show. Strutter’s teenage son faces a personal dilemma, and one of Margo’s clients is in big trouble. Should auld acquaintance be forgot? If only that were possible.  (Amazon)

Editions Available:  Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook