New Releases For The Week Of May 23rd, 2021–Part 4

Finding a dead body in the wall of our new candy shop was strange enough, but then someone from the past returns carrying a pink ribbon I’d left on my very strange Christmas trip to Ohio.

As a founding member of The Pink Iguana Sleuths of Witch’s Cove, I thought I’d seen it all, but I was wrong. When the sheriff’s department files this as a cold case, my curiosity gets the best of me. What else is new? It also didn’t help that my talking pink iguana is insisting that I look into it.

When a corpse is fairly warm, it’s easy to come up with who wanted this person dead. Motives are everywhere, but not this time. We didn’t even know the identity of the skeleton. I shuddered to think what kind of killer hid a body in the wall of a store? A very bad one, for sure.

Regardless of how hard it will be, Jaxson, Iggy, and I are up for the challenge. I couldn’t help but wonder why an FBI agent from the past was sent to us, though. To help? Or hinder? (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

The city’s most prominent citizen dies unexpectantly in the hospital room next to where Detective Olivia Samuels is battling for her own life. But when she pushes for an investigation, those who wish the truth to remain hidden will do anything to stop her interference.

Between anesthesia-induced dreams and increased awareness of her surroundings, Olivia knows this murder holds the answers to so many others.

As she inches closer to the justice she seeks, the links to bizarre and what would appear to be unrelated crimes refuse to be buried. Who is the person pulling the strings?

But what do vanishing text messages and crazy, bizarre crimes have to do with his murder? Were they even connected? Can Olivia sort out the entanglement of lies created by years of misdirected justice and solve this before anyone else is harmed?
Could the mayhem just slow down a little bit to allow her time to adjust to these new senses and make some life decisions? How much of the truth about her should she share with the handsome anesthesiologist, Dr. Kraig Richardson, whose very touch makes her toes tingle. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

Southern transplant Emma Lovett and her best friend, Leslie Parker, can hardly believe it’s Emma’s third year at Thomas Jefferson High School. In addition to an amazing year with Emma’s boyfriend, Hunter Wells, and Leslie’s brand-new love interest, they’ve gotten all the way through Homecoming with no one dying.

Oops!

At the end of October, Emma discovers the strangled body of Charlie Foreman, one of Leslie’s favorite nemeses. But the first clue implicates Leslie in the crime. To make things worse, Emma’s feeling a little oogy. She’s tired and dizzy and something’s wrong with her eyes.

All Emma and Leslie are trying to do is find new methods for teaching the youth of America, hopefully using lessons from the Great Bard, their hero, William Shakespeare.

But someone has a different idea: more schooling in murder. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

Cursed treasure, a cat who thinks he’s a dragon, and unexplained deaths—oh my!

Look, being followed around by a cat wouldn’t normally be a bad thing. Actually, I’d be pretty flattered. This cat, though, isn’t like your typical kitty. Nope. He’s absolutely convinced that he’s a dragon, and worse yet, because he thinks I have a piece of his hoard, he won’t leave me alone!

I’m talking night yowling outside my window, trying to trip me on the sidewalk, and overall just being a jerk.

Okay, so maybe he doesn’t mean it, but still! Talk about frustrating.

Worse yet, it seems this cat attracts trouble. And I mean trouble. Like the people-ending-up-dead kind of trouble–more specifically, dead in my apartment surrounded by bullet casings.

I may not be the smartest girl on the planet, but even I know this looks real bad. Now I’ve got to figure out who killed this woman and why she was killed in my home—all while avoiding the police in the process.

That’s right, folks. I’m officially on the run, thanks to this crazy kitty. Hopefully I can get out of this one alive. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

A changed town. A new secret. A missing mother and her son. Will the truth behind their disappearance be far too much for this town to bear?

Hewey, Rob and Samantha have gone on with their lives, but they’ve never forgotten their best friend, Jase. They’ve decided twenty-five years after the incident to come together to find out what happened to him and his mother, once and for all.

The shocking truth surrounding their absence will bring the trio to their knees.

The final exciting installment in the popular Hewey Spader Mystery Series.

“Can the three friends find their lost companion OR will the mystery… like that bizarre incident…25 years ago….continue to haunt them FOREVER!! Read and see.”- Bookbub reviewer (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

IN THE 6th NOVEL OF THE MURDER IN MARIN MYSTERIES:

After a quarter-century at the heart of Sausalito’s daily life, Mary Anderson had long been thought of as a permanent fixture in the life of a town famous for beautiful vistas and nasty politics. Admired by a narrow majority and despised by a vocal minority, Anderson’s grip on power was guided by her oft-stated advice: “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!”

Thought to have died tragically in a landslide, her secret world begins to unravel with the discovery that her death was anything but accidental. Local newspaper publisher Rob Timmons and his Gal Friday, Holly Cross, gather clues while Sheriff’s detective Eddie Austin investigates a few not-the-usual suspects capable of “Queen Mary’s” murder. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

Knowledge is power – or is it?

When Jemma takes on the post of Assistant Keeper, she wonders if she’s bitten off more than she can chew. Her boss Raphael has every confidence in her … but Jemma is less convinced.

It’s much easier to lose herself in getting the bookshops ready for Christmas. But when Carl hands in his notice, Jemma has to accept that things will change.

Then a mysterious developer targets the shops in their neighbourhood, with the aim of putting a transport hub in their place. When a very familiar figure from Jemma’s past shows up, Jemma can’t help but smell a rat.

Will Jemma and Raphael be able to stop the developers and save the shop? Can Jemma step up to her new responsibilities? And will they ever find out where Folio keeps sneaking off to?

By The Book is the fourth in the Magical Bookshop humorous mystery series, set in modern London. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

When a corpse crashes the party, Bianca is on the case.

Bianca Wallace is a work from home mom raising her teenage daughter as a single parent. She’s determined to stand on her own two feet in Edenville, Texas after her bitter divorce. When the town’s wedding of the year stars her friend as the bride, Bianca can’t wait to celebrate the nuptials. Neither she nor the guests expect a corpse! When the police suspect the bride, Bianca’s determined to prove her friend’s innocence.

Lamar Sims, the new police detective in Edenville, is investigating the murder case. Bianca’s “interference” is not helping, but she won’t stop when her friend’s freedom is on the line. He makes it clear he wants her to let the police do their job, so she has to find ways around him.

No one in Edenville is safe until the killer is behind bars. Bianca won’t let Detective Sims dismiss her hunches. They may have to work together before another dead body shows up. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

There weren’t supposed to be ghosts!

For twelve years, mystery writer Margo Collins has been haunted. An ancient Highlands estate, complete with castle, has called to her since her first visit. And her former love, the handsome Lachlan, now laird of the estate, has never really left her heart.

When Lachlan turned his ancestral home into a permanent writers’ retreat, he invited authors, both well-known and obscure, to make the castle their home. But until now, he refused to invite Margo, the one writer he most wanted under his roof.

Delighted about returning to the castle, and willing to face any lingering feelings for Lachlan, Margo believes she can put the ghosts of her own past to rest. But the castle has something else in mind.

Ghosts—actual ghosts—have been waiting for her in the home of her dreams. And it seems the quiet, idyllic writer’s life she’d envisioned might start to resemble the plot of one of her mystery novels.

Can the reluctant Margo unravel a killer’s plot and help put a real ghost to rest?

Step into the pages of “Dark Night, Dead Knight” to discover the answers and share the journey.

Step into the pages of “Dark Night, Dead Knight” to discover the answers and share the journey. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

Two communities. One flower competition. So much dead-heading!

Aldermaston’s having a bad day. A falling hanging-basket has killed the town’s mayor, and a second narrowly missed him. His wife wants him to build her new greenhouse in three days, and some nutter is sending him death threats. This isn’t the quiet life he expected as the new Marquess of Mortiforde.

It’s the annual Borders in Blossom competition, and Mortiforde is battling with Portley Ridge in the final. But this is no parochial flower competition. The mayor’s mishap looks like murder, and there’s another body in the river. Someone desperately wants Portley Ridge to win for the fifteenth successive year. So when a mysterious group of guerrilla gardeners suddenly carpet bomb Mortiforde with a series of stunning floral delights one night, a chain reaction of floral retaliation ensues.

Can Aldermaston survive long enough to uncover who is trying to kill him, and why? And can he get his wife’s greenhouse built in time? Blooming Murder is the first book in the Marquess of Mortiforde Mystery series. If you love the eccentricity of MC Beaton’s Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth books, and the humour of ITV’s Midsomer Murder television series, you’ll love this first instalment of the Marquess of Mortiforde mysteries. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

A crime wave is rocking the town . . .
. . . Could the stars be behind it?

Kris thinks horoscopes are to blame.

Her new job with the Silver City Star is writing the astrology column with her friend Rosa. It’s not the big story Kris wants, but it’s a foot in the door with the local paper. Then the two make a shocking discovery — their column is linked to the string of attacks. Sun signs are the key, but the cops won’t believe it.

As vandalism escalates to arson and murder . . .

. . . Everyone wonders who will be next.

The police are on the wrong track, and Kris and Rosa are the only ones who can change things. Aided by a salsa-dancing bartender, they hatch an ingenious plan to stop the villain.

But when Kris becomes a target herself . . .

. . . She knows the murderer is onto her.

You’ll love this cozy mystery because the journey takes surprising turns, and belief in the stars is real.

Get it now. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

A Host of Trouble…

In this witty and engaging novel, Dana Barry, the Shopping Channel’s star host, stops by the company’s rooftop party to pitch the new CEO her brilliant idea that just might save the flagging business, her job and possibly her love life.

As she chats with the smarmy executive, he backs her into a dark corner. For Dana, it’s a quid pro oh-hell-no. She escapes his lecherous grasp and grabs her drink on her way to the dance floor. Woozy, she blacks out.

When she comes to, the CEO is dead, fallen from the roof. Or was he pushed? And if so, by whom? It’s hard to know, but one thing is certain: Dana was close enough to be suspect.

Sure, she loathed how the creep moved in on her, but she’s no killer. Or is she? Truth is, Dana can’t remember much about those minutes. Now she has to use all her skills to prove her innocence to everyone, including her police detective boyfriend—and herself.

Meister’s latest is fun and breezy, a compelling, suspenseful read that entertains and keeps you guessing. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook

Animal lovers will delight’ Ann Granger

‘A real treat . . . I loved it. Cats, dogs, murder and a credible and relatable heroine’ Barbara Nadel

Summer in the Lincolnshire Wolds and Clarice is rung by her friend Louise, asking whether she can look after Susie, her son’s lively Boxer, as 41-year-old Guy has gone missing from the family home.

His mother thinks he has been suffering from depression but more worryingly, in his professional life, he had been working on a high-profile case, defending a known criminal. His home life was beset with problems too, which is why his mother has asked Clarice to look after the dog; Charlotte, Guy’s wife, just can’t cope with her as well as their three daughters.

Getting drawn into the puzzle of Guy’s disappearance, Clarice wonders how Susie received a nasty cut to her back leg, and who is the mysterious Charles? Guy apparently did not trust him enough to let him into his home, and he had not been seen since he was driven away in Charles car. Guy’s friends all say that he was a good, honest man, but as Clarice looks further into the murky criminal world he inhabits, she questions if Guy has been pulled in out of his depth. And – why does Susie keep returning to the private woods, where she had spent so much time with her beloved master…. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Audiobook