In this World War II-era historical mystery series debut by Joyce St. Anthony, small-town editor Irene Ingram has a nose for news and an eye for clues.
Irene Ingram has written for her father’s newspaper, the Progress Herald, ever since she could grasp a pencil. Now she’s editor in chief, which doesn’t sit well with the men in the newsroom. But proving her journalistic bona fides is the least of Irene’s worries when crime reporter Moe Bauer, on the heels of a hot tip, turns up dead at the foot of his cellar stairs.
An accident? That’s what Police Chief Walt Turner thinks, and Irene is inclined to agree until she finds the note Moe discreetly left on her desk. He was on to a big story, he wrote. The robbery she’d assigned him to cover at Markowicz Hardware turned out to be something far more devious. A Jewish store owner in a small, provincial town, Sam Markowicz received a terrifying message from a stranger. Moe suspected that Sam is being threatened not only for who he is…but for what he knows.
Tenacious Irene senses there’s more to the Markowicz story, which she is all but certain led to Moe’s murder. When she’s not filling up column inches with the usual small-town fare—locals in uniform, victory gardens, and scrap drives—she and her best friend, scrappy secretary Peggy Reardon, search for clues. If they can find the killer, it’ll be a scoop to stop the presses. But if they can’t, Irene and Peggy may face an all-too-literal deadline. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook
It’s another beautiful day on the French Riviera until Paul Burke and a group of bicyclists participating in a vintage bike race come across a disturbing scene: two skeletons dressed in Nazi memorabilia linking major race sponsor Bosco Yablonski to one of the worst periods in history.
Although the authorities dismiss it as a hoax aimed at discrediting the sponsor, Burke isn’t convinced. As he continues to cover vintage races for his newspaper, more bizarre incidents occur. And when two bodies turn up, Paul knows serious threats to Yablonski and the cyclists loom in upcoming events. But who would want to harm the race or its sponsor?
Paul soon finds himself involved in a mystery with deadly consequences as the vintage bike race escalates into a national news story. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback
The phony war has dragged out past Christmas into a dark and dreary New Year, 1940.
In the blackout, someone murdered BBC engineer Frank Kennedy, making him more popular dead than alive. A blackmailer and bully, he sold out his friends, assaulted his Broadcasting House colleagues, and sabotaged his employer.
Kennedy was also a government informant against the IRA. Despite arrests of members, the IRA is still planning more attacks against British civilians. Attacks Frank Kennedy might have been involved in.
Britain’s counterintelligence spymaster orders newspaper reporter Olivia Redmond to find Kennedy’s killer and learn which of the many motives led to his murder. Olivia quickly learns how vicious Frank Kennedy was and halfway hopes his killer escapes hanging.
Until his killer strikes again…
A clean read. No blatant sex, violence, or bad language. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback
After Ali’s cousin Nathan and his intolerable bride Isadora come to stay at the B&B, the honeymoon is cut short when Isadora is found dead at the bottom of a Lake Tahoe ski slope. With Nathan as the prime suspect, Ali is determined to prove he’s innocent. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback
With little work during the pandemic, Chicago PI Georgia Davis agrees to help the best friend of fellow sleuth, Ellie Foreman. Susan Siler’s aunt died suddenly after her Covid booster, and Susan’s distraught mother wants the death investigated.
However, Georgia’s investigation is interrupted by a family trip to Nauvoo, Illinois, the one-time Mormon heartland. It’s there that her life unexpectedly intersects with the runaway spouse of a Mormon Fundamentalist. Back in Evanston, after Georgia is almost killed by a hit and run driver, she discovers that she and the escaped woman look remarkably alike.
Is someone trying to kill Georgia because of her death investigation case? Or is it a case of mistaken identity? And how can Georgia find her doppelganger before whoever wants them both dead tries again? (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback
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