In Prohibition-era Los Angeles, two women on opposite sides of the law must take control of their lives, make their marks, and try to survive. Even if it means crossing the line.
It’s 1927. Letty Hart’s father is long gone, but his old winery provides a meager wage and a legal livelihood for selling sacramental wine. But when that contract goes bust, Letty stumbles upon a desperate option: her father’s hidden cellar—and enough liquor to tempt Letty to bootleg the secret stash. In an underworld dominated by merciless men, Letty is building an empire.
Officer Annabel Forman deserves to be the first female detective in the LAPD. But after two years on the force, she’s still consigned to clerical work and policing dance halls. When Annabel connects a series of unsolved murders to bootlegging, it’s a chance at a real investigation. Under the thumb of dismissive male superiors, Annabel is building her case.
As their formerly uncompromised morals erode, Letty and Annabel are on a collision course—and determined to prove they’re every bit as ruthless and strong-willed as the powers that be who want to take them down. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook
A rising tide drowns all bodies
In the third electrifying installment of the Golden Murder Mysteries, Mal Peck’s tranquil bridge weekend at an elite island resort spirals into a vortex of danger and deception. The mysterious drowning of a young bride upends her plans, drawing her into a deepening puzzle compounded by another unnerving murder.
As an isolating storm engulfs the island, Mal, aided by her friend Jacques Pellofey, delves into a sinister investigation. But Jacques’ erratic behavior casts a shadow of doubt, leaving Mal torn between trusting her instincts or suspecting the man by her side. Is he an ally or an adversary?
Amidst a maze of illegal activities and vendettas, Mal’s pursuit of the truth becomes a tightrope walk of danger. When she becomes a target, her situation turns dire, trapped and fighting for survival. The tide is rising and time is running out.
For fans of dramatic locations, great characters and devilish mysteries — dive into Mal’s world, where every page promises a thrilling chase for truth.
★★★★★ (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle
Sudden riches lead to a world of trouble…
Newly widowed Charlotte McLaughlin is adrift following the sudden death of her husband of twenty years and the shocking discovery of the lavish double life he’d lived while purportedly traveling for business.
When Charlotte’s only nephew and his fiancée are notified that their secluded wedding venue has flooded, her sister Jane suggests an alternative venue: a Thanksgiving week cruise from Seattle to Alaska aboard the private residence ship where Charlotte’s husband had purchased a two-bedroom unit without her knowledge.
What better way to get closer with her family and banish the memories Charlotte can’t bear to touch now?
But the bride is found dead less than twenty-four hours after departure, and the head of security holds the groom on suspicion of her murder. Charlotte and Jane must figure out who is responsible for the murder before their nephew goes to jail for a crime they’re adamant he couldn’t have committed. Then a second victim is discovered, and Charlotte becomes even more certain there’s a killer on the guest list. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle
Gilded Age trouser diva Ella Shane and her Duke are at long last headed for the altar…but they’ll confront a murder, a shipwreck, a questionable Polish prince, and any number of other complications on the way. Continuing the highly-praised series featuring a Lower East Side orphan who found fame and fortune as a singer of male soprano roles, this new installment follows Ella and her surprisingly diverse cast of family and friends through mystery and misadventure…and into the greatest challenge of all for an independent-minded woman and her Victorian swain: matrimony! (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle
“A master of the mystery and suspense genre.”
—Midwest Book Review
Erica Parker has barely been a bride nine months when two thugs show up at her apartment while her husband is away on one of his infamous business trips, claiming he owes their boss a large gambling debt. Frightened for her life, and without any other options, she heads for her childhood Long Island home she escaped three years ago. And swore never to return.
The aunts who raised her are as interfering and controlling as ever, but soon as the family attorney advances the rest of her trust from her parents’ life insurance, she can return to normalcy. Except he refuses, instead spouting nonsense about how, if she waits, she will soon inherit millions. On her twenty-fifth birthday.
Problem is, someone doesn’t want her to live that long.
Her aunts are harboring secrets, people are turning up dead, her husband is nowhere to be found, and someone’s trying to kill her. It appears you can go home again, but sometimes, you shouldn’t.
*Fans of Janet Evanovich, Lisa Gardner, and Mary Russell will enjoy “Come Home To Death” by Marilyn Levinson (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback
A waitress turned librarian just wants a new life. What she ends up with is a killer change of pace in a funny, snappy, and suspenseful mystery by Edgar Award–nominated author Jess Lourey.
With a cheating boyfriend, a thankless career in waitressing, and her BA in English going to waste, Mira James jumps at the chance for a fresh start in rural Battle Lake, Minnesota.
Right away she lands a job as a librarian, snags another as an on-call reporter for the weekly newspaper, and is swept off her feet by Jeff Wilson, a handsome archaeologist unearthing the town’s storied history. Moving here might be the best decision Mira’s ever made. Until she finds Jeff’s body between the library’s reference stacks. It seems Mira didn’t really know her drop-dead gorgeous new lover at all. But someone in Otter Tail County surely did.
Behind this quirky town’s polite exterior are decades-old grudges still unsettled, and murderous secrets best kept hidden. Whatever dangers are buried in Battle Lake’s past, now it’s Mira’s turn to start digging.
Revised edition: This edition of May Day includes editorial revisions. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook
Ten days, eight suspects, six cities, five authors, three bodies . . . one trip to die for.
“Quick, captivating, and oh-so-much-fun! This delicious mystery is as spellbinding as Knives Out.”—Elle Cosimano, New York Times bestselling author of the Finlay Donovan series
All that bestselling author Eleanor Dash wants is to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next in her Vacation Mysteries series—is that too much to ask?
Clearly, because when an attempt is made on the real Connor’s life—the handsome but infuriating con man she got mixed up with ten years ago and now can’t get out of her life—Eleanor’s enlisted to help solve the case.
Contending with literary competitors, rabid fans, a stalker—and even her ex, Oliver, who turns up unexpectedly—theories are bandied about, and rivalries, rifts, and broken hearts are revealed. But who’s really trying to get away with murder?
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is the irresistible and hilarious series debut from Catherine Mack, introducing bestselling fictional author Eleanor Dash on her Italian book tour that turns into a real-life murder mystery, as her life starts to imitate the world in her books. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook
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