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A Grave Gala (Sugar Martin Vintage Cozy Mysteries Book 2)
Shéa MacLeod - 2019
With some reluctance, she joins the rest of the glamorous attendees on the veranda for cocktails and dancing until the gala turns grave indeed when one of the guests is murdered. With the sure knowledge there’s a killer among them, Sugar sets out to unearth the secrets that led to the death of a peer of the realm. With the help of a grumpy corgi and a handsome Englishman, she’s on the hunt for a cold-blooded killer and she won’t stop until she gets her man! The second book in the Sugar Martin Vintage Cozy Mysteries set in post-WW2 England.
The Two Towns
J.J. Salkeld - 2014
It is DC Jane Dixon's first week on Kendal's CID team. Her new boss, DI Andy Hall, gives her an open file to review, and it's a far from straightforward case. A woman has died in suspicious circumstances in a Windermere caravan park, and although her husband is suspected there's not a shred of solid evidence against him. Can Jane move the case forward, or will a cold-blooded killer really get away with murder? The rest of the team is busy too, because a vulnerable teenager from a troubled family has gone missing from home. There's nothing to suggest that the boy has been abducted, so what could have caused him to run away from home? DS Ian Mann, a tough ex-military man, and DC Ray Dixon are both heavily involved in the investigation. This story introduces key members of the investigative team, as well as many of the themes that are developed in the full-length Lakeland Murders novels: including a strong sense of place, and an understanding that while justice usually prevails it is rarely complete, or completely fair. Reader reviews for the full-length novels in the Lakeland Murders series include: 'Well developed, realistic, relatable characters, great plot, believable detailed scenes, good action sequences. Recommend to those that appreciate British detective novels. Always devour Lakeland murder mysteries.' 'Love J J Salkeld's books, his understanding of police procedure, his ability to draw his characters out into real people is, I believe, up there with the best of them and it is good to find crime stories set in Cumbria for a change.' 'Salkeld is good. Not just as a writer of gripping detective stories; but even more for his feisty exposure of the lunacies of institutions, hierarchies, and power. A refreshing and enlightening anarchist - much needed in these jaded, compliant and consumptive times.'
The Irishman: Frank Sheeran’s True Crime Story
Daniel Brand - 2018
The world knew him as a union official, a long-time member of the Teamsters Union; he was a member of Jimmy Hoffa’s inner circle at the top of the national union. He had run-ins with the law in this position. He was charged with the murder of a rebel union member in a riot that occurred outside the Teamster’s Local Philadelphia Union Hall, but the charges were later dropped. He went to prison in the 80s after being caught on a wire instructing once of his crew to break someone’s legs and was named in Rudy Giuliani’s Mafia Commission Trial as an unindicted co-conspirator and one of only two non-Italian members of the Mafia Commission.
As an old man suffering from cancer that would soon kill him, Frank Sheeran shared his story with his attorney. He told him of the things that were already known, but he shared much, much more. This book explores Frank Sheeran’s confessions as a lifelong criminal with ties to some of the biggest crimes of the 20th century.
Inside this book, you will find:
A detailed account of Frank Sheeran’s time in the army during the second world war, where he was in combat for an astounding four hundred and eleven days, with a focus on the war crimes he has admitted to;
A look into Sheeran’s post-war slides into a life of crime, finding himself working for the Mafia before he even knew what the Mafia was;
Information on his time as a hitman for the Mafia and how that led him to work for Jimmy Hoffa as muscle and hitman for the powerful Teamster Boss;
Frank Sheeran’s accounts of his connections to the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Assassination of JFK; and
His confession to the murders of Crazy Joe Gallo and of his friend, Jimmy Hoffa.
Darkness Follows
Emerald O'Brien - 2014
The day she is brought into the police department for questioning, her life changes forever. When Aurina discovers that someone she trusts has involved her in a series of murder investigations, her sister Ryanne joins her in a search for the truth. As the situation unravels, the Patrick sisters realize their lives could be in jeopardy. When the sisters are taken to a remote location, the struggle for safety truly begins.
The Barefoot Stiff
M. Ruth Myers - 2014
She’s drawn into a stranger’s murder in this SHORT STORY featuring characters from the Maggie Sullivan mystery novels. A job offer from a blonde at a dime store lunch counter lures the detective to a still-warm corpse in an alley. His gold watch and cufflinks are still on him, but not his shoes and socks. A night of grilling by homicide cops does nothing to improve Maggie’s mood, which deteriorates further when they laugh off a lead she gives them and imply she solves cases by batting her eyes instead of using her brains. Aided by a ragtag newsboy, Maggie baits a trap for the killer. He shows up with a knife. But Maggie wields a .38 as expertly as she does an emery board — and she doesn’t back down for thugs or authorities when she’s after answers. A woman sleuth like none you’ve met and historical atmosphere meet in the streets of a small Ohio city, capturing a 20th century America before cell phones or carry-out coffee cups in this short story reminiscent of the golden age of private eyes.
Detective Michael Angel: Books 1-7 (Yorkshire Murder Mysteries #1-7)
Roger Silverwood - 2020
But where will it lead?BOOK 2: THE MISSING WIFELady Yvette, the beautiful wife of a local MP is found choked to death in a reservoir, robbed of her clothes and antique pearls. Inspector Angel is called in to investigate. But the evidence is scant and he has only his guile to rely on. Can he stop the choker before he strikes again?BOOK 3: THE MAN IN THE PINK SUITCelebrity art critic Frank P. Jones, aka “the Man in the Pink Suit”, shoots a wealthy industrialist. Jones strongly denies the charge, but he has the motive, the opportunity, a Walter PPK/S automatic, and no alibi. DI Angel must unravel the truth from the lies. Was Jones hypnotized, drugged, or is he simply a liar?BOOK 4: THE MORALS OF A MURDERERDuncan McFee is savagely murdered in a distillery where he was chairman. He’s found in one of the vats used to make gin. Yet none of the suspects is burly enough to have delivered the fatal blow. Detective Inspector Michael Angel is called in to unravel the mystery.BOOK 5: THE AUCTION MURDERSAt the auction of Lord Ogmore’s estate, a man is stabbed to death with a silver dagger. Before long, DI Angel finds himself on the trail of a serial killer who leaves behind no clues, no fingerprints and no DNA. Angel has only one eye-witness — and he’s blind. Will Angel solve his toughest case yet?BOOK 6: THE MISSING KILLERA masked man bursts into a quiet country club to confront a young couple. He says, “Your time is up. That girl is mine.” Then he kills one of them. Witnesses cannot identify him and DI Angel’s investigation seems doomed. Faced with vengeful gangsters, crooked police and mentally unstable young men, can Angel work it all out in time and walk away unscathed?BOOK 7: THE UMBRELLA MURDERSAn arsonist threatens to set fire to the luxury home of the local MP. DI Angel has two suspects. One has completely disappeared, the other is locked in a police cell. Will the umbrella man be able to execute his threat while still in police custody? DI Michael Angel must race against the clock to unravel this baffling mystery.
Act of Vengeance
Michael Jecks - 2012
Cut adrift and superfluous in a changing world, he was discarded by British Intelligence. Then, after 9/11, rapid recruitment brought in a rash of new, talented young men and women. They were trained and put into the field swiftly - often too swiftly. And then the mistakes started to happen. Mistakes that should have been avoided. Mistakes that could be embarrassing to Her Majesty's Government. Thus, Jack was brought back into the intelligence fold, heading up a new team of "Scavengers" - experienced agents who could be sent to clear up the messes left behind by newer recruits before evidence incriminating MI5 and MI6 could be discovered. Jack is sent to tidy up one last case. In a quiet Alaskan backwater, a man named Danny Lewin has committed suicide with a handgun. But this was no ordinary suicide. This was an agent who held secrets. A man haunted by his past interrogating prisoners in Iraq. And British Intelligence fear that he put his secrets down on paper. For Jack, his mission is straightforward. He must travel to Alaska and retrieve Lewin’s journal before someone else can lay their hands on it. Before long, Jack realises that there are individuals just as skilled and determined as himself searching for the journal - individuals who are willing to kill in order to get what they want. Case is drawn into a manhunt that drags him into the murky underworld of contemporary espionage and leaves him questioning who his allies and who is enemies are. The rules of the game have changed since the days of the Cold War. Now Case must impose his own rules. Scavenger rules. Praise for Michael Jecks: 'An instant classic British spy novel - mature, thoughtful, and intelligent ... but also raw enough for our modern times. Highly recommended.' - Lee Child, author of the Reacher series 'More magic by the master of the medieval' - Quintin Jardine 'Michael Jecks is a national treasure' - Scotland on Sunday 'A textbook example of how to blend action and detection in a historical' - Publishers Weekly Michael Jecks is the author of the bestselling Knights Templar series, comprising thirty-two novels starring Baldwin de Furnshill. Fields of Glory is the first novel in a new trilogy, set around the Hundred Years' War. A regular speaker at library and literary events, he is a past Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund at Exeter University. He was shortlisted for the Harrogate/Theakston’s Old Peculier prize for the best crime novel of the year 2007, the year Allan Guthrie won. He lives with his wife, children and dogs in northern Dartmoor. To find out more visit his website http://www.michaeljecks.com, follow him on twitter @michaeljecks, or find him on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Michael.Jecks...
The Girl on the Train
Rachel Wagstaff - 2018
Her only escape is the perfect couple she watches through the train window every day, happy and in love. Or so it appears. When Rachel learns that the woman she's been secretly watching has suddenly disappeared, she finds herself as a witness and even a suspect in a thrilling mystery in which she will face bigger revelations than she could ever have anticipated.Adapted from Paula Hawkins' novel - an international phenomenon selling over twenty million copies worldwide - this gripping new play will keep you guessing until the final moment.
Ode to a Fish Sandwich
Rebecca M. Hale - 2013
Hale, the story of a man, a fish, and the daily special.Jilted at the altar, Dr. Walcott Emerson Jones sets off on his honeymoon without his runaway bride. A week on a remote Caribbean island is just what the sun-averse dermatologist needs to mend his broken heart. Along the way, he braves a haunted cane field, tracks a grief-stricken fisherman up the side of a volcano, and befriends a chef at the local beachside diner. But the cook has broader ambitions than spending the rest of her life serving up fish sandwiches, and the spurned diamond ring hanging from the doctor’s neck is a prize too tempting to resist. Will the vacationer’s last meal on the island turn into his last meal – ever?
Butler's Justice (Monroe T. Lovett Legal Thriller Series Book 1)
Perry Perrett
There’s only one problem; no one seems to know who Monroe Lovett is, and to make matters worse, he hasn’t had a single client. His sole hope is that just one person will hire him.That hope is answered when in walks Ashley Butler. Monroe is so glad to see her, happy to have a someone in need of his service that he jumps at the opportunity to represent her. Little does he realize, Ashley’s case will pit him against forces wanting his client convicted. Her case will open the closest to the Butler family’s secrets.Ashley Butler’s problems started when adultery and accusations led to a single rash act that ended in murder. In a matter of seconds, an argument climaxed with Julie, Marcus Butler Jr.'s mistress, dead.The Lane County Sheriff’s Department receives a tip of hearing what sounded like gunshots coming from inside the Butler home. Minutes later, deputies arrived to find Julie's body lying on the bedroom floor. The ill-tempered Detective Carson investigates the crime scene and upon leaving gets a tip that Ashley is the killer. The detective attains an arrest warrant and puts out an all-points bulletin for the arrest of Ashley Butler.Ashley hears from a friend that deputies are looking for her. Knowing her husband’s family, she seeks the help of the only person she believes she can trust, Lane County's newest defense attorney, Monroe T. Lovett. Knowing that her husband’s father, Marcus Sr., holds power over most of Lane County, she's not even sure Monroe can help her. But he's her only hope.Speaking with Monroe in his office, Ashley explains that she is about to be arrested for murdering her husband's girlfriend. After she tells him of her predicament, and with only a few details, Monroe, in desperate need of a client, agrees to take her case. Soon, he learns Ashley isn't just any client, and he will have to fight to save her life.To make matters worse, Monroe will face Lane County’s District Attorney Robert Breaux. Breaux. Monroe will discover that Robert Breaux is a self-serving, egotistical district attorney, who is interested in one thing—winning. Justice is not Breaux's goal. Convictions translate into votes and those votes to lead to him gaining more political clout.Monroe soon finds himself in over his head. A godsend in the person of Herman (Herm) Edwards, a retired New Orleans detective and a native of Peregrine offers to help Monroe. Monroe is skeptical, knowing that Edwards is from the area. In need of help, Monroe, with the urging of his wife, Debbie, decides to hire Herm. But he still unsure of Herm’s allegiances. Trust issues arise between them as suspicions of a possible corrupt sheriff's department is trying to impede Ashley’s case.As Monroe’s case begins to unravel, Monroe is forced to seek a different approach to prove Ashley's innocence. This new tactic lands him right in the middle of the Butler family secret, a secret that even Ashley does not know about. No one in Lane County knows the truth the Butlers have been hiding for years, and Monroe is ready to rip the door off the closet. To stop him, Marcus Butler Sr., the family patriarch, will do whatever he must to keep the closet locked.To stop Monroe, Marcus Butler Sr. forms some new alliances to ensure his secrets stay buried. His new ties include a man named Félix Roche, a man who has many aliases and a sinister reputation with more than one agenda.Only the truth can free Ashley, but finding the truth will mean revealing her past, a past she would just as soon forget. However, Monroe encourages her, convincing her this is the only avenue to freedom. Monroe’s plan? Go after the patriarch, Marcus Butler Sr., and expose the man and the Butler family secrets. It is the only way Butler's justice will prevail.
The Spider Shepherd Collection 5-7: Dead Men, Live Fire, Rough Justice
Stephen Leather - 2013
Dead MenFormer SAS trooper turned undercover cop Dan Spider Shepherd knows there are no easy solutions in the war against terrorism. But when a killer starts to target pardoned IRA terrorists, Shepherd has to put his life on the line to protect his former enemies; and as a Muslim assassin closes in on his prey, Shepherd realises that the only way to save lives is to become a killer himself. Live FireDan 'Spider' Shepherd is infiltrating a tightly-knit team of bank robbers, when a group of home-grown Islamic fundamentalist fanatics embark on a campaign of terror the like of which Britain has never seen. Car bombs and beheadings are only the prelude of what they have planned. And Shepherd is the only man who can stop them. Rough JusticeVillains across London are being beaten, crippled and killed by vigilante cops. Crime rates are falling, but the powers that be want Dan 'Spider' Shepherd to bring the wave of rough justice to an end. Shepherd has always known that there are grey areas in the fight against crime, and that sometimes justice gets lost in the process. But when his own family is brought into the firing line, Shepherd has some hard decisions of his own to make.
James, Fabulous Feline: Further Adventures of the Connoisseur Cat
Harriet Hahn - 1993
But his deductive abilities will be put to the test when he’s called on to detect philatelic forgeries at Thwaites, one of the city’s great auction houses. The recently knighted cat also finds time to coach a croquet team, oversee rehearsals of a sequel to Cats, and help deliver a baby. Not to be outdone by cheesy actors or blundering attorneys, he makes his film debut and testifies in a criminal trial at the Old Bailey. But he has a special place in his heart for St. James’s Palace, the address he longs to call home. This delightful sequel to James the Connoisseur will prove irresistible catnip for feline lovers.
They Do It with Mirrors
Agatha Christie - 2012
Her fears are confirmed when a youth fires a gun at the administrator, but that isn't the only shooting!
It Was You
Jade Lee Wright - 2018
Everything I did, I did for her..."When Regan Pen discovers that her long-term boyfriend has been cheating on her with over eight women, she packs her bags and leaves the sunny island in Spain that she had called home for a year. She returns to South Africa where she is given the chance to start over in life. Reassemble herself. Now is her time to be selfish. Find a new career, get a home of her own. Become whoever she wants to be... but when her best friend, Peyton, is brutally murdered, Regan is forced to put her life on hold to take responsibility for her friends thirteen year old daughter, Harley. As the police battle to solve the murder of Peyton and her unborn child, Regan becomes convinced that her Godchild is not the sweet, innocent little girl everyone seems to think she is. Could Harley have been so consumed by her jealousy and fear of not being the epicenter of her mothers universe that it lead to murder? If so, is Regan safe in her own home?
All Those Who Came Before: The Sixth Spookie Town Murder Mystery (Spookie Town Murder Mysteries Book 6)
Kathryn Meyer Griffith - 2020
It’s their turn. First off, it at long last solves the enigma of Abigail’s first husband Joel Sutton’s disappearance, and death, a decade before…the tragic event that sent Abigail to Spookie in the first place to begin a new life. The new life that would grow so big as to include a new love, a new family, quirky, but well-meaning friends, and the strange murder mysteries her new friends would drag her into over the years. As an unsolicited, and unwanted, envelope arrives from Abigail’s now dead detective she’d hired a decade before to find her missing first husband, its contents sends Frank searching for the truth. The envelope’s files are full of disturbing facts concerning the unsolved crime and it piques Frank’s interest. Soon, against Abby’s wishes, he’s on the cold trail of what actually happened to Joel Sutton–had he been a victim of just an accident, as some have always believed, or did someone murder him? In his search for the truth, Frank ends up in lethal danger when the investigation comes to a violent conclusion. This story is also about an infamous haunted house at 707 Suncrest, in the woods; about the cold blooded murders of a whole family that occurred there forty years before. Is the house on Suncrest truly haunted by the ghosts of the dead family? Is it dangerous? When Abby decides to paint a series of canvases of the spooky old house, she’ll find out. Then along with those two new mysteries to unravel, of course, all of Spookie’s quirky town characters have returned to irritate, amuse and sleuth with Abby and Frank. Will they get out of these new mysteries alive, too? Perhaps.