Book picks similar to
The Metronome by D.R. Bell


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mystery
historical-fiction
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The Messiah Matrix


Kenneth Atchity - 2012
    Religious Fiction Christianity, Jesus Christ, Roman Catholic, Christian originsA renowned scholar-monsignor is killed in Rome while a Roman coin is recovered from a wreck off the coast of ancient Judea. It’s up to his young American protégé--a Jesuit priest--and a vivacious, brilliant archaeologist to connect these seemingly disparate events and unravel the tapestry that conceals in plain view the greatest mystery in the ecclesiastical world. Together they pursue their passion for truth—while fighting to control their passion for each other. What they uncover is an ancient Roman imperial stratagem so controversial the Curia fears it could undermine the very foundations of the Roman Catholic faith--much like the secrets emerging from the Vatican in today's news. From the ancient port of Caesarea to Rome's legendary catacombs and the sacred caves of Cumae, this contemporary novel follows their exhilarating quest to uncover the truth about the historical existence of the real "Christian Savior."Classical scholar and Yale Ph.D. Dr. Kenneth John Atchity is the only author alive today capable of creating this literary and historically-based spellbinder.For more information on The Messiah Matrix, including location maps, blog and more please visit: www.messiahmatrix.comJasius? Who or what is it? All Google has to offer is a two-tailed butterfly or the ring finger. Say it again. Jasius. It has the sound of something strange, yet strangely familiar. Something or someone we all know, yet infinitely beyond our comprehension. Kenneth Atchity's The Messiah Matrix explores the mystery in a fast-paced, light-hearted novel that is at the same time profoundly disturbing. The story goes forward at three levels. At the top, a rousing twenty-first century adventure that moves from the wrecks littering the floor of the Mediterranean to the corridors of the Vatican. Below that, a carbon-dated epigraphic revisionist history of the first centuries BCE and CE. And, at the deepest level, a sympathetic, fair-minded rational re-examination of "the greatest story ever told." You may applaud, dispute, chortle, weep, but you will think about this book long after the final page.-Benedict and Nancy Freedman, authors Mrs. Mike, Sappho: The Tenth Muse, The ImmortalsIn a thriller that rivals anything Dan Brown ever wrote, The Messiah Matrix threatens to take all your beliefs and toss them into the wind. A priest is murdered in Rome. His assassin is also shot and killed while with another priest. A message was delivered. An artifact is found on the floor of the sea. A Jesuit questions his faith and the history of his Church. An archaeologist uncovers the find of a lifetime and loses it.A connection between Christ and Augustus Caesar? The wise men following a star in 17 BC? Curiouser and curiouser! Although you know what they say about curiosity. The Monsignor searching for the ashes of Christ--which he was killed before explaining. Does the Holy See condone murder? Damn Skippy it does!This book is amazing! The two main characters of Ryan and Emily are the perfect pair of detectives. Will they be more? You’ll have to read the book! Emily’s coin is vital to the history of Christianity in the world, but will they get it back? On the coin, Augustus was wearing a crown with twel

A Lily in the Light


Kristin Fields - 2019
    People Esme has known her whole life suddenly become suspects, each new one hitting closer to home than the last.Unable to cope, Esme escapes the nightmare that is her new reality when she receives an invitation to join an elite ballet academy in San Francisco. Desperate to leave behind her chaotic, broken family and the mystery surrounding Lily’s disappearance, Esme accepts.Eight years later, Esme is up for her big break: her first principal role in Paris. But a call from her older sister shatters the protective world she has built for herself, forcing her to revisit the tragedy she’s run from for so long. Will her family finally have the answers they’ve been waiting for? And can Esme confront the pain that shaped her childhood, or will the darkness follow her into the spotlight?

What Have You Done


Matthew Farrell - 2018
    Instead, the victim turns out to be a woman he'd had an affair with before breaking it off to save his marriage. But there's a bigger problem: Liam has no memory of where he was or what he did on the night of the murder.Panicked, Liam turns to his brother, Sean, a homicide detective. Sean has his back, but incriminating evidence keeps piling up. From fingerprints to DNA, everything points to Liam, who must race against time and his department to uncover the truth - even if that truth is his own guilt. Yet as he digs deeper, dark secrets come to light, and Liam begins to suspect the killer might actually be Sean ...When the smoke clears in this harrowing family drama, who will be left standing?

Thief River Falls


Brian Freeman - 2020
    The author of a bestselling thriller called Thief River Falls, named after her rural Minnesota hometown, Lisa is secluded in her remote house as she struggles with the loss of her entire family: a series of tragedies she calls the “Dark Star.”Then a nameless runaway boy shows up at her door with a terrifying story: he’s just escaped death after witnessing a brutal murder—a crime the police want to cover up. Obsessed with the boy’s safety, Lisa resolves to expose this crime, but powerful men in Thief River Falls are desperate to get the boy back, and now they want her too.Lisa and her young visitor have nowhere to go as the trap closes around them. Still under the strange, unforgiving threat of the Dark Star, Lisa must find a way to save them both, or they’ll become the victims of another shocking tragedy she can’t foresee

The Shadow Box


Luanne Rice - 2021
    But her well-connected husband, Griffin—who is running for governor—is her prime suspect.Just before the attack, Claire was preparing for an exhibit of her shadow boxes, one of which clearly accuses Griffin of a violent crime committed twenty-five years ago. If the public were to find out who her husband is, his political career would be over. Claire’s certain her husband and his powerful supporters would kill her to stop the truth from getting out.When one of Claire’s acquaintances is murdered, the authorities suspect the homicide is linked to the attack on Claire. As the dual investigations unfold, Claire must decide how much she’s willing to lose to take down her husband and the corrupt group of elites who will do anything to protect Griffin’s interests and their own.

A Shot of Murder


Brenda Gayle - 2020
    But when the story is murder, will she end up above the fold or buried in the back?1948: Kingston, Canada—Charley Hall knows she’s a better reporter than any man in the newsroom. Frustrated to be demoted to the women’s page so her job on the city beat can be given to a returning soldier, she refocuses her energy into locating her brother who disappeared after his latest bender. She’s horrified when her search leads to the woman last seen with him, found dead with a bullet in her neck.Driven to catch the killer and clear her brother’s name, Charley encounters a mysterious cop from out of town who’s showing an intense interest in the case. But as she uncovers the victim’s murky past, tracking down the shooter could land the intrepid journalist in the obituaries.Can this gutsy gal prove her investigative skills and live to tell the tale?A Shot of Murder is the first book in the atmospheric Charley Hall historical mystery series. If you like strong female protagonists, period pieces, and small-town misdeeds, then you’ll love Brenda Gayle’s compelling whodunit.Buy A Shot of Murder to bring justice to the front page today!

Spending Spree


Ryan Wiley - 2013
    A few days after his mom helps him open his very own checking account, Johnny discovers something unusual – a one hundred thousand-dollar deposit that is definitely not from his parents. He soon finds that whatever amount he spends in one day is fully reimbursed the following morning. His friend, Dave, convinces him not to tell anyone and to go on the spending spree of a lifetime - which is exactly what Johnny does. But where’s the money coming from? And how much trouble is Johnny in for when someone finds out? The answers turn out to be far worse than he ever could have imagined.

At First Light


Barbara Nickless - 2021
    Archaic clues. A visionary killer. In this heart-stopping novel by the Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author of the Sydney Rose Parnell series, words can kill.On the muddy banks of the Calumet River, a body has been found posed next to a series of mysterious glyphs and bearing wounds from a ritualistic slaying. Chicago detective Addie Bisset knows only one man who can decipher the message left by the killer: her friend Dr. Evan Wilding. A brilliant forensic semiotician, Evan decodes the etchings as Viking Age runes. They suggest either human sacrifice or righteous punishment. But to what god? And for what sins?Only one thing is clear from the disturbing runic riddles: there are more victims to come.As Evan races to determine the identity of the Viking Poet, he and Addie uncover the killer’s most terrifying secret yet: the motive. This startling discovery puts Evan’s life in mortal danger, and verse by ancient verse, time is running out.

Alexandria Rising: Book 1 of The Alexandria Rising Chronicles


Mark Wallace Maguire - 2016
    Rand O'Neal, an ambition-less newspaper reporter, is given a single task upon the death of his grandfather: Destroy a mysterious map. What should be a simple errand thrusts Rand into a journey across three countries chased by unknown pursuers and leads him into a world he never could have imagined existed. This book is labelled an action adventure, but contains elements of science fiction, suspense and mystery. It is also the first in a trilogy and a series of prequels. It is also linked to a multi-media website which allows readers to engage with the experience in video, images and interactive appendices.

A Train to Moscow


Elena Gorokhova - 2022
    When she leaves for Moscow to audition for drama school, she defies her mother and grandparents and abandons her first love, Andrei.Before she leaves, Sasha discovers the hidden war journal of her uncle Kolya, an artist still missing in action years after the war has ended. His pages expose the official lies and the forbidden truth of Stalin’s brutality. Kolya’s revelations and his tragic love story guide Sasha through drama school and cement her determination to live a thousand lives onstage. After graduation, she begins acting in Leningrad, where Andrei, now a Communist Party apparatchik, becomes a censor of her work. As a past secret comes to light, Sasha’s ambitions converge with Andrei’s duties, and Sasha must decide if her dreams are truly worth the necessary sacrifice and if, as her grandmother likes to say, all will indeed be well.

No Accident


Dan Webb - 2013
    The police blame reckless driving, but insurance investigator Alex Fogarty suspects a celebrated CEO staged the accident and murdered his own employees for insurance money. Unfortunately, Alex’s boss cares more about a quick legal settlement than following the facts, and Alex can’t afford to lose his job—not while he’s underwater on five houses he bought before the real estate crash. But unless Alex can prove the crash was no accident, the young family of one of the drivers who died in the crash will face financial ruin. Against his better judgment, Alex plots a way to challenge the CEO, but he knows he can’t do it alone. Especially when the body count starts rising.With help from the CEO’s jilted wife and her star-crossed divorce lawyer, Alex pursues the case from L.A.’s seamy underside to the mansions of Bel Air. If he can keep ahead of the CEO’s chilling enforcer, Alex may just discover the dark truth.

Changing of the Guard


James Farner - 2015
    Whilst the great Norlong and Ebonson families fly the flag for the British Empire, Edward Urwin spends his time scratching pieces of art into the cobblestones of Birmingham. Life is straightforward for Edward until a strange old man approaches him in the street. With the help of Henry Beechworth, Edward learns to read and use his special talents to win a place at St. John’s Boarding School. But it isn’t all down to good fortune. Edward doesn’t realise he’s under control of forces far more powerful than him. Forces that are determined to shape him in their image. Forces that are determined to bury the mystery of the demise of the Urwin family for good… Check out the first books of my other series, including Made in Yorkshire and the War Years.

Social Death


Tatiana Boncompagni - 2014
    They have deadlier secrets.A beautiful socialite is brutally murdered in her exclusive New York City apartment building. A financier's trophy wife and the night doorman are the last two people to see her alive. There's no sign of forced entry. No known motive. Just a neighbor's account of overhearing a heated argument outside the victim's apartment on the night of the murder. Clyde Shaw has built a career covering brutal crimes for the FirstNews network, but this story may be more than the top news producer can handle. The murder victim, Olivia Kravis, is the daughter of FirstNews's mogul founder-and Clyde's best friend since childhood. As a high-stakes network ratings war begins, Clyde's own privileged yet troubled past comes back to haunt her, and she's forced to choose between finding her best friend's killer and losing everything-her job, her reputation, even her life. Long-guarded secrets. Millions at stake. And only Clyde holds the key to unlocking the truth. PRAISE FOR SOCIAL DEATH"A breathless thriller that takes the reader deep inside the worlds of television news and glitterati New York. This is great stuff. " Stuart Woods, New York Times Bestselling author of Unintended Consequences

The Operator


Gretchen Berg - 2020
    . .Nobody knows the people of Wooster, Ohio, better than switchboard operator Vivian Dalton. She calls it intuition. Her teenage daughter, Charlotte, calls it eavesdropping.Vivian and the other women who work at Bell on East Liberty Street connect lines and lives. They aren’t supposed to listen in on conversations, but they do, and they all have opinions on what they hear―especially Vivian. Then, one cold December night, Vivian listens in on a call between that snob Betty Miller and someone whose voice she can’t quite place and hears something shocking. Betty Miller’s mystery friend has news that, if true, will shatter Vivian’s tidy life in Wooster, humiliating her and making her the laughingstock of the town.Vivian may be mortified, but she isn’t going to take this lying down. She’s going to get to the bottom of that rumor—get into it, get under it, poke around in the corners. Find every last bit. Vivian wants the truth, no matter how painful it may be.But as Vivian is about to be reminded, in a small town like Wooster, one secret usually leads to another. . . .

Bourbon & Blood


Garrard Hayes - 2013
    Drugs, white slavery, prostitution, murder... Former soldier and decorated war hero Bill Conlin finds himself immersed in it all when he can't find "respectable" work after his tour in Afghanistan. When his cousin, Jimmy, first tries to talk him into joining Irish mafia boss Frank Sullivan's gang, Bill brushes him off. All Bill really wants is a normal life with a nice girl, and he's pretty sure the waitress he just met, Dana, is the one. But with his savings running low, and desperate to get out of his Hell's Kitchen near-tenement apartment building, Bill, against his better judgment, agrees to a meeting with Mr. Sullivan, an Irish Mob boss--and immediately hits the point of no return... Now with a brand new Lincoln and fancy new uptown digs (complete with a live-in girl whose only purpose is to serve him, and a wardrobe packed with weapons), Bill's tasked to take down a Harlem-based Mexican prostitution ring. One thing leads to another, however, and the deeper he gets, the more he learns, and the more tangled up he becomes in a lifestyle he never wanted. But how long until he takes matters into his own hands... And what will the ultimate cost be... Mystery & suspense lurk around every corner of this hard-boiled crime drama where mobsters shoot it out with urban gangs on the streets of New York City.