Book picks similar to
Tortoise Stew by P.C. Zick


mystery
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Gasoline, Texas


Joseph Flynn - 2007
    But one thing's for sure: After fifteen years of being a Hollywood stuntman, Laddy's back to run for mayor of his hometown of Gasoline, Texas. His opponent is incumbent Edwin Win-Win Winslow. Win-Win is the quintessential Texas good ol' boy. A former star lineman at Texas A&M, Win-Win now owns Texas Rolling Stock, an upscale SUV dealership that sells internal combustion monsters like gas was still 25¢ a gallon. Which in Gasoline it still is. The town has its own oil field and refinery. And the Municipal Field is what the election is all about. Laddy vows to keep it. Win-Win wants to sell it to Big Oil, which is getting nervous about the idea of anybody in the country still having access to affordable fuel. Win-Win promises that every homeowner in town will get a windfall payment that will make the sale a good deal. Laddy cautions that Big Oil is way too slippery to trust. Who will win? Will the Winslow dynasty be extended another generation? Will Laddy ever find out who his daddy is? Will he marry his first love, now a famous movie star? Or will he chuck everything to take up with Win-Wins long lost daughter, Hayley? Finding out is a gusher of fun.

RAGE


Hylton Smith - 2018
    The local police were confounded by the almost total absence of forensic evidence. However, there was a growing unease that this would not be an isolated event. Without specifics it became difficult to visualise any motive for what had happened. Nobody, not just the police, could have predicted what would develop from this sea of confusion.

Left Luggage


Andrew Christie - 2014
     When John Lawrence finally finds out about his father’s dangerous legacy, it forces him to confront a family past marked by secrets and loss. After leaving the army, John is back in Sydney and trying to build himself a new life while he looks after his elderly mother. Betty Lawrence was a photojournalist. She survived Vietnam, Lebanon and Sarajevo, but now she is bitter and resentful that old age and a broken leg have forced her to leave Paris and return to the home town she abandoned long ago. Betty is followed by deadly baggage that puts them both in danger. A suitcase loaded with weapons and money, intended for a terrorist attack that never happened triggers a power struggle between local crime gangs. John and Betty are drawn into the violence and John has to fight to keep them both alive while he tries to understand just who his parents really were. This fast-paced crime drama set in Sydney, introduces complex, and compelling characters struggling to survive against a backdrop of ruthless gang violence.

Fortune and Fame


Mark Len Mayfield - 2016
    Shortly after a second murder in Sinful had been solved, Fortune believes she has recognized a woman, now going by the name Georgia Fame, who has been using her affections to prey on well-to-do elderly men, leaving them heartbroken, penniless and sometimes even... dead. Ingeniously clever, the woman has alluded authorities for decades and Fortune soon begins to understand why. With Ida Belle and Gertie at her side, the swamp team begin to build their case but the woman always covers her tracks and stays one step ahead of them. Fortune gets close but Georgia always manages to stay just out of reach. When she realizes her suspect may get away forever, she tries one last act of desperation. “Fortune and Fame” is fast-paced, filled with humor, romance, twists and turns. From KindleWorld’s Mark Len Mayfield, author of the Wayward Pines novel, “The Journey of Peter McCall.”

Indigo Fire


Vickie McKeehan - 2016
    Their sister has gone missing along with her husband and two kids. But the mystery only deepens when they learn a visitor to the town has also disappeared. Are the two cases related? And, if so, what are the people in their hometown hiding?

Flesh and Blood: Part One


Solomon Carter - 2016
    A stolen kiss... A moment frozen in time returns to haunt Private detective Eva Roberts.Eva faces her past against a backdrop of deadly terrorism. Europe is in lock-down and another attack is imminent. Two situations, one private and personal... one dark and deadly. Can they really be linked?Deadly danger and personal shame meet as Roberts and Bradley embark on a deadly new journey in Flesh & Blood, a gripping private detective mystery thriller from the Roberts and Bradley Casebook.This book is a short read with a thrilling cliffhanger - the first of five instalments which are also available as a complete boxed set!If you love fast-paced page turning thrillers featuring private detectives, you'll love Flesh & Blood. Fans of Rayven T Hill, Val McDermid, Christopher Grayson, Lee Child and Robert Crais will love reading the exploits of Dan Bradley and Eva Roberts, private detectives.

Finding Miranda


Iris Chacon - 2014
    Murder, political corruption, quirky small-town neighbors, and Dave the Wonder Dog work together to make this mystery fun, romantic, and satisfying. Detailed Plot Summary: Miranda Ogilvy is accustomed to being invisible. Sometimes people actually see her, but they forget her almost immediately. It’s not a bad life for a ghost, but Miranda is not a ghost. She’s a librarian. The problem may be that Miranda lives in a big, busy city. So when her aunt dies suddenly and leaves Miranda a century-old cottage forty miles beyond the middle of nowhere, Miranda makes the life-changing move from Miami to Minokee. Moving doesn’t solve the problem, however; people still don’t notice Miranda. The only two people who seem all too aware of her are a handsome neighbor (way out of her league) and the man who murdered her aunt (too late to move back to Miami?). Shepard Krausse is a late-night radio talk show host, but it isn’t because he “has a face for radio,” as the saying goes. In fact, Shepard is such a hunk that the little old ladies in his tiny Minokee community set their clocks every day in order to be on their front porches sipping coffee and watching through binoculars as he takes his morning run. Shep waves to the ladies (Psst! Bernice, yer droolin; on yer apron.), but he has never seen them. Shep has been blind since birth. His best friend (and guide dog), Dave, goes everywhere with him, including on the morning run. (Shepard’s the cute one; Dave’s the smart one.) Shepard’s radio show, “Sheep Counters with Shep and Dave,” caters to insomniacs whose paranoia and conspiracy theories are keeping them awake. People enjoy venting their rage on the air, and Shepard’s audience enjoys, in about equal numbers, either agreeing with or ridiculing his callers. Shep has a conspiracy theory of his own. He believes his uncle, the governor of the state of Florida, is corrupt in a big way, and may even be behind the murder of Shepard’s former neighbor, Phyllis Ogilvy. Miranda is small, plain, and, of course, invisible. Shepard is the size of a professional television wrestler and, of course, resembles Adonis. She squeaks by on a librarian’s salary, still wearing clothes she owned in high school. His matching outfits are laid out for him every morning by his chauffeur/valet. She has learned four languages by listening to CDs in her car. He speaks seven languages, which he learned while in boarding school in Switzerland. Her aunt was a small-town librarian and part-time birdwatcher. His uncle is the governor of Florida, and his mother acts like the Queen of England. Miranda attended a community college. Shepard has an Ivy League law degree. Not since the owl and the pussycat has there been a more unlikely pair. Now that Miranda has moved into Minokee, however, Shep and Dave are determined to protect their new neighbor from the bad guys. They just need to find out who or what the villains are. Miranda and Shep don’t know that soon, on a steamy Florida night, the city girl and the blind deejay will be running for their lives in the inky darkness of Little Cypress National Forest.

Free Fish Friday: Introducing Slacker Mills


Lee Stone - 2014
    A vagabond fisherman extraordinaire, the self-indulgent Slacker has just two goals in life. The first is to spend every conscious hour doing only what he loves – hooking and battling big game fish on the ocean by day and hooking up with bar stool sirens at night. The second goal is to avoid any responsibilities that might get in the way of achieving the first. His persistent search for the ultimate angling experience takes him from one ocean paradise to another, where he inevitably becomes entangled in a mystery adventure. His story begins in Key West, Florida, where the 37-year-old Slacker believed he had finally found the ideal life and a lasting home. With his mounted trophies covering the walls of the famous Rusty Hook tavern, he was acclaimed as the best saltwater angler around and never had to pay for a beer. Because every Friday night at the tavern was celebrated with a complimentary banquet of his catch, he also was recognized as a benevolent hero. Through wandering eyes of vacationing ladies, he was typically viewed as "The Catch of the Night." Slacker’s dream lifestyle was attributable to the influence of his best friend and benefactor Jerry Porter, who had landed in Key West aboard his yacht five years earlier. Due to a unique talent for engaging people to talk about themselves while revealing nothing about himself, Jerry quickly bonded with everyone around him. Using those bonds as foundations, he tried to build what he viewed as better and more successful people ... and Slacker was his pet project. The transformation of the Rusty Hook from a local fishermen’s haunt to a Key West landmark was Jerry's crowning achievement. No one had inquired or even speculated much about Jerry Porter’s personal history prior to his arrival in Key West; all were content to revel in his presence. However, when Porter is the victim of a violent death, the traditionally peaceful community is shocked by revelations that there may be a killer in their midst and that perhaps not all of Porter's deeds were worthy of celebration. The charter fishing industry had been losing major clients and perhaps Jerry was the reason for it. A criminal investigation turns up information that damages dozens of families, fractures friendships, and leads to unwelcome national publicity for a town that relies on tourism to fuel the local economy. The police also single out Slacker as the prime suspect, destroying his treasured image among most Islanders, even his closest friends. Exactly who was the mysterious Jerry Porter? How and why did he meet such a violent end? Slacker Mills discovers the answers, and begins to discover himself, in Free Fish Friday.

The Last Appeal


Bill Blum - 1997
     After spending years with a death sentence hanging over his head, Ashbourne knows that his time could nearly be up. For Peter Harrigan, his attorney, in a way this case is the last shot at putting his own life back together. Five years earlier, while preparing Ashbourne's first appeal, Harrigan lost his entire family in a sudden car accident. For Harrigan, it really isn’t just a case. For Harrigan, after putting what little left he had into his work, losing the case would mean losing the final, fragile link to his past. Now when a surprise witness surfaces, Harrigan is not sure whether this new development is a blessing or a curse. His new witness is a master of deception who, at the same time, may hold the proof of Ashbourne's innocence. In Harrigan’s desperation to find the truth and free his client, he will have to plunge into the treacherous corners of California's radical environmental movement. In a final desperate race to lay his ghosts to rest, he will have to team up with a beautiful female investigator. Under the glare of the courtroom, the pressure is mounting as Harrigan has to face his old demons in order to try and finally lay the case to rest, once and for all. Praise for Bill Blum ‘A thrilling legal drama’ – Thomas Waugh Bill Blum is an experienced attorney. Familiar with the ins and outs, and the pitfalls of criminal procedures, he presents a riveting, hard-hitting and authentic legal thriller, one that offers a fascinating insider’s look at the shifting political dynamics within the criminal justice system. Bill Blum has also written for a wide array of publications, including the Los Angeles Times, ABA Journal, The Nation and California Lawyer, hosted a radio talk show, and lectured widely. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and family.

In a House of Lies -- Free Preview (A Rebus Novel)


Ian Rankin - 2018
    The remains, found in a rusted car in the East Lothian woods, not far from Edinburgh, quickly turn into a cold case murder investigation. Rebus' old friend, Siobhan Clarke is assigned to the case, but neither of them could have predicted what buried secrets the investigation will uncover. Rebus remembers the original case--a shady land deal--all too well. After the investigation stalled, the family of the missing man complained that there was a police cover-up. As Clarke and her team investigate the cold case murder, she soon learns a different side of her mentor, a side he would prefer to keep in the past. A gripping story of corruption and consequences, this new novel demonstrates that Rankin and Rebus are still at the top of their game.

The Single Staircase


Matt Ingwalson - 2013
    Did her parents kill their only child and hide the body? What other solution could there be?This is a modern police procedural. It's also a classical locked-room mystery that will keep you guessing right up until the end.All profits from the sale of this novella will be donated to charities that help find missing children.

Tampa Bait


Edgar Winner - 2012
    Because if you do, you may find out what happens when a former cop with a gun and nothing to lose decides to push back

A Chance Mistake


Jackie Zack - 2015
    His latest best seller has left him freaked out, and he begins to suspect that he’s being followed. Is he the target of a nefarious scheme? Has his money-making imagination veered out of control? An array of Kory’s books in a Welsh bookstore window pulls him into the shop to browse. He is astonished to meet Dafina Perry, the living image of a female character in his last book. As his vacation progresses down its unusual track, he finds himself inexplicably and somewhat humorously entangled in her family drama. Dafina, struggling with betrayal and potential loss, worries about the welfare of the handsome, brilliant novelist. Will helping him bring unexpected love and happiness to her life? Or will her good intentions invoke destruction for them both?

Paper


Andrew Stanek - 2016
    Now everyone from petty criminals to the FBI are after Ken while he tries to find his estranged father and win back his girlfriend. How much money is real and how much is counterfeit? Find out in Paper.

The Missing Ones


J.S. Donovan - 2017
    Donovan, author of "Kidnapped: A Small Town Mystery,” Roger Hayden, author of “The Abducted,” and James Hunt, author of “Deadly Webs and Stolen,” whose stories have collectively accumulated 400+ five-star reviews, come together in this SUPER BOX SET for the first time! That's FOUR BOOK SERIES totaling TWELVE NOVELS! Kidnapped – A Small Town Mystery Renowned Miami detective Anna Dedrick returns to her rural birthplace with hopes of leaving behind the vices of the big city. That dream shatters when the town’s pride--an African-American child prodigy--goes missing. As the only woman equipped for the job, Anna takes the case but soon discovers the town suspecting her estranged brother… and herself. Deadly Webs When a child goes missing the amount of resources that authorities use is substantial. Abduction cases are taken very seriously by all of the parties involved. None more so than by Chase Grant, a detective in Seattle’s eighteenth precinct. The clock starts the moment he gets the call from a parent, and the first twelve hours are crucial. Every move counts, and every choice matters. If he missteps, then a child might not come home. But today was different. He got a call about a missing child. And then another, and another, and another… Stolen- A Small Town Abduction Trust holds a small town together. When times are tough you know you can lean on your neighbor for help. But when a political movement splits the town of Barta, North Dakota in half, and a young girl goes missing, the trust is broken. Who took Kaley Hayes? The Abducted To solve a high-profile abduction, one former-police officer must confront a dark past.  A child’s abduction leads to a frightening pattern within a South Florida town where nothing is as it seems. Amidst the vast wetlands, suburban sprawl, and tropical heat, the Lee County police department knows what to expect on any given day. But when a serial child predator stakes his claim in the area, there is no knowing when and where he will strike. The parents of the latest victim are baffled to receive no ransom demands, given their wealth and influence. And the town is in an uproar as the girl marks the fifth child to vanish.