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Slater & Norman Mysteries Boxed Set 1 (affiliate link)
One missing woman.
Two scapegoats looking to put the record straight.
Ruth Thornhill went missing six months ago, but when asked to investigate Dave Slater soon finds enough discrepancies between the original case file and the facts to realise there’s been a cover-up. Curiosity aroused, he begins to ask questions and rattle some cages. When someone tries to push him under a London bus, Slater knows he’s onto something big, but now the stakes have been raised his boss insists he needs help.
Slater is horrified to find his partner is new to the station and rumoured to be as good as useless, but his boss insists, he has no choice. It turns out new partner DS Norman Norman isn’t quite as hopeless as rumour suggests and, just like Slater, has also crossed paths with the Serious Crime Unit.
The stakes get higher still when they uncover some disturbing connections to the missing woman.
Dead Folks’ Blues (Harry James Denton Book 1) (affiliate link)
Sharp-tongued journalist Harry James Denton just got divorced…and fired. Oops. In this thoroughly satisfying Edgar winner, our witty, wry, hardboiled protagonist is nothing if not adaptable: he sets up shop as a part time car repossessor and private investigator. Since he’s new to both businesses, he’s barely scraping by– until an old flame knocks on his door.
Rachel Fletcher is Harry’s college sweetheart, the cause of sleepless nights and years of wistful longing. She’s reentering his life as a client, though– she’s married to a foolhardy doctor who loves to gamble. Apparently, the doctor’s risky addiction has plunged him deep into trouble with some shady characters who keep threatening his life.
Frightened, wealthy Rachel seeks out Harry in hopes that he can discreetly tail her husband and track down his would-be killers. But Harry soon learns that the doctor has a ton of enemies…and that vengeance will be swift.
Ticket to Heaven: A Lou Fleener Mystery (Lou Fleener Mysteries #5) (affiliate link)
HE CAN’T TAKE IT WITH HIM…
SO HE’S GONE TO PLAN B—
It’s 1961 and Chicago’s sleaziest businessman is trying to pay off his sins. The cruel, strange real estate tycoon Elwood Tymms– known as “Terrible Tymms”– is dying. But go figure— he’s somehow got the idea the wages of sin will pave his way past the pearly gates.
So before he goes, he’s trying to throw all his money to charitable causes in an off-the-wall effort to buy his way into heaven.
But Tymms has a problem: he’s got so many enemies he can hardly walk out his front door without running into a hitman or two. He might end up assassinated before he can finish giving away his cash— and in his mind that means he’d end up in hell.
Marc Kadella Legal Mysteries Vol 1-6 (Marc Kadella Series) (affiliate link)
Move over, Jake Brigance. No-nonsense, world-weary Minneapolis lawyer Marc Kadella shines through gritty, street-wise narrative in Dennis Carstens’ action-packed legal thriller series, sure to please fans of courtroom drama and classic noir alike.
Marc takes the proverbial road less traveled, going from life as a frustratingly floundering defense attorney to that of a celebrated criminal lawyer, while representing a handful of colorful clients running the gauntlet from vigilante to psychopath. And Marc deftly adapts to each of them. But the hero’s journey is only part of the fun. You can almost see the men sporting fedoras, and the babes would stop traffic even without the cleavage Carstens makes their standard attire. And there’s a contemporary angle sure to please fans of both sexes—the toughest guy in the series is gorgeous investigator Maddy Rivers.
First Case (Writer’s Retreat Southern Seashore Mystery Book 1) (affiliate link)
The Fixer Upper: A Novel (affiliate link)
A sassy, sexy, sometimes poignant look at small town Southern life, as only New York Times bestseller Mary Kay Andrews can tell it.
The Fixer Upper is a must-read for fans of Fannie Flagg, Sophie Kinsella, the Ya-Yas, and the Sweet Potato Queens, and for every reader obsessed with decorating and home repair. It is a truly delectable story of a woman whose professional fall from grace lands her back in a hometown she never knew, amongst a gothic Southern family she’s never met, and saddled with a task she could never have imagined.
Summer at Hope Haven (affiliate link)
When Emily’s fiancé walks out on her while she’s still grieving the loss of her family in a terrible accident, she escapes back to Hope Haven on the remote Dune Island, where her family vacationed every summer. Emily hopes that fixing up the house will also mend her broken heart, but the cottage holds more than just bittersweet childhood memories. Emptying her father’s antique writing desk, Emily finds a letter that reveals a devastating secret about her parents.
With a head full of questions that can never be answered, it seems like returning to the island was the worst decision Emily ever made… until she meets Lucas Socorro, saltwater dripping from his dark curls after a surf session. As they take long walks on the soft sand, and talk late into the firefly-lit night, Emily wonders if Dr Luke—as the kids in the hospital call him—could be the one to help her heal. With Luke holding her hand, delving into her family’s painful past is a little easier.
Deep Fathom (affiliate link)
Ex-Navy SEAL Jack Kirkland surfaces from an aborted underwater salvage mission to find Earth burning. Solar flares have triggered a series of gargantuan natural disasters. Earth-quakes and hellfire rock the globe. Air Force One has vanished from the skies with America’s president on board.
Now, with the United States on the narrow brink of a nuclear apocalypse, Kirkland must pilot his oceangoing exploration ship, Deep Fathom, on a desperate mission miles below the ocean’s surface. There, devastating secrets await him–and a power an ancient civilization could not contain that has been cast out into modern day, where it will forever alter a world that’s already racing toward its own destruction.
Coast Road: A Novel (affiliate link)
Elatsoe (affiliate link)
A Texas teen comes face-to-face with a cousin’s ghost and vows to unmask the murderer.
Elatsoe—Ellie for short—lives in an alternate contemporary America shaped by the ancestral magics and knowledge of its Indigenous and immigrant groups. She can raise the spirits of dead animals—most importantly, her ghost dog Kirby. When her beloved cousin dies, all signs point to a car crash, but his ghost tells her otherwise: He was murdered.
Who killed him and how did he die? With the help of her family, her best friend Jay, and the memory great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother, Elatsoe, must track down the killer and unravel the mystery of this creepy town and its dark past. But will the nefarious townsfolk and a mysterious Doctor stop her before she gets started?
A breathtaking debut novel featuring an asexual, Apache teen protagonist, Elatsoe combines mystery, horror, noir, ancestral knowledge, haunting illustrations, fantasy elements, and is one of the most-talked about debuts of the year.
Little Lies (Fate’s Bite Book 1) (affiliate link)
I AM DARKNESS.
I AM SIN.
I AM YOURS.
A truth imprinted onto my skin—its sharp vines digging into my flesh as our bond strengthens with each shallow intake of breath my love takes. Her life is intertwined with the devil, a man who hungers for depravity and death, and yet, I bend my knee for her.
Only her. Always her.
She is mine and I will kill to protect. Kill to own her.
Gabriella Moore will never leave me. Not by choice or circumstance.
At His Mercy: Masters Club Series – Book 1 (affiliate link)
Intense. Exclusive. Invitation only. Do you have what it takes to be a pleasure sub?
Masters Club, a private BDSM venue for serious players, is perfect for Dom Cameron Lord, who gives the kink lifestyle everything he’s got—except his heart… When he witnesses a lovely sub girl enduring a botched scene at a NYC public club, he sees her potential. She’ll make an excellent addition to the Masters Club. But as he steps closer, he recognizes her…and all bets should have been off.
Aspiring young attorney Jess Cooper gets her release at the BDSM clubs around town, where she enjoys letting her inner sub fly. There’s nothing better than to be naked and bound, a stranger in black leather behind her wielding a whip. It’s the perfect anonymous relief from a stressful workweek. Until her worlds collide when Mr. Lord, the super sexy partner at her firm, watches her from the sidelines.
Any hope that he hadn’t recognized her with her clothes off vanishes the very next day at the office. No, he doesn’t say a word about what he saw. His invitation says it all…
… See the rest of today ‘s Book Picks here on page 2Page 2