Raven Black ($2.99), by Ann Cleeves, is the first of the Shetland Island Quartet, which was completed with Blue Lightning ($11.99 Kindle) this month. Also available at B&N, Kobo & Sony ($2.99).Book Description
Winner of Britain’s coveted Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award, Ann Cleeves introduces a dazzling new suspense series to U.S. mystery readers.
Raven Black begins on New Year’s Eve with a lonely outcast named Magnus Tait, who stays home waiting for visitors who never come. But the next morning the body of a murdered teenage girl is discovered nearby, and suspicion falls on Magnus. Inspector Jimmy Perez enters an investigative maze that leads deeper into the past of the Shetland Islands than anyone wants to go.
Bad Thoughts ($2.39), by Dave Zeltserman, is the first in the Bill Shannon series. Also available at Kobo ($2.39), B&N & Sony ($2.99).Book Description
One afternoon 13 year-old Billy Shannon comes home to a living nightmare. His mother being brutally murdered is only the beginning…
20 years later, Bill Shannon is now a cop in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As the twenty-year anniversary of his mother’s death is approaching, women are being murdered in the same horrific grisly fashion. And while this is going on, he’s having blackouts which only seem to be getting worse…
Everything seems to be pointing to one of two possibilities: Shannon has gone insane or his mom’s killer is back to his old tricks. Except if it’s mom’s killer, he’s come back a long way to do these new killings… all the way from the grave.
Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House ($2.99 Kindle), by M C Beaton, is the fourteenth in the very long Agatha Raisin series, which is an appropriate read for this time of year (yes, I've seen haunted houses already open); the latest in the series, Busy Body ($11.99 Kindle), releases next month. Also available at B&N, Kobo & Sony ($2.99).Book Description
Just back from an extended stay in London, Agatha Raisin finds herself greeted by torrential rains and an old, familiar feeling of boredom. When her handsome new neighbor, Paul Chatterton, shows up on her doorstep, she tries her best to ignore his obvious charms, but his sparkling black eyes and the promise of adventure soon lure her into another investigation.
Paul has heard rumors about Agatha's reputation as the Cotswold village sleuth and wastes no time offering their services to the crotchety owner of a haunted house. Whispers, footsteps, and a cold white mist are plaguing Mrs. Witherspoon, but the police have failed to come up with any leads, supernatural or otherwise. The neighbors think it's all a desperate ploy for attention, but Paul and Agatha are sure something more devious is going on. Someone's playing tricks on Mrs. Witherspoon, and when she turns up dead under suspicious circumstances, Agatha finds herself caught up in another baffling murder mystery.
Reign Check ($2.22 Kindle), by Michelle Rowen, is actually the second (and latest) in the Demon Princess series, which starts with Reign or Shine ($7.51 paperback).Book Description
Fresh from finding out she is a demon princess and meeting her father for the first time, Nikki Donovan is looking forward to getting back to her regular high school life. But then Rhys, the handsome teenage king of the faery realm, enrolls at her school as a "foreign exchange student." Her conflicted feelings for Rhys and her boyfriend are getting in the way of her new relationship with the Shadow-creature Michael. But this love triangle from hell isn't even Nikki's biggest problem: There's a new prophecy that claims she will destroy all the demon and human worlds. Her best friend Melinda just might be a demon-slayer-in-training. Throw in a field trip to none other than the Underworld itself . . . and Nikki's going to be hoping for a rain check on more than just her homework!
You've no doubt heard that David Morrell has signed an exclusive deal with Amazon, bringing 10 of his backlist titles to Kindle exclusively for a year. While all of those are over our limit, his latest novel, The Shimmer ($2.03 Kindle) isn't. Also available at B&N.Book Description
When a high-speed chase goes terribly wrong, Santa Fe police officer Dan Page watches in horror as a car and gas tanker explode into flames. Torn with guilt that he may be responsible, Page returns home to discover that his wife, Tori, has disappeared. Frantic, Page follows her trail to Rostov, a remote town in Texas famous for a massive astronomical observatory, a long-abandoned military base, and unexplained nighttime phenomena that draw onlookers from every corner of the globe. Many of these gawkers-Tori among them-are compelled to visit this tiny community to witness the mysterious Rostov Lights. Without warning, a gunman begins firing on the lights, screaming "Go back to hell where you came from," then turns his rifle on the bystanders. A bloodbath ensues, and events quickly spiral out of control, setting the stage for even greater violence and death. Page must solve the mystery of the Rostov Lights to save his wife. In the process, he learns that the decaying military base may not be abandoned at all, and that the government may have known about the lights for decades. Could these phenomena be more dangerous than anyone could have possibly imagined?
Shadowfae ($2.99 Kindle), by Erica Hayes, is the first in the series by the same name; the second and third in the series, Shadowglass ($9.99 Kindle) and Poison Kissed ($7.99 Kindle), both released this year.. Also available at B&N, Kobo & Sony ($2.99).Book Description
Imagine a secret world veiled in fairy glamour and brimming with unearthly delights. A city swarming with half-mad fairies, where thieving spriggans rob you blind, beautiful banshees mesmerize you with their song, and big green trolls bust heads at nightclubs. And once you’re in, there’s no escape…
Enslaved by a demon lord, Jade is forced to spend her nights seducing vampire gangsters and shapeshifting thugs. After two hundred years as a succubus, she burns for freedom and longs to escape her brutal life as a trophy girl for hell’s minions. Then she meets Rajah, an incubus who touches her heart and intoxicates her senses. Rajah shares the same bleak fate as she, and yearns just as desperately for freedom. But the only way for Jade to break her bonds is to betray Rajah—and doom the only man she’s ever loved to a lifetime in hell.
The Up And Comer ($1.99 Kindle), by Howard Roughan, is a first novel, although not part of a series. Also available at Kobo & Sony ($1.99).Book Description
On an island of glitz, in a season of ambition, Philip Randall is getting what everyone wants. A rising career in a big New York law firm. A rich and beautiful wife. A cavernous downtown loft. And enough disposable income to turn Manhattan into a movable feast. So why is Philip testing fate by sleeping with his best friend's wife? And who is the man watching every move Philip makes-and waiting to make a move of his own?
Set against a glittering backdrop of success, money, and power, this tale of a brilliantly calculating "man on the rise" has sent waves of anticipation through the literary world. Heralding the debut of a gifted young writer, it is a thriller for our time: funny, hip, and terrifying.
Devil In My Bed ($2.99 Kindle), by Celeste Bradley, is the first in her Runaway Brides series, the latest of which, Scoundrel In My Dreams ($7.99 Kindle), released this month. Also available at B&N, Kobo & Sony ($2.99).Book Description
The three-year-old girl sitting on the steps of Brown’s Club for Distinguished Gentlemen insists that one of its members is her papa. Aidan de Quincy feels obligated to help the wee thing, even though she certainly isn’t his—or is she? To find answers, Aidan must first track down the lovely widow he swore to forget when their passionate affair came to a painful end. It doesn’t help that Madeleine Chandler is as sensual and enticing as ever…
For three years, Madeleine had dreamed of seeing Aidan on her doorstep. The secret that once forced her to leave him now compels her to pretend that this sweet child is hers—a lie Aidan will surely never forgive. Yet the contented days and exquisite nights that follow are worth the heartbreak she knows must come. The truth will out—and when it does, there will be the devil to pay…
