P.D. Workman's Blog, page 73
December 5, 2019
Enjoying the season
Hard to believe that it is December already. I knew it was coming, but it’s here way before I’m ready for it.
What holiday traditions do you have for enjoying the season, rather than just focusing on gifts and one perfect day (when everybody probably comes down with the flu anyway… hasn’t everybody had at least one Christmas like that?) And this doesn’t have to just apply to Christmas. There are a lot of celebrations going on this time of year.
What do you do to take pleasure in the season? How do you keep your family close and yourself sane?
Maybe you have a special advent calendar, ways to serve others and spread the joy, a special tradition of hot chocolate, lighting candles, or attending a nativity or musical performance.
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If you like to read (and what are you doing on my blog if you’re not into books?) you may be interested in the Advent Reader for Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. This classic book has been divided up into 24 readings so that you can read it in the days leading up to Christmas. Even though we are a few days into December already, the readings are short and you can double up a few days to catch up.
Each day’s reading includes a scripture verse and discussion questions that may be helpful if you are using it for a family or small group devotional reading.
Dickens’ The Life of Our Lord is also available in the same format, and there is a reader that includes both stories in one.
Share how you find joy in the season in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you!
December 3, 2019
Excerpt from The Atomic City Girls
Did you have a great Thanksgiving? I hope you enjoyed time with your family and relaxing, thinking of the things you are grateful for. And if you stopped by here, you might have picked up a free copy of Her Work Was Everything and some other great freebies that were available for the weekend.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.
I have just started reading The Atomic City Girls, by Janet Beard. In searching it up on Amazon just now, and realized that there is also a book called The Girls of Atomic City, on the same subject, so be aware if you are looking it up that there are two very similar books out there. The Atomic City Girls is billed as a novel and The Girls of Atomic City as a true story.
Both are billed as being in the tradition of Hidden Figures, which I love. I’m not sure yet that The Atomic City Girls will rise to that level, but we’ll see where it goes! So far I am just meeting the main characters, who are obviously destined to meet and get involved.
“You are now a resident of Oak Ridge,” it read, “situated within a restricted military area… What you do here, what you see here, what you hear here, let is stay here.”
Janet Beard, The Atomic City Girls
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In November 1944, eighteen-year-old June Walker boards an unmarked bus, destined for a city that doesn’t officially exist. Oak Ridge, Tennessee has sprung up in a matter of months—a town of trailers and segregated houses, 24-hour cafeterias, and constant security checks. There, June joins hundreds of other young girls operating massive machines whose purpose is never explained. They know they are helping to win the war, but must ask no questions and reveal nothing to outsiders.
The girls spend their evenings socializing and flirting with soldiers, scientists, and workmen at dances and movies, bowling alleys and canteens. June longs to know more about their top-secret assignment and begins an affair with Sam Cantor, the young Jewish physicist from New York who oversees the lab where she works and understands the end goal only too well, while her beautiful roommate Cici is on her own mission: to find a wealthy husband and escape her sharecropper roots. Across town, African-American construction worker Joe Brewer knows nothing of the government’s plans, only that his new job pays enough to make it worth leaving his family behind, at least for now. But a breach in security will intertwine his fate with June’s search for answers.
When the bombing of Hiroshima brings the truth about Oak Ridge into devastating focus, June must confront her ideals about loyalty, patriotism, and war itself.
November 28, 2019
Thanks for great book deals
It’s American Thanksgiving, so it’s time for some great deals! First off, I’m starting with some freebies, including Her Work Was Everything, book #7 in the Zachary Goldman Mysteries.
About Her Work Was Everything
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There’s something going on at Drake Chase Gould.
The death of intern Lauren Barclay is just the tip of the iceberg. When Lauren’s roommate hires Zachary to look into what was, on its surface, a tragic accidental death, Zachary gets more than he bargained for.
Not only is there definitely something up at “Chase Gold,” but he quickly realizes that one of the principals of the investment banking firm is Gordon Drake, Zachary’s ex-wife’s current husband. And that is a recipe for disaster.
Zachary is running into roadblocks everywhere he turns, and if someone at Drake Chase Gould is responsible for Lauren’s untimely death, then he is putting himself right in the murderer’s crosshairs.
—Bryan, Goodreads reader
The Zachary Goldman series are great and to put it bluntly this is the best one yet.
Sample
Listen to sample
Listen to a reading by the author
DOWNLOAD
A couple of multi-author promos
Click the graphic to see what’s going on with these Thanksgiving Giveaways!
Other freebies this weekend
I have worked hard to gather some other freebies for you!
One-click to add all freebies to your Amazon cart at once, or you can choose to download them individually.
As always, check prices before you check out, as prices may change without warning or not be free all days or in all markets.
.ugb-517393e .ugb-feature__item{border-radius:0px !important;background-color:#F8E7E9 !important}.ugb-517393e .ugb-feature__item:before{background-color:#F8E7E9 !important}.ugb-517393e .ugb-img{width:313px;height:auto !important}.ugb-517393e .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-517393e .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-517393e .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-517393e .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-517393e .ugb-inner-block{text-align:left}Inspired by Murder
Dr. Eric Leroy hungers for literary fame. Exhausted after years of listening to his rich clients wallowing in their worries, the psychiatrist intends to pursue his true passion of writing murder mysteries. And with his most obnoxious patient in mind, he crafts a killer plot to write exactly what he knows…
The nation is shocked when a famous Seattle resident and his wife are found dead in their upscale Madison Park neighborhood. It looks like murder-suicide, but Detective Blake Stephenson isn’t convinced.
As Stephenson investigates Dr. Leroy, he uncovers a dark past filled with secrets. Meanwhile, the headlines are reeling with a killer on the loose in Seattle.
As the death toll rises, Stephenson struggles to find enough evidence to arrest the doctor—before he kills again.
Free Cyber Monday
.ugb-cfac1af .ugb-feature__item{border-radius:0px !important;background-color:#ECECEC !important}.ugb-cfac1af .ugb-feature__item:before{background-color:#ECECEC !important}.ugb-cfac1af .ugb-img{width:334px;height:auto !important}.ugb-cfac1af .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-cfac1af .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-cfac1af .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-cfac1af .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}All Eyes on Me
The Las Vegas desert.
A once famous pop singer lies dead.
The only clue to her murder—a bizarre disfigurement.
Only one thing to do.
Call in Parker and Steele.
To avoid the hassle of a media frenzy, the local police sergeant decides contact his old mentor, Wade Parker, and ask him to consult on the case.
After nearly dying eight months ago, Miranda Steele can’t wait to get back to real detective work.
Nobody deserves to die that way.
But this one isn’t so easy. If she can’t solve this case, not only will she fail her destiny, another psycho killer might get away with murder.
.ugb-a5735fd .ugb-feature__item{border-radius:0px !important;background-color:#F8E7E9 !important}.ugb-a5735fd .ugb-feature__item:before{background-color:#F8E7E9 !important}.ugb-a5735fd .ugb-img{width:329px;height:auto !important}.ugb-a5735fd .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-a5735fd .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-a5735fd .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-a5735fd .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}A Peek at Bathsheba
The most torrid tale of passion ever told: David’s forbidden love for Bathsheba, and his attempt to cover up the scandal. Will he muster the strength needed to protect her and save their son from danger?
This is volume II of the trilogy The David Chronicles, told candidly by the king himself. David uses modern language, indicating that this is no fairytale.
Rather, it is a story that is happening here and now. Listen to his voice as he undergoes a profound change, realizing the curse looming over his entire future.
Free Thursday
.ugb-1d447a7 .ugb-feature__item{background-color:#ECECEC !important}.ugb-1d447a7 .ugb-feature__item:before{background-color:#ECECEC !important}.ugb-1d447a7 .ugb-img{width:329px;height:auto !important}.ugb-1d447a7 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-1d447a7 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-1d447a7 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-1d447a7 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Gone the Next
Meet Roy Ballard, freelance videographer with a knack for catching insurance cheats. He’s working a routine case, complete with hours of tedious surveillance, when he sees something that shakes him to the core. There, with the subject, is a little blond girl wearing a pink top and denim shorts—the same outfit worn by Tracy Turner, a six-year-old abducted the day before. When the police are skeptical of Ballard’s report—and with his history, who can blame them?—it’s the beginning of the most important case of his life.
Get it Now[image error].ugb-855e232 .ugb-feature__item{border-radius:0px !important;background-color:#F8E7E9 !important}.ugb-855e232 .ugb-feature__item:before{background-color:#F8E7E9 !important}.ugb-855e232 .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}.ugb-855e232 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-855e232 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-855e232 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-855e232 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Ithaca’s Soldier
George Hartmann’s past life in Ancient Greece has returned to haunt him even though he doesn’t remember the threat.
Unfortunately, bad guys are coming after him anyway. His young son is the first target.
When a violent break-in interrupts idyllic family life and leaves the child in peril, George must act fast — before it’s too late.
And when he finally begins to recall what happened thanks to a hypnosis session with a local psychologist, he’s left with more questions than answers as the odds against him stack higher and higher.
Free Thursday and Friday
.ugb-be20bad .ugb-feature__item{border-radius:0px !important;background-color:#ECECEC !important}.ugb-be20bad .ugb-feature__item:before{background-color:#ECECEC !important}.ugb-be20bad .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}.ugb-be20bad .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-be20bad .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-be20bad .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-be20bad .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Murder in Mind
Sloane Monroe has solved every case except one: the brutal murder of her sister Gabrielle.
Three years have passed without a trace of the killer until today, when a young woman’s body is discovered in front of the local supermarket. Now Sloane is faced with the most difficult challenge of her life – finding the man who is a master at concealing his identity before he strikes again.
.ugb-509b2d4 .ugb-feature__item{border-radius:0px !important;background-color:#F8E7E9 !important}.ugb-509b2d4 .ugb-feature__item:before{background-color:#F8E7E9 !important}.ugb-509b2d4 .ugb-img{width:348px;height:auto !important}.ugb-509b2d4 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-509b2d4 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-509b2d4 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-509b2d4 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Altered Life
Private Investigator Sam Dyke turns down a job that would require skills that he doesn’t have – patience, computer-literacy, tact. Then he finds that the skills he does have – tenacity, aggression, street-smarts – are exactly the ones he needs for his next case – hunting down a cold-blooded murderer who seems to know what his every step will be.
To solve the case Sam must negotiate with his ex-wife, cement a relationship with a new love, unravel an office-based financial fraud and fight off an arrogant murderer armed only with a pen-knife.
Sam is a private investigator from a working-class environment who works amongst the wealthy and privileged of the Cheshire set—those whose morals and levels of discretion are offensive to him and go against his own values, forged in a strong family environment. The mysteries he unravels become personal crusades against entitlement, wealth and the abuse of power. Although he doesn’t moralize, he gets angry when he sees people who lie, steal and murder to get their way. Like Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade he has a clear view of what the world is actually like, but he nevertheless wants evil-doers set straight and will do what he can to help.
.ugb-3413ce9 .ugb-feature__item{border-radius:0px !important;background-color:#ECECEC !important}.ugb-3413ce9 .ugb-feature__item:before{background-color:#ECECEC !important}.ugb-3413ce9 .ugb-img{width:313px;height:auto !important}.ugb-3413ce9 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-3413ce9 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-3413ce9 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-3413ce9 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Bad to the Bones
Evan Buckley’s wife went to work one day and didn’t come home. He’s never stopped looking for her. Tormented by demons, consumed by his unrelenting quest for the truth, he loses himself in other people’s problems.
When Linda Clayton’s son Daniel disappeared ten years ago, she didn’t think her life could get any worse—until her husband ran away. Makes you thankful you’re not Linda Clayton.
After Evan’s latest case ends in disaster, he’s at the end of his tether—until fate throws him headlong into Linda Clayton’s desperate world and a long-dead investigation that everybody wants to stay that way.
But Evan never does what everybody wants, and he vows to find answers for her that he can’t find for himself. As the suspense ratchets up, he’s caught in a desperate fight for his life with a stone-cold killer who will stop at nothing to protect his secrets …
.ugb-56e3677 .ugb-feature__item{border-radius:0px !important;background-color:#F8E7E9 !important}.ugb-56e3677 .ugb-feature__item:before{background-color:#F8E7E9 !important}.ugb-56e3677 .ugb-img{width:313px;height:auto !important}.ugb-56e3677 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-56e3677 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-56e3677 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-56e3677 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}The Last Teacher
Imagine your favorite teachers from high school are dying, mysteriously murdered one by one soon after the arrival of the new English instructor…
Mackenzie August is starting a new life. After a successful but destructive career as a high-profile California homicide detective, and then a less successful and even more destructive stint working for a church, he has moved to Virginia to start over as an instructor. The only thing he’s bringing with him is Kix, his infant baby boy. He plans for peaceful living with his son, but trouble soon finds him as his new co-workers begin showing up dead outside of his classroom…
.ugb-9a0c5a9 .ugb-feature__item{border-radius:0px !important;background-color:#ECECEC !important}.ugb-9a0c5a9 .ugb-feature__item:before{background-color:#ECECEC !important}.ugb-9a0c5a9 .ugb-img{width:342px;height:auto !important}.ugb-9a0c5a9 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-9a0c5a9 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-9a0c5a9 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-9a0c5a9 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Southern Bound
When Max Porter discovers his office is haunted by the ghost of a 1940s detective, he does the only sensible thing … he starts a detective agency!
Thrust neck-deep into a world of old mysteries and dangerous enemies, he will face ghosts, witches, and curses. He will discover a world in which survival might be the easiest challenge. And he will do anything necessary to keep his wife and his life from falling away.
November 26, 2019
Excerpt from Camino Island
Be sure to come back this weekend for some great Thanksgiving deals!
I just finished reading John Grisham’s Camino Island, which is a heist/intrigue novel rather than his usual legal thriller. As the plot surrounds rare manuscripts and writers, there is a lot of insight into the writing life and publishing world. Grisham draws together the disparate threads of the plot together for the grand finale and reveal.
He stepped behind some shrubs near the dorm, pulled a disposable phone out of his pocket, called Princeton’s 911 service, and delivered the horrifying news: “There’s a guy with a gun on the second floor of McCarren. He’s firing shots.”
John Grisham, Camino Island
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A gang of thieves stage a daring heist from a vault deep below Princeton University’s Firestone Library. Their loot is priceless, impossible to resist.
Bruce Cable owns a popular bookstore in the sleepy resort town of Santa Rosa on Camino Island in Florida. He makes his real money, though, as a prominent dealer in rare books. Very few people know that he occasionally dabbles in unsavory ventures.
Mercer Mann is a young novelist with a severe case of writer’s block who has recently been laid off from her teaching position. She is approached by an elegant, mysterious woman working for an even more mysterious company. A generous monetary offer convinces Mercer to go undercover and infiltrate Cable’s circle of literary friends, to get close to the ringleader, to discover his secrets.
But soon Mercer learns far too much, and there’s trouble in paradise—as only John Grisham can deliver it.
November 21, 2019
Writing for Nanowrimo
If you’ve been following me here for a while, you know that I generally participate in Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) every year. A lot of people complain that November is too busy for trying to write a novel, but thousands of people around the world do it every year. Maybe it’s crazy to do it the month before Christmas, but is there really any perfect month to write a novel?
Like finding the perfect wedding date, it’s never going to happen. All you can do is plan things the best you can, don’t take on extra commitments, and leave as much of your holiday preparations as possible for after you’ve finished your novel.
How am I doing this year, you ask?
Last year I finished my novel on about November 28. It was over 150,000 words, I had attended an out of town conference, and my mother in law passed away. It was one year when I had serious doubts about whether I would be able to finish my book in the month of November. (You only need to write 50,000 words to “win” Nano, but my stories are longer and I prefer to finish the full novel within November.)
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But back to this year. I finished my first draft on Monday this week. Not a 150,000 word blockbuster this time, no conference, and (so far) no deaths. At least not in real life, no comment on the book… I did end up taking on a major commitment in my non-work, non-writing life, which has meant a bunch of unplanned meetings, emails, and various administrative tasks. And that’s life. It happens in November, just like any other month.
I enjoy Nano. If you are someone who does not enjoy writing at this speed or who “fails” to reach your 50,000 word (or other) goal, don’t beat yourself up. If life gets in the way, don’t let it get you down. Prize the words you write, and keep your balance. Enjoy the journey.
November 19, 2019
Excerpt from Badlands
Friday was launch day for Her Work was Everything, Book #7 of Zachary Goldman Mysteries. Check it out and pick up a few other new releases as well!
I just finished reading Badlands, book #3 in C.J. Box’s Highway series. I rarely end up reading series in order, but in this case I have actually read books 1 and 2 (in that order!) The listing for the series on Amazon is a bit wonky. Book 1 is not listed as part of the series. In case you are trying to read them in order, book 1 is Back of Beyond. Although I was not happy with the death of a main character in book 2, I enjoyed the FAS character Kyle Westergaard—although, he did not have the same issues as the FAS children I have known. Box is a great storyteller and I really enjoy following the twists and turns of the investigations.
Kyle twisted around and looked behind him. He remembered he’d seen something small and white eject from the rolling car. It was bigger than he’d thought, though: a thick bundle of something.
C.J. Box, Badlands
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Twelve-year-old Kyle Westergaard dreams of getting out of Grimstad and leading a better life. Even though Kyle has been written off as a “slow” kid, he has dreams deeper than anyone can imagine. One day, while delivering newspapers, he witnesses a car accident and takes a mysterious bundle from the scene. Suddenly he’s in possession of a lot of money—and packets of white powder—and Kyle can’t help but wonder whether his luck has changed…for better or for worse.
When the temperature drops to 30 below and a gang war heats up, it’s up to Cassie to help restore law and order. But is she in over her head? As she is propelled on a collision course with a murderous enemy, she finds that the key to it all might come in the most unlikely form: a boy on a bike named Kyle. He keeps showing up where he doesn’t belong. And he seems to know something that Cassie does not about what lies beneath the surface of this small and troubled town…
November 14, 2019
Her Work Was Everything and more new releases!
It is release day for Her Work Was Everything, book #7 of Zachary Goldman Mysteries. Early readers are loving Zachary Goldman.
It was amazing! —Sandy
I’m loving this series! So well written. —Kim
Zachary has definitely taken a lead role on my list of favorite detectives. —Teresa
About Her Work was Everything
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There’s something going on at Drake Chase Gould.
The death of intern Lauren Barclay is just the tip of the iceberg. When Lauren’s roommate hires Zachary to look into what was, on its surface, a tragic accidental death, Zachary gets more than he bargained for.
Not only is there definitely something up at “Chase Gold,” but he quickly realizes that one of the principals of the investment banking firm is Gordon Drake, Zachary’s ex-wife’s current husband. And that is a recipe for disaster.
Zachary is running into roadblocks everywhere he turns, and if someone at Drake Chase Gould is responsible for Lauren’s untimely death, then he is putting himself right in the murderer’s crosshairs.
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Listen to a reading by the author
Coming November 15!
Other new releases
Bad Memory
Quiet towns keep big secrets.
Private investigator Jessica Shaw is leading a quiet life in a Californian desert community, where she spends her days working low-level cases. But when a former resident asks Jessica to help her sister, Rue Hunter—a convicted murderer whose execution is days away—Jessica can’t resist the offer.
Rue doesn’t remember what happened the night two high school students were killed thirty years ago, but everybody in town is certain she’s guilty. As Jessica looks for answers, she finds that local rumors point one way and evidence points another. And nobody wants to face the truth. Meanwhile, Jessica can’t shake the feeling that someone is stalking her—now more than ever, she knows she can’t trust anyone.
As Jessica digs deeper, she encounters local secrets in unlikely places—including the police department itself. But the clock is ticking, and Jessica must find the truth fast—or Rue’s bad memory may be the death of them both.
Uncertain Stakes
While investigating a cold case and juggling family obligations, Detective Luca finds himself at the center of the mysterious disappearance of Beth Wade.
As he unravels the young woman’s life, the list of suspects grows exponentially. A husband, a lover, a disgruntled client, an ex, a criminal, a loan shark—they all had motive to harm Beth, but the evidence against any of them is sketchy, at best.
The truth seems just out of Luca’s grasp, but he’s determined to uncover the truth about what happened the night she vanished.
With political pressure to handle the case sensitively limiting his investigation, and personal concerns weighing down on him, Luca must press ahead and trust his gut…or risk losing the perpetrator forever.
Moving On
Sam has retired at last and moved his family away from Denver to the sunny beaches of Florida, land of sunshine and Disney World. Life is great, and he’s glad to be free of all the dangers of being a private eye, especially after losing his mother and some dear friends over the past few months.
But nothing lasts forever, and it isn’t long before Sam stumbles across a situation he just can’t leave alone. People are dropping dead all over Florida and the authorities are stumped as to what’s killing them, so a local cop who had been a longtime fan shows up at Sam’s beach house with a plea for help.
It doesn’t take Sam, Indie and Beauregard long to figure out the why of the many deaths, but then Sam becomes a target of the mysterious person behind it all. Come along with Sam and the rest as they desperately race against time to save Sam and everyone else!
Candy Canes & Cadavers
Candy Canes and Cadavers is Book Four of the Sapphire Beach Cozy Mystery Series.
Palm trees wrapped in holiday lights. A Fair Trade jewelry shop owner. A murder at the local playhouse.
Connie Petretta is thrilled that her family is spending Christmas with her in Sapphire Beach. They even come early to attend the opening of “A Christmas Carol,” performed in memory of her beloved Aunt Concetta. It has all the makings of a perfect holiday until one of the actors is murdered on opening night. With her mother and sister by her side, Connie puts her sleuthing skills to the test as she investigates the murder of her aunt’s friend and colleague.
Angel Eyes
Gabby Leggett left her Boston family with dreams of making it big as a model/actress in Hollywood. Two years later, she disappears from her apartment. Her family, former boyfriend, friends–and the police–have no idea where she is and no leads. Leggett’s mother hires Spenser to find her, with help of his former apprentice, Zebulon Sixkill, now an L.A. private eye.
Spenser barely has time to unpack before the trail leads to a powerful movie studio boss, the Armenian mob, and a shadowy empowerment group some say might be a dangerous cult.
It’s soon clear that Spenser and Sixkill may be outgunned this time, and series favorites Chollo and Bobby Horse ride to the rescue to provide backup. From the mansions of Beverly Hills to the lawless streets of a small California town, Spenser will need to watch his step. In Hollywood, all that glitters isn’t gold. And not all those who wander are lost.
Mind in Chains
It was spring in the Midwest and the perfect storm was brewing.
A scientist of considerable renown, Dr. James Conroy, Jr., was leading a grassroots movement to improve access to medical treatment in the United States. At the same time, a group known as the Crusaders for Common Sense was rallying around the cry, “Stop Playing God with Medicine.” Claiming that medical science merely maintained the body while the soul rotted from within, they stood opposed to Conroy—violently opposed.
Like most residents of St. Louis, Missouri, Sam “Doc” Price and Nicole Veles watched in horror as the violence escalated. But after a noted medical researcher was attacked at Nicole’s apartment, she and Doc were plunged into a world of domestic terrorism.
Doc found an unlikely ally in FBI Special Agent Rebecca Marte. Together, they tried to make sense of the Crusaders’ actions that defied all logic. The terrorists showed no fear of identification—or even death. In the end, Doc risked everything he loved in a final, deadly gambit with the Crusaders, only to find that the cost of his ploy might be more than he was willing to pay.
The Desecretion of All Saints
Mackenzie August is a private detective and he’s in a rut. His is a feast-or-famine profession, and seasons of mundane work are wearing him down. What he needs is a stimulating case…
Two men come to Mackenzie in secret and request his services. The leader of their church is a venerable and nationally celebrated priest, yet rumors circulate that all is not as it seems. A young clergyman, recently hired, alleges the man is really a villain in disguise. Who can be trusted, the newcomer or the respected priest?
Mackenzie is charged with discovering who is telling the truth and who is lying, and do it before the public catches wind. What he discovers, however, is far worse than anyone could’ve guessed…
The Secret Keeper
When Dr. Garrick agrees to safeguard a flash drive for a patient, his life spins out of control. Car accidents, an office break-in, and an injury to his assistant lead to chaos. A stunning woman arrives to fill in for his assistant. Grant falls for her. Is she a godsend or a spy?
The chaos intensifies to violence and murder. Grant learns that both his patient and the formula are not what they appear to be. Suspected of murder and caught up in an international spy ring with the Russians and Chinese, Garrick finds himself not only on a run from the spies but also from the police and the FBI.
One Day Gone
Mylas Grey is a private investigator but don’t call him a private detective.
That title belongs to his father—not to him.
Mylas is the Chief Investigator for Senator Davis Allen, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His job is to do background investigations for the President’s judicial nominees, and that’s the only kind of investigation he’s interested in doing.
But then Lizzie, the Senator’s daughter, goes missing from her campus apartment.
And suddenly, just like that, Mylas finds himself back in his hometown of Columbia, Missouri, investigating her disappearance as if he were a run-of-the-mill private detective.
Nothing about the investigation is easy.
November 12, 2019
Excerpt from Winter in Paradise
Hope you had a chance to pick up a copy of He Was Not There and some other freebies this weekend! And are you looking forward to the release of Her Work Was Everything, book #7 in the Zachary Goldman Series? I am!
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.
I picked up Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand, which was billed as a mystery, but it is far closer to literary or domestic thriller so far. There is no investigation into the death of the main character’s husband and the others in the helicopter with him, and I’m not even sure at this point that they’re actually dead. Things are very suspicious…
She had spoken to Russ, they had quarreled, and right after they hung up, Irene considered calling him back, but she refrained. There was nothing less attractive than a needy woman—and besides, Russ was busy.
Elin Hilderbrand, Winter in Paradise
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Irene Steele shares her idyllic life in a beautiful Iowa City Victorian house with a husband who loves her to sky-writing, sentimental extremes. But as she rings in the new year one cold and snowy night, everything she thought she knew falls to pieces with a shocking phone call: her beloved husband, away on business, has been killed in a helicopter crash. Before Irene can even process the news, she must first confront the perplexing details of her husband’s death on the distant Caribbean island of St. John.
After Irene and her sons arrive at this faraway paradise, they make yet another shocking discovery: her husband had been living a secret life. As Irene untangles a web of intrigue and deceit, and as she and her sons find themselves drawn into the vibrant island culture, they have to face the truth about their family, and about their own futures.
November 7, 2019
He Was Not There and Freebies this Weekend
He Was Not There is the sixth book in the Zachary Goldman Mysteries series, and you are in luck! The eBook is on free at Amazon this weekend from Nov 8-10. And I have a stack of other books for you to consider.
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About He Was Not There
Zachary Goldman just wants to put everything that happened to him that night at the hands of a monster behind him forever. But when Heather, his estranged sister, asks for his help in bringing her own rapist to justice, there is no way he can turn her down.
The case is cold, three decades ago. Heather never saw her attacker’s face, as he was wearing a mask. At the time, the police did everything they could, but there have been new advancements in technology and Zachary hopes to turn up something he can use to solve the case.
Somehow, he needs to find a way to finally bring Heather some peace, even when it means dealing with his own painful memories.
He Was Not There is case #6 in the Zachary Goldman Mysteries series, but each book is a separate mystery and can be read as a standalone. Get your copy now!
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While almost everyone, including the police detective whom he consults regarding his sister’s assault, feel that there is virtually no chance of solving a thirty-year-old cold case, Zachary brings his considerable skill, perseverance, and tenacity to bear and achieves the impossible. This is a compelling story of family misfortune, child abuse and neglect, and of the inadequacies and challenges of the foster care system. Zachary’s devotion to a sister who, in truth, is nearly a stranger to him is inspiring. His dogged determination and unrelenting resolve to help another individual, regardless of his own problems or limitations, make him a remarkable and uniquely appealing character. The engaging characters, the intricately detailed storylines involving relevant and provocative issues, and the beautifully crafted flow of narrative make the stories in this series enthralling, entertaining, and completely addictive. I am eagerly looking forward to the next one.
Kim on Goodreads
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One-click to add all freebies to your Amazon cart at once, or you can choose to download them individually.
As always, check prices before you check out, as prices may change without warning or not be free in all markets.
The Jacq of Spades
A boy vanishes. But not just any boy.
1899 years after the Catastrophe, Bridges is owned by the Mob. As the city’s steam-driven infrastructure fails, a new faction rises: the Red Dogs.
Jacqueline Spadros is haunted by her best friend Air’s death, killed as he tried to stop her sale to the Spadros crime syndicate ten years ago. Now in an unwilling marriage to the city’s biggest drug lord, she secretly runs a small-time private eye business to earn enough money to escape.
Air’s little brother disappears from his back porch. And now someone is following Jacqui.
Disciples of Trikaal
Aru and Nemi together summoned Trikaal, an ancient time traveler, who agreed to be their Guru. Nemi chose to master time travel, and Aru acquired the power to read the future.
But their lives took a sharp turn when paranoid Nemi imprisoned Aru and his pregnant wife. Aru, who considered Nemi his brother, never saw it coming.
Betrayed by his best friend, Aru now languishes in a tiny jail cell. While Nemi travels back and forth in time, wreaking death and destruction on thousands of innocent humans. His quest for power has turned into an insatiable bloodlust.
Traveling to the distant future, Nemi finally aims to decimate the last survivors of the human race. Aru reads this future and has a plan to end it all. But the price of doing the right thing is too high, and the clock is ticking.
Marriage before Death
After D-Day, her photograph appears on the most-wanted Nazi propaganda posters. Who is the girl with the red beret? She reminds him of Natasha, but no, that cannot be. Why does Rochelle step into his life when he is lead by SS soldiers to the gallows? At the risk of being found out as a French Resistance fighter, what makes her propose marriage to a condemned man?
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Fox
Jessica James fears for the worst. After the PhD student wakes up disoriented and naked behind a dumpster, tests come back negative but other victims start to surface. With assault off the table, the Montana cowgirl turned sleuth has to piece together a dark mystery.
As her hot-tempered friend looks for revenge, Jessica’s hunt for clues pairs her up with a smart-mouthed med student who just found a dead body in a freezer. But if the sleuth can’t find out how the drugs, a genetic researcher, and the corpse are related, she might be the next victim taken out with the trash.
Stateline
Cancel the wedding–the groom is dead.
When a tycoon’s son is murdered the night before his wedding, the enraged and grief-stricken father offers private detective Dan Reno (that’s Reno, as in no problemo), a life-changing bounty to find the killer. Reno, nearly broke, figures he’s finally landed in the right place at the right time. It’s a nice thought, but when a band of crooked cops get involved, Reno finds himself not only earning every penny of his paycheck, but also fighting for his life.
Haunted by his murdered father and a violent, hard drinking past, Reno wants no more blood on his hands. But a man’s got to make a living, and backing off is not in his DNA. Traversing the snowy alpine winter in the Sierras and the lonely deserts of Nevada, Reno must revert to his old ways to survive. Because the fat bounty won’t do him much good if he’s dead…
Gone the Next
Meet Roy Ballard, freelance videographer with a knack for catching insurance cheats. He’s working a routine case, complete with hours of tedious surveillance, when he sees something that shakes him to the core. There, with the subject, is a little blond girl wearing a pink top and denim shorts—the same outfit worn by Tracy Turner, a six-year-old abducted the day before. When the police are skeptical of Ballard’s report—and with his history, who can blame them?—it’s the beginning of the most important case of his life.
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Heartless
Derek Cole, still haunted by the memories of seeing his wife tragically and brutally murdered, is hired by a family who were told their son died at birth. But when the family learns their son not only lived but is suspected of having killed three people, Cole is thrust into a medical-murder mystery that will force him to confront his past before he can learn the terrifying truth behind the murders.
Revenge is Only a Heartbeat Away
Alexander Black should not have lived. Born a conjoined twin, he shared one heart with his twin. When doctors, desperate to save at least one child, separated Alexander from the shared heart, they expected him to die.
But Alexander Black refused to die
Smuggled away and hidden in a psychiatric hospital where doctors, driven to uncover the medical mysteries keeping him alive, subject him to never-ending series of tests. And through it all, Alexander grows. And as he grows, so too does his desire for revenge.
The Man by the Sea
John “Slim” Hardy, heavy drinker and disgraced soldier turned bumbling private detective, is hired to investigate Ted Douglas, an investment banker who slips out of work every Friday to visit a desolate cove on the Lancashire coast. There, he walks to the shore, opens an old book, and begins to read aloud.
His wife thinks he’s having an affair.
Slim thinks he’s insane.
The truth is more incredible than either could imagine.
The Dead and the Missing
Former private investigator Adam Park is living a quiet life of surfing and travel. But when a troubled young woman and her manipulative boyfriend disappear, Adam’s former mentor cuts that retirement short.
It seems the pair stole something important from the wrong ruthless criminal – evidence that puts his business and reputation under threat.
Using cutting-edge technology, Adam tracks the pair through the Parisian underworld and into an international organized crime network that treats human life like a business commodity.
To survive ruthless traffickers, confront corrupt law enforcement, and return the girl safely, Adam must burn down his concepts of right and wrong, and draw upon violent facets of his psyche that he has long denied exist.
Because Adam is a good person.
Isn’t he?
Played to Death
Still suffering nightmares from a case that ended tragically, brilliant freelance crime consultant Scott Drayco considers retiring from crime solving altogether. When a former client bequeaths Drayco a rundown Opera House in a Virginia seaside town, he figures he’ll arrange for a quick sale of the place while nursing his battered soul in a peaceful setting near the shore.
What he doesn’t count on is finding a dead body on the Opera House stage with a mysterious “G” carved into the man’s chest. With hopes for a quick sale dashed and himself a suspect in the murder, Drayco digs into very old and very dangerous secrets to solve the crime and clear his name. Along the way, Drayco must dodge a wary sheriff, hostility over coastal development, and the seductive wife of a town councilman – before the tensions explode into more violence and he becomes the next victim.
Wages of Sin
Book 1: Luck and Judgment.
Gail Everett is determined to get justice from the corporation that destroyed her father’s life – but no courtroom has ever found against them. She hires private investigators Roberts and Bradley – but real justice won’t come easy.
Friends are divided. Young women are murdered on the streets. Private detectives Roberts and Bradley are snared in the dark heart of a thirty-year-old nightmare…
Book 2: Rite To Silence
A young loner drops dead on a public street. Dressed in a white gown, with black paint daubed across his eyes, the victim was killed by knife with devilish precision – and a plastic token is hidden in the fatal wound.
Roberts and Bradley are hired to honour a young man’s memory and to prevent another bloodbath. And they must outwit a sinister killer and free his next victim before he strikes again…
Book 3: The Final Trick
Eva and Dan are hired to track down young single mother Willow Jackson. When a body is found on the outskirts of town, all seems lost. The body is naked, riddled with drugs and shows strange signs of water damage. But Willow Jackson’s body is discovered miles inland and had never taken drugs in her life. Willow’s mother is determined to discover what happened to her daughter… and a missing persons case becomes a murder hunt.
But the hunt is joined by a mysterious rival – a man who will stop at nothing until he has revenge. He too must be stopped…
Ethan Justice Origins
Waking up beside the gorgeous Savannah Jones, John is shocked to learn she was for hire, and he can’t pay the price – a thousand pounds or broken legs. In desperation, he turns to best friend, Mark, for the money. Only one problem – Mark has a dagger in his back.
John and Savannah are plunged into a dangerous world where wits and adrenaline are their only weapons and trust in each other their only certainty. As the body count mounts, they discover Mark wasn’t the person John thought, and his terrifying invention may well end up killing thousands, John and Savannah included.
A race to recover the missing invention pits the unlikely pairing against ex-SAS psychopath, Gregory Fisher, a man who will stop at nothing and kill anyone in his way to wreak revenge against the Government who stole his livelihood.
When Smith and Jones team up, the result is explosive.
November 5, 2019
Excerpt from The Beekeeper’s Apprentice
Halloween is over, and I hope you found some great spooky and mystery reads the last couple of weeks. Now… looking forward to American Thanksgiving and Christmas. Tis the season!
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.
This week I am reading Laurie R. King’s The Beekeeper’s Apprentice: or, On the Segregation of the Queen (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes Book 1). I’ve read a number of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, including one with a female Sherlock Holmes (Study in Scarlet Women). This one gives Sherlock a new apprentice, a young woman who meets him after his retirement and studies under his tutelage. There are a number of smaller mysteries within this book. I’m not sure whether that trend continues, or whether I am now onto the “main” mystery.
And I was horrified: Here I was, standing before a Legend, flinging insults at him, yapping about his ankles like a small dog worrying a bear.
Laurie R. King, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice
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In 1915, Sherlock Holmes is retired and quietly engaged in the study of honeybees in Sussex when a young woman literally stumbles onto him on the Sussex Downs. Fifteen years old, gawky, egotistical, and recently orphaned, the young Mary Russell displays an intellect to impress even Sherlock Holmes. Under his reluctant tutelage, this very modern, twentieth-century woman proves a deft protégée and a fitting partner for the Victorian detective. They are soon called to Wales to help Scotland Yard find the kidnapped daughter of an American senator, a case of international significance with clues that dip deep into Holmes’s past. Full of brilliant deduction, disguises, and danger, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, the first book of the Mary Russell–Sherlock Holmes mysteries, is “remarkably beguiling” (The Boston Globe).
