FIREWORKS IN ARKANSAS...Nancy Anderson was thrilled when her friend Lacy Selke invited her on a trip to visit her great-aunt in Booneville, Arkansas. Soon, however, she realized her services would be needed on another case. Aunt Margaret was about to undergo a tough surgery-one that didn't have a great success rate-which was bound to create trouble!The three heirs couldn't stand each other, but that was alright...until the lead started flying. First a .45, then a .38 was used-but each had the same effect. With no witnesses to the shooter's identity, it could have been any of them. Who was behind the scheme? Could Nancy Anderson solve the case in time to preventMURDER IN THE BOONIESWith a plot as complex as an Agatha Christie tale, you'll never guess who was responsible!
The abrupt disappearance of the renters at the Sleuth Sisters' family farm presents Faye with the chance to do something she's always dreamed of: start a retirement home for draft horses. The circumstances surrounding the move are strange, though, and Faye, Barb, and Retta begin to suspect that at least some of the family members didn't leave voluntarily. Balancing a menagerie of animals with tracking down clues as to where the man, woman, and three daughters might have gone, the sleuths uncover a series of surprises that lead to dangers they never anticipated. As those dangers grow, the sisters-and everyone around them-are plunged into deadly peril.
In this cozy mystery, the first of a series, middle-aged sisters Faye and Barb decide to open a detective agency in Allport, their small town in northern Lower Michigan. They agree that Retta, their baby sister, will NOT be included, since she tends to take over any organization she's part of. Sweetly but firmly, Retta will tell you what you should do, could do, and will do. The agency does not take off, and Faye reconsiders the decision to leave Retta out, since as the widow of a slain state trooper, she's got contacts all over Michigan. Retta's only too willing to "help out" and immediately begins second-guessing their decisions, which leads to sparks between her and Barb. The sisters finally get a decent case: finding a man who apparently murdered his wife years ago and has been on the run ever since. As they try to investigate what happened, they're opposed at every turn. Local cops doubt the "lady detectives," and most of the town is convinced Neil Brown killed his wife and brother-in-law in a fit of anger. The murder victims' father has no doubt Brown is guilty, and he's furious that anyone might take a different view. Still, someone wants to keep the sisters from finding Brown and digging into what really happened the day he left Allport. As the sisters piece things together, the new police chief seems like a possible ally. The problem is that both Barb and Retta are attracted to him, and Retta seldom meets a man she can't get. Accepting defeat in that arena, Barb tries to concentrate on the case and proving Brown isn't guilty of murder. She succeeds, but it means she must face a desperate killer in a remote, dangerous spot. Only Faye and Retta can save her, and they have no idea where she is. Family humor--particularly the close-but-oh-so-different status of sisters, plays a big role in this murder mystery. Each sister has strengths and foibles. Barb, intelligent and composed, sneaks around town at night, correcting the spelling and grammatical errors on signs that drive her bonkers. Faye, kind-hearted but insecure, can't see herself as the capable person she is. And Retta? Retta knows she's attractive and clever. She's only trying to help when she tells you exactly what you should do with your life--or your detective agency. One reviewer's comment: "If you have sisters, you have to read this book!"
Orphaned and abandoned, JD's only hope is a man with his mouth sewn shut. JD's father has been burnt alive by the Silver Men. His mother has run away. Lost in the desert without water, JD meets a strange old man whose mouth has been sewn shut. That man's secret will save his life. The search for his mother leads JD to the City, where he must face the true horrors of life under the Silver Men. Trapped inside the Pits of enslaved children scraping for water, he must risk everything and everyone he has ever loved in order to survive. BOONIE is a story of bravery, friendship, loss and hope that will stay with you long after the final page is turned.
Actor Nora Blake finds her dream job when she is cast in a murder-mystery troupe that performs in an imposing but captivating old castle. When she stumbles upon a real murder, things take a nightmarish turn in this first book in an exciting new series. Maybe it was too good to be true, but when Nora Blake accepted the job from Derek Corby, proprietor of Castle Dark, she could not see any downsides. She would sink her acting chops into the troupe’s intricately staged murder-mystery shows, earn free room and board in the fairy tale–like castle, and make friends with her new roommates, which include some seriously adorable kittens. But something sinister lurks behind the walls of Castle Dark. During Nora’s second performance, one of her castmates plays the part of the victim a little too well. So well, in fact, that no one can revive him. He has been murdered. Not ready to give up her dream gig—or to be the next victim—Nora sets out to see which one of her fellow actors has taken the role of a murderous real-life villain.
After being murdered as a child and brought back to life by two cops, Harry Doyle grew up to become a homicide detective who has the uncanny ability to hear the whispers of murder victims, and he must put his power to use to solve the murder of a beautiful woman who was also a notorious child molester.
Is there a connection between the cat found napping in the flour barrel of the newest bistro and the dead American chef in the meat freezer? When it comes to Maggie Newberry and the cranky villagers of St-Buvard, how could there not be? Once more back in Provence, Maggie finds her hands full with village politics ratcheting up to nuclear level, her BFF back on her living room couch—this time with a snotty teenager in tow—and a full-blown riot developing over the brand new American-owned bistro. When the fractious American chef ends up dead, Maggie will need to find out who killed her—and fast—before the chef’s killer decides that two dead Americans in the village are better than one.
Casper, Wyoming: 1973. Eleven-year-old Amy Burridge rides with her eighteen-year-old sister, Becky, to the grocery store. When they finish their shopping, Becky's car gets a flat tire. Two men politely offer them a ride home. But they were anything but Good Samaritans. The girls would suffer unspeakable crimes at the hands of these men before being thrown from a bridge into the North Platte River. One miraculously survived. The other did not. Years later, author and journalist Ron Franscell—who lived in Casper at the time of the crime, and was a friend to Amy and Becky—can't forget Wyoming's most shocking story of abduction, rape, and murder. Neither could Becky, the surviving sister. The two men who violated her and Amy were sentenced to life in prison, but the demons of her past kept haunting Becky...until she met her fate years later at the same bridge where she'd lost her sister.
In Brian Klingborg's Thief of Souls, the brutal murder of a young woman in a rural village in Northern China sends shockwaves all the way to Beijing—but seemingly only Inspector Lu Fei, living in exile in the small town, is interested in justice for the victim. Lu Fei is a graduate of China’s top police college but he’s been assigned to a sleepy backwater town in northern China, where almost nothing happens and the theft of a few chickens represents a major crime wave. That is until a young woman is found dead, her organs removed, and joss paper stuffed in her mouth. The CID in Beijing—headed by a rising political star—is on the case but in an increasingly authoritarian China, prosperity and political stability are far more important than solving the murder of an insignificant village girl. As such, the CID head is interested in pinning the crime on the first available suspect rather than wading into uncomfortable truths, leaving Lu Fei on his own. As Lu digs deeper into the gruesome murder, he finds himself facing old enemies and creating new ones in the form of local Communist Party bosses and corrupt business interests. Despite these rising obstacles, Lu remains determined to find the real killer, especially after he links the murder to other unsolved homicides. But the closer he gets to the heart of the mystery, the more he puts himself and his loved ones in danger.
