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August - Nominate your book
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Why you should read "Bodies: Book #1: Staged Fright": Haven't you ever wondered what would happen on a cop show if three members of the same investigative team got into a threesome and decided to keep it going as a longterm threeway relationship?
Synopsis:
You’ve seen cop shows. Now imagine three members of the same investigative team get into a threesome and decide to keep it going as a longterm three-way relationship. Throw in a bioterror plotline and a quirky family drama, and you’ve got BODIES, the hottest new murder-mystery series of the summer!
~BRIEF~
Diseased corpse at 5-star hotel? Check. Bioterror connection and radical Islamist YouTube videos? Check. Potential outbreak, citywide lockdown, and CDC race to find a treatment? Check. Three members of the same investigative team getting into a threesome and deciding to turn it into an ongoing relationship? Um…....check!
BODIES is a quirky murder-mystery series with a sexy twist. Equal parts “NCIS” and HBO’s “Big Love,” the story focuses on an eccentric family, the Callahans.
Larkin and Tigh, the matriarch and patriarch respectively, head up the C.D.C.’s Crisis Response Team. But when a bioterror attack in their hometown forces them to team up with a Homeland Security agent named Corban Banks, sparks begin to fly! In more ways than one!
Find out how it all started today in BODIES, BOOK #1: STAGED FRIGHT!
Private Spies is the first in a series about a kind of ditzy accidental private eye who's compared to Stephanie Plum in some reviews and I think you'll find it an enjoyable summer read.
When Jesse Morgan's boss and best friend died, she inherited Private Spies, a private investigation firm that specializes in missing persons. Unfortunately, she knew little about the business aside from her intensive work on the computer. But if Joey thought she could handle it, she felt obligated to at least give it a try. How hard could it be, right? So Jesse took on her first case. Very straightforward. This guy is missing, find him. Oh but wait, he also kidnapped his own daughter. Find her too. Still not that hard. Except when she ran his report, the picture she found on his drivers license is of another guy. And when she found a guy who matched the first picture, he had another name. And when she found a girl that looked like the daughter, she didn't match anything. Not good. Enter a retired police officer named Byron (really?) who says before Joey died, he hired him to work for them. Ok. This might be helpful. But then came a stalker, and a dead guy, a dead duck and an increasing list of incidents that all seem confusing to Jesse. Up to her eyeballs in threats and questions, Jesse's outraged when the woman who hired her decides to fire her. Unbelievable! Unable to stop at that point, Jesse is determined to find the guy and solve the case. If only it was as easy as it sounded.
The Evil Beneath 
Fellow Goodreads reader says "5* - an explosion of thrills...a rollercoater of a read" - I hope you'll like it too.
Synopsis
There's a body in the water - and she's wearing your clothes...
Impulsive and intrepid psychotherapist, Juliet Grey, can’t resist responding to an anonymous text message telling her to go to Hammersmith Bridge at dawn.
But it isn’t simply the dead body in the water that disturbs her, it’s the way something uniquely personal to Juliet has been left on the corpse. Another obscure message - another London bridge - and Juliet finds herself caught up with a serial killer, who leaves personal mementos instead of collecting trophies. Teaming up with local detective, DCI Brad Madison, Juliet strives to find out why she has been targeted and how it’s connected to the accident that killed her brother, nineteen years ago.
Can Juliet use her knowledge of the human psyche to get inside the mind of the killer, before another body is found under a bridge? And how long before Juliet herself becomes the next target?
No character is safe from the Ghosts of the Past; murder is everywhere.
Planet Beinan is falling apart as healing centers across the planet are bombed by an unseen assailant. Only one knight of Ten-Ar can find the truth before all hope is lost forever. And what of the new queen's youngest daughter, Princess Anyu? Will she escape before Lord Yelu can destroy her?
Spanning four generations and nearly two thousand Earth years, the fate of an entire planet hangs in the balance in this courtly epic of love, courage, murder, and mystery.
Book two of the Peers of Beinan series; part two of the Anlei's Legacy arc.
Parental guide:
Language: no profanity
Sex/nudity: mild
Violence: non-graphic
Adult situations: murder, terrorism, sexual violence
Here's my offering: Getting Out of DodgeWhy you should choose this book? Because you'll be held to the page until it's finished but then glad it all didn't happen to you.
After nine years in maximum security prison for crimes against the state, Ger Mayes is on release. Free to try and recover the life he destroyed, free to rediscover love and normality.
"The worst criminal I have ever met," the judge stated at Ger's trial, and it wasn't a professional compliment. A decade of rubbing shoulders with Ireland's criminal elite hasn’t improved Ger's skills.
His wife is ex, his son estranged. The authorities have his number and so do the local criminal fraternity. A couple of choice decisions place Ger in the middle of a brothel turf war, and he decides to rescue somebody that he used to know. He chases his dreams but murder, kidnap and blackmail catch up with him.
Two weeks after release Ger sits on a Dublin park bench, the uniformed authorities to his right, the gangsters with their bad trousers to his left, a blonde woman's fragrant head in a bag at his feet. He should have got the hell out of Dodge when DI Andy McAuliffe told him to. How has it come to this? And whose head is in the bag?
My novel isRed IslandBefore I put up the back of book blurb I'd like to add that it was written with the help of members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police so that I could get it as accurate as possible within the lines of fiction. So here we go...
Was it the nightmare that woke Reid or the phone ringing in the middle of the night that brought on the dream? Sgt. Reid of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police moved his family to Prince Edward Island, “The Gentle Island,” to get away from crime and homicides. He had to get away from the nightmares and concentrate on his family.
It’s a lovely place to live. The sound of the ocean crashing against sandy beaches, sand dunes covered in tufts of dancing green grass…
…And then there is the young woman hanging from a tree. It isn’t a gentle island any more.
It’s Ben’s world. Whether we live or die is all up to him and Reid is going to have to play his game.
The Broken HorizonChrissie Reid receives a letter from her husband who went missing, presumed drowned, fourteen years ago. But he could not have written this letter. Only she his body is buried in the byre.
all five star reviews on amazon.uk
A pickpocket picks the wrong pocket one day and finds himself on the run from the police, the FBI and a murderer. Murder Misdirected is a fairly quick read and is in the 'cozy/noire' style in that it's got a street sense but also likeable characters and a nice ending. It's available in paperback and eBook from Amazon and elsewhere. -- Andrew MacRae
My novel/nominee: Harbour Falls by S.R. Grey... From one Goodreads review: Oh, WOW ... Sexual tension, chemistry, a classic whodunit and so many details, turns and suspense to leave you breathless.
Synopsis: Best-selling author Maddy Fitch, researching material for a new novel, returns to her hometown of Harbour Falls to investigate a disappearance that has haunted the tiny Maine coastal town for the past four years. Maddy soon discovers that the case has gone cold, but the prime suspect, Adam Ward, is hotter than ever. Now living on an isolated island, Maddy takes up residence near the sexy Mr. Ward's home. As she begins to seek out answers, the mystery deepens, putting Maddy in jeopardy.
Lies, secrets, deceptions. Nothing is ever what it seems in Harbour Falls.
A steamy novel that immerses the reader in an intricate storyline that will keep them glued till the very last page. First in a series. Romance/Mystery genre.
Why you should read 'A Thrust to the Vitals' #10 Rafferty & Llewellyn cozy procedural.Because it's a fun read with an Inspector Frost Meets 'Del Boy' Trotter (and Family), scenario.
Synopsis
Returning to Elmhurst many years after his involuntary departure, to attend a civic reception in his honour, Sir Rufus Seward had ignored the maxim that 'going back' is not always wise.
Summoned after Seward's body is found, a wood chisel protruding from its back, Dl Joe Rafferty receives a panicky call from his younger brother, Mickey, who fears he is in the frame for Seward's murder. Strangely, given his loathing of the dead man, Mickey had received an invitation to the reception. Keen to confront the bully who made his youth a misery, Mickey found his tormentor's body, and fled the scene...
Rafferty, aware that his brother hated Seward, and that Mickey, a carpenter by trade, has three pointers to guilt — the means, the motive and the opportunity— finds himself torn between protecting his family and finding the real killer.
SORRY, BUT THE SYSTEM REFUSES TO ACCEPT MY EBOOK COVER. YOU CAN VIEW AT MY WEBSITE: http://www.geraldineevans.com
Margaret Sullivan dines with politicians, rebels, and spies. She is an admired journalist with the Chicago Tribune publishing under a male nom de plume.
Her unscrupulous husband is a prominent attorney and power broker with aspirations of his own. They are well-connected members of Chicago’s 1880s Irish elite.
For the Love of Ireland is a historical novel of love, loyalty, deception and honesty. It is based on true events concerning a Chicago couple, Ireland and the secret Irish-American society the Clan na Gael.
To learn more go to www.for-the-love-of-ireland.com
I've already had one of my books chosen for a group read, so if you don't want me to nominate another one, let me know :) But if it's okay, then I'd love to get my newest novel out to readers!
A Case of Poisons (the first book in my new Anthony Maxwell series)Why to read this book: It's a Victorian steampunk mystery with a witty protagonist, his best friends, and a baddie with a penchant for fabricating poisons.
Anthony Maxwell is a private investigator, a consultant for the mostly incompetent inspectors at Scotland Yard, on occasion a writer, and always a lover of coffee. He has been working small cases for several years to pay the bills when he’s introduced to the first multiple murder case of his career early one morning, when a witness catches a man trying to unload a body to bury in a nearby graveyard. Soon the first body is joined by three more in the course of a single morning and Anthony knows this is no ordinary serial murder case. And why is the murderer targeting beggars and urchin children? If that wasn’t cause enough to worry, all the victims are covered with horrible wounds and show signs of exotic poisoning. Anthony, along with his partners Tobias—an ex-broadsman and well-know charmer—and Scamp—a street smart and talented young woman—work to find out who is murdering the helpless beggars and children in such horrifying ways. The first book in this new Victorian steampunk series takes the three companions to the limits of their abilities as they go up against canny murderers, bruisers who appear invincible, anarchist groups, and even ancient British royalty in the biggest case Anthony Maxwell has ever worked in his career.
(Also, as a note, this is an all ages mystery, though, without giving too much away, there are a few disturbing parts involving spiders)
Andrew wrote: "A pickpocket picks the wrong pocket one day and finds himself on the run from the police, the FBI and a murderer. Murder Misdirected is a fairly quick read and is in the 'cozy/noire' style in that ..."This sounds like a fun kind of read, and pretty up my alley =) I'd like to put in a vote for this one.
Why you should read?
DON'T READ this book if you are going to conduct a surgical operation, take a driving test, sit for exams, attend an interview.
Synopsis:
If you enjoy reading thrillers from the likes of Lee Child,James Patterson, Harlan Coben, Robert Crais, you will enjoy The Warrior.
When Private Military Contractor Zeb Carter witnesses gruesome crimes in the Congo, he can’t just walk away.
Plagued by the scale of the crimes and the helplessness of the victims, he is bent on his own private justice.
What transpires is a fast pace gripping journey that stretches from the Congo to New York, into the world of corrupt politics, influential politicians who want him dead, and government agencies who are against him.
This breakneck paced read is an edge-of-your-seat,exothermic thrill machine, with a plot so full of surprises it will carry your imagination long beyond the final word.
Although not a typical mystery, after a brutal attack on an idyllic college campus my debut novel becomes a whodunit that will keep you guessing. . .Inconstant Moon
Over five hundred years ago, Juliet begged Romeo not to swear his love for her on the inconstant moon ~ she needed to know she could trust him.
The students at Christie University are only a little older than Shakespeare's immortal lovers, but even living in the digital world, they face the same issues of trust and responsibility in the pursuit of their own dreams.
Coming of age hasn't gotten any easier, and it becomes much, much harder after a student is brutally attacked on campus, and illusions of safety and invulnerability are shattered.
It all comes down to the eternal question:
Who can you trust?
Inconstant Moon
[note: mature subject matter ... is that acceptable for this group read?]
I'd like to offer: 
The VaultIt's a mystery with four strands that weave around each other - dead bodies in a lake, schoolboy battles, an armed raid on a British stately home and a sex offender on the run.
Plus it's published in aid of the disaster relief charity ShelterBox!
BLURB: From award-winning British novelist Huw Thomas, a story of hidden secrets, childhood drama and murder...
THE VAULT
Adam Strong has two main problems in life: how to escape a gang of yobs who are out for his blood and how to get the new girl at school to notice that he exists.
But the ancient woods next to Compton Fosse contain more dangers than just the risk of a beating from the town's teenage psycho. Hidden in Hobthrush Wood is the key to a mystery that weaves four disparate stories into a single web.
* The mansion: A gang of professional robbers mount a night raid on the secluded country home of a reclusive billionaire.
* The dead: Three decaying bodies, wrapped in plastic and chains, are found lying at the bottom of an ornamental lake.
* The convict: A sex offender is released from prison but breaks his parole and goes on the run after giving into temptation once again.
* The friends: Two boys stumble across an eerie secret...
Bodies Book 1 Staged Fright grabbed my attention at the start. But thought I would be fair and see what else was offered. Bodies is still my choice.
Thank you. "A fun read" is how many people describe it. :)Hazel wrote: "Andrew wrote: "A pickpocket picks the wrong pocket one day and finds himself on the run from the police, the FBI and a murderer. Murder Misdirected is a fairly quick read and is in the 'cozy/noire'..."
Laurel L. wrote: "Although not a typical mystery, after a brutal attack on an idyllic college campus my debut novel becomes a whodunit that will keep you guessing. . .Inconstant Moon
Over five hundred years ag..."
This is my vote
Lots of good choices out here. I'd personally vote for Inconstant Moon by Laurel.I'll go ahead and put in a mystery suggestion of my own, in case this piques anyone's interest:
Book:
Halls of Ivy
Blurb: Halls of Ivy is a mystery thriller about a student who accidentally discovers a dark university secret when investigating a string of student suicides.
Synopsis:
It started with the suicides. They’re calling it the crisis of Sun Valley University, and all eyes are on the one student that knows the truth behind what happened.
When local law enforcement fails to find the cause for three possibly-related student suicides, doctoral student Cheyenne Winters puts her Student Affairs knowledge to action by pursuing her own investigation. Her interviews with twenty-one gossipy, information-laden students lead her to discover the suicides are not only related, but the university administration has been covering them up. And they’re not happy about her meddling.
As Cheyenne gets closer to the truth, her investigation and the lives of the students involved become endangered as rumors of a fourth upcoming suicide begin to surface. To add to the pressure, Cheyenne’s loyalty to her fellow students is tested when she is forced to confront the individuals holding the power to keep her from obtaining her degree.
The novel’s narration alternates between Cheyenne and her quirky, eccentric freshmen, detailing each student’s take on the same set of events as the mystery unfolds. “Halls of Ivy” is a fast-paced intertwining mystery showcasing the darker side of higher education.
I couldn't pick between these two so here they are:Inconstant Moon (1st choice)
&
The Evil Beneath (2nd choice)
Will there be a vote once all the nominations are in :) ?
If it is between Inconstant Moon and the Vault I would go for Inconstant Moon.
I think Inconstant Moon sounds good. I'd like to throw one more mystery into the batch though. This is a great detective story that is suspenseful and fun at the same time!Summary: Sam Bodily, a detective often hurting for business, is finding himself suddenly very busy. His line of work is a little different than most Private Eyes, though. Sam is a sleuth of the supernatural; a Black Eye.
This time, Sam's cases will take him back to his home town to face his high school reunion. To make it through, he'll have to be careful what he wishes for as the evening gets a bit hairy. Can Sam make it out with his hide and dignity intact? Dive in and find out.
The Fifth StageSomething wonderful has happened to Kelly Moore, an EPA microbiologist since she was treated for depression by Dr. Jack Connor. Her melancholia lifts after taking a novel antidepressant, Remtoril, but it’s not that simple. She also experiences an unexpected side effect—wonderfully vivid dreams which lead to a curious enlightenment. But the drug is a Pandora’s box. Remtoril has rerouted and rewired her neurochemistry. Kelly’s unique “knowing dreams” come at a price—frightening rebound episodes follow her dreams. The findings of her sleep study are revealing, but gain the unwanted attention of a governmental black ops agency.
With the rebound episodes threatening Kelly’s health, Jack is on a mission to find a cure for the woman he has come to love. Their journey will lead them through a shadowy world of blackmail, corporate conspiracy, and covert military operations. And as these forces bear down upon them with a lethal determination, Jack comes to a tantalizing possibility—Kelly’s cure may very well exist, in the past.
Jack and Kelly's epic quest is a perilous journey, one that leads them to the depths of the Gulf of Mexico, the murky backwaters of Mississippi, and to a barrier island where they discover the secret of a pre-Civil War fort. There, they finally come face to face with the deadly force tasked with protecting a covert agency secretly exploiting the mysteries of the fifth stage.
Passion. Insight.
THE FIFTH STAGE–the stuff that dreams are made of.
My vote goes to Halls of Ivy. Thanks to everyone who has volunteered their books and/or commented to select our voting list. This thread will be closed to further comments now, if you'd like to vote on the read in the poll, please visit here:
http://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/62...
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Books, Blogs, Authors and More
Books mentioned in this topic
The Fifth Stage (other topics)The Black Eye (other topics)
Inconstant Moon (other topics)
Halls of Ivy (other topics)
The Vault (other topics)
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If you are an author, and a member of our group, and write mysteries you can now 'pitch' your book in this thread for readers to choose from. (As part of this process you need to be prepared to supply free e-copies [mobi, epub, pdf] of your book to the participating readers, similar to other ARR systems, in time for the reading month to start).
Readers interested in taking part should comment in the same thread on the books they like the look of to give us 2 - 3 'finalists' to be voted for to select the final 'Book of the Month'.
Authors - To help us along in selecting a book, please only post your nomination as:
ONE sentence on why we should choose your book
The book cover (using the Goodreads insert feature)
The book synopsis (as it appears on Goodreads)