Mystery Books - Page 17

Elementary, My Dear Watkins (Smart Chick Mysteries, Book 3)

Mindy Starns Clark

Amazon Price: $10.39 List Price: $12.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Harvest House Publishers Amazon Marketplace: 58 new & used starting at $2.37

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Mystery & Thrillers -> Mystery -> Women Sleuths
Subjects -> Mystery & Thrillers -> Mystery -> General
Subjects -> Mystery & Thrillers -> Mystery -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

An Engaging Series that Continues to Please 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

After years of being "just friends," Smart Chick household advice online tipster Jo Tulip and photographer Danny Watkins have finally begun a romantic relationship. Unfortunately, the timing could have been better as Danny is interning at Scene It magazine in Paris while Jo receives strange messages while working in New York. More disturbing than the odd e-mail warnings (which also ask for advice on buying a new toaster) is the reappearance of Jo's fiancé Bradford, who literally left her at the altar. As Bradford explains his actions he prevents an attempt on Jo's life, resulting in his own grievous injuries.

In between Danny and Jo's narratives are the quietly riveting adventures of a young savant whose involvement in a drug trial links back to Jo's family. As the three lives come together again the threat facing them all will confront them in a startling and very compelling finale.

This last entry in the Smart Chick trilogy by Clark ties up the characters lives in a manner that is both extremely satisfying and enjoyable. The humor in the story is nicely balanced by very serious themes, and Clark creates characters who are sympathetic and believable. Jo and Danny are a likable couple whose problems make them as real to the readers as their own family members, and the only regret left is that there will be no further adventures featuring the two. Elementary thoroughly enjoyable mystery with numerous twists and turns that tie up nicely in the end.

Editorial Review:

Mindy Starns Clark’s first two books in the Smart Chick Mystery series—The Trouble with Tulip and Blind Dates Can Be Murder—are followed with more love and adventure in this final, suspense–filled book.

When someone tries to push Jo Tulip in front of a New York train, her ex-fiance, Bradford, suffers an injury while saving her—and the unintentional sleuth is thrown onto the tracks of a very personal mystery.

Jo’s boyfriend, Danny Watkins, is away in Paris, so she begins a solo investigation of her near–murder. What secret was Bradford about to share before he took the fall? And when Jo uncovers clues tied to Europe, can she and Danny work together in time to save her life?

The Grand Scheme (Phantom Hollow Series #3)

Kathy Herman

Amazon Price: $11.19 List Price: $13.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Multnomah Books Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $6.14

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Mystery & Thrillers -> General
Subjects -> Mystery & Thrillers -> General AAS
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Literature & Fiction -> Fiction

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Envy is a deadly poison. Faith is the antidote.

Things couldn’t be better for Rue Kessler. He just married the mother of his eight-year-old son, Montana, and finally has the family he’s always dreamed of. Not only that, his father-in-law hired him to be the new construction supervisor on a big condo project. He’s been sober for eighteen months. He’s finally plugged in at church. And he’s building his wife Ivy the house she’s always dreamed of. Life is good.

Then with no warning, Rue and his wife and son become the target of someone’s cruel and frightening attacks. What reason would anyone have to dash their hopes and dreams? What will it take to stop it? What defense is there against an enemy he can’t see?

While Rue’s head is still reeling, a man on his work crew is found half dead in Tanner Canyon. Are the attacks related? Is someone trying to put a stop to the condo project? Or is something more sinister afoot–something that will take all the faith he’s got to confront?

Original Sin (Colton Parker Mystery Series, Book 1)

Brandt Dodson

Amazon Price: $8.79 List Price: $10.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Harvest House Publishers Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $2.35

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Mystery & Thrillers -> Thrillers -> Suspense
Subjects -> Mystery & Thrillers -> General
Subjects -> Mystery & Thrillers -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A winner!! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Brandt's debut is fluid and engaging. Loved it. I will try to read the next one slower so I don't run through his books too fast.

Think Magnum PI, minus the Hawaiian shirt 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Colton Parker is a former FBI agent turned private investigator. He and his daughter are on shaky terms after his wife died following a heated argument with him. He's been called on the case by the girlfriend of the accused murderer of a beloved high school teacher. She claims that he is innocent and wants Colton to prove it. At first it seems that all evidence points to the accused but Colton delves deeper and with just a paper clip for a clue he finds a seedy shady world of pornography and sex. Non stop action makes this gritty mystery novel hard to put down.

When I think of a PI, Magnum comes to mind. The Hawaiian shirt with the fancy car going to exotic places in Hawaii and having a fun time. So I didn't know what to expect when I started this book. Well it turned out to be an unexpected awesome read. Normally I wouldn't have picked up this book because it's not in the genre I normally read. However I am so glad that I did. There is non stop action in this book. It's very gritty and I felt like I was watching an episode of Magnum (minus the cheesiness). I really like Colton's character. He's a very good detective and is able to get what he needs out of other people but he doesn't manipulate them to get info. He also cares very much for his daughter even though their relationship is strained. Dodson takes his character into places most Christian novels would never dream of going. Strip clubs are visited. Pornography is exposed. Teachers selling students for sex sales. Web cam shows. Nothing is untouched with this book. But there is nothing graphic and even though Colton's character is not a Christian in this book, he does not want anything to do with these things. He begins to show interest in the faith but the storyline is not preachy at all. This book is really an eye opener that people are not always what they seem. It makes you think twice about people you put your trust in. I was immediately hooked after I started reading this book. It's a definite page turner that you won't want to stop reading. This is a perfect book to give to a guy who doesn't like to read. Highly recommended and I have found a new favorite author.

Editorial Review:

Colton Parker was just fired from the FBI, has a teenage daughter who blames him for her mother’s death, and now that he’s hung out his shingle as a P.I., his first paying client—Angie Howe—has enough money for only one day’s worth of investigating. But Angie looks like she could use a friend, so Colton has his first case.

When the mystery is finally resolved, Colton is resigned to improve his parenting skills with his daughter—and while the pair still struggle with each other, hope finally gets a chance to grow. 

First in the Colton Parker, P.I. series, from Brandt Dodson—a compelling new author with a family history in law enforcement spanning several generations.

Germ

Robert Liparulo

Amazon Price: $7.99 List Price: $7.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Thomas Nelson Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $1.14

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Genre Fiction -> Medical
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Contemporary
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 47 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

WOW!!!! From the very start --- ACTION ACTION ACTION!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Within the first chapter all I could think of was "This is going to make a GREAT MOVIE!" The bad guys are truly slimly sinister and the protagonist heroes are just heart-breaking with authenticity. I picked it up because I enjoy a good Ebola tale and there haven't been that many of them recently. WOW!!! This yanked me in so quickly, and before I knew it I realized I was reading an action thriller with real characters, assassins and bad guys with true evil in their hearts. The good guys are real, not superhero "I am indestructible and can be shot a million times..." type of attitudes. The bad guys are like the Terminator, they keep coming and coming, and you actually FEEL the pressure of the run the good guys end up on. You feel bad for a guy who dies in the first ¼ of the book... all the way to the end.

I loaned this to a friend who LOVES the REAL Ebola stories, not the fictionalized stuff of movies... but she's LOVING this one too... I recommend it for anyone wanting to take a great read on a vacation trip, this isn't one you want to put down, and can't wait to get back too.

Editorial Review:

If you breathe it will find you.

The germ--a form of the Ebola virus--has been genetically engineered to infect only those people whose DNA matches the codes embedded within it. Its release will usher in an era where countries are left without defense. Where a single person--or millions--could be killed with perfect accuracy and zero collateral damage. Where your own DNA works against you.

The time isn't coming. It is now. Pray the assassins get you first.

False Witness

Randy D. Singer

Amazon Price: $18.24 List Price: $24.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Oasis Audio Amazon Marketplace: 16 new & used starting at $15.72

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> General -> General AAS
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> General AAS
Subjects -> Mystery & Thrillers -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

An Explosive Secret.
An Invaluable Code.
An Unreliable Witness.

Three ambitious law students at a local legal aid clinic watch as their routine case representing a man named David Hoffman ignites an incendiary trail of deception and betrayal. A member of the witness protection program, Hoffman has defrauded the government and eluded the Mob’s pursuit of his stunning secret: a coded algorithm capable of crippling the Internet and disarming national security.

Because of the intense threat posed by such a code, federal agents want Hoffman dead or alive. But the Mob wants him alive, more than willing to obtain the algorithm by whatever means necessary. And the would-be lawyers–caught in the middle of this deadly triangle–must overcome their differences and work together if they’re to survive long enough to graduate.

Bestselling author Randy Singer offers up his most dynamic legal thriller yet in a story based on his own real-life experience as an attorney assisting the U.S. Witness Protection Program. With page-turning suspense and heart-stopping twists, False Witness delivers on every level.

The Mind of the Maker

Dorothy L. Sayers

Amazon Price: $11.86 List Price: $13.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: HarperOne Amazon Marketplace: 84 new & used starting at $1.40

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> General
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> General AAS
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Contemporary

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Fascinating Insights 5 out of 5 stars.
19 of 19 people found this review helpful.

Sayers starts with the orthodox concept of the Trinity and suggest that the mind of man as creator is analogous. By examining the mind of man as creator and the work he creates, we can acquire a better understanding of the Holy Trinity. While this might seem outlandish at first, it works! When you think about theological concepts just as concepts, they can be very hard to grasp. But Sayers uses concrete examples to illustrate theological concepts, and avoids the temptation to overextend her analogy. She concentrates mainly on the writer-creator, since she herself is a writer. Her insights on the creative process of writing are almost as interesting as the light they shed on the nature of God. These insights go well beyond the concept of the Trinity--she offers an interesting perspective on the existence of evil, free will, and much more. I've never read anything like this.

Editorial Review:

This classic, with a new introduction by Madeleine L'Engle, is by turns an entrancing mediation on language; a piercing commentary on the nature of art and why so much of what we read, hear, and see falls short; and a brilliant examination of the fundamental tenets of Christianity. The Mind of the Maker will be relished by those already in love with Dorothy L. Sayers and those who have not yet met her.

A mystery writer, a witty and perceptive theologian, culture critic, and playwright, Dorothy Sayers sheds new,unexpected light on a specific set of statements made in the Christian creeds. She examines anew such ideas as the image of God, the Trinity, free will, and evil, and in these pages a wholly revitalized understanding of them emerges. The author finds the key in the parallels between the creation of God and the human creative process. She continually refers to each in a way that illuminates both.

Breach of Promise

James Scott Bell

Amazon Price: $11.14 List Price: $12.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Zondervan Amazon Marketplace: 106 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Issues -> Divorce
Subjects -> Law -> General
Subjects -> Law -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

"Page-Turner" doesn't begin to say it... 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Breach of Promise is one of the best books I've read in a long while. It was a page-turner from the start, a book I couldn't put down, but one I hated to get to the end of. I laughed, I cried, I got right into the protagonist's skin. I really didn't know how it would end right up to the final pages...and I love that! This has been added to my list of favorites. Don't pass this up.

"Breach of Promise" definitely worth reading again 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I am not a huge fan of contemporary fiction of any kind, but James Scott Bell's book gripped me right from the beginning. I appreciated the realness of the story -- the main character's emotions are just what any other human being could identify with. The writing is fresh and witty. This is definitely a read again book for me.

James Scott Bell's "Breach of Promise"...An excellent story, written with knowledge and passion. 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

"Breach of Promise" is the first James Scott Bell book I've read...it won't be the last! Mr. Bell's background makes this excellent story credible, with knowledge and passion. The creation of interesting books and characters--combining suspense within a theme of a strong Christian faith--is a very positive direction, I believe. While, in my opinion, Terri Blackstock remains No. 1 in this special genre, Mr. Bell (who lends a "male view") and others are right on track. I highly recommend his "Breach of Promise." --Ron Howe (aka Toby Martin) Erskine, MN

Editorial Review:

Actor and father Mark Gillen finds out how far modern courts will go to keep a child from a parent who has strong Christian views.

Perfect

Harry Kraus

Amazon Price: $11.27 List Price: $14.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Zondervan Amazon Marketplace: 50 new & used starting at $4.33

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Genre Fiction -> Action & Adventure
Subjects -> Mystery & Thrillers -> Thrillers -> Suspense
Subjects -> Mystery & Thrillers -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Great Read! 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I just finished reading Perfect. What a fantastic book...full of suspense, as well as speaking of God's grace. I just want to encourage everyone to read his books....they are all great. I can't wait to read his next book!

Suspense and themes of grace and forgiveness wind throughout Kraus's latest thriller 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The talented Harry Kraus (COULD I HAVE THIS DANCE?) crafts this absorbing, suspense-filled story of a doctor's wife who has the perfect life and everything money can buy --- but finds it is not enough to quell her guilt over her past.

Trophy wife Wendi Stratford is the daughter of a minister who works as an accident reconstructionist. She is frustrated with her high-driving surgeon husband, Dr. Henry Stratford, and in love with her piano teacher, Jack Renner. She's also carrying a boatload of guilt over an incident in her past that helped land her mother in a wheelchair in a nursing home. Add to that her pressure over being the perfect child, and Wendi is about to leave everything and do what she wants --- and have the man and the adulterous fling she desires.

But events intercede. After Jack is hospitalized in a horrific accident and slips into a coma, Henry does the surgery necessary to bring him back from the brink of death. Then, Jack's parents and fiancée, Yolanda Pate, show up and end up bunking at Wendi's home while Jack recuperates. Jack wakes from his coma but seems to suffer from amnesia. When Jack's fiancée dies in Wendi's bed --- from an overdose of pills prescribed by Henry --- evidence begins to point to Wendi, or possibly Henry, as the murderer.

Henry has his own set of problems. Frustrated by his wife's lack of attention, and vulnerable to temptations that lurk right around the corner, he's ripe for an affair. When his resident physician, a sultry blonde, flirts with him and then is killed under mysterious circumstances, the plot thickens further. Do we really know who Henry is? Drugs, affairs, amnesia and guilty cover-ups all wind throughout the plot until its chilling conclusion.

One complicating theme is Wendi's sister Rene, the typecast rebellious daughter, who shows up pregnant and HIV-positive on Wendi's doorstep. Wendi, who is unable to bear a child of her own, must decide if she wants a new start with Henry and adopt her sister's child, or continue to wait and see if Jack regains his memory --- and if they'll renew their fledgling affair. And her marriage is not easily dismissed. Henry's attentions toward her prove confusing. She muses during one scene, "Yes, he worked late and made me fight for second place, but he was compassionate and thorough with his patients, something that gave me comfort since he was the one in charge of Jack. The pendulum of my heart stood still, threatening to arc in the opposite direction from the one I'd been on: an arc towards loneliness, emotional isolation, and divorce."

Point-of-view changes are smooth, and there are some surprises lurking in every chapter. Kraus portrays Henry as a multi-faceted character impossible to dislike, even when he's covering up his myriad mistakes and obsessive compulsive in his mannerisms. The author does a great job showing, not telling. One interesting way he does that is to have Henry check himself in the mirror every morning in the same sequence (hair, tie, jacket, pants and zipper. Then his zipper again.) It's these kinds of scenes that tell us more about the characters than if he spelled out all the details for us about their personalities.

When Wendi gets involved in the investigation of Jack's crash, it unleashes a hornet's nest of troubles. Right up until the end, we're never quite sure if Henry is a sympathetic figure, or something more sinister. The ending is complicated in that it neither wraps up all the loose ends neatly nor leaves us hanging in a satisfactory or unsatisfactory way --- you decide. Faith fiction readers who enjoy a good tale of suspense will find plenty to like in Kraus's latest novel.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

Editorial Review:

Wendi Stratford has the perfect life, including her perfect job as an accident reconstructionist. The problem is, it’s all a sham, and Wendi is tired of the emptiness. But after her plan to escape ends in a horrible accident, Wendi probes the wreckage—and makes a frightening discovery. Someone is out to commit the perfect murder. Wendi’s.

The Tender Vine (Diamond of the Rockies #3)

Kristen, Heitzmann

Amazon Price: $11.19 List Price: $13.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Bethany House Publishers Amazon Marketplace: 69 new & used starting at $2.86

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> World Literature -> United States -> General AAS
Subjects -> Mystery & Thrillers -> General
Subjects -> Mystery & Thrillers -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The series ends but the characters live on...... 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Quillan has agreed to take Carina back to her beloved Sonoma and family. Their journey is nothing compared to what awaits them when they finally do arrive.... Here is your typical Italian family who demands that protocol be followed, a very handsome (and faithless) ex-lover for whom we have been waiting 3 whole books to find out about, and then there is Papa. All of them will surprise and alternately anger and please the reader.

This last book of the series is probably my favorite. The real, deep and eternal love between Carina and Quillan shows so clearly I just wanted to SHAKE the whole family for their negativity, but, in the process I learned to respect and love Quillan and Carina all the more. Total love is being willing to let go if necessary, however painful.

Filled with lots of action and suspense, obviously, the author could not allow this to be a "happily ever after" without a firey trial of pain, raw emotions and near death for some of the main characters.....without revealing anything, I will just say, buy all three books at one time and you will never have to wait for the sequel..

A very excellent historical, Christian fiction love story and one that older teens should definitely read. Thank you Kristen!

Editorial Review:

They Hoped Their Return Would Offer the Chance For Love to Grow

Carina DiGratia Shephard longs to leve behind the paindful memories represented by thte town of Crystal, Colorado, and start anew in the California vineyards of her youth. With Quillan bend on proving his devotion, Carina dares to open her heart to this rogue husband who has brought both pain and passion—and together they attempt to resurrect the tattered remains of their relationship and create a marriage where love truly reigns.

Yet the journey itself and their arrival at the DiGratia estate are not what they expect. Rocked by a confrontation with the past and shunned by the entire family, Quillan faces yet more rejection in his life. But his determination to prove his worth will be tested beyond what any of them had imagined....