The Secret of the Scarecrow

      Carolyn Keene
     The Secret of the Scarecrow

Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew are off on a spooky adventure when their prizewinning scarecrow goes missing. Nancy, Bess and George are thrilled when their class is asked to design a scarecrow for the town’s biggest department store’s window. And it gets even better when their design wins! But when the scarecrow is stolen from Bess’s porch, it’s up to the Clue Crew to save the day. The case is tough, especially with a shadowy figure running around town, a list of suspects that keeps growing, and Deirdre Shannon trying to get Bess in trouble. Can the girls find the scarecrow in time? Or will the store’s fall window be ruined?

Read online

  • 568

    Ladd Springs

      Dianne Venetta
     Ladd Springs

Book #1 in the Ladd Springs series...A deathbed promise and a mysterious find in the Tennessee forest bring Delaney Wilkins and Nick Harris together in a dramatic fight for the rights to Ladd Springs.Delaney Wilkins finds herself at odds with hotel developer Nick Harris over a deathbed promise and a mysterious find in the Tennessee forest. Both are after title to Ladd Springs, a mecca of natural springs, streams and trails in the eastern Tennessee mountains, a tract of land worth millions. But Ernie Ladd, current owner of the property and uncle to Delaney, is adamantly opposed to them both.Felicity Wilkins, Delaney’s daughter, deserves to inherit her family’s legacy, but neighbor Clem Sweeney is working against her, ingratiating himself with Ernie Ladd. Clem is also harboring a secret that will make him a very wealthy man—unless the others stop him before he can bring it to fruition.Complicating matters is Annie Owens. Ex-girlfriend to Jeremiah Ladd, Ernie’s estranged son lining in Atlanta, she declares her daughter Casey is Jeremiah’s, making Casey every bit as entitled to the property as Felicity—only Annie hasn’t proven this claim. Yet.All are fighting to get the property, but only one will walk away with the gold.

Read online

  • 567

    Hands of the Traitor

      Christopher Wright
     Hands of the Traitor

English private investigator Matt Rider wants to find out if his grandfather killed Sophie Bernay in WW2, and uncovers an appalling international secret. Domestic Chemicals is a New York company owned by the Heinman dynasty. Matt Rider in England and Frank B. Heinman in New York are on a collision course. Frank Heinman will make sure no one stays alive if he sees them as a danger to his company.English private investigator Matt Rider wants to find out if his grandfather killed Sophie Bernay in WW2, and uncovers an appalling international secret. Domestic Chemicals, a New York company owned by the Heinman dynasty, made poison gas for Nazi Germany. And now the past is back to haunt them -- like the bloated corpse Frank B. Heinman saw rising to the surface in the East River as a boy. Matt Rider in England and Frank Heinman in New York are on a collision course. The ex-president of Domestic Chemicals will make sure no one stays alive if he sees them as a danger to the company. Matt Rider just wants the truth. Hands of the Traitor is the first Matt Rider detective thriller.

Read online

  • 567

    The Disintegration of Dragons, Part 1: A Death in Vastervik

      Mark Bousquet
     The Disintegration of Dragons, Part 1: A Death in Vastervik

The Golem War is over. One year to the date of final victory over the automaton armies of an evil wizard sect, the kingdom states of the Third Continent gather in the human kingdom of Vastervik to party. The guests of honor are all of the known surviving members of the 19th Legion (popularly known as the Dragon Legion), the military unit that ended the Golem War.Pro Se Productions proudly presents a fantasy noir epic as a part of its Pro Se Single Shots Signature line- Mark Bousquet’s The Disintegration of Dragons.The Golem War is over. One year to the date of final victory over the automaton armies of an evil wizard sect, the kingdom states of the Third Continent gather in the human kingdom of Vastervik to party. The guests of honor are all of the known surviving members of the 19th Legion (popularly known as the Dragon Legion), the military unit that ended the Golem War via mysterious, unknown actions. In the morning, Vastervik awakens to find two Legionnaires murdered and another the main suspect. Panic slowly grows among the Queen’s men. The 14 surviving members of the 19th are the most popular men in the continent, and neither the dwarves nor elves would dare move against them. The Queen needs someone who can stand up to the 19th to solve the murder, so she turns to the 15th surviving member of the Legion who none may mention without facing the penalty of death, a man locked away in the deepest, darkest cell. With the Legion in crisis, the Queen turns to the one man that she can trust to stand up to the 19th to find out who’s killing the greatest heroes of the Continent.

Read online

  • 567

    A Murder of Quality

      John le Carré
     A Murder of Quality

A bloody and apparently senseless murder had been committed at Carne School, one of the oldest and most glittering ornaments in the British public school system. George Smiley, whose connections with Carne were complicated by sentiment, had had a curious forewarning of the crime and, in a private capacity, pursued its investigation. Without his espionage-trained insight into the workings of the human mind, Smiley might never have solved the case. But logic and insight were hardly enough to spare him the emotional aftermath of a conclusion he did not want to face.

Read online

  • 567

    A Talent for Murder

      Carolyn Keene
     A Talent for Murder

Nancy enters a world of glamor and glitz where murder is all the rage While in San Francisco to visit Ned's cousin, whose husband works at one of the Coast's hottest talent agencies, Nancy and Ned rub elbows with some of the city's most beautiful people. But one of those beautiful people has met a blunt and ugly end. The agency's #1 model is out of the picture for good--found dead in a back alley! The urge to make it big in front of the camera is powerful and tempting. Even Ned has stars in his eyes, and Nancy's beginning to wonder if he's lost sight of her. But behind the spotlight, she finds that the climb to the top can prove slippery and dangerous. Greed, ambition, and deceit are the rules of the game...and murder has struck the final pose!

Read online

  • 567

    Let the Devil Sleep

      John Verdon
     Let the Devil Sleep

In this latest novel from bestselling author John Verdon, ingenious puzzle solver Dave Gurney puts under the magnifying glass a notorious serial murder case – one whose motives have been enshrined as law-enforcement dogma - and discovers that everyone has it wrong.   The most decorated homicide detective in NYPD history, Dave Gurney is still trying to adjust to his life of quasi-retirement in upstate New York when a young woman who is producing a documentary on a notorious murder spree seeks his counsel.  Soon after, Gurney begins feeling threatened: a razor-sharp hunting arrow lands in his yard, and he narrowly escapes serious injury in a booby-trapped basement.  As things grow more bizarre, he finds himself reexamining the case of The Good Shepherd, which ten years before involved a series of roadside shootings and a rage-against-the-rich manifesto.  The killings ceased, and a cult of analysis grew up around the case with a consensus opinion that no one would dream of challenging  -- no one, that is, but Dave Gurney.  Mocked even by some who’d been his supporters in previous investigations, Dave realizes that the killer is too clever to ever be found.  The only gambit that may make sense is also the most dangerous – to make himself a target and get the killer to come to him. To survive, Gurney must rely on three allies: his beloved wife Madeleine, impressively intuitive and a beacon of light in the gathering darkness; his de-facto investigative “partner” Jack Hardwick, always ready to spit in authority’s face but wily when it counts; and his son Kyle, who has come back into Gurney’s life with surprising force, love and loyalty. Displaying all the hallmarks for which the Dave Gurney series is lauded -- well-etched characters, deft black humor, and ingenious deduction that ends in a climactic showdown – Let the Devil Sleep is something more: a reminder of the power of self-belief in a world that contains too little of it. From the Hardcover edition.

Read online

  • 567

    Refugee

      Erica Stevens
     Refugee

Whispers, rumors, and horror stories abound about The Barrens and the strange creatures that lurk within them. Determined to find the remaining vampires that stood against his father in the war, Braith knows that it’s dangerous to enter the inhospitable land, but that they must if they are to have a chance at gaining allies to help overthrow the king. Though he once knew the powerful vampires that are rumored to reside within The Barrens, he is unsure what to expect if they succeed in finding them. He will do whatever is necessary though to ensure a future for himself and Aria. Aria is fearful of entering into the land she’s heard nothing but cautionary tales about, but she’s determined to help Braith locate the vampires that may help them with their cause. She is fascinated and amazed by the world they uncover within, one that is unlike anything she has ever seen before. However, the more immersed they become in a world that she doesn’t entirely understand, the more she realizes that it won’t be the war, or even the king that will eventually tear her and Braith apart. It will be her. Book 3 of 4 Young Adult/New Adult This book contains some language, violence, and sexual situations. Recommended for ages sixteen and up.

Read online

  • 566

    Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins?

      Liz Kessler
     Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins?

Jessica Jenkins is missing... Jessica Jenkins has always thought she was a perfectly ordinary girl, until the day that part of her arm vanishes in the middle of a Geography lesson! Her best friend Izzy is determined to help Jessica realise what a great opportunity the power to turn invisible could be, but where has her new ability come from? Does this mean she's a superhero? And, when her friends are threatened, can Jessica use her superpower to help?

Read online

  • 566

    Robicheaux

      James Lee Burke
     Robicheaux

James Lee Burke’s most beloved character, Dave Robicheaux, returns in this gritty, atmospheric mystery set in the towns and backwoods of Louisiana. DAVE ROBICHEAUX IS A HAUNTED MAN. Between his recurrent nightmares about Vietnam, his battle with alcoholism, and the sudden loss of his beloved wife, Molly, his thoughts drift from one irreconcilable memory to the next. Images of ghosts at Spanish Lake live on the edge of his vision. During a murder investigation, Dave Robicheaux discovers he may have committed the homicide he’s investigating, one which involved the death of the man who took the life of Dave’s beloved wife. As he works to clear his name and make sense of the murder, Robicheaux encounters a cast of characters and a resurgence of dark social forces that threaten to destroy all of those whom he loves. What emerges is not only a propulsive and thrilling novel, but a harrowing study of America: this nation’s abiding conflict between a sense of past grandeur and a legacy of shame, its easy seduction by demagogues and wealth, and its predilection for violence and revenge. James Lee Burke has returned with one of America’s favorite characters, in his most searing, most prescient novel to date.

Read online

  • 566

    Dying to Get Published

      Judy Fitzwater
     Dying to Get Published

Jennifer Marsh is a mystery writer with eight unpublished books and hundreds of rejection letters. If she can just get famous for something, someone will surely publish her books. Why not murder? Because Jennifer's a good person, a vegetarian who rescued a greyhound. She could never actually kill someone, but she could plot a murder that will land her as the prime suspect in a real murder case.Judy Fitzwater's comic mystery tour de force, originally published by Ballantine Books, is finally available in electronic format.Jennifer Marsh is a mystery writer with a stack of eight unpublished manuscripts and rejection letters to match filling her closet. She's sure that if she can just get famous for something, someone will have to publish her books. Why not murder?She'll find a target so mean that she'd actually be doing the world a favor by bumping him or her off. And she knows just the person:Penney Richmond, a high-powered literary agent who's made it her job to ruin people's lives. All Jennifer has to do is frame herself, do the deed, and come out with an iron-clad alibi, and she'll be well on her way to getting a three book deal. So what if she chickens out at the last minute? A vegetarian good girl who rescued a greyhound could never actually kill someone. But when Penney is found murdered and the police think Jennifer did it, she’d better find the real murderer before she goes away... for life.Along with her eccentric writer's group, spunky old ladies with a nose for sleuthing, her neurotic greyhound, and a sexy, sarcastic reporter named Sam, Jennifer embarks on a journey filled with danger, deception, and disguises that could leave her Dying to Get Published...

Read online

  • 565

    Stateline

      Dave Stanton
     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 investigator 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 then...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 investigator 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.Who committed the murder, and why? And what of the dark sexual deviations that keep surfacing? 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…

Read online

  • 565

    Wrong City

      Morgan Richter
     Wrong City

Vish’s chance meeting with Sparky, a charismatic stranger with mysterious influence over the entertainment industry, leads to a dream job and a romance with Troy, a starlet with a dark secret. After Troy vanishes, Vish’s quest to find her takes him deep into Los Angeles’ supernatural underbelly, where he finds himself at the center of a war between Sparky and his foes for control of Hollywood.While serving hors d'oeuvres to the beautiful people at a glittery Hollywood party, an aspiring young screenwriter named Vish meets Sparky, a charismatic stranger who claims he can do amazing things for Vish’s career. Vish’s attempts to find out more about Sparky set in motion a string of bizarre events, leading to a cushy writing gig on a hit TV series and a too-good-to-be-true romance with Troy, a sweet-natured starlet with a dangerous alter ego. After Troy dumps him without explanation, a heartbroken Vish tries to discover what went wrong in their relationship. His quest for answers leads him deep into Los Angeles’ seedy, supernatural underbelly, where struggling artists are a disposable commodity and fame often comes at a mortal cost. Vish finds himself at the center of a high-stakes battle between ancient forces for dominance in the entertainment industry. With a foul creature living in the earth beneath his apartment complex, a vicious coterie of murderous surf bums dogging his every move, and a disturbing lack of trustworthy allies, Vish’s best chance for survival lies with the mysterious and powerful Sparky. Vish must track down Sparky before he becomes the latest victim of Hollywood’s deadly allure.

Read online

  • 565

    I Am Half-Sick of Shadows

      Alan Bradley
     I Am Half-Sick of Shadows

It's Christmastime, and the precocious Flavia de Luce - an eleven-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry and a penchant for crime-solving - is tucked away in her laboratory, whipping up a concoction to ensnare Saint Nick. But she is soon distracted when a film crew arrives at Buckshaw, the de Luces' decaying English estate, to shoot a movie starring the famed Phyllis Wyvern. Amid a raging blizzard, the entire village of Bishop's Lacey gathers at Buckshaw to watch Wyvern perform, yet nobody is prepared for the evening's shocking conclusion: a body found, past midnight, strangled to death with a length of film. But who among the assembled guests would stage such a chilling scene? As the storm worsens and the list of suspects grows, Flavia must use every ounce of sly wit at her disposal to ferret out a killer hidden in plain sight.

Read online

  • 565