Murder Served Cold (The Much Winchmoor Mysteries Book 1)by Paula Williams

A quiet English village where nothing ever happens. Until…

After her boyfriend runs out on her with the contents of their joint bank account, Kat Latcham has no choice but to return to the tiny Somerset village of Much Winchmoor, where she grew up. A place, she reckons, that is not so much sleepy as comatose, and she longs for something exciting to happen to lessen the boredom of living with her parents.

But when she and her childhood friend, Will Manning, discover a body, and Will’s father, John, is arrested for the murder, Kat suddenly realises she should have heeded the saying “be careful what you wish for”.

Much Winchmoor is a hotbed of gossip, and everyone is convinced John Manning is guilty. Only Kat and Will believe he’s innocent. When there’s a second murder, Kat is sure she knows the identity of the murderer – and sets out to prove it. But in doing so, she almost becomes the murderer’s third victim.

Readers of Sue Grafton might enjoy the Much Winchmoor series of cosy murder mysteries spiked with humour and sprinkled with romance.

River Thieves: A Novelby Michael Crummey

“An impressive first novel” of a crisis between natives and colonists in Newfoundland, based on historical events (Seattle Post-Intelligencer).

In 1810, David Buchan, a naval officer, arrives in the Bay of Exploits with orders to establish contact with the Beothuk, or “Red Indians,” the aboriginal inhabitants of Newfoundland, who are facing extinction. When Buchan approaches the area’s most influential white settlers, the Peytons, for advice and assistance, he enters a shadowy world of allegiances and old grudges that he can only dimly apprehend. His closest ally, John Peyton Jr., maintains an uneasy balance between duty to his father–a domineering patriarch with a reputation as a ruthless persecutor of the Beothuk–and his troubled conscience. Cassie, the fiercely self-reliant and secretive woman who keeps the family house, walks a precarious line of her own between the unspoken but obvious hopes of the younger Peyton, her loyalty to John Senior, and a steadfast refusal to compromise her independence. When Buchan’s peace expedition into “Indian country” goes awry, the rift between father and son deepens and begins to divide those closest to them.

Years later, when a second expedition to the Beothuk’s winter camp mounted by the Peytons leads to the kidnapping of an Indian woman and the murder of her husband, Buchan returns to investigate. As the officer attempts to uncover what really happened at the Red Indian’s lake, the delicate web of obligation and debt that holds together the Peyton household–and the community of settlers on the northeastern shore–slowly unravels.

The tragedy of miscommunication and loss among these colonists living in a harsh environment in a crude, violent age prefigures and in some sense is seen as the cause of the more profound loss, that of an entire people. An enthralling story of great passion and suspense, vividly set in the stark Newfoundland landscape and driven by an extraordinary cast of characters, River Thieves captures both the vast sweep of history and the intimate lives of those caught in its wake.

The Grifterby Sean Campbell

One will rise. The other will fall.

Kent Bancroft’s rise to fame and fortune was nothing short of meteoric. Once a simple teacher in London’s East End, he’s now on course to become Britain’s youngest billionaire.

But his success has come on the back of those he’s trodden upon to get there. Among them is a man whose fall was as swift as Kent’s rise. He used to be a sparky until a freak accident robbed him of one leg.

And then Kent Bancroft robbed him of everything else.

Forget forgiveness. Forget turning the other cheek. And forget waiting for karma.

This is a victim who won’t stand idly by.

He wants revenge.

And he’s going to get it.

Kent Bancroft will never see him coming.

The Truth About Gretchenby Alretha Thomas

Gretchen Holloway, in her final year of graduate school, is in the throes of auditioning actors for her thesis film, inspired by a murdered young football star who has haunted her dreams for two years. Gretchen believes making the movie will be cathartic. But instead of freeing her, embarking upon the film production unleashes a sequence of events that lead Gretchen to conclude that she’s the reincarnation of the young man.

Regina Wilson has always wanted to be an actress. When her agent gets her an audition for a role in Gretchen’s film, which eerily mirrors one of the worst events of her life–the unsolved murder of her older brother, Robert–she’s hard-pressed to go through with it. Upon fleeing, she leaves behind a keepsake that features Robert’s photo. Gretchen sees the picture and recognizes Robert from her dreams. She tracks down Regina, and after being rebuffed and called crazy, Gretchen’s unexplainable knowledge of events in Robert’s life eventually convinces Regina that Gretchen is Robert reincarnated.

The two decide to have his case reopened, but their significant others are dead set against it, and the police, who believe that Robert’s death was gang-related, are less than cooperative. However, Gretchen is desperate to get justice for her former self, and Regina wants justice for her brother. The women piece together the final week of Robert’s life. And the deeper they delve into his past; one shocking revelation follows another, leaving them wondering who they can trust and if they’ll live long enough to find Robert’s killer and bring him to justice.

POWERBALLS: Be careful what you wish for.by Jimmy Clifton

“A mysterious author delivers the comical tale…a raucous adventure around the globe.”–Kirkus Reviews

A sudden windfall – and the money to make every dream come true…

With finances and marriage strained to the breaking point, Rose and Henry Ball dream of new lives filled with romance and adventure. Then Fortune takes a hand. Against all odds the couple win a record Powerball lottery. The sudden windfall is the answer to all their prayers.

Or not.

Helpless to resist the sirens’ song, the Balls leap feet first into the intoxicating world of the super-rich. Henry drifts into treacherous waters on a mad Russian oligarch’s yacht, while Rose throws caution to the wind and rushes headlong into the arms of a beautiful, dangerous stranger. The Balls are in way over their heads by the time Fortune reveals her capricious nature. A swashbuckling investment banker entrusted with their wealth has rolled the dice and lost. Now, money can’t save Rose from a terrible fate. It’s up to Henry to come to her rescue.

The pleasures and perils of sudden wealth spring to vivid life in the rip-roaring POWERBALLS, where wealth and security are illusions – and only love endures.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JIMMY CLIFTON was reported lost at sea in the early morning hours of June 7, 2020. His crewmates on the fishing boat Miss Rosie Mae remember his prodigious capacity for rum and a gift for spinning yarns that helped captain and crew endure those tedious stretches on the open water. He left a loaded .45, an old photo from better times, and several manuscripts as the only clues to a life well lived.

But the tale doesn’t end there.

The task of curating the Jimmy Clifton series and bringing this gifted writer’s intriguing novels to light has been left to MICHAEL HAYES, Clifton’s only known living kin. As a longtime ad man, Hayes shares Clifton’s talents for weaving tall tales and stretching the truth.

This first one’s called POWERBALLS. A cautionary tale if there ever was one about the perils of sudden wealth, and what the almighty dollar can do to a man’s, or woman’s, soul. In the immortal words of Jimmy Clifton: Be careful what you wish for.

We think you’ll like it.