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Featured Titles
July Five Star Mystery — Five Star Choice 1 Title
WANTED DEB OR ALIVE
A Debutante Detective Mystery
Laurie Moore
This book is delicious, inhabited by characters you love to hate and characters you love to love — notably Dainty Prescott, the most cheerfully flawed heroine since Scarlett O’Hara. She’s a train wreck you can’t look away from. Laurie Moore writes with talent, wit and an ‘only in Texas’ sensibility that’s irresistible.
— Harley Jane Kozak on Wanted Deb or Alive
More praise for Laurie Moore …
WOMAN STRANGLED — NEWS AT TEN
[This] marvelous new series from Moore sparkles with Janet Evanovich-style humor. The action hurtles to a cliff-hanging close that includes more than one tantalizing twist sure to leave readers eager for the sequel.
— starred, Publishers Weekly
JURY RIGGED
If Stephanie Plum had a Texas cousin … Moore’s Cézanne Martin, a Fort Worth cop turned lawyer, would be it … Moore makes sure it’s all a hoot and a half.
— starred, Publishers Weekly
August Five Star Mystery — Five Star Choice 1 Title
A RHUMBA IN WALTZ TIME
Robert S. Levinson
More fun than peeking through keyholes in the Golden Age of Hollywood before World War II … a nostalgic, wisecracking, action-packed romp filled with an insider’s knowledge of show business and the movie star gossip mill.
— Joseph Wambaugh, Mystery Writers of America Grand Master
More praise for Robert S. Levinson …
THE TRAITOR IN US ALL
Absolutely top-notch! … a delicious blend of the best in thriller writing: a keenly drawn hero, sharp plotting and dialogue, intelligent intrigue and a dash of the past — yesterday’s Cold War harrowingly emerging in the present. A great read.
— Jeffery Deaver, New York Times bestselling author
A story that runs on character, not plot twists.
— Booklist
A white knuckle read.
— Crimespree Magazine
It could be argued that Robert S. Levinson is a man with a golden touch.
— The Big Thrill
IN THE KEY OF DEATH
An intricately plotted and suspenseful thriller …
— Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
Stuffed with action, violence, sex …
— Kirkus Reviews
Pure Levinson — smart, dark and funny.
— T. Jefferson Parker, New York Times bestselling author
WHERE THE LIES BEGIN
(An) ever-surprising, character-rich thriller.
— Baltimore Sun
Tough and funny …
— Chicago Tribune
Modern L.A. noir at its finest.
— John Lescroart, New York Times bestselling author
Fast-paced and exciting.
— David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author
ASK A DEAD MAN
A dense, dark, beautifully wrought tale of love and betrayal, sin and retribution, offering serious suspense, terrific twists and full-blooded characters.
— starred, Publishers Weekly
Genuinely exciting…. It sinks its narrative claws into our skin and drags us along on what proves to be an exhilarating ride …
— Booklist
September Five Star Mystery — Five Star Choice 1 Title
POLICE AND THIEVES
The Bridger Series
James Patrick Hunt
Praise for James Patrick Hunt …
BRIDGER
Hunt, who in a few short years has established his chops as a rising star in the crime genre, mines the same urban-crime territory as Elmore Leonard and does so with pointed dialogue, subtle humor, a likably dangerous protagonist, and an assortment of disparately motivated villains and secondary characters. Hunt is very good indeed and needs to find a much wider audience.
— starred, Booklist
GOODBYE SISTER DISCO
Hunt unspools this gripping plot at breakneck speed. Not a word seems wasted, whether in breathtaking action sequences or in back-story sketches of the book’s various players.
— Wall Street Journal
THE BETRAYERS
Fast, gritty, and convincing. Crime fiction at its best.
— Lee Child
Intricate, completely convincing, and scorching hot, The Betrayers is reminiscent of the best of Elmore Leonard…. Yes, it’s that good.
— George Pelecanos
MAITLAND
… knockout first novel … an extraordinary debut that harkens back to Elmore Leonard’s classic City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit (1979). Great modern noir; don’t miss it, and clamor for more.
— starred, Booklist
August Five Star Mystery
SENIOR MOMENTS ARE MURDER
A Paul Jacobson Geezer-Lit Mystery
Mike Befeler
Praise for Mike Befeler …
Living with Your Kids Is Murder
It's hard to beat a team that includes a wisecracking old fart and a straight-talking young sprout, and Befeler's second geezer-lit entry delivers.
— Kirkus Reviews
Cleverly plotted.
— Publishers Weekly
It’s Nancy Drew meets Memento! What a concept! And what fun! Mike Befeler’s Geezer-lit mystery is just the thing for what ails you. Enjoy!
— Parnell Hall, author of the Puzzle Lady crossword puzzle mysteries
Another home run. The plot is funny, the writing witty. A fun book to read.
— Rita Lakin, author of Getting Old Is a Disaster
Retirement Homes Are Murder
Humorous and heartbreaking.
— Library Journal
Befeler’s book is a humorous example of the new sub-genre ‘geezer-lit.’ Sometimes sad, but mostly funny, his tale of a plucky sarcastic ‘old fart’ will win your heart.
— Mystery Scene Magazine
Kudos to Mike Befeler for this witty, clever and wholly entertaining novel.
— Margaret Coel, author of The Spider’s Web
Befeler’s clever use of age-related challenges leaves the reader laughing and instills hope in the continued usefulness of the octogenarian crowd.
— Christine Goff, author of the Birdwatcher's Mystery series
Mike Befeler’s funny, feisty, and memory-challenged senior sleuth is a delightful addition to the mystery scene.
— Maggie Sefton, author of the Knitting Mystery Series
July Five Star Mystery
THE DEAD GENIUS
A Lieutenant Joe Sonntag Novel
Axel Brand
Praise for Axel Brand …
THE HOTEL DICK
With a narrative voice reminiscent of Dragnet’s Joe Friday, and a spot-on style that subtly slips modernism into the smooth, often humorous telling, Brand has written a sound period piece featuring Lt. Joe Sonntag. Sonntag maintains a cool approach when movie star Spencer Tracy appears to be the only viable suspect in the murder of a hotel detective. The plot is as devious as any of Donald Westlake’s and hard-boiled enough to please Bill Pronzini fans. The end result is pure entertainment.
— Library Journal
Sonntag is an appealingly laconic sleuth.
— Kirkus Reviews
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