Indie Crime Fiction of the Month for June 2019

Welcome to the latest edition of “Indie Crime Fiction of the Month”.

So what is “Indie Crime Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of speculative fiction by indie authors newly published this month, though some May books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, most links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailers for future editions.

Our new releases cover the broad spectrum of crime fiction. We have cozy mysteries, small town mysteries, animal mysteries, culinary mysteries, historical mysteries, jazz age mysteries, hard boiled mysteries, paranormal mysteries, crime thrillers, legal thrillers, police procedurals, nordic noir, private investigators, amateur sleuths, ex-cons, lawyers, missing persons, amnesiacs, heists, both online and offline, revenge, crime scene investigators, reality TV detectives, black widows, crime-busting witches, crime-busting ghosts, crime-busting bakers, zombies, angry mermaids, the Russian mafia, the Armenian mafia, murders in small towns and big cities, at the seaside and in country manors, in Kentucky, Tasmania, Southern California and Sweden and much more.

As always, I know the authors at least vaguely, but I haven’t read all of the books, so Caveat emptor.

And now on to the books without further ado:

Mystery Comes in Waves by Agatha Ball:

August has rolled around and summer is definitely heating up. Seaside is hosting a bake off, but after a series of cooking disasters, things just might take a dark (chocolate) turn.

Join all your old Seaside friends for another trip to the island in book three of the Paige Comber Mysteries!

The Death of Jessica Ripley by Andrew Barrett:

Sometimes you can’t forgive and forget.

Jessica Ripley didn’t kill her ex-husband. But everyone thinks she did. After serving twelve years for his murder, it’s time to get her own back on those who put her inside.

During those twelve years, Jessy’s son, Michael, has turned against her. Whatever mercy Jessy had for her intended victims, has gone.

CSI Eddie Collins is having a hard time watching his father enjoying life. He’s also having it tough in the form of two new recruits to his office. One is off his tree on drugs and the other wants his job.

And then the murders begin.

Can Eddie trust the evidence, or is someone out to get even?

And who did kill Jessy’s ex? To find out, buy The Death of Jessica Ripley

The Secret Sins by Solomon Carter:

Detective Inspector Hogarth planned to spend the weekend savin his superior's backside from impending disaster, but Hogarth's plans have to change when he is called to a mysterious suicide. Locked alone inside her holiday park caravan, Dina Corbett died from a single gunshot wound to the head. A gun is found close by the dead girl's hand, but no suicide note is in sight.

Suicide is the obvious conclusion, but nagging doubts soon have Hogarth suspecting murder. Trouble is, there's no evidence of foul play and every witness has a decent alibi... but DI Hogarth can't let go of his suspicions... not even when his team start to turn against him...

Dina Corbett had her whole life ahead of her, but those who knew her said she was depressed, moody, maybe even bipolar. Dina and her boyfriend Simon Da Costa abandoned their university courses to embark on a year of hedonism, staying at holiday parks and campsites across the country. Griffin Holiday Park, Canvey Island, turned out to be Dina’s last. At Griffin Park, Hogarth finds a sub-culture of miscreants living under the radar. Each one has a dubious tale and incurs his suspicion. If Dina’s death really was murder, which one of them killed the girl, and why? And how did Dina get access to a gun?

The investigation is complicated by the site of the former holiday park next door – a place which has been turned into accommodation for refugees and others in crisis. A lone foreign refugee watches the whole investigation through the fence. Hogarth doesn’t like being watched. He doesn’t like the crime scene, nor the questions lingering at the back of his mind. But in opting for murder, Hogarth stands alone.

And alone he must deal with DCI Melford. Hogarth’s superior is caught in a spiral of self-destruction and looks ready to cross the point of no return. The risks are everywhere. The pressure is mounting. And in working to save Melford, Hogarth must also remember to save himself.

DI Hogarth must make the right calls… or die trying.

Take One Me by Stacy Claflin:

A traumatized girl wakes in the hospital with no memory of how she got there. Or of anything else. Her only thought is to find the one person she remembers—her Uncle Alex.

When the authorities contact Alex Mercer, he rushes to the hospital. He’s surprised to find it’s his cousin Ayla. Shocked to see the condition she’s in. Stunned to learn her parents are missing.

Alex welcomes her into his home, and the family rallies around her as she tries to recover. But progress is slow, and for every step forward, she backslides. Compounding the problem is the mounting evidence that none of this was an accident. And the answers to the mystery are locked in her fragile mind.

Ayla is scared she’ll never remember. Even more frightened she will—and she won’t like what she recalls. But when she comes face to face with the worst memory of all, she realizes so much more than her history is at stake. And it might be too late to do anything about it.

A Veil Removed by Michelle Cox:

Murder is never far from this sexy couple . . . even during the holidays!

Their honeymoon abruptly ended by the untimely death of Alcott Howard, Clive and Henrietta return to Highbury, where Clive discovers all is not as it should be. Increasingly convinced that his father’s death was not an accident, Clive launches his own investigation, despite his mother’s belief that he has become “mentally disturbed” with grief. Henrietta eventually joins forces with Clive on their first real case, which becomes darker—and deadlier—than they imagined as they get closer to the truth behind Alcott’s troubled affairs.

Meanwhile, Henrietta’s sister, Elsie, begins, at Henrietta’s orchestration, to take classes at a women’s college—an attempt to evade her troubles and prevent any further romantic temptations. When she meets a bookish German custodian at the school, however, he challenges her to think for herself . . . even as she discovers some shocking secrets about his past life.

Heist Online by Victor Deckard:

Heist Online is an action-packed virtual reality video game about cops and criminals.

If you want to play on the wrong side of the law, you can participate in a variety of heists. You can rob banks, jewelry stores, armored cash vehicles, etc. If you prefer to play as a cop, however, your task is to stop robbers.

Striker plays as a heister. When he and his teammates have been returning from a successful robbery, another team of heisters has attacked them and taken their money away.

Striker then finds out that he and his friends aren’t the only players whom the mysterious gang has robbed. Some of the victims want to get even with them. Still, nobody has achieved any success in tracking them down yet. No one knows who they are, why they rob other heisters, or where to find them.

A few days later, when Striker escapes with stolen money after another successful robbery, he happens to run into the mysterious gang again. They try to rob him, but he manages to repel the attack and ward the players off.

Later on, Striker finds out that the members of the mysterious gang have trashed his home out of revenge. After that, he gets determined to hunt them down. He has a score to settle.


Little Moments by K.J. Emrick:

Mystery, murder, and a penguin... it's just an ordinary day in the life of Dell Powers!

Dell loves summertime in Tasmania. With its heat and insects and the tourists... especially the tourists... she wouldn't have it any other way.

But when a prominent politician is murdered right inside his room the Pine Lake Inn is about to be thrust into the limelight once again. And not in a good way.

Who would want to kill the man? And why?

With just two possible suspects who have means, motive, and opportunity, it will be easy to sort it out. Won't it?

While she's wrestling with the murder Dell stumbles upon another mystery that needs special expertise.

Will she be able to work it all out in time?

The Crime by John Ellsworth:

Thaddeus Murfee is back in this twisted tale of two trials, mother and daughter, each claiming to have shot father...

He couldn't keep his hands off his stepdaughter. The question becomes, who shot him? The mother or the stepdaughter? Or maybe it was even the woman he was seeing? Or the husband of the woman he seduced?

Thaddeus defends the mother on murder charges. The case goes to trial. Midway, the trial takes an unexpected turn and it looks as if the real killer has been exposed. Thaddeus isn't finished with the case, however, and soon he's back in trial yet again. The police and the District Attorney are certain they now have the killer in a death penalty case.

Of all his cases, this one is Thaddeus' most memorable and most difficult. Enjoy a front row seat as the courtroom whiz takes on the establishment only to find his entire world turned upside down. It's back and forth, cat-and-mouse until the unthinkable happens.

Can Thaddeus win-over a jury of twelve tough Westerners who aren't afraid of handing out the death penalty?

A Life Lost by Diane Ezzard:

“Tell Sophie Brown she was right,” were Francesca’s dying words before she was brutally murdered. Sophie worked with Francesca to help bring back her memory, lost as a result of a trauma, too horrific to imagine. Over time, Sophie unravels the secrets of Francesca’s past - her son tragically killed, an armed robbery, illicit affairs.

But who wanted her dead before she remembered everything about her past?

And can Sophie find out what she meant before it is too late?

The Dirty Coven by Lily Harper Hart:

Hannah Hickok is at a crossroads in her life. She’s single, out of a job, and living in an apartment she absolutely hates in a suburb of Detroit. All that changes when she receives a registered letter and finds out she’s inherited a performance town.Casper Creek is located in Kentucky, on top of a small mountain, and is fashioned after notorious towns from the old west. Workers dress up, man the saloon, and put on a variety of performances several times a day. A city girl, Hannah is out of her element. She’s determined to give it a shot, though.Cooper Wyatt is head of security at Casper Creek and the last thing he wants to do is break in a new owner … especially one who has no idea about the paranormal world she’s about to be immersed in. You see, Casper Creek is home to a variety of individuals, including two covens of witches who enjoy doing battle.Hannah is barely in town when a body drops and a mystery unfolds. The workers at Casper Creek have more on their minds than performances. Unfortunately for them, Hannah is about to find out their big secret. Even worse, she’s about to find out she comes from a long line of witches … and magic is in her genes.Casper Creek is full of colorful people. They’re all going to have to come together if they want to fight pure evil. Will they manage it in time? It’s almost high noon and the magic fight is about to begin.

The Undead Uproar by Amanda M. Lee:

Charlie Rhodes is living the high life … at least for her. She lucked into a new apartment, her boyfriend Jack is attentive and sweet, and she’s about to head to the Big Easy to hunt for zombies.Yes, a multitude of dreams are about to come true.Charlie has never been to New Orleans and she’s in awe of everything she sees. Jack is determined to make sure she has a good time, which means authentic food, music and haunted tours. He’s happy just to be with her as she investigates the city.The one sore spot of the trip is the talk of zombies. Jack doesn’t believe they exist. Charlie and their boss think it’s possible. Oh, yeah, and dead bodies are rising all over town and no one can explain why.Charlie is at a crossroads in her life. She has magic at her disposal and the people in New Orleans might be the only ones with answers as to why she is the way she is. The question is: Who to trust?The closer Charlie and Jack get, the more she realizes she has to tell him the truth. She’s running out of time, though. She needs to protect the people she cares about most and solve an unthinkable crime. She has no idea how to do it.New Orleans is a magical city and Charlie is a magical girl. She can’t hide forever, though. The truth will come out with at least one person … she just has to survive long enough to explain her side of things in the aftermath.That’s not a given in a world where the dead are rising … and trying to kill everybody they come in contact with.

Random Melody by William Michaels:

Did you ever make a decision, which didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but it led to another decision, and another, and now you’re in big trouble, and you don’t know how it started?

Rick Singleton is working hard to become a successful songwriter, but just can’t break through. Along comes Candy Carter, an up and coming pop diva with big money behind her. If Rick can only get Candy to use his songs on her upcoming album, he might just make the leap from obscurity to musical fortune.

One big problem: Rick is in debt to Doc Miles, a tough drug dealer who is looking for legitimate investments to cover his illicit activities. One of Doc’s customers, Dwayne “Outta Here” Coleman, is an edgy hip hop artist who knows his way around the music world. When Doc and Dwayne find out about Candy’s album, they both want a piece of the pie. Before it’s over, people end up dead.

Detective Robert Winter has a knack for solving seemingly random crimes by connecting dots no one else can see, yet even he is tested in unraveling this complex web of power and treachery.

A Detective Robert Winter series standalone story.

Third Time's a Crime by Diana Orgain:

Ex-detective Georgia Thornton returns to reality TV in the third mystery from the USA Today bestselling author of A Second Chance at Murder—

POOL YOUR RESOURCES...

After two hit reality TV shows brought ex-detective Georgia Thornton into America’s living rooms, audiences can’t get enough of her quest for love and justice. Now producers have come up with an all-new show set in a haunted castle in Golden, California. Georgia and nine other contestants will need to solve the mystery of a young woman who disappeared at the castle in 1960.

Except there’s one rather substantial problem waiting for everyone when they arrive: a groundskeeper is found drowned at the bottom of the castle’s empty pool. Now Georgia and the other contestants will need to work together, because there’s a different sort of game afoot—and it’s not one they can afford to lose...

By Reason of Insanity by Rachel Sinclair:

An unstable beautiful woman is accused of maurdering her wealthy husband.
She claims she didn't do it.
She is not to be trusted.

Aidan Collins has his very first large case when his client, Marina Vasiliev, a drop-dead gorgeous mental patient, is accused of killing her wealthy husband. Marina insists that she didn't do it, but Aidan can't trust her. He knows Marina well, too well.

After all, he met Marina in the mental hospital - he originally obtained her as a client when she was involuntarily committed, and he assisted her with getting out.

Diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, Marina's view of reality shifts from day to day. Moment to moment. Wracked with paranoia, suicidal behavior and mental instability, Marina also admits that she has losses of time - entire days where she has no idea what happened.

Marina has no memory of what happened the night that her husband died.

Aidan can never be sure if Marina is guilty or not. He makes the decision that the best way to defend her would be to try for the insanity defense. His client is not on board with this decision, and, to make things worse, she begins to imagine him as her lover, which turns his professional relationship with her upside down.

It also puts Aidan into danger, both professionally and personally.

However, once Aidan gets more into the case, he begins to doubt that his decision to try for the insanity defense was a sound one. Clues lead away from Marina's involvement in her husband's murder.

Before long, Aidan feels that his reality is shifting as much as his client. One day, he's convinced that she's guilty. The next, he's convinced that somebody else did it.

Aidan can never be sure that he's doing the right thing in using the insanity defense. An 11th hour witness throws his entire trial strategy into disarray.

Wicked on the Beach: June Bride and Mermaid's Fury by Lotta Smith:

Beach wedding and a murder… Throw in an angry mermaid threatening to destroy the wedding!

There’s trouble in Paradise, and the Rowling family is on the case.

The island wedding of Mandy’s BFF Fiona and famous exorcist Brian Powers becomes the backdrop for a murder investigation when the body of a notorious loan shark is found in the dunes. But how did a man drown so far from the water?

An angry mermaid threatens to wreak havoc if the killer isn’t caught, but with no spirits to question, does Mandy stand a ghost of a chance to solve the case?

Come Find Me by Casper Valentine:

Come find me...

Ever since they were kids playing hide-and-seek, Narcotics Detective Nate Randolph took care of his troubled half-sister. When he discovers her missing one morning, Nate immediately knows something is wrong. As a single mother she's had her struggles, but Ruby would never run off and leave her baby all alone. Not even before she got clean.

Come find me...

Nate is under no illusions. Each day that passes diminishes the chances of finding his sister alive. But he's not about to give up. Not when a shred of hope remains to solve her kidnapping. Not when a beautiful colleague offers to help. And definitely not when his sister's plea echoes day and night in his mind.

Come find me...

When the Narcotics Task Force goes up against the Armenian Mafia, both investigations unexpectedly collide. Explosive revelations that tie past to present push Nate to the edge.
And everything is on the table when a man is desperate.

The Grand Man by Florence Wetzel:

Journalist Juliet Brown is a ScandiGeek, a person who is enamored of all things Scandinavian. An unexpected opportunity sends Juliet to Sweden to interview an American jazz singer, and she is quickly drawn into the vibrant Stockholm music scene.

When one of Juliet’s new friends is murdered, she finds herself embroiled in a real-life Swedish mystery. Journalist Magnus Lindblom offers to help Juliet despite his own struggles, which include hiding the truth about Stieg Larsson’s missing fourth book.

Set in the depths of the cold and dark Swedish winter, amid the weaving cobblestone streets of Stockholm’s Old Town, The Grand Man ultimately solves two contemporary Swedish mysteries: the 1986 assassination of prime minister Olof Palme, and Stieg Larsson’s missing fourth book.

The Russian Heist by Robb White:

When the plot to steal government money from an airport succeeds, the amateur thieves become expendable to the real criminal among them, a Russian superkiller

A Russian mobster stumbles onto a plot to rob a county airport where millions in small denominations sit shrink-wrapped on pallets waiting for military transport planes to deliver the money to the Middle East. The mastermind of the heist is the “inside man,” a disgruntled armored-car guard named Smith and his slattern of a wife. Even more astounding to Dimitri Byko, a hardened criminal and psychopathic killer, is that other members of this misfit gang include the pair’s son, a juvenile delinquent, and worst of all, Macbride, an obese, alcoholic professor. When this unlikely band of thieves pulls off the robbery, Byko’s regard for his partners in crime is short-lived. But what he is unprepared for is the woman assigned to hunt him down. Special Agent Annie Cheng has wide experience with the ruthless mafiya of Brighton Beach.