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Monday, April 14, 2014

NEW! Mystery Monday


Theft, secrets, lies, intrigue, murder, espionage, or the unexplainable. Does your novel have something to hide? Post a 300-word teaser to keep us guessing, but don't give too much away! Be sure to add your website/blog link and one link to where your other books can be found. Example: Your Amazon Author's Page.
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Come see my snippet on Exquisite Quills' Mystery Monday!    

4 comments:

B.J. McCall said...

MOONLUST by B.J McCall

HE CARRIES A GUN. SHE’S ON THE RUN.

Her hands shaking, Megan Andrews picked up her cell phone. She read the caller’s name, answered, but didn’t speak.

“Meg? Where are you? I thought you’d be waiting for me.”

Ian’s easy tone sent a wave of doubt rolling through her brain. Was Ian really involved, or was she putting two and two together and coming up with five?

“I’m shopping.” She was in a coffee shop, where she’d been for two hours, pondering a newspaper article that had shaken her to the core. She’d vacillated between returning to the hotel to confront Ian face-to-face or going to the cops. His call had made the tough decision for her.

“Shopping? It’s almost dark.”

“San Francisco’s a great place to shop,” she said, buying time and wondering how to broach the subject that had been on her mind since she’d read the front page story.

“Okay, let’s meet for dinner.”

“John Farland is dead,” she blurted out so loud a stranger sitting at the next table looked up.

After about ten seconds of silence, Ian said, “Who?”

“John Farland. He’s dead.”

“I don’t know a John Farland,” Ian said. “Why would I care if he’s dead?”

“You were arguing with him on the phone yesterday. You told him he owed you two hundred grand.” The customer at the next table gave Megan an odd look. She picked up the newspaper and left the busy coffee shop.

“I was arguing with my broker yesterday. His name is John. My portfolio took a huge hit.”

“You threatened him.”

“I told him I was going to pull my business and trash his firm so bad his business would die.”

Ian’s explanation sounded reasonable, but that wasn’t how she recalled the conversation. “Talk and you’re dead!” had been Ian’s exact words. Ian was lying.

MOONLUST

https://www.amazon.com/author/bjmccall
www.bjmccall.com


Danita Cahill said...

Danita’s author page: http://www.amazon.com/Danita-Cahill/e/B009NF74I4/

Excerpt from my romantic suspense thriller, Mist. Available in both eBook and paperback. http://www.amazon.com/supernatural-thriller-combining-mystery-romance-ebook/dp/B009PR439S/

Kevin couldn’t help but chuckle. He had to grant the reporter this – she’d captured the essence of John Whitmore’s unique personality. Kevin kept reading:

Whitmore’s plan apparently fooled the extraterrestrials for over a decade and a half. So, why then did the foil suddenly stop warding off the body snatchers?

“Them aliens is getting smarter. Either that or the foil barriers quit working when they get old. I’m not sure which,” Whitmore said.

And what do Roseland authorities have to say about the missing persons?

Police Chief Ken Donning said, “We’ve got our best people working these cases. We’ll get to the bottom of it.”

And the possibility of the disappearances being alien abductions?

Roseland Mayor, Ilene Brenson said, “Not to call anyone a liar, but I’d have to see something like a UFO with my own eyes to believe it.”

As for ordinary citizen John Whitmore, he’s determined to move forward with his life’s mission – keeping the phone poles along Roseland’s streets wrapped in fresh tin foil; doing his part to keep the citizens of this friendly little Oregon town safe from the grasp of unfriendly aliens.

Maggie Le Page said...

A HEAT OF THE MOMENT THING has just made it through to the quarter finals of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award 2014! It's classic chick lit: a lighthearted romp with some serious messages and plenty of sizzle. :)

Here's a "Mystery Monday" excerpt:

This time the receptionist didn’t greet us with smiles. Without so much as a glance my way, she said, “Steph,” and handed Matt another message.

His lips compressed in a thin line. His jaw tightened. His arm abandoned mine. In less than a second he’d shed his relaxed-charming-guy skin altogether and became a whole different, cold, business-like beast. I shivered.

He shared a look with her—what were they not saying?—then turned abruptly to me. “Change of plans. I’ll drop you home. Something’s come up.”

I blinked. Took the bucket-of-cold-water effect of his words on the chin.

Well. That would teach me for having such a good time that I expected it to continue.

“Sorry,” he added, and it was such a blatant afterthought that my own jaw clenched as tight as his.

“Don’t be.” Even as I said it, he was dialling on his mobile phone.

I zipped up my jacket, about-turned and marched outside. Who was Steph? And what could be so important about her that it turned Matt into a stranger?

I stood by his bike and resisted tapping my foot while I waited. See? This was what happened when you went against your every instinct and followed your bloody heart. This was insulting, should never have happened, and was entirely my own fault.

I shoved on my helmet and yanked at the straps. When Matt joined me I couldn’t look at him. I was furious, and couldn’t decide whether to direct it at him, this Steph woman, or myself. So I sat wordlessly at his back, resenting having to hold him but doing it because I’d resent falling off more.

I tried to ignore the warmth where our bodies touched, tried not to feel turned on by his proximity. Failed on both counts.

--

I hope you enjoyed this taster. Want to read more? A HEAT OF THE MOMENT THING by Maggie Le Page is available at a range of online outlets (digital or paperback), including:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iTunes
Kobo
Smashwords

Come visit me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/maggielepage - I love meeting and chatting with readers :)

Lynn Cahoon said...

GUIDEBOOK TO MURDER-A TOURIST TRAP MYSTERY releases on Thursday.

Here's my Mystery Monday Excerpt -
Empty shops are the death knell for small businesses. The thought nagged at me as I read, curled up in my favorite overstuffed armchair. Wednesdays were notoriously slow for all the South Cove businesses. Not many tourists included the day in an impulsive California coastal weekend getaway, but I liked to be open, just in case a random busload of quilting seniors decided to stop for a shot of espresso and a few novels to read while they traveled to their next stop on the tour. It had happened.

Once.

The mortgage papers on the building listed me as Jill Gardner, owner of Coffee, Books, and More, the only combination bookstore and coffee shop within sixty miles. But as anyone who’s gone through a divorce or lawsuit knows, paper only tells half the story. I might own the shop, but I’m also one of the world’s biggest suckers.

When I moved to South Cove five years ago, I realized to survive in the small tourist town I’d need to patch together a few different jobs. So I’d jumped at the chance to serve as the business liaison between the local businesses and the city council.

Now I regretted my impulsive nature. And as if to highlight my error, the fax machine on the back counter beeped and started printing out a message.

It could be a catering order coming in. Hope springs eternal and all that. I jumped up from my chair to glance at the half-printed page.

The South Cove city letterhead sparkled on the top. Then Mayor Baylor’s scrawl appeared over the sheet. Short and sweet, he wanted the agenda for the next Business to Business meeting in his office by five on Friday.

As the new kid in town, I’d been honored when the city had offered me the position.

Want more? Check out GUIDEBOOK TO MURDER at any fine digital bookstore. You can visit me at www.lynncahoon.wordpress.com

See you around South Cove.