Monday, March 21, 2011

Mailbox Monday ~ March 21

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.
We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week.

Night of the Living Dandelion: A Flower Shop MysteryNight of the Living Dandelion: A Flower Shop Mystery by Kate Collins (review) ~ Flower shop owner Abby Knight does not believe rumors that Vlad Serban, friend and employee of Abby's fiancé Marco, is a vampire. But how to explain that Vlad is from Romania, has prominent canines, likes bizarre plants such as bloodwort and Dracula orchid, and dresses entirely in black? When a local woman is found dead, her body drained of blood, the stakes become life and death. With Vlad the #1 suspect, Abby and Marco race to find the real killer, before Vlad's life really starts to suck. Release date ~ April 5th
 
 
Sweet Revenge: A Lady Arianna Regency MysterySweet Revenge: A Lady Arianna Regency Mystery (Lady Arianna Hadley Mystery)  by Andrea Penrose (review) ~  England, 1813: Lady Arianna Hadley acts the part of a French chef in one of London's aristocratic households to find her father's murderer. But when the Prince Regent falls ill after consuming Arianna's special chocolate dessert, she finds herself at the center of a scandal. It soon becomes clear that someone is looking to plunge England into chaos-and Arianna to the bottom of the Thames... Release date ~ April 5th
 
The Cat, the Lady and the Liar: A Cats in Trouble MysteryThe Cat, the Lady and the Liar: A Cats in Trouble Mystery  by Leann Sweeny (review) ~ Cat quilter Jillian Hart finds a gorgeous stray cat belonging to the fabulously wealthy Ritaestelle Longworth, who believes she's being drugged. Before Jillian can get to those charges, a body turns up in the lake-and her cat Chablis finds Ritaestelle nearby. Can Jillian's cats aid her in solving a mystery with decades old roots? Release date ~ April 5th
 
The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder (A Charlotte Adams Mystery)The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder (A Charlotte Adams Mystery)  by Mary Jane Maffini (review) ~ Mona Pringle, the local 911 operator, is calling Charlotte Adams with her own emergency: Serena Redding, a high school "mean girl" who used to torment Mona, is coming back for a reunion. When Mona talks about how good it would feel to kill Serena, Charlotte doesn't believe she means it. But when a woman who looks like Serena is killed in a hit- and-run, and another former mean girl is also run down, Charlotte realizes she needs to look both ways for the now-missing Mona. Release date ~ April 5th
 
Deadly Notions (A Southern Sewing Circle Myste)Deadly Notions (A Southern Sewing Circle Mystery)  by Elizabeth Lynn Casey (review) ~ Librarian Tori Sinclair would do anything for her new circle of friends-including throw a birthday bash for a fellow sewer's daughter. While the party is a hit, self-important pageant mom Ashley Lawson leaves the ladies wanting to permanently shut her high maintenance mouth. But when Ashley turns up dead, Tori and the girls need to figure out who really murdered the monster mom, before the finger-pointing causes their friendship to unravel. Release date ~ April 5th
 
A Hard Day's Fright (A Pepper Martin Mystery)A Hard Day's Fright (A Pepper Martin Mystery)  by Casey Daniels (review) ~ What happened to a teenager named Lucy one night in 1966 after a Beatles concert? She rushed the stage, kissed Paul, started home with her friends, and was never seen again-until cemetery guide and unintentional PI to the dead Pepper Martin sees her as a ghost. Lucy's spirit can't rest in peace until her body is found and buried. But how will Pepper track down a missing corpse after forty-five years? Release date ~ April 5th
 
Cookie Dough or Die (A Cookie Cutter Shop Mystery)Cookie Dough or Die (A Cookie Cutter Shop Mystery)  by Virginia Lowell (review) ~ Olivia Greyson is the proud owner of The Gingerbread House-a quaint shop that specializes in all things cookie-and her best friend, Maddie, is her sidekick, baking up scrumptious treats for their cookie-themed parties. But now they must take a break from baking and find a killer, or else their reputation-and quite possibly their lives-will be battered for good.  Release date ~ April 5th
 
An Uninvited Ghost (A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery) An Uninvited Ghost (A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery) by E.J. Cooperman (review) ~ Alison and her resident gumshoe ghost are on their next case when the deceased Scott MacFarlane floats in worried that he accidentally killed a prominent local woman. Turns out she's still alive...that is, of course, until she's murdered-in Alison's house. Now, between the demands of her guests and the arrival of a reality television crew, Alison must find the killer before she sees reality from the other side. Release date ~ April 5th
 
I'll Walk Alone: A NovelI'll Walk Alone: A Novel  by Mary Higgins Clark (ARC) ~ Who has not read about—or experienced—with a sinking feeling the fear that someone else out there may be using your credit cards, accessing your bank account, even stealing your identity. In I ll Walk Alone, Alexandra “Zan” Moreland, a gifted, beautiful interior designer on the threshold of a successful Manhattan career, is terrified to discover that somebody is not only using her credit cards and manipulating her financial accounts to bankrupt her and destroy her reputation, but may also be impersonating her in a scheme that may involve the much more brutal crimes of kidnapping and murder. Zan is already haunted by the disappearance of her own son, Matthew, kidnapped in broad daylight two years ago in Central Park—a tragedy that has left her torn between hope and despair. Now, on what would be Matthew’s fifth birthday, photos surface that seem to show Zan kidnapping her own child, followed by a chain of events that suggests somebody—but who? Zan asks herself desperately, and why?—has stolen her identity. Hounded by the press, under investigation by the police, attacked by both her angry ex-husband and a vindictive business rival, Zan, wracked by fear and pain and sustained only by her belief, which nobody else shares, that Matthew is still alive, sets out to discover who is behind this cruel hoax.What she does not realize is that with every step she takes toward the truth, she is putting herself— and those she loves most—in mortal danger from the person who has ingeniously plotted out her destruction. Even Zan’s supporters, who include Alvirah Meehan, the lottery winner and amateur detective, and Father Aiden O’Brien, who thinks that Zan may have confessed to him a secret he cannot reveal, believe she may have kidnapped little Matthew. Zan herself begins to doubt her own sanity, until, in the kind of fast-paced explosive ending that is Mary Higgins Clark’s trademark, the pieces of the puzzle fall into place with an unexpected and shocking revelation. Release date ~ April 5th
 
Eyes Wide Open: A NovelEyes Wide Open: A Novel  by Andrew Gross (ARC) ~ Jay Erlich is a successful and respected surgeon and dad enjoying a romantic twentieth wedding anniversary on the beach when a call comes with the shocking news that his twenty-one year old nephew has been found dead at the bottom of a famed landmark cliff, ruled a suicide. Years before, Jay’s older brother Charlie, a wayward child of the Sixties, set out for California, where he fell under the sway of a charismatic, but deeply disturbed cult figure. A horrible tragedy ensued, lives were destroyed, but as the decades passed, Charlie married and raised a family, living a quiet, secluded life in a Central California beach town, under the radar. But the demons from his past have never completely disappeared.  When Jay, to help his grieving brother, heads out West, he begins to suspect that his nephew’s suicide may not have been what it appeared at all. At first against his will, and then determinedly, Jay delves into his brother’s dark past—a labyrinth of secrets, terror, and lies buried in the Sixties, with sons fighting against fathers, broken music dreams, mental illness, and a thirty year old vendetta from an infamous killer as real today was it was back then. With eyes wide open, Jay puts his “happy” life at risk to uncover the truth, a quest that goes beyond the edge of madness and a family brought to the edge. . . straight into the depths of evil. Drawing on two, real-life experiences from his own life, the tragic suicide of his young nephew and an encounter years ago with a cult-killer who’s name has become synonymous with terror, Gross has crafted a richly personal, yet utterly terrifying tale of two brothers, one successful, the other wayward, trying to bridge the gap that has torn them apart. Release date ~ July 1
 
The Ghost In Steven Lee (The Steven Lee Trilogy)The Ghost In Steven Lee (The Steven Lee Trilogy)  by Jim Luscinski (review) ~ In this constantly twisting mystery, thirteenof New England’s richest and most influential people have died in just a three month period and there is not a shred of evidence to make anyone suspect foul play. The two billion dollars in death benefits
create a feeding frenzy for Boston’s investment community and crisis for Coastal Insurance and its unethical General Agent David Carter. The only people who know the truth are you and The Ghost. Murder. When the only link connecting the victims is intentionally leaked to the press, the Commissioner calls on his best man. Can Police Homicide Detective John Gallagher and his unit figure out what devious mind is behind this fiendish plan fueled by greed and lust? With tremendous pressure from above and very little to go on Boston’s finest are on the move. But where do they start? The Ghost - Follow a young Chinese boy on his tragic journey from Shanghi China to the United States. His family has been slaughtered, his deep religious beliefs shattered, so what is he to do? Author James Luscinski bursts onto the literary scene with his first in the Steven Lee series, a clever, fast paced thriller that is sure to leave you satisfied but hungry for more.
 
The Girl Who Disappeared Twice by Andrea Kane (NetGalley) ~ SHE COULDN’T STOP IT. NOT THEN. NOT NOW. Despite all her years determining the fates of families, veteran family court judge Hope Willis couldn’t save her own. If only she’d turned her head, she would have seen the car containing her daughter, struggling to get out. Now she’s frantically grasping at any hope for Krissy’s rescue. Her husband dead-set against it, she calls Casey Woods and her team of renegade investigators, Forensic Instincts. A behaviorist. A techno-wizard. An intuitive. A former Navy SEAL. Unconventional operatives. All with unique talents, skills and personal reasons for being part of Casey’s team, they’ll do whatever it takes. Able to accurately read people after the briefest of encounters, Casey leads her team to Krissy’s home. There she picks up the signs of a nervous spouse, a guilty conscience, a nanny that hides on her cell. She watches as secrets beg to creep into the open. Forensic Instincts will dig through each tiny clue and eliminate the clutter. But time is running out, and even working around the clock, the authorities are bound by the legal system. Not so Casey’s team. For they know that the difference between bringing Krissy back alive and disappearing forever could be as small as a suspect’s rapid breathing, or as deep as Hope’s dark family history.Release date ~ May 31