The Murder Pit - Jeff Shelby
Daisy Savage has her hands full: besides keeping husband number two, Jake, satisfied; the full-time homeschooling Mom to three of the blended-family kids, she’s also busy with keeping the family’s hundred-year-old house from collapsing into itself. When exploring a frozen pipe turns up a body hidden in a coal chute they didn't even know they had, Daisy finds herself “forced” to investigate on her own. Because she dated the victim, albeit briefly, between husbands, the whole town of Moose River, Minnesota, is convinced she offed poor Olaf Stunderson.
That includes Olaf’s sister, Olga, and his ex-wife Helen; or so it seems. Whether the Susan Powter lookalike cop has cleared her is questionable. But all this suspicion and enmity mean that Daisy’s comfy life – and worse, the lives of her kids – is a mess, so she’s gonna do what she’s gotta do: find the killer. Naturally, the killer will find her first…
"High Heat: A Reacher Novella" - Lee Child
A former coworker’s wife is a well-known author of true crime fiction. A few years back, she discovered that she could repurpose old articles and other content by publishing them only in e-content form and selling them at $2.99 per download as her fans gobbled them up. Apparently she isn't the only one – now you can now find short stories, short story collections and novellas all over Amazon at “bargain” prices. It’s apparently great way for well-known authors to bank some bucks for work they’d never published. A case in point is “High Heat,” a Jack Reacher novella from prolific author Lee Child.
The Revenge of Seven (Lorien Legacies) - Pittacus Lore
When we left the remaining Garde last time (The Fall of Five), everything was a mess. The traitorous Five had killed Eight, left three other numbers marooned in the Everglades, and tipped off his Mogadorian allies to the location of the stronghold in Chicago. In the aftermath of the resulting firefight; Ella’s been kidnapped by Mog soldiers and John, Sarah, Adam and the Goodes are on the run. Maybe it’s time to regroup…
Told from three viewpoints – those of Six, John and Ella – The Revenge of Seven finds the remaining Garde sundered even further, with three of them off in search of the fabled Sanctuary while John, the humans and their “good Mog” ally Adam fight a rear-action on the east coast. Meanwhile, Ella is imprisoned on Setrákus Ra’s flagship in interplanetary space as the Mogadorians prepare to invade Earth. And that’s not Ellas’ only heart-rending surprise, as the evil Mog overlord reveals his true face to her while laying out his plans for our planet.
