Mystery Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: A Disturbing Nature by Brian Lebeau

A Disturbing Nature by Brian Lebeau

A deep, character-driven mystery, A Disturbing Nature by Brian LeBeau is a patient maze of a novel, leading readers on a grim journey through suspicion, murder, and obsession.

Mo is a quiet and mysterious young man with a mind that never caught up to his impressive size, and a lifetime of taunts and tragedies that never leave him. Even as he starts a new chapter at Bryant College as a groundskeeper, where for the first time “independence is not equated with exile,” the jagged pieces of his past are impossible to leave behind. Unfortunately, new surroundings don’t mean an end […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-08-05T05:38:04+02:00August 4th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Mystery Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

Sealed With A Lie by Brett Monk & McKenna Langford

Sealed With A Lie by Brett Monk & McKenna Langford Brett Monk and McKenna Langford do not disappoint with the thrilling continuation of their Moms Who Lie series, Sealed with a Lie.

This installment delivers mystery and action in equal measure as the main characters must unravel family secrets and murderous plots, in an expertly crafted whodunnit. Driven by a cadre of fascinating characters, their backstories sometimes go back decades, impacting the events unfolding in this small town, with the narrative hopping from one point of view to another, which adds layer upon layer to the mystery.

Readers will be easily drawn into the many angles of this complex […]

SPR2023-01-09T14:27:35+02:00June 24th, 2022|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Mystery Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

Murder Is Revealing by Michelle Corbier

Murder Is Revealing by Michelle Corbier An amateur sleuth uses her knowledge of crime novels to solve her friend’s murder in Michelle Corbier’s Murder Is Revealing, an engrossing mystery about shady business deals and dishonest scams.

Widower Dr. Myaisha Douglas started seeking solace in writing after her husband’s death; she’s a prominent member of the Greensboro Women of Color Writing Group, as well as a local physician. When a college friend, successful realtor Candace Knight, becomes financially involved in the group and announces that she’s published a novel completely out of the blue, Myaisha is pretty suspicious. However, events are about to take an even […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-04-22T08:12:35+02:00April 22nd, 2022|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Mystery Book Reviews|

Review: Looks Are Deceiving by Bill VanPatten

Looks Are Deceiving by Bill VanPatten

The tight-knit small town of Mañana, CA is turned upside down by a cruel hate crime in Bill VanPatten’s Looks Are Deceiving, a mystery novel featuring an endearing amateur sleuth and timely conversations about racism and homophobia in contemporary America.

Will Christian is a 49-year-old aspiring writer and gay Latino man who moved to Mañana to live closer to his sister. Everything is going swimmingly until he sets out for a bike ride in late June and makes a grim discovery: the body of a young man, subject to severe blunt force head trauma, a 22-year-old who also happens to […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-04-07T03:00:16+02:00February 24th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: LGBTQI+ Book Reviews, Mystery Book Reviews|

Review: The Cosmic Killings by Thomas J. Thorson

The Cosmic Killings by Thomas Thorson

Author Thomas J. Thorson delivers a gripping Malcolm Winters mystery with his latest installment, The Cosmic Killings.

A young Amish girl is found dead at a zoo during her Rumspringa adventure, and while the Chicago PD are shrugging it off as random violence, there is something decidedly strange about this monkey house murder. Mal and Vinn, mild-mannered professors once again moonlighting as reluctant sleuths, find themselves diving into the mysterious and tight-lipped realm of the Amish, hunting for clues and hints as to why someone would want to remove a bone from the young woman’s forehead. When a second body […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-02-10T03:50:52+02:00December 22nd, 2021|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Mystery Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

The Church Murders and the Cat’s Prey by F. Della Notte

The third installment of the thrillingly unpredictable Housekeeper Mystery Series, The Church Murders and the Cat’s Prey by F. Della Notte is a wild, bullet-riddled ride.

Navigating the assassination attempt of her dear friend Father Melvyn, Mrs. B. is back in the hunt for the would-be killer with quiet determination, wicket wit, and her feline-boosted sleuthing skills. The crime hits close to home, and brings her even closer to Detective Jake, adding strong emotional tension to an already taut narrative.

Balanced well between bursts of action, lightbulbs of discovery, intimate moments of reflection, and meticulously written dialogue, Della Notte […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2021-11-08T05:15:24+02:00November 8th, 2021|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Mystery Book Reviews|

Review: Trouble Isla by Lynda L. Lock

Trouble Isla by Lynda L. Lock

Author Lynda L. Lock dives deeper into the murderous side of paradise in Trouble Isla, the second installment of her Isla Mujeres Mystery series. Following the treasure-laden introduction to this female-driven series, Lock’s sophomore offering is packed with new mysteries to unravel, new dangers to dodge, and new hangovers to survive.

The serial killer from Book 1 may be in custody, but it doesn’t mean that the lives of Jessica, Yasmin, or Carlos are getting back to normal. When Carlos disappears without warning and threatening notes begin to arrive, the pace kicks into high gear for an adrenaline-fueled romp […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2021-04-01T04:19:37+02:00February 21st, 2021|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Mystery Book Reviews|

Review: Spent Identity by Marlene M. Bell

Spent Identity by Marlene M. Bell

Mystery and murder vie with a decades-old secret in Spent Identity by Marlene M. Bell, the second book in the Annalisse series, following the riveting Stolen Obsession.

Mired by pressures at work and worried about her stalling relationship with her tycoon boyfriend, Alec Zavos, antiquities expert Annalisse Drury heads for the comfort of her Aunt Kate’s farm in upstate New York. Shortly after arriving at her childhood home, she learns from her aunt that her cousin, Jeremy, wants to sell her aunt’s beloved farm – news that is quickly trumped by the discovery of a decomposing body in the […]

Marta Cheng2020-05-20T05:17:24+02:00January 2nd, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Mystery Book Reviews|