August 2023 Additions to My Digital Security Blanket

 

Last month, I shocked you by not buying a single eBook or audiobook, and you probably wondered if I would be able to repeat the feat. Nope. I didn't have it in me because three of my favorite authors had new books.

Here are the books that I just couldn't resist. If you click on the link in the book title, you'll be taken to Amazon US where you can learn more about it. Book covers and synopses are also courtesy of Amazon.

=== Police Procedural/Law Enforcement ===

The Killing Place by Kate Ellis. #27 in the Detective Inspector Wesley Peterson series set in South Devon, England.

 

Synopsis: "November. With the tourist season well and truly over in South Devon, Detective Inspector Wesley Peterson is looking forward to a quieter month in the CID. But when a man is shot dead on Bonfire Night, he finds he has a disturbing murder case on his hands.

The body of Patrick North was found in woodland connected to Nesbaraton Hall, a grand estate dating back to the eighteenth century. North worked for the Smithson family who now own the estate. The family are away on holiday, however when an anonymous letter threatening to abduct the Smithson son is uncovered, Wesley fears North's death might have been collateral damage in a kidnap plot.

Meanwhile, archaeologist Dr Neil Watson discovers a hidden grotto on land that was once part of the Nesbaraton estate. Evidence of past rituals and the shocking discovery of a skeleton raise questions about strange occurrences, past and present, on the land.

Then, just when Wesley's team seem to be making progress in their investigation, a resident of the nearby village is killed in a near-identical shooting to North's. A race is on to find the ruthless killer, before they strike again . . .

Whether you've read the whole series, or are discovering Kate Ellis's DI Wesley Peterson novels for the first time, this is the perfect page-turner if you love reading Ann Cleeves and Elly Griffiths." 

Fallen Creed by Alex Kava. #7 in the Ryder Creed K-9 series set in Nebraska.

 

Synopsis: "New York Times, USA Today and Amazon bestselling author, Alex Kava, is the recipient of two Nebraska Book Awards, a Florida Book Award and the Mari Sandoz Award.

IT BEGAN AS AN ORDINARY SEARCH.
K9 handler, Ryder Creed and his scent dog, Grace, return to Nebraska to join FBI Agent Maggie O'Dell on the same task force that helped rescue his sister Brodie a year ago. But their job is interrupted when a rural Postal carrier finds a black plastic bag discarded in a grassy roadside ditch.

What's inside is shocking to even these seasoned investigators.

TRUST NO ONE.
Just that morning a young woman has gone missing. Is her disappearance connected? Did she run away? Or was she taken? And is it only a matter of time before she ends up in a roadside ditch?

Ryder agrees to search for her, but an early snowstorm threatens to replace the warm fall temperatures. His scent dog, Grace has never worked in cold, snowy conditions.

THEN EVERYTHING GOES WRONG.
The snow blurs the landscape and grinds life to a halt. As Maggie O'Dell searches for answers about the victim, she uncovers a cold-blooded, ruthless killer who has murdered before. By the time Maggie realizes no one has heard from or seen Ryder since before the snow began to fall, she fears he and Grace may have walked into the killer's path.

Reading Alex Kava for the first time? If you enjoy the following authors, you'll enjoy Alex. For fans of: CJ Box, Paul Doiron, James Rollins, Linda Castillo, James Patterson, Lisa Gardner, Gregg Hurwitz, Iris Johansen, Tess Gerritsen, David Baldacci, David Rosenfelt, Lee Child and Margaret Mizushima." 

=== Historical Mystery ===

Death of a Lesser God by Vaseem Khan. #4 in the Inspector Persis Wadia historical series set in 1950s Bombay, India.

 

Synopsis: "Can a white man receive justice in post-colonial India?

Bombay, 1950

James Whitby, sentenced to death for the murder of prominent lawyer and former Quit India activist Fareed Mazumdar, is less than two weeks from a date with the gallows. In a last-ditch attempt to save his son, Whitby's father forces a new investigation into the killing.

The investigation leads Inspector Persis Wadia of the Bombay Police to the old colonial capital of Calcutta, where, with the help of Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, she uncovers a possible link to a second case, the brutal murder of an African-American G.I. during the Calcutta Killings of 1946.

Are the cases connected? And if Whitby didn't murder Mazumdar, then who did?"

All three books are from series I love, and two of the three series I'm actually current on. (It won't be long before I can say the same thing about the third.) It will be interesting to see what happens next month. Will I still show more financial restraint, or will I cut loose and go hog wild? Only time will tell!