Episode 153

Nicole Glover

The Seekers

4th book in The Murder and Magic Series

Book Blurb:

In the 1960s, the world was caught up in reaching beyond our planet and into the cosmos. It felt impossible—but there was nothing science, math…and magic couldn’t make possible. The race to space was on, and the Moon was what everyone had their eyes on.

Including Cynthia Rhodes, a brilliant arcane engineer at NASA’s Ainsworth Research Labs. Talented in math and magic, she hosts a magical educational show... a job she took mostly for a chance to regularly see the dashing Theodore Danner, a professor of arcane archeology.

She is also an amateur sleuth—something that has run in her family for generations.

When a cursed museum curator nearly interrupts a broadcast of their show, Cynthia finds an eager sleuthing partner in Theo. Pairing up, they begin investigating the strange behavior of the curator and a mysterious theft at the arcane history museum—until one of Cynthia’s own coworkers perishes right in front of her in a major lab accident that endangers Ainsworth’s role in the space race.

Certain it was murder instead of an accident, Cynthia sees this as a separate case at first. However the more she and Theo investigate, Cynthia uncovers a surprising link between the two incidents. The museum theft and murder are part of a larger equation—one that includes deadly enchantments, rumored pirate treasure, a peculiar plant, and a dire threat to the space program as well as everything she holds dear.

Interview with Ms. Glover after her first book in the series

https://www.ifoundthisgreatbook.com/interviews/a-conversation-with-mystery-author-nicole-glover/

Bryan Patric Avory

The Spy in the Gymnasium

The Spy at the Zoo

The Spy in the Museum

The Spy in the Library

4 books - the Junior Spy series

Main characters - Kat and Harry

Blurb for “The Spy. In the Gymnasium:

The Junior Spies are at it again! This time, Kat and Harry go undercover on their school’s basketball team. Their mission is to protect the star player, Remy. But when Remy gets kidnapped, the Junior Spies suspect a R.A.V.E.N. agent might be in their midst. Can they find the hoops hero and uncover the evil agent hiding in their school? Young readers will find out in this hi-lo spy adventure! With a high-interest topic and text written below the targeted grade level, every book in the Junior Spies series supports phonics skills and fosters reading success.

Valerie Wilson Wesly

The Mysterious Death of Junetta Plum

Historical Mystery - new series - A Harriet Stone Mystery

1926: Harriet Stone, a liberated, educated Black woman, and Lovey, the orphaned, biracial, 12-year-old she is bound to protect are Harlem-bound, embarking on a new, hopefully less traumatic, chapter in their lives. They have been invited to move from Connecticut by Harriet’s cousin, Junetta Plum, who runs a boarding house for independent-minded single women. It’s a bold move since Harriet has never met Junetta, but the fatalities of the Spanish flu and other tragedies have already forced her and Lovey to face their worst fears. Alone except for each other, they have little left to lose—or so it seems as they arrive at sophisticated Junetta’s impressive brownstone.

Her cousin has a sharp edge that makes Harriett slightly uncomfortable. Still, after retiring to her room for the night, she finally falls asleep—only to awaken to Junetta arguing with someone downstairs. In the morning, she makes a shocking discovery at the foot of the stairs. What ensues will lead Harriet to question Junetta’s very identity—and to wonder if she and Lovey are in danger as well. It will also tie Harriet to five strangers. Among them, Harriet is sure someone knows something. What she doesn’t yet know is that one will play a crucial role in helping her investigate her cousin’s murder...that she will be tied to the others in ways she could never imagine...and that her life will take off in a startling new direction....

Tracy Clark

Edge

Fourth book in the Detective Harriett Foster series

Chicago’s finest are scouring the city for a tainted new opioid making the rounds, but they’re coming up empty. With five people already dead—a college kid, a new mother, and three poker players—all they really know is the drug’s name: Edge. Where it’s coming from is still anyone’s guess.

Detective Harriet Foster doesn’t have time for guessing games. She needs answers. And when the next overdose hits Homicide where it hurts most, Harri is determined to get what she wants. But keeping her eyes squarely on the prize proves harder than expected.

Still reeling from her last case (and the stain of suspicion it left on her career), Harri finds herself at a tipping point. The drug isn’t the only edge she needs to worry about. If she can’t come back from her own, there’s no telling whether this investigation will lead to a satisfying conclusion…or her own demise.

I have had the honor to interview Ms. Clark.

After the publication of the fourth book in her Chicago Mystery series “Runner” https://www.ifoundthisgreatbook.com/interviews/talking-with-mystery-author-tracy-clark/

And after the publication of the first book in the Detective Harriet Foster series “Hide” https://www.ifoundthisgreatbook.com/interviews/tracy-clark-hide/

Barbara Howard

Code War Cleveland

In the heart of Cleveland's tech scene, two brilliant minds are about to collide - two rivals, one conspiracy, zero margin for error.

Kennedy Wyatt's cybersecurity firm is her life's work, built from the ground up to protect minority-owned businesses from digital threats. But when a mysterious wave of attacks begins targeting companies like hers, she discovers a conspiracy that runs deeper than mere code. Enter Isaiah Binutu, a charismatic rival CEO whose innovative software seems suspiciously similar to Kennedy's latest project. As their professional rivalry heats up at Cleveland's prestigious TechCLE conference, a series of escalating threats forces them to consider the unthinkable: working together. With their families under attack, their companies at risk, and a shadowy corporation pulling strings, Kennedy and Isaiah must navigate a maze of betrayal, corporate espionage, and their own complicated feelings for each other. The stakes? Their companies' futures-and their lives. From the bustling West Side Market to the serene shores of Lake Erie, this romantic suspense races through Cleveland's landmarks as two competitors-turned-allies fight to expose a conspiracy that threatens everything they've built. But in a world where digital footprints can be erased, identities stolen, and time is running out to separate friend from foe. Can they really believe in each other?

In a digital battlefield, trust is the ultimate hack.

Angela Henry

Nobody Heard A Thing

New Thriller

I was the only one there that day. I saw it all. I heard her cry.

It’s been twenty-five years since she vanished. Whoever took Brooke has walked free for all those years, watching the chaos as guilt consumed my life.

Now a documentary maker is digging into the cold case. They want to finally solve the mystery no one else could. But the person behind Brooke’s disappearance would do anything—even kill—to keep their secrets hidden.

And they know I’m the only witness…

V.M. Burns

Murder From A to Z

Extensive Cozy Mystery Series

New book in the Mystery Bookshop series - book #11

When Michigan bookshop owner and mystery writer Samantha Washington and her sister, Jenna, agreed to host a class for seniors on estate planning, they didn’t plan on discovering shady doings at Shady Acres Retirement Village . . .

Nana Jo has volunteered her lawyer granddaughter, Jenna, to teach estate planning to retirees—with Sam providing her bookshop as the venue. But during the seminar, entitled Getting Your Ducks in Order, it quickly becomes clear someone’s up to Fowl Play. When elderly Alva Tarkington, accompanied by her niece, sits down for a consultation, Sam realizes the woman’s frequent blinking is actually Morse Code—S.O.S. The sisters get her alone, and Alva tells them she believes her life is in danger and must change her will . . .

Unfortunately, Alva is found dead the next day—seemingly from natural causes. But Nana Jo and the sisters suspect otherwise. In between penning her latest historical mystery, set in 1939 as England declares war on Germany and Lady Elizabeth Marsh pursues stolen paintings and a traitor, Sam teams up with the senior sleuths of Shady Acres to search for motives—beginning with Alva’s family. They soon learn not everyone is who they say they are, and someone is more than qualified to teach a class on cold-blooded murder . . .

I had extreme honor of interviewing Ms. Burns in 2020 - https://www.ifoundthisgreatbook.com/interviews/vm-burns-interview/

Items to check out

Cheryl Head is the winner of this year's Saints and Sinners Literary Festival fiction contest with her story "By Any Other Name")

There is a great interview with Ms. Head on The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog. Link in the show notes.

The society is the home of the Derringer Awards.

It is free to join. They have discussion groups and submission calls.

The Short Mystery Fiction Society is for writers, editors, publishers, agents, reviewers, readers - anyone interested in short crime fiction.

You can check it out at shortmystery.blogspot.com

Updates on the podcast and website

I am rebuilding my directory of Black Crime Writers and their books. I currently have 302 books in the directory. I have over 400 more to add.

You can check out the directory by going to ifoundthisgreatbook.com/bmad