Tag: Mysteries To Die For

M2D4 S8E6: Safe Haven (Part 1) by Jason Little

TG Wolff

Branch River Fire Fighter Barrett Turner was alone at the firehouse when an infant was abandoned in the Safe Haven box. New to the process, Barrett called the number posted on a flier for Child Protective Services. The woman who was dispatched, Tricia Vickers, took the baby and subsequently…tried to murder him! Now Barrett is working double time to keep little Davey safe and figure out why so many people have it out for the blue eyed sweetie.

Listen to Part 1 here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For podcast

Subscribe to Mysteries to Die For new website to stay up to date on episode releases! https://m2d4podcast.com/

ABOUT Jason Little
Jason Little is a Texas-based writer with a knack for spinning tales that keep readers hooked. His contributions to Mysteries to Die For are packed with twists, suspense, and unforgettable characters. When he’s not crafting mysteries, he’s writing fiction on his blog at JasonLittleWriting.com, where you can dive into more of his stories and musings.

A life insurance agent by day, Jason is also a proud dad of two, a loving fiancé, and a dog enthusiast. He’s big on exploring VR worlds, staying active, and finding inspiration in everyday life.

Follow him on X at @jasonlwriter and stay updated on his latest projects, or drop by his blog to read more and connect—he’d love to hear from you!

About Safe Haven
We are not going to talk about infanticide but I will give you a little background on Safe Haven Baby Boxes. Many states have laws allowing for the safe and legal surrender of infants, something that was enacted to combat the abandonment of babies. Founded in 2015 by Monica Kelsey of the small city of Woodburn, Indiana, Safe Haven Baby Boxes are constructed boxes that hold a baby similar to a bassinette. These are installed in secure locations, including fire stations, with alarming to indicate to those inside that a child has been placed inside. The babies are attended to within minutes and ultimately entrusted to the local Child Protection.
https://www.shbb.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_Haven_Baby_Boxes

Toe Tag: Dying to Know by Tj O’Connor

TG Wolff

Dying to Know is a paranormal mystery. Police detective Oliver “Tuck” Tucker is dead, killed in his own home. While his body is gone, his spirit remains, but to do what? Solve his murder? Protect his wife? Figure out why his best friend and partner is hiding evidence? So much to do,  so little idea how to do it.

Bottom line: Dying to Know is for you if you like mysteries told in a new and unexpected way.

Listen to chapters 1 and 2 here or wherever you find Mysteries to Die For Podcast

Subscribe to our NEW podcast website! Check out m2d4podcast.com for all the season’s episodes, the toe tags, and our amazing array of authors.

About Tj O’Connor

Tj O’Connor is an award-winning author of mysteries and thrillers. He’s an international security consultant specializing in anti-terrorism, investigations, and threat analysis—life experiences that drive his novels. As a government agent and years as a consultant, he has lived and worked throughout many countries in the European Union and the Americas. In his spare time, he’s a Harley Davidson pilot, a man-about-dogs (and now cats), and a lover of adventure, cooking, and good spirits (both kinds).

Catch Up With Tj O’Connor: tjoconnor.com

Partners In Crime Tours represents a network of 300+ bloggers offering tailor-made virtual book tours and marketing options for crime, mystery and thriller writers from around the world. Founded in 2011, PICT offers services for well-established and best-selling authors, as well as those just starting out with their careers. PICT prides itself on its tailored packages for authors, with a personal touch from the tour coordinators. For more information, check out their website www.partnersincrimetours.com

S8E4 The Last Diamond by Kathleen Marple Kalb

TG Wolff

Legendary actress Susan Sawyer is auctioning off the 33.3-carat Sawyer-Corey Diamond. A gift from her beloved husband, the proceeds will fund a new NYC non-profit that helps with a simple basic: a complete, hot meal. As she takes one last look at her treasure, she announces the unthinkable. The diamond she held was a fake. Now NYC detective Connie Mercado is on the case and working to suss out who of the people connected to Miss Sawyer and the Sawyer-Corey Diamond is a thief. Here is a list of the people Miss Sawyer reported had access to the ring:

  • Dana Jones-Stann, accountant, keeper of the safe deposit box keys
  • Allison Boatwright, assistant at the auction house, sheltered, pampered, rudderless
  • Everett Goodwin, auction house director, butt kissing twerp

Listen here or wherever you find Mysteries to Die For podcast

ABOUT Kathleen Marple Kalb
https://kathleenmarplekalb.com/

Kathleen Marple Kalb describes herself as an Author/Anchor/Mom…not in that order. An award-winning weekend anchor at New York’s 1010 WINS Radio, she’s the author of short stories and novels including the Old Stuff and Ella Shane series, and, as Nikki Knight, the Grace the Hit Mom and Vermont Radio series. Her stories, under both pen names, have been in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, and many anthologies, and short-listed for Derringer and Black Orchid Novella Awards. Active in writer’s groups, she’s served as Vice President of the Short Mystery Fiction Society and Co-VP of the New York/Tri-State Sisters in Crime Chapter. She, her husband, and son live in a Connecticut house owned by their cat.

Toe Tag: Early Termination by Cindy Goyette

TG Wolff

Early Termination is a suspense crime novel. Parole Officer Casey Carson has her hands full with a stacked case load and a rookie to train. Her workload takes a twist when one of her clients is found dead with her business card stuff in his mouth. Now the cops want her, members of the Diablo gang want her, her ex-husband and her new maybe plaything, they both want her, too.

Bottom line: Early Termination is for you if you like fast-paced crime stories woven with suspense, thrills, and humor.

Listen to chapters one and two here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For podcast

About Cindy Goyette

Cindy Goyette is a former probation officer who had a front row seat to the criminal justice system. She kept her sanity by finding humor in most situations. A mix of these things helped her create The Probation Case Files Mystery Series. After spending over twenty years in Arizona, Cindy lives in Washington state with her husband and two Cocker Spaniels. Visit her at CCGoyette.com

Partners In Crime Tours represents a network of 300+ bloggers offering tailor-made virtual book tours and marketing options for crime, mystery and thriller writers from around the world. Founded in 2011, PICT offers virtual book tour services for well-established and best-selling authors, as well as those just starting out with their careers. PICT prides itself on its tailored packages for authors, with a personal touch from the tour coordinators. For more information, check out their website partnersincrimetours.com

Toe Tag: The Chemical Detective by Fiona Erskine

TG Wolff

The Chemical Detective is a thriller. Dr. Jaqueline Silver, who answers to Jaq, is a chemical engineer putting her considerable talents to work keeping the alpine slopes avalanche free by detonating controlled explosions. When she notices an anomaly in the explosives delivery, she pulls unwittingly on a house of cards and brings down a whole lot more than snow.

Bottom line: The Chemical Detective is for you if you like heroes chill and your thrills explosive

Listen to the first sections and the full review here, on our new website m2d4podcast.com, or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For podcast

The Chemical Detective was released in the UK in 2019 and released here in the States in August 2024, is promoted by Partners In Crime Tours and is available from AMAZON.

About Fiona Erskine

fionaerskine.com

Fiona Erskine is a professional engineer. Based in the north of England and working internationally, she has often been the lone representative of her gender in board meetings, cargo ships and night-time factories. Her fiction offers a fascinating insight into the traditionally male world of heavy industry. Fiona’s stand-alone portrait of a Scottish factory, Phosphate Rocks: A Death In Ten Objects, made the UK Literary Review’s top ten crime novels of 2021. Her latest series introduces DI Cadell in a cyber thriller  – Losing Control: Terror in Teesside. Fiona is passionate about music and outdoor swimming, though not generally at the same time.

There will be a ONE WEEK US Kindle Countdown deal on Phosphate Rocks (my best book!). It’ll be $0.99 from Sunday, February 2 to Sunday, February 9th, 2025. 

About Partners In Crime Tours

PICT represents a network of 300+ bloggers offering tailor-made virtual book tours and marketing options for crime, mystery and thriller writers from around the world. Founded in 2011, PICT offers virtual book tour services for well-established and best-selling authors, as well as those just starting out with their careers. PICT prides itself on its tailored packages for authors, with a personal touch from the tour coordinators. For more information, check out their website partnersincrimetours.com

S8E1: Who Shot Liberty’s Valence? by Ed Teja

TG Wolff

Private Investigator Matt Cramer is on a hot case, doing a solid for his buddy Harry and his insurance company on an arson case. Liberta Pharma backed a start-up company working on a cutting edge vaccine. The fire took out the research and the custom equipment. Matt knows it’s somebody in the lab with an accelerant and fire. He needs our help with the ‘somebody.’ Here’s his shallow suspect pool in the order we met them: .

  • Paul Larson, former Liberty researcher turned entrepreneur with ValenceTech
  • Alexa Holder, investment manager who is reeling in the investors
  • Randy Cline, vaccine manager on whose work ValenceTech is built
  • Leslie Ellis, former assistant who mistrusted the group’s ethics
  • Josh Walker, influencer and anti-vaxxer looking for a conspiracy

Listen here or wherever you find Mysteries to Die For Podcast

About author ED TEJA

Ed Teja is a full-time writer and part-time martial arts instructor. His stories (which have little or no respect for genre and take place in one or more of the surreal worlds he lives in) have appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies. His new thriller series about Tina Clarke, the world’s first Storefront Assassin, is available on Amazon.

Check out the upcoming episode for Season 8: Anything but Murder on our new website m2d4podcast.com

M2D4 Toe Tag: Elephant Safari by Peter Riva

TG Wolff

Elephant Safari is a political thriller. Documentary film maker Pero Baltazar and elite guide Mbuno are on a walking safari when they come across a herd of elephants being terrorized by poachers. After intervening, they take on the responsibility of protecting the herd and ending the poaching, which draws them into an international conspiracy they could not imagine

Bottom line: Elephant Safari is for you if you like dramatically intense political thrillers and the exotic environs of East Africa.

Listen to an excerpt here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For

Meet Peter Riva

peterriva.com

Peter Riva has traveled extensively throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe, spending many months spanning thirty years with legendary guides for East African adventurers. He created the Wild Things television series in 1995 and has worked for more than forty years as a literary agent. Riva writes science fiction and African adventure books, including the Mbuno & Pero thrillers. He lives in Gila, New Mexico.

M2D4 S7E23 Rock Paper Scissors Shoot by Jack Wolff

TG Wolff

Detective Connolly is back. This time he’s dying to meet Staniel Purquees. The problem is the fungus king is dead. The four suspects have been sequestered in a hangar in dire straits. To survive, Connolly has to deduce the role each has played – rock, paper, or scissors – to find the killer known as shoot.

Listen here or wherever you find Mysteries to Die For podcast.

Book Review: No Room to Hide by Carol Light

TG Wolff

No Room to Hide is a cozy mystery. Crystal Ward is a professional organizer. Her latest client, Eva Rolfe, hired Crys for her de-cluttering skills but really wants her expertise-amateur sleuthing. The Victorian home Eva and her partner are flipping has a history and Crys is asked to suss out the truth that could make or break their bottomline.

Bottom line: No Room to Hide is for you if cozy mysteries and cold cases are the perfect ways to warm your Autumn nights.

The star of this show is Crys Ward. She is a charming mix of curious and practical that first gets her into trouble and then gets her out. I both liked and respected her as our detective because she didn’t let a good lead die, but she also wasn’t foolishly rushing into proverbial dark alleys. Her husband, Rick, a Chicago PD financial crimes detective, is a nice balance to her. His position gives Crys the connection to the police every good cozy detective needs while being different enough that they aren’t trampling over each other. His often grumpy disposition was a fun comic relief.

There are several storylines here nicely woven together. We have the original job Crys is hired for – going through boxes salvaged from an attic. Then there is the potential that a famed suffragist lived in the house which could make it a historic landmark. And we can’t forget the young mother who put her son to bed and disappeared from the house some 30 years ago. There’s the drama around the restoration of the house itself including interesting characters from the local board. Finally, there’s a little antagonist action with a reporter who is splashing Crys’s life on the front page. One reason I think these worked together so well is because they are all related. Where in other books, you might feel like you are jumping around from one storyline to another, you don’t get that feel here. The transitions are smooth and reasonable.

Standing at the end of the story and looking to the beginning, I did have a few questions, primarily related to the bad guy. The logic of Crys’s actions were solid as she followed the trail paved by her client Eva and her own intuition. Eva is a little more difficult to figure out but that’s intentional and part of the fun. Crys made significant contributions to the story continuing forward. Often her role was more of advisor as Eva was deciding to continue to end the project. In the end, the bad guy asserted control, creating a nice little thriller moment.

The entertainment value on No Room to Hide is high. It is a fun read at just the right pace to hold your attention. This is the fourth book in the series and I have not read the others. With the majority of this story focused on the mystery, I did not feel like I was missing information or backstory needed to enjoy the book. In my opinion, new readers are good to start here.

M2D4 E21: Death by Candy Land by Kyra Jacobs

TG Wolff

Mic Garcia loves Halloween. In his most elaborate party theme ever, he transformed his back yard into the beloved game world of Candy Land. But all is not well inside Gumdrop Mountain and Sheriff Cantalone has to figure out who gummed up this Halloween party.

Listen here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For Podcast

Meet Kyra Jacobs

Kyra Jacobs is an extroverted introvert who writes of love, humor, and mystery in the Midwest and beyond. When this Hoosier native isn’t pounding out scenes for her next book, she’s likely outside, elbow-deep in snapdragons or spending quality time with her sports-loving family. Kyra also loves to read, tries to golf, and is an avid college football fan. Connect with her on social media, links can be found on her website at http://kyrajacobsbooks.com