This week we are headed to Northern Ireland in the 1976 where one of the most lovely things of life is occurring. A teenage boy has just fallen madly in love with a teenage girl, after only being with her for a moment. Ah, true love is magical, but can it lead to murder? Let's find out in Hi Love, You Just Dropped Your Glove.

Thomas Barry, Lefty Kelly, and Brendy McCusker were all teenage boys who were roaming the streets of Portrush, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland in 1976 when Thomas Barry quite literally bumped into Isabella Scott, and he uttered the words of the title. In July 2019, the same Thomas Barry's remains were discovered at the foot of the Pilgrim's Steps in the Portrush Harbour. There were an extra 200,000 people visiting Portrush that week as The Royal Golf Club played host to Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and the UK Open Tournament.

McCusker and DI Lily O'Carroll are conscripted from the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) in Belfast to help the already stretched local police force work on the case. They discover McCusker's childhood friends Barry and Isabella Scott had married and then...well then, everything became very complicated relationship-wise involving Isabella's sister, Colette, lawyers, accountants, and showband singers. Thomas had become an ultra-successful property developer, sometimes in partnership with the Buckley Brothers, at least one of whom doesn't mind the cowboy approach to work. Meanwhile, McCusker is pining over a recent relationship he had started back in Belfast with O'Carroll's sister, Grace.

Set against the backdrop of the (actual) UK Golf Open taking place in a small seaside town, where absolutely everyone has an opinion, and their opinions they are keen to share.

Series: A McCusker Mystery, Book 3 | Stand Alone Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub | Level Best Books

Music Credits

Whereabouts https://uppbeat.io/music/tracks/greenhouse/whereabouts License code: 2MBAEUGXJULKPWSL

Return https://uppbeat.io/music/tracks/greenhouse/return License code: 2MOJWBOCYGL86RLW

Honor https://uppbeat.io/music/tracks/gerald-olivieri/honor License code: XQ5ZSWPNLWLOSJFG

Read to you by mystery author, Teresa Trent.

Today we're headed to the lovely Race Point Inn in Provincetown where a television crew is filming a program. Pretty glamorous until there is a murder to solve.

When a Boston TV crew comes to Provincetown to shoot a segment at the Race Point Inn, owner Sydney Riley takes it in stride… until one of the producers mysteriously disappears. The missing producer soon winds up murdered, miles away, the corpse gruesomely displayed in a Wampanoag graveyard. Worse, a bizarre note on the body implies Sydney is responsible!

Meanwhile, a beautiful young Wampanoag woman has also gone missing. Ali, Sydney’s husband and a DHS counter-trafficking agent, is assigned to look into her disappearance. And Sydney needs to investigate who killed the TV producer and left that horrifying note. Are the two cases connected? Has Sydney’s past come back to haunt her—and threaten the people she loves?

Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads

Music Credits

Whereabouts https://uppbeat.io/music/tracks/greenhouse/whereabouts

License code: ISTYB3GCWVYGMNLF

Rising Sun https://uppbeat.io/music/tracks/greenhouse/rising-sun

License code: 5TIED3YWCT122E3T

When a shady real estate developer is found murdered beneath Harriet Keaton’s family home—shot, stabbed, and surrounded by rare 1830s gold coins—her estranged twin brother Joey is the prime suspect. He insists he’s innocent...but won’t name the real culprit.

With Joey refusing to talk and millions missing from the retirement accounts, the future of the Independence Retirement Community is suddenly on the line. Now, whip-smart Harriet and her sleuthing partners—Craig Travail (savvy lawyer, reluctant romantic) and Yeager Alexander (conspiracy theorist, resident rabble-rouser)—must dig into the past to solve the crime.

Their best lead? A decades-old memoir from Harriet’s treasure-obsessed father and whispers of a long-lost gold hoard.

But treasure has a way of attracting trouble. As fortunes vanish and suspects multiply, the trio must untangle two decades of betrayal—before the killer strikes again.

Murder, mayhem, and the Carolina gold rush: welcome back to the Indie, where retirement is anything but quiet.

Book Links: Amazon | KindleUnlimited | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub

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Music Credits:

First Light https://uppbeat.io/music/tracks/dan-snyder/first-light

License code: UVFQAIRFKZ6CGMN9

Silent Killer https://uppbeat.io/music/tracks/albert-behar/silent-killer

License code: MG9NUWNLOEXBOQTL

Jesus’ resurrection is a cornerstone of Christian faith. But when a clue surfaces that hints at an alternate account, the ramifications stand to change Christianity forever.

Jesuit priest Michael Dominic’s assignment to the Vatican’s legendary Secret Archives results in his discovery of a hidden papyrus: the unpublished writings of Mary Magdalene — a lost record buried in Rome’s deepest recesses. The forgotten relic’s heretical revelation threatens the Vatican’s very legitimacy, and pits Michael against ruthless and powerful enemies.

Desperate, he reaches out to Hana Sinclair, an investigative reporter with a record of tackling contentious subjects. Together they defy the Church elite, and embark on a search through the shadows of history to unearth the truth. As the pressure builds to silence the pair, will the Vatican resort to the unthinkable in order to safeguard its wealth and power?

Based on historical facts, this international thriller takes readers on a white-knuckle race through the holy sites of Europe. Get your copy of this award-winning tale and discover why Gary McAvoy’s devoted fans say, “I didn’t want this book to end!”

• Amazon

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• BN

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Music Credits:

The Gate of Hell https://uppbeat.io/t/giulio-fazio/the-gate-of-hell License code: MSMXK1PU7DPRRBM3 World of Merge https://uppbeat.io/t/bosnow/world-of-merge License code: 5SC03T0XGSSX7SC1 Poppy Field https://uppbeat.io/t/avbe/poppy-field License code: ZEKGBHGBXVYWH2JF Derivative https://uppbeat.io/t/adrian-ehrlich/derivative License code: IHO4PVNAAIETIRG1

Sheriff Bet Rivers' inspection of the carnival grounds should have been routine. Murder is certainly the last thing on anyone's mind. Then comes the sound of a gunshot. And a dead body with no signs of trauma, no witnesses and no obvious motive for the killing.

But solving the unexplained death is only part of the challenge. Bet is still grappling with her on-off relationship with town owner Rob Collier, while dealing with her feelings about her late father, the beloved town sheriff she had to replace.

As Bet launches her homicide investigation, she soon discovers the carnival is a place of whispers, rumours, resentments and lie after lie. And as the stakes build, it quickly becomes clear that protecting a deadly secret is something that someone is willing to kill to keep.

Fans of Julia Keller and Sheena Kamal will love this riveting suspense.

Book Links:

Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub | Severn House

Music Credits: Replica https://uppbeat.io/t/all-ambient/replicas License code: 1WO5E2LQZCZKZUUW

The Final Girl https://uppbeat.io/t/weary-pines/the-final-girl License code: FRFHBJTJU0EX99S5

This week we're cooking up a mystery with The Bush Tea Murder. Naomi Sinclair finds herself in a pressure-filled meeting where she has to prove her investigative journalism will solve the murder of Ursula Merchant.

Food journalist Naomi Sinclair doesn’t expect a side of murder with her passion fruit juice. But when her return to Saint Thomas heralds a series of troubling cases, ranging from petty theft to cold-blooded murder, that threaten her tight-knit community, that is exactly the kind of unsavory treat she must sink her teeth into.

Luckily for her neighbors, Naomi is as adept at solving puzzles as rolling johnnycake dough—a good thing, since her island community, though small, keeps serving up plenty of trouble. With the help of her friends and her crush, Mateo, Naomi must navigate the tumultuous turquoise waters of life in the Caribbean, all as her beloved father battles an illness that keeps tugging her back to her island amid her rising career stateside.

Rich with mouthwatering recipes, lush landscapes, and a hefty dose of fun under the sun, The Bush Tea Murder has all the ingredients to make up the perfect beach read.

Music Credits

Mysteries https://uppbeat.io/t/all-ambient/mysteries License code: TG9FGM5I526Y0OS3 Bassa Island Game Loop https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/bassa-island-game-loop License code: OUQXWIRRNQKIGLFS

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Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub | Penguin Random House

This week we're back in Berry Springs with our favorite bar owner, Sally Witherspoon. We are guests at the town's Thanksgiving Dinner Celebration, and Sally is working the bar. Have another piece of pumpkin pie, but be careful, some of the guests are not surviving the yearly feast in the gritty cozy mystery, Death for Sale.

It’s holiday time in Berry Springs, where many come together to enjoy good food, drink, and the company of friends. Unfortunately, death is among the mix as people get mysteriously ill at the town’s Thanksgiving dinner. Deaths follow, and Sally must race to discover the truth before more people die off.

Coupled with worry for her aging parents, she is overwhelmed with the pressure and emotions, but she’ll push through to solve the crimes and restore peace to the town.

Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads

Music Credits

Happiness

https://uppbeat.io/t/brock-hewitt-stories-in-sound/happiness License code: V9TWYCE9B7B0IQAJ

This week we're headed to Italy to a world of priests, Vivaldi, priceless art, cryptic messages and danger. Find out more in The Vivaldi Caper by Gary McAvoy.

During the election of a new Pope in the mid-18th century, famed violinist Antonio Vivaldi learns of a ring of art forgers who are replacing the Vatican’s priceless treasures with expertly-painted fakes. Desperate, the composer hides a message in a special melody, hoping someone, someday, will take down the culprits . . .

Nearly three hundred years later, the confession of a dying Mafia Don alerts a Venetian priest to a wealth of forged paintings in the Vatican Museum, and the key to their identities lies hidden in a puzzling piece of music. Father Michael Dominic, prefect of the Secret Archives, investigates, and is mystified when he finds a cipher in an old composition from Vivaldi. Desperate to stop this centuries-long conspiracy, he calls on fellow sleuth Hana Sinclair and Dr. Livia Gallo, a music cryptologist, to help him crack the code and learn the truth.

But the Camorra, a centuries-old Italian Mafia clan, won’t stand by while some interfering priest ruins their most lucrative operation. Along with a French commando and two valiant Swiss Guards, Dominic explores the dark canals and grand palazzos of Venice to uncover the evidence he needs to stop the sinister plot. Can he unearth it in time, or will the Church’s most valuable artworks fall prey to this massive conspiracy?

Series: Vatican Secret Archive Thrillers, Book 1 | Learn More: Amazon | Goodreads Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub | Audible

Music Credits

L'attente'

https://uppbeat.io/t/domique-charpentier/lattente

License code: CR3FMAUFGHVYCJJT

A Willow's Story

https://uppbeat.io/t/sonder-house/a-willows-story-soetkin-milbouw

License code: VLP3D3ELLMQHT0YI