Lelia asks...
Have You Tried...

We all know there are too many books and too little time and it's easy to miss the gems. Independent publishers have some of the best books out there but they're often overlooked -- they haven't got the advertising budget the big guys can play with. So, from time to time, I'll be highlighting a few of the titles you should check out (in my oh-so-humble opinion).

Have you tried these?

We all know there are too many books and too little time and it's easy to miss the gems. Independent publishers have some of the best books out there but they're often overlooked---they haven't got the advertising budget the big guys can play with. So, from time to time, I'll be highlighting a few of the titles you should check out (in my oh-so-humble opinion).

Runner's High: A Paul Grey Murder Mystery
Cheryl Ritzel
ISBN 097405836X
Tolling Bell Books
Trade Paper

Second in the series.
In Runner's High, an attractive trophy wife, Nikki Sills, plunges to her death from an Atlanta skyrise during the annual Peachtree Road Race. Was it an accident, a suicide, or a murder? As Paul searches for the answers, the dead bodies continue to pile up. Clearly, he must find the killer soon, because the deeper Paul digs, the more likely it is he's digging his own grave.

The Rosary Bride
Luisa Buehler
ISBN 1590802276
Echelon Press Publishing
Trade Paper

First in the series (4th due out this fall).
During the 1940's the women attending Rosary College insisted a beautiful young woman wearing a 'fancy dress' haunted the halls near the chapel. Stories of the 'Rosary Bride' continue from generation to generation. Fifty years later, during the renovation of the college library, workers expose a skeleton. Grace Marsden, present at the discovery, is drawn into the search for the victim's identity, fearing the remains will lead to skeletons in her own family closet. Complications arise when the investigating police inspector dredges up more old secrets and betrayal. Ignoring her husband's theory that the Inspector's motives are less than honorable, Grace continues her quest to solve the decades old homicide. Grace enlists the help of Sister Andrew, a nun who lived at Rosary during the 40's and has chronicled the college's history. But all too soon the treachery of the past meets the future and once again lives are lost. Can Grace name the 'Rosary Bride' before her killer strikes again?

The Hatch and Brood of Time
Ellen Larson
ISBN 0966987705
Savvy Press
Trade Paper

Newshound Natalie Joday is pulled into a murder investigation by an anguished young woman cry for help. But compassion turns to fear when her brother -- a natural magnet for trouble -- is suspected of the crime. A lifetime of painful run-ins with the legal system has left Natalie wary of the police, so she sets out to solve the case herself by uncovering the secrets of the past -- even when the secrets are her own.

Alien Deception
Tony Ruggiero
ISBN 1896944345
Dragon Moon Press
Trade Paper

Nothing is as it appears. Nothing.

Your whole life you think you understand who and what you are, and then one day you learn that it is all a lie. So what do you do?

You have lunch with the leading candidate for President of the United States. You...and your alien friends.

Guns and Roses
Taffy Cannon
ISBN 1880284340
Perseverance Press
Trade Paper

Strange things are happening on the History and Gardens of Virginia tour. Are they odd misadventures? Harmless pranks? Or does somebody have murder in mind? Ex-Texas cop Roxanne Prescott thought she'd moved into a more genteel line of work, leading educational tours for the well-heeled for her aunt's travel agency. But as the group (which she mentally nicknamed the Guns and Roses tour) moves from Mount Vernon to Monticello, a practical joker targets the tourists. In Colonial Williamsburg, the pranks escalate with deadly results. Roxanne must figure out which of her group is a killer hiding behind a genial facade, and save her aunt's business at the same time.

Uncle Silas
J. Sheridan LeFanu
ISBN 0486217159
Dover Publications
Trade Paper

Written in 1864 and one of the most effective novels of terror ever written, this true Gothic mystery novel is considered by many to be the best of the period. It is not only wonderfully written, skillfully plotted, and peopled with interesting characters, it is incredibly frightening.

Previous "Have You Tried" recommendations"

Love Is The Bond: A Rowan Gant Investigation (#6)
M. R. Sellars
ISBN 0967822122
E.M.A. Mysteries
Trade Paper (6x9)
Street Date: October 31, 2005

She Loves Them To Death...
To date, there has only been one recorded instance of a female serial killer officially listed as a sexual predator under the Kelleher typology classifications. Now, Rowan Gant must stop number two, and she just may be someone he knows.

The Scarecrow Murders
Mary V. Welk
ISBN 1591330866
Hilliard & Harris Publishers
Trade Paperback, perfect binding
August 2004

Picket lines snake across campus when female rodeo riders lock horns with Bruck University's football team during Halloween Homecoming Days. Caroline Rhodes must clear her son of a murder charge after a student is found dead in the rodeo's bullpen.

Series: Chase Dagger Mysteries
The Good Die Twice
Lee Driver
ISBN 0966602153
Full Moon Publishing
Mass Market Paperback
Oct 2000

A woman is murdered five years after her alleged death and P.I. Dagger, with his two very unusual assistants, investigates.

Dragon's Fire, Wizard's Flame
Michael R. Mennenga
ISBN 1896944132
Dragon Moon Press
Trade Paper

Seventy-five-year-old Zac-who is young for a dragon-has endured taunts and pranks from the other dragons in his secluded village for years, and brought shame and disgrace to his family because he can't seem to get the hang of breathing flames. He ventures out into the dangerous and exciting human world in search of his fire and has many adventures along the way.

Myth Adventures One
Robert Asprin
ISBN 1892065363
Meisha Merlin
Trade Paper
May 2001

This is an omnibus edition of the first two books in the Myth series, Another Fine Myth and Myth Conceptions, in which an apprentice magician and a powerless demon find themselves stuck with each other, along with a war unicorn and a dragon.