KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench, where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site, so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
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THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY
The Grave Diggers Book 1
BY LISA CHILDS
Blurb
In Gold Creek, Michigan, legend has it that the ghost of a local grave digger still walks the cemetery, swinging his shovel, looking for his next victim to bury. But when the town’s wealthy undertaker dies, his estranged daughter must contend with the ghosts that haunt her own family . . .
After she left home at seventeen, River Gold swore she would never return to Gold Creek. Growing up at the Gold Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens was a nightmare. Classmates constantly teased her for being part of the “Ghoul” family, while her own family denied that she was actually a Gold. Her father, undertaker Gregory Gold, certainly never acted like a father. He was far more interested in profiting off other people’s tragedies. But now Gregory has died. And River has surrendered to the pleas of her mother, Fiona, that she come back for his funeral.
But the mourning period is cut short when it’s revealed that Gregory died of poisoning—and Fiona is the number one suspect in his murder. Clearly, Fiona, his third wife and the funeral home’s cosmetologist, is being framed. There are plenty of more likely suspects, and River is determined to prove her mother’s innocence. That she’ll have to work with the sheriff—her high school enemy—is a small price to pay.
With a fortune at stake, River is sure the killer lies among Gregory’s first two wives, their children, and grandchildren. Yet soon, other discoveries will be made, and longstanding secrets unearthed. But when more people are murdered, the danger hits closer to home than River imagined possible. Drawn back into the lives—and lies—of the Golds—she’ll have to use her every resource to keep herself, and her loved ones, safe.
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OBSESSION
A Hightower Mountain Novel
BY JUDITH LUKE
Excerpt
He was dying. Despite everything Gregory Gold had done to put it off, to look younger and feel younger, to try to defy death, it was coming for him. And he was powerless to stop it. He couldn’t move. He was literally frozen like one of the memorial statues in the cemetery outside his bedroom window. He would have suspected he was having a stroke, but there had been no warning. No headache. No blurred vision.
He could clearly see his own image reflecting back at him from the mirror above his vanity. He sat stiffly in front of it next to the open window where the evening breeze teased the curtains. His face was pale but nearly unlined despite his age, and his hair was thick and dark. But he was drooling now, like the old man he’d fought so hard to never become. He tried to close his eyes, to shut out that image, but he couldn’t even blink.
He’d been sitting in his private dressing room, studying his reflection for any sign of his age when the paralysis had hit. His arms locked, and he was unable to lift his hands. His feet were stuck to the ground, too heavy for his legs to pry from the carpet. And while his mouth had dropped open slightly, it wasn’t lower on one side or the other. He hadn’t had a stroke. He just couldn’t move. He could barely even draw a breath anymore, his lungs as numb as his body.
But his mind continued to move as nimbly as it always had, and he quickly drew the only possible conclusion. He’d been poisoned. He knew it. And he knew that it had to be one of them: one of the people who were supposed to love him or at least respect and maybe even fear him. His family… or employees… but so many of them were one and the same and had complete access to him.
One of them had to have slipped the poison into something he ate or drank. But he was always so careful, avoiding alcohol, eating only organic foods … doing everything he could to stay healthy. To stay vital. To stay relevant.
The irony wasn’t lost on him that the man who’d made his fortune off death was afraid of dying. He worked out, ate well, took vitamins, and as he’d aged despite his efforts, he’d even sought medical intervention. Surgery. Botox. Hair plugs. He’d also removed the people from his life who aged him, like his first wife and his second and now…
Get some extra SWAG with your book! Anyone who buys a copy of THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY from the 28th to the end of August 2024 and emails Lisa proof to authorlisachilds@gmail.com with their mailing address (US only), she will send them a pen and bookmark!
(Note: The pen color may be different than what is shown in the photo.)
About Author Lisa Childs…
Links to Lisa’s websites, blogs, books, #ad etc.:
Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/3T1KvsK
Kensington Books: www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496748997/the-house-by-the-cemetery/
Website: https://lisachilds.com/index.html
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Special Giveaway: Lisa will gift a set of her BANE ISLAND series (www.amazon.com/dp/B088FBK356) to one lucky reader who comments on her Karen’s Killer Book Bench blog. Good luck!
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Thanks, Lisa, for sharing your book with us!
Don’t miss the chance to read this book!
Dying to read this! I’ve never heard of Lisa Childs before, but her books appear to be right up my alley. I’m looking forward to discovering the works of this new-to-me author.
Jaylee, you’re going to love Lisa’s books. They always end up on my Keeper shelf. So good I want to read them again. Enjoy!
I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
Good morning, Lisa, and welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench. I have always loved your work and am thrilled to share your most recent release. This one sounds soooo good! Can’t wait to read it. Thanks for sharing your book with us today!
Thank you so much for having me!
This is thriller that sounds like and even looks like a thrilling read and I am just dying to read it because the excerpt is so good.
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WOW!!! How intriguing. Thanks so much for sharing.
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I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a poison that paralyzed in stasis … Curious to find out.
And why does he immediately declare himself poisoned?
Thanks, Lisa and Karen
Enjoyed the excerpt, love these types of reads!
Loved this book!
These books sound so exciting! I love finding out about new to me authors.
nice excerpt
This sounds really intriguing!