Pennyworth Books

The Eighth House is not a mystery in the “whodunnit” sense, but more of a suspense story enhancing the classic theme of good versus evil. Here, in Sealy’s debut, the stakes are higher and take on apocalyptic dimensions, mixing astrology with prophecy and turning upside-down the lives of a struggling new family.

In the first third of the story, we are introduced to Edward Hastings, an enterprising lad in turn-of-the-century New York who founds a successful brothel before he is of legal age and gains a notarious reputation. His untimely death spirals him down to a pact with the Devil, which offers Edward an avenue to vent anger left over from his mortal days while aiding the Devil in bringing about the ruin of civilization. Sealy offers an imaginative view of Hell and its residents (including the Devil’s wife, interestingly named Angelica), not to mention Edward’s detailed demonic training.

By the turn…

If you have read any of the first four books of the Lindsay Chamberlain mysteries you know already Beverly Connor is a good writer. Read Airtight Case and you will know she is a great writer. Airtight Case is simply the best of the series so far.

One thing I enjoy in particular about Connor’s stories is how she introduces the element of mystery literally with the first few sentences, and we are already asking our questions and eager for the answers. In this story, we find Lindsay as a bruised amnesia patient in a Tennessee hospital; a seedy stranger tries to claim her as his fiance but she appears to know enough that her life would be in more danger were she to allow herself to accompany this man. Her instincts, as usual, are correct.

Skip ahead some time later and Lindsay has joined an excavation in Great Smoky Mountain area,…

Hollywood Must Be Destroyed

by Daniel Wade Schroder

Category: Fiction / Humor

104 pages; ISBN: 1588204510

Once upon a time, Tom Brantley and Michael Lewis were two investment bankers happily muddling through life in a tony New York firm. While they enjoyed their work and a never-ending game of guessing the artists of bad 80s pop tunes, their boss assigns them to investigate the books of an important client, a movie production company based in Hollywood. What sounds like a routine job to both men is quickly likened to a trip through Wonderland, where everybody is a Mad Hatter.

Classic Pictures, producer of soon-to-be epics like Natural Born Idiot and Teen Sexpots in Seattle, has been consistently losing money on its recent releases, and is spending too much for films that otherwise could be made on small budgets. Tom and Mike set out to learn where the firm’s money is going, uncovering a scheme more…

A Buried Lie

by Roberta Isleib

Category: Fiction / Mystery

240 pages; ISBN: 0425189961

Last seen in SIX STROKES UNDER, stepping over dead bodies sprawled on the lush greens of an Orlando golf course, Cassie Burdette is slowly inching her way into the upper echelon of ladies’ golf – one stroke at a time. A narrow passing at Q-school has landed her on the LPGA Tour, and though she has yet to make the cut she hopes for a change at the ShopRite Classic, a pro-am tournament in Atlantic City.

Before Cassie has the opportunity to tee off, however, an amateur golfer partnered with Cassie during a pre-tournament round is found dead in her hotel room of an apparent suicide. Though Cassie’s acquaintance with pharmaceutical employee Erica LaBoutillier was limited to the golf course and thirty minutes at the blackjack table, she is certain the woman would never consider turning in her scorecard for good.…