The James Charade

A Chicago area tycoon, T. Jackson Bender, is brutally murdered at his home in Winnetka on the Fourth of July. The motive seems obvious. After all, the man was worth billions. The big question is: who stands to profit the most from his sudden demise? Burton James, along with his longtime buddy Patrick Murphy of the Chicago Police Department, set out to solve the crime. The pair will take you on a journey with more twists and turns than a cornfield maze in the month of October. But don't assume the obvious...you do know what assume spells, don't you???

When our world suddenly crumbles apart we are faced with multiple options. We can choose to accept responsibility for our own failures, change what needs to be changed, pick up the pieces and start all over again. Or, we can choose to hold everyone else responsible for our failures and seek revenge. The Leveler is a failed man who chooses not to accept personal responsibility for the miserable way his life has turned out. Pursued by rookie homicide detective Beebe Lawless, The Leveler goes on a week long killing spree seeking revenge against those he feels conspired to ruin his life.

A computer programmer, a casting director, a call girl. The victims have nothing in common except the manner in which they spent their last night--wrapped in their own bed sheets in a bloody ritual of slow, agonizing death.

For NYPD Captain Thomas Horn, this adversary is unlike any he has met before. Methodical and highly skilled, the killer is always one step ahead, able to enter buildings without detection and leave no trace behind. To stop this deadly rampage, Horn must unlock the secrets of a cunning enemy who is saving his most shocking surprises for last. . .

"John Lutz knows how to make you shiver." --Harlan Coben

"Lutz ranks with such masters as Lawrence Block and Ed McBain." --St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Stockbroker Jack Skinner has worked hard to make a good life for his wife and newborn daughter. But the diaper changes, long commutes and pressures of the job have worn him down. The chance to sneak away to Las Vegas to party with an old friend seems like the perfect way to recharge.

A world away from manicured lawns and two-car garages, Rob Hollister is in deep. Real deep. In love with a prostitute and hooked on drugs, he knows walking away is not in his cards. These guys kill for amusement as much as business, and they don’t believe in new beginnings.

In this fast-paced thriller, a suburban family man in pursuit of a weekend getaway finds himself trying to get away with his life. In the grip of evil men with dangerous connections, it’s a party that could come at the price of his family.

It's so exciting to start over. Deidre Jones should know, since she's doing just that. The first step was getting out of the mental hospital in St. Louis. There were those who tried to stop her. . .so she had to make them understand: Deirdre gets what she wants. And she wants her ex-husband, David, back. He's got a new wife and a little boy. He's forgotten what he and Deirdre once shared. But it will be easy enough to remind him now that she's moved in upstairs. . .

For David, his time with Deirdre was a dark chapter he was glad to see end. Their marriage was based on dangerous, obsessive passion--and when David left, he never looked back. He'd hoped it was the same for Deirdre, but her "neighborly" behavior soon proves him wrong. She's doing her best to manipulate herself back into his life: through his child, through seduction. . .through murder. Because Deirdre will do anything to get what can never be hers--and now David is the only one who can stop her. . .

Everyone has warned new-minted realtor Savannah Martin that real estate is a cutthroat business. But Savannah doesn’t think she’s supposed to take the warning literally ... until an early morning phone call sends her to an empty house on the ‘bad’ side of town, where she finds herself standing over the butchered body of a competitor, face to face with the boy her mother always warned her about.

Rafe Collier is six feet three inches of testosterone and trouble; tall, dark, and dangerous, with a murky past and no future—not the kind of guy a perfect Southern Belle should want to tangle with. In any way. But wherever Savannah turns, there he is, and making no bones about what he wants from her.

Now Savannah must figure out who killed real estate queen Brenda Puckett, make a success of her new career, and avoid getting killed—or kissed—by Rafe, all before the money in her savings account runs out and she has to go back to selling make-up at the mall.

*** Contains an excerpt from HOT PROPERTY, Savannah Martin mystery #2

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING:

"With a dose of southern charm and a bad boy you won't want to forget, A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS has enough wit and sexual chemistry to rival Janet Evanovich."
-----Tasha Alexander, bestselling author of DANGEROUS TO KNOW

"VERDICT: The hilarious dialog and the tension between Savannah and Rafe will delight fans of chick-lit mysteries and romantic suspense."
-----Jo Ann Vicarel, Library Journal

"... mixes up a frothy girl drink of houses, hunks and whodunit narrated in a breezy first person ... If you love an umbrella in your drink ... grab A Cutthroat Business for a quick beach read."
-----Lyda Phillips, Nashville Scene

"A delicious and dazzling romantic thriller ... equal parts wit and suspense, distilled with a Southern flavor as authentic as a mint julep."
-----Kelli Stanley, Bruce Alexander award winner, NOX DORMIENDA

"... equal parts charming and sexy, with a side of suspense. Hero and heroine, Savannah Martin and Rafe Collier, are a pairing of perfection."
-----Paige Crutcher, examiner.com

"...hooks you in the first page and doesn't let go until the last! ... There's something for every reader: tricky plot twists, rich description, and some villainous characters you'll love to hate."
-----Lynda Coker, Between the Pages

"A lighthearted Southern romp with plenty of steam beneath the surface ... prose is crisp, and protagonist Savannah Martin is a flawed but likeable heroine."
-----Jaden Terrell, author of RACING THE DEVIL

BIO:

Jenna Bennett/Jennie Bentley writes the New York Times bestselling Do It Yourself home renovation mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime and the Cutthroat Business mysteries for her own gratification. She also writes a variety of romance for Entangled Publishing, from contemporary to futuristic and from paranormal to suspense.

ALSO IN THIS SERIES:

A Cutthroat Business - Savannah Martin mystery #1 (May 2011)
Hot Property - Savannah Martin Mystery #2 (June 2011)
Contract Pending - Savannah Martin Mystery #3 (July 2011)
Close to Home - Savannah Martin Mystery #4 (October 2011)
A Done Deal - Savannah Martin Mystery #5 (December 2011)

ALSO FROM THIS AUTHOR:

Tall, Dark and Divine, Bagging a Greek God #1 - (July 2012)

Fortune's Hero, Soldiers of Fortune #1 - (November 2012)

Fatal Fixer-Upper - DIY #1 (November 2008) - written as Jennie Bentley
Spackled and Spooked - DIY #2 (August 2009) - written as Jennie Bentley
Plaster and Poison - DIY #3 (March 2010) - written as Jennie Bentley
Mortar and Murder - DIY #4 (January 2011) - written as Jennie Bentley
Flipped Out - DIY #5 (October 2011) - written as Jennie Bentley
Wall to Wall Dead - DIY #6 (September 2012) - written as Jennie Bentley

Patrolman Dave Powell’s life is unremarkable, one of mediocrity and unfulfilled dreams. A fifteen year police veteran, he has little to show for it but a crappy, ranch-style house, an expansive gut and cholesterol levels through the roof.

Yet, the one good thing in his life has always been his wife, Karin.

Until, Dave Powell begins to suspect his wife of cheating. Then worry becomes paranoia, and paranoia becomes desperation and fear, which conspire to create a perfect storm with deadly consequences.

The Family Business is a fictitious tale based on a composite of actual cases, and featuring Mike Roth, P.I. badboy unlike any you've ever met. It's today, with settings for this hard-boiled detective thriller in Manila, Bangkok, Los Angeles, and New York.

Femme fatale Lori MacMillan and her jealous brother scam insurers beneath an umbrella of aliases. Their grift is creating and insuring bogus personas, then staging deaths abroad, murdering hapless stand-in's for authenticity when its convenient.

Their latest, most ambitious scheme finds them in a treacherous alliance with jaded Roth, aimed at ripping-off his clients. Double and triple cross-cross maneuvers lace their volatile partnership where death becomes the only option for dissolution-as another shadowy investigation unfolds in the background.

A dark excursion into greed, lust, and murder-by the author who lives these cases-that produces the unpredictable conclusion for this slick, fast-paced novel. You can now get "The family Business" on your Kindle by clicking the image to the left or click the following link for a FREE Download of the full novel in PDF Now!

"Tells it like it is on the mean streets of Manila, New York and Bangkok."

Stephen Leather

"May be the first detective novel written by a real P.I. and it's superb!"

Jerry Hopkins

Synopsis(Taken from Rear cover of Printed Version)

An American ex-serviceman vanishes in Manila's sleazy after-hours scene, and a foreign businessman turns up dead at the same time. Apparently both were customers at the same honky-tonk dive. One is a lovesick loser, but the other is insured for 1.5 million dollars--which he aims to collect on his own body.

Enter femme fatale Lori MacMilan, who plays the grieving widow to perfection, smoothing the way to big pay-days, snaring those unfortunate enough to fall under her spell, including Peter, her jealous partner-in-crime, and a hapless American consul--a lonely, star-crossed bureaucrat just fool enough to unwittingly expedite her ambitious scheme.

As Lori and Peter leave a trail of dupes and bodies from Manila to LA to New York, they must reluctantly enter into a dangerous and unplanned alliance. Thier new and volatile partnership is laced with double and triple-crosses, where death is the only option of dissolution. Meanwhile, a shadowy investigation is unfolding in the background...

When he stumbles across his only daughter's corpse in a deserted beachfront bungalow, devastated Ezekiel Cooper vows to find her murderer. What the former NYPD detective doesn't know is that there have been other victims. Women in Queens, Sarasota, Seattle. Women who seemingly had nothing in common, aside from a grisly fate at the hands of a chillingly clever stranger.

Dead End

They found Henry Gibson shot dead in his abandoned car on a dirt road. DEAD END.

Then George Horner…and Noah Hamberger. Wait a minute…who’s depleting the population of Northeastern Ohio? Are these random murders or a sicko with an agenda? DEAD END.

That was the problem facing homicide detective Al Maharos. He ran out of ideas. DEAD END.

Maharos had never worked with a woman partner until Karen Vandergrift. Attractive, brilliant Vandergrift. Together, they uncovered other bodies, and a pattern unique in the annals of crime. The problem: who was linked to the murders? DEAD END.

They knew their path would converge with that of the killer. They knew when…But where? DEAD END.

DEAD END. A rapid-paced police procedural that grabs and won’t let go.