Free (DRM-free) Evil Genius by Patricia Rice [Zany Stolen Family Inheritance Mystery]

[ATDrake]

Evil Genius by Patricia Rice (ISFDB) is the 1st in her Family Genius Mysteries series starring the titular genius, a young woman from a highly-gifted and eccentric family who winds up solving unusual mysteries with their help, this installment setting them all up against the apparent theft of their inheritance in the wake of a grandfather's sudden death, free courtesy of the author herself via the Book View Café backlist author consortium.

Although Rice is best-known for her paranormal historical and fantasy romances republished via Sourcebooks' Casablanca imprint, this is a newly-written series that focuses mainly on the madcap sleuth aspect (may contain romantic elements) and is marketed purely as a mystery series in the category tags, and reader comments liken it to the works of Stephanie Plum and Janet Evanovich. YMMV.

Currently free for a limited time, probably throughout September (this was listed on their monthly specials page) directly @ the Book View Café (DRM-free choice of ePub, Mobi, & PDF in exchange for your valid email address and some "shipping" info which can be invalid if you're feeling paranoid).

The author also generously offers 1 additional free novel and a novella (historical & paranormal romance; this current freebie is already included, and if you're less worried about re-downloadibility than privacy, you can just get it via these means rather than BVC) in return for signing up for her newsletter, details here on her own website's promo page.

And this has been the (late!) selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day.

Because it's nice to see another BVC freebie being offered, especially a humorous probably-non-murder investigative adventure mystery starring eccentric geniuses, and some extra free titles as well.

Enjoy!

Description
Call her a petite princess or a paranoid neurotic, either way, Anastasia Devlin has the instincts of a chameleon. She can disappear into the woodwork, share tea with a queen, or flatten a thug with one swift kick, but what she really wants is to provide her dysfunctional younger siblings with the security of the home she’s been denied…

Instead, she discovers her grandfather has died without the family being notified, his mansion has been usurped by a stranger who never leaves the third floor, and her grandfather’s executor has absconded to the Caribbean with the proceeds of their inheritance. If murder hasn’t already been committed, she might perpetrate one herself—starting with the annoying spy in the attic.

To avoid murder, she makes a pact with the devil who apparently now owns the home she is determined to win back. While she searches for the absconding lawyer and the real murderer of the senator’s aide, she will help their landlord locate a mysterious Cambodian—until oddly, the threads of all three mysteries begin to twine together, and someone is intent on cutting the cord before Ana comes too close to finding the answers.

[koland]

http://www.amazon.com/Evil-Genius-Fa...B004TTX88E/ref

[Alastair_S]

Also available for free at Kobo UK (and perhaps other countries).