Here are 88 books that A Matter of Motive fans have personally recommended if you like
A Matter of Motive.
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Before I became an author, I was a sales exec. As a female ladies’ apparel rep in a traditionally male-dominated industry in the Deep Southern states, I had to prove myself every day. When I started, there were no other women road reps in the region. No one, except my mentor father, thought I’d last a season. Grit and stubborn perseverance to prove the industry wrong kept me going. I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. I took a sledgehammer to every glass ceiling I encountered and smashed it to smithereens.
Caroline Popov hits rock bottom and is thrown a lifeline when she lands a job at the Palm Oasis Casino. Mentored by the tribal chairman, Caroline works her way up and is promoted to the Night Hawk Casino general manager in the California high desert.
I cheered as Caroline didn’t let anyone push her around. If, like me, you’re curious about the real story behind the gaming industry, but a trip to a casino is not in your future, this story is right up your alley.
I was blown away by Industry pro-Bertoia’s physical description of the casino, the emotional atmosphere that permeates the place, and the characters who play and work there that were so spot on, I checked my wallet to make sure I didn’t lose a bucket of bucks at the Blackjack table.
Caroline Popov, alone, heartbroken, and deeply in debt ends up in glamorous Palm Springs, California where Native casinos have just opened, offering employment to thousands. She lands a job at the Palm Oasis Casino where she is mentored by the charismatic tribal chairman, John Tovar.
Embraced by casino culture, Caroline works her way up to casino manager of the Night Hawk, in the High Desert town of Joshua Tree. There, she is responsible for managing multicultural team members, satisfying the demands of often unique guests, and growing revenue while rooting out corruption.
In the process of rediscovering her inner strength,…
The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.
On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…
Before I became an author, I was a sales exec. As a female ladies’ apparel rep in a traditionally male-dominated industry in the Deep Southern states, I had to prove myself every day. When I started, there were no other women road reps in the region. No one, except my mentor father, thought I’d last a season. Grit and stubborn perseverance to prove the industry wrong kept me going. I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. I took a sledgehammer to every glass ceiling I encountered and smashed it to smithereens.
I absolutely adore the hilarity of physical comedy. So, I was immediately drawn to the slapstick antics of calamitous Trenton, NJ, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum.
In Hot Six, a homicidal maniac has selected Stephanie as his next victim. Nothing tickles my funny bone more than a hapless heroine who stumbles and bumbles her way into and out of messes. I love that Stephanie never has to look for trouble…it always finds her.
I laughed out loud when Stephanie’s eccentric grandmother set up housekeeping in her granddaughter’s apartment at the same time that Stephanie adopted a dog with an eating disorder. I love the story’s frantic pace and the surreal spots Stephanie gets herself into.
Big-haired bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is back - and, boy, has she got man trouble . . .
First there's fellow bounty hunter Ranger, currently on the run from a murder rap and requesting Stephanie's help. Trouble is she can't decide if she should turn him in or keep him for herself.
Then there's sexy vice cop Joe Morelli - the man her heart says she's in love with (even though her head says otherwise). He's after Ranger too - but for less romantic reasons . . .
And now there's another male in her life. He's big, he's orange,…
Before I became an author, I was a sales exec. As a female ladies’ apparel rep in a traditionally male-dominated industry in the Deep Southern states, I had to prove myself every day. When I started, there were no other women road reps in the region. No one, except my mentor father, thought I’d last a season. Grit and stubborn perseverance to prove the industry wrong kept me going. I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. I took a sledgehammer to every glass ceiling I encountered and smashed it to smithereens.
Nothing much happens in Maggody, Arkansas, so Arly Hanks figures her job as the first female police chief will be a yawn. Life is so boring that the locals resorted to gobbling up every rumor of creatures from outer space invading their burg.
Give me an irreverent protagonist, dialogue dripping with sarcasm, and a zany plot that spits in the eye of society’s absurdity. I love the way life-long Arkansan Hess gleefully makes mincemeat of the hypocrisy of the caste hierarchy often found in small southern towns by reducing them to a parody of themselves.
I’m a happy camper when a Queen of Cozies like Hess pushes a mystery to the brink of merry madness—and then pushes it even farther.
When crop circles begin appearing in her little town, Police Chief Arly Hanks finds herself more than occupied with tabloid reporters, officers for UFORIA (Unidentified Flying Objects Reported in Arkansas), cattle mutilations, and the murder of a young ufo-ologist. 20,000 first printing. Tour.
Transforming Pandora, women's fiction with a metaphysical undercurrent, is written with humour and a light touch. As the plot slips between two time frames, separated by more than thirty years, the reader explores her life and loves: her ups and downs.
Before I became an author, I was a sales exec. As a female ladies’ apparel rep in a traditionally male-dominated industry in the Deep Southern states, I had to prove myself every day. When I started, there were no other women road reps in the region. No one, except my mentor father, thought I’d last a season. Grit and stubborn perseverance to prove the industry wrong kept me going. I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. I took a sledgehammer to every glass ceiling I encountered and smashed it to smithereens.
This is a breathless ocean adventure to Mexico, chock-full of international intrigue, a deadly hurricane, and a lovesick whale courting Civil Engineer Hetta Coffey’s yacht.
I laughed out loud at the hilarious antics of zany but lovable characters. Give me a madcap escapade featuring a macho rent-a-Captain with Lucy and Ethel as the crew, on a cruise where whatever could go wrong would go wrong.
I loved the snappy, spicier-than-hot salsa dialogue and snarky banter between sassy Hetta and Jan, her BFF. Add a plot that runs at a breakneck pace, and I bought myself a ticket for a rollercoaster-worthy wild ride that was more fun than whacking a piñata.
Hetta Coffey is a woman with a yacht, and she's not afraid to use it!
Hetta, a globe-trotting engineer with attitude, a penchant for trouble, and a yacht, is back, and this time she s steering us into hot Mexican waters.
Miffed that vacation plans with her chronically absent boyfriend Jenks Jenkins have gone awry, she accepts a job in Baja. So what if she and her friend Jan are spectacularly unqualified to take her yacht on a thousand mile cruise in the eastern Pacific Ocean in the middle of hurricane season? Hiring a handsome, if somewhat fishy captain for…
I am a forensic and clinical psychologist and have worked years with violent criminals for over 30 years. I am passionate about understanding how and why ordinary people end up doing extraordinary things and specialise in violent crimes by women. Some of the best descriptions of the inner lives of criminals are found in works of fiction, revealing how people think, feel and react. The novels I chose do this brilliantly, leading the reader into the mind of the characters, evoking compassion as well as shock and horror. The psychiatric memoirs describe the fascinating work of psychotherapy with criminal patients and unravel the mysteries of what draws people to violence, even murder.
I love this book because of how forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist Dr Adshead and dramatist Eileen Horne reveal what compels people to commit crimes. I enjoyed the variety of the cases described, and the dialogue between Adshead and her patients. By taking me into her forensic psychotherapy sessions she brings the therapeutic encounter with offender patients to life. Although I do very similar work, in prisons and clinics I still learned much from her perspective and was moved by how compassionate, nuanced and rich in detail these stories were, helping me to understand the evolution and treatment of crimes within a social and political context.
In this “unmissable book” (The Guardian), an internationally renowned forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist demonstrates the remarkable human capacity for radical empathy, change, and redemption.
What drives someone to commit an act of terrible violence? Drawing from her thirty years of experience in providing therapy to people in prisons and secure hospitals who have committed serious offenses, Dr. Gwen Adshead provides fresh and surprising insights into violence and the mind. Through a collaboration with coauthor Eileen Horne, Dr. Adshead brings her extraordinary career to life in a series of unflinching portraits.
Alongside doctor and patient, we discover what human cruelty, ranging…
I'm a lifetime, passionate reader. During the summer vacations, my brother and I would often ride with our father to his job in downtown Mobile and walk to Mobile Public Library, where we would spend all day exploring and reading. Well-written novels with remarkable but believable characters—such as those I've noted here are my passion. I have included novels in my list where I can identify personally with the protagonist. My list of books is varied. They have one thing in common: believable characters who struggle with life—authored by legitimate wordsmiths. When I wrote Angry Heavens as a first-time novelist, it was my history as a reader that I used as a writer.
James Lee Burke is now 85 as of the date of this submission and writes every day. As I just turned 76 this month, his remarkable work habits are a goal to which I can aspire.
James Lee Burke’s writing is filled with memorable metaphors and similes that no one uses quite as well as this Southern man of letters
In Robicheaux: A Novel, Burke reminds us that Robicheaux is plagued by the acts he committed in Vietnam, now manifested in the ghosts of his alcoholism and tendency to violence. Complicating his life even more is the sudden death of his beloved wife, Molly. The New Iberia man who killed Molly is also killed, and colleagues accuse Robicheaux of murdering the man who killed Molly.
Dave Robicheaux is a good man who does not tolerate evil deeds by others, even though he must battle his tendency to react violently when…
James Lee Burke’s most beloved character, Dave Robicheaux, returns in this New York Times bestselling mystery set in the towns and backwoods of Louisiana: an “enthralling yet grim novel that…will captivate, start to finish” (Publishers Weekly).
Dave Robicheaux is a haunted man. From the acts he committed in Vietnam, to his battles with alcoholism, to the sudden loss of his beloved wife, Molly, his thoughts drift from one irreconcilable memory to the next. Images of ghosts pepper his reality. Robicheaux’s only beacon remains serving as a detective in New Iberia, Louisiana.
It’s in that capacity that Robicheaux crosses paths with…
Mateo Taurasi and his family fled their island home when their people turned to sorcery. Mateo’s own magic is tame but it’s still banned in the Vaeringan Empire...and his family still use it every day in their cosy teahouse. The last thing they need is an Imperial barging in to…
I got started as a writer through writing fiction intended to accompany a hobby, to deepen worldbuilding, and breathe life into the miniatures in a table-top wargame. I have always been fascinated by the worlds that grab our attention, that yank at our nostrils and dare us to make something more, to tell our own stories in this grander universe. So, I put together this list of books to accompany you as you dream of other worlds and build something with that hobby, whether it is painting miniatures for your friends, knitting, or whatever keeps your hands occupied. Here is a list of books to keep you company.
I am relatively new to the writing of T Kingfisher and my introduction was the fantastic Nettle & Bone. Her prose is wonderful. Her story is whimsical. Strange magic runs throughout the book as an almost-nun determines she needs to kill a prince with the help of a dust-wife, a disgraced warrior, and a godmother who isn’t very good at her job. I am a complete sucker for faerie markets, in this case the Goblin Market. Her writing style is refreshing, and I have already bought a bunch more of her books.
An Instant USA Today & Indie Bestseller An Oprah Daily Top 25 Fantasy Book of 2022 An NPR Best Sci Fi, Fantasy, & Speculative Fiction Book of 2022 A Goodreads Best Fantasy Choice Award Nominee
From Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes an original and subversive fantasy adventure.
*A very special hardcover edition, featuring gold foil stamp on the casing and custom endpapers illustrated by the author.*
This isn't the kind of fairytale where the princess marries a prince. It's the one where she kills him.
For almost thirty years, I worked as a cop in the back alleys, poorly lit laneways, and forgotten neighbourhoods in Toronto, the city where I grew up. Murder, mayhem, and sexual violations intended to demean, shame, and haunt the victims were all in a day’s work. Whether as a beat cop or a plainclothes detective, I dealt with good people who did bad things and bad people who followed their instincts. And now that I’m retired, I can take some of those experiences and turn them into crime fiction novels.
I really enjoyed the entire 87th Precinct series, wherein Ed McBain creates the American police procedural genre.
Cop Hater, the first in the series, is hard-hitting, fast-paced, filled with complex characters, and captures the essence of a cop’s soul while giving the reader a wonderful glimpse into the world of criminal investigations.
The murder of three detectives in quick succession in the 87th Precinct leads Detective Steve Carella on a search through the city's underside and ultimately into the murderer's sights
Once upon a time, I came to the realization that I had no idea what my parents were thinking, much less anyone else. This has turned into a life of repeated musing over how much I do and don't understand about other people. More recently, my mother's death brought to light the many different ways family and friends remembered her, with joy and pain, loss and wariness. I chose this topic for the list because these books help highlight and explore the mysteriousness of family and memory and how a person can be whole and complete and sure of what they've lived through, only to turn and see a new angle never before recognized.
I love how much Mercy learns about herself. I also really admire the time and space and, above all, respect Briggs's investments in Mercy's witting and unwitting explorations of her powers and heritage. And how Mercy reacts to revelations about her mother and mostly unknown father. I, at least, admire when Mercy is allowed to get cranky and try to pick and choose what she wants to keep or discard, approve or disapprove.
All this, and it's a heck of a roller coaster ride. I rode the slow build-up, increasingly bracing myself for the first big drop, and then whoop-whoop-whoop, I whirled up and down and sideways to the end.
The sixth novel in the international No. 1 bestselling Mercy Thompson series - the major urban fantasy hit of the decade
'I love these books!' Charlaine Harris
'The best new fantasy series I've read in years' Kelley Armstrong
MERCY THOMPSON: MECHANIC, SHAPESHIFTER, FIGHTER
Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. And she's never known any others of her kind. Until now.
This delightful fable about the Golden Age of Broadway unfolds the warm story of Artie, a young rehearsal pianist, Joe, a visionary director, and Carrie, his crackerjack Girl Friday, as they shepherd a production of a musical version of A Midsummer Night's Dream towards opening night.
Give me all the supernatural and fantasy intrigue with love on the side. Sometimes this world of ours is too much to deal with and it’s nice to visit other worlds. To read and write about the justice, love, and magic of other things that may be lacking in your life can be cathartic and gives us something to look forward to and strive for. While some of the more supernatural aspects might be out of reach, the beauty of unbreakable bonds forged in love and trust, people willing to sacrifice for what they believe in, and seeing justice prevail also gives me the hope that it's not unreachable if you believe it.
The first and my favorite of this series that sets up a world beyond our own with interesting and multiple interesting and tortured characters all trapped in their own personal hell and I was here for it. This book focuses on one particular members of this poor group and how one person can come in change absolutely everything with love and faith. There is a setup for the multiple books in the series that do not take away from the main story or characters and will have you wanting to know more. Heavy on not just the romance but the action and violence had me flying through the pages to feed my need for more. Entertaining, fun, tense, and never giving a dull moment, I recommend this for a fun night or nights of reading.
Though they carry an eternal curse, the Lords of the Underworld are irresistibly seductive—and unimaginably powerful… Don't miss a single book in this stunning paranormal series from New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter!
All her life, Ashlyn Darrow has been tormented by voices from the past. To end the nightmare, she has come to Budapest seeking help from men rumored to have supernatural abilities, not knowing she'll be swept into the arms of Maddox, their most dangerous member—a man trapped in a hell of his own.
Neither can resist the instant hunger that calms their torments…and ignites an irresistible…
