Hot Off the Crossroad Press

Cozy Mysteries, free audiobook codes More

Author

David Niall Wilson
September 28, 2025

FROM THE EDITORS

We are coming up on Halloween, so look for the next few newsletters to be horror heavy. A lot of long-term projects are coming together. We are very close to having the White Wolf World of Darkness clan novels, the original 13 volume set, in unabridged audio. One of our authors is bringing a much-loved cozy mystery series our way soon. We have per-orders stretching into December.

A lot of older books, thanks to the constant work of David Dodd, are coming back in trade paperback. It’s busy, as always.

I wanted to point out that if the newsletter seems too long – if you listen to audiobooks or do reviews, you should jump to the bottom because we have been offering free Audible download codes, UK and US, for a few weeks now, but very few have taken advantage of it. We also have the instructions for requesting review copies.

Let’s get to the books!

NEW RELEASES

Please Don’t Tell My Parents I Bought Super Powers – Richard Roberts – Book 10 of the bestselling Please Don’t Tell My Parents series - Imagine you're a flamboyant teenage girl convinced that super powers are the social edge you need. Imagine you convince a mad scientist to give you those powers. They always need test subjects, right? Imagine those powers come with a big drawback, like they always do. Congratulations, you're Stella Deetz, the best dressed and most popular fear eating monster in LA. And you forgot to keep a secret identity. Oops.

The Raven’s Shadow – Michael P. Spradlin – This mashup of history, famous characters, and the fate of the nation is perfect for fans of books like “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter”. Washington DC, 1824. A new president is about to be sworn in after a contentious election. Among the celebrants who descend upon the city, are three young men from different backgrounds, arriving there for different reasons. Unknown to them, an evil presence has also made its way to the capital. A presence that will one day be revealed to the world as a powerful and ancient evil. And he aims to destroy the young republic. His name is Count Dracula.

These three young men, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln must join together and stop the count before he wreaks havoc on the new nation.

SPOTLIGHT

Catherine Cavendish: Following a varied career in sales, advertising and career guidance, Catherine Cavendish is now the full-time author of a number of paranormal, ghostly and Gothic horror novels and novellas.

Her novels include: The Stones of Landane, Those Who Dwell in Mordenhyrst Hall, The After-Death of Caroline Rand, Nemesis of the Gods trilogy: Wrath of the Ancients, Waking the Ancients, and Damned by the Ancients, Dark Observation, In Darkness, Shadows Breathe, The Garden of Bewitchment. The Haunting of Henderson Close, The Devil’s Serenade, The Pendle Curse and Saving Grace Devine.

The Crow Witch and Other Conjurings is a collection of her previously published and brand-new short stories.

Her novellas include: The Darkest Veil, Linden Manor, Cold Revenge, Miss Abigail’s Room, The Demons of Cambian Street, Dark Avenging Angel, The Devil Inside Her, and The Second Wife

She lives by the sea in Southport, England with her long-suffering husband, and a black cat called Serafina who has never forgotten that her species used to be worshipped in ancient Egypt. She sees no reason why that practice should not continue.

COMPLETE SERIES RELEASES

The Antique Lover’s Mystery Series – by Deborah Morgan – From book 1: (Book 1 Audio Sample)

From Book 1: Since Jeff Talbot left the FBI, he's been investigating yard sales as a professional antiques picker. From furniture to books, from old clothes to broken toys, nothing escapes his keen eye for appraisal. But there is one item that he always keeps his knowing eyes particularly peeled to find: a one-of-a-kind French cabaret set commissioned by Napoleon for his love, Josephine. It is an item any collector would kill for...

So when it's about to be auctioned off — and rival collectors start turning up dead — there are plenty of suspects to choose from. Suddenly Jeff finds himself polishing up his old crime-solving skills as the search for a cabaret set becomes the search for a killer. But can he pick out the right clues before the killer adds him to the collection of dead bodies?

Deborah Morgan made $33.33 a word for the first words she sold, and says, "it's gone downhill from there." Actually, it was award money for winning a Name Our Business contest back in the 1980s in her Oklahoma hometown. Morgan's short story, "Tinsel Town," (JUNCTION) was a 2016 finalist for the Western Writers of America Spur Award. The collection features her stories published in both the mystery and western genres.

She's won awards in both fiction and nonfiction, and her peers voted an article she wrote for Roundup Magazine as the 2013 Stirrup Award winner.

All five novels in her antique-lover's mystery series featuring antiques picker (and former FBI agent) Jeff Talbot made the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association list, with the third--The Marriage Casket--taking the #1 slot.

RE-RELEASES – These include Universal book links to all available eBook markets

Mind’s Horizon – Eric Malikyte – Book 2 in the OEI Archives - 4.0 with 77 reviews on Amazon, Humanity’s time is done.

The Earth is freezing over and human civilization is gone. For Ira Hartman and the dysfunctional band of survivors that surround her, all that's left of the old world are ghosts trapped beneath the still-forming ice sheets.

When Ira and the survivors discover a secret military research facility housed deep within the San Bernardino Mountains, at first, it seems like the perfect shelter. Plenty of rations. Water. Warmth. Then they discover the remnants of horrifying experiments. Corpses, strapped to operating tables, horror etched on decomposing faces, experiment rooms filed with strange machines and occult symbols, and the logs of a raving lunatic. The unmistakable feeling that something is watching them, waiting in the cold, tubular concrete tunnels, in the shadows. What Ira and the others don’t know might just kill them.

NEW AUDIO

Blackest Knights – Performed by Reuben Ashcroft – AUDIO SAMPLE HERE

Honor is just a word.

Throughout fiction, there have always been heroes who have fallen from grace. Champions of honor, decency, and order who have become villains through some traumatic event or a deep personal flaw. Blackest Knights is a collection of 19 tales by some of independent fantasy's best authors that follow a collection of those heroes who fell to temptation. From tales of bloody-handed hypocrites to space pirates, you'll find some truly fascinating works within.

Contains fiction by: David Niall Wilson, C. T. Phipps, James Alderdice, M. L. Spencer, Paul Lavender, Ulff Lehman, A. M. Justice, Matthew Johnson, Frank Martin, Allan Batchelder, Martin Owton, Richard Writhen, Jesse Teller and Michael Suttkus.

FREE AUDIOBOOK DOWNLOAD CODES FOR AUDIBLE

Here is our new list of books we are offering free download codes for.  We are trying to build reviews, and while we don’t require a review for a free download, even just a rating on Audible or Amazon can make a huge difference in visibility. Beneath the new books are those from last week, because all still have some codes available for US and UK listeners. We will offer them to the first five who request them, and only one title per requester. To request a code send a note to [email protected]

THIS WEEK’S TITLES:

The Hungry Earth – Nicholas Kaufmann – Performed by Linda Jones – AUDIO SAMPLE

Sakima, New York, a sleepy, idyllic city nestled in the Hudson Valley, a place where everyone knows each other, families look after the highly prized community garden, and the crime rate is so low that Dr. Laura Powell, the police department’s medical examiner, spends most of her time tending to her own private medical practice.

That changes drastically the day a local high school student is found dead, an apparent suicide. Called in to perform the autopsy, Laura uncovers a strange growth inside the body, composed of a mysterious substance she can’t identify. Enlisting the aid of her scientist ex-boyfriend, Booker Coates, Laura launches an investigation that leads to a horrifying discovery.

Something deadly has taken root in Sakima, an organism whose toxic influence spreads like a disease through the population, dangerously altering minds and dominating wills, a ruthless intelligence that demands obedience. As more and more townspeople fall under its control, forming violent mobs to seek out those who remain uninfected, Laura and Booker must find a way to stop it before they become its next victims. But how can they stop something they don’t understand?

Time After Time (Book 1 of the Pastmaster Series) – Performed by Thomas Metzinger – Audio Sample

Is Anastasia dead? History Professor Alex Balfour confidently knew that the daughter of Tsar Nicholas and her family had been executed on July 16, 1918. Of course, he hadn’t witnessed it with his own eyes...yet. But Alex had been having bizarre dreams, dreams so lifelike that he once awoke with mud on his shoes...with Rasputin’s sable coat on his back. Had he really traveled back in time? His rational, scholarly mind rebelled at the thought...until a beautiful woman comes into his life with a strange theory. Suddenly Alex’s nightmares became the pathway for an extraordinary adventure in a richly told tale filled with stunning discoveries that can imperil one man’s future...and the world’s.

Tuxedo Junction – Thom Carnell – Performed by David Gilmore – Audio Sample

Tuxedo Junction is the third short story collection from Fangoria and Dread Central veteran writer Thom Carnell. Thom's fiction has been featured in Carpe Noctem Magazine, Swang Magazine, in his novel No Flesh Shall Be Spared: Don't Look Back and in the short story collections Moonlight Serenades and A String of Pearls.

LAST WEEK REVIEW COPIES -Codes still available

A Mind for Murder – Noreen Renier – Performed by Lee Ann Howlett – Audio Sample

Alternate Killer – Matthew Franks – Produced by Derek Green – Audio Sample

Big-Ass Shark by Briar Lee Mitchell – produced by Elizabeth Phillips – Audio Sample

REVIEW COPIES AVAILABLE

There is a form on our website for requesting review copies of any of our titles, but you can also do so by emailing us at [email protected] – Let us know which of our many books you’d like to read and review. Provide us with the places you will post your review, and let us know if you’d like to be added to our list of reviewers to hear about all upcoming titles.

THAT’S A WRAP!

Thanks to everyone who made it to the end of the newsletter. Remember to share, and check out all our titles, available on most eBook platforms.

David & David

 Wilson & Dodd