Free and Bargain Mystery/Suspense/Thriller Ebooks September 2012

[kg3]

Glad you got them all! It's good to hear you enjoyed them, I haven't read them yet.

Originally Posted by KentE

Thanks for pointing this one out, kg3! I missed the omnibus, but had the other 2 from previous giveaways, so I'm pleased to have the missing one. I read all of these years ago, enjoyed them all.
KentE

[NightBird]

Free - Almost Gone by Stan Richards from New Pulp Press.

With this eerie, suspenseful, and heart-wrenching debut novel, Stan Richards provides shocking twists to familiar roman noir themes. Police officer Chuck Johnson is driving on a rainy two-lane highway when he loses control and crashes into a semi-truck. Although he survives the accident, Chuck learns that he has suffered a serious trauma to his brain. From that moment on he begins having strange hallucinations about his mother’s death, which occurred when he was a teenager.

Obsessed that he might have played a role in her brutal murder, Chuck Johnson reopens the unsolved case and ventures into the dark oedipal depths of his childhood. But he soon learns that the past is not what it seems to be.

[NightBird]

Reduced S&S title to $2.99. A Small Death in the Great Glen by A.D. Scott.

Both probing character study and a driving novel of suspense, here is a novel that will linger in your mind like mist over the Scottish glens . . .
In the Highlands of 1950s Scotland, a boy is found dead in a canal lock. Two young girls tell such a fanciful story of his disappearance that no one believes them. The local newspaper staff—including Joanne Ross, the part-time typist embroiled in an abusive marriage, and her boss, a seasoned journalist determined to revamp the paper—set out to uncover and investigate the crime. Suspicion falls on several townspeople, all of whom profess their innocence. Alongside these characters are the people of the town and neighboring glens; a refugee Polish sailor; an Italian family whose cafÉ boasts the first known cappuccino machine in the north of Scotland; and a corrupt town clerk subverting the planning laws to line his own pocket.

Together, these very different Scots harbor deep and troubling secrets underneath their polished and respectable veneers—revelations that may prevent the crime from being solved and may keep the town firmly in the clutches of its shadowy past.

[kg3]

FREE at Amazon:

City of Light (City of Mystery-#2) - Kim Wright [Historical Mystery]

Amazon US---Amazon UK

-This author has been published by Grand Central Publishing/Hatchette Book Group

Set amid the glamour of Paris on the brink of La Belle Époque, City of Light is a tale of murder, mystery, and masks where no one is quite what they seem…

City of Light, the second book in the City of Mystery series, opens in 1889 Paris on the eve of the Exposition Universelle, the ultimate World’s Fair which debuted Edison’s phonograph, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and the Eiffel Tower. Detective Rayley Abrams has traveled from Scotland Yard to France to study the new science of forensics with the Parisian police. Lonely and awkward, Rayley easily falls under the spell of a beautiful British expatriate named Isabel Blout, a woman with a murky past and suspicious social connections.

Paris may be abuzz with excitement, but there are also rumors that the Exposition is running out of money and that Eiffel may not finish his celebrated tower in time for the opening day celebrations. The French police are so eager to present a perfect image to the eyes of the world that when a most unusual victim washes up on the banks of the Seine, they literally keep the murder under wraps.

Back in London, Queen Victoria has rewarded Rayley’s friend and rival, Trevor Welles, for his work on the Jack the Ripper case by naming him head of Scotland Yard’s first forensics unit. Trevor scrambles to assemble his team: Tom Bainbridge, an aristocratic young medical student, Emma Kelly, sister of the Ripper’s last victim, and Davy Mabrey, a bobby with profound common sense and a knack for earning the trust of witnesses. The unit is investigating a raid on a male brothel when an alarming telegram draws them to Paris and into the drama and intrigue surrounding the Exposition. But will Trevor and his team be able to unravel the web of deception in time to save Rayley?

-City of Darkness (City of Mystery-#1) by Kim Wright was put into ereaderiq, so hopefully that will come up free too.

[mitford13]

Originally Posted by kg3

-City of Darkness (City of Mystery-#1) by Kim Wright was put into ereaderiq, so hopefully that will come up free too.

I've seen it on the freebie list several times; just checked, got my copy on 6 April, so good chance you'll see it again soon I would think.

[kg3]

Thanks for the info. mitford13, hopefully I'll get it too!
-I just joined mobileread this past June (and didn't know about ereaderiq) - so missed it before.

[kg3]

Nowhere to Hide - Joan Hall Hovey [Mystery/Suspense/Thriller]

Amazon US---Amazon UK

-This book was published by Zebra in 1993.
-Eppie Winner

-This book was included in the 3 book omnibus posted yesterday, the description is also in that post.

[NightBird]

Another Scandinavian suspense from Stockholm Text Publishing. Killer's Island by Anna Jansson $1.99 at Amazon and Kobo, less at Kobo with a coupon.

In Anna Jansson’s haunting crime novel, Killer’s Island, a brutal and disturbing murder in the mythic town of Visby on the Swedish island Gotland has taken place. The myth of the White-Sea Lady has existed ever since Tjelvar, the first man on Gotland, lit a fire and the island rose out of the sea, said to be some 3,000 years ago. The story is told that a young woman, who drowned in the sea on her wedding night, since that time, tries to lure men down to the deadly underwater currents that tumble off the west coast. The myth comes to life one early summer morning when a well-respected nurse is found murdered and placed for public display on a pavilion in the local botanical gardens. She is mysteriously dressed as a bride holding flowers.

Detective Inspector Maria Wern is put on the case to investigate, but it eventually becomes clear that it is the police that are under observation by the killer. With technical knowledge that far exceeds their own, the killer is able to taunt and provoke the police making him seem omnipresent and more of a threat as each day passes and still at large.

Written in clean and chilling prose similar to Norway’s Karin Fossum, Anna Jansson’s novels have since her debut in 2000 sold in two million copies in more than ten countries. Several titles have been turned into movies.

[NightBird]

Another freebie by Roger Granelli from Accent Press.

Risk

Set against the backdrop of life in the Welsh valleys, Granelli’s edgy novel delves into addiction and the psychotic mind and leaves the reader reeling.

James Read is a troubled man in his forties. A gambling addiction has destroyed his life, career and marriage. After a period living on the streets he ends up in a hostel, where he meets Colin, a Falklands war veteran with schizophrenia.

The novel is played out against the backdrop of Colin’s crazed mind and insane plans. As James’ life begins to recover, so the danger that Colin represents begins to escalate. Colin becomes James’ nemesis and pushes him toward the limit of endurance. The novel concludes in climactic and dramatic fashion.

[NightBird]

Gnosis by Tom Wallace is free from Hydra Publications.

Gnosis: Greek word meaning knowledge.

Murder, mystery and redemption are at the heart of “Gnosis.”

Detective Jack Dantzler has no clue why he has been summoned to the prison to meet with the Reverend Eli Whitehouse, a man convicted of committing a double murder twenty-nine years ago. He is stunned when Eli claims to be innocent and wants Dantzler to prove it. But Eli only gives Dantzler a single clue—look at the obituaries in the local paper for a specific two-week period.

Reluctantly, Dantzler agrees to look into the case. As he does, two more people are brutally murdered. And although Dantzler isn’t aware of it, he has become a target for the killer. Dantzler goes back to Eli and pleads for another clue. All Eli says is, “think of Jesus’s empty tomb.” It will be this whispered utterance that unlocks the mystery and reveals the killer’s identity. But this isn’t just any ordinary killer. This is a man with a dark and bloody past, a man with connections to the highest levels of organized crime. Dantzler is now on the trail of an ice-cold assassin, fully aware that one slip will mean instant death.

Sometimes having too much knowledge can lead to deadly consequences.

Red Spirit by Humphrey Hawksley from Endeavor Press is free.

Early 1989. The Soviet Union is about to collapse. And a new superpower is about to emerge. China.

But it is a country of secrets - which only one woman can unlock.

If she can stay alive...

Dr Sally Parsons' lifelong ambition has been to excavate the tomb of the ruthless first Emperor of China. But her hopes are dashed when the project is threatened with closure. She turns for advice to her old tutor Dr Jefferson Binsky, who offers her an amazing deal. If Sally agrees to deliver a computer disc to a contact in China, she will learn the secrets of the tomb of emperor Qin Shi Huang - and how to gain access to it.

But the disc contains the diaries of a man intimately involved with the death and internment of Chairman Mao - and the explosive secret they contain could re-write the past - and re-shape the future.

In this explosive geo-political thriller Humphrey Hawksley draws on years of experience as the BBC's most respected expert on Asian politics and international affairs to create a taut and compelling story that captures a moment when China was about to re-emerge as a global power.

Humphrey Hawksley has been a BBC correspondent specialising in Asia for many years, and has reported from troublespots such as Kosovo and Iraq. In the 19980s he was in India, the Philippines and Sri Lanka - from where he was expelled while covering the Tamil war. From 1990 he was based in Hong Kong and in 1994 moved to Beijing to open the BBC's first television bureau in China

[Synamon]

Kill All The Lawyers by Paul Levine is a repeat freebie at Amazon.com (UK also). It's the third in the Solomon and Lord series. I listened to the audiobook of the first one last week and can recommend the series, snappy dialogue and complex characters complimented a nifty plot.

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This clever, colorful thriller from former attorney Levine (The Deep-Blue Alibi, etc.) focuses as much on the age-old conflict between Mars and Venus as on delivering legal wisecracks and page-turning suspense. Miami defense attorney Steve Solomon and his partner in law and love, Victoria Lord, rarely see eye to eye. He bends the rules, and she plays by the book; he wants to buy a house, but she dreams of high-rise living. Housing is the least of their problems, however, when Steve's former client, convicted killer Dr. William Kreeger, discovers that Steve lost his case on purpose. The threats start with a 300-pound fish dangling from Steve's door and quickly escalate. But how does one outwit a lethal psychologist with a genius IQ? Levine ratchets up the tension with each development but never neglects the heart of the story—his characters. The wily, rough-around-the-edges Steve, the Manolo-loving Victoria or Steve's anagram-obsessed and utterly endearing nephew are each drawn with a fine hand, making them feel more like friends than figments of Levine's imagination. As a result, readers will leave this series entry with the hope that many more will be forthcoming.

[mitford13]

Originally Posted by kg3

Thanks for the info. mitford13, hopefully I'll get it too!
-I just joined mobileread this past June (and didn't know about ereaderiq) - so missed it before.

kg3 - I should have also mentioned, you're more than welcome to borrow my copy of City of Mystery.

************************************************** ************

This one has been free before, but Hazel Holt is one of my favorite authors and definitely think she's worth a repeat:

My Dear Charlotte on Amazon

Amazon UK

My Dear Charlotte is a British Regency mystery set in the early 1800s and infused throughout with the actual language of Jane Austen, one of the world’s great stylists and comic writers. Hazel Holt has published 19 Mrs. Malory mysteries in the tradition of Barbara Pym and has admirers around the world. My Dear Charlotte is a departure from her other work. It is a novel-in-letters written “with the assistance of Jane Austen’s letters.”

[mitford13]

Just found this one on the ereaderiq 'newly kindle-ized' list:

[ETA: am seeing some references to Christian fiction in the reviews, so, just a heads-up...]

Ghostwriter by Travis Thrasher

Amazon UK

For years Dennis Shore has thrilled readers with his spooky bestselling novels. Now a widower, Dennis is finally alone in his house, his daughter attending college out of state. When he's stricken by a paralyzing case of writer's block and a looming deadline, Dennis becomes desperate. Against better judgment, he claims someone else's writing as his own, accepting undeserved accolades for the stolen work. He thinks he's gotten away with it . . . until he's greeted by a young man named Cillian Reed--the true author of the stolen manuscript.
What begins as a minor case of harassment quickly spirals out of control. As Cillian's threats escalate, Dennis finds himself on the brink of losing his career, his sanity, and even his life. The horror he's spent years writing about has arrived on his doorstep, and Dennis has nowhere to run.

[kg3]

FREE at Amazon:

Access to Power - Robert Ellis [Political Thriller/Suspense]

Amazon US---Amazon UK

-This was previously published by Pinnacle (Kensington) in 2001.

-This is Robert Ellis' first book, he's been published by Minotaur (St. Martin's), Pan (MacMillan), Pinnacle (Kensington).

Three weeks before a crucial senatorial election, a man is gunned down execution-style in a D.C. office. Police are quick to call it a case of robbery gone bad, but Frank Miles suspects something far more sinister behind the murder of his business partner.

Washington's most feared image maker, Frank's ruthless media manipulation has earned him countless admirers...and just as many enemies. Now, for the first time in his life, Frank's met his match in a shadowy schemer as clever as himself--but far more lethal.

As the body count rises, Frank becomes the U.S. Attorney's chief suspect--and a cunning killer's next target. From the underground tunnels networking Capitol Hill to the dome high above, his race for the truth--and his life--will bring him face-to-face with power at its deadliest extremes--where winning isn't everything...it's the only thing.

With his debut novel, L.A. Times bestselling author Robert Ellis raises the stakes in a heart pounding thriller set in Washington that feels so inside and so twisted it reeks of the darkest truth.

[kg3]

--->mitford13, thanks for My Dear Charlotte it looks really good! Also, I can wait a bit to see if City of Mystery #1 comes up again for free, my tbr pile is so huge! But, if I really want to read it before it comes up free I might take you up on the loan, thanks for the offer.