Free/Bargain Suspense/Mystery/Thriller February 2013

[Mort1997]

The Unforgiving Minutes (a Peter Brichter mystery) by Mary Monica Pulver is free today on Amazon UK

'Police officer Otto Peter Brichter is an outstanding detective, though socially awkward. An investigation of a local crime ring brings him to Tretower Ranch, where he meets Nick Tellios and his niece, Katherine McLeod Price. Kori, as she is called, is a young reclusive woman whose primary interest is in the horses on the ranch. Brichter falls head over heels in love with her, but the trauma of her parents’ murder as a young child still haunts her and makes her distant. As Brichter’s investigation continues, he finds that Tellios is linked to the local organized crime syndicate, and that Tellios is exploiting Kori and keeping her a virtual prisoner. When Kori is kidnapped, the evidence increasingly points to Tellios being behind it. Brichter finds that this is just the beginning of a mystery with far-reaching implications, some of which go back to the unsolved killing of Kori’s parents. '

This author also writes cozies under the name of Monica Ferris

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/B0...kd#reader-link

[NightBird]

Another freebie from John Smolens: Winter By Degrees. Originally published by Dutton in 1989. UK

In historic Newburyport, Massachusetts, the swift tidal currents of the Merrimack River are as treacherous as they are beautiful. When an unidentified man drowns on a bleak winter’s day, the event inspires fear and anger—but it also unites Newburyporters, reminding them that living hard by the sea requires uncommon fortitude and endurance.

When Iver Smyth, a man reputed for his drinking, gambling, and scandalous affairs, disappears, his eccentric family shows a curious disinterest as locals speculate that it is his body that has broken through the river ice and been swept out to sea. Yet others—wives, lovers, children, and a stranger who is intent on collecting overdue debts—are determined to find out whether Smyth is dead or alive, and whether this was an unfortunate accident, an artful deception, a suicide, or, perhaps, an act of cold-blooded vengeance.

Nelson Rideout, who worked on a restoration site with Iver the day of his disappearance, has his own reasons for seeking the truth, particularly when he learns that his dissolute brother, affectionately known as Tuna, harbors troubling secrets regarding the missing man. To discover the tragic significance of this drowning, Nelson must confront long-held loyalties, his failed marriage and splintered family, and the realization that there is nothing more important—or dangerous—than a grown man trying to prove his own worth.

[NightBird]

Check this post in the SF/Fantasy thread for a genre-busting thriller.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Mort1997

The Unforgiving Minutes (a Peter Brichter mystery) by Mary Monica Pulver is free today on Amazon UK

'Police officer Otto Peter Brichter is an outstanding detective, though socially awkward. An investigation of a local crime ring brings him to Tretower Ranch, where he meets Nick Tellios and his niece, Katherine McLeod Price. Kori, as she is called, is a young reclusive woman whose primary interest is in the horses on the ranch. Brichter falls head over heels in love with her, but the trauma of her parents’ murder as a young child still haunts her and makes her distant. As Brichter’s investigation continues, he finds that Tellios is linked to the local organized crime syndicate, and that Tellios is exploiting Kori and keeping her a virtual prisoner. When Kori is kidnapped, the evidence increasingly points to Tellios being behind it. Brichter finds that this is just the beginning of a mystery with far-reaching implications, some of which go back to the unsolved killing of Kori’s parents. '

This author also writes cozies under the name of Monica Ferris

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/B0...kd#reader-link

Also free on Amazon US http://www.amazon.com/Unforgiving-Mi.../dp/B00507U1ES
Apache

[NightBird]

Book #7 in Ed McBain's Matthew Hope series, Puss in Boots, is $2.00.

A long shadow looms above her. Then a hand clamps over her mouth and a blade sinks into her back. Blood splatters on the film reel case beside her, and a young life is cut short.

Lawyer Matthew Hope gets a call from Carlton Markham, who’s been arrested for his filmmaker wife’s murder but says he didn’t do it. Witnesses fly forward to proclaim his guilt, but Markham’s not giving up that easily on his innocence. And when Matthew digs deeper into the victim’s business—from heavy financial backers to sleazy egomaniacs—he finds she may not have been the perfect lady she had seemed. The one piece of evidence that could set Markham free and finger the real killer is the victim’s film reel. Only it’s gone, along with the film’s sexy star. Now Matthew needs to infiltrate the seedy side of the film industry in order to find the missing reel and solve the murder.

From master storyteller Ed McBain, Puss in Boots is another Matthew Hope Mystery classic, the tale of a woman who aimed too high and the many men who fell for it all.

The Matthew Hope Series

In 1978, McBain brought out the first of his Matthew Hope novels. Goldilocks inaugurated a series in which the lead investigator begins as a newly transplanted (from New York to Florida) civil attorney who soon turns to criminal law--hardly a surprising career move given the bodies that pile up around his practice. Each fairytale-themed title refers to a particularly gruesome crime; its motive is always bestial and its principals are frequently irresistible beauties. Hope is not as skeptical as he ought to be and is inclined to believe a woman’s story, whether she is a grouchy old garden maven with three children buried in the yard or an asylum inmate with a billion dollars coming her way. Hope’s optimism leads him into dangerous situations, and he often cannot penetrate the veils of deceit in which his clients are naturally swathed. Readers tended to enjoy the occasional, more freeform Hope diversion between the tightly woven procedurals of McBain’s better known series.

Salem Press

[Mort1997]

Hidden Nexus (Inspector Saito Mysteries) by Nick Tanner (Amazon UK)

'Inspector Sakamoto has a single-minded approach to the solving of the mystery that is presented to him - in essence there is no mystery. This is a simple case of a jealous husband.

Within hours of returning to duty Inspector Saito, keen not to be sidelined by his rival, involves himself in the case and soon uncovers a mass of startling new evidence surrounding the life and death of Yamada Eri. As the body count mounts Saito finds himself caught within the hidden nexus of modern Japan - the unholy triangle that links business with Government and the Yakuza. For once there is no obvious solution as each and every suspect appears to have a cast-iron alibi.

It's only then that an unwitting Sakamoto helps Saito on his way to the final solution. '


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hidden-Nexus...36097&sr=1-370

[Apache]

Also free on Amazon US.
http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Nexus-I.../dp/B00BDMJVUO
Apache

[NightBird]

All the Dead Voices by Declan Hughes $1.99 from HarperCollins. Fourth in his Ed Loy, PI series. Sony B&N

Dublin PI Ed Loy is trying to escape his past—a task easier said than done—in this new novel from Shamus Award-winning author Declan Hughes

Shortly after moving from his childhood home on the outskirts of Dublin to an apartment in the city, Ed Loy is approached by Anne Fogarty, a woman whose father was killed fifteen years ago. She thinks the police nabbed the wrong person, and now she wants Loy to find the truth. At the top of the list of possible suspects are three men Anne's father, a revenue inspector, was preparing claims against for criminal activity: Bobby Doyle, an ex-IRA man turned property developer; Jack Cullen, also ex-IRA, now the head of a gang of disgruntled IRA men; and George Halligan, Loy's underworld nemesis.

At the same time, Loy is asked to look into the death of Paul Delaney, a rising soccer star who may have been connected with Jack Cullen. With the two cases on a collision course, Loy scours the streets of a city divided—where the wounded Celtic Tiger walks hand in hand with the ghosts of a violent past.

[NightBird]

Rain by Stephen Gallagher is $1.99. Originally published in 1990 by The New English Library.

Lucy Ashdown is a girl with a mission - to find the driver who ran down and killed her sister Christine. Now she has a lead and she's off to London.

Disgraced Detective Joe Lucas is as dedicated as Lucy. HIs aim is to bring her home. By any means necessary.

Stepping into her sister's shoes, this small-town girl is thrust into a terrifying night journey of deceit, danger, and degradation. By recreating her sister's journey, she unwittingly heads toward her sister's fate; and even as she believes that she's closing in on the murderer, the murderer is closing in on her.

Slash and Burn by Matt Hilton is $1.99 from HarperCollins. Sony B&N

Slash and Burn is the third electrifying thriller in the Hunter series, as the emotional stakes are raised to the limit when he and his new lady love set out to find her missing sister and run head-first into a maniacal Texas millionaire sadist with shady allegiances, a serious bloodlust, and his own private army.

[mitford13]

Originally Posted by NightBird

All the Dead Voices by Declan Hughes $1.99 from HarperCollins. Fourth in his Ed Loy, PI series.

Ah...love Declan Hughes...was hoping this was a sign of a new book, but doesn't look like it. Guess it's time for a re-read. Thanks!

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Free short (74 pages) from Dave Zeltserman on Amazon:

The Hunted

From the author of the groundbreaking 'man out of prison' noir trilogy (Small Crimes, Pariah, Killer) comes an exciting new novella series mixing hardboiled crime with government conspiracy. In this first explosive novella, THE HUNTED, Dan Willis is unemployed and desperate when he is recruited by The Factory. Trained to hunt down and kill insurgents hellbent on destroying the country, Willis methodically and efficiently performs his job. But there's a dark secret behind The Factory, and when Willis discovers it no one is safe...

[AnemicOak]

Blood Stained the second book in CJ Lyon's Lucy Guardino series has dropped from $4.99 to $0.99

Readers asked for "More Lucy, Please!" Now Lucy's back and she's facing the fight of her life:

Just your average Pittsburgh soccer mom, baking brownies and carrying a loaded forty-caliber Glock...

Until recently Supervisory Special Agent Lucy Guardino was a shining star in the FBI's roster. But after killing a man and disobeying orders, Lucy's been sidelined, chained to her desk. When a mysterious letter arrives hinting that, thanks to Lucy, the wrong man was blamed for a string of serial rapes, kidnappings, and killings four years ago, Lucy jumps at the chance to re-open the case--despite orders to leave well enough alone.

Her unofficial investigation takes her back to the small town that thrust her into the spotlight four years ago when she saved the killer's last victims--before the killer took his own life and the life of one final victim, a mother who left a ten year old son and loving husband behind.

What Lucy doesn't know is that what happened four years ago was all a lie, fueled by sacrifice and betrayal, designed to shield the real killer.

With the lives of her family, a group of innocent children, and the future of one desperate boy at risk, Lucy races to stop an innocent from killing and a killer from butchering more innocents.

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Blood Stained the second book in CJ Lyon's Lucy Guardino series has dropped from $4.99 to $0.99

The first one, Chasing Shadows, is also $0.99.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Synamon

The first one, Chasing Shadows, is also $0.99.

Right author, different series.

[BelleZora]

I placed A Lighthearted Quest by Ann Bridge on my Watch List a month ago for reasons I no longer remember, but received notice this morning that the price has dropped to $1.99. In fact, eight of the author's books have dropped.

From my musty old hardcover Whodunit? A Guide to Crime, Suspense & Spy Fiction : "Bridge, Ann (1889-1974): British espionage novelist, pen-name of Lady Mary Dolling O'Malley. The resourceful Julia Probyn, an amateur in the field of espionage, is the protagonist in eight novels which are exciting, sometimes wryly amusing, enjoyable as travelogues, but devoid of the obligatory brutality of so many other spy writers." The book then goes on to rate highly and recommend A Lighthearted Quest (1956) and Emergency in the Pyranees (1965).

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Right author, different series.

Thanks. I saw them side by side in the Big Deal sale and assumed.