Free (iTunes DRM-free/Kindle) 2 Posadas County Mystery by Steven Havill [Procedural]

[ATDrake]

So, the pricedrops have finally come through, and there may be a little glitching involved.

Poisoned Pen Press are offering two freebie mysteries in Steven F. Havill's Posadas County police procedural series set in New Mexico, which is recommended by MR member sufue in the Poisoned Pen Press thread here, along with time-limited tie-in discounts on the rest of the series.

Heartshot is 1st in the series by Steven F. Havill. There is a later novel written as a prequel, but this is the start. I've read this when it was part of those 99 cent PPP introductory sales to decide if I wanted to get the rest, and it was pretty decent.

Currently free without DRM @ iTunes (available to Canadians).

Description
Posadas County, New Mexico, has very few mean streets and no city-slick cop shop. But it has an earnest, elected Sheriff and an aging Undersheriff—William C. Gastner.

Pushing sixty, Bill has no other life than law enforcement—and doesn’t want one, even if he’s being gently nudged toward retirement. Then big time trouble strikes.

A car full of teens, evading a traffic stop, goes air*borne into a rocky outcrop, killing all five passengers and revealing a package of cocaine stashed under the seat. Has someone brought big-time crime to the county?

Then a second explosion of violence fells an undercover cop. Under pressure, the sheriff’s department pulls together to make a formidable team, but its weak spot may be Bill whose mind is too tough to crumble but whose long-mistreated body is gradually succumbing to stress. Ignoring all advice, he pilots the case to a final confrontation where the fate of the killer—and the cop—will be decided…

Red, Green, and Murder is 10th in the series and thus may be a glitch from someone trying to adjust the price for #1. I bought this for $2.90 during Books on Board's sale.

Currently free without DRM @ iTunes (available to Canadians).

Description
Former Posadas County Sheriff Bill Gastner, now a New Mexico Livestock Inspector, is enjoying a day on Herb Torrance’s ranch, soaking in the sun as he counts a small herd of cattle. But a light breeze stirs dust, a horse spooks, and Bill finds himself ferrying a broken cowpuncher out to meet an ambulance.

The day goes from bad to worse when Bill is summoned to an investigation of an unattended death. Old George Payton, a friend of Gastner’s, collapsed—dead of an apparent heart attack. But something isn’t right… It may well have been a heart attack, Estelle Reyes-Guzman agrees, but something triggered it.

Before any questions can be answered, the small herd of cattle Bill had just counted is found wandering down a county highway. But there’s no sign of cowpuncher Pat Gabaldon or his boss’ $40,000 truck and livestock trailer. Forced into two tangled investigations, Bill faces one of the most complex cases in his 35-year career.

PPP are offering the rest of a series at a discount from the regular $6.99 price, down to $2.99 for the earlier volumes and $4.99 for the later ones.

Right now the cheapest place to get most of them is Books on Board, which has almost the entire series for $2.90 + Reward Bucks after discounts, though who knows how much longer that will last. Also, some of the earlier books will be cheaper elsewhere with discount coupons and such or if you can get some of those sale-priced iTunes gift cards via FutureShop/BestBuy/other local store.

Here's PPP's author page for Havill with the series order numbering and buy-links to the major stores.

[NightBird]

Both now free at Amazon.

Red, Green, or Murder

Heartshot