Free (Kindle KDP) Silk Train Murder by Sharon Rowse [Canadian Historical Mystery]

[ATDrake]

The KDP Select exclusive-or-else slushpile spits forth something rather nice today, at least from my point of view.

Sharon Rowse's historical mystery is not only an Arthur Ellis Award-nominee (this is our major national crime/mystery prize), it's also set in Vancouver. And involves the Yukon Gold Rush! That's like a hat trick of awesome right there.

Also some some backlist romances and thrillers and Christian fiction for people who don't appreciate hat tricks of awesome.

The Silk Train Murder (The Klondike Era Mysteries) by Sharon Rowse was published in hardcover by Caroll & Graf in 2008 and the sequel is currently out from local small press Three Cedars.

This was nominated for an Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel and has favourable comments from prestigious outlets in the blurb.

Since it involves opium dens and burlesque halls, not to mention what appears to be escalating murder, it is probably profoundly misfiled under this particular category which it is nevertheless listed as a bestseller in, according to the Amazon ranking info:

#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Children's Fiction > Historical Fiction > Canada

Anyway, since Amazon has removed the formerly helpful info, you'll have to play DRM-or-Not Roulette while it's free for who knows how long @ Amazon main UK DE ES FR IT

Description
SILK TRAINS! FAN DANCERS! OPIUM DENS! All this and MURDER too!

A body found on the Vancouver waterfront, a friend jailed for murder – John Granville must unravel a web of deceit and betrayal in a world of silk trains and Klondike gold, smuggling rings and opium dens.

At the turn of the last century, sleek liners carried a fortune in silk from the Orient to Vancouver. The costly material, insured by the day, was rushed to New York in specially designed silk trains, which became the target of every crook across the continent.

Hungry and broke, adventurer John Lansdowne Granville takes a job guarding silk trains, along with his friend and fellow gold-hunter Sam Scott. When they stumble on a gangster’s corpse, Scott is arrested for murder.

Granville’s hunt for the real killer takes him to the seedy side of Vancouver; to burlesque halls, gambling joints and down along Dupont Street -- two blocks of brothels and opium dens along the reeking mudflats. He finds allies in Emily Turner, the emancipated daughter of a very Victorian father and in young would-be train robber Trent Davis.

Can Granville survive the dark side of the city and find the answers he needs in time to save his friend…

The rest of the slushpile yield, not sorted since I have a quiz today and should probably go review.

Bram Stoker/British Fantasy award-nominated Tony Richards (ISFDB, Wikipedia) offers a supernatural/possibly-horror suspense short: A Night in Tunisia

ISFDB-ed David Bain offers a creative non-fiction essay which perhaps aspiring authors could use for possible character motivation insight: Being Buried: An Essay Exploring then Darker Origins of the Author's Love/Hate Relationship with Alcohol Really, this is the sort of thing you put up in your blog, not for 99 cents for Kindle.

Kathleen Cross offers a 1999-Avon-paperbacked literary fiction novel about social issues surrounding interracial relationships: Skin Deep

Previously-featured Theresa Ragan who had that RWA Golden Heart newbie-with-promising-manuscript nomination writing as T.R. Ragan offers an apparently non-romantic mystery/thriller: Abducted (Lizzy Gardner Series #1)

Sourcebooks-published Loucinda McGary, whose published paranormal romance we received as a freebie some time ago, offers a prequel novelette to it: The Sidhe Princess

Zebra-published Tracy Sumner offers an historical romance: To Seduce A Rogue (Southern Heat/Book One: ADAM)

Darrell Delamaide has written non-fiction historical/political books for Doubleday and Plume, and had a fiction novel paperbacked by Onyx. Here is an historical thriller set during the height of the British Empire, which the blurb likens to Wilbur Smith and Alan Furst-type novels: The Grand Mirage

Fellow MR member author Paul Levine offers another in his Jake Lassiter legal thriller series, 1997-William Morrow-published: Flesh and Bones

Robert Elmer offers a YA historical set in Denmark during the Nazi occupation, printed by Christian publisher Bethany House in 1994: A Way Through the Sea (Young Underground) If you are interested in this time period/theme, we recently got his currently-published Wildflowers of Terezin as a freebie, and if you missed it, Abingdon seems to be repeating theirs fairly frequently.

Sherban Young has one of those books of mini-mysteries to test your mind out from Dover Publications, who have a very nice line in reprints and original niche mostly-non-fiction (they do some good origami books). This is his self-published apparently comedic mystery/thriller adventure: Five Star Detour

Helen Smith has written a couple of children's educational historical books printed in the early 2000s. She also seems to have a novel picked up by the AmazonEncore promising-indie imprint. This is not it, but a dystopian near-future thriller: The Miracle Inspector

You know what? I have this inordinate fondness for cultures which produce dragon boats, and they tend not to get written about all that often. I therefore include this YA fantasy (also categorized under horro) book for the lulz, because how can you not want to at least give a sample skim to something whose blurb ends with "And what can she do about the ancient Berserker warriors she accidentally calls up, who pledge their allegiance and then demand junk food runs to Voodoo Doughnut and Burgerville?": Valhalla

R. Harper Mason wrote environmental columns for the Arkansas Wildlife Federation and hosted a radio show. He offers an historical litfic story about "child’s life in the rural South during World War II" based upon his own true-life experience: Lyin' Like a Dog

Jerri Corgiat offers a 2004-Onyx-paperbacked romance featuring a country music star: SING ME HOME (Love Finds A Home - Book One)

Michael Lister, who edited that Florida Heatwave crime anthology we got free from Adams Media last year, offers a 2004-Bleak House-printed mystery/thriller about a prison chaplain who investigates murder: Blood of the Lamb (a John Jordan Mystery)

Previously-featured horror writer Derek Gunn offers some kind of political adventure thriller this time around: Gemini

Martin Roth is an Australian writer who says he was "a finalist in the 2011 Australian Christian Book of the Year awards" for one of his small-press-published (they have several authors in their stable with apparently faith-based books) mystery books. This is not it, but he offers Christian military/political thriller: Brother Half Angel (Military Orders Series, Book 1)

Chinle Miller is listed as having contributed to specialist publications from the Museum of Arizona. Here is her 60s-set literary/adventure novel about an archaeologist on a quest to find herself, as well as clues to an ancient civilization: Uranium Daughter

Previously-featured South African expat playwright Ian Fraser (Wikipedia entry) returns with his Hollywood-set literary suspense: No Man's Land

Bryan Young, who's the 2nd multimedia person today to have a Wikipedia entry, offers a set of historical fiction stories and some advice for aspiring filmmakers: Linkage for both

Another freebie issue of the horror e-magazine if you've been collecting them: Shock Totem 4: Curious Tales of the Macabre and Twisted

Previously-featured Canadian writer Rick Dewhurst, who had a mystery novel hardcovered by Christian publisher B&H who sometimes give us freebies, offers a "noir masterpiece of chick-lit crime" with a PI investigating a pastor's death: The Good Book Club (A Jane Sunday Mystery)

Nebula Award-winner Eric James Stone offers another freebie short (may be a repeat): Salt of Judas

Carolyn Brown Heinz wrote a 1999-printed work which was apparently used as an anthropology textbook. Here is her novel featuring antiquities smuggling and an angry goddess: Mage at Midnight

Bantam/Fanfare & Samhain-published Ellen Fisher repeats her historical romance: Love Remembered

Lyn Horner is a newbie self-pub author, but she helpfully tells us she "was a 2008 semi-finalist in the prestigeous Orange Rose Romance Writers Contest" which apparently was from the various writer's guilds she is a member of, and then goes on to mention that she released her first book later in 2010. For being honest and giving specifics, I include her historical paranormal romance "Texas Druids" novella: White Witch

If you wanted to see an example of what a typical single author/single work/single publisher with only that work self-pub entry into the ISFDB looks like, here's one for you to look at (actually, there was another today, but his book was not nearly as interesting). She does claim a few additional named-title named-venue publication credits, but no awards, nor best-selling status and I like the sense of humour in her bio. Anyway, this looks like it might be cracktastically entertaining and and a quick sample skim showed the prose to have no immediately fatal grammatical/coherency flaws, so I will include her comedic sci-fi spoof: There Goes the Galaxy

If you were alive during the Cold War and you don't know who J Robert Oppenheimer is and the effect his work had on your entire global sociopolitical framework, you should hang your head in shame and remedy your appalling ignorance with the following graphic novel: ATOMIC DREAMS : THE LOST JOURNAL OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER It won't be nearly as good as Jim Ottaviani's Fallout, but it's currently free. There is also apparently an "app book" version (also free) which is optimized for Kindle Fire and the author/artists have some other freebie GNs for you to try including one with some involvement by Stefan Petrucha, who used to write the old X-Files comic book and is a noted horror author (ISFDB entry) in his own right.

Happy reading, if you happen to pick up the feature title or the final one, or otherwise spot something you think you might like.

[koland]

A couple of others:

Robert W. Walker: The Perils of Pauline - Crafting the Female Voice in Genre Fiction

Margaret Lake: Listen To Your Heart

[ATDrake]

Thanks for the additions.

If you don't mind my asking, is there any particular reason why the Margaret Lake book is included?

From the looks of it everything of hers is either out from CreateSpace or a "Jobree Publishing" which has only ever put out her books, and she does not seem to have or claim any printed short story credentials or other author experience in her bio, and one of the hits that turns up upon googling is to this post in your blog which appears to suggest a certain level of acquaintanceship.

I don't mind if people have an indie friend whose work they've read and thought was really good that they wanted to share. Or even if people were randomly recommended something by the Amazon system that looked interesting enough to pass along.

But there's a reason why I do a little write-up on "why I think this particular title might be worth your time to look go look at its listing if it sounds like something you might be interested in" for each book, even if it's just a brief mention of the fact that someone once published this author and now they've gone and written something else in this genre which happens to be offered free.

And it's nice to have it disclosed upfront when there may be personal considerations involved.

[Blue Tyson]

Thanks.

I read Michael Lister's Thunder Beach from Tyrus last year and thought that was very good.

[Blue Tyson]

I've read this science fiction novel and it is pretty good :-

Stars Rain Down - Chris Randolph

"Meet Marcus Donovan; astronomer, day dreamer, and smart ass. He was just another researcher in a jumpsuit until he saw something that didn't fit. At the time, it was nothing but a blip on a sensor read-out, an asteroid that wasn't an asteroid, but it became his obsession. He named it Zebra-1, and now he's hurtling through the solar system on a mission to see it in person.

Meanwhile, the Earth has its own visitors. Seven massive vessels appear out of nowhere and rain hell down from orbit, reducing civilization to a pile of ashes and rubble. Our world is conquered before anyone even knows we're under attack.

Enter Jack Hernandez, a search & rescue specialist and true blue everyday hero. After crash-landing in the wasted ruins of China, he links up with the scattered resistance and begins to fight back. Having witnessed the invaders' cruelty first hand, he's driven to do whatever it takes to make them pay in blood.

Neither Jack nor Marcus ever could have predicted it, but humanity's future now depends on them both. One will be bonded to an ancient warship and asked to lead, while the other is imprisoned, tortured and forced to submit; before it's over, they'll each face challenges beyond imagination in a savage war as old as time.

When the stars rain down from the sky, who will rise up to meet them? "

[koland]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Thanks for the additions.

If you don't mind my asking, is there any particular reason why the Margaret Lake book is included?

Sorry,

Yes, I correspond with Rob and Margaret (and a few others that were on your lists, today and in the past, such as Scott Nicholson, Istoria Books, etc.).

We had a bathroom emergency here (just finished installing a new toilet tonight, what a GREAT way to spend the afternoon and evening), so didn't have a lot of time to add more to the post.

Margaret writes mostly historical romance (not my cuppa), self-published, but apparently sells well enough and gets good reviews.

[amward]

Thanks, I've picked up a few of these.

[koland]

Implant

Another from an author I've briefly corresponded with: Michael Wallace. This is his bio:

I've trekked across the Sahara on a camel, ridden an elephant through a tiger preserve in Southeast Asia, eaten fried guinea pig, and been licked on the head by a skunk. In a previous stage of life I programmed nuclear war simulations, smuggled refugees out of a war zone, and milked cobras for their venom. I speak Spanish and French and grew up in a religious community in the desert.

He has a co-author on this one, Jeffrey Anderson, claims to have written a couple of bestsellers and won an award. I actually recognized the cover of Sleeper Cell (Berkley), think I may even have it around here, somewhere.

He also has this one, written alone (as most of his novels appear to be), that is free: Eternal Patrol

[Blue Tyson]

Sounds pretty good!

So - 370!

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by koland

Margaret writes mostly historical romance (not my cuppa), self-published, but apparently sells well enough and gets good reviews.

Thanks for the explanation. I know there are regular KDP-freebie getters who are specifically on the lookout for quality historical romances so a promising new vouched-for author is always a good add.

Anyway, feature title is still free and the 13+ eReaderIQ pages of new stuff added since yesterday which I've looked at so far are only giving minor update-type/repeat stuff (at least from my sf/fantasy/historical/sleuthy-mystery point of view) and people have been contributing their own recommended finds, so updates below.

Not sorted, because 13 pages of slush which keeps shifting which books are on what page when I go back and forth through it to check something, but I did move the 7 or so most important for award-winning/nominated/significant new-to-us writer/available to all off Amazon stuff to the top and the more marginal things to the bottom.

Lots of backlist romance and established author self-pub mystery/thrillers. Sf/fantasy/horror mainly shorts-only.

Hugo and World Fantasy Award-nominated Catherynne M. Valente contributes to this anthology: She Nailed a Stake Through His Head: Tales of Biblical Terror

Nina Pierce (she's been published, but I forget by whom and I'm not bothering to look it up again, but I think it was Ellora's or Harlequin/Zebra) offers an romantic suspense murder mystery free to all via Smashwords: Blind Her With Bliss (may have some erotic content)

Popular cartoonist Carol Lay (once a staple of Salon.com which I was sad to see disappear) offers another selection of her Story Minute comics which have appeared in various newspapers: LOVE AND LUNACY: A Story Minute Selection (Reformatted)

Charlson Ong says that this mystery/thriller of his was "Winner of the 2011 Philippine National Book Award" and Google seems to back him up: Blue Angel, White Shadow

Henry Holt-published South African writer Roger Smith, who quotes praise from Elmore Leonard in his bio and says he has won particular German crime awards (his books are available in hardcover translation) offers the an adventure/revenge thriller: Dust Devils

Blair Mastbaum's Hawaii-set gay coming-of-age literary fiction novel was originally published by Alyson (a long-established respected specialty LGBT print house) in 2004: Clay's Way

James Bennett (this appears to be the corresponding ISFDB entry from the selection of J+ Bennetts available, who may all end up being the same one, offers the following short which he says was nominated for the British Fantasy Award. Despite its title, is not one of those self-help things, which is where Amazon ended up filing it (actually, it may have gone under "Religion & Spirituality"): Practical Devil Worship (For All the Family)

Zebra-published Doreen Owens Malek says that this book of hers sold 100,000 copies after it was released in 1995. She has a long list of paperbacks which are generally unlinked to her e-books and I'm not going to bother hunting down where it appeared first, but it's a contemporary: Marriage in Name Only She also repeats her 1993-HarperCollins historical romance, for those who missed it earlier: The Highwayman

Harlequin-published Kristan Hoffman offers a general fiction/chick-lit which is not KDP-ed, but playing pricing catch-up with Smashwords where it is no longer free, so maybe you can also scoop this from your favourite price-matching venue as well: Twenty-Somewhere She says this was originally offered as a web series and is the "Winner of the St. Martin's Press "New Adult" contest".

Talli Roland claims her work was shortlisted for a particular prize and the newbie small-press Prospera which has printed two of her novels does seem to have a small stable of UK-oriented authors/titles. Here is her chick-lit romance novella: Miracle at the Museum of Broken Hearts

There's also a kid's adventure novel out from Suzy Brownlee who has the same publisher: The Littlest Detective in London

Barbara Morgenroth has had children's books printed by Atheneum and Fawcett (and released in French translation by Flammarion, who are one of the semi-major Francophone printers). Here's some kind of suspense-looking YA: Bad Apple

Nebula Award winner Eric James Stone repeats another short story: The Robot Sorcerer

Craig Saunders has an ISFDB entry that credits him for a few short stories that appeared in minor outlets. Here is his start-of-trilogy epic fantasy novel: The Outlaw King (The Line of Kings)

Previously-featured small-pressed Gordon Ryan offers another of his political thrillers, if you missed the earlier omnibus: State of Rebellion (A Pug Connor Novel)

Annette Blair re-offers her 2002-Zebra historical romance: Undeniable Rogue (The Rogues Club, Book One)

Colleen Thompson writing as Gwyneth Atlee offers a 2002-Zebra historical romance/maybe-romantic suspense set during the US Civil War: Innocent Deceptions

Steena Holmes is apparently working on some sort of shared universe setting with Ellora's Cave/Samhain-published authors Jade Buchanan and Vivi Anna (both previously-featured), so here is a volume in their paranormal romantic suspense series: Devil Unknown (Bandit Creek Books)

Scott Nicholson offers several more of his works, if you've been collecting them: This should pull up just the free ones, but Amazon will probably also lump in the "free" with Prime-lending ones, so caveat 1-clicker

Previously-featured Harlequin-published Canadian Vanessa Grant offers an apparently 1999-printed (Amazon is not giving publisher details for the linked copy) contemporary romance: If You Loved Me

Sydney Allan, who writes erotic romance for Ellora's Cave as Tawny Taylor, offers: Deep, Dark and Dangerous: a paranormal romance novella

If you picked up the 2nd issue of this poetry in translation magazine earlier, here's the 1st one free to go with it: 21st Century Chinese Poetry, No.1

Previously-featured horror writer Derek Gunn offers an historical sea-going short version of such: The Island (The HMS Swift Adventures) Who knows, maybe that "Vampirates" comic book had it right.

Bryce Thomas says that both of his books (apparently self-published, as the paper version press name shows results for him alone) are carried by Waterstones in WH Smith in the UK and he has some acclaim as a local Welsh writer based upon local sales, so you may want to give a try to his children's/YA fantasy novels: Linkage for both

Patricia Rosemoor offers her 2001-Harlequin romantic suspense with supernatural elements: Pushed to the Limit (Quid Pro Quo) I bought a not-too-romantic paranormal investigative novel of hers during Carina Press' coupon sale these holidays, and her writing sample seemed decent enough that I was looking at this particular series which she had up on Smashwords for 99 cents during the backlist author consortium holiday sale. So if you like this one, you may want to keep an eye out for discounts on the sequels which are still on Smashwords during Read an E-Book Week, if any are still left by then.

Another general/literary fiction from previously-featured Rosemary Fifield who had a co-op cookbook print-published, if you liked her other novel earlier: Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground

We recently got a non-erotic Blush line Ellora's Cave freebie written by Sam Cheever. She offers a paranormal romance involving Valkyries: Soul Warrior

Macmillan/Minotaur-published Nevada Barr offers a short mystery story: Smoke and Murders

Previously-included minor-short-story-award-nominee mostly-self-published Canadian writer of economics and construction articles Alex Carrick has another offering, if you've been collecting them: Ten Tales of Darker Core (Ten Tales Series) This includes some of the award-nominated stories, one of which he says got an honourable mention in the contest.

Previously-featured Gerrie Ferris Finger who's been published by the Minotaur mystery/crime imprint of one of the Big-6 offers an historical mystery/maybe-romance set in the 1920s which looks like one of those "finding out what really happened despite all the locals being unhelpful and conspiring against me" sorts of gothic-type suspenses: Whispering

Edgar/Bram Stoker-nominated Billie Sue Mosiman offers another horror tale: Dark Reality

Fellow MR member author Paul Levine offers another in his Jake Lassiter legal thriller series, this one 1993-Bantam printed: False Dawn

Valerie Douglas who writes as V.J. Devereaux for Ellora's Cave offers a non-erotic-looking contemporary romance: Irish Fling (The Millersburg Quartet)

Barbara Samuel offers her 1999-HarperTorch historical romance: The Black Angel (The St Ives)

Star Wars tie-in writer Kevin J. Anderson contributes to this festive freebie issue of the e-magazine: Shock Totem: Holiday Tales of the Macabre and Twisted 2011

Previously-featured Carol Buchanan who wrote some non-fiction history/culture books for Ten Speed Press returns with another historical western with a favourable comment from Publisher's Weekly: God's Thunderbolt: The Vigilantes of Montana

Previously-featured small-pressed Linda S. Prather now offers the prequel to her earlier supernatural/psychic mystery/thriller, which one of the reviewers recommended be read first: Sacred Secrets, A Jacody Ives Mystery (Jacody Ives Mysteries)

ISFDB-ed David Bain offers: House Cleaning: A Messy Ghost Story

If you were ever curious about how 3-D glasses would combine with viewing on a Kindle Fire, here's your chance with Jazan Wild's: 3D CARNIVAL OF SOULS (APP BOOK) (JAZAN WILD'S CARNIVAL OF SOULS) This is narrated by noted horror/comic-book writer Stefan Petrucha, whose ISFDB entry you're perfectly capable of looking up yourself.

Another in the learn-how-to-for-a-relative-pittance series by very-expensive-officially-academic-publisher-released-print-textbook-writer Raymond P.W. Scott: Gas Chromatography (Chrom-Ed Book Series)

Chris Blewitt is totally self-published as far as I can tell. But his short historical suspense story set during the 1920s Prohibition Era in the states has an interview with a PhD from the About.com Chemistry website, so if you were interested in the textbook above, you may also want to check out: The Chemist - Based on a True Story

If you did end up getting that marijuana-growing how-to book, here's something to go with it. It's got real-looking recipes for stuff like "Hare and Chocolate Sauce with Hare Meatballs and Petit Pois Francais with a hint of White Widow" alongside handy tips on how to add cannabis to your food and what it does to your system: The Stoner's Cookbook

ETA: Delilah Marvelle offers a prequel novella to her newly Harlequin-released historical romance series. The blurb suggests that this is straight from the author herself (she mentions extra stuff over at her website) and I can no longer tell what is KDP or "official", so I'm sticking it here for now until I see it pop up anywhere else: Forever Mine (The Rumor Series)

[CWatkinsNash]

The Stoner's Cookbook is no longer free.

Wow - grabbed a ton today! At least 20, but I lost count. Will check my running total later.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

The Stoner's Cookbook is no longer free.

That's too bad. I picked it up at the start of the slushpile trawl and it's really lulzy (do I want to know what a "beefskunk" is?).

Anyway, for those of you who want to incorporate mind-altering substances into your cuisine, here's the Creative Commons-released free-to-all-on-the-website Cooking with Booze, which is not as lulzy but considerably more legal in most locales.

Fun fact: much of the alcohol used during cooking does not evaporate off as is commonly claimed and you'd have to boil things to a fairly high temperature for a relatively long while to get it to do so, which is generally longer and higher than most booze-splashed foods get cooked to.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

That's too bad. I picked it up at the start of the slushpile trawl and it's really lulzy (do I want to know what a "beefskunk" is?).

Anyway, for those of you who want to incorporate mind-altering substances into your cuisine, here's the Creative Commons-released free-to-all-on-the-website Cooking with Booze, which is not as lulzy but considerably more legal in most locales.

Yeah, I wanted it because I knew it had to have entertainment value. Oh, well. Thanks for the link!

[koland]

authors previously featured:
The Dead Parade, James Roy Daley

Hearts and Arrows by David G. Pearce, Ann Madden-Walsh, Lou Wellman, Cecilia Peartree, Talli Roland et al
Crime in the Community by Cecilia Peartree

looked interesting:
Everliving by Christina Dudley
The Storm Killer by Mike Jastrzebski
Sleeping with Paris by Juliette Sobanet
Three Moons Over Sedona by Sherry Hartzler
Don't Juggle Bees! And Other Useless Advice For Silly Children by Gerald Hawksley

[koland]

Sadly, no longer free: The Stoner's Cookbook