[sufue]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There are currently three of Ed McBain's "87th Precinct" books on 99p special offer at Amazon UK: "Cop Hater", "Give the Boys a Great Big Hand", and "Long Time, No See". It's the monthly deal, so they should stay at that price for the rest of the month.

McBain was the master of the police procedural. "Cop Hater" may be of particular interest, because it's the first book in the series, and an ideal way to see if McBain appeals to you.

There are also a few good mysteries right now in a somewhat different Amazon UK sale, the "Kindle Monthly Deals: Books £2.99 or less".

The ones I recognized off the top of my head are:

The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths, #2 in the Galloway/Nelson series, for £0.99
link

Spoiler:

Forensics expert Ruth Galloway is called in to investigate when builders, demolishing a large old house in Norwich to make way for a new development, uncover the skeleton of a child - minus the skull - beneath a doorway. Is it some ritual sacrifice or just plain straightforward murder? DCI Harry Nelson must find out.

The house was once a children's home. Nelson meets the Catholic priest who used to run the home. He tells him that two children did go missing forty years before - a boy and a girl. They were never found.

When carbon dating proves that the child's bones predate the children's home, Ruth is drawn more deeply into the case. But as spring turns to summer it becomes clear that someone is trying very hard to put her off the scent by frightening her half to death…

Cruel as the Grave by Sharon Kay Penman, #2 in her "Queen's Man" series, for £1.49
link

Spoiler:

AD 1193. England lies uneasy, a land without a king. Richard the Lionheart has not returned from Crusade, his brother John conspires to usurp the crown. On the throne, in the Lionheart's stead, sits Eleanor of Aquitaine. She is determined to prevent the outbreak of civil war, but there are few she can trust. Justin de Quincy - a man without title or land - is one of the few.

April: Richard the Lionheart languishes in an Austrian dungeon, prisoner of the Holy Roman Emperor. While Eleanor of Aquitaine searches for a way to free her eldest son, her youngest plots to seize the crown. When John seizes Windsor castle, Eleanor summons her trusted agent, Justin de Quincy, to do the impossible - mediate a truce with her rebel son.

De Quincy cannot but heed his Queen's demand, but he is already ensnared in another matter: the cruel murder of a young girl, daughter of an itinerant Welsh peddler. He is determined to bring her killer to justice and nothing, not even the threat of war, can keep him from pursuing her murderer.

Extraordinary People by Peter May, the first in the Enzo Macleod mystery series, for £1.19
link

Spoiler:

PARIS

An old mystery
As midnight strikes, a man desperately seeking sanctuary flees into a church. The next day, his sudden disappearance will make him famous throughout France.

A new science
Forensic expert Enzo Macleod takes a wager to solve the seven most notorious French murders using modern technology - and a total disregard for the justice system.

A fresh trail
Deep in the catacombs below the city, he unearths dark clues deliberately set - and as he draws closer to the killer, discovers that he is to be the next victim.

Please note this novel has previously been published in the US under the title Dry Bones, but this edition retains the original title.

I have read both The Janus Stone and Cruel as the Grave and liked them both. I especially liked Cruel as the Grave, which is one of a too-short (IMO) four-book historical mystery series by Penman, who is much better known for her "normal" historical fiction, rather than these mysteries.