Some Canada-only bargains from award-winning Canadian mystery authors (non-couponable, linkage goes to Kobo, should be price-matched in the standard Canadian stores, either higher in the US/UK or non-existent in their stores, etc.):
Individuals @ $1.99 each from Doubleday Canada (the author's e-books are $12 each in the US, and don't seem to exist in the UK yet):
The first 3 titles of C.C. Benison (
SYKM)'s (pseudonym of Arthur Ellis Award-winning Douglas Whiteway) Father Tom Christmas series starring a widower vicar single father in a small English village, which the blurb likens to mystery writers such as Alexander McCall Smith and Louise Penny and calls "perfect for cozy fans", though YMMV, of course, since they're not actually filed as cozies in any of the store categories.
- Twelve Drummers Drumming, the obligatory intro to the series where Father Tom finds out that the sleepy little village he fled to in the wake of personal tragedy is actually chock-full of infidelity, theft, and murder, as sleepy little villages are so often wont to be
- Eleven Pipers Piping, involving bagpipes, haggis, scotch, and murder to celebrate Robert Burns Day*, as you do
- Ten Lords A-Leaping, which demonstrates why going skydiving above villages prone to sudden death syndrome which house a convenient amateur sleuth is like taking your life into your own hands and throwing it out the plane door
3-book omnibuses @ $9.99 from HarperCollins Canada & McClelland & Stewart ($13-$15 in the US, £10-12 in UK):
- The Joanne Kilbourn Mysteries 3-Book Bundle Volume 1, aka The Early Investigations of Joanne Kilbourn according to the cover, containing #1-3 of Gail Bowen's (SYKM, Wikipedia) multiple Arthur Ellis Award-winning series starring the Saskatchewan-based political science professor. This has been cheaper @ $4.99, but that was back during Kobo's Labour Day weekend holiday sale, which is a major-ish Canadian discount time, so a price that good probably won't come again for some time.
- The Further Investigations of Joanne Kilbourn, containing #4-6. I haven't seen this one on sale before (granted, I haven't been paying attention to it for that long, but it was $19.99 before).
- ETA: Gail Bowen Ebook Bundle, containing #1-3 of her Charlie D series starring a late-night talk show host, which is a spinoff from her Kilbourns, is also available at the $8.39 mark (couponable from Orca Books' Raven imprint).
4-book omnibus @ $14.99 from McClelland & Stewart (a native Canadian publisher acquired by Random House, and this one doesn't exist in US/UK):
The Inspector Banks 4-Book Bundle: Aftermath; Friend of the Devil; Playing with Fire; Strange Affair by Peter Robinson (
SYKM,
Wikipedia), containing #12, #14-15, #17 in his multiple Arthur Ellis Award-winning UK-set police procedural series if I've counted them right (in publication order; this might make more sense in some kind of storytelling arc fashion). Huh, just looked at Wikipedia and apparently it's because these were the 4 novels that have been adapted for British TV.
The last time I saw this it was at something like $20-$25, so this seems a pretty decent price for the lot, at less than $4 per novel. We did previously get
Aftermath as a
freebie a long time ago, so if you already have it from then, $5 per novel is pretty much what Kobo tends to deep-discount Robinson's individual titles to during the sporadic weekend sales.
Bonus 3-book omnibus bargain @ $14.99 from Vintage Canada (doesn't exist in the US/UK):
Harry Hole Mysteries 3-Book Bundle: The Snowman, The Leopard, Phantom by Glass Key Award-winning Norwegian author Jo Nesbø (
SYKM,
Wikipedia) #7-9 in his Harry Hole, Oslo Police Inspector series.
This has been cheaper @ $4.99 during the Labour Day sale when I bought it, but that's not likely to happen again any time soon and it was at least $24.99 the last time I looked at it, so it's up to you if you want it. The individuals look to be priced between $10-$13 CAD.
* My dad still remembers the haggis they used to serve in the dining hall at his boarding school in Scotland during his student days. No memories of bagpipes, scotch, or murder, though. Not that I've really asked about the latter, mind you…