[sufue]

And a few other Endeavour Press titles on US Kindle Countdown, some repeats, some new - to me, at least:

Pilgrimage of Death by Sally Spencer (pen name for Alan Rustage) is at $0.99 for about 2 more days before going up to $3.99.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Pilgrimage-Dea...dp/B00XEAXJ9C/

Spoiler:

The year is 1386.

In a Southwark inn, a group of pilgrims on the road to Canterbury are challenged to a competition by the landlord.

Each will tell a story, and the teller of the best tale shall earn themselves a free meal on their return.

For Geoffrey Chaucer – soldier, spy, and poet – it is just the beginning.

Every time a story is told, its teller is soon found murdered… in the manner of which they had spoken of in their tale.

Together with the knight and the franklin, the three men alone deemed above suspicion, Chaucer attempts to piece together the strange and bloody trail.

But as Canterbury looms they seem no closer to uncovering the truth.

And any one of them could be next…

Will they uncover the terrifying mystery behind the murders?

Or will they also fall victim to the Pilgrimage of Death…?

‘Pilgrimage of Death’ is a chilling re-telling of Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’ with a murderous twist.

'A compelling read.' - Robert Foster, best-selling author of 'The Lunar Code.'

Sally Spencer worked as a teacher both in England and Iran - where she witnessed the fall of the Shah. She now writes full time. She is also the author of the Blackstone Victorian crime series.

The Second Jeopardy by Roger Ormerod is at $0.99 for about 2 more days before going up to $3.99.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Second-Jeopard...dp/B00U4T82LG/

Spoiler:

Four years ago, a young woman named Angela Reed was murdered.

The prime suspect at the time, Harry Hodnutt, had jumped into her car after Charlie Braine, his partner in crime, drove off with the jewels from a shop they had just robbed.

Charlie and his car were never found, while Harry insisted that he’d left Angela — alive — at the lay-by where her body was subsequently discovered.

Though he was cleared of Angela’s murder, Harry spent four years inside for his involvement with the robbery.

Now Harry is out, still haunted by Angela’s death, and a man who claims he was married to Angela is threatening Harry’s life.

When Virginia Brent, the daughter of the Assistant Chief Constable, offers to help Harry find the truth behind Angela’s murder, Harry is sceptical, but ultimately accepts her assistance and the two form an unlikely partnership.

Virginia claims a relationship with Angela Reed that drives her interest in the case; Harry is anxious to not only clear his name for good but to rid himself of the threat to his life.

Together, Harry and Virginia delve back into Angela’s murder, following leads, digging up dirt on Harry’s old partners in crime and Angela’s double life, and seeking answers.

What happened to Charlie Braine and his car?

What part does mysterious criminal Sean O’Loughlin play?

Who really killed Angela Reed?

'The Second Jeopardy' is an expertly plotted crime thriller from a master story-teller.

"Fast-moving with well- orchestrated jiggery-pokery" Times Literary Supplement

Praise for Roger Ormerod:

‘Roger Ormerod is an accomplished writer of traditional murder mysteries who has earned himself not only popular success but also the respect and admiration of his colleagues...This is a strongly characterised, intellectually teasing story with a nail-biting climax, which any crime fiction buff ought to relish.’ James Melville, Hampstead & Highgate Express.

Roger Ormerod is the author of over twenty novels. He was born in 1920 and left school at seventeen to join the Civil Service in which he spent most of his working life. He retired in 1970 and later worked as a postman and in the production control department of a heavy industry factory. He lives in Wolverhampton. His other novels include ‘A Shot At Nothing’, ‘Third Time Fatal’, ‘The Key to the Case’ and ‘The Night She Died’.

Landscape with Corpse by Roger Ormerod is at $0.99 for about 4 more days before going up to $3.99.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Landscape-Corp...dp/B00TU95EYE/

Spoiler:

The idea was excellent—a week’s course at an Adult Residential College.

Philipa Lowe and Oliver Simpson were looking forward to a relaxing week of landscape painting and some quality time together - and also a chance for Oliver’s injured arm to heal.

Although the couple feel out of place at first among the experienced artists and regular students, the group prove to be friendly and encouraging.

There is no more than a hint that past animosities might resurface to ruin the week.

But when one of the group is violently killed, suspicion falls upon the young, naïve Elise Harcourt, whom Philipa has kindly befriended.

She has a credible motive, and was at the scene of the crime.

Elise denies the charges —Philipa believes her, but is having a hard time proving it.

When the mystery is compounded by a second brutal killing on the same afternoon, seemingly by the same hand, the plot thickens.

In this bloody mystery, a small clue will unveil a much bigger secret...

‘Landscape with Corpse’ is an expertly plotted thriller that will leave readers guessing until the last page.

Praise for Roger Ormerod:

“Eclectic, underrated Ormerod can be relied upon to come up with the startling goods” - Sunday Times

“I am glad to announce that the detective novel is still alive and well in Mr Ormerod's skillful hands” - The Spectator

“Fast-moving, with well-orchestrated jiggery-pokery; not unlike an early Dick Francis in tone and method” – Times Literary Supplement

Roger Ormerod (1920-2005) was a prolific writer of ingenious and densely plotted crime novels—some 35 in all—which were published in the UK and the USA. He lived in Wolverhampton and amongst other things worked as a civil servant and as a Social Security inspector—backgrounds which he made full use of in his fiction, as he did with his hobbies of painting and photography.

An Open Window by Roger Ormerod is at $0.99 for about 1 more daysbefore going up to $3.99.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Open-Window-Ro...dp/B00RXG7BUQ/

Spoiler:

As Amelia Patton approaches a caravan parked in their usual spot, it explodes, killing the woman inside.

As she recovers in a hospital near the Welsh coast, she learns that she is the residual legatee in her uncle’s will.

As she cannot attend the reading herself, her husband, ex-Detective Inspector Richard Patton, drives to the Midlands on her behalf.

He finds that the word ‘residual’ can be extremely deceptive, and that the will is bound to provoke trouble between the children of Amelia’s eccentric uncle, Walter Mann, who died just two days after signing the new will.

Richard is intrigued by this: Walter had become a virtual recluse and locked himself away in his rooms.

But when he was found, having fallen from the third-story window and through the roof of his conservatory, the key for the door was on its chain around his neck.

Was it suicide? In which case—why?

Or if it was murder, as Patton believes, how had the culprit entered the room?

And why the open window?

Faced with enmity and suspicion, and strongly discouraged from intervening by the police, controversies over shares in the family business, and a drama of love and betrayal, all make this one of Richard’s most difficult cases yet—especially with him hundreds of miles away from the hospitalised Amelia, and wondering whether the caravan explosion was in fact intended for her…

'An Open Window' is a complex crime thriller from a master of the genre.

Praise for Roger Ormerod:

‘Roger Ormerod is an accomplished writer of traditional murder mysteries who has earned himself not only popular success but also the respect and admiration of his colleagues...This is a strongly characterised, intellectually teasing story with a nail-biting climax, which any crime fiction buff ought to relish.’ James Melville, Hampstead & Highgate Express.

Roger Ormerod is the author of over twenty novels. He was born in 1920 and left school at seventeen to join the Civil Service in which he spent most of his working life. He retired in 1970 and later worked as a postman and in the production control department of a heavy industry factory. He lives in Wolverhampton. His other novels include ‘A Shot At Nothing’, ‘Third Time Fatal’, ‘The Key to the Case’ and ‘The Night She Died’.

A Necessary End by Anthea Fraser is at $0.99 for about 4 more days before going up to $3.99.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Necessary-End-...dp/B00XIB1SCM/

Spoiler:

At a New Year’s Eve party in their hotel in Frecklemarsh, the guests can sense an uneasy tension between their hosts, Oliver and his second wife Nancy Pendrick.

Growing resentment in their marriage, caused by Nancy’s independence and commitment to her London-based catering business, is evident in the fraught family relationships which extends to two wilful stepchildren.

To add fuel to the fire, old flames are returning to the sleepy village, memories of Oliver’s first wife, the beautiful yet troubled Avis, refuse to fade and gossip flies around the small community.

All in all when the festive season is over and Nancy returns to London it is a relief…until she doesn’t return…

When a female corpse is discovered on a lonely road in Chedbury and eventually identified as Mrs Pendrick, there is universal shock, horror and multiple unanswered questions.

With all the guests at the New Year’s Eve party potential suspects, CID Webb has his work cut out to track down the killer, and when he fits the pieces of the puzzle together, it forms a picture he would never have expected to see…

‘A Necessary End’ is a gripping crime thriller from bestselling author Anthea Fraser.

Praise for Anthea Fraser:

“A superbly crafted, riveting, page-turner of a read" - Booklist

“Ms Fraser is her dependable elegant, guileful self withholding the killer's identity till a dying fall" - Sunday Times

“A well-mannered, well-plotted and well-told story” - Birmingham Post

“Sympathetic, well-executed book, in which full attention is paid to human feelings and failings” - Yorkshire Post

Anthea Fraser has written all her life but did not begin to take it seriously until after marriage, when she found herself at home with two small daughters and embarked on a correspondence course with the London School of Journalism. She wrote short stories before turning to novels of the supernatural, and then to crime. Her novels include ‘The Seven Stars’, ‘The Ten Commandments’, ‘Death Speaks Softly’ and ‘Pretty Maids All in a Row’.