[sufue]

A couple of price drops on titles in two (very different) series that I both quite like...

Vita Brevis is the next-to-most-recent (2016) in the Gaius Petreius Ruso/Tilla series by Ruth Downie. It's $1.99 at Kindle US, not at Kobo US, at least as of now: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DM9Q5U4

Spoiler:

Ruso and Tilla's excitement at arriving in Rome with their new baby daughter is soon dulled by their discovery that the grand facades of polished marble mask an underworld of corrupt landlords and vermin-infested tenements. There are also far too many doctors--some skilled--but others positively dangerous.

Ruso thinks he has been offered a reputable medical practice only to find that his predecessor Doctor Kleitos has fled, leaving a dead man in a barrel on the doorstep and the warning, “Be careful who you trust.” Distracted by the body and his efforts to help a friend win the hand of a rich young heiress, Ruso makes a grave mistake, causing him to question both his competence and his integrity.

With Ruso's reputation under threat, he and Tilla must protect their small family from Doctor Kleitos's debt collectors and find allies in their new home while they track down the vanished doctor and find out the truth about the heiress's dead father--Ruso's patient--and the unfortunate man in the barrel.

Sleeping Dogs is the next-to-most-recent (2015) in the Spike Sanguinetti series by Thomas Mogford. It's also $1.99 at Kindle US, not at Kobo US, at least as of now: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V6FLXEA

Spoiler:

Haunted by his failure to prevent the violent murders of two innocent women, Gibraltarian lawyer Spike Sanguinetti loses himself in his work. After much persuasion, he joins an old flame, Detective Sergeant Jessica Navarro, for a well-earned rest at a friend's villa on Corfu's beautiful northeast coast. There they meet philanthropist Leo Hoffmann, elderly scion of the powerful Hoffmann banking family.

Leo has just unearthed an important archaeological site on the Corfiot coastline, but the lavish celebrations to mark the event are interrupted when the body of a young Albanian bludgeoned to death is discovered at the site. When a local man is arrested for the murder, Spike reluctantly agrees to defend him pro bono in what appears to be an “open and shut” case. Yet the more Spike delves into the facts surrounding the victim's death, the more he starts to doubt the official version of events.

As news emerges that a vulnerable young woman has gone missing, a frantic search begins, which sees the idyllic holiday island transformed into an arena of old rivalries, political corruption, and murder. Uncovering secrets so damaging that those involved will go to any lengths to protect them, Spike begins to realize that some sleeping dogs can never be allowed to lie.