[sufue]

A number of good Kindle US Countdown deals this New Year's Day:

Borderlines by Archer Mayor is the 2nd in the Joe Gunther series. It's at $0.99 for about two more days, before going up to $2.99. Mayor's books have been cycling through the Kindle Countdown, but I personally haven't caught this one on sale before.
link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C3CXZ14

Spoiler:

Lt. Joe Gunther is in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom investigating a minor embezzling case. It’s a pleasant distraction, and a chance to reconnect with old friends, but when a house fire reveals itself to be arson, compounded by murder, Gunther can’t help but investigate. Suddenly, he finds himself enmeshed in a web of animosity between put-upon townspeople, the state police, angry parents and members of a reclusive sect. Murder follows murder, yet no one seems to be telling Gunther the whole truth—not even his childhood friends—and truth is what he desperately needs if he’s to stop the killings.

Borderlines is the second of Archer Mayor’s Joe Gunther mysteries.

The Secret Families is the third in the Secret Trilogy set by John Gardner. It's published by Endeavour Press and is at $0.99 for about 3 1/2 more days, before going to $3.99.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Familie.../dp/B00KR9L5UI

Spoiler:

John Gardner's ‘The Secret Generations’ was acclaimed as one of the classic works of Cold War espionage fiction.

‘The Secret Families’ is the final shattering move in the trilogy, the checkmate from a grand master of espionage.

The year is 1964.

The Cold War is at its height and Caspar Railton, the 'wounded lion' of the Railton clan, which for decades has dominated British Intelligence, is dead.

Even worse, evidence has emerged suggesting Caspar was a traitor and suspicion surrounds not only the Railtons but also the Farthings, the American family of spymasters connected by marriage to their British counterparts.

Yet Naldo refuses to accept his uncle's guilt and is determined to clear both families' names. With his cousin Arnold Farthing he embarks on a quest to uncover Caspar's past, a mission which takes both men deep into some of the most dangerous territory any agent can enter …

'The Secret Families' completes John Gardner's The Secret Generations trilogy, which is a giant work of fiction drawn from the dramatic history of Britain’s intelligence and security services. Through the story of one family, the Railtons, whose lives become caught up in some of the greatest struggles of the twentieth century, Gardner traces the birth, the early clashes, the successes and failures of the organizations now known as M15, M16 and GCHQ.

PRAISE FOR JOHN GARDNER:

'A master storyteller at the height of his powers' - Len Deighton

`The first book ever to combine a family saga with a spy story ... Keeps you turning the pages up to the last twist of treachery' - Daily Express

‘An exciting spy story’ – Yorkshire Post

‘The suspense is well-portrayed both in the accounts of World War II and in the subsequent cold-war exploits’ – Booklist

Before coming an author of fiction in the early 1960’s John Gardner was variously a stage magician, a Royal Marine officer and a journalist. In all Gardner has fifty-four novels to his credit, including Maestro, which was the New York Times book of the year. He was also invited by Ian Fleming’s literary copyright holders to write a series of continuation James Bond novels, which proved to be so successful that instead of the contracted three books he went on to publish some fourteen titles, including Licence Renewed and Icebreaker. Having lived in the Republic of Ireland, the United States and the UK, John Gardner sadly died in August of 2007 having just completed his third novel in the Moriarty trilogy, Conan Doyle’s eponymous villain of the Sherlock Holmes series.

The Seven Stars is the 12th title in the DCI Webb series by Anthea Fraser. It's a repeat Countdown deal at $0.99 for about 3 1/2 more days before going up to $3.99.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Stars-DC.../dp/B00L27EF4W

Spoiler:

After fog forces her to spend the night in a country guesthouse called The Seven Stars, Helen Campbell reads her horoscope in the local paper.

Little does she realise that by doing so she will dramatically change not only her own life, but the lives of everyone else living in the village.

Ten days later, she returns to stay at The Seven Stars while attending a local course on antiques. Slow she finds herself increasingly involved in the lives of the people living there.

As she arrived a girl was killed in a hit-and-run accident.

But was it an accident? Or was it murder?

A spate of robberies have targeted local country houses. Are they connected to the girl’s death?

And what is the significance of the phrase which recurs in the horoscope column under ‘Tomorrow’s Birthday’?

Whether or not it was written in the stars, Helen's stay at the guesthouse ensures that life will never be the same again... for any of them.

‘The Seven Stars’ is a gripping crime novel featuring Anthea Fraser's popular detective David Webb.

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

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. The Seven Stars is her twelfth crime novel.

Praise for Anthea Fraser's books.

'A well-mannered, well-plotted and well-told story' Birmingham Post

'The book is a pleasure to read and savour' Woman Journalist

'Irresistible, all-too-human story' Dread Review of Mystery

'A well-structured book, with good balance between depiction of character and development of plot' Criminologist

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

Touching the Dark is the 2nd in the Naomi Blake series by Jane A. Adams. It's a repeat Countdown deal at $0.99 for about 3 1/2 more days before going up to $3.99.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Touching-Dark-.../dp/B00MGJU0B2

Spoiler:

Tally Palmer is a successful international photographer, and a celebrity in her own right.

When she abruptly breaks off a relationship with Simon Emmet, no one - except for Simon himself - is very surprised.

But Simon is devastated - and increasingly obsessed with Tally.

He blames someone called 'Jack', a mysterious figure from Tally's past.

Simon's parents are so concerned about their son that they ask for help from their old friends Alec and Naomi.

As Simon's precarious mental state deteriorates, they are drawn into a volatile situation more complex - and dangerous - than they could ever expect...

'Touching The Dark' is an atmospheric, expertly-plotted crime thriller that will grip readers from the first page to the last.

PRAISE FOR JANE A. ADAMS:

“A haunting debut” - Minette Walters on The Greenway

“The Greenway hinted at promising crime-writing talent; Cast the First Stone amply confirms that view” - The Times

“Adams’ story is described with low key discretion and deliberate lack of sensationalism that make it all the more haunting...grippingly edgy” - Sunday Times on Cast the First Stone

JANE A. ADAMS first book, ‘The Greenway’, was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Award in 1995 and for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award. She is also the author of ‘Mourning the Little Dead’ and ‘Heat Wave’.

Death in Room Five is in the Chief Inspector Littlejohn series by George Bellairs. It's a repeat Countdown deal at $0.99 for about 1 1/2 more days before going up to $3.99.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Death-Chief-In.../dp/B00MGJU0HG

Spoiler:

When a group from the small English town of Bolchester make an excursion to Cannes, little do they expect it to end so dramatically – with the disastrous murder of one of their party, the domineering Alderman William Dawson.

Suddenly the holidaymakers find themselves murder suspects.

But, with so many grudges borne against Dawson, it becomes impossible to work out who might have been responsible for his death.

Was the fact that he had been a traitor in the maquis - the French resistance - during the war a factor?

And was his death connected to the subsequent killing of the crooked barkeeper Sammy?

When Scotland Yard call in Chief Inspector Littlejohn in to investigate, rudely interrupting his holiday in the Riviera, he comes up against a trying, taxing and peculiar case.

'Death In Room Five' is a classic detective mystery by one of the masters of the genre.

'Bellairs is up th ere with the greats of English crime fiction. Every fan of the genre should read him.' - Robert Foster, best-selling author of 'The Lunar Code'.

George Bellairs was the nom de plume of Harold Blundell (1902-1985), a crime writer and bank manager born in Heywood, near Rochdale, Lancashire, who settled in the Isle of Man on retirement. He wrote more than 50 books, most featuring the detective Inspector Littlejohn. He also wrote four novels under the alternative pseudonym Hilary Landon.