Free/Bargain Mystery/Suspense/Thriller in June 2013

[NightBird]

Please don't post any self-published works. Please do a search before posting to avoid duplicates. Thanks.

We start off with a bang this month with some great finds from the Mysteries & Thrillers section of Amazon's 100 Kindle Books for Under $3.99, including an Agatha Christie, Ed McBain, a couple of Ruth Rendell, and a Peter Lovesey. Most include the Audible audiobooks for the same price as the ebooks.

Amazon is also having a $.99 sale on a lot of Prologue Books, a lot of which are mysteries. Sorry I don't have a way to sort them out by genre.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_12...qid=1370078697

Amazon is really killing my budget this month.

[Blue Tyson]

Definitely been enjoying Prologue's work.

[Dr. Drib]

The May thread - last month's thread - is now closed.


Don
(Moderator)

[mitford13]

Free on Amazon:

Deadly Blessings (Alex St. James Mystery series) by Julie Hyzy

PW: In Hyzy's debut cozy, the latest assignment for 30ish researcher Alexandrine "Alex" St. James, who works for a Chicago TV news show, leads to an exposé of area hair salons, one of which turns out to be a front for a prostitution ring. Meanwhile, Alex's live-in lover proves to be a cad, but a new hunk at work seems interested in keeping company with her after office hours. Some of the details we learn about Alex feel extraneous, as if Hyzy plopped a writing-workshop character development exercise in the middle of the book (why we're introduced to her sister with Williams syndrome, for example, is never made entirely clear). While the ultimate (titular) connections between the prostitution ring and the Catholic Church are timely, the hints of anti-Catholic propaganda, à la Maria Monk, may leave a bad taste in some readers' mouths. Blurbs from Carolyn Hart and Annette Meyers, however, will alert their fans to a new author who, hopefully, will improve with practice.

[koland]

backlist freebie:

PARADISE REZONED by Robert H. Lieberman

A touching and page turning tale of man versus developers, this book has in print over 400,000 copies. Written by best-selling novelist and award-winning film director Robert H. Lieberman, “Paradise Rezoned” has become a cult classic.

King of the mountain— that’s Arnold Markowitz. His mountaintop home is a peaceful stretch of land covered with orchards, wild flowers and towering trees. But there isn’t much room left for beauty these days as a land-development corporation is intent on turning this paradise into a shopping mall. With Markowitz taking on the powers that be, this classic tale takes unexpected twists and turns.

http://www.amazon.com/PARADISE-REZON...p/B00CC0O58E/r

[koland]

backlist

Fifty Dead Men Walking by Martin McGartland

For more than four years, Martin McGartland lived the astonishing double life of a secret agent. To the IRA, he was a trusted Intelligence Office and an integral member of an active service unit. To the British Government however, he was known only as 'Agent Carol'. Martin McGartland is credited by British Intelligence with saving the lives of at least fifty people. Every time he tipped off the authorities, he risked detection and yet, heroically and fearlessly, he continued to pass on life-saving information. Finally, his cover was blown. Martin was taken from Sinn Fein headquarters in Belfast to an IRA safehouse for questioning and almost certain execution. Though guarded by armed men, in a desperate bid for freedom, he dived from a third floor window...This breathtaking story is now a major film starring Sir Ben Kingsley and Jim Sturgess.

http://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Dead-Men...dp/B004FN1U9I/

[mitford13]

Free true-crime story on Amazon:

Cold A Long Time: An Alpine Mystery by John Leake

In August of 1989, Duncan MacPherson--a pro hockey player from Saskatoon, Canada--vanished without a trace in Europe. With no help from the police, his parents, Lynda and Bob, drove all over the Alps looking for him, and finally found his car at the Stubai Glacier, a popular ski resort near Innsbruck, Austria. Thus began their twenty-year struggle to discover why their son had disappeared after snowboarding on a beginner slope. Had he, as the local police suggested, wandered off the beaten track and died in a remote area, or had he been the victim of something sinister?

In the course of their search, the MacPhersons encountered an extraordinary cast of characters, including a 5,000-year-old ice mummy, an amnesiac initially thought to be Duncan, a renowned psychic with a startling vision, a charismatic ski resort developer, and a deceptively friendly forensic doctor. In 2009 they asked author John Leake to help them with their ongoing search for answers, and after a two-year investigation, he discovered the shocking reality of what happened to Duncan.

[BelleZora]

Free from Amazon today: Laundry Man (a Jack Shepherd crime novel) by Jake Needham, first published in print by Marshall Cavendish.

"Much of the fun in reading LAUNDRY MAN is in trying to guess how much of the story is based on fact. Mr. Needham seems to know rather more than one ought about these things."
 -- The Wall Street Journal Asia

Once a high-flying international lawyer, a member of the innermost circles of government power, Jack Shepherd has abandoned the savage politics of Washington for the lethargic backwater of Bangkok, where he is now just an unremarkable professor at an unimportant university in an insignificant city. Or is he?

A secretive Asian bank collapses under dubious circumstances. A former law partner Shepherd thought dead reveals himself as the force behind the disgraced bank and coerces Shepherd into helping him track the hundreds of millions of dollars that disappeared during the collapse. A twisting trail of deceit leads Shepherd from Bangkok to Hong Kong and eventually to an isolated villa on the fabled island of Phuket where he confronts the evil at the heart of a monstrous game of international treachery.

A lawyer among people who laugh at the law, a friend in a land where today's allies are tomorrow's fugitives, Jack Shepherd battles the global tide of corruption, extortion and murder that is fast engulfing the new life he has made for himself in Thailand.

Canada
UK
US

[mitford13]

Free on Amazon:

Circles of Confusion (Claire Montrose Series) by April Henry


From Publishers Weekly
An amateur sleuth with an unusual day job debuts in this lively romantic mystery, Henry's first novel. Claire Montrose works for the Oregon Motor Vehicles Division in Portland, checking applications for vanity license plates. Her mundane job is interrupted by a call from her mother, who reports that Claire's great-aunt has died, bequeathing to Claire the contents of her mobile home. Aided by her boyfriend, an obsessively careful insurance adjuster, Claire sorts through Aunt Cady's belongings. Among the piles of old knickknacks, she finds a beautiful small painting of a woman sitting at a table. Aunt Cady had been in Germany during WWII and Claire suspects the artwork might be one of many masterpieces that disappeared in Europe around that time. To have it appraised, she flies to New York, where an expert tells her that the painting is a forgery. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, however, a handsome artist says that the canvas may be an authentic Vermeer. Attempts to steal the painting convince Claire that the artist may be right?but can she trust him? Or should she trust the expert who thought the painting a forgery? Danger follows Claire back to Portland, but she proves clever enough to outwit even the wiliest villain in her offbeat, vital first outing as a sleuth.

[NightBird]

Another freebie by Katherine John: A Well-Deserved Murder. #6 in her Trevor Joseph series. From Accent Press.

There have always been neighbours from hell. Some deserve to die, but most people stop short of murder.

When Sgt Peter Collins looks at Kate Graham’s axe-battered corpse, he has to ask himself if his cousin, Alan, didn’t.

Sergeant Peter Collins' cousin, journalist and photographer, Alan Piper, is living next door to the neighbours from Hell. They build a deck that overlooks his patio and monitor his every movement. Under the cover of darkness they steal plants and building materials from his garden, but when his gate and gatepost disappear he calls in the police who advise him to put up a CCTV camera. Alan has a better idea.

Sergeant Peter Collins' cousin, journalist and photographer, Alan Piper, is living next door to the neighbours from Hell. They build a deck that overlooks his patio and monitor his every movement. Under the cover of darkness they steal plants and building materials from his garden, but when his gate and gatepost disappear he calls in the police who advise him to put up a CCTV camera. Alan has a better idea.

Mousy civil servant Kacy Howell is amazed to suddenly find herself the centre of attention at work and showered with unprompted gifts of flowers, chocolates and – discreetly wrapped sex toys. Her husband, George, is bewildered until a colleague shows him a pornographic magazine aimed at the amateur photographer.

Before George finds out if the photos are real, Kacy is found battered to death on the decking that overlooks Alan’s garden. Inspector Trevor Joseph and Sergeant Peter Collins find themselves wanting to look beyond the obvious suspect for a murder, which Kacy's neighbours have already Christened 'justifiable homocide'.

[dreams]

Repeat freebies on Amazon:

Darkest Instinct (Instinct Series 05) (FBI medical examiner Jessica Coran) by Robert W. Walker [DRM free]

Spoiler:

The body parts were first discovered in the bellies of sharks. Marine scientists in the Florida Keys insist sharks rarely dine on live humans, so there can be only one explanation: They were dead before they hit the water. Dr. Jessica Coran knows why.

They call him the "Night Crawler." And he's out there, riding the tides with his victims, feeding the waves after his own perverse hungers are satisfied.

But when similar murders surface in London, on the Thames River, Jessica faces double jeopardy. One killer? Or two...　

(This book is fifth in Robert W. Walker's Instinct series. It was originally published in paperback.)


About the Author

Robert W. Walker is the author of more than forty thriller novels, including 11 books in the acclaimed INSTINCT series featuring FBI medical examiner Jessica Coran.

Croaker: Grave Sins (LAPD Detective Fey Croaker 02) by Paul Bishop

Spoiler:

The Second Detective Fey Croaker L.A.P.D. Novel

One Tough Cop

Her Personal life is a shambles. But no cop does it better than Fey Croaker – as she fights for respect in the L.A.P.D. . . . and for justice in a city on the edge.

Grave Sins

All of Los Angeles is thrust into chaos when a popular NBA athlete is charged with a series of gruesome murders. The evidence against the defendant appears overwhelming, but old evils die hard.

For L.A.P.D. homicide detective Fey Croaker and her appealing crew, the race for the truth will tax each of them to the limit. Under the scorching light of media attention, Fey’s own demons are brought into sharp focus with the life of her wayward brother literally hanging in the balance.

It’s a race to get to the truths hidden beneath layers of lies, secrets, and deadly perversions – and Fey must win while there is still an L.A. left to protect and serve.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A thirty-five year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, Paul has twice been honored as Detective of the Year. As well as numerous novels, he has also written scripts for episodic television and feature films. As a nationally recognized interrogator, he appears regularly on the hit ABC reality series Take The Money And Run . . .

[koland]

Originally Posted by NightBird

Another freebie by Katherine John: A Well-Deserved Murder. #6 in her Trevor Joseph series. From Accent Press.

And Black Daffodil:

Fourth title in Trevor Joseph detective series Detective Trevor Joseph has his work cut out with the advent of a new Welsh synthetically produced drug Black Daffodil and its impact on the criminal fraternities operating in and around Cardiff Bay and the Welsh Valleys.

http://www.amazon.com/Daffodil-Trevo.../dp/B008OIWNKU

[petercreasey]

It appear that the only free/bargain books in the mystery/suspense/thriller category are amazon.com.

I guess I should stop looking in here.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by petercreasey

It appear that the only free/bargain books in the mystery/suspense/thriller category are amazon.com.

I guess I should stop looking in here.

If they are KF8, then they are very easy to shift (not convert) to ePub and then fix up.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by petercreasey

It appear that the only free/bargain books in the mystery/suspense/thriller category are amazon.com.

I guess I should stop looking in here.

Majority of ebook sales are from Amazon so authors and publishers usually put their promotions there. Also, the affiliates direct people there.

Calibre does help the non-Kindle owners.