Free/Bargain Mystery/Suspense/Thriller December 2013

[Mort1997]

A new thread for December.

To kick off

Free today from Amazon - Broken Harmony by Roz Southey

'In Newcastle upon Tyne in the 1730s, life is not easy for an impoverished musician. For Charles Patterson, violinist, harpsichord player, composer and would-be church organist, it’s about to get a whole lot harder. First he is accused of stealing a valuable book. Then a cherished violin belonging to his flamboyant rival, Henri le Sac, disappears, rapidly followed by le Sac himself. And when the young apprentice he inherited from his rival is gruesomely murdered, Patterson starts to feel out of his depth. Strange goings-on at the home of capricious Lady Anne leave him in fear for his health and sanity, and the lady’s cousin, Esther Jerdoun, seems to be trying to warn him about something. The mystery deepens as the death toll mounts and it becomes clear that things are not quite as they appear …'

UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Broken-Harmo...74600&sr=1-370

US
http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Harmony...74600&sr=1-370

[adelous]

On the 2nd day of December:

Dead Stillwater by Roger Stelljes:

Award winning author, Roger Stelljes, delivers a mystery that is the second book in the McRyan Mystery Series (FIRST CASE - prequel novella, THE ST. PAUL CONSPIRACY - #1 McRyan Series). Stelljes' vivid characters, his gift for GRITTY and REAL DIALOGUE (slang/jargon/behind the scenes dialog), as well as his uncanny sense of place and time, will put you in the middle of the action allowing you to feel the desperation of Mac McRyan and his fellow detectives.

Vince Flynn has described Roger Stelljes as "A powerful new thriller voice."
Fans of John Sandford, David Baldacci and James Patterson will enjoy this fast-moving story of murder, greed, and treason, the cast of colorful characters, and its setting in and around historic St. Paul, Minnesota.

Amazon US:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005WUVLAG/...VLAG&tag=false

[AnemicOak]

I posted this as a separate thread, but the Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L. Sayers are on sale today in the US...

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=228212

[KentE]

Well, my email box is full this morning with price drop alerts from EReaderIQ.
I've had price alerts set for quite some time for some of my favorite mystery authors, including Ross Thomas, Stuart Kaminsky, Carl Hiaasen,and James W. Hall.
A large selection is available today only, offered from publisher Open Road Media, and available in most of the stores.
For Ross Thomas & Stuart Kaminsky, I think this includes their entire catalog, and all seem to be priced at $1.99-- a great reduction from the normal $7.99 price.
The available titles from Hall & Hiaasen are their early works, about 3 from each.
There goes my book budget-- I'm pretty sure I'll be buying the entire Ross Thomas catalog, and a large pile of the others.
It's impossible to link to all, so here's the Open Road front page, with details. The page says "up to 80% off", and indeed most of the prices I checked are 80% reductions. Open Road publishes a lot of older material from excellent authors, and their website enables searching/browsing by genre and author. If you've got back-catalog stuff you've been wanting, it's definitely worth a look. If you discover one of your favorite authors with back catalogs offered here, perhaps you could list them. (I do see a Sayers thread that's part of the same special.)
http://www.openroadmedia.com/

KentE

[Mort1997]

Free on Amazon Today - The Coffin ship by Peter Tonkin
'The giant supertanker Prometheus, the largest ship on Earth, sits at anchor in the Persian Gulf. In her tanks are 250,000 tons of crude oil.
Somewhere on board is a crew member determined that she never completes her voyage to Europe. Already, many of the ship’s officers have been killed in a mysterious “accident”.
The fate of Prometheus rests in the hands of Richard Mariner, the tanker’s new captain. It is his responsibility to battle human treachery and the dangers of the open sea to bring Prometheus to safe harbour.
From the Persian Gulf to the storm-tossed Atlantic, Mariner and his crew must struggle against the elements while trying to uncover the elusive - and cunning - enemy in their midst.
Can Mariner solve the mystery on board and rescue the crew?
Or is Prometheus doomed to become a Coffin Ship? '

UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Coffin-S...362247031_f_46

US
http://www.amazon.com/The-Coffin-Shi...362247031_f_46

[Mort1997]

Free on Amazon Today - The Hummingbird Wizard by Meredith Blevins
'Driving full steam ahead with her life after the unexpected death of her husband, Annie Szabo was not planning on veering off course again. But her late husband's family, an outrageous and proud clan of Gypsies, has other plans. When Annie's oldest friend, Jerry, turns up dead, she is plunged back into the family she tried to leave behind.

Suspecting murder, Annie is forced to form an alliance with Madame Mina, her stubborn and powerful mother-in-law, the heart of the Szabo family. Determined to catch Jerry's killer, the two women must unlock the pattern of a tapestry wild with lawyers, criminals, kink, magic, and even more death. One thing is certain--to catch a killer with a hidden agenda, Annie and Mina must use all of their resources: ancient curses, a talent for petty theft, bizarre love magic, a Gypsy PI, and a strong sense of humor.'

UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Hummingb...362247031_f_90

US
http://www.amazon.com/The-Hummingbir...362247031_f_90

Looks to be self published on Amazon, previously published by St Martin's Press in 2003.

[Lynx-lynx]

Kobo Aus has got Anthony Berkely's

Roger Sheringham and the Vane Mystery
$1.85 and discountable

A ROGER SHERINGHAM MYSTERY. When the Daily Courier sends Roger Sheringham to Hampshire its a job after his own heart. The body of a woman has been found at the bottom of the cliffs at Ludmouth Bay and despite a verdict of accidental death the local sighting of Inspector Moresby from Scotland Yard suggests otherwise. Unable to resist a little amateur sleuth work Sheringham starts digging around. Events lead him down one blind alley after another as he attempts to rival Inspector Moresby and devise the correct theory about the tragic death of Mrs Vane

Other cheapish Berkeley mysteries include:

Death in the House $4.64
The Second Shot $4.64
Trial and Error $3.99

[Mort1997]

For those in the UK (or visitors ), one of todays daily deals is The Devil rides Out by Dennis Wheatley (99p)

A bestseller from the 1930s. Looks like his books have been re- issued in October 2013, prices vary from £2.84 to £3.39



http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Devil-Ri...WRKR4YHA7RG1NZ

[Lynx-lynx]

Kobo Aus has Dennis Wheatley's books as well, and discountable.

The cheapest is his first book:

The Forbidden Territory
$3.19 and discountable (bookriot50 works at time of posting)

Dennis Wheatley's first published novel, introducing his modern trinity of musketeers in the epicurean Duke de Richleau, financier Simon Aron, and the wealthy young American, Rex Van Ryn.

The Duke receives a coded message from his missing friend, Van Ryn who, while hunting for treasure lost during the Soviet takeover of Russia, is now in prison somewhere in that vast country.

Along with the Duke, good friends Simon Aron and Richard Eaton set off on a secret mission to secure his escape. Without official papers they lead a thrilling caper, hunted by the Secret Police, through Siberia and across the plains of Soviet Russia.

[Lynx-lynx]

Kobo Aus has got Stella Rimington's

The Geneva Trap
$3.58 and discountable (bookriot50 worked at time of posting)

Geneva, 2012. When a Russian intelligence officer approaches MI5 with vital information about the imminent cyber-sabotage of an Anglo-American Defence programme, he refuses to talk to anyone but Liz Carlyle. But who is he, and what is his connection to the British agent?

At a tracking station in Nevada, US Navy officers watch in horror as one of their unmanned drones plummets out of the sky, and panic spreads through the British and American Intelligence services. Is this a Russian plot to disable the West’s defences? Or is the threat coming from elsewhere?

As Liz and her team hunt for a mole inside the MOD, the trail leads them from Geneva, to Marseilles and into a labyrinth of international intrigue, in a race against time to stop the Cold War heating up once again...

[AnemicOak]

Final Jeopardy book one in the Alexandra Cooper series by Linda Fairstein is $1.99 at Amazon US

Alexandra Cooper, Manhattan's top sex crimes prosecutor, awakens one morning to shoking news: a tabloid headline announcing her own brutal murder. But the actual victim was Isabella Lascar, the Hollywood film star who sought refuge at Alex's Martha's Vineyard retreat. Was Isabella targeted by a stalker or -- mistaken for Alex -- was she in the wrong place at the wrong time? In an investigation that twists from the back alleys of lower Manhattan to the chic salons of the Upper East Side. Alex knows she'sin final jeopardy...and time is running out. She has to get into the killer's head before the killer gets to her.

[melmac]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Final Jeopardy book one in the Alexandra Cooper series by Linda Fairstein is $1.99 at Amazon US

Also $1.99 at Kobo & BN

[Lynx-lynx]

Kobo Aus has got Agatha Christie's

Tommy and Tuppence
Secret Adversary with FREE Audiobook link + Author's Biography
$1.99 and discountable (bookriot50 worked at time pf posting)

Free audiobook link + Interactive Table of Contents + Author's Biography

The Secret Adversary is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head in January 1922 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in that same year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6)[1] and the US edition at $1.75. The book introduces the characters of Tommy and Tuppence who feature in three other Christie books and one collection of short stories written throughout her writing career.

Hiring themselves out as “young adventurers willing to do anything” is a smart move for Tommy and Tuppence. All Tuppence has to do is take an all-expenses-paid trip to Paris and pose as someone named Jane Finn. But with the job comes a threat to her life, and the disappearance of her mysterious employer. Now Tuppence’s newest job is playing detective—because if there’s a Jane Finn that really exists, she’s got a secret that’s putting both their lives in danger.

I think that this is the first time that I've seen a Kobo book with an audio book link.

[skinmaan]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Kobo Aus has got Agatha Christie's

Tommy and Tuppence
Secret Adversary with FREE Audiobook link + Author's Biography
$1.99 and discountable (bookriot50 worked at time pf posting)



I think that this is the first time that I've seen a Kobo book with an audio book link.

Though I can't speak to this particular title, most of the time when I find these ebooks with a "free audiobook link" they are including a link to the Librivox audiobook version (or something similar). Since this title is from 1922 and is PD (just about everywhere but the US) I suspect this one will follow a similar pattern.

[DrNefario]

The Secret Adversary is PD in the US and nowhere else, as it happens.

(Oddly, the reason I am now buying and reading a lot of Christie is because Kobo "sold" me those first two books for nothing, which they shouldn't have done here in the UK. Without that I might never have read any of her work.)