FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[ZodWallop]

Not my kind of book, but Dan Brown's Digital Fortress is $2.99 at Amazon.

When the NSA's invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant and beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage...not by guns or bombs, but by a code so ingeniously complex that if released it would cripple U.S. intelligence.

Caught in an accelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Susan Fletcher battles to save the agency she believes in. Betrayed on all sides, she finds herself fighting not only for her country but for her life, and in the end, for the life of the man she loves.

From the underground hallways of power to the skyscrapers of Tokyo to the towering cathedrals of Spain, a desperate race unfolds. It is a battle for survival--a crucial bid to destroy a creation of inconceivable genius...an impregnable code-writing formula that threatens to obliterate the post-cold war balance of power. Forever.

It's almost funny how naïve we were in 1998. No unbreakable super code is needed. Just some trolls and the unwitting help of Facebook...

[sufue]

A lot of George Bellairs/Insp Littlejohn titles go on sale a lot, but I haven't spotted this one on sale before. Death on the Last Train is a little less than 1/4 of the way through the series. it has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LFLC7WW

Spoiler:

First published in 1948, Death on the Last Train is a Chief Inspector Littlejohn mystery full of false leads, dead ends and old-fashioned charm.

Detective Inspector Littlejohn of Scotland Yard is travelling to an assignment, exhausted after an arduous journey of delayed connections, when he catches the last train. A murder occurs in his carriage, putting on hold any other plans he may have had. The local police, out of their depth, commandeer the detective to help them solve the case.

Delving into unrequited love, betrayal, and poison pen letters, Littlejohn must pick apart a tangle of grudges. Many men and women seem primed with motives, but which of them has it in them to kill?

[sufue]

Keep It Quiet is a non-series title by Richard Hull. It has dropped to $0.99 as a US Kindle Countdown deal for about 2 3/4 more days.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D5D3N4Z

Spoiler:

It was just like Morrison to be a nuisance even when he was dead.

Ford, the harried Secretary of the Whitehall Club, is desperate to please even the most disagreeable members just to be left in peace. So, it is a huge inconvenience for Ford when one of the club’s most vexatious members is found possibly poisoned and most definitely dead. It will be terrible for the club’s reputation and it seems easier for all if he finds a way to keep it quiet.

Dr Anstruther is enlisted to help him cover up the death. He finds Ford irksome and ultimately useless but the Club means too much to him to see it dragged through a media frenzy. And besides, Anstruther was the victim’s doctor: as far as he’s concerned, Morrison may have even had a heart condition…

But Cardonnel, the club lawyer (and stickler for protocol), is sniffing too close to the cover-up. And when Ford and Anstruther start receiving blackmailing notes, they begin acting very odd indeed. With so many eyes on them, will they really be able to keep it quiet?

[sufue]

A Long Time Coming is a recent (2018) non-series title by Aaron Elkins. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0792DNLVM

Spoiler:

It takes a real artist to solve a crime this big—in a brilliant, engrossing mystery by Edgar Award winner Aaron Elkins…

Art curator Val Caruso is not a happy camper. His promotion has just been nixed, his divorce has become final, and he’s dug himself into a nice little rut for his fortieth birthday. The uplift? A trip to Milan to help Holocaust survivor Sol Bezzecca recover a pair of cherished sketches by Renoir. They’d once been given to Sol’s family by the then-unknown artist, looted by the Italian Fascist militia, and now after decades in hiding have turned up for auction. It’s Val’s job to get them back.

Unfortunately, his Italian adventure takes a dangerous turn when he becomes trapped in an intricate web that reaches back to World War II—and is still very sticky with art thieves, forgers, and somebody who wants Val out of the picture permanently. When the lost Renoirs are stolen yet again, Val is more determined than ever to hunt them down. The reward for reuniting an old man with his rightful past? Priceless.

But doing it is going to be murder.

[sufue]

Another title in this series, the fourth, Gold of Our Fathers, drops to $1.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Y6RKZ0I

Spoiler:

The chief inspector in the Ghana police force investigates a gold miner’s death in this “atmospheric” mystery set in West Africa (Entertainment Weekly).

“Fans of The #1 Ladies’ Detective Agency may have a new hero: Detective Inspector Darko Dawson.” —The Wall Street Journal

Darko Dawson has just been promoted to chief inspector in the Ghana police service—and it even comes with a (rather modest) salary bump. But he doesn’t have much time to celebrate, because his new boss is transferring him from Accra, Ghana’s capital, out to remote Obuasi in the Ashanti region, an area notorious for the illegal exploitation of its gold mines.

When Dawson arrives at the Obuasi headquarters, he finds it in complete disarray. The office is a mess of uncatalogued evidence and cold case files, morale is low, and discipline among officers is lax. Then, on only his second day on the job, the body of a Chinese mine owner is unearthed in his own gold quarry. As Dawson investigates the case, he quickly learns how dangerous it is to pursue justice in this kingdom of illegal gold mines, where the worst offenders have so much money they have no fear of the law.

Chosen for Entertainment Weekly’s “Must List,” Gold of Our Fathers is “exceptional . . . A window into another culture” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Originally Posted by sufue

Murder at Cape Three Points is the third in the Inspector Darko Dawson series by Kwei Quartey. It's on sale at Kindle US for $1.99 as part of the US Kindle Daily Deal, not matched at Kobo US, at least as of now. I've not run into this author/series before but it looks pretty cool to me. I wish the first title, and not the third, were on sale, but I may give this a try anyway...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Points...dp/B00FDS43UC/

[sufue]

A Nest of Vipers is the next-to-most-recent (if you ignore a book of short stories) in Andrea Camilleri's excellent IMO Inspector Montalbano series to be translated into English. I am really happy to see that it has dropped to £1.19 at Kindle UK.

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06WVJ3X1H

Spoiler:

A Nest of Vipers is the twenty-first novel in Andrea Camilleri's irresistible Inspector Montalbano series.

Quite a family, you had to admit! A nest of vipers might be a better description . . .

On what should be a quiet Sunday morning, Inspector Montalbano is called to a murder scene on the Sicilian coast. A man has discovered his father dead in his Vigàtan beach house: his body slumped on the dining room floor, his morning coffee spilt across the table, and a single gunshot wound at the base of his skull.

First appearances point to the son having the most to gain from his father’s untimely death, a notion his sister can’t help but reinforce. But when Montalbano delves deeper into the case, and learns of the dishonourable life the victim led, it soon becomes clear half of Vigàta has a motive for his murder and this won’t be as simple as the Inspector had once hoped . . .

[sufue]

Several Peter May titles have dropped to £0.99 at Kindle UK, including the complete Lewis trilogy.

The Blackhouse, Lewis #1: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004MYF4SS

The Lewis Man, Lewis #2: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LTA7K7A

The Chessmen, Lewis #3: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0093LRP0K

Extraordinary People, Enzo Macleod #1: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CUE0CX4

Coffin Road: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B012DVZSP0

I'll Keep You Safe: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ill-Keep-Yo...dp/B0743GG64T/

[sufue]

An omnibus of three early titles (there seems to be some disagreement about the order of early titles, so I'm not specifying numbers ) in the Department Z series by John Creasey has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US (coupon/VIPable).

Be careful before you buy - this same box set was on sale a while back, both in the US and the UK, as The John Creasey Box Set 1, and as a different edition, so doesn't show up if you bought it before.

Titles include:

• First Came a Murder
• Death Round the Corner
• The Mark of the Crescent

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CMGGVCN
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fir...f-the-crescent

[sufue]

A Question of Proof is the first in the Nigel Strangeways series by Nicholas Blake. It is free right now at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DQLR7YV

Spoiler:

None of the classical portents showed to warn him of the disastrous events soon to pile themselves upon his head.

Michael Evans is unlucky in love – he just doesn’t know it yet. An affair with Hero, the headmaster’s beautiful wife, culminates in a rendezvous in the haystacks at school Sports Day.

But when a young student is found strangled in that very haystack later that night, all evidence points to Michael. Unwilling to explain how the evidence got there, Michael calls upon his old friend (and aspiring investigator) Nigel Strangeways, to help prove his innocence.

Nigel is sure he’s found the murderer but is lacking any real proof. Will he be able to clear Michael’s name before it’s too late?

[sufue]

The Kizuna Coast is the eleventh, and to date, most recent, title in the Rei Shimura series by Sujata Massey. It has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O5SCT34

Spoiler:

When a devastating earthquake rocks Japan's northeast cost, a tsunami follows and Rei Shimura is swept into her most rugged adventure yet.

The mystery begins with an SOS from Rei's friend, the antiques dealer Mr. Ishida, trapped among thousands of displaced and dead on the Tohoku coast. Rei rushes to Tokyo, where she discovers Ishida Antiques may have been burglarized.

Rei takes Mr. Ishida's abandoned dog, Hachiko, on a volunteer bus to the ravaged town of Sugihama. But Mr. Ishida's got more work for her, since he lost contact with his antiques apprentice Mayumi and is frantic with worry. He won't leave Sugihama without knowing the fate of the troubled 19-year-old girl from a famous lacquer-making family.

Calling on disaster survivors and volunteers--and her knowledge of Japanese manners and history--Rei investigates the suspicious disappearance. From Sugihama's muddy shops and shelters, to the buzzing bars and bathhouses of Tokyo, it's a suspenseful journey. But as Rei draws closer to the truth, she realizes that she's being stalked. Who is following her--and can she survive the wave of danger she never saw coming?

THE KIZUNA COAST is the latest novel in a sexy, smart and humorous mystery series that has won the Agatha and Macavity international mystery awards and been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony and Mary Higgins Clark prizes. It's bound to intrigue new readers and satisfy longtime Sujata Massey fans.

[sufue]

Again free at Kindle US. Link below is still good.

Originally Posted by sufue

Death at Hilliard High is the third in the Susan Lombardi series by Carole Shmurak. It is free right now at Kindle US. I have had this book and one other from the series sitting on a shelf for years, since back in the days when I went to used DTB sales, but it never managed to float to the top of my TBR list. Still, for free, I'll replace it with an e-book version .

The other titles in the series are KU, so if you have KU, you can read in order if you prefer.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Death-Hilliar...dp/B004PGO35S/

[GeoffR]

Peter May's The Firemaker (China Thrillers #1) is free at Australian and New Zealand retailers.

[sufue]

Casanova Crimes is the seventh in the Elena Jarvis series by Nancy (Fairbanks) Herndon. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US (couponable/VIPable).

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J90C4P6
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/casanova-crimes-1

Spoiler:

In this Elena Jarvis mystery, a student at Herbert Hobart University has been murdered. Unfortunately for investigators, Graham Fullerton had made a lot of enemies in his short life--mostly female ones. Graham's love-them-and-leave-them attitude made him the most hated man on campus--and it's up to Dr. Jarvis to sort out the scores of jilted lovers. But nothing is ever that simple for Elena Jarvis: someone is after her too?

[sufue]

If you thought $2.99 was too much , Murder at the Brightwell has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US. Links below are still good...

Originally Posted by sufue

Murder at the Brightwell is the first in the Amory Ames series by Ashley Weaver. It has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/mur...the-brightwell
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Bright...dp/B00IWUXVME/

[sufue]

Now free at Kindle US. Different edition, though, so use this link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JHM11RH

Originally Posted by GA Russell

A Bullet for Cinderella - John D. MacDonald - 99 cents
https://www.amazon.com/Bullet-Cinder...dp/B016SB754S/

*****

{edited out other title}