FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[ZodWallop]

A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin is $2 at Amazon and Kobo

ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME

Iconic author Ira Levin’s Edgar Award–winning debut novel set a new standard in the art of psychological suspense. A modern classic published to rave reviews, and twice adapted for the screen, A Kiss Before Dying is a darkly thrilling, twisting tale of criminal psychopathy.

Known for his looks and charm, a young man obsessed with wealth and status will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He sets his sights on a beautiful and innocent college student named Dorothy, intent on marrying her for her family’s money. But when Dorothy becomes pregnant, his careful plans start to unravel, and he begins to take cold, calculating, and drastic measures to protect his future.

A Kiss Before Dying, told from multiple points of view, has thrilled millions of readers with its perfectly constructed plotting and is an acknowledged masterpiece of crime fiction.

[sufue]

Oddly enough, all seven books have now dropped to £1.99 at Kobo UK, and several of them, but not all, are also now £1.99 at Kindle UK. The link below is still good for Kindle UK and here's a price-sorted link for Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/search?qu...fclanguages=en

Oh, and discountable at Kobo UK too...

Originally Posted by sufue

A few years ago, I had an ARC of Consolation, which is one of the books in Garry Disher's Hirsch series, and I really liked it. And since then, I've read a few of his other books when I've been able to get them on sale, and have also liked those. Now, all seven books in Disher's Hal Challis/Peninsula series have dropped to £2.89 at Kindle UK. Per SYKM, a couple of the books in this series were finalists for the Ned Kelly Award for Best Novel, and one of them won it. And Disher himself won the Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Sadly, this price drop doesn't seem to be replicated anywhere else that I could find, not in the US, not at Kobo UK, and I even, just for funsies, looked at Kobo Australia, where they are stunningly expensive. And it's several days old, so I suspect if it were going to be matched elsewhere, it would have been. Several of the books in the series did go on sale briefly for £2.29 a few months back, but I missed it, and also occasionally go on sale at odd other times, so I guess I (and you) can decide how patient to be...

link to the series webpage at Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B078MQ3M...kindle_edition

[sufue]

Another Garry Disher title on sale - this one non-series. Per SYKM, Sanctuary was a finalist for the 2025 Steel Dagger Award and the 2025 Ned Kelly Award for Best Fiction. And per its blurb, it was also a Times Crime Book of the Month. It has dropped to £1.89 at Kindle UK, but not at Kobo UK, at least yet.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CNYFQXDM
Kobo UK (for price check): https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/sanctuary-355

Spoiler:

NO ONE CAN RUN FOREVER...

Grace is a thief - a good one. But she's always on the move, always looking over her shoulder, always alone. It's not the life she wants. Then a run-in with an old associate forces her to lie low in a small rural town, where she happens across an antiques shop. The owner Erin is timid but friendly, and has a room to rent. And Grace glimpses a different life, and perhaps a home.

But there are dangerous men watching her, and Grace should know better than to let her guard slip. Because no matter how far she runs, her past is always just a few steps behind...

[salty-horse]

All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
Gothic mystery gay romance.

BookPage top 10 Best Mystery & Suspense books of 2025

"Wildly inventive, twisty tour de force"—BookPage

The lush Gothic drama of Crimson Peak meets the murderous intrigue of Knives Out with an LGBTQIA+ love story to die for from award-winning author KJ Charles.

WHO WILL SURVIVE LACKADAY HOUSE?

When Zeb Wyckham is summoned to a wealthy relative's remote Gothic manor, he is horrified to find all the people he least wants to see in the world: his estranged brother, his sneering cousin, and his bitter ex-lover Gideon Grey. Things couldn't possibly get worse.

Then the master of the house announces the true purpose of the gathering: he intends to leave the vast family fortune to whoever marries his young ward, setting off a violent scramble for her hand. Zeb wants no part of his greedy family—but when he tries to leave, the way is barred. The walls of Lackaday House are high, and the gates firmly locked. As the Dartmoor mists roll in, there's no way out. And something unnatural may be watching them from the house's shadowy depths…

Fear and paranoia ramping ever-higher, Zeb has nowhere to turn but to the man who once held his heart. As the gaslight flickers and terror takes hold, can two warring lovers reunite, uncover the murderous mysteries of Lackaday House—and live to tell the tale?

[salty-horse]

Clown Town (Slough House #9) by Mick Herron is £1 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)
The latest in the series.

[Critteranne]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin is $2 at Amazon and Kobo

That one has a great twist that comes about one-quarter or one-third of the way through. There is no way to replicate its effect in the movie adaptations.

[GA Russell]

The Best of the Best American Mystery Stories: The First Ten Years

Otto Penzler, ed.

$2.99

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EXBRF8W

[sufue]

The two most recent Jonathan Kellerman/Alex Delaware books (until a new one comes out in February) are £0.99 in the UK right now.

The Ghost Orchid, #39
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C6168GD4
Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-ghost-orchid-5

Open Season, #40
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D3LD5KCR
Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/open-season-46

I had review copies of both of these and liked them, after being a little disappointed by a couple of the immediately previous titles. Although even when "disappointed", it's relative, and even those were still pretty good. Although I came late to this series, thinking that a series featuring a psychologist as its lead must be a bunch of psychological thrillers, which are not my thing, these are really more in the line of police procedurals, with Delaware working closely with the police to offer insights and some limited detecting that help solve the crime.