FREE/BARGAIN - Mystery, Suspense, Thriller - 2015

[Mort1997]

Free on Amazon UK - In the Dead of Winter by Abbey Pen Baker


'1918, Northampton, Massachusetts.

Faye Tullis and her friend, Rachel White, two students at Smith University, are arrested after attending a lively suffragette rally. Things start to get out of hand, and the police arrive. The two girls are arrested, and spend the night in jail, where they meet a tall and imposing woman, who imperiously demands to be released. When her freedom is denied, she suddenly and inexplicably falls ill… Faye is therefore doubly surprised when she attends a class on logic the next morning to find this lady at the front of the class, introducing herself as ‘Dr. Myrl Adler Norton’, a professor of logic. She astonishes the class with her ability to deduce personal information about them from the minutest details… Rachel’s flat is broken into in suspicious circumstances. When Rachel called out to her landlady, Alyssa Dansen, a mysterious recluse, she only hears a strained voice in reply… Myrl and Faye rush to the flat to investigate and the situation is far worse than they imagined… Alyssa Dansen is seen from the window, a ghostly figure, staring straight out ahead of her... When they find her they realise someone has slit her throat, drained all her blood, and stuffed her with sawdust – and it is unclear how long she has been sitting, lifeless, at her window, staring out at the world with blank glass eyes. Faye is soon swept up in Myrl’s plan to find the killer herself. However, the more she gets involved with Myrl, the more she finds there are troubling elements to her new friend’s personal life…
What is the terrible affliction that Myrl seems to suffer from? What is the real story behind Myrl’s parentage? And could the answer prove relevant to Myrl’s new found aptitude for detective work?'


UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Winter-...ndeavour+press

US
http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Winter-Ab...ndeavour+press

Au
http://www.amazon.com.au/Dead-Winter...ndeavour+press


Can
http://www.amazon.ca/Dead-Winter-Abb...ndeavour+press

[sufue]

The Egyptian Coffin is the second in the Lord Ambrose Malfine series by Jane Jakeman. It's on US Kindle Countdown at $0.99 for about 3 more days.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Egyptian-Coffi...dp/B016XWI2T4/

Spoiler:

Autumn, 1830.

Residing in a beautiful estate in England’s West Country is the young orphaned heiress, Lilian Westmoreland.

She has just suffered a terrible riding accident and remains bed bound.

Under the care of her Uncle Micah and his right hand man, Casterman, the two decide to send her away to warmer climes.

Beset by money woes, they believe Egypt to be an ideal environment in which she can regain her strength.

Lord Ambrose, living nearby in the aristocratic splendour of the Malfine mansion, gets wind of the plan.

Lilian is the daughter of his late friend, and he is determined to protect her welfare.

A series of strange and devastating events pique his curiosity and suspicion.

After a young girl who worked for Lilian’s uncle is found murdered, Ambrose is hot on the heels of these supposed guardians.

His journey takes him to the mysterious lands of Egypt, where a deadly outbreak of disease threatens to engulf and obliterate Cairo.

Lillian disappears without a trace, imprisoned in an ornate palace behind a locked door - supposedly for her own safety.

But when Ambrose locates her whereabouts just in time, he realises that there is a bigger plan at play - a criminal network involved in a trade of unspeakable evil.

In a time of secrecy, slavery and suspicion, will Ambrose be able to save those enmeshed in this dark conspiracy and bring the wrongdoers to justice?

The first in the series, Let There Be Blood, was free a few days ago: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=3207236
It's at $0.99 right now if you want to start with the first in the series.

[sufue]

Digger is a non-series title by Joseph Flynn, conventionally published way back when by Bantam. The ebook is on US Kindle Countdown at $0.99 for about 3 more days.

link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EBTI4U

Spoiler:

Once a tunnel rat …

John Fortunato was an 11-Bravo in Vietnam, a grunt like countless others. What separated him from everyone else was knowing right where the enemy was hiding. Even in the dark.

That made him a natural tunnel rat. Then one day he went down a hole with his best friend Jamie Doolan. John was almost killed by a grenade and Doolan … disappeared.

Leaving a man behind is a mortal sin and John did penance every day. When he got home, he and two vet friends secretly recreated a portion of the VC’s tunnels under the town of Elk River.

Years later, a fight comes to Elk River, a strike against the town’s biggest employer. The labor dispute turns deadly when Tommy Boyle, the union leader and John’s closest living relative, is killed — and the county sheriff might be an accomplice.

That leaves John with no choice but to investigate, using his tunnels to help find the truth. When Tommy’s nemesis, company owner Tony Hunt, learns of the tunnels’ existence, he decides there’s only one thing to do. Bring in his own Viet Cong.

[sufue]

Six titles in the Inspector Littlejohn series by George Bellairs are on US Kindle Countdown at $1.99 for about one more day before going up to $2.99 for an unknown amount of time.

Corpses in Enderby
link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KGF0KYA

Spoiler:

Ned Bunn wasn't a popular member of the community of Enderby, and there were people who had wished him dead. But when he was murdered on the doorstep of his own shop there was a terrible outcry. When Inspector Littlejohn of Scotland Yard investigates the case, there are some startling revelations of Bunn and his family, before the final tracking down of the murderer.

Death Sends for the Doctor
link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KGF0S92

Spoiler:

Upper Square is the last stronghold of snobbery in Abbot's Caldicott, a dying little metropolis in East Anglia, and the remnants of queer old families re*side there. Doctor Beharrell, a promi*nent physician, is found murdered in a secret room in his home at Bank House, in the square, and Superintendent Littlejohn, warned before it has been discovered that the crime has been com*mitted, goes to investigate. Before he leaves Caldicott with the case solved, a lot of strange past history comes to light and the repressions and inbreeding of the upper ten of Caldicott produce some queer twists of hatred and mad*ness. Littlejohn, whom David Holloway calls ' the most courteous of all fictional detectives,' finds all his good manners are needed in dealing with this strange affair among a crowd of characters who live in an atmosphere of days that are gone.

Info on the following four titles is contained in this previous post: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=3179302

• Corpse at the Carnival
• Death of a Tin God
• The Tormentors
• Death Treads Softly

[sufue]

Two titles by Leo Bruce are on US Kindle Countdown:

Dead Men's Shoes is the fourth in the Carolus Deene series, at $0.99 for about 12 more hours before going up to $1.99 for an unknown amount of time.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Mans-Shoe...dp/B013RIQAPA/

Spoiler:

Everyone knew there'd been a murder, everyone knew who the murderer was, and when this murderer committed suicide by jumping overboard from the cargo boat Saragossa, they thought "Good riddance." And everyone, the police included, dropped the case. Everyone, that is, except Carlous Deene.

Case for Three Detectives is the first in the Sergeant Beef series, at $1.99 for about one more day before going up to $2.99 for an unknown amount of time.
link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VROVXSQ

Spoiler:

Possibly the most unusual mystery ever written. A murder is committed, behind closed doors, in bizarre circumstances. Three amateur detectives take the case: Lord Simon Plimsoll, Monsieur Amer Picon, and Monsignor Smith (in whom discerning readers will note likeness to some familiar literary figures). Each arrives at his own brilliant solution, starting in its originality, ironclad in its logic. Meanwhile Sergeant Beef sits contemptuously in the background. "But," says Sergeant Beef, "I know who done it!"

[sufue]

Death in the Setting Sun is the tenth in the John Rawlings series by Deryn Lake. It's on US Kindle Countdown at $0.99 for about 6 more days.

link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015FUAYBY

Spoiler:

John Rawlings’ life is idyllic; he owns a successful Apothecary business, is head-over-heels in love with his wife Emilia, and is completely besotted with his three-year-old daughter Rose.

With another baby on the way the London-based family have never been happier.

As Christmas approaches, spirits are high all around and the festive season is in full swing.

When Emilia is approached by an old school friend to take part in a performance to the royal court in Gunnersbury House, her sense of adventure takes over and she convinces John to allow her to go.

A few days later, John undertakes the journey to join his wife and witness her time in the spotlight. But little does he know his perfect life is on the brink of destruction.

A murderer strikes at the royal celebration and John is suddenly found at the scene of utmost brutality with the weapon in his hand and blood running off him.

With John immediately seized as the guilty party, the true killer is left free to attack again.

Only John knows that the real criminal still roams free, and it is up to him to uncover the deception.

But in the meantime, Gunnersbury House lies in grave danger…

[sufue]

Several titles by Leonard Gribble are on US Kindle Countdown.

At $0.99 for about 1/2 more day before going up to $1.99 for an unknown amount of time:

The Frightened Chameleon is in the Anthony Slade series.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Frightened-Cha...dp/B013RIQEXI/

Spoiler:

Superintendent Anthony Slade, of Scotland Yard, arrives in Paris to enquire into the strange disappearance of a man using a false name. He says to solve one of the most baffling cases of his career.

In company with Inspector Henri Duval of the Paris Sûreté, he journeys across Europe on the trail of a man it is not humanly possible to find. In a Swiss sanatorium he meets a person whose very existence is a secret kept from the world, and back in Paris with Duval he learns why Charles Gentian, the financial freebooter known as the Chameleon, was frightened.

This novel featuring the author's popular detective adds another triumph of detection to Slade's already notable record.

The Yellow Bungalow Mystery is in the Anthony Slade series.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Bungalo...dp/B013RIQ3DE/

Spoiler:

Rosa Lee, adventuress and woman of mystery, is stabbed to death at her home, the Yellow Bungalow, while Martin Dare, the African explorer, is spending a few days with friends close by. She was murdered with an Arab dagger Dare had presented to his host. When Detective-Inspector Anthony Slade, Mr Gribble’s well-known detective, arrives on the scene he finds that four people might have committed the crime. Their alibis depended upon one another, their motives were strong, and two of them had visited the murdered woman secretly within a few minutes of the actual killing. Which of them was the murderer? Or was there some one unknown? Slade’s investigation soon revealed others who might have committed the crime, but somehow he was not satisfied with the theories he tried out. Actually he had made a brilliant piece of deduction and it was this that led him astray. But he solves the riddle in the end, and in his usual dramatic fashion.

At $1.99 for about one more day before going up to $2.99 for an unknown amount of time:

Murder First Class is in the Anthony Slade series.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Muder-First-Cl...dp/B00HRC5P8Q/

Spoiler:

A vintage English murder mystery set onboard a moving train.

The Riddle of the Blue Moon is a non-series title.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Riddle-Blue-Mo...dp/B00L7TSJV0/

Spoiler:

A muffled cry in the fog and a strangely-marked handkerchief flung from a speeding car set the Selby twins and their friend Chips Carpenter on a trail of dangerous adventure. The trail leads to a derelict roadhouse - The Blue Moon - and there they make a discovery which sends them all racing across the lonely, eerie Romney Marsh.

[pdurrant]

Amazon UK daily deal: £0.99 for A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh. The second in her Lord Peter & Lady Harriet series. It's listed with Dorothy L. Sayers as an author, but I think that's just marketing and authorisation by the estate.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Amazon UK daily deal: £0.99 for A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh. The second in her Lord Peter & Lady Harriet series. It's listed with Dorothy L. Sayers as an author, but I think that's just marketing and authorisation by the estate.

Yes, that's pretty much true. Walsh completed the novel that Sayers left unfinished at the time of her death ("Thrones, Dominations") but this one is almost entirely her own work, although it does quote from The Wimsey Papers, which were a collection of magazine articles Sayers wrote for "The Spectator" magazine in 1939 and 1940.

I think it's a good book; I enjoyed it. Don't read it, though, unless you've read the earlier Wimsey books; it's very much a continuation of those.

[Mort1997]

Free on Amazon UK -The Inspector's Daughter (A Rose McQuinn Mystery No.1) (Rose McQuinn series) by Alanna Knight

'Rose McQuinn returns to Edinburgh from the American wild west of 1895. Her baby has died while her husband Danny, working with the Pinkerton’s Detective Agency in Arizona goes missing. She has little time to grieve before she unwittingly takes on a new career by agreeing to investigate the strange behaviour of the husband of her childhood friend Alice. But what appears to be an adulterous affair suggests something much more sinister - the brutal and still unsolved murder of a servant girl. Whatever heartbreak lies in store, Rose must discover the truth. From her home in Solomon’s Tower on Arthur’s Seat, aided by a wild deerhound, her first investigation puts her own life in deadly danger.'


UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inspectors-D...56810&sr=1-610

US
http://www.amazon.com/Inspectors-Dau...56810&sr=1-610

AU
http://www.amazon.com.au/Inspectors-...56810&sr=1-610

Can
http://www.amazon.ca/Inspectors-Daug...56810&sr=1-610

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, that's pretty much true. Walsh completed the novel that Sayers left unfinished at the time of her death ("Thrones, Dominations") but this one is almost entirely her own work, although it does quote from The Wimsey Papers, which were a collection of magazine articles Sayers wrote for "The Spectator" magazine in 1939 and 1940.

I think it's a good book; I enjoyed it. Don't read it, though, unless you've read the earlier Wimsey books; it's very much a continuation of those.

Oh, I wish they'd send that over here, then! I'd love to read it!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Oh, I wish they'd send that over here, then! I'd love to read it!

Are none of Walsh's "Wimsey" books available in the US? I think she's written four now, and I've enjoyed all of them.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Are none of Walsh's "Wimsey" books available in the US? I think she's written four now, and I've enjoyed all of them.

I guess they are, now that I go to look. I'd never heard of them before. Two are $8 for the ebook, two are $10. Or there is a 4-pack which averages $9 each (same thing, actually). I was wishing today's bargain deal would be sent here, but I guess I oughtn't to be greedy!

edit: Maybe I'll buy a used physical book, and try the first one to see how I like it. That's half the price, even if I do pay for postage. Done. Except for the wait for shipping (drat!).

[HarryT]

I bought them all at full price, so don't feel too bad .

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I bought them all at full price, so don't feel too bad .

Having checked the samples, I got each of them from the public library.

The first is the only one I have read twice.

Thrones, Dominations (Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane series Book 1)17 Sep 1998

A Presumption of Death (Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane series Book 2)26 May 2003

The Attenbury Emeralds (Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane series Book 3)16 Sep 2010

The Late Scholar (Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane series Book 4)5 Dec 2013