FREE/BARGAIN - Mystery, Suspense, Thriller - 2016

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by sufue

The Georgia Davis PI Series: Boxed Set of Three contains (you guessed it) the first three titles in the Georgia Davis series by Libby Fischer Hellmann. The titles are Easy Innocence, Doubleback, and Toxicity.

It is FREE right now at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Georgia-Davis.../dp/B0069FIBNS

Thanks - free at Amazon UK, too.

[badgoodDeb]

Got it too! I wonder how they get a "box" onto my kindle .....

[Mort1997]

Amazon UK daily special today-Ann Cleeves Books 1 to 8 of George and Molly Palmer-Jones series (99p )




https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=s9_hp...d_i=5400977031

[rbruce1314]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Thanks - free at Amazon UK, too.

Not for long: it was £9.99 when I went there just now!!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rbruce1314

Not for long: it was £9.99 when I went there just now!!

You need to be quicker. Most of these deals are for one day only.

[rbruce1314]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You need to be quicker. Most of these deals are for one day only.

I usually am - but this one was only up for less than 12 hours wasn't it??

First time I've missed one in years though....

Great if you're online all day, but if you pop in and out it's far too easy to miss......

[sufue]

Also since I originally posted it as a Kindle US deal (and from California - Pacific time zone), the day was probably already half over in the UK....

Originally Posted by rbruce1314

I usually am - but this one was only up for less than 12 hours wasn't it??

First time I've missed one in years though....

Great if you're online all day, but if you pop in and out it's far too easy to miss......

[GA Russell]

Any Man's Death - Loren D. Estleman - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Death-Pe.../dp/B01DLGKYRI

[sufue]

The Pink Flamingo Murders is the third in the Francesca Vierling series by Elaine Viets. It has dropped to $0.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Pink-Flamingo.../dp/B0031W1E2W

Spoiler:

Whacked with a lawn flamingo? A reporter wants to know--who killed with kitsch...

The rehabilitation of North Dakota Place is a feel-good story--the kind St. Louis City Gazette columnist Francesca Vierling likes to write. Grand houses restored to former glory. Pride in a neighborhood--and, like all good stories, this one has a hero, the woman who made it all happen, the city's guardian of good taste. Some call her a rehabbing saint, others a fanatic.

The first death on North Dakota Place was certainly shocking but not entirely unwelcome--after all, the victim was a cranky old man who had been painting his house purple. The second death, of a drug dealer, brings tacit approval--and growing suspicion. But all bets are off when another victim is found, a socialite unceremoniously whacked with a pink lawn flamingo. Now the neighbors want Francesca to investigate. But her boyfriend wants her to commit to marriage, not crime. Soon the gutsy reporter is experiencing a deepening personal crisis--and something more heinous than vinyl siding: the dark secrets of heart, home, and blighted dreams.

[sufue]

Several short stories by Julie Smith have dropped to FREE right now at Kindle US.

In the Rebecca Schwartz series:

Blood Types
link: https://www.amazon.com/Blood-types-R.../dp/B00QKWMJEC

Spoiler:

A BAFFLING CALL, FOLLOWED BY TRAGEDY!
If you’re a lawyer, and someone you haven’t heard from in years calls to ask how to execute a holographic will, what are you to think if he dies the next day?

This is a dark, dark story…actually very unlike San Francisco attorney Rebecca Schwartz’s usual outings. Rebecca’s usually given to displaying her wit and using her wits, but she mostly does the latter here—so perhaps this one will appeal more to noir than cozy fans. Even with her usual humorous turn of mind dialed down a notch, Rebecca’s still an ace detective, still operating in a meticulously drawn Bay Area, still solving a baffling murder mystery, so, when all said and done, still a female sleuth to love! Just one having a bad day.

For all fans of female protagonists, Bay Area mysteries, and the occasional case of literary shivers!

Cul-de-Sac
link: https://www.amazon.com/Cul-Sac-Rebec.../dp/B00QJV23UO

Spoiler:

A ROOMMATE SEARCH TURNS DARK…
When Julie Smith’s much-loved lawyer sleuth, Rebecca Schwartz, helps a friend move, she’s pretty surprised to find the new roommate digging a grave. This mystery short story’s a bit darker than most of Rebecca’s adventures, although the irrepressible San Francisco lawyer manages to keep her famous sense of humor.

A great introduction for those who haven’t yet read Rebecca, introduced the same year as Kinsey Millhone and V.I. Warshawski, but a completely different brand of female sleuth—a bit less super-human, we’re afraid. Rebecca’s loveable for her very bumbling human-ness rather than her super-powers.

At the time, she was a bit hard-boiled, but mysteries with female sleuths have changed so much her humorous adventures could now be considered on the cozy side. (Except for the sometimes-un-cozy language. A warning to readers offended by such—stick fingers firmly in ears!)

In the Paul McDonald series:

Montezuma's Other Revenge
link: https://www.amazon.com/Montezumas-Ot.../dp/B00QVPRL64

Spoiler:

THE CURSE OF THE PUZZLED PI...
Sometime San Francisco private investigator Paul Mcdonald wears lots of hats: ex-reporter, struggling mystery writer, devoted cat owner, and friend to a number of shady characters--who tend to get him into trouble. Paul’s not so much hard-boiled as smart-mouthed (in a highly charming way!)--and broke.

But this time his $55 an hour fee leads from investigating a friendly burgling-by-acquaintance to a brutal murder. An Aztec sculpture of questionable origin has gone missing, leaving a wake of misfortune that seems to point to a curse: psychotropic drugs, pre-Columbian art, sacrificial maidens… Paul traces the statue to a South of Market loft at the intersection of the international art world and a cult devoted to the revival of the Aztec religion.

WHO WILL LIKE IT: Fans of CASTLE, MURDER SHE WROTE, even ELLERY QUEEN will enjoy this fast-paced and funny take on the mystery-writer-as-detective. As will people who like their male sleuths wry, witty, and a little on the soft-boiled side—fans of Parnell Hall’s Stanley Hastings, say, Tony Dunbar’s Tubby Dubonnet, Gregory Mcdonald’s Fletch (this Mcdonald, it's worth noting, is Paul’s personal hero), Lawrence Block’s Bernie Rhodenbarr, and especially Rex Stout’s Archie Goodwin. Female sleuths with a sense of humor remind us of him too—for instance, Criminal Minds’ Penelope Garcia and the immortal Amelia Peabody (of whom he’d be terrified if they ever met).

In the Talba Wallis series:

Kid Trombone
link: https://www.amazon.com/Kid-Trombone-.../dp/B00PKX0NTK

Spoiler:

JAZZ ROYALTY, MEAN STREETS, AND ... MURDER!
The troubled heir of a great New Orleans musical legacy has been gunned down. The writer who researched his obituary has met a sudden death.
Coincidence?Or did he know too much?

The Big Easy’s premier jazz singer, Queenie Feran, thinks there’s more to it than an accidental overdose, and she hires PI and poet Talba Wallis--AKA the Baroness de Pontalba--to uncover the truth. The Baroness rubs elbows with jazz royalty, sounding them out for clues and swaddling the reader in New Orleans ambience, before she takes to the mean streets to uncover the victim’s secret life.

WHO WILL LIKE IT: This short story will appeal to fans of Talba, the smart, sassy, African American computer wiz who's also a gifted poet and detective, and Julie Smith’s other New Orleans detective, Skip Langdon. (As well as authors of female PI series like Marcia Muller, Sue Grafton, Linda Barnes, and Laura Lippman; and intrepid African-American female protagonists like Jackie Brown, Christie Love, Anita Van Buren on Law and Order, Whoopi Goldberg’s unexpected Bernie Rhodenbarr, not to mention the incomparable Olivia Pope of Scandal.) Bottom line: Expect a kickass African-American female detective--with the soul of a poet!

In the Skip Langdon series:

Meet Skip Langdon includes two short stories: Always Othello and The End of the Earth
link: https://www.amazon.com/Meet-Skip-Lan.../dp/B00PKUIYGC

Spoiler:

A MINI-MYSTERY ANTHOLOGY: TWO SKIP LANGDON SHORT STORIES
Back when the first Skip Langdon mystery won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel, Skip was a six-foot post-deb cop with authority issues. She was supposed to be a doctor or a lawyer, but say the word “supposed to” and she was outta there. But now she IS the authority, the most famous cop in New Orleans and one of the most engaging female sleuths in the mystery genre. If you haven’t met her, now’s the time, in this mini-anthology composed of two short stories, both mysteries, both starring Skip.

In ALWAYS OTHELLO, clever detective work leads to the killer of an acquaintance, someone Skip feels kind of personal about. You know how every neighborhood has its characters, the people you see every day but don’t really know? Well, Franny Futura was one in Skip’s French Quarter neighborhood—a Tarot reader who dressed in a ladylike silver suit with a spaceship hat. Was it true she was really a man? Where did her money come from? And why were none of her fellow fortune-tellers surprised at her death? The trail leads right to The question, the ONLY question anyone ever asks a Tarot reader.

THE END OF THE EARTH just might be the only mystery short story ever written that’s set in Antarctica! Detective Skip Langdon of the New Orleans Police Department and her long-time beau Steve Steinman find themselves sailing the Southern Ocean after winning a trip to the least populous continent, but not staying in fancy hotels because there’s no place to build any! The whole vacation’s a cruise, providing the perfect background for a cozy country house mystery—except the country home’s the ship. Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen fans will enjoy this unusual take on their favorite writers' favorite trick, as well as fans of police procedurals and strong women sleuths.

It's also probably worth noting that New Orleans Mourning, the first in Smith's Skip Langdon series, is a long time freebie, so most of us (who want it) probably have it, but if not, here's a link: https://www.amazon.com/New-Orleans-M.../dp/B007W97WJY

[sufue]

If you liked the first Killer Femmes anthology (info here, but shows as no longer available), Killer Femmes 2: Small Bites, is also $0.99 and contains nine short stories by the same set of authors. It has apparently been out since April.

The authors include:

• Julie Smith
• Zoë Sharp
• Sujata Massey
• Christine Kling
• Libby Fischer Hellmann

link: https://www.amazon.com/Killer-Femmes.../dp/B01E7ZQ7BY

Spoiler:

Like your crime fiction in bite-sized chunks? If so, Killer Femmes have something for you to chew on. In Volume 2, which we’ve appropriately called “Small Bites,” we bring you 9 irresistible short stories set in unique exotic locations … all written by award-winning, best-selling authors. Each of us have contributed two stories, except Sujata, who contributed a novelette. There’s also a “Bonus” read following the stories that includes excerpts of new or upcoming novels by each of us. Best of all, Small Bites has a very small price: Only 99 cents for the entire package.

Between us, Killer Femmes have written over 60 novels and have been nominated for (and even won) numerous awards, including the Edgar, the Anthony, the Agatha, the Shamus, the Daphne, the Macavity, the Barry, the Lovey, and the CWA Dagger.

Killer Femmes presents stories by:
Julie Smith
Zoë Sharp
Sujata Massey
Christine Kling
Libby Fischer Hellmann

NOTE: The two short stories by Smith are both also free independently right now as per my post immediately above. Doesn't seem to be the case for the others, though, which are either not available or not free.

[sufue]

How the Light Gets In is the ninth in Louise Penny's excellent (both IMO and, apparently, in the opinion of the folks involved in the incredible number of nominations and awards for all of the titles in the series - see here at SYKM) Inspector Gamache series. It has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/How-Light-Get.../dp/B00AQUTNIE

Spoiler:

The #1 New York Times Bestseller

"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." --Leonard Cohen

Christmas is approaching, and in Québec it's a time of dazzling snowfalls, bright lights, and gatherings with friends in front of blazing hearths. But shadows are falling on the usually festive season for Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Most of his best agents have left the Homicide Department, his old friend and lieutenant Jean-Guy Beauvoir hasn't spoken to him in months, and hostile forces are lining up against him. When Gamache receives a message from Myrna Landers that a longtime friend has failed to arrive for Christmas in the village of Three Pines, he welcomes the chance to get away from the city. Mystified by Myrna's reluctance to reveal her friend's name, Gamache soon discovers the missing woman was once one of the most famous people not just in North America, but in the world, and now goes unrecognized by virtually everyone except the mad, brilliant poet Ruth Zardo.

As events come to a head, Gamache is drawn ever deeper into the world of Three Pines. Increasingly, he is not only investigating the disappearance of Myrna's friend but also seeking a safe place for himself and his still-loyal colleagues. Is there peace to be found even in Three Pines, and at what cost to Gamache and the people he holds dear?

How the Light Gets In is the ninth Chief Inspector Gamache Novel from Louise Penny.

One of Publishers Weekly's Best Mystery/Thriller Books of 2013
One of The Washington Post's Top 10 Books of the Year
An NPR Best Book of 2013

[sufue]

The Lighthouse is the 13th in the Adam Dalgliesh series by P.D. James. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Lighthouse-Ad.../dp/B000FCKHZQ

Spoiler:

A secure and secluded retreat for the rich and powerful becomes the setting for an unsettling series of murders.Combe Island off the Cornish coast is a restful haven for the elite. But when one of its distinguished visitors is found hanging from the island’s famous lighthouse in what appears to have been a murder, the peace is shattered. Commander Adam Dalgliesh is called in to handle the sensitive case, but at a difficult time for him and his depleted team. He is uncertain about his future with his girlfriend Emma Lavenham; his principle detective Kate Miskin is going through an emotional crisis; and the ambitious Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith is not happy about having a female boss. After a second brutal killing, the whole investigation is jeopardized, and Dalgliesh is faced with a danger even more insidious than murder.

[Mort1997]

Free Today on Amazon UK - Crazy, VA (Lil & Boris #1) by Shannon Hill

A repeat - but one I have enjoyed.

Spoiler:

Sheriff Littlepage Eller of Crazy, Virginia, has her work cut out for her. She started life as the unwanted daughter of both of Crazy's feuding founding families. She's enforcing the law in a quirky town more used to paying bribes than fines. And her love life is in hiding. But Lil's luck changes when she adopts Boris, a foul-tempered tomcat who quickly becomes her feline deputy.

Then Crazy gets its first murder in decades: Lisa Littlepage Hunter, heir to the powerful Littlepage business empire and the cousin Lil never knew. Lil's investigation will lead her and Boris through a twisted web of forbidden love and family secrets

UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crazy-VA-Li...362247031_f_58

US
https://www.amazon.com/Crazy-VA-Lil-...362247031_f_58

Au
https://www.amazon.com.au/Crazy-VA-L...362247031_f_58

Can
https://www.amazon.ca/Crazy-VA-Lil-B...362247031_f_58

[Mort1997]

Free Today on Amazon UK - A Devious Mind (Dusty Kent Mysteries Book 2) by Brigid George

Australian Mystery/Australian Author

Spoiler:

A callous killer taunts Dusty Kent

It was a silent death. One blow to her head was all it took. The killer struck Marcia Hamilton, a sixty-year-old grandmother of slim build, from behind. Marcia’s status as a distinguished author could not save her. The killer rolled her body, ‘like a piece of discarded junk’, down into a gully where it remained for almost two weeks.

This murder is the most heinous crime imaginable: the crime of matricide. Dusty Kent is sure of that. But which of Marcia’s four offspring would be capable of such a deed? Dusty is determined to expose the murderer no matter who it is. Can she do it before the killer strikes again? Someone who’s already killed their mother would have no qualms about ‘bumping off’ a mere sibling in order to avoid exposure.

UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Devious-Min...362247031_f_61

US
https://www.amazon.com/Devious-Mind-...362247031_f_61

Au
https://www.amazon.com.au/Devious-Mi...362247031_f_61

Can
https://www.amazon.ca/Devious-Mind-D...362247031_f_61