FREE/BARGAIN - Mystery, Suspense, Thriller - 2016

[HarryT]

I didn't have the last one, so many thanks.

[Apache]

I already had all three.
Apache

[sufue]

Crossed Bones is the fourth in the Sarah Booth Delaney by Carolyn Haines. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FBFNM4

Spoiler:

In rich, atmospheric mysteries set against the backdrop of modern-day Mississippi, Carolyn Haines has given the southern belle a brilliantly hip makeover. Now Haines and her unforgettable heroine, Sarah Booth Delaney, are back with a tale about skeletons in closets--and elsewhere.

Crossed Bones

Sarah Booth Delaney is no ordinary P.I. A born-and-bred Mississippi belle, she struggles to hold on to her family’s plantation and keeps up a running conversation with the ghost of her great-great-grandmother’s nanny, a busybody who decks herself out in a stunning new outfit every day--and schemes to save Sarah Booth from spinsterhood. Not one to wait around for a white knight, Sarah takes on the kind of cases no one else will touch. Like trying to exonerate a man accused of murdering Sunflower County’s most popular musician.

The two men met in prison: Ivory Keys, a gifted black blues pianist, and Scott Hampton, a rich white boy turned racist. Somewhere between the two men, a spark was lit. And by the time he came out of the joint, Scott Hampton had not only renounced his racist ways, he had learned to play a blues guitar that made grown women go weak in the knees. So why did Scott plunge a steel shank into his mentor’s chest? Ivory’s widow doesn’t think he did, and she’s paid Sarah Booth to prove it. No easy task, especially since the delicate racial harmony of Sunflower County is threatening to come undone under the heat of Sarah Booth’s investigation.

For a woman feeling a little heat of her own--navigating between a rich, available businessman, a married lawman with a waffling heart, and the sexy bluesman who is angling to become much more than her client--this case is taking dangerous twists. A town’s slumbering passions have awakened with a jolt, a matchmaking ghost is dressed up like Jackie O, and Sarah Booth is caught between her need to know the truth and the consequences it will have on her town--and on her life.

With riveting suspense and a sparkling cast of unforgettable characters, Carolyn Haines has woven a rich portrait of a part of America grappling with its past, its illusions, and its hopes. Crossed Bones is the most dazzling work yet from a uniquely gifted writer.

[sufue]

Shadows on a Cape Cod Wedding is the 6th in the Antique Print series by Lea Wait. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C5REZCK

Spoiler:

Antique print dealer Maggie Summer is happy to help her best friend Gussie with pre-wedding preparations on Cape Cod ... until she finds a body on the beach, and the close-knit New England community no longer seems so friendly. Why does the dead man's daughter say he died two years ago .. in Colorado? Who was supplying drugs to teenagers in town? Already nervous about a critical discussion she needs to have with the man in her life, Maggie immerses herself in the murder investigation and wedding plans ... and then there's another murder ... and a hurricane ... and Maggie herself becomes a target. Maybe this time around, Maggie's gotten herself in a little too deep.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I didn't have the last one, so many thanks.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Apache

I already had all three.
Apache

That makes six!

See: 3+3=6

If I had 4 and then added three, I would have 7! Here's out it would look: 4+3=7.

On the other hand, if I had 8 and added 1, then I would have 9! That would be different than the one above. Thus: 8+1=9!

Wow!

[sufue]

Eggs in a Casket is the fifth in the Cackleberry Club series by Laura Childs. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DGZKPIS

Spoiler:

The New York Times bestselling Cackleberry Club series returns with three intrepid ladies who know their way around a kitchen—as well as a crime scene…

Petra, Suzanne, and Toni may have lost their husbands, but they’ve found new life operating the Cackleberry Club café. It’s where the locals head for an amazing breakfast, the good company of friends, and a puzzling mystery or two…

THIS KILLER IS TOAST

Suzanne and Toni are off to Memorial Cemetery to help prepare for its 150th anniversary celebration. The ladies expect to find the historical society’s tent, but instead they discover the body of ex-prison warden Lester Drummond lying facedown in a freshly dug grave. Now, with the town peppered with suspects and the local authorities in over their heads, it’s up to the Cackleberry Club to unscramble the clues and sniff out a bad egg.

[sufue]

Cut to the Bone is the eighth (publication order) in the Bill Brockton/Body Farm series by Jefferson Bass, however the blurb notes that it is a prequel. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BATNLJC

Spoiler:

Jefferson Bass’s Cut to the Bone, the long-awaited prequel to his New York Times bestselling mystery series, turns the clock back to reveal the Body Farm's creation—and Dr. Bill Brockton's deadly duel with a serial killer.

In the summer of 1992, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton and Tennessee Senator Albert Gore begin their long-shot campaign to win the White House. In the sweltering hills of Knoxville at the University of Tennessee, Dr. Bill Brockton, the bright, ambitious young head of the Anthropology Department, launches an unusual—some would call it macabre—research facility, unlike any other in existence.

Brockton is determined to revolutionize the study of forensics to help law enforcement better solve crime. But his plans are derailed by a chilling murder that leaves the scientist reeling from a sense of déjà vu. Followed by another. And then another: bodies that bear eerie resemblances to cases from Brockton’s past.

But as the body count rises, the victims’ fatal injuries grow more and more distinctive—a spiral of death that holds dark implications for Brockton...and everyone he holds dear.

[ATDrake]

Bargain @ $2.99 CAD each ($2.69 with VIP membership extra 10% off) from Dundurn as part of Kobo Canada's long weekend offer for the ongoing Summer Reading Event promotion (price-matched at Amazon CA & Google Play CA, but only some of the books exist in the US and are mostly not marked down):

#1-2 and #5 in Canadian author and lawyer Jack Batten's (SYKM, Irwin Law profile, apparently he also writes biographies of Canadian historical figures in his spare time) Crang mystery series, starring a criminal lawyer and jazz buff in Toronto. This is an older series from the 80s, originally published by Macmillan, which is apparently being revived with newer installments, and the blurbs seem to indicate that these are comedy-leaning novels. I haven't read these, but picked the discounted ones up after trying the sample, and there's praise from newspaper reviews quoted in the blurbs for the omnibus editions (more expensive than the current sale prices, which will likely expire tonight, since Kobo seems to get the Canadian small presses to discount especially as part of their event promos).

• Crang Plays the Ace #1
• Straight No Chaser #2, 1990 Arthur Ellis Award finalist, according to SYKM
• Take Five #5 in the series, starting the "20 years after" Dumas-style revival

The reprints of #3-4 are pre-orders which are not on sale, but priced at $6.99 and Dundurn is a couponable publisher.

[sufue]

Killing Orders is the third in the V.I. Warshawski series by Sara Paretsky. It has dropped to $0.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00655U5MW

Spoiler:

V.I.'s battleaxe Aunt Rosa is under investigation by the FBI and SEC after counterfeit stock certificates were found at St. Albert's Priory, where she serves as treasurer. As malicious as her aunt is, V.I. knows she's not dishonest, so V.I. vows to protect her from taking the fall. But V.I. starts questioning the strength of her family ties when a menacing voice on the phone threatens to throw acid into her eyes if she doesn't butt out. The stakes are high as she begins to sniff out a connection between Chicago's most powerful institutions: the Church and the Mob.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by sufue

Killing Orders is the third in the V.I. Warshawski series by Sara Paretsky. It has dropped to $0.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00655U5MW

I've been meaning to check out Ms Warshawski. This is a good price point to start and see if I like them! Thanks!

[sufue]

Madness in Maggody is the fifth (per SYKM) or fourth (per the blurb) in the Arly Hanks/Maggody series by Joan Hess. Although I slightly prefer Hess' Clare Malloy series (mainly due to Malloy's daughter Caron), I think both series are good laugh-out-loud fun. Madness has dropped again to $1.99 at Kindle US. Last time it was for a day, not sure how long it will be this time, so grab it if you want it (and didn't already).

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENRHK5I

Spoiler:

Chief of Police Arly Hanks will do whatever it takes to keep Maggody from losing its mind in this charming cozy mystery.

In a town as peculiar as Maggody, Arkansas, it doesn’t take much to tip the community into chaos. When Mayor Jim Bob Buchanon’s SuperSaver Buy 4 Less takes out a full-page ad boasting the new supermarket’s authentic tamales, gourmet deli counter, and various other bells and whistles, every restaurateur in town fears that Jim Bob is going to put him out of business. So when it comes time for the Buy 4 Less’s gala opening, one citizen decides to play dirty, slipping something into Jim Bob’s famous tamale sauce that leaves twenty-three unsuspecting attendees sick with food poisoning—and one dead.

Was this a prank that got out of hand, or is there a maniac on the loose in Maggody? Finding out the truth will mean digging into the dangerous underbelly of Maggody’s cutthroat restaurant community, and quick-witted police chief Arly Hanks is the only woman for the job.

Joan Hess is one of the funniest mystery writers in the business, and this outlandish look into the greedy schemes of small-town business owners shows her at the top of her form. Cozy mystery fans know that once you visit Maggody, you’ll never want to leave.

Madness in Maggody is the 4th book in the Arly Hanks Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

[sufue]

The Savannah Martin Mysteries Box Set 1-3 is pretty much what it says, the first three Savannah Martin mysteries by Jenna Bennett (pen name for Bente Gallagher, who also writes as Jennie Bentley, whew!). The box set has dropped to FREE right now at Kindle US.

This series appears to have started off conventionally published - at least SYKM lists the first two as DTB published, and I own the first one in paperback, although Bennett/Gallagher/Bentley has appears to have gone for e-publishing recently with this series. (Bennett/Gallagher/Bentley's other series is published by Penguin.)

In any case, the first three are free as a set right now, so you can split the set and delete the last one if you really don't like that the third one that was e-published only .

The three titles are:

• A Cutthroat Business
• Hot Property
• Contract Pending

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A6UMNRM

Spoiler:

*** Boxed set of the first 3 Cutthroat Business mysteries featuring Southern Belle turned Realtor Savannah Martin ***

Savannah has always been a good girl, doing what was expected and fully expecting life to fall into place in its turn. But when her perfect husband turns out to be a lying, cheating slimeball - and bad in bed to boot - Savannah kicks the jerk to the curb and embarks on life on her own terms. With a new apartment, a new career, and a brand new outlook on life, she's all set to take the world by storm.

If only the world would stop throwing her curveballs...

A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS - book #1
Everyone has warned Savannah that real estate is a cutthroat business, but she doesn't think she's supposed to take the warning literally... until she finds herself standing over the butchered body of a competitor, face to face with the man her mother always warned her about.

HOT PROPERTY - book #2
When Savannah’s fellow realtor and friend Lila Vaughn turns up dead, tied to her bed and strangled, Savannah's old school mate Rafe Collier becomes a suspect. It's up to Savannah to find the real murderer before Detective Grimaldi can arrest the wrong man.

CONTRACT PENDING - book #3
Savannah has to make the choice between staying safe by accepting Todd Satterfield’s proposal, or taking a chance on losing her life - and her heart - by trying to help Rafe Collier, when the term ‘contract pending’ takes on a whole new meaning.

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by sufue

The Savannah Martin Mysteries Box Set 1-3 is pretty much what it says, the first three Savannah Martin mysteries by Jenna Bennett (pen name for Bente Gallagher, who also writes as Jennie Bentley, whew!). The box set has dropped to FREE right now at Kindle US.

This series appears to have started off conventionally published - at least SYKM lists the first two as DTB published, and I own the first one in paperback, although Bennett/Gallagher/Bentley has appears to have gone for e-publishing recently with this series. (Bennett/Gallagher/Bentley's other series is published by Penguin.)

In any case, the first three are free as a set right now, so you can split the set and delete the last one if you really don't like that the third one that was e-published only .

The three titles are:

• A Cutthroat Business
• Hot Property
• Contract Pending

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A6UMNRM

Also free in UK but not Canada

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A6UMNRM/

[GA Russell]

I've been collecting the Ed Noon books right along, but haven't tried one yet.

Does anyone here think they are any good?