FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[ATDrake]

Bargain @ $1.99 from Penguin's Dutton imprint in Canada & probably also the US (non-couponable, should be matched at all the usual retailers):

The Absent One by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen (SYKM, Wikipedia), a translation of Fasandræberne, 2nd in his Department Q series starring Copenhagen cold case detective Carl Mørck (now adapted into a film series). I quite liked this series when I binge-read the lot of them last year and IMHO, this is one of the better cases in it. This was published in the UK as Disgrace.

New York Times bestseller Jussi Adler-Olsen returns with the second book in his electrifying Department Q series.

In The Keeper of Lost Causes, Jussi Adler-Olsen introduced Detective Carl Mørck, a deeply flawed, brilliant detective newly assigned to run Department Q, the home of Copenhagen’s coldest cases. The result wasn’t what Mørck—or readers—expected, but by the opening of Adler-Olsen’s shocking, fast-paced follow-up, Mørck is satisfied with the notion of picking up long-cold leads. So he’s naturally intrigued when a closed case lands on his desk: A brother and sister were brutally murdered two decades earlier, and one of the suspects—part of a group of privileged boarding-school students—confessed and was convicted.

But once Mørck reopens the files, it becomes clear that all is not what it seems. Looking into the supposedly solved case leads him to Kimmie, a woman living on the streets, stealing to survive. Kimmie has mastered evading the police, but now they aren’t the only ones looking for her. Because Kimmie has secrets that certain influential individuals would kill to keep buried . . . as well as one of her own that could turn everything on its head.

Every bit as pulse-pounding as the book that launched the series, The Absent One delivers further proof that Jussi Adler-Olsen is one of the world's premier thriller writers.

Also, if you're interested in reading these things in French (the translation of the 7th book comes out this month, whereas English readers will have to wait until September), Kobo Canada appears to be having a 50% off sale on selected thrillers from publisher Albin Michel which include #1-4 of Adler-Olsen's for just $6.99 (cheap by francophone sale standards).

Unfortunately, the dedicated promo page they have for it and various others which may be out from spin-off imprints (including Swedish author Anna Jansson's (SYKM, Wikipedia) Le pacte boréal, 1st in her Maria Wern series not yet translated into English, for just $2.99 which is incredibly cheap, considering that the rest are $14.99), is not functional at the moment and hopefully it gets fixed soon.

[BetterRead]

The Hollow Man, the first in the Nick Belsey series by Oliver Harris, is $0.99 today at all the usual places.

Amazon US
B&N
Google Play
Kobo

Waking up on Hampstead Heath not far from a crashed squad car, Detective Nick Belsey wants out—out of London and out of the endless complications of his life. When Alexei Devereux, a wealthy hermit, vanishes, leaving behind a suicide note and his Porsche, Belsey discovers an opportunity—a new identity and a fortune—waiting for the taking.

Unfortunately, there are others who share the detective's interest in Devereux, including Scotland Yard. A dead rich man with suspicious financial holdings is bound to have some dangerous ties and a few ruthless enemies. Now, Belsey and his clever plan are about to be overshadowed by far more ambitious players with their own brilliant—and deadly—scheme.

Combining dark humor, dazzling twists, and a sharp narrative style, The Hollow Man is a tour de force of suspense—and the debut of an extraordinary new writer.

Personal note: I thought it was pretty terrific and am currently reading the 3rd (and latest) in the series, The House of Fame.

[sufue]

Rather Be the Devil is the umpteenth (I'm too lazy to count) and most recent (2017) in the John Rebus series by Ian Rankin. It has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle and Kobo US, a nice price IMO for a most recent in series. Probably just for today, since it's part of the Kindle Daily Deal...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Rather-Be-Dev...dp/B01F1UD4F6/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/rather-be-the-devil-2

Spoiler:

An Instant New York Times Bestseller

Rebus investigates a cold case that just turned red hot.

As he settles into an uneasy retirement, Rebus has given up his favorite vices. There's just one habit he can't shake: he can't let go of an unsolved case. It's the only pastime he has left and up until now, it's the only one that wasn't threatening to kill him. But when Rebus starts reexamining the facts behind the long-ago murder of a glamorous woman at a luxurious hotel - on the same night a famous rock star and his entourage where also staying there - the past comes roaring back to life with a vengeance.

And as soon as Rebus starts asking questions about the long forgotten crime, a fresh body materializes. His inquiries reunite him with his old pals-Siobhan Clarke and Malcolm Fox-as they attempt to uncover the financial chicanery behind the savage beating of an upstart gangster, a crime that suggests the notorious old school crime boss Big Ger Cafferty has taken to retirement as poorly as Rebus himself.

As he connects the mysteries of the past to the those of the present, Rebus learns - the hard way - that he's not the only one with an insatiable curiosity about what happened in that hotel room forty years ago, and that someone will stop at nothing to ensure that the crime remains ancient history.

A twisted tale of power, corruption, and bitter rivalries in the dark heart of Edinburgh, Rather Be the Devil showcases Rankin and Rebus at their unstoppable best.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by sufue

Rather Be the Devil is the umpteenth (I'm too lazy to count) and most recent (2017) in the John Rebus series by Ian Rankin. It has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle and Kobo US, a nice price IMO for a most recent in series. Probably just for today, since it's part of the Kindle Daily Deal...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Rather-Be-Dev...dp/B01F1UD4F6/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/rather-be-the-devil-2

Yummy!! Thanks ever so, for the notice of it.

[rbruce1314]

Today (Thursday) only. Down to 0.99 on amazon:
The Case of the Famished Parson by George Bellairs
Inspector Littlejohn #15:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Famished-Pa...ookbubemail-21

https://www.amazon.com/Famished-Pars...amished+parson

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by sufue

Rather Be the Devil is the umpteenth (I'm too lazy to count) and most recent (2017) in the John Rebus series by Ian Rankin. It has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle and Kobo US, a nice price IMO for a most recent in series. Probably just for today, since it's part of the Kindle Daily Deal...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Rather-Be-Dev...dp/B01F1UD4F6/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/rather-be-the-devil-2

Already back to $13.99 at Kobo but still $2.99 at Kindle.

[sufue]

And now the third in the series, The City of Blood, is $0.99 as a US Kindle Countdown deal for about 6 1/2 more days.

link: https://www.amazon.com/City-Blood-Pa...dp/B00OTYNMX0/

Spoiler:

There's art to die for, and there's art to kill for

Frédérique Molay's Paris Homicide Series is full of "twists, turns, and a roller coaster of a ride." Perfect for lovers of police procedurals.

When a major Parisian modern art event gets unexpected attention on live TV, Chief of Police Nico Sirsky and his team of elite crime fighters rush to La Villette park and museum complex. There, renowned artist Samuel Cassian is inaugurating the first archeological dig of modern art, three decades after burying the leftovers of a banquet. In front of reporters from around the world, excavators uncover a skeleton. Could it be the artist’s own son? And does that death have anything to do with the current string of nightclub murders by the “Paris Butcher”? On the site of the French capital's former slaughterhouses, the investigation takes Nico and France's top criminal investigation division from artists' studios to autopsy theaters and nightclubs in hopes of tracking down the murderer who has turned this Paris park into a city of blood. This police procedural set in France is "brilliant," "vivid," and "riveting."

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Bargain @ 99 cents/pence at Amazon US & UK only until April 6th from Le French Book, which specializes in translations:

Crossing the Line by French author Frédérique Molay (SYKM, Wikipedia FR), 2nd in her Paris Homicide series starring police chief Nico Sirsky. Apparently these are being done via Amazon Countdown, which is only available for US & UK-based customers, which would account for the territorial difficulties they mentioned in the newsletter. But if you have or know someone who's got a US-based account, it can be sent as a gift.

The 1st has previously been offered on sale last week, and the 4th, Looking to the Woods, is also discounted from AmazonCrossing for just $1.99 in Canada & the US (probably for the entire month). Also, the French original of #1, La 7e femme, is just $3.99 USD for Amazon US accounts or $6.99 @ Kobo US (not matched in Canada and indeed, you can't even buy books from the regular francophone publishers in Canada from an Amazon.com account, only .ca).

Days before Christmas in snow-covered Paris, Chief of Police Nico Sirsky returns to work after recovering from a gunshot wound, in love and ready to get back to business. A bizarre case awaits him. Dental students discover a message in the tooth of a severed head. Is it a sick joke? Sirsky and his team of crack homicide detectives follow the clues from an apparent suicide, to an apparent accident, to an all-out murder as an intricate machination starts breaking down. Just how far can despair push a man? How clear is the line between good and evil? For lovers of police procedurals, Molay masters the art of leading readers through the streets, cafés and hidden places in Paris, with "ratcheting suspense" (Cara Black). "The pace is perfect.”

[sufue]

Death at Charity's Point is the first in the enjoyable (at least I enjoyed the series in DTB days...) Brady Coyne series by William G. Tapply. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US (VIP/couponable).

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Death-Charity...dp/B00DZ4GTBM/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dea...harity-s-point

Spoiler:

A Boston lawyer investigates a prep school teacher’s suspicious suicide

Brady Coyne never meant to become the private lawyer to New England’s upper crust, but after more than a decade working for Florence Gresham and her friends, he has developed a reputation for discretion that the rich cannot resist. He is fond of Mrs. Gresham—unflappable, uncouth, and never tardy with a check—and he has seen her through her husband’s suicide and her first son’s death in Vietnam. But he has never seen her crack until the day her second son, George, leaps into the sea at jagged Charity’s Point.

The authorities call it a suicide, but Mrs. Gresham cannot believe her son, like his father, would take his own life. As Brady digs into the apparently blemish-free past of this upper-class prep school history teacher, he finds dark secrets. George Gresham may not have been suicidal, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t in trouble.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Bargain @ $1.99 from Soho Press, who have rotated their usually monthly offerings (couponable/VIP-discountable in Canada but not the US, should be the same price at all the other retailers in North America):

• The Thief by Japanese author Fuminori Nakamura (SYKM, Wikipedia). A literary noir crime thriller which won him the 2010 Kenzaburō Ōe Prize in its original Japanese. SYKM says this is the first in a set with a particular recurring character. At Kobo UK, this is priced at £1.99 from Little, Brown & Co.'s Corsair imprint.
• Getaway by Lisa Brackmann (SYKM), a vacation thriller where everything seems to go wrong for a newly-widowed woman who finds herself mixing up with the wrong crowd while trying to get away from it all. SYKM says this was also published as Day of the Dead under the variant credit of Lisa Brackman with one-N, and has a recently-written sequel.
• Converging Parallels by British author Timothy Williams (SYKM, Wikipedia), 1st in his Piero Trotti series starring a police commissioner in Northern Italy. SYKM says this was a finalist for the 1982 New Blood Dagger Award. This is £1.82 at Kobo UK, which seems a decent price (the sequels are £5.39 each); rights to most of Soho's series are owned by other imprints there.

They don't seem to have any tie-in sales for further works by the same authors this time around, but maybe they'll add some later.

Thank you for turning me on to an absolutely wonderful LITERARY author, Fuminori Nakamura. Based on your listing, I looked this over and purchased it and have now finished it.

Are you tired of reading genre fiction like the one below?

Scardlorgh Regneigh, of Sorfeld Valley, sheathed his short Burerd sword - and what a story that would be, Scardlorgh Regneigh thought, if only I had the time to tell it - a sword sharp and ridged and meant to decapitate the roaming Llurdsrogs who systematically plundered the Sorfeld Valley, as well as the surrounding country-side. The peaceful Grrrgss - short and dumpy though they might be and in possession of rolling wheels instead of legs and feet - were often the target by roaming bands of Llurdsrogs.

"What Ho! What be this?" Scardlorgh said in a high-pitched voice to no one particular, although he sometimes wondered if the land had ears.

Tired of reading that kind of crap, from crappy, lazy authors? -- Well, I am (even though I wrote it).

GIVE ME SOME LITERATURE!

If you're ready to put away your toys and clean your room, then I can highly recommend author Fuminori Nakamura.

(And by the way, my room is clean, except for a putrid zombie or two lying in the corner.)

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Bargain @ $1.99 from Soho Press, who have rotated their usually monthly offerings (couponable/VIP-discountable in Canada but not the US, should be the same price at all the other retailers in North America):

• The Thief by Japanese author Fuminori Nakamura (SYKM, Wikipedia). A literary noir crime thriller which won him the 2010 Kenzaburō Ōe Prize in its original Japanese. SYKM says this is the first in a set with a particular recurring character. At Kobo UK, this is priced at £1.99 from Little, Brown & Co.'s Corsair imprint.
• Getaway by Lisa Brackmann (SYKM), a vacation thriller where everything seems to go wrong for a newly-widowed woman who finds herself mixing up with the wrong crowd while trying to get away from it all. SYKM says this was also published as Day of the Dead under the variant credit of Lisa Brackman with one-N, and has a recently-written sequel.
• Converging Parallels by British author Timothy Williams (SYKM, Wikipedia), 1st in his Piero Trotti series starring a police commissioner in Northern Italy. SYKM says this was a finalist for the 1982 New Blood Dagger Award. This is £1.82 at Kobo UK, which seems a decent price (the sequels are £5.39 each); rights to most of Soho's series are owned by other imprints there.

They don't seem to have any tie-in sales for further works by the same authors this time around, but maybe they'll add some later.

Thief is $1.99 at Amazon as well.

I didn't check up on the others. Dr. Drib's praise of Nakamura pushed me into buying it to tide me over while waiting on the further adventures of Scardlorgh Regneigh and his short Burerd sword

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Thank you for turning me on to an absolutely wonderful LITERARY author, Fuminori Nakamura. Based on your listing, I looked this over and purchased it and have now finished it.

Dr. Drib, have you read Natsuo Karino's Out? Another literary Japanese crime novel. It's terrific. Unfortunately for some reason there's not yet an official e-version. (Her other translated books have been released, just not Out).

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Dr. Drib, have you read Natsuo Karino's Out? Another literary Japanese crime novel. It's terrific. Unfortunately for some reason there's not yet an official e-version. (Her other translated books have been released, just not Out).

YES! I love her writing.

I bought this in a trade paper edition and read it.

I've only read two of her novels.

Thank you for reminding me of her. I actually took this with me to Peru and it's still in my bookcase.

A GREAT novel.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

YES! I love her writing.

I bought this in a trade paper edition and read it.

I've only read two of her novels.

Thank you for reminding me of her. I actually took this with me to Peru and it's still in my bookcase.

A GREAT novel.

I picked up Grotesque and Real World based on how much I enjoyed Out. But I haven't read either yet.

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Thief is $1.99 at Amazon as well.

I didn't check up on the others. Dr. Drib's praise of Nakamura pushed me into buying it to tide me over while waiting on the further adventures of Scardlorgh Regneigh and his short Burerd sword

£1.99 in UK

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thief-Fumin...dp/B0085E7GTQ/

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I picked up Grotesque and Real World based on how much I enjoyed Out. But I haven't read either yet.

"Grotesque" was the first one I read by her. An INCREDIBLE book!