FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[sufue]

The Mayan Mask of Death is the first in the short (per SYKM) two-book Arla Vaughn series by sisters Loretta Jackson and Vickie Britton. It is free right now at Kindle US. I'm not totally sure about the status of "CreateSpace" as a publisher, but SYKM lists it, so I'm going with that.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Mayan-Mask-De...dp/B0722TJY44/

Spoiler:

When Arla Vaughn accepts the role of temporary Dean of Archaeology, the museum’s purchase of an elaborate Mayan mask seems an evil portent. The dual face, one side a handsome Mayan nobleman, the other side a skull-like visage with a glimmering obsidian eye represents the good and evil of mankind. Three years ago Jordan Lund’s wife was strangled on campus and he has devoted his life to finding her killer. When a second woman from Arla’s department is murdered in the same way, the police believe this is the work of a mysterious serial killer known as The Scarlet Strangler. But Arla soon links the brutal murders to the dig in Copan. Her investigation takes her to where the mystery has its roots, the Copan ruins in the jungles of Honduras. There, to uncover the truth, Arla must match wits with a killer as duplicitous as the Mayan Mask of Death.

Two other titles by Jackson and Britton are also free right now, but not listed in SYKM, so may be self-pub. One is a short story in the Jeff McQuede series, so probably wouldn't be listed on SYKM anyway, and the other is the 6th title in the same series, where SYKM only lists four titles, but since they are free I thought I'd add the links to this post. Please ignore if you're offended...
Loyalty (short story): https://www.amazon.com/Loyalty-Loret...dp/B00I0VQ31Q/
Crying Woman Bridge: https://www.amazon.com/Crying-Woman-...dp/B0167N4JEG/

[sufue]

Five Fun Female Sleuths is a box set (as usual, whatever that means on an e-reader ) with titles by Julie Smith, Adrienne Barbeau, Michaela Thompson and Tracy Whiting. It's a US Kindle Countdown Deal again, if you missed it back in 2016. It's at $0.99 for about 1 3/4 more days. Most of the titles have been on sale before, so check carefully before you buy.

Titles are:

• Smith: Louisiana Bigshot
• Smith: The Sourdough Wars
• Whiting: The 13th Fellow
• Barbeau: Love Bites
• Thompson: Paper Phoenix

More info and link in this previous post: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh....php?p=3383929

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by Mort1997

Free on Amazon UK today- Smoke and Mirrors by Leo McNeir

Spoiler:

It began as a simple process, the relocation of an ancient burial into the village churchyard. An injustice was being righted after 350 years...

But everything changes with the discovery of human remains on top of the earlier coffin. Whose body is it? How long has it been in the ground? Who put it there? For Marnie Walker this is all a mystery, but essentially someone else’s problem. Against her will and her better judgement she becomes drawn into the investigation at a time when the authorities begin taking steps to conceal the truth.

Meanwhile a major archaeological dig raises uncomfortable issues relating to witchcraft in and around the supposedly idyllic village where Marnie lives. And when bodies are found in shallow graves close to her canal-side home, the police demand answers to some tough questions.

With the arrival in the area of a bizarre boat and its strange owner, matters start to get out of hand. Conflicts ancient and modern clash and Marnie runs into problems of her own making that have the potential to ruin an important part of her life forever.

The final twists reveal that there are more secrets surrounding Marnie and those close to her than she or they had ever imagined. Once again in her life, nothing is quite what it seems…

UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Smoke-Mirro...ess+free+books

US
https://www.amazon.com/Smoke-Mirrors...ess+free+books

Au
https://www.amazon.com.au/Smoke-Mirr...ess+free+books

Can
https://www.amazon.ca/Smoke-Mirrors-...ess+free+books

Sounds good! Just downloaded.

[sufue]

Castang's City is the 5th in the Henri Castang series by Nicolas Freeling. It's a UK Kindle Countdown deal at £0.99 for about 2 1/4 more days.

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Castangs-Ci...dp/B00MA6YQ52/

Spoiler:

When a local official is gunned down in the street, Inspector Henri Castang is called in to investigate this brutal and public murder. Apparently an assassination, the crime smacks of a malice, premeditation, and political agenda.

But as Castang begins to question the victim’s colleagues and family, it seems the motive might be closer to home. The mystery only becomes more tangled when the official’s son turns up dead. What is this family involved in that has cost them two lives already?

Full of secrets and societies, blackmail and lies, can Castang solve this case before anyone else falls victim to this perverse plot?

[sufue]

Open Road US price drops, mostly Kindle US only, mostly to $1.99, unless otherwise indicated:

The Eighth Circle is a non-series title by Stanley Ellin, and per SYKM, it won the 1959 Edgar Award for Best Mystery: https://www.amazon.com/Eighth-Circle...dp/B00L2TDQHW/

The Great Merlini: The Complete Stories of the Magician Detective by Clayton Rawson is pretty much what it says it is - a collection of short stories featuring the Great Merlini: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Merlini...dp/B007ZHZYF2/

Stained Glass is the second in the Blackford Oakes series by William F. Buckley: https://www.amazon.com/Stained-Glass...dp/B0116EBXNG/

Paragon Walk is the third in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series by Anne Perry: https://www.amazon.com/Paragon-Walk-...dp/B0052ZDW8A/

The Gift Shop is a non-series title by Charlotte Armstrong: https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Shop-Cha...dp/B00729PUXO/

A couple of Margery Allingham titles:

The Beckoning Lady, apa The Estate of the Beckoning Lady: https://www.amazon.com/Beckoning-Lad...dp/B074FBYQTW/

Margery Allingham Box Set 2: Flowers for the Judge, Death of a Ghost, and The Case of the Late Pig is a great deal if you haven't already bought the individual titles: https://www.amazon.com/Margery-Allin...dp/B074FDLJNG/

continued later....

[sufue]

...continued

The Tragedy of Y is the 2nd in the Drury Lane series by Ellery Queen: https://www.amazon.com/Tragedy-Drury...dp/B00Z8POC5G/

The Timothy Files is the first title (a collection of short stories) in the Timothy Cone series by Lawrence Sanders: https://www.amazon.com/Timothy-Files...dp/B00B4V7T12/

Dying on the Vine is the 3rd in the Gourmet Detective series by Peter King: https://www.amazon.com/Dying-Vine-Go...dp/B0096LJSU2/

Quest is a non-series title by Richard Ben Sapir: https://www.amazon.com/Quest-Richard...dp/B0141UPCRU/

Fallen into the Pit is the first in the Felse series by Ellis Peters: https://www.amazon.com/Fallen-into-P...dp/B017X19UG8/

Murder at Monticello is the 15th in the Homer Kelly series by Jane Langton: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Montic...dp/B0078XH5LE/

The Saberdene Variations is a non-series title by Thomas Gifford, writing as Thomas Maxell: https://www.amazon.com/Saberdene-Var...dp/B008NXEMIM/

continued....

[sufue]

...continued

The Genuine Article is the second in the Sheriff Chick Charleston series by A. B. Guthrie, on sale at both Kindle and Kobo US:
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Sheri...dp/B00VN88A3M/
Kobo US (VIP/couponable): https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-genuine-article-2

The Pot Thief Who Studied Escoffier is the fourth in the Pot Thief series by J. Michael Orenduff - I am quite fond of this series, on sale at both Kindle and Kobo US:
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Thief-Studied...dp/B00HO12CSG/
Kobo US (coupon/VIPable): https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...died-escoffier

One Police Plaza is a non-series title by William Caunitz: https://www.amazon.com/One-Police-Pl...dp/B018A4M31G/

Baptism in Blood is the 14th in the Gregor Demarkian series by Jane Haddam: https://www.amazon.com/Baptism-Grego...dp/B00BERBMCS/

Death Bed is the second in the John Marshall Tanner series by Stephen Greenleaf: https://www.amazon.com/Death-John-Ma...dp/B019PQQIK0/

The Stately Home Murder, apa The Complete Steel, is the third in the C. D. Sloan series by Catherine Aird, one of my top five favorite series: https://www.amazon.com/Stately-Home-...dp/B00USNENQ6/

Sinister Heights is the 15th in the Amos Walker series by Loren D. Estleman: https://www.amazon.com/Sinister-Heig...dp/B014EM2YL2/

The Graving Dock is the second in the Jack Leightner series by Gabriel Cohen: https://www.amazon.com/Graving-Dock-...dp/B00HVPI1D0/

Silence in Court is a non-series title by Patricia Wentworth: https://www.amazon.com/Silence-Court...dp/B01BXW8G4A/

...whew, done for now!

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by sufue

...

Fallen into the Pit is the first in the Felse series by Ellis Peters: https://www.amazon.com/Fallen-into-P...dp/B017X19UG8/

Oooh, I almost missed this, embedded in there so sneakily! Thanks!

[rbruce1314]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Oooh, I almost missed this, embedded in there so sneakily! Thanks!

Post deleted

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by rbruce1314

OTOH, I bought it when (very) cheap a couple of weeks ago as part of the whole series (gotta start at book 1 aincha?!) and couldn't get past Chapter 2: written in 1951 it had so much (now) totally offensive material (pro-Nazi/anti-Semitic) that I just couldn't stomach any more. <snip> Of its time perhaps but IMHO no place for it in 2017even if it is fiction.

I have to disagree with your judgement. I didn't read it as pro-Nazi at all. Quite the reverse.

There is an ex-POW German character who is a Nazi. But he's shown to be a nasty piece of work.

I think it's very interesting as a contemporary depiction (in fiction) of post-war British life.

[cc_in_oh]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I have to disagree with your judgement. I didn't read it as pro-Nazi at all. Quite the reverse.

There is an ex-POW German character who is a Nazi. But he's shown to be a nasty piece of work.

I think it's very interesting as a contemporary depiction (in fiction) of post-war British life.

It sounds interesting to me - do you think it would appeal to a Foyle's War fan?

[sufue]

Alistair MacLean Arctic Chillers 4-Book Collection: Night Without End, Ice Station Zebra, Bear Island, Athabasca is pretty much what it says it is . It has dropped to $9.99 at Kindle US ($11.99 at Kobo US as of now). Bear Island and Athabasca are long-term $1.99 at Kindle US, but the other two are more ($4.99 for Ice Station Zebra and $5.49 for Night Without End) so the bundle may or may not be a deal, depending on whether you want/need all four or not.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Alistair-MacL...dp/B00GLGXN7Y/
Kobo US (for price check): https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/ali...land-athabasca

Spoiler:

Four classic tales of adventure in the frozen north, from the master of action and suspense, available for the first time in this e-bundle. Discover why Alistair MacLean was the most popular thriller writer of his generation in these four classic stories of the frozen north – a deadly military submarine mission in the Arctic Ocean, a murder mystery in the darkness of the Polar night,a terrorist-induced plane crash in Iceland, and high-stakes sabotage in the pipelines of the Alaskan oil fields… Night Without End – An airliner crashes in the polar ice-cap 400 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The ten survivors seek refuge at a remote scientific research station In temperatures 40 degrees below freezing. But which of them killed the pilot before the crash, and why? Ice Station Zebra – The atomic submarine Dolphin has impossible orders: locate and rescue the men of weather-station Zebra, gutted by fire and drifting in the ice floes north of the Arctic Circle. But the orders do not say that the fire was sabotage, and that one of the survivors is a killer… Bear Island – A film crew sails north to a barren Arctic island – with a killer on board. As passengers and crew start dying, a wartime graveyard of ships and men explodes in violence once more… Athabasca – Two of the most important oil fields in the world have been sabotaged: one in Canada, the other in Alaska. As targets fall, a deadly and efficient enemy is intent on causing the utmost destruction.

[sufue]

Glad you spotted it!

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Oooh, I almost missed this, embedded in there so sneakily! Thanks!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

It sounds interesting to me - do you think it would appeal to a Foyle's War fan?

I like both, so probably yes?

[sufue]

Chosen for Death is the first in the Thea Kozak series by Kate Flora. It has dropped to $0.99 at Kindle and Kobo (VIP/couponable) US. There are mulitple editions out there, so check carefully before you buy.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Death-...dp/B01DXDW9KY/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/cho...-series-book-1

Spoiler:

Tragically widowed, Thea Kozak is tall, brave, and trying to rebuild her life.

Then her little sister is murdered in a picturesque Maine town. The police have no leads. Her grieving parents are eager to put everything behind them, and Thea--"little mother" to her adopted sister--refuses to back down. Not when she can do one more thing for Carrie: find the killer and get justice for her little sister.

But the truth behind Carrie and her adoption proves ugly, and her killer steadfastly believes family secrets must be kept silent.