FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by BetterRead

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson is currently $1.99 at Amazon US.

https://www.amazon.com/Kind-Worth-Ki...dp/B00JOFW596/

I thoroughly enjoyed this one when I read it a few years ago. Though it seems at the start to be little more than a variation on Strangers on a Train, it soon twists off in increasingly wild directions.

I'll add my recommendation; it's got a stylish Hitchcock/Highsmith vibe. I've enjoyed Swanson's two other thrillers as well--The Girl With a Clock for a Heart and Her Every Fear, but this one is the best.

[sufue]

Troubled Deaths is the third in the Inspector Alvarez series by Roderic Jeffries. It is a US Kindle Countdown deal at $0.99 for about 6 1/4 more days.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Troubled-Deat...dp/B0761V7ZCN/

Spoiler:

“Mr. Jeffries has created a neat plot, inserted a wry twist at the end and has written all this with a good deal of charm” -
Newgate Callendar, New York Times Book Review

Cognac, Mallorca, Murder; He's back.

After escaping from his modest English life, Geoffrey Freeman was now the owner of a seven-million-peseta home, enjoying the expatriate way of life in Mallorca. It's a life of leisure, wine and dining, until Freeman falls suddenly and fatally ill. Cholera is the initial verdict, but when the cause of death is confirmed to be poison, Inspector Alvarez is called upon to investigate the case.

All signs point to the love-sick spinster, Mabel Striggs, who surreptitiously helped Freeman embezzle funds out of England, after which - and in recompense, Freeman had wanted nothing to do with her.

What appears to be a straightforward case is soon blown wide-open as Mabel falls victim to the poison and Alvarez must whittle down a whole host of suspects, not least of all the enchanting Caroline Durrel: the object of Alvarez's hopeless infatuation.

Rife with twists and turns, Troubled Deaths will keep you guessing 'whodunit' till the very end.

[ReadingManiac]

A Spark of Justice by J.D. Hawkins is on sale on Kindle for .99

US https://www.amazon.com/Spark-Justice.../dp/B014AB4BYU
UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spark-Justi.../dp/B014AB4BYU

Worth reading for the glimpse behind the scenes at the circus alone!

[Little.Egret]

Endeavour, Free


The Sherlock Holmes Casebook: An Omnibus by Val Andrews


SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE THEATRE OF DEATH

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE YULE-TIDE MYSTERY

SHERLOCK HOLMES AT THE VARIETIES

Val Andrews (15 February 1926 – 12 December 2006) was a music hall artist, ventriloquist and writer. Andrews was a prolific writer on magic, and authored Sherlock Holmes pastiches.


https://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holm...dp/B073JTHCX4/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sherlock-Ho...dp/B073JTHCX4/

https://www.amazon.ca/Sherlock-Holme...dp/B073JTHCX4/

[sufue]

Jade Dragon Mountain is the first in the short two-book (for now, at least) Li Du series by Elsa Hart. It is a US Kindle daily deal today for $2.99. It looks to be very much the sort of thing I like, so if I like it, I hope the second one will drop in price some time too...

link: https://www.amazon.com/Jade-Dragon-M...dp/B00TDRJ96W/

Spoiler:

On the mountainous border of China and Tibet in 1708, a detective must learn what a killer already knows: that empires rise and fall on the strength of the stories they tell.

Li Du was an imperial librarian. Now he is an exile. Arriving in Dayan, the last Chinese town before the Tibetan border, he is surprised to find it teeming with travelers, soldiers, and merchants. All have come for a spectacle unprecedented in this remote province: an eclipse of the sun commanded by the Emperor himself.

When a Jesuit astronomer is found murdered in the home of the local magistrate, blame is hastily placed on Tibetan bandits. But Li Du suspects this was no random killing. Everyone has secrets: the ambitious magistrate, the powerful consort, the bitter servant, the irreproachable secretary, the East India Company merchant, the nervous missionary, and the traveling storyteller who can't keep his own story straight.

Beyond the sloping roofs and festival banners, Li Du can see the mountain pass that will take him out of China forever. He must choose whether to leave, and embrace his exile, or to stay, and investigate a murder that the town of Dayan seems all too willing to forget.

[sufue]

Prince of Darkness is the fourth in the far-too-short four-book Justin de Quincy series by Sharon Kay Penman, who is (much) better known for her straight (i.e. not mystery) historical fiction. I adore this series, and wish there were more, although Penman, who is pretty active on social media, and one of the few authors I follow, has indicated that if she did another de Quincy title it would be a labor of love, because her regular historical fiction sells/pays a lot better. This is series is up in my top ten, probably even my top five, so I keep hoping...

In any case, Prince has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US, and it's pretty rare for her titles to go on sale, so if you think you might be interested, I'd grab it. I'm trying to think back whether you need to have read the first 3 titles to enjoy this one, but I have re-read these enough that it is hard for me to decide - sorry!

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Prince-Darkne...dp/B001JJWIAG/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/prince-of-darkness-3

Spoiler:

The Edgar®-nominated author of the medieval mysteries featuring Justin de Quincy places the Queen’s Man far from home—and in the presence of a most cunning foe...

Justin de Quincy has been lured to Paris by his nemesis, Prince John, on a mission of mercy. The prince is suspected in a plot to kill his brother, King Richard. Despite John’s hunger for the crown, he’s unwilling to put himself at risk for regicide—and he wants Justin’s help in discrediting the document that implicates him.

Justin only concedes to John’s request when he realizes that the welfare of the woman he serves, Eleanor of Aquitaine, is also at risk. It is a concession that will take him to a bloody chamber at Mont St Michel, to a putrid dungeon in Brittany, to a murderous encounter in a Paris cemetery, and to the unraveling of a conspiracy that might have changed the course of English history.

[sufue]

And now for royalty of another era:

Royal Blood is the fourth in the almost-too-cute, but just stays, for me, at least, on the good side of cuteness, Royal Spyness series by Rhys Bowen. Apparently a few other folks agree with me, because the series has picked up a quite a few nominations/wins of various awards. (There is a bit of seriousness in the way it deals with the tensions of the time leading up to WWII.) It features Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, 34th (more or less) in line to the throne and perpetually flat-broke, who ends up doing various little "favors", that somehow always turn into crime investigations, for Queen Mary.

Blood has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Royal-Blood-S...dp/B00400NHOW/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/royal-blood-2

Spoiler:

A royal wedding brings Lady Georgiana Rannoch to Transylvania and lands her in a truly draining state of affairs in the fourth mystery in the New York Times bestselling Royal Spyness series.

London, 1932. With her hateful brother Binky in town, Georgie has been desperately seeking an escape. So when an invitation from the Queen of England arrives asking her to represent the royals at a wedding in Transylvania—legendary home of vampires—she's delighted to accept. But when the bride starts acting a little batty and a prominent wedding guest is poisoned, something must be done lest the couple's vows become "till undeath do they part..."

[sufue]

Constable at the Dam is the 21st in the Constable Nick series by Nicholas Rhea. It is a US Kindle Countdown deal at $0.99 for about 6 1/2 more days.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Constable-Dam...dp/B0765W6D1P/

Spoiler:

‘These books… do for the police service in north Yorkshire what James Herriot did for vets there… Very relaxing, very readable.’ – Manchester Evening News

When Sergeant Blaketon learns of the Swanland Corporation’s plan to build a reservoir in a beautiful valley near Aidensfield he is more than a little concerned. The project, he is convinced, will result in drunken brawls between construction workers and the local men, competition for and among the local women, and a general disruption of village life.

As work gets under way, however, the community of Aidensfield remains relatively unchanged. But as PC Nick patrols his beat he becomes aware that, for some, the dam cannot help but have its effect. Local artist Gordon Precious and his glamorous wife Deidre seem to have to be heading for stormy waters and teenagers Elaine and Denise have developed an alarming fascination with the construction site…

A charming chronicle of life as a young Yorkshire bobby, the Constable stories are the inspiration behind the immensely popular television series, Heartbeat.

‘Recommended if it’s laughter you’re after’ – Bolton Evening News

‘Richly entertaining’ – Yorkshire Evening Post

[sufue]

Now only £0.49 at Kindle UK...

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mrs-Rooseve...dp/B00TCI48OA/

Originally Posted by sufue

Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante is the 5th in the Maggie Hope series by Susan Elia Macneal, and was a finalist for a couple of awards. I've read and enjoyed several of the titles in this series. Confidante has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US. The titles in this series are usually over $10, so if you are working your way through the series, or otherwise think you might want it, you might grab it now!

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Roosevelt...dp/B00TCI48OA/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Qu...27s+Confidante

[sufue]

Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree is the 16th in the Aunt Dimity series by Nancy Atherton. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US. I've read and liked the first few titles in this almost-too-cute series back in DTB days, but then when I started moving to ebooks, these were too expensive (mostly $8 and up, even for backlist) and almost never on sale, so I quit reading. I may try this one to see if I still like the series.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Aunt-Dimity-F...dp/B004FPYZDE/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/aun...he-family-tree

Spoiler:

The gentle spirit's sixteenth adventure is a New York Times bestseller and as "cozy and charming as a cup of Earl Grey" (Bookpage.com). And watch out for Nancy Atherton's latest, Aunt Dimity and the Widow's Curse, coming in May 2017 from Viking!

After a dizzying time Down Under, Lori Shepherd returns to Finch and finds that her wealthy father-in-law, William Willis, Sr., has just purchased a splendid ten-acre estate nearby. While William fends off local ladies intent on romance, Lori oversees the painstaking restoration of a peculiar painting found during renovations. It's nothing Lori can't handle-until moving furniture, strange sounds, and the theft of the painting prompt her to call on Aunt Dimity for help uncovering the estate's shadowy past.

[Little.Egret]

Golden Age, Free (only one available in US)

Music Tells All: A Bobby Owen Mystery by E.R. Punshon

Blindfold: A Golden Age Mystery by Patricia Wentworth

Red Shadow: A Golden Age Mystery by Patricia Wentworth

Outrageous Fortune: A Golden Age Mystery by Patricia Wentworth


https://www.amazon.com/s/?url=search...r=dean+street*

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?url=sear...r=dean+street*

https://www.amazon.ca/s/?url=search-...r=dean+street*

[Kacetwo]

Black Widow by Chris Brookmyre is 99p today on Kindle as one of Amazon UKs deal of the day.

A great book IMHO and as it won Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize for Crime Novel of the Year probably by others as well

Did she do it? Did he deserve it?

Diana Jager is clever, strong and successful, a skilled surgeon and fierce campaigner via her blog about sexism. Yet it takes only hours for her life to crumble when her personal details are released on the internet as revenge for her writing.

Then she meets Peter. He's kind, generous, and knows nothing about her past: the second chance she's been waiting for.

Within six months, they are married. Within six more, Peter is dead in a road accident, a nightmare end to their fairytale romance.

But Peter's sister Lucy doesn't believe in fairytales, and tasks maverick reporter Jack Parlabane with discovering the dark truth behind the woman the media is calling Black Widow...

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by Kacetwo

Black Widow by Chris Brookmyre is 99p today on Kindle as one of Amazon UKs deal of the day.

A great book IMHO and as it won Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize for Crime Novel of the Year probably by others as well

Did she do it? Did he deserve it?

Available in Kindle US for $1.99
Diana Jager is clever, strong and successful, a skilled surgeon and fierce campaigner via her blog about sexism. Yet it takes only hours for her life to crumble when her personal details are released on the internet as revenge for her writing.

Then she meets Peter. He's kind, generous, and knows nothing about her past: the second chance she's been waiting for.

Within six months, they are married. Within six more, Peter is dead in a road accident, a nightmare end to their fairytale romance.

But Peter's sister Lucy doesn't believe in fairytales, and tasks maverick reporter Jack Parlabane with discovering the dark truth behind the woman the media is calling Black Widow...

Available in Kindle US for $1.99

And for $1.79 on Kobo

[sufue]

Past Crimes: A Compendium of Historical Mysteries contains three novellas in three different series by Jennifer Ashley/Ashley Gardner (pen name). It is free right now at Kindle and Kobo US. I've read and enjoyed Gardner's Captain Lacey series since DTB days, so am looking forward to a chance to try some of her other mystery series.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Past-Crimes-C...dp/B073ZJRJKC/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/past-crimes-6

Spoiler:

Step into the past through three historical mysteries that reach from Imperial Rome to Victorian London.

A Soupçon of Poison (Kat Holloway Victorian Mysteries)
Kat Holloway, a young cook, highly sought after by the wealthy of Victorian London, becomes embroiled in murder and must clear her name. Only the mysterious Daniel McAdam, who is much more than he seems, can come to her aid.

Blood Debts (Leonidas the Gladiator Mysteries)
Leonidas, freedman, once the most popular gladiator in Rome and champion of the games, now must fight for his life outside the arena. A man who owed him money was murdered, and Leonidas is a prime suspect. With the assistance of Cassia, daughter of a Greek scribe who has been bestowed upon him as his slave, Leonidas fights for justice in the back lanes of Imperial Rome.

The Necklace Affair (Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries)
Captain Lacey agrees to help a society matron discover what has become of her cherished diamond necklace and to clear her maid, who has been arrested for its theft. Lacey quickly becomes enmeshed in scandal and past secrets, and finds himself competing with the underworld criminal, James Denis, for the necklace's retrieval.

[sufue]

The 20th Anniversary Special Edition of Power in the Blood, the first title in the John Jordan series by Michael Lister, is now also free at Kindle and Kobo US, so if you want the revisions, and the intro by Michael Connelly, you can go for it now...

(The non-anniversary edition has been a long term freebie, and remains free also.)

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Blood-S...dp/B01NBY7L7L/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/spe...r-in-the-blood

Originally Posted by sufue

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Also worth noting that the first in this series, Power in the Blood, is a long term freebie, but be careful not to get the special "anniversary" edition, which is not free.
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Blood-J...dp/B004GEAMV8/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/power-in-the-blood-11

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