FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[sufue]

Now $0.99 at Kindle US. Both links below are still good, but it's $1.99 at Kobo US.

Originally Posted by sufue

Paper Doll is the 20th in the Spenser series by Robert B. Parker. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Doll-Sp...dp/B005F4CCY8/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/paper-doll-1

[sufue]

Savage Liberty is the fifth and most recent (2018) in Eliot Pattison's Duncan McCallum series. It has dropped to $0.99 at Kindle and Kobo US (coupon/VIPable).

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0757FGN6K
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/savage-liberty-1

Spoiler:

The fifth entry in Eliot Pattison's Bone Rattler series follows the exiled Scotsman Duncan McCallum along a tortuous path that will lead him to the American Revolution

When a ship arriving from London explodes in Boston Harbor, both the peace of the colonial city and Duncan McCallum’s life are shattered. Summoned by his new friend John Hancock to a beach awash with the bodies of the victims, Duncan discovers that the ship was deliberately sabotaged, apparently to cover the theft by French agents provocateurs of a secret document being carried to the Sons of Liberty. Hancock refuses to let him take his evidence to the authorities, for this is 1768 and relations with the government are so sour that officials are being hanged in effigy.

Fearing that the intrigues of Hancock and the Sons might set the colonies ablaze, Duncan relentlessly pursues the truth, only to be falsely charged with treason and murder. To escape the hangman’s noose and restore his honor, Duncan has no choice but to follow a northbound trail of violence and deception while being relentlessly hounded by bountymen and vengeful soldiers. With the help of unexpected new friends, including Ethan Allen, aged natives, and outlawed Jesuits, he survives scalp hunters, imprisonment, and his own spiritual crisis, only to realize he cannot resolve the terrible crimes until he first understands the emerging truths about freedom in the American colonies.

[sufue]

Free again (not $0.99) for the second time - that I've noticed, anyway. Last time it was only free for a day or so, so grab it fast if you want it.

Originally Posted by sufue

Julie Smith's books rotate through $0.99 and sometimes even free so often that there even used to be a thread on here just for her books. So if you're interested, you probably already have all of these titles. But...five books for $0.99 is pretty good if you don't have them, so...

Rebecca Schwartz Complete Set: Five Funny Cozy Mysteries is what it says it is - an omnibus of the five titles in Smith's Schwartz series. I've read and enjoyed all of them back in DTB days.

BTW, the $0.99 price is a US Kindle Countdown deal for about 19 more hours.

Titles are:

• Death Turns a Trick
• The Sourdough Wars
• Tourist Trap
• Dead in the Water
• Other People's Skeletons

link: https://www.amazon.com/Rebecca-Schwa...dp/B00QT7U5QM/

[sufue]

Maigret Enjoys Himself is somewhere around the 50th title in Georges Simenon's Maigret series, depending on who's doing the counting and what they choose to count. Per the blurb, Penguin is apparently going to re-publish with new translations, and (which really annoys me) new titles. This one was originally Maigret's Little Joke, or None of Maigret's Business, or if you prefer the original French, Maigret s’amuse.

Whatever they're called, Maigret titles don't go on sale very often in English, so grab it if you want it - it's £0.99 today as part of the Kindle UK Daily Deal.

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07473FJN4/

Spoiler:

Inspector Maigret is meant to be taking a holiday, but he can't resist following the development of his colleague Janvier's case in the papers - and playing a few tricks on the way.

Standing here at the window in the middle of the morning, vaguely observing the comings and goings in the street, he had a feeling that reminded of certain days in his childhood, when his mother was still alive and he was off school because he had the 'flu or it was the end of term. It was the feeling of finding out 'what went on when he wasn't there'.

Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret's Little Joke.

'His artistry is supreme' John Banville

'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories' Guardian'

[sufue]

Again at $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US. Links below are still good. No longer the most recent in the series, though.

Originally Posted by sufue

Racing the Devil is the most recent (2017) in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series by Charles Todd. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Racing-Devil-...dp/B01G1FJVBQ/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/racing-the-devil-1

[sufue]

If you bought the first Gideon Oliver omnibus back in October, you might be ready for the second by now. If so, you're in luck - it has dropped to $3.99 at Kindle and Kobo US (coupon/VIPable).

It's not very imaginatively titled, The Gideon Oliver Mysteries Volume Two (but the books are great), and contains:

• Curses!
• Icy Clutches
• Make No Bones

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JPZZHXK
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...ies-volume-two

Originally Posted by sufue

Since they're now pub by Open Road in the US, lots and lots of titles in the excellent (IMO) Gideon Oliver series by Aaron Elkins have been on sale before at various prices. However, here's a particularly good deal if you've never tried the series, and like reading in order - the first four titles in the series are on sale in an omnibus for $3.03 at Kindle US. Assuming you don't have any of them, this works out to $0.76 per book, which is about as good as you're going to get without freebies, which Open Road doesn't do often (other than their freebie-thon around the holidays a couple of years ago). I actually don't think the first two titles are are a great representation of the rest of the series, although they do give some good background, and are not bad at all - just not among my favorites, and they don't showcase Gideon as "Skeleton Detective" as much as the later titles. But I love the next two, especially Old Bones, since I am a push-over for mysteries set in France.

The Gideon Oliver Mysteries Volume One: Fellowship of Fear, The Dark Place, Murder in the Queen’s Armes, and Old Bones: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CMDXW7X

[sufue]

The Mordecai Tremaine series by Francis Duncan (pen name for William Underhill) was originally published in the 1940's and 1950's. It is now being reissued, but Sourcebooks has a different idea of the order than SYKM. In this case, I'm going with SYKM, which has them listed in original publication order, so this would be the fourth in the series, rather than the first, as in the blurb.

In any case, Murder for Christmas has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle and Kobo US (coupon/VIPable).

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072JHLQ8L/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/murder-for-christmas-1

Spoiler:

The first book in a classic Golden Age mystery series perfect for fans of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot

When Mordecai Tremaine arrives at the country retreat of one Benedict Grame on Christmas Eve, he discovers that the revelries are in full swing in the sleepy village of Sherbroome—but so too are tensions amongst the assortment of guests.

When midnight strikes, the partygoers discover that presents aren't the only things nestled under the tree...there's a dead body too. A dead body that bears a striking resemblance to Father Christmas. With the snow falling and suspicions flying, it's up to Mordecai to sniff out the culprit—and prevent anyone else from getting murder for Christmas.

Murder for Christmas is a festive mystery for the holiday season: mulled wine, mince pies... and murder.

[sufue]

The Devil's Cave is the fifth in the excellent (IMO) Bruno series by Martin Walker. It has dropped to £0.99 at Kindle UK.

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007C4G0CO

Spoiler:

'A satisfyingly intriguing, wish-you-were-here read' Guardian

A body is found showing marks of Satanism. Bruno, chief of police must track down a murderer while quelling his town's superstitious fears in this charming mystery, part of an internationally bestselling series

It is springtime France's Périgord, a time of beauty and calm. But not for Bruno, chief of police of the small town of St Denis. A woman's body has been found on a boat, bearing signs of a black magic ritual.

Bruno has too much on his plate as it is - mediating a domestic abuse case that needs careful handling and a dodgy local development proposal that seems just too good to be true.

But a murder case must take precedent and the roots of this one lie buried deep in the past - linked to a chateau above a bend in the river, to the reclusive old woman who lives there, and to the secret hidden in the Devil's Cave.

'A first-rate mystery' Entertainment Weekly

[sufue]

A Man Without Breath is the ninth in the Bernie Gunther series by Philip Kerr. It has dropped to £0.99 at Kindle UK.

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00B83PL5C

Spoiler:

'One of the greatest anti-heroes ever written' LEE CHILD

Berlin, March 1943. The mood in Germany is bleak after their stunning defeat at Stalingrad. Private Investigator Bernie Gunther is at work in the German War Crimes Bureau - weary, cynical but well aware of the value of truth in a world where that's now a rarity.

When human remains are found deep in the Katyn Forest, Bernie is sent to investigate. Rumour has it that this mass grave is full of Polish officers murdered by the Russians. For Josef Goebbels, proof of Russian involvement is sure to destroy the Western Alliance, giving Germany a chance to reverse its devastating losses. But supposing the truth is far more damaging to the German cause?

It's Bernie Gunther's job to give Goebbels what he needs. But when there's nothing left for Gunther to lose, the compulsion to speak the truth becomes ever stronger...

[sufue]

Now £0.99 at Kindle UK (not the most recent anymore, either): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07JZNVK7W

Originally Posted by sufue

Blood of the Oak is the fourth and most recent in the Duncan McCallum series by Elliot Pattison. It has dropped to $3.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Oak-Mys...dp/B01C6D0KLM/

[sufue]

Aunty Lee's Chilled Revenge is the third in Ovidia Yu's Aunty Lee series. As @ATDrake mentions upthread, this is a pretty cozy cozy series, but set in an interesting locale, Singapore, and really gives a nice sense of the characters, and I've enjoyed all four titles in the series. And, having just come back from a business trip to Singapore, the foodie tidbits sprinkled throughout turned out to be rather useful . Revenge has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011IT5AU6
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/aun...hilled-revenge

Spoiler:

Rosie “Aunty” Lee—feisty widow, amateur sleuth and proprietor of Singapore’s best-loved home cooking restaurant—is back in another delectable, witty mystery set in Singapore.

Slightly hobbled by a twisted ankle, crime-solving restaurateur Aunty Lee begrudgingly agrees to take a rest from running her famous café, Aunty Lee’s Delights, and turns over operations to her friend and new business partner Cherril.

The café serves as a meeting place for an animal rescue society that Cherril once supported. They were forced to dissolve three years earlier after a British expat killed the puppy she’d adopted, sparking a firestorm of scandal. The expat, Allison Fitzgerald, left Singapore in disgrace, but has returned with an ax to grind (and a lawsuit). At the café one afternoon, Cherril receives word that Allison has been found dead in her hotel—and foul play is suspected. When a veterinarian, who was also involved in the scandal, is found dead, suspicion soon falls on the animal activists. What started with an internet witch hunt has ended in murder—and in a tightly knit, law-and-order society like Singapore, everyone is on edge.

Before anyone else gets hurt—and to save her business—Aunty Lee must get to the bottom of what really happened three years earlier, and figure out who is to be trusted in this tangled web of scandal and lies.

[sufue]

Where Roses Never Die is the 18th in the Varg Veum series by Gunnar Staalesen, but unfortunately, for those of us who don't Norwegian, at least, only a few (somewhat random) titles in the series have been translated into English. This one has been, and is $0.99 at Kindle US right now.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XRF9X5Z

Spoiler:

September 1977. Mette Misvær, a three-year-old girl, disappears without trace from the sandpit outside her home. Her tiny, close middle-class community in the tranquil suburb of Nordas is devastated, but their enquiries and the police produce nothing. Curtains twitch, suspicions are raised, but Mette is never found. Almost 25 years later, as the expiration date for the statute of limitations draws near, Mette's mother approaches PI Varg Veum, in a last, desperate attempt to find out what happened to her daughter. As Veum starts to dig, he uncovers an intricate web of secrets, lies and shocking events that have been methodically concealed. When another brutal incident takes place, a pattern begins to emerge. Chilling, shocking and full of extraordinary twists and turns, Where Roses Never Die reaffirms Gunnar Staalesen as one of the world's foremost crime thriller writers.

[sufue]

Nerves of Steel is the first in the Hart and Drake series by CJ Lyons. I'm not totally sure about Edgy Reads as a publisher, but SYKM lists it, and although not to my taste, Lyons is a pretty established author with other traditionally published titles, so I'm falling down on the side of posting. Also, it's free at Kindle US, so if you hate it, just delete...

link: https://www.amazon.com/Nerves-Steel-...dp/B002WPZUX8/

Spoiler:

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author CJ Lyons:

“A perfect blend of romance and suspense. My kind of read.” –#1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown

Dr. Cassandra Hart is fighting a war. And losing. A deadly drug epidemic, a killer stalking her hospital…meet the ER doctor who never gives up.

Cassie’s Pittsburgh ER has been deluged by young patients who have overdosed on a new drug, FX. After Cassie discovers that the source of the FX on the streets is her own hospital, her best friend is killed, and Cassie's life is threatened. She is forced to place her trust in Detective Mickey Drake.

Drake's irascible charm eventually penetrates the barriers Cassie has built around herself, and their relationship progresses from professional to passionate. After Cassie discovers the truth behind the thefts, she and Drake must confront a killer. In the end, their only weapons are their new found love and the courage that it gives them.

Written by a pediatric ER physician, NERVES OF STEEL combines gritty realism with the adrenaline rush of the ER. New York Times Bestseller CJ Lyons uses her insider’s knowledge of life behind the scenes to reveal the hidden truth of the medical world: No one is immune to danger.

[sufue]

Another in what is sure to soon become a bunch of holiday-themed sale prices...

The Ghost of Christmas Past is the 17th and most recent (2017) in the Molly Murphy series by Rhys Bowen. It has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071V56DLF
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...ristmas-past-9

Spoiler:

From Rhys Bowen, the author of In Farleigh Field, comes the next Molly Murphy mystery: The Ghost of Christmas Past.

Semi-retired private detective Molly Murphy Sullivan is suffering from depression after a miscarriage following her adventure in San Francisco during the earthquake of 1906. She and her husband, Daniel, are invited for Christmas at a mansion on the Hudson, and they gratefully accept, expecting a peaceful and relaxing holiday season. Not long after they arrive, however, they start to feel the tension in the house’s atmosphere. Then they learn that the host couple's young daughter wandered out into the snow ten years ago and was never seen again. Molly can identify with the mother's pain at never knowing what happened to her child and wants to help, but there is so little to go on. No ransom note. No body ever found. But Molly slowly begins to suspect that the occupants of the house know more than they are letting on. Then, on Christmas Eve, there is a knock at the door and a young girl stands there. "I'm Charlotte," she says. "I've come home."

[sufue]

The City of Shadows is the first in the Stefan Gillespie series by Michael Russell. It has dropped to £0.99 at Kindle UK.

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007WOC3EI

Spoiler:

Longlisted for the CWA John Creasy New Blood Dagger Award 2013 and shortlisted for CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger Award 2014

‘She looked up at the terraced house, with the closed shutters and the big room at the end of the long unlit corridor where the man who smiled too much did his work. She climbed the steps and knocked on the door…’

Dublin 1934: Detective Stefan Gillespie arrests a German doctor and encounters Hannah Rosen desperate to find her friend Susan, a Jewish woman who had become involved with a priest, and has now disappeared.

When the bodies of a man and woman are found buried in the Dublin mountains, it becomes clear that this case is about more than a missing person. Stefan and Hannah trace the evidence all the way across Europe to Danzig.

In a strange city where the Nazi Party are gaining power, Stefan and Hannah are inching closer to the truth and soon find themselves in grave danger…