FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[Tarana]

Here's a couple of free ones.


Hunt For Justice: Judge Willa Carson Books 1 - 2 - Diane Capri
https://www.amazon.com/Hunt-Justice-...7&_bbtype=blog

Sean Costello - Squall
https://www.amazon.com/Squall-Sean-C...&keywords=free

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by sufue

Dark Sacred Night is the most recent (2018) in the Harry Bosch (and Ballard) series by Michael Connelly. It has dropped to £0.99 as part of the UK Kindle Daily Deal.

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B079753GG4/

Originally Posted by melmac

Great Deal! I really enjoyed this it brought a freshness to the Bosch novels definitely in the top couple of entries in the series. As always Sufue great job, thank you so much for the work you do

Originally Posted by sufue

YW! I figured someone(s) would like this one on sale. It's always nice when a most-recent title goes on sale, however briefly, at a good price! Glad you enjoyed it.

Drat - title not available for purchase yet in the USA.

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Return of the Thin Man - Dashiell Hammett - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DYICJG

$1.79 VIP price at Kobo

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Here's a couple of free ones.

Sean Costello - Squall

Thanks for that. I have several of Sean Costello's horror novels.

I don't know why, but that quote This book is RATED-R FOR LANGUAGE by the publisher made me smile "I can handle murder and mayhem, but there'd best not be salty language!"

[mitford13]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Drat - title not available for purchase yet in the USA.

It did come out in the US in October, it’s just not part of the UK sale.
(IIRC, it was briefly down to $4.99 for Black Friday, you may want to track at ereaderiq for future drops.)

Edit to clarify: on sale in UK, not US

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by mitford13

It did come out in the US in October, it’s just not part of the UK sale.
(IIRC, it was briefly down to $4.99 for Black Friday, you may want to track at ereaderiq for future drops.)

Edit to clarify: on sale in UK, not US

Eeenteresting. When I search for the title (in USA) it does come up. Originally, I just changed .co.uk to .com and used the same item number -- figuring that it would either work, or not work and find nothing. It did come up with the book, so I thought it had worked. Maybe that was the UK's version of the book, specific to that amazon number.

[sufue]

Now $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0024NP560
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-fire-5

Per SYKM and the blurb, this was the 2005 Historical Dagger Award winner.

Originally Posted by sufue

Dark Fire is the second in the Shardlake series by C. J. Sansom. It has dropped to £0.98 at Kindle UK.

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Fire-S...dp/B003O86FLI/

[sufue]

Fifteen titles by Martin Cruz Smith have dropped to £0.99 each at Kindle UK. Several Arkady Renko, a couple Roman Grey, some non-series...

Link for them all: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/?...price-asc-rank

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by sufue

Fifteen titles by Martin Cruz Smith have dropped to £0.99 each at Kindle UK. Several Arkady Renko, a couple Roman Grey, some non-series...

Link for them all: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/?...price-asc-rank

Wow - thank you! One of my favourite authors.

[sufue]

An omnibus of both titles in this series (The 13th Fellow and Paris-a-Go-Go) is free right now at both Kindle US and Kindle UK. I wish Whiting would write more titles in this series.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Havilah-Gaie-...dp/B07KTN6VB1/
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07KTN6VB1

Spoiler:

MURDER IN PROVENCE – with a riveting second act in Paris.

It’s An American in Paris meets Wait Until Dark, wherein author Tracy Whiting serves up a refreshing international cozy mystery series with heroine Havilah Gaie at the helm—an American professor turned female sleuth-abroad who calls to mind “an academic version of Pam Grier’s characters: smart, quick on their feet, loyal with a keen sense of purpose.” There’s plenty of heart-racing intrigue, fistfuls of posh French culture—including elegant fashion and irresistible cuisine—and, not to worry, a dashing male love-interest—who happens to be a French agent.

A two-part cozy armchair adventure, but with a bit of action-adventure bite, Havilah’s travels and misadventures are sure to delight murder mystery fans who prefer their female sleuths brilliant, bold, and daring—and who like their French culture delicately authentic.

THE 13TH FELLOW

Against the panoramic backdrop of the Cassis cliffs of Provence, France, the beautiful people of poetry—poets, academics, and patrons of the arts—are assembling at a centennial honoring the founder of the Félibrige Foundation. Finding itself with a surplus of talent, the Foundation has awarded one more than its customary dozen fellowships, but even before the gathering can get underway, the unlucky 13th fellow has fetched up dead.

But what's the motive? Professional jealousy? Romantic rivalry? Or something to do with a dark secret about the Félibrige’s founder? Havilah’s at the center of the mystery, and so is Thierry Gasquet, a dashing French agent who doesn't care much for amateur detectives.

A specialist in several academic disciplines, fluent in several languages,honored for her academic achievements by the Ordre des Palmes Académiques, and equally appreciated for her accomplishments in filling out a bikini, Havilah is shocked by her colleague’s murder and determined to ferret out the truth. But she’ll have to stay a few steps ahead of Gasquet, who’s been assigned to protect her and avert an international scandal.

PARIS A GO-GO

When a right-wing media personality is fished out of the Seine, two extremist factions start shooting at each other. Havilah, aka La Belle Américaine, has become a darling of the Parisian media, cast in the role of the voice of the left-wing American intellectual. Both groups try to use her as a pawn in the power struggle, and, after two more killings occur in her very presence, she becomes a suspect as well as a target.

Protection is close at hand, however, in the person of her current romantic interest, Thierry Gasquet, the handsome and debonair French police agent who protected her as a key witness during a murder investigation three months earlier.

Luckily, just as things are reaching the boiling point, Havilah’s Aunt Neet swoops in for charming, light-hearted comic relief—as Havilah and Thierry, now unsure of whom to trust in his agency, work together to solve the mystery—and do a little asskicking.

Originally Posted by sufue

A couple of years ago, I was quite taken with The 13th Fellow, by Tracy Whiting, featuring Havilah Gaie as the protagonist. I was really happy to see a second Havilah Gaie title, Paris a Go-Go, come out recently and read it as soon as I noticed it, using KU. Both these titles are a little more chick-lit-y than I usuallly like, but there's enough academic snark in there to balance out, IMO. (Also, as I mentioned not too long ago, I'm a huge Francophile, so love the settings...) Now Paris a Go-Go has dropped to $0.99 as a US Kindle Countdown deal for almost 3 more days.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Go-Go-H...dp/B071H931SL/

[sufue]

A Divided Spy is the third in the Thomas Kell series by Charles Cumming, It has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IN8ZVSQ
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-divided-spy-2

Spoiler:

In A Divided Spy, a brilliant novel of modern espionage by New York Times bestselling author Charles Cumming, MI6’s Thomas Kell faces off against a handsome and charismatic Russian double agent.

"Astonishingly masterful . . . riveting." —Valerie Plame, New York Times bestselling author of Fair Game

Thomas Kell thought he was done with spying. A former MI6 officer, he devoted his life to the Service, but it has left him with nothing but grief and a simmering anger against the Kremlin.

Then Kell is offered an unexpected chance at revenge. Taking the law into his own hands, he embarks on a mission to recruit a top Russian spy who is in possession of a terrifying secret. As Kell tracks his man from Moscow to London, he finds himself in a high stakes game of cat and mouse in which it becomes increasingly difficult to know who is playing whom.

As the mission reaches boiling point, the threat of a catastrophic terrorist attack looms over Britain. Kell is faced with an impossible choice. Loyalty to MI6—or to his own conscience?

[sufue]

Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake is the first in the relatively new (and short) 2-book Death by Chocolate series by Sarah Graves, who is also the author of the longer, more established, Home Repair Is Homicide series. It has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072812S81

Spoiler:

Life just got a little sweeter in the island fishing village of Eastport, Maine. Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree and her best friend Ellie are opening a waterfront bake shop, The Chocolate Moose, where their tasty treats pair perfectly with the salty ocean breeze—and the scent of murder . . .

When Jake and Ellie, who’ve been through a lot together, decide to open a chocolate-themed bakery, they figure it’ll be a piece of cake. With Ellie’s old family recipes luring in customers, they expect to make plenty of dough this Fourth of July weekend. Having family home for the holiday only sweetens the deal for Jake—until an early-season hurricane scuttles her plans. Worse, with her family scattered and stranded, health inspector Matt Muldoon is found murdered in the kitchen of The Chocolate Moose.

Ellie never made a secret of her distaste for Matt, who had been raining on their parade with bogus talk of health code violations. Now, with no alibi for the night of the murder, she’s in a sticky situation—and it’s up to Jake to catch the real killer and keep Ellie living in the land of the free.

[sufue]

Books in the Inspector Littlejohn series by George Bellairs more often go on sale for $1.99 in the US than for $0.99. So it's nice to see The Tormentors on sale at $0.99 at Kindle US. The blurb says it's the 16th in the series, but, as we've discussed somewhere up-thread, this must be the 16th in the series as published by that publisher, because the series is very long, per SYKM, and this title is about 2/3 of the way through it - way more than #16, although I'm too lazy to count for real.

Anyway, here's the info on the book:

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078XG67MR

Spoiler:

Tensions run high on the Isle of Man when a man is found violently stabbed and his powerful family accuse a young boy of his murder.

The boy maintains his innocence, but the victim’s influential family are calling for justice. With the police unable to contain the conflict, Littlejohn is called to investigate.

The case leads Littlejohn to the Bishop’s Arms, the island’s most notorious pub, and the dubious characters who frequent it. Will Littlejohn find the clue among these shady figures before a possibly innocent boy is sent to jail?

Will Littlejohn find a clue amongst these shady figures before a potentially innocent boy is sent to jail – or were the fingers pointing in the right direction all along?

[sufue]

Desperate Housedogs is the first in the Pampered Pets series by Sparkle Abbey. It varies in price a lot, but £0.49 looks to be the lowest it has been.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005WZL0RK

Spoiler:

When Caro Lamont, former psychologist turned pet therapist makes a house call to help Kevin Blackstone with his two misbehaving German Shepherd dogs, she expects frantic dogs, she expects a frantic dog owner, she even expects frantic neighbors. What she doesn’t expect is that two hours later the police will find Kevin dead, his dogs impounded; and that as the last person to see Kevin alive (well, except for the killer) she is suddenly a person of interest, at least according to Homicide Detective Judd Malone. Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of two mystery authors (Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter). They are friends and neighbors as well as co-writers of the Pampered Pets Mystery Series. The pen name was created by combining the names of their rescue pets - Sparkle (Mary Lee’s cat) and Abbey (Anita’s dog). They reside in central Iowa, but if they could write anywhere, you would find them on the beach with their laptops and depending on the time of day either an iced tea or a margarita.)

[sufue]

A couple of later titles in Fiona Buckley's excellent IMO Ursula Blanchard series have dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US (coupon/VIPable). These bounce up and down in price a lot, but never stay down very long, so grab if you want them.

Queen Without a Crown, #9
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007BEFSP0
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/que...hout-a-crown-1

Spoiler:

“Ursula Blanchard, lady-in-waiting and spy extraordinaire, returns in a new Elizabethan mystery steeped in suspense and historical detail.” —Booklist

November, 1569: Happily married to her third husband, Hugh Stannard, Ursula Blanchard is hoping to give up her undercover work for Queen Elizabeth l in order to enjoy domestic bliss. But when Hugh unwittingly endangers possession of his ancestral home, Ursula is forced to take on a seemingly hopeless, but handsomely paid, private assignment—which the queen considers the perfect cover for a covert investigation into a group of rebel barons plotting to put Mary, Queen of Scots back on the English throne . . .

“Ursula is the essence of iron cloaked in velvet—a heroine to reckon with.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The worthy Ursula is an estimable heroine, and Buckley’s confident mastery of sixteenth-century British history lends an air of authenticity to her cleverly spun adventures.” —Booklist

Queen's Bounty, #10
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AMQF8UY
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/queen-s-bounty-1

Spoiler:

An aide to the Tudor queen faces treachery—and accusations of witchcraft—in this series of “intelligent, historically accurate Elizabethan-era whodunits” (Booklist).

Ursula Blanchard is rudely shaken on receipt of a threatening letter from the exiled Anne Percy, Countess of Northumberland, whose treasonous plot against Elizabeth I Ursula helped foil a few months previously.

Ursula dismisses the countess’s letter as idle threats, but then a series of strange events rocks Ursula’s household—and Ursula herself is accused of witchcraft. Could Anne Percy really be orchestrating a plot against Ursula from her exile in the Netherlands? And, if so, how can Ursula prove it before she is hanged as a witch?

“Ursula is the essence of iron cloaked in velvet—a heroine to reckon with.” —Kirkus Reviews

“[A] sixteenth-century mystery series as complicated and charming as an Elizabethan knot garden.” —The Tampa Tribune