FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[Apache]

Originally Posted by sufue

Woo-hoo! Martin Walker's latest (2021) in his Bruno, Chief of Police series has dropped to £0.99 at Kindle UK. I like this series a lot, although the last couple have been a little more thriller-ish than the series has traditionally been.

From the blurb, this one, The Coldest Case, looks as if it may be a little more back to the traditional Bruno, as he helps his boss, J-J, re-investigate J-J's unsolved (and now very cold) first case. Fingers crossed!

This is probably on sale as part of that weird (but much appreciated) UK thing where they put most-recent-in-series titles on sale for £0.99 very briefly, usually only one day, shortly after publication. So go grab it now if you want it - I actually grabbed it before doing this post, which I don't do very often .

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08C7NTSTY/
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08C7NTSTY/

It is the traditional Bruno and I enjoyed it. Well worth the sale price.
Apache

[sufue]

Awesome, you moved it up on my TBR list!

Originally Posted by Apache

It is the traditional Bruno and I enjoyed it. Well worth the sale price.
Apache

[sufue]

The Alchemist's Daughter is the first in the Bianca Goddard series by Mary Lawrence. I haven't read any of the titles in this series, but when I noticed that this one has a little blurb recommendation by Fiona Buckley (author of the Ursula Blanchard series, pen name for Valerie Anand), who is one of my top ten favorite authors, probably top five most days, it moved up my TBR pile a lot. And it also has a recommendation from Karen Harper, whose Queen Elizabeth I historical mysteries I've also liked. Daughter is on sale right now for $1.99 at Kindle US, where it's also KU.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Alchemists-Da...dp/B00ONTS5UQ/
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/Alchemists-...dp/B00ONTS5UQ/

Spoiler:

“A realistic evocation of 16th century London’s underside. The various strands of the plot are so skillfully plaited together.” —Fiona Buckley
In the year 1543 of King Henry VIII’s turbulent reign, the daughter of a notorious alchemist finds herself suspected of cold-blooded murder…

Bianca Goddard employs her knowledge of herbs and medicinal plants to concoct remedies for the disease-riddled poor in London’s squalid Southwark slum. But when her friend Jolyn comes to her complaining of severe stomach pains, Bianca’s prescription seems to kill her on the spot. Recovering from her shock, Bianca suspects Jolyn may have been poisoned before coming to her—but the local constable is not so easily convinced.

To clear her name and keep her neck free of the gallows, Bianca must apply her knowledge of the healing arts to deduce exactly how her friend was murdered and by whom—before she herself falls victim to a similar fate…

“Unique characters, a twisty plot and a bold, bright heroine add up to a great debut for Mary Lawrence’s The Alchemist’s Daughter. Mystery and Tudor fans alike will raise a glass to this new series.”
—Karen Harper, author of The Poyson Garden

[sufue]

Unlike Sue Grafton, who sadly only made it to "Y" in her alphabetically named Kinsey Millhone series, Mary Daheim has made it all the way through in her Emma Lord series, and has started over with Alpha Alpine and now Bitter Alpine (2020). (I was hoping for Alpine Aardvark as the first title in the "second time through", but it was not to be...)

In any case, Bitter Alpine is on sale right now both in the US ($1.99) and UK (£1.49).

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LZU2W7N
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bitter-alpine
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LZU2W7N

Spoiler:

New year, new murder . . . Emma Lord is on the case when death finds its way back to the wintry mountain town of Alpine.

After a relatively calm and cozy holiday season, neither Emma Lord, editor and publisher of The Alpine Advocate, nor her husband, Sheriff Milo Dodge, are surprised when their new year gets off to a rocky start. A woman’s body has been found in a squalid motel. Her driver’s license shows that Rachel Jane Douglas was in her late thirties and lived in Oakland, California—and the only connection between that town and Alpine is their gold-mining and logging origins. When they discover that Rachel’s room reservation was open-ended, Emma, Milo, and the ever-inquisitive Advocate receptionist, Alison Lindahl, are more than mildly curious. And never mind that the youthful Alison is a bit distracted by the new county extension agent’s virile good looks. She can still sleuth while she stalks her newest crush.

But that’s not all the news that’s unfit to print. There’s something strange about the older couple who have moved into the cabin down the road that was once owned by a murder victim. The elderly wife seems anti-social. There’s got to be a reason, which Emma, Milo, and Alison intend to find out—even if it puts them in deadly danger.

NOTE: Alibi is a "digital-first" imprint of Random House...

[sufue]

The Wailing Wind is the fifteenth in Tony Hillerman's excellent IMO Leaphorn and Chee series. It has dropped to $2.70 at Kindle US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC14E4/
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000FC14E4/

Spoiler:

To Officer Bernie Manuelito the man curled on the truck seat was just another drunk—which got Bernie in trouble for mishandling a murder scene—which got Sgt. Jim Chee in trouble with the FBI—which drew ex-Lieutenent Joe Leaphorn out of retirement into an old crime he longed to forget. Legends of the area’s lost gold mines join the mountains and canyons of the Navajo Reservation as elements of Hillerman’s plot, but this tale turns on an obsessive love and memories of a missing woman’s voice wailing in the darkness.

[sufue]

Debt to Pay is the third in Reed Farrel Coleman's continuation of Robert B Parker's Jesse Stone series. I'm not always a fan of continuations, but I've enjoyed Coleman's books. Debt has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BS7N744/
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01BS7N744/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/rob...-s-debt-to-pay

Spoiler:

In this brilliant novel in Robert B. Parker's New York Times bestselling series, police chief Jesse Stone faces a ruthless hit man.

All is quiet in Paradise, except for a spate of innocuous vandalism. Good thing, too, because Jesse Stone is preoccupied with the women in his life, both past and present. As his ex-wife Jenn is about to marry a Dallas real-estate tycoon, Jesse isn't too sure his relationship with former FBI agent Diana Evans is built to last. But those concerns get put on the back burner when a major Boston crime boss is brutally murdered. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Jesse suspects it's the work of Mr. Peepers, a psychotic assassin who has caused trouble for Jesse in the past.

Peepers has long promised revenge against the mob, Jesse, and Suit for their roles in foiling one of his hits—and against Jenn as well. And though Jesse and Jenn have long parted ways, Jesse still feels responsible for her safety. Jesse and Diana head to Dallas for the wedding and, along with the tycoon's security team, try to stop Peepers before the bill comes due. With Peepers toying with the authorities as to when and where he'll strike, Jesse is up against the wall. Still, there's a debt to pay and blood to be spilled to satisfy it. But whose blood, and just how much?

[cromag]

Originally Posted by sufue

The Wailing Wind is the fifteenth in Tony Hillerman's excellent IMO Leaphorn and Chee series. It has dropped to $2.70 at Kindle US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC14E4/
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000FC14E4/

Thanks! Got it!


While poking through the rest of the series I noticed that Cave of Bones, the 22nd book in the series (and written by Tony Hillerman's daughter, Anne Hillerman) is priced at $1.99 -- at Amazon, at least. I picked that one up, too.

https://www.amazon.com/Cave-Bones-Le...dp/B071KYZBT5/

[sufue]

Still the most-recent-in-series (2020) of this short three-book series. Now $3.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YSNB24G/
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07YSNB24G/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fair-warning-25

Originally Posted by sufue

Some most recent-in-series books from Kindle UK at £0.99 each...

{edited other books}

Fair Warning, Jack McEvoy/Rachel Walling #3, by Michael Connelly: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B081ZWNLQ2

[sufue]

Allison & Busby publish (or re-publish) several of my favorite authors, including LC Tyler, Edward Marston, Jonathan Gash, Laurie R. King, Jacqueline Winspear and others.

Right now A&B have three omnibuses of titles on sale in the UK for £3.49 each:

The Maisie Dobbs series - Books 3, 4, 5 by Jacqueline Winspear contains Pardonable Lies, Messenger of Truth, and An Incomplete Revenge
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Z5K8QQK

Home Front Detective - Books 1, 2, 3 by Edward Marston contains A Bespoke Murder, Instrument of Slaughter, and Five Dead Canaries
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Z5K1MT3

Cotswold Mysteries Collection by Rebecca Tope contains A Cotswold Killing, A Cotswold Ordeal, Death in the Cotswolds, and A Cotswold Mystery
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GW5GP06

I haven't read any of Tope's books, but have read and liked a lot of books by Winspear and Marston...

[Tarana]

After She’s Gone By Lisa Jackson $1.99
Thriller

All Necessary Force By Brad Taylor $1.99
Thriller

The Devil’s Star By Jo Nesbø $1.99
Crime Fiction

Not Dark Yet By Peter Robinson $1.99
Crime Fiction

Rebecca Schwartz Series: Complete Set By Julie Smith FREE Amazon only
Cozy series

[sufue]

Blood in Eden is the 30th book (2019) in Peter Tremayne's excellent IMO Sister Fidelma historical series. I've really liked this series over the years, from the days when I would pick up the paperbacks in the UK on business trips and read them on the plane home, to now, when they are readily available as e-books. Eden has dropped to £2.99 at Kindle UK.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07FM689TW
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07FM689TW

Spoiler:

Ireland. AD 672. The hamlet of Cloichín is said to be a veritable Eden, with its prosperous farms and close-knit, friendly community. But when Sister Fidelma and Eadulf arrive, a new priest has ordered the villagers to lynch a man accused of murdering a local farmer, his wife and two sons. The only evidence they hold against him is the fact that he is a stranger to their land.

Saving the man's life, Fidelma is determined that the villagers must give the newcomer a fair trial. But there is to be more blood in Eden and more lives will be lost as long-standing friends become new-found enemies, and no one knows who to trust . . .

[sufue]

Shattered Justice is an omnibus of four previously traditionally published titles by Paul Levine. (I think someone once mentioned that he was/is a MobileRead member?) Titles include Solomon vs. Lord, The Deep Blue Alibi, To Speak for the Dead, and Illegal. These are a mix across his Solomon/Lord and Jake Lassiter series, and Illegal is a non-series title. Shattered has dropped to $1.49 at Kindle US - a nice price if you don't have any of these. However, Levine's titles do go on sale individually from time to time, so check carefully before you buy!

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DK05YBM/
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00DK05YBM/

[sufue]

Some titles in the excellent IMO Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters are on sale today at Kindle and Kobo US.

The Curse of the Pharaohs, #3, $2.99
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00351DSC8
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00351DSC8
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...f-the-pharaohs

The Hippopotamus Pool, #8, $2.99
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZDJZJC
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZDJZJC
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-hippopotamus-pool

The Golden One, #14, $1.99
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC120A
Kindle US/Smile: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC120A
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-golden-one

Some of the earlier books in this series go on sale pretty often, but I haven't seen either of the latter two on sale for prices this good in ages, if ever, so grab them now if you think you might ever want them!

[sufue]

Three years later (to the day!), again at $1.99...

Originally Posted by sufue

Here Comes the Bribe is the second-most-recent (2016) in Mary Daheim's Bed-and-Breakfast series. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Here-Comes-Br...dp/B00NVLBQ2Q/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/here-comes-the-bribe-2

[sufue]

Dare to Die is the 19th in Carolyn Hart's Death on Demand series. I read a lot of the early titles in this series in paper when I was first branching out from the "classics" like Agatha Christie and Rex Stout, so I've always had a fondness for it. Dare to Die has dropped to $0.99 at Kindle and Kobo US right now.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001NLL8T2
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dar...demand-mystery

Spoiler:

Death is the uninvited guest at a Broward’s Rock gala thrown by bookstore owners and sometime sleuths Annie and Max Darling in Dare to Die—the 19th captivating whodunit in Caroline Hart’s much adored Death on Demand series. A Grande Dame of mystery, Hart’s wonderfully evocative, multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Award-winning novels will delight Diane Mott Davidson and Lillian Jackson Braun fans—and Dare to Die is a wonderful display of the skill and imagination that moved a Los Angeles Times reviewer to declare, “If I were teaching a course on how to write a mystery, I would make Carolyn Hart required reading.”

ADD: Ghost at Work, the first in Hart's Bailey Ruth series, is also on sale for $1.99 right now.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001FA0UQI
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/ghost-at-work

Spoiler:

Bailey Ruth Raeburn has always been great at solving mysteries. Why should a little thing like her death change anything? In fact, being dead gives her more of an opportunity to be on top of events. Bailey Ruth is delighted that her unique position as a ghost makes it possible for her to lend a helping hand, sometimes seen and sometimes not. And if anybody needs a little help, it's Kathleen, the pastor's wife. There's a dead man on her porch, and once the body is discovered, the pastor is sure to become a suspect.

Uncharitable people might call it meddling, but Bailey Ruth knows Kathleen needs her help! As a member of Heaven's Department of Good Intentions, Bailey Ruth goes back to earth to extricate Kathleen from a dire situation. If Bailey Ruth has to bend a few rules to help Kathleen save her family, Wiggins, her fussbudget supervisor, will make sure it all turns out right in the end.