FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[Critteranne]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I tried The Name of the Rose years ago in paper and got lost in the Latin. Now that I am older and (in theory) wiser, I should give it another go.

With an ebook, you can select the Latin text, copy it, and then paste it into Google Translate.

[sufue]

The Consequences of Fear is the 16th and most recent (until the new one comes out early next year) in the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. It has dropped to £1.99 at Kindle UK.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08GP47GPC
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08GP47GPC

Spoiler:

London, October 1941. Freddie Hackett, a message runner for a government office, witnesses an argument that ends in murder. Dismissed by the police when reporting the crime, Freddie turns to private investigator Maisie Dobbs for help.

While Maisie believes the boy and wants to help, she must exercise caution given her work with a secret government department spearheading covert operations against the Nazis. When she stumbles upon the killer in a place she least expects, Maisie soon realises she's been pulled into the orbit of a man who has his own reasons to kill - reasons that go back to another war.

[sufue]

Wilbur Smith is not really to my taste, but I seem to remember some other folks mentioning/liking him, so...

Today's Big Deal at Kindle UK is six books by Smith for £0.99 each.

Titles are:

• The Seventh Scroll, Egyptian #2
• A Sparrow Falls, Courtney #3
• Warlock, Egyptian #3
• The Quest, Egyptian #4
• A Falcon Flies, Ballantyne #1
• The Dark of the Sun, non-series, apa The Train from Katanga

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=s9_ac...d_i=3017941031
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=s9_...d_i=3017941031

[sufue]

Titles in Elaine Viets' Josie Marcus/Mystery Shopper series don't go free as often as titles in her Dead End Job series, but here's the first one, Dying in Style, free at both Kindle US and UK.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098TRW7WB/
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B098TRW7WB/

Spoiler:

Suburban single mom, Josie Marcus, loves being a secret shopper. But when she’s framed for the murder of a famous handbag designer, Josie discovers that secret sleuth might be a better fit…

Josie’s excited about her latest assignment: mystery shopping the stores of St. Louis’s premier handbag designer, Danessa Celedine. A stunning socialite who frequently makes headlines with her hot Russian lover, Serge, Danessa sells exquisite purses to the rich and famous for a small fortune. Unfortunately, the Celedine shops aren’t nearly as dazzling as their clientele and Josie’s negative report could kill a lucrative deal to sell the handbag empire. Danessa swears it will also cost Josie her career.

Businesses often live and die by Josie’s reviews, but when Danessa and Serge are found murdered, she’s suddenly linked to an actual homicide…as the chief suspect! Now, Josie will need all her secret shopper subterfuge to investigate the crimes, clear her name, and stop the killer from claiming another fashion victim.

[sufue]

Joffe Books publish a few authors I like: Jeanne M Dams, Veronica Black, and Nicholas Rhea come to mind. And they publish some others who are probably good as well, but that with my too-large TBR list, I just never really get around to trying. And they also do occasional freebies and nice price drops from time-to-time.

Per an email I just got from Joffe today, Deadly Lies, apa A Worm in the Bud, which is the first in Chris Collett's Detective Mariner series, is free from now until October 14. I haven't read anything of Collett's, but for free...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075XT8Y4D
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075XT8Y4D

And probably also at some other Amazon country sites, per their email...

Spoiler:

THIS IS A REVISED EDITION OF A BOOK FIRST PUBLISHED AS A WORM IN THE BUD.

Journalist Eddie Barham is found dead in his home. A syringe is in his arm and a note by his side reads, ‘No More’.

Open and shut case of suicide? Not for DI Mariner. Hours before, he saw Barham picking up a woman in a bar. And then Mariner discovers Barham’s younger brother, Jamie, hiding in a cupboard under the stairs.

Jamie is the only witness to his brother's death, but his severe autism makes communication almost impossible. Mariner is determined to connect with Jamie and get to the truth. Is the journalist’s death related to his investigation of a local crime kingpin?

What other dark secrets does Jamie hold the key to and can Mariner keep his relationship professional with Barham’s attractive sister, Anna?

In a nail-biting conclusion, Mariner races against time to prevent more lives being lost.

Perfect for fans of Peter James, Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson.

This is the first book in the DI MARINER SERIES, more books coming soon!

[sufue]

Bruno, Chief of Police: The Early Cases contains the first three titles in Martin Walker's Bruno/Dordogne mystery series:

• Bruno, Chief of Police ; apa Death in the Dordogne
• The Dark Vineyard
• Black Diamond

It goes on sale every couple of years in the UK (don't think it exists in the US - different publisher), and right now it has dropped to £2.99.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B076PL92NK
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B076PL92NK

This is a nice price to try this really great series if you haven't already...

[sufue]

I think Amy Corwin's Second Son Inquiry Agency books are probably self-pubbed (Fireside Mysteries?), but in any case, I've read and enjoyed all four of these historical mysteries. (They probably drift over into romantic suspense, but Corwin also writes some straight-up romance, and these aren't that, so I'm putting them here...)

Right now, the first book, The Vital Principle, is free at Kindle US and UK, though, so you can just try for yourself. And if you like it, the other three books are pretty reasonably priced all the time, so you don't have to spend a lot for them either. (And they are all KU, if you have a KU membership...)

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004OR1GQ2
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004OR1GQ2

Spoiler:

When Lord Crowley sends for him, cynical inquiry agent Knighton Gaunt is more than happy to accept the simple assignment. All he must do is attend a séance and expose the spiritualist, Prudence Barnard, as a charlatan taking advantage of Crowley's mother.

Unfortunately, instead of proving Miss Barnard is a fraud, Gaunt is made to look like a fool when Crowley is murdered after the séance. Apparently, the attractive spiritualist is not the only guest who has mastered the art of sleight-of-hand. Whoever killed Crowley managed to poison his brandy without anyone noticing and to act with appropriate concern afterwards.

The terrified guests immediately close ranks against Miss Barnard and accuse her of the murder. She is the only stranger in the house, except for Gaunt, and she'd argued with Crowley the previous day. It sounds reasonable to everyone except Miss Barnard. And Gaunt.

Then the murderer strikes again, and Gaunt must use all of his skill to expose the truth before another member of their house party dies.

[sufue]

Another Amy Corwin freebie...

The Unwanted Heiress, apa I Bid One American (!!!), is the first in Amy Corwin's Archer Family series. This one is IMO also more of a romantic suspense book, just like the other recent Corwin freebie ^^^, even if it's formally called a romance. (There are, after all, multiple dead bodies ...) So, I posted it here. But, of course, YMMV...

In any case, it's free right now at Kindle US and UK, so you can just try it. And also as with the other one just now, the rest of the series is pretty reasonably priced if you like the freebie.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BSFFNTY/
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BSFFNTY/

Spoiler:

An American heiress nobody wants; a duke every woman desires; and a murder no one expects.

As a young duke, all Nathaniel wants is to be left alone. So when he meets Charlotte, an outspoken American heiress, he is suspicious of her indifference. Too many women have sought--and failed--to catch him.

However, Charlotte is unimpressed by his title. She has no interest in English dukes. All she wants is to leave dreary England and travel to the sunny sands of Egypt to see the grand pyramids.

Unfortunately, a debutante seeking to entrap Nathaniel gets murdered, and his reputation as a confirmed misogynist makes him a suspect. On impulse, Charlotte comes to his aid, unaware that her actions place her in danger, too.

Neither Charlotte nor the duke know that a highwayman interested in rich heiresses is following Charlotte, and that another debutante lies dead in Nathaniel's carriage. And unfortunately, the evidence soon complicates Nathaniel's efforts to prove his innocence and convince Charlotte that he is worthy of her love.

Some nights just don’t go as planned.

P.S. If it's not obvious from up above, I also read this one a while back and liked it...

[sufue]

A Comedy of Terrors is the ninth and most recent (earlier this year) in the Flavia Albia series by Lindsey Davis. It has dropped to £4.99 at Kindle UK, which is still a little pricey for me, but is a lot better than the £9.99/$14.99 it has been since publication in the UK/US. Still, if you want to read it, but you are 289th on the waiting list at your local library, this might work for you!

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08KRTXZHC
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08KRTXZHC

Spoiler:

Saturnalia, the Romans' mid-December feast, nominally to celebrate the sun's rebirth but invariably a drunken riot. Flavia Albia needs a case to investigate, but all work is paused.

The Aventine is full of fracturing families. Wives plot to leave their husbands, husbands plot to spend more time with their mistresses. Masters must endure slaves taking obscene liberties, while aggressive slaves are learning to ape dangerous masters. But no one wants to hire an investigator during the holiday.

Albia is lumped with her own domestic stress: overexcited children and bilious guests, too many practical jokes, and her magistrate husband Tiberius preoccupied with local strife. He fears a Nut War. Nuts are both the snack and missile of choice of tipsy celebrants, so there is a fortune to be made. This year a hustling gang from the past is horning in on the action.

As the deadly menace strikes even close to home, and with law and order paused for partying, Albia and Tiberius must go it alone. The Emperor has promised the people a spectacular entertainment - but Domitian himself is a target for the old criminals' new schemes. Can the Undying Sun survive the winter solstice, or will criminal darkness descend upon Rome?

[jselby]

A number of the Brother Cadfael books are on sale at Amazon.com for $1.99, $2.99, and $3.99

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B074CF15...dp_rwt_sb_tukn

[sufue]

The House of the Red Slayer is the second in Paul Doherty's Brother Athelstan series. It is a recent price drop to £0.99 at Kindle UK. And the first title in the series, The Nightingale Gallery, is free right now at Kindle US. So you can try the series inexpensively if you wish.

Doherty is one of the most prolific writers I'm aware of, writing under his own name and variants (PC Doherty), and also under several pen names, including Anna Apostolou, Michael Clynes, CL Grace, and Ann Dukthas. Whew! And, it turns out that a lot of Doherty's books are pretty inexpensive in both the US and UK: more than a webpage each at $0.99/£0.99 and multiple webpages at $1.99/£1.99. Just go to his author page and sort by price. I've read and really liked his Amerotke series, set in ancient Egypt, and also his Alexander the Great series. I've also read a fair number of other books of his across many of his other series, although I've felt a little more hit-and-miss about some of them.

Anyway, here are links for the specific two I've talked about:

The Nightingale Gallery
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0844KN1KG/

The House of the Red Slayer
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0844L195L

[Tarana]

Murder at St. Winifred’s Academy By J.D. Griffo $.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Cozy. Has cat on cover

The Apprentice By Tess Gerritsen $1.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Crime fiction

Light It Up By Nick Petrie $1.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Thriller. Author is Edgar Award nominee

[sufue]

Holy Murder: The Cathedral Mysteries is a compilation of all three books in Philip Gooden's Thomas Ansell series: The Salisbury Manuscript, The Durham Disappearance (apa The Durham Deception), and The Ely Testament. It has dropped to £1.99 at Kindle UK right now.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08Q4K5B8G
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08Q4K5B8G

Spoiler:

The Salisbury Manuscript

1873.

A treasure-hunter is stabbed to death while searching a burial chamber on the outskirts of the city of Salisbury.

At the same time Tom Ansell arrives from London to receive a manuscript from one of the cathedral canons. Tom is an ambitious lawyer, and about to marry Helen Scott - a budding novelist.

Felix Slater, a respectable churchman and amateur archaeologist, wants the scandalous manuscript of his late father's memoirs locked away until after his own death.

But Slater’s death comes much sooner than expected, and Tom falls under suspicion for his murder. The compromising manuscript has disappeared.

To exonerate himself, Tom, accompanied by Helen, must unmask an ingenious, elusive killer, one who will threaten their own lives. The pursuit takes them from the cells of the city gaol to the heights of the cathedral spire and out among the ancient earthworks of Salisbury Plain.


The Durham Deception

London 1874.

Newlyweds Tom and Helen Ansell attend a London seance at which Ernest Smight, a fraudulent medium, is unmasked.

It’s good preparation for a visit to the city of Durham, where Helen is tasked with rescuing her aunt Julia from the clutches of a much more dangerous psychic, Eustace Flask.

Meanwhile Tom, a lawyer, is despatched to learn the facts about the Lucknow Dagger, an ill-omened trophy in the possession of Major Sebastian Mormont, a military man turned magician who is staging shows in the cathedral city.

The realms of stage magic and spiritualism overlap when Flask is stabbed to death with the Dagger and Helen is accused of the crime. But which of Flask’s many enemies is the real murderer? And who is systematically eliminating the witnesses to the earlier unmasking of medium Ernest Smight?

In their quest for the truth, Tom and Helen put themselves in danger. Before the end, Helen will come face to face with a ruthless and ingenious killer.


The Ely Testament

Cambridge & Ely 1875.

When Mr Lye, an elderly partner at Tom Ansell’s law firm, dies at his desk, Tom is dispatched to Ely to search for Mr Lye’s missing will at Phoenix House near Ely, the home of his brother, Ernest.

At the same time, Tom’s wife Helen has been commissioned by New Moon magazine to write a piece on a town with ‘inner beauty’ – and what better place than the cathedral city of Ely?

But shortly after Tom and Helen arrive at Phoenix House, their host is arrested for murder – and the couple find themselves at the centre of an ever-deepening mystery.

What is the reason behind the sudden reappearance of Mrs Lye’s long-long cousin, the enigmatic Charles Tomlinson? What has it to do with a long-buried student scandal and with a murder that took place at Phoenix House during the English Civil War two hundred years before? And how does Cyrus Chase, the inventor of device to prevent premature burial, fit into the story?

Oh yeah, and these were originally published by Severn House, although it seems Gooden has the rights back now...

[sufue]

The Fatal Flying Affair is on sale at Kindle US for $1.99 right now.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Flying-...dp/B088JZ8KNY/
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/Fatal-Flyin...dp/B088JZ8KNY/

Originally Posted by sufue

I read and really liked the most recent Lady Hardcastle book, The Fatal Flying Affair. I'm a little biased because I have spent maybe half my career in aviation, and my husband is even more of an aviation buff than I am, and Kinsey gets a lot of the little details right, including a nice layman's explanation of why airplanes take off into the wind. But it also was just a flat out fun mystery. I've now read Missing Diamonds, and if you liked the one, you'll like the other, I think. Just change out Jazz-Age London for a (not so) sleepy English village...

P.S. You can read my full review of The Fatal Flying Affair in my blog if you are interested. The link is in my signature below.

[Tarana]

The Golden Ball By Agatha Christie $1.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Detective - Poiroit