FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[sufue]

Four to Score has gone back up to $8.99 but High Five has dropped to $2.99 now. (Read fast!) Note that High Five is also in the same omnibus as Four to Score, so check before you buy...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017I1IZK
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017I1IZK
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/high-five

Oh yeah, Fearless Fourteen is still on sale...

Originally Posted by sufue

Two Stephanie Plum titles by Janet Evanovich have dropped to $2.99 each at Kindle and Kobo US. Titles in this series mostly run at $8.99, so grab these if you want them.

Four to Score
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FA5QAE
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000FA5QAE
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/four-to-score

Fearless Fourteen
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011UGLR4
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0011UGLR4
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fea...nie-plum-novel

There's also an omnibus of Stephanie Plum titles, More Plums in One, that includes Four to Score. It has been on sale in the past, so check carefully before you buy.

[sufue]

Nightshade is the sixteenth in Paul Doherty's Hugh Corbett series. It has dropped to £1.99 at Kindle UK.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009S8AUC8
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009S8AUC8

Spoiler:

Can Hugh Corbett restore peace before further blood is shed?

In Nightshade, the fascinating sixteenth novel in the Hugh Corbett series, Corbett must travel to Essex in search of stolen treasure. Perfect for fans of Ellis Peters and Robin Hobb.

January 1304 and Hugh Corbett, devoted emissary of King Edward I, has been charged with yet another dangerous mission. Scrope, an unscrupulous manor lord, has reneged on his promise to hand over a priceless ornate cross he stole from the Templars during the Crusades. Furthermore, he has massacred as heretics fourteen members of a religious order, whose corpses now hang in the woods near Mistleham in Essex. The King, determined to restore order sends Corbett to Mistleham in his stead. But as Corbett reaches the troubled village, it becomes obvious that the situation has worsened. A mysterious bowman has appeared, killing townspeople at random. Is one of the Brethren responsible, or have the Templars arrived to wreak revenge? Can Corbett restore Mistleham to peace, and return the treasure to the King, before further blood is shed?

[Dr. Drib]

In the mood for a 'Nooner'?

The 4th Ed Noon PI title is available for 25 cents, titled Violence in Velvet, by Michael Avallone.

Here's the Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...1800_611985390

[sufue]

And yet another Stephanie Plum title, by Janet Evanovich, on sale...

This time it's Hot Six, available for $2.99 at both Kindle and Kobo US. Note that Hot Six is in the same omnibus (More Plums in One) as Four to Score and High Five, so check before you buy.) Also High Five is still $2.99, as is Fearless Fourteen. See this previous post for info and links.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017DC5UC
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0017DC5UC
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hot-six

Spoiler:

Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum and Trenton vice cop Joe Morelli join forces to find the madman killer who shot and barbecued the youngest son of international black-market arms dealer Alexander Ramos.

Carlos Manoso, street name Ranger, is caught on video just minutes before the crime occurs. He's at the scene, he's with the victim, and he's the number-one suspect. Ranger is former special forces turned soldier of fortune. He has a blue-chip stock portfolio and no known address. He moves in mysterious circles. He's Stephanie's mentor--the man who taught her everything she knows about fugitive apprehension. And he's more than her friend.

Now he's the hunted and Stephanie's the hunter, and it's time for her to test her skills against the master. But if she does catch him...what then? Can she bring herself to turn him in?

Plus there are other things keeping Stephanie awake at night. Her maternal grandmother has set up housekeeping in Stephanie's apartment, a homicidal maniac has selected Stephanie as his next victim, her love life is in the toilet, she's adopted a dog with an eating disorder, and she can't button the top snap on her Levi's.

Experience the world of Plum--in Janet Evanovich's new thriller. It's surreal, it's frenetic, it's incendiary. Hot Six. It's the best yet.

[sufue]

Macmillan are really counting up through Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. Now Seven Up is $2.99 at Kindle and Kobo US. High Five, Hot Six and Fearless Fourteen are also still $2.99. It's getting too messy to keep linking back to previous posts, so just page up a bit or search...

Seven Up
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017POSDC
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017POSDC
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/seven-up-1

Spoiler:

The smash-hit #1 bestselling author Janet Evanovich takes you on the ride of your life in the next Stephanie Plum adventure, Seven Up!

Semiretired mob guy Eddie DeCooch is caught trafficking contraband cigarettes through Trenton, New Jersey. When DeCooch fails to show for a court appearance, bond enforcement agent Stephanie Plum is assigned the task of finding him and dragging his decrepit ass back to jail. Not such an easy job, it turns out, since DeCooch has learned a lot of tricks over the years and isn't afraid to use his gun. He's already shot Loretta Ricci, an innocent old lady, and left her for worm food in his shed. He wouldn't mind shooting Stephanie next.

Likeable losers (and Steph's former high school classmates) Walter "MoonMan" Dunphy and Dougie "The Dealer" Kruper have inadvertently become involved with DeCooch. They've gotten sucked into an operation that is much more than simple cigarette smuggling and holds risks far greater than anyone could have imagined.

When Dougie disappears, Steph goes into search mode. When Mooner disappears, she calls in the heavy artillery and asks master bounty hunter Ranger for help. Ranger's price for the job? One night with Stephanie, dusk to dawn. Not information she wants to share with her sometime live-in roommate, vice cop Joe Morelli,

A typical dilemma in the world of Plum.

And on the homefront, Stephanie's "perfect" sister, Valerie, has decided to move back to Trenton, bringing her two kids from hell with her. Grandma Mazur is asking questions about being a lesbian, and Bob, the bulimic dog, is eating everything in sight--including the furniture.

Mud wrestling, motorcycles, fast cars, fast food, and fast men. It's Janet Evanovich's Seven Up.

[sufue]

I've mentioned liking Barbara Nadel's Inspector Ikmen series before, and now here is the nineteenth in the series, The House of Four, which has just dropped to £1.99 at Kindle UK.

And actually, when I looked at the entire series in both the US and UK, I found that most of the titles are pretty reasonably priced at $3.99/£3.99, with a few higher, and a few lower. So if you like the series, you don't have to spend a lot to binge read! (Oddly, the first couple of titles are among the most expensive, before the third one, which is among the least expensive - you'd think whoever's doing the marketing might be a little smarter...)

The House of Four:
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01D8ZE2LQ
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01D8ZE2LQ

series webpages:
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074C6J72K...kindle_edition
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B074C6J7...kindle_edition
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B074C6J7...kindle_edition
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B074C6...kindle_edition

[sufue]

Another day, another number...

Janet Evanovich's eighth Stephanie Plum title, Hard Eight, is $2.99 right now. Five, Six and Seven are also still $2.99 - see links in posts not too far above. Fourteen is back up to $8.99.

Hard Eight
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017I1IZA/
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0017I1IZA/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hard-eight-1

Spoiler:

The #1 bestselling phenomenon continues in the eighth Stephanie Plum novel. The stakes get higher, the crimes get nastier, the chases get faster, and the men get hotter.

This time Stephanie, Morelli, Ranger. Lula, Valerie, and Grandma Mazur are strapped in for the ride of their lives. Stephanie is hired to find a missing child. But things aren't always as they seem and Stephanie must determine if she's working for the right side of the law. Plus, there's the Morelli question: can a Jersey girl keep her head on straight when more than just bullets are aimed for her heart? And with the Plum and Morelli relationship looking rocky, is it time for Ranger to move in for the kill? Janet Evanovich's latest thriller proves that Hard Eight will never be enough.

[sufue]

Mrs Pollifax Pursued is the eleventh in Dorothy Gilman's Mrs Pollifax series. Although I think the earlier ones are a bit better, I've liked pretty much all of this cozy series (which occasionally has a little timely bite to it - although the bites are a few decades old by now ). Pursued has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083RZGSXK/
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B083RZGSXK/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/mrs-pollifax-pursued-2

Spoiler:

“Mrs. Gilman has a nice, relaxed style and an easygoing way of telling a story. . . . Should delight you whether you're looking for smiles or thrills.”—The New York Times Book Review

The last thing Mrs. Pollifax expects to find in her junk closet is a young woman hiding. Kadi Hopkirk insists that she's being followed by two men in a dirty white van. Under the cover of darkness, Mrs. P. tries to drive Kadi back home to Manhattan, only to have a dark green sedan give them a run for their money and, Mrs. P. begins to suspect, their lives.

Finally Kadi shares the startling truth: her friend, Sammy, is the son of the assassinated president of an African country and, unbeknownst to the young man's bodyguard, he passed her something under the table during a recent meeting. Ever resourceful, Mrs. P. puts in a call for help to her CIA colleague, Carstairs, who installs them in a safe house—at a carnival! Before Mrs. P. knows it, a dash to safety expands into an assignment that leads to hair-trigger violence in exotic places. . . .

“Lively . . . funny . . . All’s right with the world as long as Mrs. Pollifax is part of it.”—Mobile Register

And, when I went to price check in the UK, I discovered that the entire series is available in the UK from a different publisher, Farrago, for £2.99 or less, mostly for £2.59. I may have to fill in some gaps!

series link at Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/?s...price-asc-rank

[sufue]

If you want to read your Maigret in the original French, here's a cross-post to the Forum Français for Tout Maigret T. 3, an omnibus which contains nine Maigret books from the early 1930s, including: Liberty bar, L'Ecluse n°1, Maigret, Les Caves du Majestic, La Maison du juge, Cécile est morte, Signé Picpus, Félicie est là, and L'inspecteur Cadavre. It's on sale for quite a nice price at Kindle US, UK and France.

[sufue]

Mother Midnight is the 22nd and most recent (2021) in Paul Doherty's Hugh Corbett series. It has dropped to $0.99 at Kindle and Kobo US, but, oddly enough, in a reversal of how things usually work with most-recent-in-series books, not in the UK.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XQBMNFZ
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08XQBMNFZ
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/mot...h-corbett-22-1

Spoiler:

Paul Doherty's twenty-second medieval mystery featuring Sir Hugh Corbett is a gripping and gruesome tale of murder and mayhem sure to appeal to fans of C. J. Sansom and Bernard Cornwell.

1312. Sir Hugh Corbett, Keeper of the Secret Seal, has returned from the West Country to find Westminster in chaos. Edward II has fled in an attempt to protect his favourite from the wrath of his noblemen; and a royal clerk has been found dead, poisoned in a locked chamber.

Drawn into a maze of murder both at Westminster and at the Convent of Saint Sulpice, where young novices have started to disappear, Corbett quickly establishes a connection between the two mysteries. As other killings follow, Corbett's investigation leads him to a high-class brothel and its sinister owner, Mother Midnight. Challenged to a duel and hunted by a guild of ruthless assassins, Corbett and his loyal henchmen, Ranulf and Chanson, face a sea of troubles. And Corbett must call upon his wit and ingenuity to halt the tide of disaster that threatens to engulf him...

ADD: I just figured out that this is part of Kindle's Pre-Black Friday limited time deal, supposedly good through 11/21/21. Still, I wouldn't wait until the last minute if you want it...

[sufue]

And another one of these "backwards" ones - The Chancellor's Secret is the 25th, and most recent, and supposedly the final, book in Susanna Gregory's Matthew Bartholomew series. And it's $0.99 in the US right now, while not having dropped in the UK. Odd!

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HHXBJ21
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08HHXBJ21
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...lor-s-secret-1

Spoiler:

In 1360, the Great Bridge over the River Cam is close to collapse. To repair it will cost the town and the University dear, especially if its rotten wood is replaced by more durable stone. As arguments rage over raising the money other, equally heated, differences are coming to the boil over the election of a new Chancellor. While the majority support Brother Michael for the post, at least one of his opponents aims to seize it by fair means or foul. Then the discovery of a body under the bridge and the disappearance of two scholars throws a more sinister shadow over both disputes.

Matthew Bartholomew, the University's Corpse Examiner, already has his hands full: due to marry in under a fortnight, he is determined to conclude his teaching duties and deal with an outbreak of the summer flux before relinquishing his official duties. With more deaths, an 'accident' at the bridge and an increasing stench of corruption over the financing of the bridge's repairs, he realises he owes more to his soon-to-be former colleagues than to his future life as a secular doctor.

But will there be enough time for him to unveil the identities of those who seek to undermine both the town and the University, or will he prove powerless to protect those he loves from death or disgrace or worse?

And, as I've noted before, I also noticed that the eleventh book in the series, The Mark Of A Murderer, is still only $1.66, and the first two (A Plague On Both Your Houses and An Unholy Alliance) are long-term at $0.99 and $1.99 respectively. (So you can start the series cheap if you want to....) Info in this previous post: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh....php?p=3866345

ADD: I just figured out that this is part of Kindle's Pre-Black Friday limited time deal, supposedly good through 11/21/21. Still, I wouldn't wait until the last minute if you want it...

[sufue]

A couple of years later, The Frangipani Tree Mystery is again $0.99 in the US. I've since read this one, and all of the later books in the series, and they are not quite as cozy as Yu's earlier Auntie Lee series. They are set in Singapore in the run-up to, and lately, during, the WWII Japanese occupation, and have some cozy moments, but also definitely some not-at-all cozy moments.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075WRF64F
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B075WRF64F
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...tree-mystery-1

Originally Posted by sufue

If you are willing to take your murder with a big dose of cozy...

Ovidia Yu's The Frangipani Tree Mystery is the first in Yu's Crown Colony series set in 1930's Singapore. It has dropped to £0.99 at Kindle UK, possibly due to the imminent release of the 2nd in the series, due in June.

I've read and quite enjoyed Yu's Auntie Lee series, set in modern day Singapore, possibly because I've been lucky enough to have a couple of business trips to Singapore, so I can picture some of the settings/culture. But although Yu does deal with some troubling subjects from time-to-time, there still is a lot of cozy in her books too. I haven't read this one, but it will float in somewhere near the top of my TBR list.

Anyway, here's the link for Frangipani: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Frangipani-...dp/B01MSIHY1D/

[Critteranne]

Some great sales at Amazon today (Early Black Friday)

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is $2.99
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett is $1.99

Too meant to type, so check out the rest of the Kindle Deals.

[salty-horse]

Originally Posted by Critteranne

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett is $1.99

I see this Vintage Crime/Black Lizard edition is on sale. I'm usually wary of these small/unknown publishers, which sometimes contain typos, bad formatting, and/or missing text.

EDIT: The ebook seems fine. Publisher is not small or unknown.

[Critteranne]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

I see this Vintage Crime/Black Lizard edition is on sale. I'm usually wary of these small/unknown publishers, which sometimes contain typos, bad formatting, and/or missing text.

Vintage is an imprint of Knopf (now part of Random Penguins or Penguin Random House or whatever they’re called now). Vintage Crime/Black Lizard is their crime reprint imprint.

Black Lizard has an interesting history:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Lizard_(publisher)