FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[sufue]

Not the Ones Dead is the latest Kate Shugak book by Dana Stabenow. I had an advance review copy of this, and loved it - it felt like a throwback to the older Kate books, without the stuff (e.g. cliff hangers) that I haven't liked in the previous couple of books. And with a solid and timely plot, and Jim and Johnny and Van, and lots of Mutt...

It's on sale right now at Kindle UK for £2.29, which is a bit more than I'd like, but is the first time I've seen it on sale since it came out.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09Z47PY7Q

Spoiler:

The gripping new Kate Shugak novel by New York Times bestselling author Dana Stabenow. What seems a tragic accident soon becomes a murder investigation as Kate is drawn into a case of political intrigue.

A mid-air collision in the Alaskan wilderness between two small aircraft leaves ten people dead. Was it a bird strike, pilot error... or premeditated murder?

Then an eleventh body is found in the wreckage: a man shot gangland style, twice in the chest and once in the head.

In an investigation that reaches to the highest levels of government, justice may not be served, but Kate Shugak is determined that the truth will out, even at the risk of her life and the lives of those she loves most.

'Dana Stabenow knows Alaska and Alaskans. Wildly vivid settings and richly drawn characters. Not the Ones Dead is fantastic.' Marc Cameron

If you want to read my whole review, a link to my blog is in my signature...

[ZodWallop]

Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan is $1.99 at Amazon US.

Celeste Ng and Liane Moriarty’s enthralling dissection of suburbia meets Shirley Jackson’s creeping dread in this “wickedly funny, unnerving puzzle box of a novel” (Dan Chaon, author of Ill Will) about the downward spiral of a Long Island community after a tragedy exposes its residents’ depths of deception.

Welcome to Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world.

But menace skulks among this exclusive enclave. When the Wilde family arrive, they trigger their neighbors’ worst fears. Dad Arlo’s a gruff has-been rock star with track marks. Mom Gertie’s got a thick Brooklyn accent, with high heels and tube tops to match. Their weird kids cuss like sailors. They don’t fit with the way Maple Street sees itself.

Maple Street’s Queen Bee, Rhea Schroeder—a lonely professor repressing a dark past—initially welcomed Gertie, but relations plummeted during one summer evening, when the new best friends shared too much, too soon. By the time the story opens, the Wildes are outcasts.

As tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and Rhea’s daughter Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation against the Wildes. Suddenly, it is one mom’s word against the other’s in a court of public opinion that can end only in blood.

[SomeSteve]

Absolute Friends by John le Carré is $1.99 at Kobo US.

It's been at this price for a couple of days.

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/absolute-friends

[sufue]

Rules, Regs and Rotten Eggs is the seventh and last in HRF Keating's DCI Harriet Martens series. It's free right now at Kindle US and UK...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BS9SKV7V
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BS9SKV7V

We've now had the fifth, sixth and seventh in the series go free in the not too distant past - I wonder if I missed the first through fourth? And fingers crossed that maybe they'll start over again from the beginning. Although I do have most of the series from when Endeavour Press was putting them free from time to time...

Spoiler:

The seventh, and final, tale in Keating’s ‘Hard Detective’ series sees Harriet battle self-doubt as she pursues a would-be killer.

Detective Superintendent Harriet Martens resolves to resign when a new assistant chief constable makes her feel inferior. However, her thoughts of resignation cease abruptly when pro-hunting politician Robert Roughouse is struck down at an anti-hunting demonstration. Harriet sees this as a murder attempt, and seeing an opportunity to prove her worth to the ACC, takes charge of the investigation.

Unsure what lies behind the attempted assassination, Harriet goes to interview Roughouse in hospital. But he's not there. Overnight, somebody has moved him to the privately-owned Masterton Clinic.

When Harriet is also denied access to Roughouse at the Masterson, she begins to wonder just who is behind the case, and how they are managing to stay so very well hidden …

Rules, Regs and Rotten Eggs is a fascinating police procedural that looks beyond the standard elements to explore Harriet’s inner psyche as she seeks to prove her value within a male-dominated environment. It’s a good choice for readers familiar with the ‘Hard Detective’ series, but works equally well as a stand-alone novel.

[sufue]

Standing in the Shadows is the twenty-eighth and most recent (2023) in Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks series. It's on sale in the US today for $1.99.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6JT4VVW
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/sta...the-shadows-14

Spoiler:

The 28th twisting installment in the DCI Alan Banks mystery series that Stephen King calls “the best now on the market.”

In November 1980, Nick Hartley returns home from a university lecture to find his house crawling with police. His ex-girlfriend, Alice Poole, has been found murdered, and her new boyfriend Mark Woodcroft is missing. Nick is the prime suspect. The case quickly goes cold, but Nick cannot let it go. He embarks on a career in investigative journalism, determined to find Alice’s murderer—but his obsession leads him down a dangerous path.

Decades later, in November 2019, an archaeologist unearths a skeleton that turns out to be far more contemporary than the Roman remains she is seeking. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called in to investigate, but there is little to be gleaned from the remains themselves. Left with few clues, Banks and his team must rely on their wits to hunt down a killer.

As the two cases unfurl, the investigations twist and turn to an explosive conclusion.

[sufue]

I had an advance review copy of Simon Scarrow's Blackout a while back, which featured Inspector Horst Schenke as a "normal" policeman in wartime (WWII) Berlin - or at least as normal as it was possible to be in those circumstances. As a full-on mystery in a new time/place, Blackout was a bit of a different thing for Scarrow, who is best known for his Cato/Macro Roman legion military historicals, some of which have some elements of mystery. I really liked it, and hoped it would become a series. And now it has, and the second book in the series, Dead of Night, is on sale at Kindle UK for £0.99. Unfortunately, I've been slammed at work, and so there may be only a few more hours for this price, since it seems to be part of the Daily Deal, but I thought I'd post anyway.

Oh yeah, and it has yet to be released in the US, where it's not due out until late December !!!

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09SXSRLS1

Spoiler:

After Germany's invasion of Poland, the world is holding its breath and hoping for peace. At home, the Nazi Party's hold on power is absolute.

One freezing night, an SS doctor and his wife return from an evening mingling with their fellow Nazis at the concert hall. By the time the sun rises, the doctor will be lying lifeless in a pool of blood.

Was it murder or suicide? Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke is told that under no circumstances should he investigate. The doctor's widow, however, is convinced her husband was the target of a hit. But why would anyone murder an apparently obscure doctor? Compelled to dig deeper, Schenke learns of the mysterious death of a child. The cases seem unconnected, but soon chilling links begin to emerge that point to a terrifying secret.

Even in times of war, under a ruthless regime, there are places no man should ever enter. And Schenke fears he may not return alive . . .

If you want to read my review of Blackout, the URL for my blog is in my signature...

[SomeSteve]

Originally Posted by sufue

I had an advance review copy of Simon Scarrow's Blackout a while back ... I really liked it, and hoped it would become a series. And now it has, and the second book in the series, Dead of Night, is on sale at Kindle UK for £0.99. Unfortunately, I've been slammed at work, and so there may be only a few more hours for this price, since it seems to be part of the Daily Deal, but I thought I'd post anyway.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09SXSRLS1

As I write this, it's €0.99 at Amazon Germany:

https://www.amazon.de/Night-Berlin-W.../dp/B09SXSRLS1

[salty-horse]

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett is £1.99 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)
The author's latest novel.

Open the safe deposit box.
Inside you will find research material for a true crime book.
You must read the documents, then make a decision.
Will you destroy them? Or will you take them to the police?

Everyone knows the sad story of the Alperton Angels: the cult who brainwashed a teenage girl and convinced her that her newborn baby was the anti-Christ. Believing they had a divine mission to kill the infant, they were only stopped when the girl came to her senses and called the police. The Angels committed suicide rather than stand trial, while mother and baby disappeared into the care system.

Nearly two decades later, true-crime author Amanda Bailey is writing a book on the Angels. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen and can finally be interviewed; if Amanda can find them, it will be the true-crime scoop of the year, and will save her flagging career. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and is also on the baby's trail.

As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realise that what everyone thinks they know about the Angels is wrong. The truth is something much darker and stranger than they'd ever imagined. And the story of the Alperton Angels is far from over.

[sufue]

A bunch of Agatha Christie books are on sale for $1.99 each at Kindle US, as part of today's "pre-Prime day" deal. These appear to all be William Morrow reissues, so here's a link for the seventeen of them: http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/?sea...row+paperbacks

I was completely unable to get a functioning link for Kobo - does anyone know how to add a publisher to a Kobo search URL? Sadly, since some of Christie's early books have become public domain in the US, there are tons of versions of the ones that are PD that mess up the search results, and I'm having trouble adding the publisher to the search. And I'm slammed at work (again) today, so don't have time to play with it any more. But, if you see a book for $1.99 using the Kindle link, there's a really good chance it will also be $1.99 at Kobo - I spot checked four, and they all were on sale at Kobo US too.

[GA Russell]

London Rules (Slough House Book 5) - $3.99

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076NS4WNW

[sufue]

Many years later, The Chain of Chance is $2.99 in the US, but this time at Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008F0ON4G

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Bargain @ $1.99 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in the US only (couponable/VIP-eligible at Kobo, price should otherwise be the same at other retailers):

Two titles by the late Polish author Stanisław Lem (Wikipedia), usually known for his award-winning science fiction, but he also wrote literary and mystery:

The Chain of Chance, a vacation murder mystery set in Italy, investigated by a former astronaut.

An ex-astronaut investigates a string of potential murders in this novel by the Kafka Prize–winning author of Solaris.

Vacation is supposed to be relaxing. But while traveling in Naples, several American tourists die in a most macabre and unusual way: committing suicide in a fit of madness. The cases are too similar to be coincidental, and the prevailing theory soon assumes that a serial poisoner is on the loose.

Called in to investigate, and stem the rash of death before it becomes an epidemic, is a former astronaut from the States. As he follows the path of the last victim, he is confronted with a mystery that proves the truth is always stranger than fiction—and that we are all casualties of fortune in the end.

Called “a Jorge Luis Borges for the Space Age, who plays in earnest with every concept of philosophy and physics, from free will to probability theory,” Stanislaw Lem now tackles the suspense genre with his famed intensity and intelligence, weaving a taut and enigmatic tale as only a great novelist can (The New York Times Book Review).

{edited other book}

[GA Russell]

Secret Agent X: The Assassins' League

52 cents

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005R17X3O

[sufue]

Today's Big Deal at Kindle UK is twelve James Patterson books for £0.99 each. Too many for me to list individually, but here's a link to the sale page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?node=4725112031

[sufue]

Sébastien Japrisot's The Sleeping Car Murders is £0.99 at Kindle UK right now: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0871GB6D8

Spoiler:

When the night train pulled into Paris, she was dead. And the riddle began...

A beautiful young woman lies sprawled on her berth in the sleeping car of the night train from Marseille to Paris. She is not in the embrace of sleep, or even in the arms of one of her many lovers. She is dead. And the unpleasant task of finding her killer is handed to overworked, crime-weary police detective Pierre ‘Grazzi’ Grazziano, who would rather play hide-and-seek with his little son than cat and mouse with a diabolically cunning, savage murderer.

With corpses turning up everywhere, the question becomes not only who is the killer, but who will be the next victim . . .

I had an ARC of this a while back and really liked it, especially right at the beginning, where the train worker who will find the body is busy musing about an upcoming strike - what could be more French? If you want to read my full review, it's on my blog...

[sufue]

As I mentioned once before, it seems as if Kate Sedley got the rights back to some of her early Roger the Chapman books, and e-published them through Canelo, with reasonable prices. And right now, the first two in the series (Death and the Chapman, and The Plymouth Cloak) are on sale for $0.99/£0.99 in the US/UK. And the next three are $3.99 in the US and £1.99 in the UK, which is not too bad, at least in the UK... Now I wish she'd get the rights back to some of the later titles - a few of which go on sale pretty often, but many of which don't...

Here are links to the five Canelo books:

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FL5JDMJ
Kobo US (discountable): https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?qu...a-9d950bea9b74
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09FL5JDMJ