FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

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A Serpent's Tooth is the ninth Walt Longmire title by Craig Johnson. It's on sale for $1.99 right now at Kindle and Kobo US...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AFPVQQW
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-serpent-s-tooth

Spoiler:

It’s homecoming for the Durant Dogies when Cord Lynear, a Mormon “lost boy” forced off his compound for rebellious behavior, shows up in Absaroka County. Without much guidance, divine or otherwise, Sheriff Walt Longmire, Victoria Moretti, and Henry Standing Bear search for the boy’s mother and find themselves on a high-plains scavenger hunt that ends at the barbed-wire doorstep of an interstate polygamy group. Run by four-hundred-pound Roy Lynear, Cord’s father, the group is frighteningly well armed and very good at keeping secrets.

Walt’s got Cord locked up for his own good, but the Absaroka County jailhouse is getting crowded since the arrival of the boy’s self-appointed bodyguard, a dangerously spry old man who claims to be blessed by Joseph Smith himself. As Walt, Vic, and Henry butt heads with the Lynears, they hear whispers of Big Oil and the CIA and fear they might be dealing with a lot more than they bargained for.

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Joffe's Free Friday book (usually actually good through the weekend, and still good as of right now) is a box set: The Augustus Mandrell Thrillers Books 1-3, by Frank McAuliffe, which includes Of All the Bloody Cheek!, Rather a Vicious Gentleman, and For Murder I Charge More.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVZW18TL
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BVZW18TL

Spoiler:

MEET AUGUSTUS MANDRELL — but be careful when you do . . .

No one is sure who Augustus Mandrell is, where he came from, or where he will turn up next. He is a master of disguise, a connoisseur of beautiful women, and an expert assassin. He can speak several languages — and lie fluently in all of them. He will kill anyone for a price — and he doesn’t leave witnesses.

From England in 1939 to America in 1950, via France, Iran and Ireland during and just after World War II, the services of Mandrell Limited are available to all — or all who can pay. Each commission comes with a contract which has two main clauses:

1. You will be charged a fee in keeping with the excellence of the service;
2. You will pay that fee.
3. Woe betide anyone who ignores Clause (2).

IN THIS THREE-BOOK BOX SET:

BOOK 1: OF ALL THE BLOODY CHEEK!
The fun-loving, fast-talking assassin-for-hire takes on his most daring mission yet. Mandrell forms a troupe of dancing girls to gain access to an American prisoner-of-war camp and take down a turncoat French officer. But all does not go smoothly.

BOOK 2: RATHER A VICIOUS GENTLEMAN
Augustus Mandrell aims to commit the ultimate ‘locked room’ murder. He succeeds in penetrating a subterranean military facility in order to assassinate a Nazi war criminal. His plan is perfect, but even the best-laid plans can sometimes go awry. The chameleon-like contract killer must use all his skills in disguise, deception and psychology to survive.

BOOK 3: FOR MURDER I CHARGE MORE
For a while Scotland Yard can relax. The notorious assassin-for-hire Augustus Mandrell is crossing the Atlantic to ply his unholy trade in America. His latest commission sees Mandrell smuggling Hitler’s double out of Europe while being pursued by agents of the OSS, the IRA and the Israeli Irgun. What could possibly go wrong . . .

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And while looking at Joffe, I noticed that they seem to have gotten rights to the first two books in Dolores Gordon-Smith's Jack Haldean series, and both are $0.99/£0.99. I read and liked some of the early books in this series a long long time ago - I don't remember a ton of specifics, but remember I liked them. Hopefully Joffe get some more of the early books in this series...

A Fête Worse Than Death, #1
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CB8PDK2Y
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CB8PDK2Y

Mad About the Boy?, #2
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBS56Y4K
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CBS56Y4K

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Books in Nevada Barr's excellent IMO Anna Pigeon series rarely go on sale, and are mostly $7.99 and up when not on sale. So it's nice to see Endangered Species, which is the fifth in the series, drop to $1.99 as part of today's Kindle US Daily Deal, and be price-matched at Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001LRB37K
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/endangered-species-6

Spoiler:

Tough, likable park ranger Anna Pigeon is back in another high-spirited outdoors adventure/mystery.

Anna has been assigned a three-week posting on Georgia's isolated Cumberland Island. Despite the breathtaking natural setting, Anna finds time weighing heavily as she works tedious fire pre-suppression duty. Her boring routine is shattered when a sudden plane crash in the inland palmetto thickets calls her and the other members of the fire crew to action.

When Anna and the crew investigate, they discover the plane was sabotaged. Suspicions smolder over the accident which killed both the pilot and his passenger, Cumberland's lone law enforcement ranger. Even the usually unflappable Anna is shocked by the desperate cold-bloodedness of the crime. Will protecting the island come at a price even Anna is unwilling to pay?

Oh yeah, and the first in the series is semi-perm at $2.99, with rare dips below that, so if you want to try the series from the beginning, links for Track of the Cat are in this previous post.

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I've not read anything by first-time author, DM Rowell, but Never Name the Dead sounds pretty interesting. And it's on sale for $1.99 right now at Kindle US and Kobo US, and it's even more nicely priced at £0.76 at Kindle UK...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09S2Y714T
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/never-name-the-dead
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09S2Y714T

Spoiler:

Old grudges, tribal traditions, and outside influences collide for a Kiowa woman as forces threaten her family, her tribe, and the land of her ancestors, in this own-voices debut perfect for fans of Winter Counts.

No one called her Mud in Silicon Valley. There, she was Mae, a high-powered professional who had left her Kiowa roots behind a decade ago. But a cryptic voice message from her grandfather, James Sawpole, telling her to come home sounds so wrong that she catches the next plane to Oklahoma. She never expected to be plunged into a web of theft, betrayal, and murder.

Mud discovers a tribe in disarray. Fracking is damaging their ancestral lands, Kiowa families are being forced to sell off their artifacts, and frackers have threatened to kill her grandfather over his water rights. When Mud and her cousin Denny discover her grandfather missing, accused of stealing the valuable Jefferson Peace medal from the tribe museum—and stumble across a body in his work room—Mud has no choice but to search for answers.

Mud sets out into the Wildlife Refuge, determined to clear her grandfather's name and identify the killer. But Mud has no idea that she's about to embark on a vision quest that will involve deceit, greed, and a charging buffalo—or that a murderer is on her trail.

[ZodWallop]

A couple of Brian Hodge crime novels are on sale, $0.99 a piece.

Wild Horses

In Las Vegas, anything goes. So when Allison discovers her blackjack dealer boyfriend has a cheatin’ heart, “hit me” takes on a whole new meaning. She clobbers Boyd with a cactus. Then she trashes his prized money-skimming scam, swipes his only records of an off-shore bank account (the key to a fortune) without realizing it, and blows town.

Big mistake. Because Boyd has a partner: an aging showgirl still young enough to scheme. Not happy with her cut, this redhead wants revenge–and she knows a cold-blooded killer who will help her get it. Meanwhile, Boyd has found solace with a new-age hooker who cares about Boyd’s karma more than his money.

Now the whole brawling, balling, hurting tangle of friends, traitors, and lovers is going on the road. In separate cars. Leaving behind a trail of broken bodies and broken laws, they’re all following Allison. And she’s following a devious plan of her own...

Mad Dogs

From Brian Hodge, the author of the highly acclaimed Wild Horses, comes his long-awaited second crime novel, which once again finds him careening at whiplash speeds between black humor and the pounding heart of darkness.

Actor Jamey Sheppard may not be starving, but he's definitely struggling. His career has been one piddling role after another with names like Radical Dude #3. Still, as he's road-tripping from Los Angeles to Arizona to reunite with his fiancée for their wedding, the future looks brighter than gold.

Until a liquid lunch deputy turns the best day in his life into the worst.

But Jamey's no criminal. He's only played one on TV.

From the moment he's mistaken for Duncan MacGregor, the real-life renegade he's just portrayed in a re-enactment segment on American Fugitives, Jamey's life can never be the same. And so begins his sun-scorched odyssey through overnight media saturation celebrity and the national fascination with outlaws.

In his hideaway, Duncan MacGregor is watching, too. And he just has to meet the guy who relived his own worst moment in front of a nationwide audience.

Within days, in a twist that even American Fugitives couldn't have seen coming, their fates are intertwined, as they ricochet down a road filled with the world's dumbest bounty hunters, Hollywood deal-makers and wannabes, cops on both sides of the law, a metal-plated ex-con with a prehistoric outlook on life, an impromptu right-wing death squad, a merciless Jay Leno, and the most dangerous people of all when it comes to grudges and vengeance:

Family.

Staying on the run could be the best career move Jamey's ever made... if he can just live long enough to sign on the dotted line.

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A Death at Seascape House is now free at Kindle US/UK/Canada, and also free at Kobo US. (And probably also Kobo UK and Kobo Canada, but I don’t monitor those sites…) The links in the post below are still good, and here are the rest:

Kindle Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08WLVLD9N/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-d...seascape-house

Originally Posted by sufue

I’ve read and really enjoyed all of the books in Emma Jameson’s Lord and Lady Hetheridge series. So I was happy to receive an advance review copy a while back of the first title in Jameson’s new series featuring Jemima (Jem) Jago and set in the Isles of Scilly, off the coast of Cornwall. I found A Death at Seascape House to be a little slow to start, but I enjoyed it once it got going. (If you're really interested, you can see my review at my blog - the link is below in my signature, and just search in the search box for Jameson)

In any case, A Death at Seascape House has dropped to $0.99/£0.99 at Kindle US and UK respectively. I don't see it at all at Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WLVLD9N
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08WLVLD9N

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Today's Big Deal at Kindle UK is seven Hercule Poirot books by Agatha Christie for £0.99 each. Be aware, one of these, The Murder on the Links, is public domain in the US at least (and probably lots of other countries, given how draconian US copyright is) and you can find it at Project Gutenberg and other PD sites.

link to the Big Deal webpage at Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?node=4725112031

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Crime Fraîche is the second in Alexander Campion's Capucine Culinary series. It's on sale right now in the US ($1.99, discountable at Kobo) and the UK (£1.22).

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007X5IOHQ
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/crime-fraiche-3
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007X5IOHQ

Spoiler:

Très chic Parisian Commissaire Capucine Le Tellier sets off on a hunting holiday that proves deadly for more than just the pheasants. . .

Before Capucine and her husband, distinguished food critic Alexandre de Huguelet, even arrive at her oncle's 16th-century château, a fatal hunting accident has upset their idyllic destination. What's meant to be a peaceful bon voyage to the countryside--rustic picnics, dinners en plein air, and of course, a sip or two of Calvados--quickly sours as more "accidents" befall the guests. But the local gendarmerie lack the investigative finesse to draw any conclusions, let alone suspects, forcing Capucine to puzzle out the crimes herself. And when the bodies lead to a celebrated cattle ranch, the stakes rise beyond small-town grudges to the struggle surrounding France's most beloved gastronomic traditions.

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No Accident is the twenty-fifth and most recent (2022) in the Posadas County series by Steven F Havill. It has dropped to $1.99 in the US, and it's discountable at Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096LBW5P3
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/no-accident-9

Spoiler:

Good cops have no use for coincidence

When a driver slams his pickup truck—twice—into a tandem bike being ridden by Carlos Guzman and his fiancée, Tasha, in Briones, California, it's more than a simple hit-and-run; the driver clearly intended to harm them. Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman gets the call with the news of her son's accident and wastes no time racing to his side. She is greeted by Police Captain Eddie Mitchell, formerly of Posadas County, who allows Estelle to "consult" on the investigation—but only to a point.

While Carlos struggles with critical injuries, an employee at the bike shop where Carlos bought the tandem is found shot dead in a dumpster—the same man who had borrowed the truck that mowed down Carlos and Tasha. The local cops aren't convinced there's any connection between the two crimes. Not a believer in coincidence, Estelle pursues every possible angle with a cop's determination to solve the case, and a mother's resolve to keep her son safe at any cost.

I had an ARC of this a while back, and liked, although probably a liked it a little less than other books in this series. But, that's still pretty good...

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A Sunlit Weapon is now $1.99 in the US. The links are still good...

Originally Posted by sufue

A Sunlit Weapon is the most recent (2022) in Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series. It has dropped to $3.99 at Kindle US as part of today's Daily Deal, and matched at Kobo US. That's not a great sale price, but a lot better than the $14.99 that it was yesterday and probably will be tomorrow ! And it's not too bad for a 2022 book..

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097RN7JZB
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B097RN7JZB
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-sunlit-weapon

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Two-and-a-half years later, A Banquet of Consequences is $1.99 again in the US. The links are still good...

Originally Posted by sufue

A few random price drops at Kindle US, some matched at Kobo US. These may be part of the new monthly sale, although I am slammed at work and haven't had a chance to check it out. A couple of these are repeats on sale, but from a year or more ago, so I figure they are worth a re-post now.

A Banquet of Consequences, Inspector Lynley #19, by Elizabeth George, $1.99
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L9B7CGE
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-b...f-consequences

{edited other books}

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Three years and change later, Voice of the Violin is $1.99 again in the US. The links are still good...

Originally Posted by sufue

Voice of the Violin is the fourth in the excellent IMO Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001R9DI84
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/voice-of-the-violin

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The first in Mia P Manansala's Lila Macapagal series, Arsenic and Adobo, won or was a finalist for a bunch of "Best First" awards. Now the second in the series, Homicide and Halo-Halo, is on sale for £0.99 at Kindle UK...

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B094GNBRJB

Spoiler:

Death at a beauty pageant turns Tita Rosie's Kitchen upside down in the latest entry of this witty and humorous cozy mystery series by Mia P. Manansala.

Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention of two very eligible bachelors. Or her professional life, since she can't bring herself to open her new café after the unpleasantness that occurred a few months ago at her aunt's Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie's Kitchen. No, things are heating up quite literally, since summer, her least favorite season, has just started.

To add to her feelings of sticky unease, Lila's little town of Shady Palms has resurrected the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which she won many years ago—a fact that serves as a wedge between Lila and her cousin slash rival, Bernadette. But when the head judge of the pageant is murdered and Bernadette becomes the main suspect, the two must put aside their differences and solve the case—because it looks like one of them might be next.

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The Mysterious Press/Open Road version of Agatha Christie's The Man in the Brown Suit, which is one of my favorites of hers, is $1.99 right now at Kindle US, as part of today's Daily Deal. Keep in mind, though, that it's also public domain in the US (although not in Canada yet), and a free downloadable version can be found at Project Gutenberg. But if you want the easier access of a Kindle version for this, the Mysterious Press/Open Road version should be reasonably professional, and it's on sale...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085RST23K

Spoiler:

On a ship from London to South Africa, a young woman gets wrapped up in a deadly scheme, in this classic novel by the master of mystery.

New to London, Anne Beddingfeld is hungry for adventure, when she witnesses a shocking accident. At the Hyde Park tube station, a man named L. B. Carton falls onto the tracks, dying instantly. An address for Mill House is found on Carton’s person, but only Anne notices the slip of paper he dropped—with the name of a ship and an inscrutable series of numbers.

When a woman is found strangled to death at Mill House and the only suspect is an unknown man in a brown suit, Anne becomes obsessed with the case. Booking passage on the ship from the mysterious piece of paper, she soon finds herself bound for South Africa in the company of killers and thieves, as she attempts to unravel a scheme of murder, betrayal, and stolen diamonds.