FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[sufue]

Joffe Books appear to have gotten the e-rights to at least the first few books in Diane Mott Davidson's Goldy Bear Schulz series, but only in the UK, where there is a box set of the first six titles currently going for £0.99. This is definitely a cozy series, but I liked them all when I read them in DTB starting in the 1990s, and later in e-book.

The six titles are: Catering to Nobody, Dying for Chocolate, The Cereal Murders, The Last Suppers, Killer Pancake, and The Main Corpse.

If you like cozies and somehow haven't tried this series, this is a great way to give it a try, if you live in/visit the UK. Oh, and it's KU if you have that, and want to try for free - or at least for already sunk cost...

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DPFW571Q

[sufue]

A couple Joffe freebies too...

The Christmas Card Murders, #4 in the Beldon Magna series by Anthony Litton
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0784H47N9
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0784H47N9

A Killing Air, #1 in the Harry Brown series by Nigel Price
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J2HN5NQ
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07J2HN5NQ

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by sufue

I ended up reading and loving The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett, which is a Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin pastiche set in a fantasy world. (See this post and a few posts before and after over in the sci-fi/fantasy thread - I'm kind of surprised I didn't cross-post it before.)

Thanks for posting about this. I did pick it up when you posted about it previously and had forgotten about. I'll put it on my Reader later on after I sort it out.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by sufue

Encyclopedia Brown was one of the first mystery series I remember reading...

I loved those books and was happy to introduce them to my kid. The gimmick of hiding the solution at the end of the book still works.

[sufue]

I hope you like it. I just asked for an ARC of the next book in the series, A Drop of Corruption, which comes out next April, but since I mostly review mysteries, I don't know if I'll get it...

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Thanks for posting about this. I did pick it up when you posted about it previously and had forgotten about. I'll put it on my Reader later on after I sort it out.

[pdurrant]

The first eleven books in the Lady Hardcastle series by T E Kinsey are all at £0.99 at Amazon UK at the moment:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B074C6W8F7

This is a fun cosy murder mystery series set in Edwardian England. I've read them all and enjoyed them. Indeed, I have number 12 on pre-order.

[sufue]

Three books in Sarah Hawkswood's Bradecote and Catchpoll series are $0.99 each at Kindle US right now. And there is also an omnibus of the first five titles in the series available for just $5.99, which is also a pretty good price if you need all five, or at least, need most of them. Books in this series seem to go on sale a fair amount in the UK, less so in the US. I've read a few of the books in this series and liked all that I've read.

Servant of Death, #1
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MYTU2FR

Hostage to Fortune, #4
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R4BD6HT

Vale of Tears, #5
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R4BCXW7

The Bradecote & Catchpoll series: Books 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 contains the three titles above and also Ordeal by Fire, #2, and Marked to Die, #3.
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLCZSDRC
Kobo US, where it is $6.99, not $5.99, but also discountable, bringing the price quite close to $5.99 if you have a coupon code or VIP membership: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...tchpoll-series

[GA Russell]

The prices of the Lew Archer books are high.

The last one, The Blue Hammer, is currently at its lowest price, $4.99.

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Hammer-L...dp/B004AM5QZI/

[sufue]

I don't often do just a straight recommendation, but after eight years, there's a new book out in T Lee Harris' Sitehuti and Nefer-Djenou-Bastet (aka Neffi) series, whose one book and three short stories I discovered and devoured on one weekend back in 2017. So now there are two books and three short stories. I wish there were more, and when I emailed with the author, she hinted there might be, and that it might not be eight more years, fingers crossed. It's up in my top ten series, and even, depending on my mood at the time, top five. It hits a lot of my favorite things: Ancient Egyptian historical, dry humor, cats (especially this one!), nicely portrayed background, fun plot. It's a cozy, but not too cozy. I do recommend that you start with the first one and not the new one - there's a lot of carry-over from one to the other.

And although the books aren't on sale, they are so inexpensive that I'm not sure how much more they would need to go on sale:

The Eloquent Scribe, #1, $2.99
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N7DWM7G
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N7DWM7G

Lies in the Place of Truth, #2 (not counting the short stories), $2.99
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPDD3PMP
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DPDD3PMP

3 Tales of the Cat (the short stories), $1.99
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N041DI6
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00N041DI6

Oh yeah, and I guess Per Bastet Publications might not be a traditional publisher, but I've already said I love them all. And if you want to read more, my review of the new one is up on my blog...

ADD: After thinking a bit more about it, I'm not sure all the humor is dry - some is pretty blunt, mostly revolving around Neffi's doings, but it's all quite funny.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by sufue

I don't often do just a straight recommendation, but after eight years, there's a new book out in T Lee Harris' Sitehuti and Nefer-Djenou-Bastet (aka Neffi) series, whose one book and three short stories I discovered and devoured on one weekend back in 2017.

They sound great.

Very tempting...

[sufue]

If you try them, I hope you like them. For cross-reference, I've liked all of the Lady Hardcastle books I've read

Originally Posted by pdurrant

They sound great.

Very tempting...

[sufue]

The Crossing is now $2.99 in the US. Not a super great sale price for a 9-year old book, but per eReaderIQ, it hasn't been lower in a long time, if ever.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U6DNZOY
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-crossing-60

Originally Posted by sufue

The Crossing is the eighteenth (more-or-less, depending on how you count) in the Harry Bosch series and/or the sixth in the Mickey Haller series, both by Michael Connelly. Either way, it has dropped to £0.99 at Kindle UK as part of the UK Daily Deal today.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crossing-Ha...dp/B00URUOJZK/
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Crossing-...dp/B00URUOJZK/

[sufue]

The Lantern's Dance is now £0.99 in the UK.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C8WT3FBM
Kobo UK (discountable): https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-lantern-s-dance-2

Originally Posted by sufue

The Lantern's Dance is the eighteenth and most recent (2024) in Laurie R King's Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series. It's $2.99 in the US right now.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C56RRQPT
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-lantern-s-dance-1

[sufue]

Litany of Lies is now £0.99 in the UK. The Kindle UK link below is still good. And here's for Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/litany-of-lies

Originally Posted by sufue

A whole bunch of books in the Bradecote and Catchpoll series by Sarah Hawkswood are recent price drops at Kindle UK. All are £1.99 each unless otherwise indicated...

• {edited other books}
• Litany of Lies, #12, £2.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CSQHK2S2

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by sufue

Joffe Books appear to have gotten the e-rights to at least the first few books in Diane Mott Davidson's Goldy Bear Schulz series, but only in the UK, where there is a box set of the first six titles currently going for £0.99. This is definitely a cozy series, but I liked them all when I read them in DTB starting in the 1990s, and later in e-book.

The six titles are: Catering to Nobody, Dying for Chocolate, The Cereal Murders, The Last Suppers, Killer Pancake, and The Main Corpse.

If you like cozies and somehow haven't tried this series, this is a great way to give it a try, if you live in/visit the UK. Oh, and it's KU if you have that, and want to try for free - or at least for already sunk cost...

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DPFW571Q

Thanks. I've picked up this one. I'll be splitting it and then giving it a try.