FREE/BARGAIN - Mystery, Suspense, Thriller - 2016

[cromag]

Originally Posted by sufue

There are a few previously traditionally published mystery authors who sell their backlist through Smashwords. Per this post, Smashwords is having its "Read an Ebook Week" sale, with discounts from 25% to 100%.
...
Kaye George does not have the Imogene Duckworthy series on sale, but does have a non-series title (possibly the first in a new series), Death in the Time of Ice, on sale at 50% off. Per the blurb, Death in the Time of Ice was nominated for Best Historical Mystery in the 2014 Agatha Awards.
link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/549952

I read Death in the Time of Ice and liked it enough to give it a good review. The story and characters were well developed. But there are some stumbling blocks for anyone who knows a bit of the science behind the setting (time period and geography) and populations. If you can get past it, you'll probably enjoy the story.

[GA Russell]

The Exploits of Juve (Fantomas #2) - free
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NG5PHHW

[Fbone]

Thai Horse by William Diehl is FREE on Amazon today. Random House 1987. GR 3.86

http://smile.amazon.com/Thai-Horse-W...rds=thai+horse

[sufue]

I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason is the first in the CeCe Caruso series by Susan Kandel. It recently dropped to $0.99 at Amazon US.

link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001RS8KP6

Spoiler:

I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason is the debut novel in a hip, sexy, smart and, yes, cozy mystery series with a great hook. Think Sex and the City collides with Murder, She Wrote.

All that writer Cece Caruso really wants to do is complete her biography of mystery legend Erle Stanley Gardner, find a vintage 1970s Ossie Clark gown to add to her collection, and fix the doorknob on her picturesque West Hollywood bungalow. Then a chance visit with a prison inmate who knew Gardner lands her right in the middle of a 40–year–old murder and another case where the blood is still warm. In fact, Cece finds the body. This brings her into irresistible contact with her inner personal sleuth and shows how crime and greed can reverberate through several generations of a single family.

[ATDrake]

X-link to the DRM-free megathread for this Tuesday's Wildside Press freebie:

The Second Rufus King Mystery Minipack™ containing 2 vintage shorts from the 1920s by the late author.

Also, StoryBundle has a True Crime non-fiction bundle expiring in a few days' time, if you're interested.

[Little.Egret]

Endeavour Books

Long Man's Shadow by Anne Wilkinson

murder mystery

Could the widowed Mrs Stonier be the the new Miss Marple?

Having taken early retirement from her job in publishing, she now works in The Home of Taste, a retro-vintage shop. This is useful as she has `downsized' to a flat in Stoke Newington and needs to organise her `tat'.

While sorting through her boxes, she comes across one containing photos, labelled the Brittan albums, which she had bought with her late husband at a car boot sale in Essex 10 years earlier. The photos were taken in the 1930s.

On a foray to Sussex to stay with her sister, a body is discovered. It is in a well at Willmans House, Fairlingly, where renovation work is being carried out. Apparently the female body has been there some time.

Our amateur detective realises that this is where the photographs in the albums were taken.

Using her new-found skills from her evening classes on family history, she begins to research the families in the photos, the Brittans and, their close neighbours, the Jeavingtons.

Gradually their profiles begin to emerge. However, in Sussex, despite the help of her sister and the local vicar in unravelling the mystery, there is unexpected local opposition to her enquiries.

Why so many years after a murder had been committed should there be so much local interest?

As Mrs Stonier digs deeper, the questions multiply...

A Fatal Rhythm by Ruth Wade

It's 1925. Thirty-year-old Cora Grenville, daughter of The Rt Honourable Henry Fitzsimons MP, is emerging out of mourning for her husband.

Although recognised as a society beauty and philanthropist, neither her marriage nor her life to date has fulfilled her.

Longing to find something to ignite her passions once more, she decides to spend the summer in Granada; writing a book about the Gypsies of Andalusia might be just the tonic she needs.

Unable to persuade her friend Hermione to travel with her, Cora flouts convention by taking a working class girl, Violet Brown, as her maid and companion.

Long, lazy days in the sunshine, the charming house on the Alhambra Hill, and the attentions of an enigmatic and handsome Spaniard all lead her to believe she has successfully recreated the world of the Romantic Traveller.

But dark forces are at work to rob her of this illusion: the Gypsies connive to steal her fortune; anarchists want her as a hostage for their cause; and the man she thought was her protector, has sinister designs of his own.

Ruth Wade also writes as BK Duncan.


See all

http://www.amazon.com/s/?url=search-...sher=endeavour

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?url=searc...sher=endeavour
http://www.amazon.ca/s/?url=search-a...sher=endeavour

[sufue]

A couple of US Kindle Countdown titles, both at $0.99.

Fear for Frances by Veronica Heley, on sale for about 2 more days
link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01418RA04

Spoiler:

1881.

Frances Chard is as sensible as she is beautiful.

She does not believe in ghosts or curses, but when she became governess at Broome Court, she meets people who believed in both.

The new Lord Broome was a soldier who had recently been wounded in South Africa.

Returning to his native land, he was attacked, robbed, and brought back to the Court to die.

His family quarrelled over his will, and he was neglected by his servants.

It was hinted to Frances that Lord Broome had murdered his mistress the last time he had been home, and that the sooner he died the better.

Yet when chance took Frances to the sickroom, she found much to puzzle her.

Was Lord Broome really the villain he was made out to be?

Or was he the victim of a plot to rob him of his good name, his fortune and his life…?

As Frances strives to get nearer to the truth, she begins to fear that her life might be in grave danger too …

Shakespeare's Blood by Peg Herring, on sale for about 4 more days
link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0053GCTLE

Spoiler:

Vacationing in Britain, Mercedes Maxwell discovers a corpse in an old castle. When her traveling companion is murdered soon afterward, Mercedes is shocked. She's even more distressed when the police seem to suspect her.

Later, the discovery of an old journal connects the two crimes, and Mercedes becomes determined to figure out its secrets. Soon she is spun into a world of terror. Desperate to get the journal, the killer chases her across Britain, leaving corpses posed as Shakespearean characters in his wake.
By chance--or perhaps not--Mercedes meets Colm, a handsome actor who seems to want to protect her. Though she's attracted to him, there's something going on she doesn't understand. As they travel England tracking down clues, the feeling Colm knows things he isn't telling her won't go away, and eventually she leaves him behind. There's an odd-looking man following her as well, along with a woman who was probably once Colm's lover. There's also a young policeman who seems to want to help her but isn't willing to step outside the law to do so.

In Salisbury, England, Mercedes finds David, an elderly scholar who knows much of what she needs to find out. He wants to help solve the mystery--at least that's what he says.

Who can a girl trust when Spanish gold is involved?

In this thriller you'll meet ancient spies, learn the location of a huge cache of Spanish treasure, and, most amazing of all, uncover secrets of England's greatest playwright: the truth of SHAKESPEARE'S BLOOD.

[GA Russell]

Jimmy the Kid - Donald E. Westlake - $1.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UK7U5I

[sufue]

Blue Murder is the second in the Lord and Lady Hetheridge series by Emma Jameson. It is free right now on Amazon US. I've read three of the four books in this series, and enjoyed them.

link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008EKZJ90/

Spoiler:

Two Dead Men

In London’s fashionable Chelsea, a Halloween bash goes terribly wrong. Emmeline Wardle, daughter of a frozen foods baron, throws a party which results in the demise of two university schoolmates. Handsome golden boy Trevor Parsons is dead. So is pasty computer nerd Clive French. Both died on the Wardle estate within minutes of one another, and both died the same way – an axe to the skull. Given the social connections of all involved, New Scotland Yard sends a real baron to investigate: Chief Superintendent Anthony Hetheridge, also known as Lord Hetheridge, ninth baron of Wellegrave.

Two Prime Suspects

This time around, Detective Sergeant Kate Wakefield and her partner, Detective Sergeant Deepal “Paul” Bhar, have their work cut out. Bhar must contend with Emmeline Wardle, a spoiled blonde with a penchant for the finer things, including a certain illegal white powder. Kate must decide if Kyla Sloane, model-pretty and delicate, is being truthful about the events of that fateful night. And if Kyla’s connection to a former lover of Bhar’s means nothing – or everything.

Lord & Lady Hetheridge, Book Two

Return to the world of Ice Blue in Blue Murder, the second of the Lord & Lady Hetheridge series. In addition to solving the double murder in Chelsea, Anthony Hetheridge plans on proposing marriage to Kate for the second time. He has the ring. Now all he needs is the proper moment…

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by sufue

Blue Murder is the second in the Lord and Lady Hetheridge series by Emma Jameson. It is free right now on Amazon US. I've read three of the four books in this series, and enjoyed them.

link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008EKZJ90/

This reminded me of Blue Murder by the great Robert Leslie Bellem, which I see is currently 99 cents.
http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Murder-Ro...dp/B00O3PCHQI/

[murg]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Jimmy the Kid - Donald E. Westlake - $1.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UK7U5I

Thanks.

I already have this one, I'm really looking for the second half of the series.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

This reminded me of Blue Murder by the great Robert Leslie Bellem, which I see is currently 99 cents.
http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Murder-Ro...dp/B00O3PCHQI/

Robert Leslie Bellem is a GREAT writer, as we both know.

[sufue]

Three Harry Bosch novels have recently dropped to $2.99 at Amazon US, presumably in connection with the release of the new season of the Bosch series on Amazon Prime, which is one of the splash items on Amazon's main page right now. Not sure if these three were among the ones on sale at Amazon UK a few days ago, but if they weren't, or for folks who don't live in the UK and don't like to travel, here are the three that have dropped in the US:

The Last Coyote is the fourth in the series.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Last-Coyote-Ha...dp/B000FC1MM8/

Spoiler:

Harry Bosch's life is on the edge. His earthquake-damaged home has been condemned. His girlfriend has left him. He's drinking too much. And after attacking his commanding officer, he's even had to turn in his L.A.P.D. detective's badge. Now, suspended indefinitely pending a psychiatric evaluation, he's spending his time investigating an unsolved crime from 1961: the brutal slaying of a prostitute who happened to be his own mother.

Even after three decades, Harry's questions generate heat among L.A.'s top politicos. And as the truth begins to emerge, it becomes more and more apparent that someone wants to keep it buried. Someone very powerful...very cunning...and very deadly.

Edgar Award-winning author Michael Connelly has created a dark, fast-paced suspense thriller that cuts to the core of Harry Bosch's character. Once you start it, there's no turning back.

Trunk Music is the fifth in the series.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Trunk-Music-Ha...dp/B000FC1MMS/

Spoiler:

Back on the job after an involuntary leave of absence, LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch is ready for a challenge. But his first case is a little more than he bargained for.

It starts with the body of a Hollywood producer in the trunk of a Rolls-Royce, shot twice in the head at close range - what looks like "trunk music," a Mafia hit. But the LAPD's organized crime unit is curiously uninterested, and when Harry follows a trail of gambling debts to Las Vegas, the case suddenly becomes more complex - and much more personal.

A rekindled romance with an old girlfriend opens new perspectives on the murder, and he begins to glimpse a shocking triangle of corruption and collusion. Yanked off the case, Harry himself is soon the one being investigated. But only a bullet can stop Harry when he's searching for the truth . . .

The Drop is the eighteenth in the series.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Drop-Harry-Bos...dp/B004RCNGT4/

Spoiler:

Harry Bosch has been given three years before he must retire from the LAPD, and he wants cases more fiercely than ever. In one morning, he gets two.

DNA from a 1989 rape and murder matches a 29-year-old convicted rapist. Was he an eight-year-old killer or has something gone terribly wrong in the new Regional Crime Lab? The latter possibility could compromise all of the lab's DNA cases currently in court.

Then Bosch and his partner are called to a death scene fraught with internal politics. Councilman Irvin Irving's son jumped or was pushed from a window at the Chateau Marmont. Irving, Bosch's longtime nemesis, has demanded that Harry handle the investigation.

Relentlessly pursuing both cases, Bosch makes two chilling discoveries: a killer operating unknown in the city for as many as three decades, and a political conspiracy that goes back into the dark history of the police department.

When I checked out the series on SYKM, I was amazed to see how many awards Connelly's books have been nominated for and have won. I guess I'll try out a few of the early ones, and see if I like them.

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

I read a Harry Bosch that I got free, plus another short story in some bundle. I liked both, and they're on my list to grab, especially if free; else I'll wait till I finish my other series first.

[sufue]

Something the Cat Dragged In is the eighth title in the Peter Shandy series by Charlotte MacLeod. It's on sale at $1.99 right now, possibly as part of Open Road's daily deals?

link: http://www.amazon.com/Something-Drag...dp/B009S33L7E/

Spoiler:

For Professor Ungley, death isn’t half as inconvenient as losing his toupee

An unpleasant man in every respect, university professor Herbert Ungley is exceedingly vain. One morning, his landlady catches her cat coming in with Ungley’s hairpiece between its teeth. It’s clear something has happened to the old grouch, because he would never be caught without his toupee.

Ungley is found in the yard behind his social club, with his head bashed in and his baldness plain for the world to see. Although the police are content to call it an accident, sleuthing horticulturalist Peter Shandy is unconvinced, and finds there are too many unanswered questions. How did Ungley come to have such a bulging bank account? Who was Ungley’s long-lost heir, and what did he have to do with the professor’s lost hair? And whose is the second body in the woods? Shandy must answer these questions and more if he’s to find who pulled the rug out from the balding corpse.

Also on sale at Kobo US, and probably elsewhere...

Kobo US: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...cat-dragged-in

[sufue]

Death before Decaf appears to be the first in a new series, the Java Jive mysteries, by Caroline Fardig.

Death before Decaf has dropped to $0.99 in the Amazon US store, possibly in conjunction with the upcoming release of the second in the series, Mug Shot, which is due out in April.

link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VOYNDKK

Spoiler:

Perfect for fans of Janet Evanovich and Diane Mott Davidson, Caroline Fardig’s captivating new mystery novel takes readers behind the counter of a seemingly run-of-the-mill coffeehouse . . . where murder is brewing.

After her music career crashes and burns spectacularly, Juliet Langley is forced to turn to the only other business she knows: food service. Unfortunately, bad luck strikes yet again when her two-timing fiancé robs her blind and runs off with her best waitress. Flushing what’s left of her beloved café down the toilet with her failed engagement, Juliet packs up and moves back to her college stomping grounds in Nashville to manage an old friend’s coffeehouse. At first glance, it seems as though nothing’s changed at Java Jive. What could possibly go wrong? Only that the place is hemorrhaging money, the staff is in open revolt, and Juliet finds one unlucky employee dead in the dumpster out back before her first day is even over.

The corpse just so happens to belong to the cook who’d locked horns with Juliet over the finer points of the health code. Unimpressed with her management style, the other disgruntled employees are only too eager to spill the beans about her fiery temper to the detective on the case. Add to the mix a hunky stranger who’s asking way too many questions, and suddenly Juliet finds herself in some very hot water. If she can’t simmer down and sleuth her way to the real killer, she’s going to get burned.