Free/Bargain Mystery/Suspense/Thriller December 2013

[Lynx-lynx]

As a result of Kobo's recent rash of excellent discount voucher codes I've been able to venture into authors that had previously either escaped my attention, or I couldn't justify spending big on.

One such acquisition was Andrew Martin's

The Necropolis Railway
$2.99 and discountable (bookriot50 is still going great guns!)

"A brilliant murder mystery set in Edwardian London about a railway line that runs only to a massive cemetery." Daily Mirror

When railwayman Jim Stringer moves to the garish and tawdry London of 1903, he finds his duties are confined to a mysterious graveyard line. The men he works alongside have formed an instant loathing for him - and his predecessor has disappeared under suspicious circumstances.

Can Jim work out what is going on before he too is traveling on a one-way coffin ticket aboard the Necropolis Railway?

"Guaranteed to make the flesh creep and the skin crawl, a masterful novel about a mad, clanking, fog-bound world." Simon Winchester

"A murderous conspiracy of a plot graced with style, wit and the sharp, true taste of a time gone by ... So beautifully nuanced and so effortlessly pleasurable to read that you almost want to keep it a personal secret." Independent on Sunday

Harris is what I term a Grade A writer, story teller and mystery writer. His writing style is polished, he doesn't labour the story down with inconsequential details, and he evokes the era and rail history about which he writes.

I originally saw Harris' two books on WWI, The Somme Stations (no. 7) and The Baghdad Railway (no. 8), and thought I'd buy book 1, Necropolis, to get the feel. Now I've decided to buy and read them all in order!!

[BelleZora]

Thanks, Lynx-Lynx. This has been on my wish list.

Time Release by Martin J. Smith was first published by Jove in 1997 and was an Anthony Award Nominee for Best Paperback Original (1998). Free today:

Amazon US
Amazon CA
Amazon UK
Kobo

[AnemicOak]

One of Amazon US's Kindle daily deals today is Night Train to Memphis (Vicky Bliss Mysteries) by Elizabeth Peters for $1.99 (add Whispersync for Voice for another $1.99)

An assistant curator of Munich's National Museum, Vicky Bliss is no expert on Egypt, but she does have a Ph.D. in solving crimes. So when an intelligence agency offers her a luxury Nile cruise if she'll help solve a murder and stop a heist of Egyptian antiquities, all 5'11" of her takes the plunge. Vicky suspects the authorities really want her to lead them to her missing lover, the art thief and master of disguises she knows only as "Sir John Smythe." And right in the shadow of the Sphinx she spots him. . . with his new flame. Vicky is so furious at this romantic stab-in-the-back, not to mention the sudden arrival of her meddling boss, Herr Dr. Schmidt, that she may overlook a danger as old as the pharaohs and as unchanging. . . a criminal who hides behind a mask of charm while moving in for the kill.

[sufue]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

One of Amazon US's Kindle daily deals today is Night Train to Memphis (Vicky Bliss Mysteries) by Elizabeth Peters for $1.99 (add Whispersync for Voice for another $1.99)

Although I like both series a lot, I actually like Peters' few Vicky Bliss books better than the many Amelia Peabody ones. Both series are great, but somehow the Vicky Bliss ones seem, to me, just a little bit greater - maybe it's that I laugh a little harder with them. I especially like the most recent one, Laughter of Dead Kings, which was published in 2008, after a hiatus of 14 years in the series. It's one of only two books I've ever gone through hoops to buy on its first day out - the other being Sarah Caudwell's last and posthumous book, The Sybil in Her Grave)...

Sadly, and a bit curiously, Night Train is not the first in the Vicky Bliss series, so YMMV, but if you haven't tried this series, I recommend it.

Oh yeah, it was $1.99 on Google Play today also...

[Mort1997]

Free today on Amazon - Behind you! DI Banham and Sergeant Alison Grainger Series, Book 1 by Linda Regan

'Some people will do anything to sell tickets. Even murder… Christmas: a time of peace and goodwill. Oh no it isn’t, thinks Detective Inspector Paul Banham, called out to a suspicious death at the local theatre, right in the middle of the pantomime. Was it an accident - or murder? On the other side of the curtain, Banham and his reluctant squad find the glamour distinctly tarnished. Rivalries, grudges and illicit liaisons begin to surface as the investigation gets under way, and it’s soon clear that the dressing rooms are a hotbed of long-standing resentments. A second death leaves Banham in no doubt that there’s a murderer on the loose - but the panto is sold out and show must go on. '


UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behind-You-S...27254&sr=1-335

US
http://www.amazon.com/Behind-You-Ser...27254&sr=1-335

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by skinmaan

Though I can't speak to this particular title, most of the time when I find these ebooks with a "free audiobook link" they are including a link to the Librivox audiobook version (or something similar). Since this title is from 1922 and is PD (just about everywhere but the US) I suspect this one will follow a similar pattern.

I'm afraid your post shows some alarming misconceptions about copyright law. This title is NOT "PD just about everywhere but the US". In most countries, the publication date is irrelevant; it's the date of death of the author that determines whether or not a book is in the public domain. Christie died in 1976, and hence her work is still protected by copyright in all countries with a "life+50" or longer copyright term.

As it happens, the US is pretty much the only country in the world where this work is in the public domain, because US copyright law has a peculiarity which means that everything published prior to 1923 is in the public domain in the US.

[Critteranne]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Kobo Aus has Dennis Wheatley's books as well, and discountable.

The cheapest is his first book:

The Forbidden Territory
$3.19 and discountable (bookriot50 works at time of posting)

Also available on Amazon US. Not sure what the link will look like as I am copying it via my iPad.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Forbidden-...d_sim_kstore_1

Yay! I didn't even know he was available for US ereaders. Now I have to find out if there are any Wheatley discussion threads about him.

[BelleZora]

Free at Amazon and Kobo: Executive Actions by Gary Grossman.
First published by Diversion Books in 2004 and with high ratings at Amazon and Goodreads.

Amazon CA
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Kobo

[pdurrant]

The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures is now £0.99 at Amazon UK.

"The biggest collection of new Sherlock Holmes stories since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle laid down his pen - nearly 200,000 words of superb fiction featuring the Great Detective by masters of historical crime, including Stephen Baxter, H. R. F. Keating, Michael Moorcock and Amy Myers. Almost all the stories here are specially written; the cases presented in the order in which Holmes solved them. The result is a new life of Sherlock Holmes, with a continuous narrative alongside the stories that identifies the 'gaps' in the canon and places the new and hitherto unrecorded cases in sequence. Plus an invaluable complete Holmes chronology."

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures is now £0.99 at Amazon UK.

"The biggest collection of new Sherlock Holmes stories since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle laid down his pen - nearly 200,000 words of superb fiction featuring the Great Detective by masters of historical crime, including Stephen Baxter, H. R. F. Keating, Michael Moorcock and Amy Myers. Almost all the stories here are specially written; the cases presented in the order in which Holmes solved them. The result is a new life of Sherlock Holmes, with a continuous narrative alongside the stories that identifies the 'gaps' in the canon and places the new and hitherto unrecorded cases in sequence. Plus an invaluable complete Holmes chronology."

An excellent book. I bought it in last year's Christmas sale.

[BetterRead]

The Bat, the first Inspector Harry Hole novel by Jo Nesbo, is on sale for $2.99 at:

Barnes & Noble
Amazon
Kobo

Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo Crime Squad is dispatched to Sydney to observe a murder case. Harry is free to offer assistance, but he has firm instructions to stay out of trouble. The victim is a twenty-three year old Norwegian woman who is a minor celebrity back home. Never one to sit on the sidelines, Harry befriends one of the lead detectives, and one of the witnesses, as he is drawn deeper into the case. Together, they discover that this is only the latest in a string of unsolved murders, and the pattern points toward a psychopath working his way across the country. As they circle closer and closer to the killer, Harry begins to fear that no one is safe, least of all those investigating the case.

[wawasteele]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures is now £0.99 at Amazon UK.

Originally Posted by HarryT

An excellent book. I bought it in last year's Christmas sale.

Thank you for both, pdurrant for mentioning it and HarryT for recommending it. I've only stuck with Doyle's Holmes, because although I know there has to be some good new ones, the new one I read years ago was horrible. But knowing how much HarryT has done with Holmes in the MR Library I'm sure I will like it.

It's not on sale in the USA, but I got it for $1.26 at Kobo using an 85% off coupon.

Thanks again, both of you. I do love Holmes!

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by BetterRead

The Bat, the first Inspector Harry Hole novel by Jo Nesbo, is on sale for $2.99 at:

Barnes & Noble
Amazon
Kobo

Thanks for posting

Australians are going to need to travel to get it at the lower base rate (and then add a Kobo discount voucher) .....

It's AUD $10.39 (Kobo) and discountable

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

As a result of Kobo's recent rash of excellent discount voucher codes I've been able to venture into authors that had previously either escaped my attention, or I couldn't justify spending big on.
One such acquisition was Andrew Martin's
The Necropolis Railway
$2.99 and discountable (bookriot50 is still going great guns!)............................................ .

Fascinating book, read it a while ago .............

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by wawasteele

Thank you for both, pdurrant for mentioning it and HarryT for recommending it. I've only stuck with Doyle's Holmes, because although I know there has to be some good new ones, the new one I read years ago was horrible. But knowing how much HarryT has done with Holmes in the MR Library I'm sure I will like it.............................................
Thanks again, both of you. I do love Holmes!

I second your thanks to Paul & Harry - with an enforced couple of weeks "house arrest"coming up, following a minor op, this looks just the job to keep me quiet - and a lot less bored than I was dreading !

Others interested in the "Great Detectives" would do well to have a bash at Harry's excellent work in making available to us the "Thorndyke Forensic Detective" series.
These are a particularly fascinating counter to the Holmes canon, the descriptions of Thorndyke's scientific solutions to his various problems in particular.