FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[sufue]

The Lady in the Lake and Other Novels is, per the blurb, an omnibus comprising three of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels: The Lady in the Lake, The High Window, and The Little Sister.

It has dropped to £0.99 at Kindle UK.

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002RI9R7U

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by sufue

The Lady in the Lake and Other Novels is, per the blurb, an omnibus comprising three of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels: The Lady in the Lake, The High Window, and The Little Sister.

It has dropped to £0.99 at Kindle UK.

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002RI9R7U

I can't recommend Raymond Chandler highly enough. He's not just one of my favorite crime writers, he's one of my favorite writers, period.

There's a second collection (not on sale) with three other Chandler novels: The Big Sleep, Farewell My Lovely and The Long Goodbye: The Big Sleep and Other Novels (Penguin Modern Classics)

[sufue]

Yep...great author...

The second collection at £7.99 is still a pretty good price for three titles, but I have noticed that Penguin "classics" seem to go on sale for £0.99 in the UK from time to time, not super often, but enough to notice. So patience might help too, if some folks are interested in the second collection also. I've picked up a lot of Steinbeck titles that way - another of my favorite authors.

(OTOH, Penguin classic titles almost never go on sale for that low of a price in the US...)

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I can't recommend Raymond Chandler highly enough. He's not just one of my favorite crime writers, he's one of my favorite writers, period.

There's a second collection (not on sale) with three other Chandler novels: The Big Sleep, Farewell My Lovely and The Long Goodbye: The Big Sleep and Other Novels (Penguin Modern Classics)

[sufue]

Murder on the Iditarod Trail is the first in Sue Henry's Jessie Arnold series, set in Alaska (duh!). This won a couple of "Best First" awards back when it was first published. I remember this series as one of the earlier series I branched out into after first discovering mysteries via some of the classic authors like Agatha Christie and Rex Stout. I don't know if I read all of the titles, but have fond memories of the ones I did read.

Anyway, Iditarod has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US (coupon/VIPable).

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Iditar...dp/B00S541EVM/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/mur...itarod-trail-2

Spoiler:

“Adrenaline-pumping . . . [A] polished action mystery . . . [with] dazzling Arctic sights.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

Winner of the Macavity Award and the Anthony Award

Murder on the Iditarod Trail is a gripping mystery set during Alaska’s world-famous Iditarod: a grueling eleven-hundred-mile dogsled race across hazardous Arctic terrain.

It is an arduous sport, but not a deadly one. But suddenly the top Iditarod contestants are dying in bizarre ways: first a veteran musher smashes into a tree, then competitors begin turning up dead, with each murder more brutal than the last. State trooper Alex Jensen begins a homicide investigation, determined to track down the killer before more blood stains the pristine Alaskan snow. Meanwhile, Jessie Arnold, Alaska’s premier female musher, has a shot at winning for the first time. But as her position in the race improves, so do her chances of being the killer’s next target.

As the mushers thread their way through the treacherous trails, Jessie and Jensen are drawn deep into the frozen heart of the perilous wild: where nature can kill as easily as a bullet and only the Arctic night can hear your final screams.

And then, since I usually click through on an author's name when one of their titles goes on sale, just to see if any others are at a nice price, I also noticed that the tenth title in the series, Death Trap, appears to be semi-long-term at $1.99, but not coupon/VIPable at Kobo.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PDZG2E/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/death-trap-1

Spoiler:

Up north,
the summers are brief --
and winter, like death,
is cold and long . . .

Recovering from knee surgery that will cause her to miss the upcoming dogsled racing season, champion "musher" Jessie Arnold feels empty and bored -- so she grabs an opportunity to fill her days manning the Iditarod booth at the Alaska State Fair. But murder becomes an attraction here as well -- an especially brutal one -- when the corpse of a small-time hoodlum slain by a double-blade axe blow to the skull turns up on the fairgrounds. Jessie shouldn't get involved, having already seen too much violent death in her lifetime. But strange connections are linking the killing with a child's kidnapping . . . and with the sudden disappearance of her own beloved lead sled dog. Soon friends old and new will be pulled in as well when the unthinkable occurs: Jessie herself vanishes without a trace.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by sufue

(OTOH, Penguin classic titles almost never go on sale for that low of a price in the US...)

Yeah, it is very, very rare here.

[maddz]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Yeah, it is very, very rare here.

About as rare as Open Road Media sales in the UK...

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by maddz

About as rare as Open Road Media sales in the UK...

It's a tough call, but of the two, I'd prefer the regular Penguin sales.

[sufue]

I think I'd prefer the Penguin sales, if they were a little more frequent. But Open Road puts all their titles on sale so often that I can eventually pick up entire series, almost guilt-free . And get feet of shelf space back for other uses, which is an important consideration.

I like them both!

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

It's a tough call, but of the two, I'd prefer the regular Penguin sales.

[sufue]

Now £0.99 at Kindle UK, as part of the Daily Deal.

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Legacy-Spie...dp/B06XG32NJM/

Originally Posted by sufue

A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré is the most recent (2017) after a long long gap in the George Smiley series - although from what I've read in a review, it features a younger main protagonist, Peter Guillam. It has dropped to $4.99 at Kindle Canada as part of their 11th day of Christmas, so almost certainly for today only. You need to make sure you are in the Kobo Canada store before the link/pricing will work.

link: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/a-legacy-of-spies-1

[ZodWallop]

Killer’s Choice (87th Precinct Mysteries Book 5) by Ed McBain $0.99 at Amazon US

I've been picking these up as they go on sale. I have most of the first 11.

Annie Boone is dead. She was shot four times in the chest, pieces of the liquor store’s windows spread over her body like raindrops from a lethal storm. For 87th Precinct Detectives Carella, Kling, and newcomer Hawes, even more troubling is the loss of one of their own. Detective Roger Havilland is murdered shortly thereafter, a shard of glass through his jugular.

Faced with a host of suspects—from Annie’s former mother-in-law to her ex-husband, employer, and a string of boyfriends—the detectives find themselves with a victim whose identity spurns all conventional definition. She was the store’s saleswoman…as well as a divorced mother, pool shark, society lady, drunk, and patron of the ballet. Each facet of her life has a corresponding potential suspect. The only way for Carella and the men to find her killer—and maybe that of Havilland, too—is to find out who she really was. The problem is, the only one who really knew her died in a shower of glass.

A brooding, mesmerizing psychological thriller, Killer’s Choice is a stunning addition to mystery icon Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series. Its complex plotting and extraordinary intensity, which culminates in an explosive finish, will leave you breathless.

[sufue]

Another Endeavour Media freebie - these are usually pretty short-lived, so grab it if you think you might want it...

The Wardrobe, by Deryn Lake, appears to be a non-series title. I've read and quite enjoyed several titles in her John Rawlings series, so although this one appears pretty different, I'll probably put it pretty high on my TBR list.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0767G2XQ4
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wardrobe-en...dp/B0767G2XQ4/

Spoiler:

‘With history this colourful and a mystery this baffling, the result is delicious’ –Good Book Guide

It was the flat Rebecca and Greg had dreamed of finding; a beautiful conversion in a big Victorian house. The huge mirrored wardrobe that the builders couldn’t shift only seemed to add to its charms…

But soon their dream turns into a terrifying nightmare. As Rebecca delves into the dark circumstances surrounding the mysterious murder of George Carthew in the same house a hundred years before, she finds herself surrounded by echoes of the crime. Carthew was victim to slow arsenic poisoning, and now Greg is struck with a horrible wasting illness. Carthew’s beautiful widow, Charlotte, was suspected of the gruesome crime but never convicted, and now Rebecca wakes in terror to find reflection of strange women in the wardrobe doors…

That old wardrobe, a relic of the Victorian days, seems to be the only remaining witness to the crime and Rebecca becomes convinced that all these years later, it could still hold the key to the murder.

Another classic of love, loss and the past manifesting in the present from master Deryn Lake, this story of murder unsolved will have you gripped from beginning to end.

[sufue]

And here is the 19th in the series, Bloodshed, for free...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D85BVSK
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bloodshed-J...dp/B07D85BVSK/

Spoiler:

What if a school shooter wears a mask and later discards it in order to disappear into the chaotic crowd of exiting students?

An active shooter leads John Jordan on a riveting chase into a stunning mystery.

While attempting to prevent a school shooting, sheriff’s investigator John Jordan must confront a cold, cruel killer the likes of which he's never seen before.

When the echoes of the gunfire cease and the smoke clears the biggest mystery of all still waits to be solved. Who planned and perpetrated this devastating deed and how did he hide his identity?

But a cunning killer isn’t the only thing John is battling. Old demons have resurfaced to threaten everything he’s worked so hard for.

Can John expose the killer or will he die trying? Read this thrilling stand-alone mystery today and find out!

Originally Posted by sufue

A few people upthread have been happy about past free titles in the John Jordan series by Michael Lister, and here's another one. Blue Blood is the 20th in the series, and it is free right now at Kindle US. The freebies don't usually last very long so grab it now if you want it!

link: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Blood-Jo...dp/B07JQN1LDW/

ADD: Also free at Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Blood-...dp/B07JQN1LDW/

[sufue]

Titles in the Mara/Burren series by Cora Harrison only rarely go on sale, either in the US or the UK, and are outrageously priced at $8.79 and up for backlist when not on sale. So it's nice to see the tenth title in the series, Cross of Vengeance, drop to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US (coupon/VIPable). I read several of the early titles in this series in DTB and quite enjoyed them.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H9DOLEM
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/cross-of-vengeance-1

Spoiler:

This “clever” sixteenth-century Irish mystery featuring Mara the Brehon offers “a tantalizing glimpse into the legal system of another time and place” (Publishers Weekly).

When Mara attends the Feast of the Holy Cross at Kilnaboy Church, it is just another duty in her busy life as Brehon of the Burren, responsible for upholding the kingdom’s ancient laws. But this special day has drawn the faithful of Ireland and pilgrims from across Europe, for Kilnaboy Church holds a prized relic—a piece of the true cross—inside its tower.

When the tower catches fire and the relic is destroyed, chaos breaks out, and Mara begins her investigation. But before she can round up the many suspects among the frantic crowd—including a follower of Martin Luther, who despises such relics as false idols—another crime is committed. A naked body is found dead, spread-eagled in the shape of a cross, in the graveyard behind the church. Sensing a connection between the crimes, it is Mara’s task, along with her law-school pupils, to find the guilty parties and uphold the power of the law.

[sufue]

Don't know which ones you have, but these are all also recent drops to $0.99 - presumably as part of the monthly sale since they all seem to have dropped around August 1.

Cop Hater: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007MDDD52/

Calypso: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005WZZS0K/

Long Time No See: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005WZZU0I/

Eight Black Horses: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QH6RIV0/

Let's Hear It For The Deaf Man: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QH6RIZG/

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Killer’s Choice (87th Precinct Mysteries Book 5) by Ed McBain $0.99 at Amazon US

I've been picking these up as they go on sale. I have most of the first 11.

[BetterRead]

One of this month's First Read titles is Here to Stay by Mark Edwards, an author who has been in my TBR pile for awhile.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HQ5S1NW

Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers in which scary things happen to ordinary people.

I noticed that quite a few of his earlier novels are currently on sale for $0.99. Titles include: Follow You Home, The Magpies, The Retreat, The Lucky Ones, and several more. Here's a link to his author page at Amazon US.

https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Edwards/e/B004PP3WV0