FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[sufue]

I really liked SJ Rozan's Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series back in the 1990s and 2000s, and so I was more than happy when she resumed the series a few years ago after a long hiatus. The Art of Violence is the second title after the hiatus and I was lucky enough to have an ARC of it, and I loved it. Now it's on sale for $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085GKKD2L
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B085GKKD2L
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-art-of-violence

Spoiler:

In the latest mystery from S. J. Rozan, Bill Smith and Lydia Chin must track down a serial killer stalking women in New York's contemporary art scene.

Former client Sam Tabor, just out of Greenhaven after a five-year homicide stint, comes to Bill Smith with a strange request. A colossally talented painter whose parole was orchestrated by art world movers and shakers, Sam's convinced that since he's been out he's killed two women. He doesn't remember the killings but he wants Smith, one of the few people he trusts, to investigate and prove him either innocent or guilty.

NYPD detective Angela Grimaldi thinks Sam's "a weirdo." Smith has no argument with that: diagnosed with a number of mental disorders over the years, Sam self-medicates with alcohol, loses focus (except when he's painting), and has few friends. But Smith doesn't think that adds up to serial killer. He enlists Lydia Chin to help prove it.

Smith and Chin delve into the world surrounding Sam Tabor, including his brother, two NYPD detectives, and various other artists, dealers, collectors, curators, and art connoisseurs. No answers appear. Evidence is found and lost again. And more bodies turn up.

Sam Tabor might be just a crazy artist. But someone is killing people in his orbit. If not Sam, who? Why? And who will be next?

And if you want to read my review, it's on my blog - the link is in my signature.

[BetterRead]

The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Hay is currently $1.99 at Amazon US, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.

"Despite its title, this British Library Crime Classics reissue of a 1936 novel isn't just an entertaining Christmas read. It's a fine example of the old-time country-house murder mystery, with loads of suspects, lots of period atmosphere, and much caustic wit." —Booklist

Aunt Mildred declared that no good could come of the Melbury family Christmas gatherings at their country residence Flaxmere. So when Sir Osmond Melbury, the family patriarch, is discovered—by a guest dressed as Santa Klaus—with a bullet in his head on Christmas Day, the festivities are plunged into chaos. Nearly every member of the party stands to reap some sort of benefit from Sir Osmond’s death, but Santa Klaus, the one person who seems to have every opportunity to fire the shot, has no apparent motive.

https://www.amazon.com/Santa-Murder-...dp/B07VQMR5ZM/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the...=9781464204968
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...klaus-murder-3

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A Fatal Winter by G. M. Malliett (A Max Tudor Novel #2) is 1.99 at Amazon and Kobo.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...8457663&sr=8-3

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-fatal-winter

[sufue]

Consolation is now £0.99 at Kindle UK.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08HM9PLQC
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08HM9PLQC

Spoiler:

SMALL CRIMES CAN HAVE TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCES

Winter in Tiverton, and Constable Paul Hirschhausen has a snowdropper on his patch. Someone is stealing women's underwear, and Hirsch knows how that kind of crime can escalate. Then two calls come in: a child abandoned in a caravan, filthy and starving. And a man on the rampage at the primary school.

Hirsch knows how things like that can escalate, too. An absent father who isn't where he's supposed to be; another who flees to the back country armed with a rifle. Families under pressure can break. But it's always a surprise when the killing starts.

A hugely atmospheric police procedural set in the dust of the Australian outback. Perfect for readers of Jane Harper, Chris Hammer and Dervla McTiernan.

Originally Posted by sufue

I had a chance a while back to read an ARC of the third and most recent title in Garry Disher's Paul Hirschhausen series, Consolation, and surprised myself by how much I really enjoyed it. I hadn't read anything by Disher before, and for some reason I expected it to be more of a thriller - okay, but not usually my favorite genre. Instead it was quite a nice police procedural, albeit with a couple of rather dark cases.
{edited other stuff}

[sufue]

Now £0.99 at Kindle UK.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08N9TS3CC
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08N9TS3CC

Originally Posted by sufue

I've read and liked several books in Vaseem Khan's Baby Ganesh Agency Investigations series, but haven't yet read the first book in his Persis Wadia series, Midnight at Malabar House - even though it won the 2021 Historical Dagger. And now here is the second in the series, The Dying Day, already on sale for $1.99 in the US. Sigh! More for the TBR list...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P1JYNN2/
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08P1JYNN2/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-dying-days-1

[sufue]

Now £1.49 at Kindle UK...

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000FC1AF2
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000FC1AF2

Originally Posted by sufue

Hallowed Bones is the 5th in the Sarah Booth Delaney series by Carolyn Haines. Although it has a bit of paranormal in it (the ghost of SBD's great-great-grandmother’s nanny) this is much more a cozy series than a paranormal series. Bones has dropped to $0.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Hallowed-Bone...dp/B000FC1AF2/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hallowed-bones

[sufue]

Dead of Night is the fourteenth in Barbara Nadel's really enjoyable IMO Inspector Ikmen series. It has dropped to £1.99 at Kindle UK.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00699MBUS
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00699MBUS

Spoiler:

Inner city murder crosses two continents...

Barbara Nadel's gripping Turkish crime novel tackles the treacherous and seedy underworld of Detroit's gang warfare. Dead of Night is the fourteenth thriller in the critically acclaimed Inspector Ikmen series, sure to enthral fans of Anne Zouroudi and Peter May.

'In the fascinating company of Inspector Ikmen... Inter-gang drug war and racial prejudice are only two of the ingredients stirred into the incendiary mix that is Dead of Night' - Good Book Guide

Inspectors Cetin Ikmen and Mehmet Suleyman from Istanbul are sent to a policing conference in Detroit, but little can prepare them for the corruption that lies at its heart. When Ezekial Goins, an elderly man of Turkish descent approaches them to crack the long-unsolved murder of his son, a quiet trip takes a far more sinister turn. As they delve deeper into the case, the pair find themselves immersed in a terrifying world of inter-gang drug war and racial prejudice that puts them in mortal danger, and forces Ikmen to confront some demons of his own...

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Originally Posted by sufue

Now £0.99 at Kindle UK.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08N9TS3CC
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08N9TS3CC

Thank you, I haven't tried these. And, conveniently, the first one, Midnight at Malabar House, is 0.99 at Kindle US.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0868C7N4Z...ogi&th=1&psc=1

[sufue]

Now £0.99 at Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002WPFH04

Originally Posted by gunbad

For Alistair Maclean fans...$0.99 at AmazonUS

Where Eagles Dare

[sufue]

Rumpole at Christmas is a collection of seven holiday-themed stories by John Mortimer. The collection has dropped to £0.99 at Kindle UK. You can see the list of stories in the sample, and I found a couple of them in other omnibuses I already had, but there were some new ones for me too.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002RUA5CO
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002RUA5CO

Spoiler:

The hilarious festive stories of John Mortimer's greatest character. Sure to get you in the mood for Christmas!

'Without Rumpole, the world would be a poorer place' Daily Mail

Horace Rumpole is not overfond of the rituals of Christmas: turkey, tinsel and the like. But happily the festive season is not one respected by the criminal fraternity; meaning that celebrations in the Rumpole household are frequently disturbed in most-welcome ways.

There's the suspicious Father Christmas at Equity's Court's festive party. The actor who goes missing from the panto on the night of a major crime. As well as the body cluttering up the health farm (where the great barrister is gloomily restricted to a diet of yak's milk and steamed spinach to please She Who Must Be Obeyed).

These seven wonderful Rumpole stories show the great man at his sharpest, wittiest and best. Readers of Sherlock Holmes, P.D. James and P.G. Wodehouse will love this book!

'One of the great comic creations of modern times' Evening Standard

'There is a truth in Rumpole that is told with brilliance and grace' Daily Telegraph

'Rumpole remains and absolute delight' The Times

[sufue]

A couple of years later, again at $2.99...

Links are still good.

Originally Posted by sufue

Another in what is sure to soon become a bunch of holiday-themed sale prices...

The Ghost of Christmas Past is the 17th and most recent (2017) in the Molly Murphy series by Rhys Bowen. It has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071V56DLF
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...ristmas-past-9

[sufue]

Now $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US. And discountable at Kobo US, so code "partners" should work...

Originally Posted by sufue

The Mordecai Tremaine series by Francis Duncan (pen name for William Underhill) was originally published in the 1940's and 1950's. It is now being reissued, but Sourcebooks has a different idea of the order than SYKM. In this case, I'm going with SYKM, which has them listed in original publication order, so this would be the fourth in the series, rather than the first, as in the blurb.

In any case, Murder for Christmas has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle and Kobo US (coupon/VIPable).

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072JHLQ8L/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/murder-for-christmas-1

[sufue]

Now £2.99 at Kindle UK...

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003F1WM3E
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003F1WM3E

Originally Posted by sufue

Split Image is the 10th and last title in the Jesse Stone series written by Robert B. Parker. (The series has been continued by other authors.) It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Split-Image-J...dp/B002VUFKFM/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/split-image-1

[sufue]

Blotto, Twinks and the Maharajah's Jewel is the tenth and most recent (2021) in Simon Brett's Blotto & Twinks series. This is a fun series that feels to me like a mix (and slight tongue-in-cheek spoof) of PG Wodehouse and Kerry Greenwood. It has dropped to £2.99 at Kindle UK right now.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B089VVD6XY
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B089VVD6XY

Spoiler:

An idle conversation on the merits of the glorious game with an old Etonian chum is just the excuse Blotto needs to put himself forward for a cricket tour to foreign climes... and so begins the next adventure for our intrepid duo, where the action takes them to India where, as everyone knows, the finest cricket players hail from - as well as the world's most skilled jewel thieves...

The Dowager Duchess has no problems in letting her two children go to the subcontinent as having her beautiful daughter Twinks married off to a massively rich Maharaja offers the Dowager Duchess the prospect of a permanent solution to the cash-draining maintenance of the Tawcester Towers plumbing.

So Twinks joins Blotto on a steamer bound for India, one that is full of young woman desperate to marry well there - only once having encountered the dashing Blotto, a lot of them fancy the idea of getting married before they reach their destination. And, unbeknownst to the siblings, also on the ship is the international jewel thief Archie Montmorency, passing himself off as one of Blotto's cricketing entourage. His real mission though is to steal the diamond which adorns the turban the Maharajah of Koorbleimee . . .

[sufue]

Paul Kemprecos is probably better known for his collaboration with Clive Cussler on the thriller-ish NUMA files series, but I've always liked his Aristotle Plato Socarides ("Soc", which nickname you'd probably use too if you had that name) series, which is a more traditional PI series. Now The Mayflower Murders, which is the fifth in the series, is on Kindle Countdown in both the US and UK ($0.99/£0.99) for about a day more.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GEHF846
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00GEHF846
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GEHF846
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GEHF846

Spoiler:

Three centuries after the pilgrims set foot on Plymouth Rock, some Indians are still on the warpath. So when a workman is tomahawked to death at the replica of a three-hundred-year-old Pilgrim village, suspicion falls on Joe Quint, the Native American activist whose threats to hammer Plymouth Rock into gravel have cast him in the spotlight.

The murder case seems open and shut until Cape Cod fisherman-diver-detective Aristotle “Soc” Socarides is asked to investigate by John Flagg, his Vietnam comrade turned CIA spook. With millions in Indian casino gambling profits at stake, Soc soon finds himself betting his life in a high-risk game that could end with a single roll of the dice.

Soc must run the gauntlet between a federal agent with blood in his eye and the militant Indian Warrior Society, dive into the deadly waters of a mysterious underwater cavern, expose a trade in illegal Native American artifacts, and rescue a kidnapped hostage.