FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Devil House by John Darnielle (of The Mountain Goats) is $3 on Amazon.com
Was on my wishlist.

Thanks. That sounds really interesting.

[sufue]

A Certain Darkness is the sixth and most recent (2022) in Anna Lee Huber's Verity Kent series. It's on sale in the US ($1.99) and UK (£1.65), and is discountable at Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MZT16Q1
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B09MZT16Q1
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-certain-darkness
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09MZT16Q1
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09MZT16Q1

Spoiler:

“WWI buffs will love the in-depth historical detail.” –Publishers Weekly

March 1920: Life has turned unsettlingly quiet for former British Intelligence agent Verity Kent and her husband, Sidney. But even that false calm is about to end. As threats remain, the French authorities soon request Sidney’s help with a suspect who claims to have proof of treason—shortly before she is assassinated. And Verity, too, is called to investigate a mystery . . .

The murder of a Belgian lawyer aboard a train seems at first to be a simple case of revenge. But the victim was connected to British Intelligence, and possessed papers detailing the sinking of a gold-laden German ship during the war.

As Verity and Sidney dig deeper, they discover their cases are intertwined—and a lethal adversary persists. Officially, the Great War may be over, but this is a battle of nerves and wits they cannot afford to lose . . .

[sufue]

Faithless in Death is no longer the most recent (or even close to the most recent) in the series, but it is on sale now in the US for $3.99. Kind of pricey still, but better than the $8.99 that is normal for books in this series.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086ZXF6MR
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B086ZXF6MR
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/faithless-in-death

Originally Posted by sufue

Faithless in Death is the 52nd and most recent (2021) in the Eve Dallas series by J. D. Robb - at least until the next one comes out next month. Faithless has dropped to £0.99 at Kindle UK, in that odd way that brand-new titles seem to do in the UK not too long after they come out. But this first drop is pretty much always for a really short time, so grab this fast if you want it.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08BJQCH3Y/
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08BJQCH3Y/

[sufue]

Echoes in Death is the 44th Eve Dallas mystery by JD Robb. It's $2.99 right now in the US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GNYVS52
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01GNYVS52
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/echoes-in-death

Spoiler:

Echoes in Death, the chilling new suspense novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author J.D. Robb is the perfect entry point into the compelling In Death police procedural series featuring Lieutenant Eve Dallas.

As NY Lt. Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband Roarke are driving home, a young woman—dazed, naked, and bloody—suddenly stumbles out in front of their car. Roarke slams on the brakes and Eve springs into action.

Daphne Strazza is rushed to the ER, but it’s too late for her husband Dr. Anthony Strazza. A brilliant orthopedic surgeon, he now lies dead amid the wreckage of his obsessively organized town house, his three safes opened and emptied. Daphne would be a valuable witness, but in her terror and shock the only description of the perp she can offer is repeatedly calling him “the devil”...

While it emerges that Dr. Strazza was cold, controlling, and widely disliked, this is one case where the evidence doesn’t point to the spouse. So Eve and her team must get started on the legwork, interviewing everyone from dinner-party guests to professional colleagues to caterers, in a desperate race to answer some crucial questions:

What does the devil look like? And where will he show up next?

[sufue]

Four titles in Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series are $1.99 right now in the US. The books are: L is for Lawless, M is for Malice, N is for Noose, and O is for Outlaw. The links below will pull up the sale titles - and also perhaps, a couple of strays...

Kindle US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/?sea...price-asc-rank
Kobo US: https://store.kobobooks.com/search?Q...9&fcmedia=Book

[sufue]

Round Up the Usual Peacocks is the 31st and next-to-most-recent in the Meg Langslow series by Donna Andrews. It's $2.99 right now in the US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CNF77F1
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B09CNF77F1
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/rou...usual-peacocks

Spoiler:

Kevin, Meg's cyber-savvy nephew who lives in the basement, comes to her with a problem. He's become involved as the techie for a true-crime podcast, one that focuses on Virginia cold cases and unsolved crimes. And he thinks their podcast has hit a nerve with someone . . . one of the podcast team has had a brush with death that Kevin thinks was an attempted murder, not an accident.

Kevin rather sheepishly asks for Meg's help in checking out the people involved in a couple of the cases. "Given your ability to find out stuff online, why do you need MY help?" she asks. "Um . . . because I've already done everything I can online. This'll take going around and TALKING to people," he exclaims, with visible horror. "In person!" Not his thing. And no, it can't wait until after the wedding, because he's afraid whoever's after them might take advantage of the chaos of the wedding at Trinity or the reception at Meg and Michael's house to strike again.

So on top of everything she's doing to round up vendors and supplies and take care of demanding out-of-town guests, Meg must hunt down the surviving suspects from three relatively local cold cases so she can figure out if they have it in for the podcasters. Could there be a connection to a musician on the brink of stardom who disappeared two decades ago and hasn't been seen since?

I had a review copy of this a while back, and thought it was a lot of fun. It's kind of a nod back to the very first Meg book, with cranky peacocks and impending weddings running through it. (You can see my full review on my blog...)

[sufue]

A couple of Molly Murphy books by Rhys Bowen have dropped to $2.99 again in the US.

For the Love of Mike, #3 - info and links in this previous post

In Dublin's Fair City, #6 - info and links in this previous post

And Away in a Manger, #15, which went on sale at the beginning of December is still on sale - info and links in this previous post

[sufue]

Sort of as with Robert B Parker, whose Spenser, Sunny Randall, and Jesse Stone series have been continued by "estate-approved" authors, Robert Ludlum's Bourne series has been continued, first by Eric Van Lustbader, and more recently by Brian Freeman. And the most recent (2022) of the Freeman books, The Bourne Sacrifice, is on sale right now at Kindle UK for £2.29. This series is not really to my taste, so I haven't read and can't comment on the continuation titles, but I have the impression that it's pretty popular, so here's the info...

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09NCJD2NN
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09NCJD2NN

Spoiler:

Bourne is back...

Jason Bourne has faced many killers before, but none as dangerous as the assassin who calls himself Lennon. Bourne thought he had Lennon cornered in Iceland, only to have the killer escape in a fiery explosion. Now Lennon's trail leads Bourne to New York and then to Washington D.C. – and the body count rises with each deadly encounter.

Bourne believes the assassin has a shadowy new employer called the Pyramid. The only clue to the group's agenda is a young German woman, murdered in D.C. on her way to a covert meeting. But the woman's entire identity turns out to be a lie, and news reports of her death have been strangely twisted and suppressed.

Finding the truth about this woman may be Bourne's only chance to catch Lennon – and uncover the conspiracy behind the Pyramid. But the chase comes with high stakes. Bourne's former lover, journalist Abbey Laurent, is digging into the mystery too, and the battle against Lennon and the Pyramid will soon put Abbey in the assassin's crosshairs. Bourne will need to use every bit of his tradecraft and his genius for mayhem to expose this web of lies and murder before Lennon kills the woman he loves.

[Tarana]

A Patchwork of Clues By Sally Goldenbaum $.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Cozy. Author known for knitting cozy series, this is book 1 focused on quilty people

Wicked Game By Lisa Jackson and Nancy Bush $1.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Crime fiction. My Mom is a fan of Lisa Jackson, but never read one with a joint project.

[Tarana]

Death at Greenway By Lori Rader-Day $1.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
mystery

A “richly nuanced” Agatha Award winner (Publishers Weekly): As children escape the Blitz, former nurse trainee Bridey takes a position caring for evacuees at the countryside holiday home of Agatha Christie. But soon, a body is discovered… “An elegantly constructed mystery”

Girls Who Lie (Forbidden Iceland Book 2) by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir $.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N

When a depressed, alcoholic single mother disappears, everything suggests suicide, until her body is found on the lava fields. Icelandic Detective Elma and her team are thrust into a perplexing, chilling investigation

Night Shadows (Forbidden Iceland Book 3) by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir $.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Crime fiction - Icelandic author

A young man’s tragic death in a fire sends a community into mourning. But the deceased’s final search online raises the possibility that there is yet another murder… and a connection to a Dutch au pair.

[sufue]

Spy Hook is the fourth Bernard Samson book by Len Deighton. It's £1.99 at Kindle UK right now

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08QV6X442
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08QV6X442

Spoiler:

'In Deighton's best books - like this one - the narrative glides forward on rollers, and the scenes and characters fit perfectly into place. The result is marvellous' Independent

Millions of pounds have gone missing, and the Department have sent agent Bernard Samson to Washington to track them down. But this mission is just the start of something far deeper and darker. It will take him from the English suburbs to Berlin, the South of France to Los Angeles and the heart of a maelstrom. In the first part of the Hook, Line and Sinker trilogy, friends become enemies, pursuer becomes victim and no one - not even Bernard himself - is above suspicion.

[sufue]

Every Cloak Rolled In Blood is the most recent (2022) in James Lee Burke's Holland family series. It's £0.99 at Kindle UK right now.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09JZ3B458
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09JZ3B458

Spoiler:

In his most autobiographical novel to date, James Lee Burke continues the epic Holland family saga with a writer grieving the death of his daughter while battling earthly and supernatural outlaws.

Novelist Aaron Holland Broussard is shattered when his daughter Fannie Mae dies suddenly. As he tries to honour her memory by saving two young men from a life of crime amid their opioid-ravaged community, he is drawn into a network of villainy that includes a violent former Klansman, a far-from-holy minister, a biker club posing as evangelicals, and a murderer who has been hiding in plain sight.

Aaron's only ally is state police officer Ruby Spotted Horse, a no-nonsense woman who harbours some powerful secrets in her cellar. Despite the air of mystery surrounding her, Ruby is the only one Aaron can trust. That is, until the ghost of Fannie Mae shows up, guiding her father through a tangled web of the present and past and helping him vanquish his foes from both this world and the next.

Drawn from James Lee Burke's own life experiences, Every Cloak Rolled in Blood is a devastating exploration of the nature of good and evil and a deeply moving story about the power of love and family.

[sufue]

Polar Star is the second book in Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko series. It's £0.99 at Kindle UK right now.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BOSP13S
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BOSP13S

Spoiler:

Arkady Renko, former Chief Investigator of the Moscow Town Prosecutor's Office, made too many enemies and lost the favour of his party. After a self-imposed exile in Siberia, Renko toils on the 'slime line' of a factory ship in the Bering Sea. But when an adventurous Georgian woman comes up with the day's catch, the signs of murder are undeniable. Up against the Soviet bureaucracy in a complex international web, Renko must again become the obsessed, dedicated cop he once was. And in doing so, he discovers much more than he bargained for . . .

[sufue]

Almost four years later, The Wanted is £0.99 at Kindle UK again. The link is still good...

Originally Posted by sufue

The Wanted is the most recent (2017) in the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series by Robert Crais. It has dropped to £0.99 as part of the Kindle UK Daily Deal today. Even though I don't really follow this series, I'm tempted, just because I love it when most-recents go on sale for good prices .

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wanted-Robe...dp/B01HMYA2EA/

[sufue]

In the Frame by Dick Francis is £0.99 at Kindle UK right now, probably as part of this month's monthly sale (but don't count on it)...

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002RI9DOC
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002RI9DOC

Spoiler:

Charles Todd, a successful artist who paints horses, arrives at his cousin Donald's house and stumbles on a grisly scene:

Police cars everywhere, his cousin arrested for murder and Donald's wife brutally slain.

Believing - unlike the police - Donald's story of a burglary gone wrong, Charles follows clues which lead him from England to Australia, and to a diabolical scheme involving fraud and murder.

But soon Charles realises that someone is on his trail.

Someone who wants to make sure that Charles won't live long enough to save Donald . . .