FREE/BARGAIN - Mystery, Suspense, Thriller - 2016

[sufue]

A couple of titles in the Jacqueline Kirby series by Elizabeth Peters have dropped at Kindle US. These are not great sale prices, but OTOH, Peters' books tend not to drop much at all. This is one of Peters' shorter and lesser known series (compared to Amelia Peabody), but I quite like the snarky Jacqueline...

The Seventh Sinner, #1, at $3.99
link: https://www.amazon.com/Seventh-Sinne.../dp/B000FCK3I2

Spoiler:

At first, Jean Suttman thought she had died and gone to Heaven when she was granted the opportunity to study in Rome. But the body that's lying in the ancient subterranean Temple of Mithra—the murdered corpse of a repulsive and disliked fellow student—isn't her idea of heavenly. Now she is truly frightened, not just because small "accidents" seem to be occurring around her with disturbing regularity. It's the ever-increasing certainty that someone, for some unknown reason, is ruthlessly determined to do her harm. Jean's innocent underground excursion into a sacred pagan place has trapped her in something dark and terrifying, and even the knowledge that practical, perceptive fellow American Jacqueline Kirby is on the case won't ease her fears. Because there's only so far Jean Suttman can run . . . and no escape for her except death.

The Murders of Richard III, #2, at $2.99
link: https://www.amazon.com/Murders-Richa.../dp/B000FC1VAQ

Spoiler:

In a remote English manor house, modern admirersof the much-maligned King Richard III—one of Shakespeare's most extraordinary villains—are gathered for a grand weekend of dress-up and make-believe murder. But the fun ends when the masquerade turns more sinister . . . and deadly. Jacqueline Kirby, an American librarian on hand for the festivities, suddenly finds herself in the center of strange, dark doings . . . and racing to untangle a murderous puzzle before history repeats itself in exceptionally macabre ways.

[Fbone]

An Aria of Omens (Wisteria Tearoom Mysteries #3) by Patrice Greenwood is FREE today. Book View Cafe 2014. GR 4.13

https://smile.amazon.com/Aria-Omens-...+aria+of+omens

[GA Russell]

The Drop - Dennis Lehane - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Drop-Dennis-L.../dp/B00JJV4R1O

[Lynx-lynx]

Kobo CA is having a 24 hour sale: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/li...?sort=PriceAsc

Books from $2.99 up.

Of interest may be:
The Joona Linna Thrillers 3-Book Bundle
The Hypnotist; The Nightmare; The Fire Witness
$4.99

PS Don't forget to be logged into Kobo CA, and be quickish 'cos this sale ends midnight (somewhere in CA)

[mitford13]

Yellowthread Street by William Marshall, re-issue is available for pre-order for .99

https://smile.amazon.com/Yellowthrea...dp/B01HGII64A/

Looks like the Kindle page hasn't matched up with previous editions yet...
https://smile.amazon.com/Yellowthrea...dp/1933397349/

The first in Marshall's unforgettable, classic series of police procedurals - suspenseful and hilarious in equal measure. Yellowthread Street is the sort of place that breeds more crime than any cops can handle.
Among the gangsters and the goldsmiths of Hong Bay, Chief Inspector Feiffer and his police department had their hands full . . . tourist troubles, a US sailor turned stick-up artist, and the jealous Chinese who solved his marital difficulties with an axe.
Then the Mongolian with a kukri brought an extra touch of terror to the district . . .
Yellowthread Street brings to vivid life a seamy world where people called Osaka Oniki the Disemboweller, Shotgun Sen and The Chopper feel at home, a world of surreal possibility recorded with unique humour and a poignant sense of humanity.

[sufue]

I've been waiting/hoping for this series to get e-book-ized for quite a while! I'm happy to see this one at $0.99, and also the next two in the series (The Hatchet Man and Gelignite) for $3.99, which is about the limit (IMO) I'm willing to pay for backlist ebooks, although for this series I might go a bit more.

I haven't seen the publisher (Farrago) before, but hope they are planning to issue all of the series in ebook...

Thanks so much for spotting this!

Originally Posted by mitford13

Yellowthread Street by William Marshall, re-issue is available for pre-order for .99

https://smile.amazon.com/Yellowthrea...dp/B01HGII64A/

Looks like the Kindle page hasn't matched up with previous editions yet...
https://smile.amazon.com/Yellowthrea...dp/1933397349/

The first in Marshall's unforgettable, classic series of police procedurals - suspenseful and hilarious in equal measure. Yellowthread Street is the sort of place that breeds more crime than any cops can handle.
Among the gangsters and the goldsmiths of Hong Bay, Chief Inspector Feiffer and his police department had their hands full . . . tourist troubles, a US sailor turned stick-up artist, and the jealous Chinese who solved his marital difficulties with an axe.
Then the Mongolian with a kukri brought an extra touch of terror to the district . . .
Yellowthread Street brings to vivid life a seamy world where people called Osaka Oniki the Disemboweller, Shotgun Sen and The Chopper feel at home, a world of surreal possibility recorded with unique humour and a poignant sense of humanity.

[sufue]

If you didn't bite on The Long Divorce at $4.99, it's now $0.99 as a US Kindle Countdown deal - but for only three more hours - sorry!

Link is the same as below.

Originally Posted by sufue

Five titles by Edmund Crispin just dropped from $6.99 to $4.99 in the US Kindle store, no idea for how long. That's not much of a sale, but Crispin is a pretty classic UK mystery author, and so I thought I'd post them. While looking, I also noticed that another Crispin title is only £0.99 in the Kindle UK store, so there's a link to that one too.

Swan Song
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Swan-Song-Gerv...dp/B00JIWJG8I/

Love Lies Bleeding
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Love-Lies-Blee...dp/B00G9AFE8S/

The Long Divorce
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Long-Divorce-G...dp/B00KGF0CDO/

Buried for Pleasure
http://www.amazon.com/Buried-Pleasur...dp/B00JIUWDGC/

Holy Disorders
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Disorders...dp/B00HRCBW2O/

The Moving Toyshop
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moving-Toysh...dp/B00QPTAU3M/

[sufue]

Disco for the Departed is the third in the Dr Siri Paiboun series by Colin Cotterill. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Disco-Departe.../dp/B004ZZQ7TO

Spoiler:

Dr Siri Paiboun, reluctant national coroner of the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos, is summoned to a remote location in the mountains of Huaphan Province, where for years the leaders of the current government had hidden out in caves, waiting to assume power. Now, as a major celebration of the new regime is scheduled to take place, an arm is found protruding from the concrete walk that had been laid from the President’s former cave hideout to his new house beneath the cliffs. Dr Siri is ordered to supervise the disinterment of the body attached to the arm, identify the corpse, and discover how he died.

The first one in the series, The Coroner's Lunch, was also on sale not too long ago, and is still pretty reasonably priced at $2.81. Link to previous post: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=3327366

[sufue]

A bunch of Kensington titles on sale at Kindle US for $1.99:

Stiff Competition is the 7th in the Mattie Winston series by Annelise Ryan.
link: https://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Competi.../dp/B00X2EOZKC

Spoiler:

Every fall, hunting season in Sorenson, Wisconsin, leads to some accidental injuries. Deputy coroner Mattie Winston just hopes the hunters don’t bring any more business to her office. But somebody seems to have declared open season on land developers. One real estate developer who’s recently come to town has been found dead in the woods with an arrow through his neck. Now it’s up to Mattie to get to the bottom of the killing. That might be easier if she wasn’t also hunting for Detective Hurley’s teenage daughter, Emily, who has suddenly disappeared. With a homicidal William Tell out on the loose, Mattie is desperate to find Emily before the killer notches another arrow…

The Silence of the Chihuahuas is the 5th in the Barking Detective series by Waverly Curtis.
link: https://www.amazon.com/Silence-Chihu.../dp/B00P53E06M

Spoiler:

Includes a Bonus Story

“Savvy sleuths come in small packages…”

Pepe, aspiring P.I. Geri Sullivan’s muy clever Chihuahua, has stopped talking. But why now, with Geri’s best friend Brad missing and her ditzy sister in grave danger? Geri’s lost without Pepe’s dogged detective work, especially when a client of Brad’s expires under very murky circumstances.

Luckily, Pepe turns out to be an excelente blogger, and his nose for clues soon has the detective duo chasing down leads. But they’ll have to put a bite on crime quickly, because danger’s afoot – and it’s making tracks in their direction . . .

Chow Down is the 13th in the Melanie Travis series by Laurien Berenson.
link: https://www.amazon.com/Chow-Down-Mel.../dp/B00DQB1HBG

Spoiler:

If Melanie Travis was planning on a quiet family summer with her Standard Poodle Faith, son Davey, and new husband Sam, her plans are about to turn upside down. An unexpected competition, a trip to New York, and--oh yes, a murder--later, Melanie finds herself in a choke collar of deceit and corruption.

When she receives the letter from the Champions Dog Food Company informing her that Faith has been selected as a finalist in the "All Dogs Are Champions" contest, Melanie is mystified--until she discovers it was Davey who entered Faith in the contest.

At the reception where they meet the other finalists, Melanie immediately picks up the scent that this pack is a bone's throw away from a major dog fight. And when Larry Kim, one of the finalists, dies in a suspicious fall, something smells rotten to Melanie. With the final decision for a winner drawing near and the competition getting downright ferocious, Melanie and Faith will have to watch their backs--because Melanie's digging may well unearth a barking-mad killer who'll do anything to win.

The Bark Before Christmas is the 18th in the Melanie Travis series by Laurien Berenson
link: https://www.amazon.com/Before-Christ.../dp/B00RRT30B8

Spoiler:

“If you like dogs, you’ll love Laurien Berenson’s Melanie Travis mysteries!” —Joanne Fluke, New York Times bestselling author
Melanie Travis has her hands full with her two young sons, a part-time job, and a half dozen Poodles to her name. But even with the busy holiday season approaching, she still has time to sniff out a Christmastime killer…

There’s nothing lovelier than Christmas in Connecticut, but Melanie can scarcely find a moment to enjoy the festivities. With her youngest son approaching toddlerhood, she’s decided to return to her old job at Howard Academy, a posh private school attended by the children of Greenwich’s well-heeled gentry. Balancing work, motherhood, and the hectic dog show circuit takes some fancy footwork, especially when the headmaster taps her to be the chairman of the school’s Christmas Bazaar.

The Christmas Bazaar is Howard Academy’s biggest and most important fundraiser, so Melanie feels the pressure to make it a huge success. She even enlists her longsuffering sister-in-law Bertie to help with the Santa Claus and Pets Photo Booth. But everything goes awry when a prize show dog goes missing and Santa turns up dead. The dog’s owner is one of the school’s most perfectly pedigreed alums, and she enlists Melanie to help find the purloined pooch. But just as Melanie starts pawing at the truth, she digs up a sleighful of sinister secrets that leaves everyone feeling less than merry…

Double Fudge Brownie Murder is the 18th in the Hannah Swensen series by Joanne Fluke
link: https://www.amazon.com/Double-Browni.../dp/B00L1K6WZK

Spoiler:

Life in tiny Lake Eden, Minnesota, is usually pleasantly uneventful. Lately, though, it seems everyone has more than their fair share of drama--especially the Swensen family. With so much on her plate, Hannah Swensen can hardly find the time to think about her bakery--let alone the town's most recent murder. .
Hannah is nervous about the upcoming trial for her involvement in a tragic accident. She's eager to clear her name once and for all, but her troubles only double when she finds the judge bludgeoned to death with his own gavel--and Hannah is the number one suspect. Now on trial in the court of public opinion, she sets out in search of the culprit and discovers that the judge made more than a few enemies during his career. With time running out, Hannah will have to whip up her most clever recipe yet to find a killer more elusive than the perfect brownie. . .

[mitford13]

Originally Posted by sufue

...Thanks so much for spotting this!

Good to know it's a winner! I took a chance on the pre-order before posting, nice to know you recommend--and for .99, plus Apple credits burning a hole in my pocket, worth a fling...

[Mort1997]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

I don't know if this counts as a bargain, but it's under 5 (3.99). John Levitt (I'm a big fan of his urban fantasy series, Dog Days) is publishing his thriller backlist (finally). They are regular mysteries/thrillers (no fantasy elements). I have them both in hardback from way back when.
https://www.amazon.com/Ten-Swords-Jo...=ten+of+swords

I don't know when Carnivores will be out. I assume soon. He wrote these before writing the dog days series.

Even better it is now free

Spoiler:

Jason Coulter, a loner private eye and former cop, is hired to find a missing teenager in Salt Lake City.

The girl in question is Monica Gasteau, a serial runaway who, rumour has it, is involved in the supernatural occult.

Since his only lead is the usual hang-outs of Salt Lake youths, Jason stakes out a well-populated park in the hope of stumbling upon a clue.

But he gets far more than he bargained for.

When he finally spots Monica, all hell breaks loose.

Gun shots ring out, leaving two of her friends dead and one seriously injured.

A simple missing persons case has quickly transformed into a homicide incident with both the police and the FBI involved and protecting their own interests.

Although the obvious answer is racial motivation for the crime, Jason finds deeper connections linking the shootings.

The satanic Church of the Four-Sided Triangle keeps cropping up and with their thirst for ritual sacrifices, Jason is determined to bring them to justice.

Urging him forward is a steady stream of information from all angles – his former homicide partner, an FBI agent looking for a leg up, and a tarot card reader who foresees despair as the deadly Ten of Swords card is played.

Can he sort the genuine clues from the red herrings before another sacrifice is made?

UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ten-Swords-...ndeavour+press

US
https://www.amazon.com/Ten-Swords-Jo...ndeavour+press

Au
https://www.amazon.com.au/Ten-Swords...ndeavour+press

Can
https://www.amazon.ca/Ten-Swords-Joh...ndeavour+press

[sufue]

Hope you like it! He has a somewhat quirky writing style that took me a little while to get used to, but once I did, I loved the series. I tend to enjoy series that give me a sense of place, time, and culture, and this one did.

Originally Posted by mitford13

Good to know it's a winner! I took a chance on the pre-order before posting, nice to know you recommend--and for .99, plus Apple credits burning a hole in my pocket, worth a fling...

[sufue]

And one more Kensington price drop to $1.99:

Antiques Fate is the tenth and most recent in the Trash 'n' Treasures series by Barbara Allan.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Antiques-Fate.../dp/B0138NH8OG

Spoiler:

"Well-drawn characters…fun to read." --Booklist

Brandy Borne's exceedingly eccentric mother, Vivian, has been invited to perform her one-woman interpretation of "the Scottish play" (sometimes called Macbeth)--with different hats for different characters--at the neighboring town of Old York's annual fête. The weekend festival celebrates the quaint village's English flavor. Brandy, sensing a possible theatrical disaster, and savvy shih tzu Sushi, sensing possible doggy treats, tag along with the scene-stealing septuagenarian.

As soon as they arrive in the cozy hamlet, tragedy strikes: the theater owner drops dead onstage while giving Vivian the grand tour. That wasn't in the script and before they know it, Brandy and Vivian are entangled in a progressively perilous murder plot. Besides the cream teas and Chippendale chairs, it seems there are skeletons lurking among Old York's charming pubs and enticing antiques stalls …

When a second victim turns up mysteriously murdered, the dynamic duo knows they've got to step into the spotlight. But the remorseless killer seems to be well rehearsed for the Borne girls…and won't leave even the smallest detail of their demise to fête!

Don't miss Brandy Borne's tips on antiques fairs!

[ATDrake]

Now that Kobo's 50JUN 50% off coupon code is back to working again, some couponable discount bargains that it can be used on, in Canada, at least:

Soho Press appears to no longer be couponable in the US, but can still be discounted in Canada: linkage for the lot.

• @ $1.99 CAD they have just over a page of 1st-in-series titles. Lots of varied authors with established track records you can check on SYKM; I've been wanting to try Qiu Xiaolong's Death of a Red Heroine, which was on my wishlist.
• @ $4.99 they are offering from #2-#15 of Cara Black's Aimee Leduc Investigation series (mentioned and recommended by sufue upthread as a Kindle Daily Deal previously for $1.99 USD each, with the 50% off and the exchange rate, this works out to roughly the same price if you missed it earlier; #11 has previously been free), and #2-4 of Henry Chang's Detective Jack Yu series (#1 was previously a freebie many years ago), and 9 vintage standalone titles from the 1950s by Canadian author Margaret Millar (SYKM, Wikipedia), a Grand Master Award recipient from Mystery Writers of America. Beast in View is a 1956 Edgar Award Best Novel winner and the blurb says it's "hailed as one of the greatest psychological mysteries ever written".
• @ $7.19 CAD mark, which is admittedly pricey, but the 50% off coupon takes them down to $3.50-ish ($3.25 if you've the VIP membership) and Soho rarely discounts non-1st-in-series titles, there are more standalone and further-in-series books by Ted Lewis, Jassy Mackenzie, and several others, if you're looking to fill a series.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is no longer couponable in the US, but can still be discounted in Canada. At $2.99 USD/$3.99 CAD, they've a handful of mystery/thrillers among their periodic sale offers (quick linkage to all the fiction in case there's some more literary-type stuff which catches your eye):

• The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, a classic and basis for the film starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater
• The Ludwig Conspiracy by Oliver Pötzsch, an historical thriller translated by Anthea Bell, one half of the team that does an excellent job of getting the Astérix albums into English
• The Informant by Thomas Perry, a crime thriller in the vein of author Otto Penzler, according to the subtitle
• The Poison Artist by Jonathan Moore

Faber & Faber have a handful of deep-discount titles:

• Bloodland by Alan Glynn @ $1.13 CAD
• 2 Kitty Peck mysteries (look like YA) by Kate Griffin @ $1.99
• 3 titles from Doug Johnstone @ $1.99-$2.50
• Scarred by Norwegian author Thomas Enger (SYKM, Wikipedia NO), in his Henning Juul series @ $1.99 CAD; I've wanted to try this author out for some time, since I've heard good things about the supposedly sharp sense of humour in his writing. If you happen to be in the UK, Pierced and Burned in the series are also discounted to £0.99. For comparison, the Simon & Schuster Atria Books edition that is officially available via the North American rights is $12 CAD, non-couponable.

And to round out the couponable publishers you may wish to look at, F+W Media's Prologue Books imprint (which generously gave us quite a lot of freebies years ago) has their regular selection of vintage pulp and backlist mysteries (and sf/fantasy) at mostly $4 CAD each, which become quite cheap using the coupon: linkage for the lot.

• @ $2.50 CAD, The Books of Fell by award-winning YA author M. E. Kerr (Wikipedia) is a money-saving 3-book omnibus edition of titles that they also offer separately.

ETA: Also Kensington. I forget whether they're still couponable in the US, but they certainly are in Canada, and are offering assorted cozy mystery and crime thriller novels discounted from 99 cents and up: linkage for the lot.

ETA 2: Also Diversion Books and Poisoned Pen Press, both of whom have been generous with the freebies in the past, and have a handful of 99 cent series-introductory sale titles, as well as their regular $2.99 USD/$3.99 CAD and up pricing on their newer titles and backlist reprints.

[GA Russell]

Penance - David Housewright - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Penance-Holla.../dp/B006OTYXFE

(Edgar winner, best first novel)