FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[soulfuldog]

In the UK, Peter May's The Lewis Trilogy is available in one book for £0.99 as part of today's Daily Deal. Great series and a good bargain, IF you're the type of person who will enjoy the descriptions and life of people in this remote island setting.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HAKHY34/

[Tarana]

I haven't read any of these books. These are all on special at Amazon, Kobo and Barnes and Noble. My copy and paste doesn't work again today.

Pretty Girls by Karen Slaughter $1.99

The Gone Dead Train by Lisa Turner $1.99. This was an Edgar nominee.

The Great Mistake - Mary Roberts Rineheart .99 Originally published in 1949. American writer of cozies.

[sufue]

Some first-in-series price drops, mostly to $0.99, unless otherwise indicated. Not sure if this is a concerted sale, or just coincidence, and I'm slammed at work so no chance to try to figure it out right now.

The Germanicus Mosaic, first in the Libertus series by Rosemary Rowe, I really like this series a lot - maybe not in my top five, but in my top ten...
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GU2XKXG
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...britain-book-1

A Shrine of Murders, first in the Kathryn Swinbrooke series by Paul Doherty
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GU2VUUQ
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-s...eries-book-1-1

After the Armistice Ball, first in the Dandy Gilver series by Catriona McPherson
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OGV0DVU
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/aft...mistice-ball-3

Her Royal Spyness, first in the Royal Spyness series by Rhys Bowen, $1.99, also a favorite series of mine, maybe top ten, definitely top twenty
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015DRP1I
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/her-royal-spyness

The Crossing Places, first in the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths, $1.99
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UV90G6
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-crossing-places

[Kieran Seymour]

The first four novels in Camilla Lackberg's Hedstrom/Falck series are just 99p each today at amazon.co.uk.

(1) The Ice Princess
(2) The Preacher
(3) The Stonecutter
(4) The Stranger

[sufue]

The Last One Left is a non-series title by John D. MacDonald, of Travis McGee fame. It has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle and Kobo US. Per SYKM, this was a finalist for the 1968 Gold Dagger award.

Use caution - there are two editions of this - the one published by Orion/Murder Room and the one published by Random House. The Random House one is the one on sale for $2.99 right now.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E2RXHU2
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-last-one-left

Spoiler:

Murder at sea. No survivors, no evidence, no loose ends. Only a boatload of cash left for the taking. In this explosive novel from the author of the Travis McGee series, nothing is certain—not with enough money at stake to change a dozen lives . . . or end them.

Introduction by Dean Koontz

Crissy Harkinson knows all about the cash that left the Gold Coast of Florida, headed for the Bahamas on board a pleasure boat. It came from Texas, unrecorded, intended as a bribe. Now it is Crissy’s last chance for the big score she’s been working toward for years, using her brains and her body.

Then other people get involved, including a Texas lawyer too cool to commit himself to anything or anybody, a beautiful Cuban maid who might not be as silly as she seems, and a pitifully broken girl, adrift and unconscious in a tiny boat on the giant blue river of the Gulf Stream. Turns out these are shark-infested waters. And none of them are going down without a fight.

[sufue]

Both titles in Chris Nickson's Dan Markham series have dropped in price at both Kindle and Kobo US (coupon/VIPable).

Dark Briggate Blues, #1, $1.49
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HQL9PQA
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-briggate-blues

The New Eastgate Swing, #2, $2.99
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M0PO19H
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...stgate-swing-1

[sufue]

The Widows of Malabar Hill, apa A Murder on Malabar Hill, is, per SYKM, the much-awarded (Agatha, Lefty, Macavity, and Mary Higgins Clark) first title in the short two-book Perveen Mistry series by Sujata Massey. I've read and really enjoyed both books and hope more are in the works. in any case, Widows has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07226BHDG
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...f-malabar-hill

Spoiler:

1920s India: Perveen Mistry, Bombay's only female lawyer, is investigating a suspicious will on behalf of three Muslim widows living in full purdah when the case takes a turn toward the murderous. The author of the Agatha and Macavity Award–winning Rei Shimura novels brings us an atmospheric new historical mystery with a captivating heroine.

This Deluxe Edition features: an interview with the author, discussion questions, essays on the real-life inspirations behind the novel, delicious recipes taken from the story, and previews of The Satapur Moonstone (May 2019).

Perveen Mistry, the daughter of a respected Zoroastrian family, has just joined her father's law firm, becoming one of the first female lawyers in India. Armed with a legal education from Oxford, Perveen also has a tragic personal history that makes women's legal rights especially important to her.
Mistry Law has been appointed to execute the will of Mr. Omar Farid, a wealthy Muslim mill owner who has left three widows behind. But as Perveen examines the paperwork, she notices something strange: all three of the wives have signed over their full inheritance to a charity. What will they live on? Perveen is suspicious, especially since one of the widows has signed her form with an X—meaning she probably couldn't even read the document. The Farid widows live in full purdah—in strict seclusion, never leaving the women's quarters or speaking to any men. Are they being taken advantage of by an unscrupulous guardian? Perveen tries to investigate, and realizes her instincts were correct when tensions escalate to murder. Now it is her responsibility to figure out what really happened on Malabar Hill, and to ensure that no innocent women or children are in further danger.

Inspired in part by the woman who made history as India's first female attorney, The Widows of Malabar Hill is a richly wrought story of multicultural 1920s Bombay as well as the debut of a sharp new sleuth.

[sufue]

Facets of Death is the most recent (2020) in the Detective Kubu series by Michael Stanley, although SYKM advises that it's a prequel. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US (coupon/VIPable).

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Facets-Death-...dp/B07Y5NRDD3/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/facets-of-death

Spoiler:

A prequel to the award-winning Detective Kubu series

David Bengu has always stood out from the crowd. His personality and his physique match his nickname, Kubu—Setswana for "hippopotamus"—a seemingly docile creature, but one of the deadliest in Africa. His keen mind and famous persistence have seen him rise in the Botswana CID. But how did he get his start?

His resentful new colleagues are suspicious of a detective who has entered the CID straight from university, skipping the usual beat cop phase.

Shortly after he joins the CID, the richest diamond mine in the world is robbed of 100,000 carats of diamonds in transit. The robbery is well-executed and brutal. Police immediately suspect an inside job, but there is no evidence of who it could be.

When the robbers are killed execution-style in South Africa and the diamonds are still missing, the game changes, and suspicion focuses on a witch doctor and his son. Does "Kubu" have the skill and the integrity to engineer an international trap and catch those responsible, or will the biggest risk of his life end in disaster?

[ZodWallop]

The Interrogator and Other Criminally Good Fiction is $0.99 at Amazon US. A collection of crime stories by authors such as Lee Child, Joyce Carol Oates, David Morrell, Bill Pronzini, Jeffery Deaver, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Max Allan Collins & Mickey Spillane, Tom Piccirilli, Dave Zeltserman, Michael Connelly, and more than a dozen others.

[sufue]

The Reluctant Assassin is the 16th title in Fiona Buckley's excellent IMO Ursula Blanchard series. It has dropped to £2.25 at Kindle UK.

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07C7GZVYT

Spoiler:

When Ursula’s young son is kidnapped, she is lured into an impossible dilemma.

March, 1581. Queen Elizabeth is once again being urged to consider marriage to the Duke of Alençon, a French Catholic twenty years her junior. The prospect of the match is causing unrest throughout the kingdom.

Ursula Blanchard however has more immediate matters to worry about when her 9-year-old son is snatched away while out riding. If she is ever to see him again, Ursula must undertake an impossibly difficult and dangerous mission – and commit an act of high treason. Can she rely on her half-sister, Queen Elizabeth, for help?

[sufue]

Toucan Keep a Secret is a fairly recent (2018, 23rd in the series) title in the Meg Langslow series by Donna Andrews. I've quite enjoyed all of the titles I've read in this series, in spite of (or perhaps because of ) the puns.

Basically though, they are LOL titles for me, and great for when I need a pick-me-up. So it's nice that Toucan is on sale at Kindle UK for £1.45 right now - I think we might all be needing a pick-me-up soon...

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0791JWR91

Spoiler:

Toucan keep a secret, if one of them is dead.

Meg Langslow is at Trinity Episcopal Church locking up after an event and checking on the toucan her friend Rev. Robyn Smith is fostering in her office. When she investigates the sound of hammering in the columbarium (the underground crypt where cremated remains are buried), Meg finds the murdered body of an elderly parishioner. Several niches have been chiseled open; several urns knocked out; and amid the spilled ashes is a gold ring with a huge red stone.

The curmudgeonly victim had become disgruntled with the church and ranted all over town about taking back his wife's ashes. Did someone who had it in for him follow him to the columbarium? Or was the motive grave robbery? Or did he see someone breaking in and investigate? Why was the ruby left behind?

While Chief Burke investigates the murder, Robyn recruits Meg to contact the families of the people whose ashes were disturbed. While doing so, Meg learns many secrets about Caerphilly's history—and finds that the toucan may play a role in unmasking the killer. Clues and events indicate that a thief broke into the church to steal the toucan the night of the murder, so Meg decides to set a trap for the would-be toucan thief—who might also be the killer.

Toucan Keep a Secret is the twenty-third book in New York Times bestselling author Donna Andrews' hilarious Mag Langslow mystery series.

[sufue]

If you consider booksBnimble (Julie Smith's independent press) to be self-pubbed (I don't), skip this post...

The Kate Benedict Cozy British Mysteries Vol 1-4 omnibus by Carrie Bedford is free right now at Kindle US and UK.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M6NJB56
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07M6NJB56

Spoiler:

A BRITISH COZY TO DIE FOR

With just a hint of the paranormal…

Kate Benedict at first seems a delightfully by-the-book cozy female lead: a successful architect at an elegant firm in rainy London with a penchant for sleuthing, even if it means landing her smack dab in the middle of the wrong place at the wrong time. But she has something else going for her no other genre investigator does—the mysterious ability to see a death-predicting aura over the people around her. And she just can’t help but help them avoid the unthinkable—at all costs.

Now available as one complete box set, this irresistible murder mystery series is sure to be a treat for international suspense armchair travelers that like their cozy female sleuths smart, savvy, and a tad psychic. Think traditional British mystery with a metaphysical twist.

THE AURA

Life spins out of control for Kate Benedict when she sees a dancing aura above certain people’s heads that seems to signal death. Suddenly she’s psychic. But that can't be! Psychic’s not acceptable in her circle, where the supernatural is strictly for the superstitious. And yet…people are dying. People close to her.

Kate's tentative attempts to talk about her new-found metaphysical gift are met with eye rolls, so much so that she can’t even tell the nice Scotland Yard detective who's investigating the death of a close friend, Rebecca Williams. And now Rebecca’s neighbor has an aura.

DOUBLE BLIND

Two politicians and her best friend have the death-predicting auras London architect Kate Benedict can see despite her most fervent wishes. She’s had the dubious gift for a year now, and suddenly there’s no longer any ignoring it.

But the only way to get to the two pols is via her old friend, DCI Clarke; yet her warnings go unheeded. Her frustration builds when her best friend, Anita, refuses to believe in the auras’ existence as well —even when one appears over Anita’s boss in the hospital where she works. And then Anita develops her own aura.

THE FLORENTINE CYPHER

What began as a quiet Friday night dinner date with an old childhood friend turns into a manhunt when Kate arrives at the rendezvous just in time to find her friend Ethan leaving in a taxi. Kate is alarmed to see the distinctive swirling pattern above his head. When Ethan’s disappearance is followed by a series of cryptic text messages, Kate goes looking for him at his sister’s house in Florence, but it’s immediately clear that whatever danger threatened Ethan in London has followed Kate to Italy—his sister Claire has a matching aura! Soon Kate and Claire are on the run, constantly watched and followed,repeatedly threatened and attacked … never knowing who they can trust.

THE SCOTTISH CONNECTION

Kate is off to a glamorous weekend party in Scotland at the formerly grand castle belonging to the uncle of her boyfriend Josh. But the festive occasion turns solemn when Kate notices an aura above the head of Josh’s beloved Uncle Fergus. Blessed – or cursed – with the ability to see auras that indicate that death is imminent, Kate can sometimes avert disaster –if she can discover the source of the danger. Otherwise, Josh’s favorite uncle will die in a matter of days.

Thus is the scene set for a deliciously traditional British cozy with a touch of the paranormal thriller – complete with ghostly characters from the past; the requisite medieval weapons collection; and a creepy, ruined, closed-off wing of the castle. There’s also a vaguely menacing assortment of servants and locals and a castleful of dodgy house guests, all wrapped up in mysterious gloom as thick as the Scottish fog… but warmed by a cozy library fire and a nearly priceless collection of single malt scotches.

I haven't read anything by this author, but I have quite enjoyed all of Julie Smith's series, as well as other booksBnimble authors Tracy Whiting, Tony Dunbar, and probably a few others I can't remember right now.

And in a funny coincidence, I heard Tracy Whiting, whose two Havilah Gaie mysteries I quite love, on NPR yesterday in her academic persona as T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting. She was talking about her book, The Speech, because it was the something-th anniversary of Obama's speech about race, which that book is about. My husband was quite surprised when I started bouncing up and down in my car seat . But that is a little bit off-topic...

[ReadingManiac]

Apologies for repetitive post, but authors are providing free books through Smashwords for people self-isolating. I know SW isn't popular with the mods but Amazon has limited flexibility and some good authors also sell on Smashwords. Any I recommend I have read and enjoyed. I'm only posting personal recommendations made free that aren't usually.

In this category:
A Spark of Justice by J.D. Hawkins
An insurance investigator has to determine if a lion tamer's death was an accident or murder and the circus people mess with him something chronic.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/913888

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

...authors are providing free books through Smashwords for people self-isolating. I know SW isn't popular with the mods...

I didn't know that.

[ZodWallop]

The Tattoo Murder Case by Akimitsu Takagi is $1.99 at Amazon US.

One of Japan’s most popular mystery writers delivers “scenes of fastidiously executed decadence” in a “tale of sexual obsession” (The New York Times Book Review).

Kinue Nomura survived World War II only to be murdered in Tokyo, her severed limbs discovered in a room locked from the inside. Gone is the part of her that bore one of the most beautiful full-body tattoos ever rendered. Kenzo Matsushita, a young doctor who was first to discover the crime scene, feels compelled to assist his detective brother, who is in charge of the case. But Kenzo has a secret: he was Kinue’s lover, and soon his involvement in the investigation becomes as twisted and complex as the writhing snakes that once adorned Kinue’s torso.

The Tattoo Murder Case was originally published in 1948; this is the first English translation.