FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[sufue]

The Devil Wins is now £0.99 at Kindle and Kobo UK...

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HSQCC1S
Kobo UK (discountable): https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/rob...e-devil-wins-3

Originally Posted by sufue

The Devil Wins is the second in Reed Farrel Coleman's continuation of Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone series. It has dropped to $2.99 in the US right now.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SI0B7WE
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/rob...the-devil-wins

[ZodWallop]

A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin is $2 at Amazon, B&N and Kobo US.

ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME

Iconic author Ira Levin’s Edgar Award–winning debut novel set a new standard in the art of psychological suspense. A modern classic published to rave reviews, and twice adapted for the screen, A Kiss Before Dying is a darkly thrilling, twisting tale of criminal psychopathy.

Known for his looks and charm, a young man obsessed with wealth and status will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He sets his sights on a beautiful and innocent college student named Dorothy, intent on marrying her for her family’s money. But when Dorothy becomes pregnant, his careful plans start to unravel, and he begins to take cold, calculating, and drastic measures to protect his future.

A Kiss Before Dying, told from multiple points of view, has thrilled millions of readers with its perfectly constructed plotting and is an acknowledged masterpiece of crime fiction.

[Critteranne]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin is $2 at Amazon, B&N and Kobo US.

The twist that comes partway through the novel...

There have been movie adaptations -- but nothing compares to reading it in the book.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Critteranne

The twist that comes partway through the novel...

Worked for Psycho...

[sufue]

The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart is the seventh in Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr/Burglar series. It's on sale in the US and UK right now ($1.99/£1.99), and discountable at Kobo UK.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000MAH6D2
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...-he-was-bogart
Kindle UK: not on sale right now
Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the...e-was-bogart-1

Spoiler:

Bookseller Bernie Rhodenbarr's in love—with an exotic Eastern European beauty who shares his obsession with Humphrey Bogart movies. He's in heaven, munching popcorn with his new amour every night at a Bogart Film Festival—until their Casablanca-esque idyll is cut short by his other secret passion: burglary.

When he's hired to pilfer a portfolio of valuable documents from a Park Avenue apartment, Bernie can hardly refuse. But the occupant's early return forces Bernie to flee empty-handed—and he soon finds himself implicated in a murder. Before you can say "who stole the strawberries?" he's hunting for a killer, up to his neck in the outrageous intrigues of a tiny Balkan nation . . . and menaced by more sinister fat men and unsavory toadies than the great Bogie himself butted heads with in pursuit of that darn bird!

[sufue]

Even the Wicked is the thirteenth in the Matthew Scudder series by Lawrence Block. It's $0.99 right now in the US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC11LU
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/eve...-scudder-novel

Spoiler:

Matthew Scudder knows that justice is an elusive commodity in the big city, where a harmless man can be shot dead in a public place criminals fly free through holes in a tattered legal system. But now a vigilante is roaming among the millions, executing those he fees deserve to die. He calls himself "The Will of the People"—an ingenious serial killer who announces his specific murderous intentions to the media before carrying through on his threats. A child molester, a Mafia don, a violent anti-abortionist—even the protected and untouchable are being ruthlessly erased by New York's latest celebrity avenger.

Scudder knows that no one is innocent—but who among us has the right to play God? It is a question that will haunt the licensed p.i. on his journey through the bleak city grays, as he searches for the sanity in urban madness. . .and for a frighteningly efficient killer who can do the impossible.

[sufue]

Hot Money is a non-series title by Dick Francis. It's on sale in the US ($1.99) and UK (£1.99) right now.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003RWSIZM
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hot-money-1
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002RI9XWO
Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/hot-money

Spoiler:

Wealthy gold trader Malcolm Pembroke has five ex-wives and nine chidren between them, all fighting among themselves. But when violent death strikes the least likable of his former spouses, Malcolm himself feels threatened, and he calls on his most capable son, Ian, the family jockey, to protect him from his nearest and dearest. While he's at it, Ian is also commissioned to delve for the final, critical clue in the darkly buried Pembroke past, simmering with the greed, hate, and vengefulness that could motivate blood to strike against blood.

[sufue]

Three titles in Mary Daheim's Bed-and-Breakfast series are $0.99 each in the US right now.

Bantam of the Opera, #5
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OI0EKO
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bantam-of-the-opera

Dead Man Docking, #21
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UKOMYK
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dead-man-docking

Saks and Violins, #22
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UKON3A
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/saks-and-violins

[sufue]

The Wedding Guest is now $2.99 in the US...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CWF85NK
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-wedding-guest-7

Originally Posted by sufue

The Wedding Guest is a fairly recent (2019) title in Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series. It's £0.99 right now at Kindle UK.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CLT4CN1
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CLT4CN1

[pdurrant]

An Assassination on the Agenda by T E Kinsey is £0.99 at Amazon UK today.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLVRB9JQ

This is the 11th and latest of his Lady Hardcastle mysteries, first published in May this year.

July 1912. Lady Hardcastle and her tenacious lady’s maid, Florence Armstrong, are enjoying a convivial gathering at the home of their dear friends, the Farley-Strouds. The only fly in the idyllic ointment seems to be the lack of musical entertainment for the forthcoming summer party—until, that is, Lady Hardcastle’s brother Harry calls with news of a murder.

[sufue]

"F" is for Fugitive is, well, the F-th in the Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton. It's $1.99 in the US right now.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0031B7KCG
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/f-is-for-fugitive

Spoiler:

Floral Beach wasn't much of a town: six streets long and three deep, its only notable feature a strip of sand fronting the Pacific. It was on that sandy beach seventeen years ago that the strangled body of Jean Timberlake had been found.

The people of floral Beach didn't pay a whole lot of mind to past history, especially when Bailey Fowler, the self-confessed killer, had been properly processed and convicted. They weren't even unduly concerned when, a year after the murder, Fowler walked away from the men's prison at San Luis Obispo, never to be seen again. After all, everyone knew Jean had been a wild kid. "Like mother, like daughter," some said--though never within hearing of Shana Timberlake, who, whatever her faults, still mourned her murdered child.

And then, by sheer fluke, the cops stumbled on Bailey Fowler. And a case seventeen years dead came murderously to life again.

For Royce Fowler, old and sick with not much time left, his son's reappearance was the chance to heal an old wound. For Kinsey Millhone, the case was a long shot, but she agreed to take it on. She couldn't know then it would lead her to probe the passions buried just below the surface of family relations, where old wounds fester and the most cherished emotions become warped until they fuse into deadly, soul-destroying time bombs.

[sufue]

Now "E" is for Evidence by Sue Grafton is also $1.99 in the US. It's the E-th Kinsey Millhone book. And, as of right now, "F" is still on sale too ^^^.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0031B7KC6
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/e-is-for-evidence

Spoiler:

E IS FOR EX

It was the silly season and a Monday at that, and Kinsey Millhone was bogged down in a preliminary report on a fire claim. Something was nagging at her, but she couldn't pin it. The last thing she needed in the morning mail was a letter from her bank recording an erroneous $5,000 deposit in her account. Kinsey had never believed in Santa Claus and she wasn't about to change her mind now. Resigning herself to a morning of frustration, she phoned the bank and, assaulted by canned carols, waited on hold for an officer to clear up the snafu.

It was with something less than Christmas cheer that Kinsey faced off only minutes later with California Fidelity's Mac Voorhies. Voorhies was smart, humorless, stingy with praise, and totally fair. He was frowning now.

"I got a phone call this morning." he said, his frown deepening. "Somebody says you're on the take."

Suddenly the $5,000 deposit clicked into place. It wasn't a mistake. It was a setup.

"E" is for evidence: evidence planted, evidence lost. "E" is for ex-lovers and evasions, enemies and endings. For Kinsey, "E" is for everything she stands to lose if she can't exonerate herself: her license, her livelihood, her good name. And so she takes on a new client: namely, Kinsey Millhone, thirty-two and twice-divorced, ex-cop and wisecracking loner, a California private investigator with a penchant for lost causes--one of which, it is to be hoped, is not herself.

As Kinsey begins to unravel the frame-up, she finds that her future is intimately tied to one family's past and to the explosive secret it has protected for almost twenty years. Digging deeper, she discovers that probing the past can have lethal consequences as she follows a trail of murder that leads to her own front door. And in what may well be her most challenging case, Kinsey comes up against the fact that sometimes, "E" is forever.

[sufue]

This claims it's a mystery, although the cover and blurb look/sound more like a rom-com. But I was just caught by the concept of the "modern-day Tudor thing" - with billionaire Hank Tudor running Tudor Enterprises; the ex-wives (and current new wife) all carefully named after Henry XIII's wives; Hank's two kids, Lizzie and Teddy; and his fixer (!!!) Tom Cromwell. And of course, the title: An Inconvenient Wife. And the victim - a headless body. And that other headless body from eight years ago...

I haven't read anything by Karen E Olson, so this may be a bust, but if it is, at least it'll be an inexpensive bust, because An Inconvenient Wife is on sale for $1.99 in the US right now as part of today's US Daily Deal, and matched at Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7RP9YPY
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/an-inconvenient-wife-8

Spoiler:

This astonishing crime novel—inspired by the Tudor era—takes the reader into the world of Kate Parker, who has just married billionaire Hank Tudor when a headless body is discovered near their summer home . . .

Kate Parker knows what she’s getting into when she marries billionaire businessman Hank Tudor—she’s his sixth wife, after all, and was by his side (as his assistant) when his fifth marriage to actress Caitlyn Howard fell apart.

But honeymoon plans go awry when a headless body is discovered near Hank’s summer home, forcing Kate to contend with two more of his exes: Catherine Alvarez—the first—who lives as a shut-in with her computers, carefully following Tudor Enterprises; and Anna Klein—the fourth—who runs a bed-and-breakfast where she and her wife keep a steady eye on things—particularly Hank’s children, Lizzie and Teddy.

In this clever and suspenseful reimagining of Tudor era betrayals, these three women become entwined in a deadly game of cat and mouse—with each other, Hank, and Hank’s brilliant fixer, Tom Cromwell—as Kate seeks to solve the puzzle of who the murdered woman is, who killed her, and whether her death has any connection to the other headless body from eight years ago.

Oh, and Pegasus Crime is a legit publisher, at least IMO...

[badgoodDeb]

Well, that’s certainly an interesting premise! I’ll bite, given that it’s only $1.99.

[sufue]

I'm now about half-way through, and it's definitely a mystery and not a rom-com, in spite of what the cover looks like. So I'm glad I didn't cross-post it. I haven't decided yet if I like it - I like some parts a lot, and others less so. It may depend on how it ends...

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Well, that’s certainly an interesting premise! I’ll bite, given that it’s only $1.99.