FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[ATDrake]

Bargain @ $1.99 each for today only (May 12th) from HarperCollins in Canada & the US as part of the Kindle Daily Deal (price-matched at Kobo CA, but not US at the moment; may or may not also be matched in other stores):

25 random novels by Agatha Christie, including both series and standalones, as well as the first posthumous Poirot series continuation written by Sophie Hannah. Out of the ones I recall reading, I especially recommend Peril at End House and Cards on the Table, which are pretty good Poirots, IMHO, and IIRC, The ABC Murders also seemed better-than-average. Death in the Clouds ISTR as pretty meh, although it does have a clever means, and you may be interested in the depiction of vintage air travel.

Linkage for the lot at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Kobo CA

NB: Although Poirot #1, A Mysterious Affair at Styles, is public domain in the US (but not in Canada), the HarperCollins edition contains restored text found in the Christie archives, which provides some sort of alternate post-case ending, plus has a special introduction by a Christie scholar.

[ATDrake]

Bargain @ £0.99 each from Simon & Schuster UK as part of a Kobo UK special promotion until May 18th (only #2 & #5 seem to be matched at Amazon UK thus far, though that will probably change):

5 novels in the Fredrika Bergman & Alex Recht series (entire series thus far) by Swedish author Kristina Ohlsson (SYKM, Wikipedia SV), starring an investigative analyst and a police superintendent in Stockholm.

I bought the first 3 of these when they were on sale years ago, and have read all 5, and I'd say that while not among the top tier of Scandicrime offerings, they're reasonably good and #2-3 are actually quite enjoyable with clever cases and unusual motives and twist revelations, which make some use of Swedish culture and social issues (and they each won one of the Swedish literary crime awards).

#1 OTOH, is a fairly standard “psycho with unresolved issues lashing out against the world” case which was written decently enough but not particularly distinguished (aside from an entertaining bit where suspects turned out to be cleared of one crime because it turned out they were guilty of committing another at the same time), and #4-5 shift the series into counter-terrorism thriller plots which for me personally, were not as entertaining (but then I'm not into thrillers; YMMV). The author does have a couple of repeated writing tics which you may or may not find annoying, though.

Anyway, at this low price, they're certainly worth giving a try if you think you might like them, and I'll be picking up the fills I'm missing from my earlier purchases. Some of the stories refer to significant happenings from previous cases, and there's an ongoing personal situation development in the background of the series, so it's probably better not to read standalone. Although the actual cases are reasonably self-contained and IIRC don't spoiler the actual whodunnits for previous ones even if they give a few details on how the cases turned out, and there's a timejump split at the #4 mark so you could start there if you strongly prefer counter-terrorism thrillers to serial killer hunting.

[Demingy]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Bargain @ $1.99 each for today only (May 12th) from HarperCollins in Canada & the US as part of the Kindle Daily Deal (price-matched at Kobo CA, but not US at the moment; may or may not also be matched in other stores):

25 random novels by Agatha Christie, including both series and standalones, as well as the first posthumous Poirot series continuation written by Sophie Hannah. Out of the ones I recall reading, I especially recommend Peril at End House and Cards on the Table, which are pretty good Poirots, IMHO, and IIRC, The ABC Murders also seemed better-than-average. Death in the Clouds ISTR as pretty meh, although it does have a clever means, and you may be interested in the depiction of vintage air travel.
<snip>

Apparently you have some of the most useful posts for me, so I can't give you any more karma, so I'm giving a quick thanks for this. I'm slowly but surely accumulating all of her work.

[sufue]

Bones of the Lost is a fairly recent (2013) title in the Temperance Brennan series by Kathy Reichs. It is $1.99 as part of the Kindle US Daily Deal today (5/13).

link: https://www.amazon.com/Bones-Lost-Te...dp/B00A285AE6/

Spoiler:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with her sixteenth riveting novel featuring forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan, whose examination of a young girl killed in a hit and run in North Carolina triggers an investigation into international human trafficking.

When Charlotte police discover the body of a teenage girl along a desolate stretch of two-lane highway, Temperance Brennan fears the worst. The girl’s body shows signs of foul play. Inside her purse police find the ID card of a prominent local businessman, John-Henry Story, who died in a horrific flea market fire months earlier. Was the girl an illegal immigrant turning tricks? Was she murdered?

The medical examiner has also asked Tempe to examine a bundle of Peruvian dog mummies confiscated by U.S. Customs. A Desert Storm veteran named Dominick Rockett stands accused of smuggling the objects into the country. Could there be some connection between the trafficking of antiquitiesand the trafficking of humans?

As the case deepens, Tempe must also grapple with personal turmoil. Her daughter Katy, grieving the death of her boyfriend in Afghanistan, impulsively enlists in the Army. As pressure mounts from all corners, Tempe soon finds herself at the center of a conspiracy that extends all the way from South America, to Afghanistan, and right to the center of Charlotte. “A genius at building suspense” (Daily News, New York), Kathy Reichs is at her brilliant best in this thrilling novel.

[sufue]

Killed in the Ratings is the first in the Matt Cobb series by William L Deandrea. It has dropped to $0.99 at Kindle US. I quite enjoyed this series in DTB, and I think I've mentioned before in this forum that I appropriated Matt Cobb's completely non-descriptive/could-mean-anything title (VP of Special Projects) for my own when I started working at our family business and could pick my own title...

link: https://www.amazon.com/Killed-Rating...dp/B00AEGIHRI/

Spoiler:

An electrifying puzzle, corporate sleuth Matt Cobb is set up in a TV-world murder

This Edgar Award–winning debut novel introduces Matt Cobb, vice president of special projects at a large television network—where “special projects” means anything sensitive, or even fatal, that the company wants to keep quiet.

Cobb’s no stranger to following mysterious orders, so when he receives a telephone call asking him to visit a hotel room he obliges. The invitation, however, means a dead body, a sharp blow to the head, and suspicion from the police that he committed the crime. And while one of the detectives put on the case has known Cobb since he was a child, the other is convinced of his guilt. Can Cobb stay on point when the stakes are so high? Can he find the real killer and persuade the police of his innocence? And what do television ratings have to do with it all?

[GA Russell]

Black Cherry Blues (Dave Robicheaux #3) - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Cherry-...dp/B005HF9I10/

[sufue]

The first five titles in Timothy Hallinan's Junior Bender series have dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US. (Unfortunately, the sixth and most recent title is still sitting at an absurd $14.99...)

Titles are:

• Crashed
• Little Elvises
• The Fame Thief
• Herbie’s Game
• King Maybe

Links for all five:

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/search/?se...price-asc-rank
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Qu...cmaxprice=2.00

[sufue]

All six titles in the Marty Singer series by Matthew Iden are $0.99 at Kindle US as part of the "Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense Starting at $0.99" sale.

Titles include:

• A Reason To Live
• Blueblood
• One Right Thing
• The Spike
• The Wicked Flee
• Once Was Lost

Link for all six: https://www.amazon.com/gp/search/?se...er&price=99-99

[sufue]

The Judas Goat is the fifth in the Spenser series by Robert B. Parker. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Judas-Goat-Sp...dp/B002SVQE54/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-judas-goat-2

Spoiler:

Spenser has gone to London -- and not to see the Queen. He's gone to track down a bunch of bombers who've blown away his client's wife and kids. His job is to catch them. Or kill them. His client isn't choosy.

But there are nine killers to one Spenser -- long odds. Hawk helps balance the equation. The rest depends on a wild plan. Spenser will get one of the terrorists to play Judas Goat -- to lead him to others. Trouble is, he hasn't counted on her being very blond, very beautiful and very dangerous.

[sufue]

And Four to Go is a collection of four long-ish short stories/novellas in the Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin series by Rex Stout. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Nero-Wol...dp/B003V4BPOC/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/and-four-to-go

Spoiler:

“It is always a treat to read a Nero Wolfe mystery. The man has entered our folklore.”—The New York Times Book Review

Embark on a year of murder and mystery. It begins at Christmas with a party and a poisoning, then blossoms into spring with sudden death at the Easter Parade. With a killer in the crowd, the Fourth of July is no picnic, and the calendar is overbooked with corpses when death is in season. Here are four cunning cases that leave everyone guessing. When it comes to sleuthing out a clever solution, only Nero Wolfe has a clue.

[sufue]

Stalking the Angel is the second in the Elvis Cole series by Robert Crais. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Stalking-Ange...dp/B004JN1CWO/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/stalking-the-angel-1

Spoiler:

Meet Elvis Cole, L.A. private eye . . . he quotes Jiminy Cricket and carries a .38. He’s a literate, wisecreacking Vietnam vet who is determined never to grow up.

The blonde who walked into Cole’s office was the bestlooking woman he’d seen in weeks. The only thing that kept her from rating a perfect “10” was the briefcase on one arm and the uptight hotel magnate on the other. Bradley Warren had lost something very valuable—something that belonged to someone else: a rare thirteenth-century Japanese manuscript called the Hagakure.

Just about all Cole knew about Japanese culture he’d learned from reading Shogun, but he knew a lot about crooks—and what he didn’t know his sociopathic sidekick, Joe Pike, did. Together their search begins in L.A.’s Little Tokyo and the nest of notorious Japanese mafia, the yakuza, and leads to a white-knuckled adventure filled with madness, murder, sexual obsession, and a stunning double-whammy ending. For Elvis Cole, it’s just another day’s work.

[ATDrake]

Bargain @ $0.99-$2.99 from assorted HarperCollins imprints in Canada & presumably the US (should be the same price in all the usual stores):

@ $0.99:

Without A Word by Carol Lea Benjamin, 8th in her Rachel Alexander mystery series which has a dog as a sidekick. At the $2.99 CAD mark (may be price otherwise elsewhere), there's also #7, Fall Guy

@ $1.99:

• Charlie Martz and Other Stories: The Unpublished Stories by Elmore Leonard, a collection of early works (of which the blurb says 4 were actually published, but the others not, and contain early appearances by some of his classic characters)
• Deadly Housewives edited by Christine Matthews, an anthology of 14 short stories on the titular theme, including contributions by Matthews herself, as well as S. J. Rozan, Sara Paretsky (of V. I. Warshawski fame), Carole Nelson Douglas, and many more
• Aunty Lee's Deadly Specials & Aunty Lee's Chilled Revenge by Singaporean writer Ovidia Yu, 2nd & 3rd in her cozy mystery series featuring the titular Singaporean widow. I've read the 1st of these from the library, and while it was a little too saccharinely cutesy for my taste (YMMV), it was overall an interesting enough setting and story that I'm willing to try more on sale. Another novel further in the series, Meddling and Murder is currently just $3.99 CAD.
• Girl in a Box by Sujata Massey in her Rei Shimura series starring a Japanese-American sleuth
• Not A Girl Detective by Susan Kandel, 2nd in her CeCe Caruso series of cozy mysteries starring a mystery writer biographer cum fashionista, of which #1 & #3 have been on sale in the past few months
• What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman, psychological suspense thriller
• Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich, 1st in her Barnaby & Hooker series of humorous mystery/adventure thrillers with car racing elements; I think I've read a comic book adaptation spin-off in this setting, which ISTR was nice light fun. (ETA: turns out I did, and liked it enough that I was going to have a look at the originating series, and that was 6 years ago and I never did. But at least it's cheap to try now? )
• Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass, 1st in Body Farm forensic mystery series, which we've previously gotten as a freebie a long time ago
• Orient by Christopher Bollen, a standalone atmospheric locational mystery which the blurb says was named Amazon Best Mystery of 2015
• Dance of the Bones by J. A. Jance, apparently a crossover combining two of her popular sleuth characters J. P. Beaumont and Brandon Walker
• With No One As Witness by Elizabeth George, 13th in her acclaimed Inspectory Lynley series of police procedurals
• The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter, another thriller starring Will Trent
• Almost True Confessions by Jane O'Connor, 2nd in Closet Sleuth series which is apparently a grown-up spin-off of one of the author's children's books series
• Here Comes the Bribe by Mary Daheim, an installment in her Bed and Breakfast cozy mystery series
• Cinco de Mayhem by Ann Myers, an installment in her Santa Fe Café cozy mystery series
• The War Against Miss Winter & The Winter of Her Discontent by Kathryn Miller Haines, 1st & 2nd in her Rosie Winter series of historical mysteries starring an aspiring actress in the 1940s
• The Other Widow by Susan Crawford, a psychological suspense
• The Woman Next Door by Cass Green, a psychological thriller
• Murder on a Girl's Night Out by Anne George, 1st in her Southern Sisters series of mystery
• Vanishing Girls by Katia Lief, 3rd in her Karin Schaeffer series pitting an ex-NYC cop against a serial killer
  

@ $2.99:

• The House of Silk & Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz, Sherlock Holmes pastiches
• Woman with a Gun by Phillip Margolin, a literary-ish thriller involving looking into the secrets behind an enigmatic photograph

[sufue]

J.A. Jance's Ali Reynolds Mysteries 3-Book Boxed Set, Volume 1: Web of Evil, Hand of Evil, Cruel Intent is pretty much what is says - an omnibus of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th titles in Jance's Ali Reynolds series.

It has been stair-stepping down in price for a while from its initial $23.99 (!!!!!) to its current $6.99 at Kindle US, which is now in the neighborhood of what I would consider reasonable for backlist, if you need all three titles, which unfortunately I don't...

link: https://www.amazon.com/Jances-Reynol...dp/B005WKFJI6/

Spoiler:

Web of Evil
Fired from her dream job as a Los Angeles new anchor and still recovering from the truth about her cheating husband, Ali is content to lick her wounds far away in Sedona, Arizona. But before she can leave the past behind, she must return to L.A.: her ex, Paul, is in a hurry for a divorce so he can marry his very young, very pregnant fiancée. But the day before the final proceedings, Paul's bound and broken body is found in the Palm Springs desert. Ali finds herself the sole heir to his wealthy estate—and the prime suspect in his brutal murder. As the evidence piles up against her, she must navigate a torturous path strewn with danger—and bodies—to expose the real cold-blooded thriller.

Hand of Evil
Ali Reynolds is grieving. The newscasting job she once delighted in is gone and so is the philandering husband she loved and thought she knew. When a member of the family who gave Ali a generous scholarship for her education decades earlier suddenly asks her for a meeting, Ali wonders what it can mean. Before she can satisfy her curiosity, though, Ali receives another startling call: a friend's teenage daughter has disappeared. Ali offers to help, but in doing so, she unknowingly begins a quest that will reveal a deadly ring of secrets, at the center of which stand two undiscriminating killers…

Cruel Intent
Ex–television journalist Ali Reynolds just wants a break from excitement to remodel her new home. But when the savagely murdered body of stay-at-home mom Morgan Forester is found, Ali’s contractor Bryan is the prime suspect. Bryan swears he has nothing to do with his wife’s murder—but as the investigation progresses, Ali seems to be the only person who believes him. Determined to prove Bryan’s innocence, she logs onto singleatheart.com, a dating site for "married singles," and unknowingly lands herself directly in the path of a calculating killer.

[ATDrake]

Found the sale that goes with all the HarperCollins price-drops upthread.

“The age of the anti-heroine” at up to 80% off runs until May 29th @ Kobo CA, and features all sorts of mystery/suspense novels with female protagonists by authors of all genders, including classics like Agatha Christie, YA like Norma Fox Mazer, and more, at $4.99 or less (mostly in the $2-3 range).

Main page, with categories: Reads That Will Keep You Guessing, Women Sleuths, Heart-Pounding Romantic Suspense, Police Procedurals, Thrilling Reads for Young Adults, Unputdownable Thrillers

[GA Russell]

Six Days of the Condor - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064T4ZPC

*****

I see three Elmore Leonard titles for $1.99 each. Don't know if they are crime stories.

Confession
The Trespassers
Charlie Martz and Other Stories: The Unpublished Stories

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st_p...price-asc-rank