FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[sufue]

The Pearl Diver is $1.99 again in the US, and so is the sixth book in the series, The Samurai's Daughter. The links below are still good for The Pearl Diver, which is the seventh in the series, and here are links for The Samurai's Daughter.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007SNJG52
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-samurai-s-daughter

Originally Posted by sufue

The Pearl Diver is now $1.99 in the US. I really liked this series in DTB, but only a few of the titles go on sale very often - although those few go on sale a lot. But The Pearl Diver isn't one of those, so I'd grab it fast if you want it.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007SNJEOU
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-pearl-diver

[sufue]

Laura Possessed by Anthea Fraser is Joffe's free mystery/thriller for the weekend. I've read only a couple of Fraser's books, from her Rona Parish series, a couple of decades ago, and I have pleasant but vague memories of them.

It is odd that the webpage title says it's part of Fraser's Detective Inspector David Webb series, but SYKM says it's a stand-alone, and the blurb itself seems to support that. It actually sounds more like a (perhaps paranormal) thriller - both the title and the blurb. So I'm going with SYKM, not that it matters ...

Anyway, it's free for a few more hours, and you can always delete.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CG6QJHWQ
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CG6QJHWQ

Spoiler:

Laura Hardy is recovering from a traumatic car crash.

The incident proves fatal for her mother, and whilst Laura’s life was spared, she is left injured, weak and grieving for her loss.

Taken into her brother’s care, Edward Hardy resolves that accommodating Laura at his family home, Four Winds, will provide the respite Laura so desperately needs.

Upon arrival however, Laura senses a dark and pervading undercurrent of unrest at Four Winds.

What is strange is that it both draws and repels her…

As Laura tries to settle into her new home, she becomes increasingly unsettled by the strange occurrences she encounters at Four Winds.

The twisted trees at the bottom of the garden behind her brother's house and the little boy stood at her bedroom door, neither of which can be accounted for.

And then the dream: the handsome dark-haired man bending over her, kissing her passionately—the very man who stood before her now at the cocktail party, casually sipping a drink.

She knew his face as well as her own, but had never seen him before…

Four Winds’ hides a secret, a secret that Laura cannot escape, but which is pulling her deeper and deeper into its clutches…

'Laura Possessed' is an expertly plotted crime novel that will keep readers gripped from the first page to the last.

[JSWolf]

Do Joffe books sell any place other than Amazon?

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by sufue

I've only read those three (the ones above), but liked all three of them, even though I'm not typically a huge hard-boiled fan.

But while checking SYKM for Whitfield, I also came across this odd note at the bottom of his author page: "See also Walter Satterthwait’s fictional biography Dead Horse (2006)"

When I went and looked at that, it seems to be one of those fictional, but plausible, "way it could have been" stories - in this case based on Whitfield's brief marriage to a wealthy socialite, which ended with her death in questionable circumstances, shortly before their impending divorce became final, thus still leaving her estate to Whitfield. While, however, Whitfield was in Los Angeles. Which is also the set-up for many a classic fictional murder mystery. It sounds odd-ball enough to be interesting, and I've put an eReaderIQ tag on it, although it doesn't really look as if it goes on sale...

I too have West of Guam in my library, purchased on sale in 2017, but it has never made it to the top of my TBR list. Could you perhaps come back once you've read it and let me know if I should move it up a bit?

sufue, I have now read 63%, 16 of the 26 stories.

I can report that initially the writing is pretty bad, but it gets better. Have to keep the bar low!

I think that most of the fun of it is in reading Black Mask stories from the magazine's heyday.

[sufue]

Thank you so much for the insight. It can be fun to read old stories, so long as one keeps in mind that they reflect the mores of their time and place. And I usually do okay with that, treating them sort of like "unintentional" historical mysteries. Although I do have trouble from time-to-time with some of the casually racist or classist or sexist stuff that was just accepted in the past. Anyway, one nice thing with short stories is that it's easier to stop at some point, so I think I'll bump them up on my list. And thanks again...

Originally Posted by GA Russell

sufue, I have now read 63%, 16 of the 26 stories.

I can report that initially the writing is pretty bad, but it gets better. Have to keep the bar low!

I think that most of the fun of it is in reading Black Mask stories from the magazine's heyday.

[sufue]

Not that I have found, although sometimes, when they've purchased old backlist, I've found that I already have earlier editions of some books from other stores, from the previous publisher.

I do wish they were available from other than Amazon, but since I'm mostly either getting freebies, or paying $0.99 or $1.99 for omnibuses of several books, I usually go ahead and buy anyway...

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Do Joffe books sell any place other than Amazon?

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by sufue

Thank you so much for the insight. It can be fun to read old stories, so long as one keeps in mind that they reflect the mores of their time and place. And I usually do okay with that, treating them sort of like "unintentional" historical mysteries. Although I do have trouble from time-to-time with some of the casually racist or classist or sexist stuff that was just accepted in the past. Anyway, one nice thing with short stories is that it's easier to stop at some point, so I think I'll bump them up on my list. And thanks again...

You're welcome!

I think the author was more interested in creating a mood of "Oriental danger" than in writing a good story.

One of the characters is named Harvey Wall. I immediately thought of the Harvey Wallbanger cocktail, which I hadn't thought about in forty years!

[Tarana]

The first 3 books for Chief Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny are on sale for $2.99 at Amazon and Kobo. That would be Still Life, A Fatal Grace and The Cruelest Month.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Do Joffe books sell any place other than Amazon?

You mean the publisher?

If so, right here:

https://joffebooks.com/

[salty-horse]

Books 2 and 3 in the Hilary Tamar series are on sale. I read the first one and liked it.
Book 4 was published posthumously, and despite the author being from the UK, is not available in the UK.

The Shortest Way to Hades (Hilary Tamar #2) by Sarah Caudwell is £3 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)


The Sirens Sang of Murder (Hilary Tamar #3) by Sarah Caudwell is £3 in the UK ([URL=https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-sirens-sang-of-murder-3]Kobo[/

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by sufue

Not that I have found, although sometimes, when they've purchased old backlist, I've found that I already have earlier editions of some books from other stores, from the previous publisher.

I do wish they were available from other than Amazon, but since I'm mostly either getting freebies, or paying $0.99 or $1.99 for omnibuses of several books, I usually go ahead and buy anyway...

But the problem will soon be no DRM removal. So they'll be stuck in the Amazon walled garden that will soon have a roof and new locks on the door.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

You mean the publisher?

If so, right here:

https://joffebooks.com/

Links to buy their eBooks takes you to Amazon.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But the problem will soon be no DRM removal. So they'll be stuck in the Amazon walled garden that will soon have a roof and new locks on the door.

If the price is good and can't be duplicated elsewhere and you've got a means to read the book, then it's not a problem.

I get that people are willing to stand on principle on this. I personally would continue to buy Kindle books in the right combination of circumstances. In fact, I had stopped buying Kindle books in November 2023 when they nerfed their rewards program, after which Kobo was always cheaper. But so far this year, I've run across two Kindle books I wanted that couldn't be price-matched and I bought them. I will continue to do so even if I'm limited to a Kindle device. It's not a moral issue for me.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Links to buy their eBooks takes you to Amazon.

Oh, yeah: I see that now.

[sufue]

This is me too - I've sharply reduced my Kindle buying, but when the deal is too good, as it often is with Joffe omnibuses of authors whose older series (or even newer series) they've gotten rights to, I take the chance. But very selectively, and understanding that I may lose access someday if the book gods/goddesses frown on me .

I do also hate the walled garden, but dip my toes in (wildly mixing metaphors) when advantageous to me.

Originally Posted by issybird

If the price is good and can't be duplicated elsewhere and you've got a means to read the book, then it's not a problem.

I get that people are willing to stand on principle on this. I personally would continue to buy Kindle books in the right combination of circumstances. In fact, I had stopped buying Kindle books in November 2023 when they nerfed their rewards program, after which Kobo was always cheaper. But so far this year, I've run across two Kindle books I wanted that couldn't be price-matched and I bought them. I will continue to do so even if I'm limited to a Kindle device. It's not a moral issue for me.