Free and bargain cozy mystery ebooks in October 2013

[Terisa de morgan]

We point out free and bargain cozy mysteries to each other, and recommend certain books that are/were free (or the opposite!).

Because Kindle freebies are easiest to find, the majority of the books listed are from Amazon, but freebies and bargains from other retailers and in other formats are more than welcome!

In case no retailer is specifically mentioned in a post, it is safe to assume it's for Amazon US.

Be aware that many freebies are only free for a day, so grab them fast!

NOTE:

Cozy mysteries, also referred to simply as "cozies," are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community.

Cozies virtually never dwell on sexuality or violence, or employ any but the mildest profanity.

Avoidance of explicit sex and violence, emphasis on puzzle-solving over suspense, a small-town setting, and a focus on a hobby or occupation are all frequent elements of cozy mysteries. The precise boundaries of the sub-genre remain vague, however, with the work of authors such as Aaron Elkins and Philip R. Craig considered borderline cases.

[Terisa de morgan]

A Bone in Her Teeth by Ann McAllister Clark (Anna Wells Mystery #1)

Unjustly accused by her brother, Anna Wells is banished from her home in bitterly cold Michigan and set adrift to paradise. St. Augustine, Florida, greets her with a new home, scarlet bougainvillea, Spanish moss, deception, art theft, assassins, and murders. In a few days, Anna becomes a reluctant sleuth when she is embroiled in the twists and turns that surround her at Safety Harbor Marina and Thoberry’s Bookshop.

Free in Amazon

[AnemicOak]

Note: At least two of these are part of Amazon's Daily Deal so are good for today only.


The entire Jenny Connors Mystery Series by Sandra Carey Cody is currently on sale. Normally $4.99 each, the entire series today is $5.96

Left at Oz - $1.99

As crazy as Jennie Connors is about her handsome husband, she dreads his reaction when she tells him her car has been stolen. When she discovers a message on her answering machine hinting that the vehicle was left at Oz, she jumps at the chance to find the car before he returns from the West Coast. Following directions given in the message, Jennie finds the car and the body of Robin Langley, the babysitter for the Connors' two young sons.

What motive could anyone have for killing Robin? Why steal the Connors' car to hide the body, then leave a message directing Jennie to it? Fearing that a direct threat to her family is behind the sinister events, Jennie determines to find the killer herself.

Put Out the Light - $1.99

Jennifer Connors, activities director of Riverview Manor, is working late one night when she hears resident Nathaniel Pynchon pleading, "put out the light."Following Nate down a darkened corridor, Jennie discovers the body of Rosalie Cardamon.
Everyone at Riverview assumes the former actor has finally tumbled over the line separating fantasy from reality and committed murder, yet Jennie refuses to accept this. But if not Nate, then who? When she learns that wounds left by a thirty-year-old accident are still festering at Riverview Manor, Jennie wonders if Rosalie's death could be related. Unfortunately, the police are too busy investigating Nate to care.

To further complicate matters, Jennie has problems of her own. Her estranged husband Tom is demanding she pay less attention to the murder investigation and more to the safety of their children, a demand she is forced to take seriously when a bullet whizzes past her.

Starring Nathaniel Pynchon in the role of a lifetime, and welcoming newcomer Jennifer Connors, this murder mystery will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final curtain call.

Consider the Lilly - $0.99

Jennie Connor's friend, Lilly, is in big trouble. Two patrons are poisoned while dining at her restaurant and the police are too busy with crowd control to notice a shadowy figure climb down the arbor and slip away. Jennie watches and wonders if Lilly's daughter, Jasmine, is up to her usual teenage mischief or if something more sinister is going on. Jennie tries to sort out the case, aided and abetted by her tea ladies. These six elderly women, made of more spice than sugar, are residents of Riverview Manor, where Jennie works as Activities Director. While the press focuses on one of the victims, Phillip Jeffries, a junior high school principal who has made a lot of enemies during his career, Jennie learns that the other victim, teacher Leonard Atkinson, has his own dirty little secret.

By Whose Hand - $0.99

When Preston Barrons hands Jennie Connors the key to Barrons Bank and Trust Company and asks her to pay a 2 a.m. visit, her instinct screams 'give them back!' But how can she, when her paycheck depends on finding out who made an unauthorized transfer? Money from a recent fundraiser has ended up in the account of Webster Barrons, and the family is hoping Jennie can clear their son's name. Instead of answers, Jennie finds the body of Preston's right hand man. She goes looking for the security guard, but he finds her first and assumes she's trying to sneak out. It seems the only way to extricate herself from bank politics is to find the killer. Assisting Jennie are Riverview Manor's lively and opinionated residents, especially Tess, whose FBI background gives her a unique insight, and Nate, who offers his own tilted perspective, gained from a long and not-so-carefully-lived life.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

The entire Jenny Connors Mystery Series by Sandra Carey Cody is currently on sale.

Just a warning as I know it will matter to some folks. These books are all in Topaz format.

[gabby98]

I believe this falls into the cozy category

Death of a Kitchen Diva (A Hayley Powell Mystery) $1.99
Amazon | B&N

Publication Date: March 6, 2012
Welcome to Bar Harbor, Maine, one of New England's most idyllic coastal towns. But as new food writer Hayley Powell is about to find out, the occasional murder can take a bite out of seaside bliss. . .
Single mom Hayley Powell is barely keeping her leaking roof over her head when her boss at the Island Times gives her a new assignment--taking over the paper's food column. Hayley's not sure she has the chops--she's an office manager, not a writer, even if her friends clamor for her mouth-watering potluck dishes. But the extra income is tempting, and Hayley's chatty first column is suddenly on everyone's menu--with one exception.

When rival food writer Karen Appelbaum is found face-down dead in a bowl of Hayley's creamy clam chowder, all signs point to Hayley. To clear her name, she'll have to enlist some help, including her BFFs, a perpetually pregnant lobster woman, and a glamorous real estate agent. As she whips up a list of suspects, Hayley discovers a juicy secret about the victim--and finds herself in a dangerous mix with a cold-blooded killer.

Includes seven delectable recipes from Hayley's kitchen!

"What a delicious debut mystery!" –Laura Levine

"A delicious read that I ate up in one sitting." –Isis Crawford

More Mouth-Watering Praise For Lee Hollis And Hayley Powell!

"Sleuth Hayley Powell slides down as easily as one of her Lemon Drop Martinis (recipe included) and readers will be calling for a second round from author Lee Hollis." --Leslie Meier, author of Chocolate Covered Murder

"Delicious and satisfying. Another course, please." –Carolyn Hart

More Mouth-Watering Praise For Lee Hollis And Hayley Powell!

"Sleuth Hayley Powell slides down as easily as one of her Lemon Drop Martinis (recipe included) and readers will be calling for a second round from author Lee Hollis." --Leslie Meier, author of Chocolate Covered Murder

[Terisa de morgan]

Strictly Murder by Lynda Wilcox

The estate agent's details listed two reception rooms, kitchen and bath. What they failed to mention was the dead celebrity in the master bedroom. Personal assistant Verity Long's house hunt is about to turn into a hunt for a killer. It will take some fancy footwork to navigate the bitchy world of dance shows, television studios, and dangerously gorgeous male co-stars. When Verity looks like the killer's next tango partner, she discovers that this dance is ... Strictly Murder.

Free at Amazon

[Terisa de morgan]

A Slice of Murder by Chris Cavender (Pizza Lovers, #1)

Not too much happens in the sleepy little town of Timber Ridge, North Carolina— which is fine with pizza-purveyor extraordinaire Eleanor Swift. The spunky owner of A Slice of Delight is trying to mend her broken heart and could use a little quiet time. But when a late night delivery customer turns up dead, she's in for just the opposite in this delicious mystery series debut, featuring pizza as the prima character . . .

1,99$ at Barnes and Noble and Amazon

[Terisa de morgan]

The Sinister Seminar by Sara Robbins (Events To Die For, #1)

Charlotte booked a simple writing seminar to fill in a cancellation at Enchanted Events. It was simple until someone tries to kill one of the students during the first morning break. Charlotte and her sister, Lacey have helped solve a murder before but this time Charlotte becomes a target. In addition to dealing with threats on her life, she is also trying to decide which of her three suitors she is truly interested in dating.

Free at Amazon

[Terisa de morgan]

The Riddles of Hillgate by Zoey and Claire Kane ( Z & C Mysteries, #1)

Zoey Kane is known around Riverside for making risky purchases. When her daughter learns a most recent investment is eighty acres on the haunted side of town, she is simply flabbergasted. Amazement takes over the whole town when an old mansion is discovered deep within trees. After the estate is turned into a popular hotel, no one could have expected just how risky this purchase would be.

Free at Amazon | Kobo | Smashwords | B&N

[Terisa de morgan]

Group, Photo, Grave by Joanna Campbell Slan (Kiki Lowenstein Mystery, #7)

The wedding should have been perfect. Ace scrapbooker Kiki Loewenstein certainly did her part to make everything just right for her mother-in-law Sheila's special day. But the discovery of a corpse can put a damper on any festivity. Especially when everyone-in-the-know knows the Bride wanted to shove her bouquet up the Dead Guy's snout. Suddenly Sheila's wedding portrait looks like a mug shot. Kiki must poke her pug nose into old secrets. Why did somebody want to cut a retired plastic surgeon out of the big picture? Includes recipes and craft tips.

Free at Amazon.

[Kiya]

Murder on the Rocks (Mack's Bar Mysteries) by Allyson K. Abbott is $1.99 at Amazon

Mack's Bar is one of those nice, friendly places where everybody knows your name. That's great when someone's buying you a round, but not so hot when you find yourself atop a list of murder suspects--with your fingerprints on the bloody knife!

Mackenzie "Mack" Dalton is a Milwaukee bar owner with a nose for trouble--literally. A neurological glitch has left her with extra perceptive senses. So when she stumbles upon a dead body in the alley behind the bar--the same spot where her own father was shot eight months earlier--she can tell right away there's something fishy in the air. The lead detective thinks there's a link between the two deaths, and he'll need Mack's help to sniff out the murderer amid the crowd of eccentric regulars. But when all the evidence points to her as the most likely culprit, it could be an early last call for Mack--and celebratory cocktails for a killer.

[Kiya]

Size 12 Is Not Fat, the first novel in Meg Cabot’s Heather Wells Mysteries is $1.99 on Amazon

Heather Wells Rocks!

Or, at least, she did. That was before she left the pop-idol life behind after she gained a dress size or two -- and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and her life savings (when Mom took the money and ran off to Argentina). Now that the glamour and glory days of endless mall appearances are in the past, Heather's perfectly happy with her new size 12 shape (the average for the American woman!) and her new job as an assistant dorm director at one of New York's top colleges. That is, until the dead body of a female student from Heather's residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft.

The cops and the college president are ready to chalk the death off as an accident, the result of reckless youthful mischief. But Heather knows teenage girls . . . and girls do not elevator surf. Yet no one wants to listen -- not the police, her colleagues, or the P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives -- even when more students start turning up dead in equally ordinary and subtly sinister ways. So Heather makes the decision to take on yet another new career: as spunky girl detective!

But her new job comes with few benefits, no cheering crowds, and lots of liabilities, some of them potentially fatal. And nothing ticks off a killer more than a portly ex-pop star who's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong . . .

[Terisa de morgan]

A Rendezvous to Die For by Betty McMahon

All photographer Cassandra Cassidy wanted to do was settle into the peaceful Minnesota countryside and lick her New York-inflicted emotional wounds. But a photo gig she couldn't pass up has her up to her f-stops trying to get to the bottom of a gruesome hatchet job that left her nemesis dead and left her near the top of the suspect list. Smoking out the real killer will lead the mystery world's new reluctant sleuth deep into the colorful re-enactor culture and into dangerous political intrigue at the Indian reservation. See what develops as Cassandra uses her non-existent detecting skills - and short list of acquaintances - to track down the real killer before she becomes more valuable to him dead or alive.

Free at Amazon

[Kiya]

Murder on the Rocks by Allyson K. Abbott is $1.99 on Amazon

Mack’s Bar is one of those nice, friendly places where everybody knows your name. That’s great when someone’s buying you a round, but not so hot when you find yourself atop a list of murder suspects–with your fingerprints on the bloody knife!

Mackenzie “Mack” Dalton is a Milwaukee bar owner with a nose for trouble–literally. A neurological glitch has left her with extra perceptive senses. So when she stumbles upon a dead body in the alley behind the bar–the same spot where her own father was shot eight months earlier–she can tell right away there’s something fishy in the air. The lead detective thinks there’s a link between the two deaths, and he’ll need Mack’s help to sniff out the murderer amid the crowd of eccentric regulars. But when all the evidence points to her as the most likely culprit, it could be an early last call for Mack–and celebratory cocktails for a killer.

[ChandaK562]

The Scarecrow Murders by Mary V. Welk Number Four in the Caroline Rhodes series

Free on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Scarecrow-Murd...3021197&sr=1-6

It's a battle of the sexes in little Rhineburg, Illinois when Bruck University's fledgling football team butts heads with female rodeo riders during Halloween Homecoming Days.

The Big Bad Bruins can’t believe it when Bruck President Garrison Hurst hires the Moore Sisters' Rodeo to perform in the school's new stadium the night before the homecoming game. The 3Bs—AKA “The Freebies” because of their losing style—may be lousy at football, but as country boys, they know what a herd of angry Brahma bulls can do to a grass field. Accompanied by every able-bodied man in town, they form a picket line outside Hurst’s office and raise their voices in protest.

Will the president meet the team’s demands to cancel the rodeo? Not if Donna Moore can help it. Backed by an iron-clad contract and a smart lawyer, Donna rallies the women of Rhineburg in support of their cowgirl sisters. Marching with signs in hand, the women out shout and out maneuver their male counterparts, taking over the college security office and generally causing havoc on Bruck’s campus.

Caroline Rhodes’ son and daughter-in-law take opposite sides in the argument—until a football player is found murdered in a rodeo bullpen and Martin Rhodes is named the prime suspect. Caroline looks to Professor Carl Atwater, Maddy “Mad” Moeller, and the ladies of the Rhineburg Boarding House and Home for Gentle Women for help in catching a clever killer.