FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[sufue]

The Railway Detective's Christmas Case is no longer the most recent in series, but it is on sale at Kindle US for $0.99, sadly not on sale at Kobo US...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09SXHY1R1

Originally Posted by sufue

Three titles in Edward Marston's Railway Detective series are on sale at Kindle UK right now, two old, and one most-recent-in-series (and holiday themed).

{edited other books}

The Railway Detective's Christmas Case, #20 (and most recent, until a new one comes out next April), £2.79
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09SXHY1R1
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09SXHY1R1

[sufue]

I think of Kasey Michaels primarily as a romance writer, but she did write a couple of semi-mystery series - which were mysteries enough to be listed in SYKM. But Michaels' Maggie Kelly series, about a romance writer who gets dumped by her publisher and starts writing mysteries, still seems like more of a romance series to me, since her "gorgeous hunk of a fiction hero", Viscount St Just, shows up to help her solve them. So I'm posting it there. Per an email I got, the six books in the series are free for one week, but you do have to subscribe to her newsletter to get them. See this post in the Romance thread for more info...

[sufue]

A couple of mysteries/thrillers are free right now from Joffe...

The Sedleigh Hall Murder is the first in the Eric Ward series by Roy Lewis
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S5CGHGF
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07S5CGHGF

Watch Her Die is the first in the Detective Temple series by Deborah Lucy
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TXW97PG
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07TXW97PG

[Tarana]

Omnibus of first 3 books of Midsommer series/Inspector Barnaby by Caroline Graham.
$2.99 Amazon, B&N, Google

https://www.amazon.com/Inspector-Bar...t%2C134&sr=1-1

[sufue]

Cold Water Burning is the sixth in John Straley's Cecil Younger series. Per SYKM, it was a finalist for 2002 Shamus Award for Best Novel. It's $1.99 right now in the US, and even less (see below) in the UK.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075WCCSQ8
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/cold-water-burning
Kindle UK, £0.79: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075WCCSQ8
Kobo UK, £0.99/discountable to £0.70: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/cold-water-burning

Spoiler:

After years on the job as a private investigator in Sitka, Alaska, Cecil Younger doesn’t claim to have learned much about humanity as a whole, but he does know this: truth is a slippery thing.

When the wife of a former client asks Cecil to find her husband, Cecil agrees. After all, helping to get Richard exonerated during a tragic murder trial three years ago was one of the biggest successes of Cecil’s career. But why, if Richard’s name was cleared, is he MIA now? Patricia, Richard’s steadfast wife, has one guess: someone is after him. It’s no secret that Richard has a long list of enemies, not least of which are the family members of the dead. But things soon get complicated when Patricia is killed, sending Cecil on a desperate trip to sea to chase down the twisted truth.

[tch65721]

The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries by Otto Penzler (Editor) - $1.99

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CK8CJLS

The most complete collection of Yuletide whodunits ever assembled • The Edgar Award-winning editor collects sixty of his all-time favorite holiday crime stories—from Arthur Conan Doyle and Thomas Hardy to Sara Paretsky and Ed McBain.

“Anyone who cares about the best mystery writing of the past century and beyond would be lucky to receive this thick volume during the holidays." —The Washington Post

[sufue]

Dachshund Through the Snow is the seasonally appropriate 20th book in David Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter series. It's $2.99 right now in the US...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P9LQ99N
Kobo US; https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dac...ugh-the-snow-1

Spoiler:

This Christmas, lawyer Andy Carpenter and his golden retriever, Tara, can't say no to helping young Danny and his dachshund, Murphy.

Lawyer Andy Carpenter and his wife, Laurie, have started a new Christmas tradition. Their local pet store has a Christmas tree, where instead of ornaments there are wishes from those in need. One poignant wish leads Andy to a child named Danny, whose selfless plea strikes a chord. Danny asked Santa for a coat for his mother, a sweater for his dachshund, Murphy, and for the safe return of his missing father.

It turns out Danny’s father doesn't want to be found, he’s on the run after just being arrested for a murder that took place fourteen years ago – a murder that Danny’s mother swears he didn’t commit.

With his trademark humor and larger-than-life characters – including a police officer and his K-9 partner, Simon – Rosenfelt never fails to deliver as Andy and his eccentric crew dash to reunite a family in time for Christmas.

[sufue]

A mystery and a thriller are free from Joffe right now...

Dog in the Dark is the first in the Three Oaks series by Gerald Hammond
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QM5XY51
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QM5XY51

Standpoint is the first in the Thomas Bladen thriller series by Derek Thompson
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UVQBVVU
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00UVQBVVU

[sufue]

Today's Big Deal at Kindle UK is six books by Simon Beckett for £0.99 each, including four of the six books in Beckett's David Hunter series. Sadly, not matched, at least as of now, at Kobo UK.

Titles are: The Chemistry of Death (Hunter #1), Whispers of the Dead (Hunter #3), The Calling of the Grave (Hunter #4), The Restless Dead (Hunter #5), Stone Bruises (non-series), and Where There's Smoke (non-series).

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/b/node=4725112031

ADD:

And if you don't like /can't shop in the UK, two of the books in the Hunter series are $1.99 in the US, and discountable at Kobo US.

Whispers of the Dead, #3
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2ZN8D6S
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/whi...of-the-dead-14

The Scent of Death, #6 and most recent
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2Z6RKQ1
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-scent-of-death-6

[sufue]

I've read and enjoyed a lot of Susan McBride's Debutante Dropout series, which included a couple of books that won/were nominated for various awards. (Although my memories are a bit vague - it was a very long time ago in DTB days...) OTOH, I haven't read any of the books in her Helen Evans series, but now here's the first one going free as Joffe's daily deal.

To Helen Back, Helen Evans #1
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTMT65V2
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CTMT65V2

Spoiler:

What do you do when the most-hated man in town is murdered? Why, investigate, of course!

Seventy-five-year-old grandmother Helen Evans lives in River Bend, Illinois. A town where murder simply doesn’t happen. But local businessman Milton Grone has just been found dead. And this was no accident . . .

Milton was the meanest, crankiest, most dishonest man in town. No one liked him. But would someone have killed him?

Well, he was in a bitter ongoing feud with his next-door neighbor. Both his current and ex-wife wanted a cut of his substantial cash reserves. And these weren’t the only enemies mean old Milt had made.

But, unfortunately, nearly all the residents of River Bend have the perfect alibi: almost everyone was attending the town meeting at the time of Milton’s murder.

Crossword enthusiast Helen Evans is not about to sit this puzzle out. She’ll go to hell and back to find the answers in this fun and fresh small-town mystery.

An utterly charming cozy murder mystery by an award-winning author, perfect for fans of Deany Ray, Kathi Daley, Tricia O’Malley and Jeanne M. Dams.

Note: There was an omnibus of the four books in this series on sale a while back, so I would say to check carefully before you buy, but this one's free, so WTH...

[sufue]

Identity Unknown is the 28th and most recent (2024) in the Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell. It's £0.99 at Kindle UK right now, sadly not at Kobo UK, at least as of now.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CTHRBXHX
Kobo UK (for price check): https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/identity-unknown-19

Spoiler:

Summoned to an unnerving, abandoned theme park to retrieve a body, Dr Kay Scarpetta is devastated to learn that the victim is a man she once loved. While teaching in Rome during the early days of her career, Scarpetta had a love affair with acclaimed astrophysicist Sal Giordano that led to a lifelong friendship.

The murder scene is bizarre, with a crop circle of petals around the body, and Giordano's skin is strangely red. Scarpetta's niece Lucy believes he was dropped from an unidentified flying craft. Scarpetta knows an autopsy can reveal the dead's secrets, but she is shocked to find her friend seems to have deliberately left her a clue.

As the investigators are torn between suspicions of otherworldly forces, and of Giordano himself, Scarpetta detects an explanation closer to home that, in her mind, is far more evil . . .

[BetterRead]

New York City Noir: The Five Borough Set is on sale for only $4.99 at Amazon US.

Collects the five NYC borough installments in the award-winning Akashic Noir Series into a single e-book edition:

• Brooklyn Noir, edited by Tim McLoughlin
  Manhattan Noir, edited by Lawrence Block
  Bronx Noir, edited by S.J. Rozan
  Queens Noir, edited by Robert Knightly
  Staten Island Noir, edited by Patricia Smith

[SomeSteve]

The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsythe is £0.99 at Amazon UK and Kobo UK.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Day-Jackal-.../dp/B003GDFQX4

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the...f-the-jackal-1

[sufue]

Encyclopedia Brown was one of the first mystery series I remember reading, getting the books (if I remember correctly so many decades later) from Scholastic via my school. Which clearly helped create an addiction . Now the first book, Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective, is on sale in the US for $1.99 - info and links are in this post on the Childrens/YA thread.

[sufue]

I ended up reading and loving The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett, which is a Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin pastiche set in a fantasy world. (See this post and a few posts before and after over in the sci-fi/fantasy thread - I'm kind of surprised I didn't cross-post it before.)

So I put an eReaderIQ hit on Bennett, and the following two books just popped up, which seem very different, and TBH, don't seem to be my thing. So I'm debating buying/trying. But, they are listed on SYKM, which calls them "non-series speculative thrillers", and The Company Man even won the 2012 Edgar Award for Best Paperback, so...eeeny meeny miney mo...

The Company Man
Kindle US, $2.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0047Y0FIM
Kobo US, $1,99 and discountable: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-company-man-8

The Troupe
Kindle US, $2.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004RD854O
Kobo US: not on sale, at least as of now