FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by sufue

P.S. Has anyone read any of this author's historical mysteries? I really like historicals, but haven't run into any of his before. Just wondering if anyone has an opinion?

I enjoyed his Matthew Corbett series. Very well written.

[Mort1997]

Free on Amazon UK - Death at the Dog by Joanna Cannan

Spoiler:

It is late 1939 and Crescy Hardwick is a charismatic, if unpredictable, divorcée who seems to have found her place in the world at last…

She loves and cherishes the rural cottage she has rented for the past few years.

So, it is especially galling when she receives notice from the landlord of her impending eviction.

Being Crescy, she does not take it well…

But she is not the only person in the community to despise her landlord, Mathew Scaife. Most of the local people and even his own family seem to resent him.

Nobody mourns when old Mathew is discovered dead in his chair at the local pub. Indeed, it seems likely that he would have been swiftly forgotten – were it not for the eagle eyes of an apparently bumbling doctor, who makes an astonishing discovery.
Mathew Scaife was murdered; quickly and quietly and in a room full of people.

How could this be?

It is up to Inspector Guy Northeast to find out who killed Mathew and why. Returning reluctantly to the area, he quickly works out that the prime suspect is Crescy Hardwick.

Which is something Guy finds difficult to come to terms with, for a host of reasons … not all of them professional, or even logical.

As Guy establishes the ingenious method used to kill Scaife, and as the case against Crescy mounts, Inspector Northeast must determine whether that case is based in fact, or whether something more complicated is going on …

Many people disliked Mathew Scaife. But who would be willing to risk the gallows to kill him? And why?

As Guy investigates the people around him, he discovers that some of them differ greatly from the image they present to the world. The question is, is Crescy among those individuals?

And if so, could she be a murderess, or has somebody else been guilty all along?

UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-at-Do...ndeavour+press


US
https://www.amazon.com/Death-at-Dog-...ndeavour+press

Au
https://www.amazon.com.au/Death-at-D...ndeavour+press

Can
https://www.amazon.ca/Death-at-Dog-J...ndeavour+press

[Mort1997]

Free on Amazon UK - Washed Up by Tony Berry

Spoiler:

Some people don’t need to go looking for trouble – it will always find them…

All former British secret service agent Bromo Perkins wants is a quiet life as a travel agent in Melbourne, Australia.

But he has hardly had time to dust himself off from his first roistering escapade before a sensitive earlobe – the result of an old wound from his previous career – ominously warns of more bother ahead.

It arrives in the shape of call from an attractive female client, Liz Shapcott, who claims that a young woman found washed up in the city’s river did not commit suicide as newspapers reported – but was a murder victim instead.

Bromo – who survives on a diet of coffee and malt whisky – cannot resist Liz’s pleas to help her prove her claim, though he is never quite sure what her body language implies.

What unfolds rips away the veils of respectability that mask the evil and corruption beneath appearances and behind closed doors in bustling metropolises such as Melbourne.

Who is the mysterious blind man who can walk briskly when he wishes and who watches from a distance through binoculars?
What really goes on at the much-visited but prison-like Number 85 in a select street of gentrified Richmond?

What will happen to the two young feminist activists who are bundled by heavies into a black limo along with Bromo? Can Bromo’s old flame Delia, a high-ranking police officer who works undercover, pull him out of the fire that threatens to consume him?

UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Washed-Up-T...ndeavour+press


US
https://www.amazon.com/Washed-Up-Ton...ndeavour+press


Au
https://www.amazon.com.au/Washed-Up-...ndeavour+press

Can
https://www.amazon.ca/Washed-Up-Tony...ndeavour+press

[Mort1997]

Free on Amazon UK - Never Look Back by Dan Latus

Spoiler:

Jake Ord is a retired secret services agent seeking peace in the British countryside. He seems to have finally escaped his turbulent past. That is until one evening a sniper tries to kill him…

Memories of his past life come flooding back and when another man from the village is found burned to death in his car that same night, Jake’s agent instinct kicks in.

Was this a case of mistaken identity? Or were they both indeed targets?

Who on earth could be trying to assassinate him in sleepy Northumberland, and more importantly, why?

Jake identifies another MI5 agent, Anna Mason, snooping around the village, supposedly prepping and securing the area ahead of a royal visit.

Together, with the help of his ex-colleague and friend Dixie, they discover that nobody is who they seem, and that both the victim of the car fire and one of Jake’s close friends were both also former agents, raising even more questions.

Could this really all be a coincidence?

The service is evidently unhappy with Jake’s poking around, and measures to shut down his investigations seem to be coming right from the top of MI5…

What could they possibly be trying to hide and what relevance does this have to Jake?

UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Never-Look-B...ndeavour+press


US
http://www.amazon.com/Never-Look-Bac...ndeavour+press


Au
http://www.amazon.com.au/Never-Look-...ndeavour+press

Can
http://www.amazon.ca/Never-Look-Back...ndeavour+press

[sufue]

Even Dogs in the Wild is the 20th and next-to-last (new one just came out in Jan) in the Inspector Rebus series by Ian Rankin. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Even-Dogs-Wil...dp/B00X47ZNO4/

Spoiler:

A Boston Globe Best Mystery of the Year

Rebus comes out of retirement...to save his nemesis.

Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is feeling the heat. She's investigating the death of a senior government prosecutor, David Minton, who has friends in high places. When one of their own is killed, the powers that be want answers fast. But Clarke is puzzled: if Minton died in a robbery as everyone thinks, why is nothing missing from his home? The answer may lie not in what was taken, but in what was left behind at the scene--an ominous note.

Malcolm Fox is feeling useless. Shunned by his colleagues because of his past in the Complaints bureau, he's been reassigned to a grunt detail, helping a surveillance team--one that trusts him even less than his own boss does--track a notorious Glasgow crime family. Helping Clarke with the Minton case is the only thing that makes Fox feel like a real cop.

Newly minted civilian John Rebus is feeling restless. Being a cop is in his blood and he's failing miserably at retirement. So when Clarke and Fox ask for his help, Rebus doesn't need long to consider his options. But before he can get his bearings, a call comes from Rebus's old nemesis--"Big Ger" Cafferty. Someone just fired a bullet through his front window--and sent him a note identical to Minton's. The normally unflappable old gangster is on edge, but for the life of him Cafferty can't figure out who he's wronged. And the only man he trusts with his life is Rebus.

As the cases collide, it's up to Clarke, Fox, and Rebus to connect the dots and save their unlikely ally Cafferty, whose past harbors a shocking secret that implicates Minton's friends in an unspeakable crime. Even Dogs in the Wild reunites crime fiction legend Ian

[kansaskyle]

Originally Posted by sufue

Swan Song, by Robert R. McCammon, looks more thriller-ish than mystery-ish, and also has paranormal elements, neither of which excites me. However, it has dropped to only $0.23 at Kindle US, so if that sort of thing is your sort of thing, you may want to take a look. Oh yeah, and it won the Bram Stoker award in 1987...

link: https://www.amazon.com/Swan-Song-Rob...dp/B005T54IAY/



P.S. Has anyone read any of this author's historical mysteries? I really like historicals, but haven't run into any of his before. Just wondering if anyone has an opinion?

McCammon wrote a lot of horror back in the 80's and early 90's, which I enjoyed as a young man. Apparently, he wanted to get out of that genre and his Boy's Life was excellent coming-of-age story. He took a hiatus for quite a while rather than continuing to write horror stuff that he didn't want to do any more.

I've read a couple of the Matthew Corbett books, and I enjoyed them.

[sufue]

Thank you all!

I'll have to give this series a try, and also check out the Will Thomas ones - although at $10 - $15 for the Thomas titles and $7 and up for the McCammon ones, it may be a while

I've e-Reader-IQ'd both authors...thanks again!

Originally Posted by Fbone

I enjoyed his Matthew Corbett series. Very well written.

Originally Posted by snape

McCammon's historical mystery series is fantastic. I would highly recommend it. Will Thomas also writes excellent historical mystery novels.

Originally Posted by kansaskyle

{edit}
I've read a couple of the Matthew Corbett books, and I enjoyed them.

[sufue]

Clam Wake is the 29th (I didn't count on SYKM, just trusting Amazon) in the Bed-and-Breakfast series by Mary Daheim. It's also the next-to-last in series - it's nice to see the trend of rare but occasional deep discounts on some fairly recent titles by some fairly popular authors continuing. Clam Wake has dropped to $0.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Clam-Wake-Bed...dp/B00FOPS5E4/

Spoiler:

Innkeeper and irrepressible sleuth Judith McMonigle Flynn and cousin Renie face off against a cold-blooded killer in a beach community in this delightfully charming Bed-and-Breakfast mystery from USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Mary Daheim.

With the holidays gone and Hillside Manor almost empty, Innkeeper Judith McMonigle Flynn has a bad case of the blues. A housesitting stint at her aunt and uncle’s retirement home on Whoopee Island with cousin Renie seems like the ideal pick-me-up. Surrounded by retirees in the off-season sounds peaceful and pleasant--or so the duo thinks. But it isn’t long before a dead body pops up in their vicinity. Not surprising in an area full of older folks—until they learn it wasn’t a bad ticker that did in the victim, but a very sharp knife. With clouds of suspicion hovering over her and Renie, Judith reluctantly begins sleuthing—if only to prove they didn’t commit the crime.

But what she finds is puzzling. The victim reputedly didn’t have an enemy in the world--except for the killer. Digging for clams and answers, the cousins discover that retirement can be deadly—at least among the eclectic, eccentric residents of Obsession Shores.

[sufue]

Black & Blue is the fourth in the Lord and Lady Hetheridge series by Emma Jameson. The other three have been previously free or discounted, and so I'm happy to see this one free right now on Amazon US. I've read three of the four books in this series, and enjoyed them; now I'll get to read the latest.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Blue-Lo...dp/B00XJ7D2AQ/

Spoiler:

MURDER IN MAYFAIR

Modern art dealer Granville Hardwick has a way with people -- a way of making them wish he were dead. His London gallery is filled with works of questionable merit, his dating pool consists of other men's wives, and his home is the eyesore of a fine old neighborhood. The neighborhood of Scotland Yard's Chief Superintendent Tony Hetheridge, as a matter of fact. So when Hardwick turns up dead, bashed on the head by a rather tasteless reproduction, it's Hetheridge and his new bride, Kate, who embark on solving the case.

LORD & LADY HETHERIDGE

When he married Kate, Tony expected things to be different. But with Kate's ne'er-do-well relatives making trouble on the home front, and his own enemies attacking from within Scotland Yard, the case of the dead art dealer and three unfaithful wives might do more than change Mayfair. It might change Lord and Lady Hetheridge forever.

Return to the world of Ice Blue in Black & Blue, the fourth in the New York Times bestselling Lord & Lady Hetheridge mystery series, which readers call "witty," "packed with interesting characters," and "consistently entertaining."

[sufue]

Crunch Time is #16 (and next to last, even though pubbed in 2011) in the Goldy Schulz series by Diane Mott Davidson. It has been on sale before at $1.99, but now has dropped to $0.99 at Kindle US, so if you didn't grab it at $1.99, maybe you'll find $0.99 more attractive!

link and info in this previous post: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh....php?p=3305989

[sufue]

Footprints in the Sand is the third in the Piper Donovan/Wedding Cake series by Mary Jane Clark. It has dropped to $0.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Footprints-Sa...dp/B0089LONB4/

Spoiler:

It's the dead of winter and struggling actress and wedding-cake decorator Piper Donovan is thrilled to be in warm and romantic Sarasota, Florida, enjoying the powdery white beaches, soothing seas, and golden sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico. She and her family are there to celebrate her beloved cousin's wedding. Not only is Piper creating the sugar-sand-dollar-festooned wedding cake, she's also the maid of honor.

But a cloud seems to be hovering over the whole affair. Shortly after a bridesmaid mysteriously disappears, a kindly neighbor's car is run off the road and a prospective witness, an innocent Amish teenager, is threatened to keep silent. Then a body is found on the beach where the wedding will take place. With the nuptials threatened, it falls to Piper to unmask a killer. Could it be the wedding planner with something to hide? A doctor and his wife who collect unusual Japanese figurines? The best man, an ex–drug dealer with lecherous eyes and roving hands? What about her cousin's future stepfather—or even the bridegroom himself?

As Piper gets close to figuring out who's been covering his guilty footprints in the sand, the cunning killer has already set his sights on Piper as his next victim!

[sufue]

Darker Than Night is the first in the Frank Quinn series by John Lutz. It has dropped to $0.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Darker-Than-N...dp/B003U2T64G/

Spoiler:

Darker Than Night

A killer dubbed "The Night Prowler" has turned the city that doesn't sleep into a town kept awake by terror. Unseen, he enters couples' homes. Unsuspected, he lingers until the perfect moment arrives. He leaves "gifts" for his victims--before taking their lives.

Enter ex-homicide cop Frank Quinn, still reeling in the wake of an elaborate setup that ended his career. For Quinn, this isn't just any job--it's a last chance to salvage his reputation. As the investigation proceeds, the murderer loses no time stalking new prey: a loan officer and her high-earning husband; a couple who made a killing in the stock market; a pretty actress and her prosperous lover.

With the body count rising, it's up to Quinn to unlock the mystery of a madman's past and end his bloody reign. Quinn's got his work cut out--because in a city the size of New York, any one of 8 million faces could be that of a killer--or his next target. . .

[sufue]

Deadly Harvest is the fourth in the Detective Kubu series by Michael Stanley. It has dropped to $0.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NG16IM

Spoiler:

Deadly Harvest in Michael Stanley’s beloved Detective Kubu series tracks a series of murders and a mysterious witch doctor whose nefarious potions might hold the key to a web of missing persons.

When young girls start to go missing, Samantha, a new detective on the Botswana police force suspects that muti, a traditional African medicine, is the reason. She and Detective David “Kubu” Bengu race to stop a serial killer, all as the father of one of the victims threatens to take matters into his own hands.

Weaving together a thrilling mystery with a fascinating look at modern-day Africa, Deadly Harvest is filled with elements suspense and plot twists that will keep you captivated until the very end.

[sufue]

Honky Tonk Samurai is a recent (2016) title in the Hap and Leonard series by Joe R. Lansdale. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle US.

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010MPQGEG

Spoiler:

NOW THE BASIS OF THE NEW SERIES ON SUNDANCETV.

Only Hap and Leonard would catch a cold case with hot cars, hot women, and ugly skinheads.

The story starts simply enough when Hap, a former 60s activist and self-proclaimed white trash rebel, and Leonard, a tough black, gay Vietnam vet and Republican with an addiction to Dr. Pepper, are working a freelance surveillance job in East Texas. The uneventful stakeout is coming to an end when the pair witness a man abusing his dog. Leonard takes matters into his own fists, and now the bruised dog abuser wants to press charges.

One week later, a woman named Lilly Buckner drops by their new PI office with a proposition: find her missing granddaughter, or she'll turn in a video of Leonard beating the dog abuser. The pair agrees to take on the cold case and soon discover that the used car dealership where her granddaughter worked is actually a front for a prostitution ring. What began as a missing-person case becomes one of blackmail and murder.

Filled with Lansdale's trademark whip-smart dialogue, relentless pacing, and unorthodox characters, Honky Tonk Samurai is a rambunctious thrill ride by one hell of a writer.

[sufue]

A Fatal Grace is the second in the excellent and much-awarded Chief Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny. It has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle US. Per the blurb, this was the winner of the 2007 Agatha Award for Best Novel.

link: https://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Grace-I...dp/B0011UGLRY/

Spoiler:

Winner of the 2007 Agatha Award for Best Novel!

Welcome to winter in Three Pines, a picturesque village in Quebec, where the villagers are preparing for a traditional country Christmas, and someone is preparing for murder.

No one liked CC de Poitiers. Not her quiet husband, not her spineless lover, not her pathetic daughter—and certainly none of the residents of Three Pines. CC de Poitiers managed to alienate everyone, right up until the moment of her death.

When Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, of the Sûreté du Quebec, is called to investigate, he quickly realizes he's dealing with someone quite extraordinary. CC de Poitiers was electrocuted in the middle of a frozen lake, in front of the entire village, as she watched the annual curling tournament. And yet no one saw anything. Who could have been insane enough to try such a macabre method of murder—or brilliant enough to succeed?
With his trademark compassion and courage, Gamache digs beneath the idyllic surface of village life to find the dangerous secrets long buried there. For a Quebec winter is not only staggeringly beautiful but deadly, and the people of Three Pines know better than to reveal too much of themselves. But other dangers are becoming clear to Gamache. As a bitter wind blows into the village, something even more chilling is coming for Gamache himself.