FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[sufue]

In the past few months, a few Michael McGarrity/Kevin Kerney books have been going on sale for something less than $4.99. Which just didn't happen hardly ever before. And now here's another one on sale at $1.99...

Hermit's Peak, #4
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B73HNQ8
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hermit-s-peak

Spoiler:

Hermit’s Peak is a seminal novel in the crime fiction series that places New Mexico lawman Kevin Kerney in the pantheon with Tony Hillerman’s heroes—while carving out territory that is distinctly his own across the American Southwest.

When Kevin Kerney, deputy chief of the New Mexico State Police, inherits an unexpected windfall of 6,400 acres of high-county land, the last thing he wants to think about is work. But while visiting his new property, he comes across an ailing stray dog that leads him to the butchered bones of a murder victim near the rugged mountain of Hermit's Peak.

After assigning the case to his subordinates, Kerney returns to Santa Fe to spend time with a woman he cares about, Sara Brannon, a career army officer who is visiting him on holiday. But his time with Sara must wait, as he is called back to Hermit's Peak when another body is found at a remote cabin. Now, Kerney must unearth the shattering truth about his new land and follow a twisting trail of blood through the majestic landscape of the American Southwest.

[sufue]

Donna Andrews has done an annual Christmas/year-end holiday book since 2107, and even has a few more scattered through the years before that. And now here's her 2021 entry, The Twelve Jays of Christmas, on sale for $2.99 in the US. Even though it's a little early for Christmas (!!!), and supposed to be over 100 ºF this afternoon here in sunny southern California.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R2KZZYK
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...s-of-christmas

Spoiler:

Meg and Michael’s annual holiday celebration is well underway, with a throng of out-of-town relatives staying at their house. Hosting these festivities is a little harder than usual—they have to relocate all the events normally held in their library, currently occupied by Roderick Castlemayne, the irascible wildlife artist who’s creating twelve paintings of birds to illustrate Meg’s grandfather’s latest nature book.

Still, the celebrations continue—and the entire family rejoices to learn that Meg’s brother Rob and his longtime fiancée Delaney have finally decided to tie the knot. Unfortunately, they decide to do this in the middle of Meg and Michael’s annual New Year’s bash, dashing their mothers’ hopes of planning the wedding to end all weddings.

Delaney’s mother sneaks into town so she and Meg’s mother can secretly plot a way to talk the happy couple into having a big bash. Hiding her only adds to Meg’s holiday stress—it’s almost a full-time job fending all the visitors who want to confront Castlemayne—reporters, bill collectors, process servers, and several ex-wives in search of unpaid alimony.

Then someone murders Castlemayne in the middle of a blizzard and sets loose the birds he was painting. Can Meg help the police crack the case before the killer strikes again? Can she keep Christmas merry in spite of the body in the library? Can she negotiate a compromise between Rob and Delaney and their disappointed mothers? And can she recapture the twelve escaped jays before they begin nesting in the Christmas tree?

This intrigue-filled Christmas mystery takes readers home to Caerphilly to join in Meg's family's holiday celebration—including, of course, another baffling mystery.

[sufue]

Two more Lieutenant Bak books by Lauren Haney are $0.99 each right now in the US.

A Cruel Deceit, #6
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OI0ELS
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-cruel-deceit

A Path of Shadows, #8
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OI0ETU
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-path-of-shadows

Originally Posted by sufue

As I've mentioned a time or two or two dozen, I am a big fan of historical mysteries, and one of my favorite time periods is ancient Egypt. And one of my favorite series is Lauren Haney's 8-book Lieutenant Bak series, set in the time of the Pharaoh Hatshepsut, and published in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Sadly, only six of the eight books have been made available in e-book in the US, and only one seems to be available in the UK, and they haven't gone on sale very often in the recent past. (Although a few of them seem to hang out around $4-ish, which is way too high for decades old backlist, IMO, but probably won't break the bank either...)

Happily, though, the fourth book, A Curse of Silence, is on sale right now for $0.99/£1.99 in the US/UK.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OI0EM2
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-curse-of-silence
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000OI0EM2
Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/a-curse-of-silence

[sufue]

Another Christmas/holiday book in 100 ºF September. Bones of Holly is the twenty-fifth Sarah Booth Delaney mystery by Carolyn Haines, and it has dropped to $2.99 in the US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NTJP88G
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bones-of-holly

Spoiler:

Sarah Booth and Tinkie, along with baby Maylin, are in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi for Christmas this year, as judges for the annual library tree decorating contest.

The other two judges are writers Sandra O’Day and Janet Malone. They’re bestselling Mississippi authors, but bitter competitors. In fact, the feud between them is the stuff of legends. For years, they’ve brawled, their sales skyrocketing with each cat fight. Sandra’s most recent true crime book documents the 1920s rum-running era of Al Capone, who built a mansion in BSL and a distribution network for his liquor. Janet’s book, scheduled to be published in January, is a fictional account of the same material—which only heightens their bitter rivalry.

Sarah Booth and Tinkie are shopping with little Maylin when they see Sandra and Janet outside a bookstore, fur flying, and when Sandra vanishes from her own gala later that night, suspicion turns to Janet. Janet accuses Sandra of attempting to manipulate the media by a fake disappearance, but is it a stunt, or is something more sinister at play?

Sarah Booth and Tinkie will have to dive deep into the history of Bay St. Louis, and even Al Capone himself, to get to the bottom of this case. But the trail in fact leads them back to several prominent families still residing in the area. Families who may not want their secrets known…