FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[sufue]

The Dirty Duck is the fourth Richard Jury book by Martha Grimes. It's $2.99 right now in the US, and discountable at Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BHHDMP0
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-dirty-duck-4

Spoiler:

The Dirty Duck is a pub in Shakespeare’s beloved Stratford-on-Avon, and it’s here that Miss Gwendolyn Bracegirdle of Sarasota, Florida—fresh from a performance of As You Like It—takes her last drink. Mere minutes later she is slashed ear to ear. The only clue to this baffling and brutal murder is a pair of lines from an unknown poem printed across a theater program.

It seems that a razor-happy killer is stalking a group of rich American tourists. And Scotland Yard Superintendent Richard Jury, just passing through Stratford for a glimpse of the intriguing Lady Kennington, finds himself taking a crash course in the bloodier side of Elizabethan verse.

[sufue]

A very nice price on the third book in Cassandra Clark's Abbess Hildegard of Meaux series - it's on sale for $0.75 at Kindle US. The books in this series are mostly usually pretty expensive, although a few of them do go on sale from time to time. But I'd grab this one at this price now if you want it...

The Law of Angels, #3
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00457X89E

Spoiler:

York, 1385. Just as the Mystery Plays are about to unfold, a young woman witnesses a terrible crime and turns to Abbess Hildegard of Meaux for protection. In The Law of Angels, Cassandra Clark once again shows us the human side of history, giving readers new reason to follow Publishers Weekly's rallying cry: "Medievalists rejoice!"

[salty-horse]

Beat the Devils by Josh Weiss is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
Alternative history. There's a sequel.

USA, 1958. President Joseph McCarthy sits in the White House, elected on a wave of populist xenophobia and barely‑concealed anti‑Semitism. The country is in the firm grip of McCarthy's Hueys, a secret police force evolved from the House Un-American Activities Committee. Hollywood's sparkling vision of the American dream has been suppressed; its remaining talents forced to turn out endless anti‑communist propaganda.

LAPD detective Morris Baker—a Holocaust survivor who drowns his fractured memories of the unspeakable in schnapps and work—is called to the scene of a horrific double‑homicide. The victims are John Huston, a once‑promising but now forgotten film director, and an up‑and‑coming young journalist named Walter Cronkite. Clutched in the hand of one of the dead men is a cryptic note containing the phrase “beat the devils” followed by a single name: Baker. Did the two men die in an attack fueled by better-dead-than-red sentiment, as the Hueys are quick to conclude, or were they murdered in a coverup designed to protect—or even set in motion—a secret plot connected to Baker's past?

In a country where terror grows stronger by the day, and paranoia rises unchecked, Baker is determined to find justice for two men who raised their voices in a time when free speech comes at the ultimate cost. In the course of his investigation, Baker stumbles into a conspiracy that reaches deep into the halls of power and uncover a secret that could destroy the City of Angels—and the American ideal itself.

[sufue]

Joffe's free book today is The Portsmouth Murders, apa Tide of Death, which is the first in Pauline Rowson's Solent mystery series.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09SV6G9QP
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09SV6G9QP

Spoiler:

Meet Detective Inspector Andy Horton. It’s his second day back in Portsmouth’s CID and things aren’t going well.

Please note this was previously published as Tide of Death.

DI Andy Horton is on his morning run along an isolated stretch of beach when he stumbles across a dead man. Stark naked and bludgeoned to death.

Eight months ago, DI Horton’s life fell apart when he was suspended for misconduct. His wife kicked him out and stopped him seeing his daughter.

The young woman who’d accused him went missing and the charges were dropped, but his personal and professional life are still in a mess.

And now it doesn’t look good for a detective under suspicion to be the one to find a dead body. His colleagues don’t want him on the case.

But this murder will challenge Detective Horton in every single way. And when another body turns up with the same cause of death, Horton suspects he might be the next person in the killer’s sights.

[sufue]

Three years later, The King's Justice is no longer the most recent book in the series, but it is on sale again, this time for £0.99 at Kindle UK, £1.99 (but discountable) at Kobo UK, and $1.99 in the US. The links below are still good, and here's the Kobo UK link: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-king-s-justice-9

Originally Posted by sufue

The King's Justice is the ninth and most recent (2020) in Susan Elia MacNeal's enjoyable (to me, at least) Maggie Hope series - at least, that is, until the new one comes out in July. It has gone on sale both in the US at $1.99 and the UK at £1.49. Those prices are within a few cents of each other, at least according to my favorite forex site. It's probably on sale at Kobo UK also, but I don't typically check there.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Justice...dp/B07S8LCBB7/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-king-s-justice-9
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07S8LCBB7

[sufue]

Serpent's Tooth is the tenth Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus book by Faye Kellerman. It's $1.99 in the US right now.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000W9164S
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/serpent-s-tooth-2

Spoiler:

A man walks into a trendy Los Angeles restaurant -- a disgruntled ex-employee with an automatic weapon -- and seconds later, thirteen people are dead and thirty-two more have been wounded. It is a heinous act of mass slaughter that haunts Homicide Detective Peter Decker.

But, though eyewitnesses saw only the lone gunman -- who apparently took his own life after his bloody work was done -- evidence suggests more than one weapon was fired. It is a disturbing inconsistency that sends Decker racing headlong into a sordid, labyrinthine world of Southern California money and power, on an investigation that threatens to destroy his reputation and his career.

[sufue]

Death in Lovers' Lane is the third title in Carolyn Hart's Henrie O series. It's $1.99 right now in the US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OVLJQY
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/death-in-lovers-lane

Spoiler:

A Pulitzer Prize-winning ex-reporter and journalism teacher at ivy-covered Thorndyke University, Henrietta "Henrie O" Collins demands of her students the same steadfast dedication to the truth that was the cornerstone of her own illustrious career. So when beautiful, ambitious Maggie Winslow decides to investigate a trio of hitherto unresolved local crimes, Henrie O urges her to pursue the story with uncommon vigor.

But the gifted future journalist's zeal may have cost her her life. The next day Maggie's corpse is discovered in Lovers' Lane--the very site of one of the unsolved mysteries the extraordinary young woman was exploring at the time of her brutal, premature death. The police and the Thorndyke powers-that-be are rabidly against Henrie O's involvement in the case. But, for Maggie's sake, the stubborn, sixtysomething investigator is determined to dredge up a past everyone seems to want to keep buried even if it means placing herself firmly in a relentless killer's path.

[sufue]

The Ghost Orchid is now $1.99 in the US...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4JBJBFG
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-ghost-orchid-4

Originally Posted by sufue

Another one of those most-recent-in-series UK deals for £0.99...

This time it's Jonathan Kellerman's latest (2024) Alex Delaware book, Ghost Orchid, and sadly, since I've been swamped and a bit late in posting, it's only for a few hours more.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C6168GD4
Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-ghost-orchid-5

[sufue]

Joffe's free book for today is Dead Secret, the first in the Detective Ava Merry series by Janice Frost.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XYMC5GI
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00XYMC5GI

Spoiler:

Who killed Amy Hill?

Amy Hill, a nineteen-year-old student, is strangled and her body dumped on open ground in the city. New police partners, D.I. Jim Neal and D.S. Ava Merry are called in to investigate this brutal crime. The last person to see Amy alive was Simon, the son of a family friend, but before he can be properly questioned he disappears.

Detectives Neal and Merry are led on a trail of shocking family secrets and crimes. Can this duo track down the murderer before anyone else dies? Stopping this tragic cycle of violence will put D.S. Merry’s life at risk in a thrilling and heart-stopping finale.

If you like Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott, Ruth Rendell, or Mark Billingham you will be gripped by this exciting new crime fiction writer.

DEAD SECRET is the first in a new series of detective thrillers featuring D.S. Ava Merry and D.I. Jim Neal. Ava Merry is a young policewoman, recently promoted to detective sergeant. She is a fitness fanatic with a taste for dangerous relationships. Jim Neal is a single dad who juggles his devotion to his job with caring for his son.

Set in the fictional Northern city of Stromford, this detective mystery will have you gripped from start to shocking conclusion.

[sufue]

Today's Joffe free book is another omnibus of a complete series: the four books in the Rosa Thorn series by Vena Cork. Those four books are: Thorn, The Art of Dying, Green Eye, and Playing Dead.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CB1S4868
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CB1S4868

Spoiler:

Meet Rosa Thorn. Widow, devoted mother, and amateur sleuth. In these compelling crime thrillers, she takes on London’s most sinister criminals to keep herself and her family safe from threats.

IN THIS FOUR-BOOK BOX SET:

BOOK 1: THORN
Rosa is a struggling mother, feeling the weight of her family’s responsibilities. And then, sinister gifts start appearing at her door. Her daughter is being stalked, and the body of a young girl is found in the neighbourhood park. The threat of violence edges ever closer. Rosa must unmask the evil that’s terrorising her family.

BOOK 2: THE ART OF DYING
Rosa thinks she’s getting her life back together. But the death of her artist husband is just one part of a bigger picture. What connects a dead artist, an enigmatic journalist, a globetrotting millionaire and the London art scene? Rosa must strip back the layers and find out, before she meets her own grizzly end.

BOOK 3: GREEN EYE
A proud actress herself, Rosa is excited to see her son’s Shakespearean performance at Cambridge. But the last thing she expects is real-life tragedy. A series of chilling pranks are chalked up to student tomfoolery. But a sexual predator, partial to branding his victims, is lurking in campus corridors. Then Danny, Rosa’s son, is arrested. Whose mask is slipping? Who is the culprit? Rosa is on the case.

BOOK 4: PLAYING DEAD
Rosa Thorn and Elsie Gibson. Two successful TV soap actresses, one sour rivalry. Backstage, a real-life murder takes place, mimicking Elsie’s on-screen murder. Surely Rosa Thorn is being set up, but why? And by whom? Things go from bad to worse when other professional rivals from Rosa’s past and present are killed. It’s not long before she realises she’s not only in the frame… she’s also in the firing line.

Don’t miss out on this series of utterly gripping crime mysteries. YOU GET ALL FOUR BOOKS IN THIS EDITION.

[GA Russell]

Thrilling Detective Magazine
October, 1950

Seven stories, including

Shells of Justice
by Robert Leslie Bellem

and

Death Watch
by William Campbell Gault

$1.99

https://www.radioarchives.com/Thrill...0_p/re1034.htm

[sufue]

I've been traveling, so not sure how much longer this will last, but an omnibus of all fourteen books in Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series is on sale for £2.99 right now in the UK. That's less than £0.25 each if you need them all, and it's still a great deal if you only need a few. And it's a great series, with several books awarded or finalists for various Edgar, Shamus, Dagger, etc. awards. In the interests of getting this posted quickly, I'm not going to list all the books, but it truly is all of them.

Philip Kerr: The Complete Bernie Gunther Novels
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BT4JMJBM
Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/phi...vels-14-titles

[sufue]

As above, I've been traveling, so missed yesterday's Joffe free book - but luckily it's still free as of right now, since it's by a more well-known author than usual: Married to a Stranger is a non-series psychological suspense thriller by Patricia MacDonald.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BLT8RTW7
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BLT8RTW7

Spoiler:

A NAIL-BITING DOMESTIC THRILLER FROM A BESTSELLING AUTHOR.

On her honeymoon, she’s attacked by a masked man with an axe. Is her new husband trying to kill her?

Twenty-six-year-old Emma Hollis is about to marry David, the hot guy who swept her off her feet in just four months.

She feels like life couldn’t be more perfect, with a job she loves as a teen counselor, a man who’s crazy about her, and a baby on the way.

Emma and David promise to love and cherish each other for the rest of their lives in a beautiful ceremony at a quaint country inn.

The newlyweds honeymoon in an idyllic cabin in the woods. It should be the perfect escape. But how well does she really know David?

Emma has no idea that her dream is about to turn into her worst nightmare.

Soon she’ll be fighting for her life.

Are you ready to stay up all night wondering . . . is the man she loves trying to kill her?

[sufue]

And today's Joffe free book is another psychological thriller: Her Husband's Lies by TJ Brearton

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMQTVTY1
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BMQTVTY1

Spoiler:

A GRIPPING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GONE.

HUSBAND IN A COMA.
TWO MISSING TEENAGE GIRLS.
WHO CAN SHE TRUST?

Callie lives in a ten-acre home in the stunning Adirondacks with her husband. She misses her son, who’s away at college, but she’s coping pretty well with her empty nest.

SIX WEEKS AGO THE NIGHTMARE BEGAN.

Her husband Abel skidded off the road into an icy lake. His truck hit a tree and plunged into the frigid water below.

Now this once-vital 43-year-old carpenter lies in a coma, surrounded by bleeping machines and the hushed rumble of the ward at Pearl Medical Center in Vermont.

The police say it was an accident, but the details remain murky.

For some reason, he’d been an hour away from home, in a region where he had no clients that Callie was aware of.

THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET WORSE.

Callie keeps getting calls from an unknown number.

Finally she picks up. ‘Hello?’ she asks. ‘Excuse me, who’s calling?’

A woman’s voice: ‘I know what happened to your husband.’

But what comes next is even more shocking. Police tell Callie her husband is a person of interest in the disappearance of two teenage girls.

CAN CALLIE CLEAR HIS NAME? DOES SHE EVEN WANT TO?

Her Husband’s Lies is a twisty and utterly addictive thriller that will keep you turning pages. You won’t see the ending coming . . . !

[sufue]

Today's Big Deal at Kindle UK is nine Dick Francis books for £0.99 each. Titles include:

• Comeback
• To the Hilt
• Flying Finish
• The Danger
• Blood Sport
• Wild Horses
• Slay Ride
• Driving Force
• Break In

Sadly, these don't seem to be price-matched at Kobo UK, at least as of now.

Here's the link to the Big Deal page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/b/?node=4725112031