FREE/BARGAIN — Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers

[sufue]

I finally finished reading it, and the fact that it took me so long probably stands for itself. I am actually okay with a variety of approaches to historicals, whether that's just using a few well-known figures to provide a loose background, or actually sticking pretty close to the history, or even using a historical figure as the main protagonist. But although I had fun spotting the historical parallels, and even looked up a few secondary characters to see if they were "real", I do agree with others that the history got in the way of the mystery. So I'd have preferred a bit more "author's license" to make a better mystery, and then a historical note at the end, where the author let me know what license was taken.

Anyway, it's probably moot, because, as you mention, $17.99 is insane.

Originally Posted by issybird

The price is now $17.99, which is ridiculous. What's the point? I can't imagine there are any sales at all at that price point. I suppose the actual point is to set people up so they leap on the next price drop, but it still seems ridiculous.

I've read the blurb and a few reviews and it sounds to me as if overall it hews too closely to the source history. I personally tend to find that kind of pastiche to be tedious; I'd rather the author use it as a jumping-off point.

[sufue]

Choker is the fifth in Frederick Ramsay's Ike Schwartz series. It's $1.99 in the US right now and discountable at Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VQPKPKB
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/choker-22

Spoiler:

Nick Reynolds, his pilot's rating barely a month old, drops off the radar one night over the Chesapeake Bay. Investigating agencies call it another tragic pilot-error accident. No trace of the plane is found. But Charlie Garland, Sheriff Ike Schwartz' old friend from their CIA days, isn't so sure.

The missing pilot was engaged to Charlie's niece, and the family is not dealing well with the lack of closure. More important, just before his disappearance, Nick had placed a puzzling call to Charlie. So Charlie calls in his old friend, Ike, who's vacationing nearby.

Ike's wide-eyed entry into a simple missing persons case soon catapults him into an international investigation with intimations of terrorism that could threaten the nation and its leaders.

And Secrets, which is the second in the series is on sale again as well. I wouldn't normally post it since it wasn't that long ago, but since I posted this one, here's a link to the previous post for Secrets.

[sufue]

Joffe's Free Friday books this week, still free as of Sunday morning, when I'm posting this, are a mystery, a set of spy thrillers, and a historical novel.

Murder on the Oxford Canal, apa A Narrow Escape, #1 in the DI Hillary Greene series by Faith Martin
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0763RXLRV
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0763RXLRV

The Complete Trelawney Spy Series, Books 1-3, by Antony Melville-Ross, contains: Blindfold, Two Faces of Nemesis, and Tightrope
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLKVKG3B
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLKVKG3B

The historical novel is listed in the Other Fiction thread...

[sufue]

Joffe appear to have gotten the rights to at least the first four books in Dolores Gordon-Smith's Jack Haldean historical series, which I've quite liked. So expect some sale prices on those. Right now, the first one, A Fête Worse Than Death, is $0.99/£0.99 at Kindle US/UK. But I also suspect there may be a box set coming, since Joffe often does box sets.

Also, check carefully before you buy, because there are earlier Severn House e-book versions of these that won't show up as purchased...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CB8PDK2Y
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CB8PDK2Y

Spoiler:

Meet Jack Haldean, flying ace, gentleman about town, crime-writing sensation . . . amateur sleuth.

He is the author of many a twisty plotline. Now he must use his crime-writing skills to solve a murder for real.

Discover an utterly charming historical whodunnit that conjures all the intrigue and glamour of the roaring ’20s. Filled with fabulous flappers, magnetic aristocrats and enough red herrings to keep you guessing until the final page.

Stanmore Parry, Sussex, 1922. Warm beer, an off-key band and nosy matrons. The village fête has never been Jack’s idea of a good time. But this year will be murder . . .

A body is found in Madame Zelda’s fortune-telling tent. Someone shot him and left him there for dead.

Before long, the police turn to Jack for answers. It’s no secret that he and the victim have a history. They were both pilots with the Royal Flying Corps during World War One.

Jack couldn’t stand the man — he was an obnoxious braggart who ruffled feathers wherever he went. The real mystery is why he wasn’t murdered sooner.

When another of his acquaintances turns up dead, Jack realizes he must find the killer before fate deals him a similarly sticky end . . .

[sufue]

The House of the Vestals is a collection of Gordianus the Finder short stories by Steven Saylor. It's on sale for £2.99 right now in the UK.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005RZB7CI
Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the...-the-vestals-3

Spoiler:

Wonderfully entertaining mystery stories set in the world of the acclaimed ROMA SUB ROSA series. It is the Rome of the Late Republic, and Gordianus the Finder has a knack for finding trouble - and dead bodies. Known to many as the one man in the ancient world who can both keep a secret and uncover one, Gordianus lays bare some of his most intriguing adventures in this new volume in Steven Saylor's highly acclaimed mystery series. In 'Little Caesar and the Pirates', Gordianus must act as a go-between for kidnappers, but he begins to wonder who is really being held hostage; in 'The Alexandrian Cat', a mischievous girl and a tell-tale sneeze reveal an ingenious plot of murder and thievery; and in 'The House of the Vestals', blackmail goes horribly wrong and there is no one to take the blame. The result is an engrossing collection of finely wrought mystery tales with all the suspense and craft that are the trademark of Saylor's work.

[sufue]

Death Trap is the tenth in Sue Henry’s Jessie Arnold/Alaska series. It has dropped to $1.99 in the US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PDZG2E/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/death-trap-1

Spoiler:

Recovering from knee surgery that will cause her to miss the upcoming dogsled racing season, champion "musher" Jessie Arnold feels empty and bored -- so she grabs an opportunity to fill her days manning the Iditarod booth at the Alaska State Fair. But murder becomes an attraction here as well -- an especially brutal one -- when the corpse of a small-time hoodlum slain by a double-blade axe blow to the skull turns up on the fairgrounds. Jessie shouldn't get involved, having already seen too much violent death in her lifetime. But strange connections are linking the killing with a child's kidnapping . . . and with the sudden disappearance of her own beloved lead sled dog. Soon friends old and new will be pulled in as well when the unthinkable occurs: Jessie herself vanishes without a trace.

[sufue]

Eight Million Ways to Die is the fifth Matthew Scudder book by Lawrence Block. It's $1.99 in the US right now.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC11K6
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/eig...-ways-to-die-1

Spoiler:

Nobody knows better than Matthew Scudder how far down a person can sink in this city. A young prostitute named Kim knew it also—and she wanted out. Maybe Kim didn't deserve the life fate had dealt her. She surely didn't deserve her death. The alcoholic ex-cop turned p.i. was supposed to protect her, but someone slashed her to ribbons on a crumbling New York City waterfront pier. Now finding Kim's killer will be Scudder's penance. But there are lethal secrets hiding in the slain hooker's past that are far dirtier than her trade. And there are many ways of dying in this cruel and dangerous town—some quick and brutal ... and some agonizingly slow.

[maddz]

Originally Posted by sufue

The House of the Vestals is a collection of Gordianus the Finder short stories by Steven Saylor. It's on sale for £2.99 right now in the UK.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005RZB7CI
Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the...-the-vestals-3

Also books 9 & 10: A Mist of Prophecies and The Judgement of Caesar at £2.99

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/series/ro...&sort=PriceAsc

And book 7 Rubicon at £1.99.

[sufue]

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I enjoyed April Henry's short 4-book Claire Montrose series. Claire is a DMV clerk in Oregon whose job is to vet vanity license plates, to make sure nothing too rude or nasty is allowed to slip through onto someone's car. (There are some fun vanity plates included in the various books.)

I remember these as kind of classic mysteries, so I am a little surprised to see that Henry has published what looks to be much more of a thriller (young adult style) with Stay Dead, which is on sale for $2.99 in the US right now. I'm not much of a thriller person, but I have fond enough memories of the Claire Montrose books that I may give it a try anyway.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CH843RKZ
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/stay-dead-8

Spoiler:

Sometimes, the only way to live is to make sure the world thinks you’re dead . . .

In the aftermath of a car accident that claimed the life of her senator father, sixteen-year-old Milan finds herself adrift, expelled from her third boarding school. Milan’s mother, who has assumed the senate seat, diverts her private plane to pick up her daughter. But on their way home, a bomb rips off a wing and the plane crashes in the mountains. In her final moments, Milan’s mother entrusts her with a key. She reveals it will unlock the evidence that so many people have already died for—including Milan’s father. The only way Milan can survive, her mom tells her, is to let everyone believe she died with the other passengers.

​Milan is forced to navigate a perilous descent in freezing conditions while outwitting everything from a drone to wild animals. With relentless assassins on her trail, she must untangle the web of deceit and save herself and countless others. Will she piece together the truth in time?

[sufue]

Many years later, Stardust is on sale again in the US for $1.99. @GA Russell's link below is still good for Kindle, and here's the Kobo US link: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/stardust-8

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Stardust (Spenser #17) - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Stardust-Spen...dp/B005F4CFEK/

{edited other books}

[pdurrant]

No Reserve by Felix Francis is £0.99 at Amazon UK today. The 12th and latest in his horse racing thrillers series, continuing from his father, Dick Francis. This only came out last September!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C1V9SDHM

[pdurrant]

Desperate Undertaking by Lindsey Davis is £0.99 at Amazon UK today. This is the 10th in her Flavia Alba series, a spin-off of her Falco Series. I've been waiting for this one to go on offer!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B093BH1266

[sufue]

I'd be interested to hear if you like it. I had a review copy, and was underwhelmed, which is unusual for me with Davis' books. Not awful, but for me, not up to usual...

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Desperate Undertaking by Lindsey Davis is £0.99 at Amazon UK today. This is the 10th in her Flavia Alba series, a spin-off of her Falco Series. I've been waiting for this one to go on offer!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B093BH1266

[sufue]

This weekend's Joffe Free Friday mystery is Follow the Boys, apa Power on her Own, which is the first in Judith Cutler's Kate Power series.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089NYKPQD
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B089NYKPQD

Spoiler:

A CRIME THRILLER WITH A COMPELLING DETECTIVE WHO WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO BRING THE MOST VICIOUS CRIMINALS TO JUSTICE.

Please note this book was first published as POWER ON HER OWN

THE DETECTIVE
Introducing Birmingham Detective Sergeant Kate Power, exiled from London's Metropolitan Police by personal tragedy and making a new start in the distant outpost of Birmingham CID. Many of her new colleagues are good men but some won’t leave their new female colleague alone long enough to get on with her job. Kate is anxious to lose herself in her work, and before too long a case comes along that will consume her in a way she could never have imagined.

THE CASE
Boys are being abducted, abused, and murdered on her patch, and Kate feels intense personal and professional pressure to catch those responsible. Are her colleagues being deliberately obstructive or simply dragging their feet? Who is behind the vile crimes?

SHE WON’T LET THE BULLIES STOP HER. KATE WILL RISK HER CAREER AND HER LIFE TO BRING JUSTICE TO THE VICTIMS.

Set in the late 90s in England’s second city, this is the first in a series of compulsively readable crime thrillers.

KATE POWER
Personal tragedy cut short Kate Power's promising career in the Met. A sergeant at thirty, she's returned to bustling, bright Birmingham with the promise of a fresh start with the CID there, new friends and a house her great aunt has given her. Sadly it's the home from hell, with a garden to match. The new job brings its own problems: clearly the Birmingham force still has some officers who believe women's sole purpose is to mop up harassment.

There are also a romance and a Spanish 1800s royal history going for free, and posted in the appropriate threads.

[sufue]

Murder at Down Street Station is the second in Jim Eldridge’s London Underground series. It’s $0.99 right now at Kindle US, but sadly not matched (at least as of now) at Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFCD3MSB
Kobo US (for price check/match): https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/mur...reet-station-1

Spoiler:

Christmas, 1940. A temporary truce between the German and Allied forces is a welcome respite from the relentless air raids over London.

Down Street underground station, in the heart of Mayfair, is now a secret retreat for Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his cabinet. In this supposedly secure location, the body of a woman is found, stabbed in the heart.

Detective Chief Inspector Coburg and Sergeant Lampson are called to investigate. However, whispers of treason as well as the suspicion of insidious Russian plots muddy the waters of the case, and personal resentments strike far too close to home.

Everything is on the line for Coburg and Lampson as the body count steadily rises.