Free and Bargain Mystery/Suspense/Thriller Ebooks September 2012

[NightBird]

In an effort to reduce clutter on the board and incorporate some links with a little conversation about the books, anyone interested can post their finds here. Please do a search before posting to avoid duplication, and please do not post self-pubs. Otherwise, the thread will be overwhelmed. Thanks.

Books listed in my posts are from Amazon US unless otherwise indicated.

Diary of a Confessions Queen by Kathy Carmichael is free from Medallion Press.

Confessions writer Amy Crosby has put her life on hold for the last seven years after the disappearance of her husband, Dan. In writing for True Lies Magazine, guilt-ridden Amy takes on the abilities her fictional characters confess to, such as the time she thought she was psychic after researching clairvoyants. With fatalistic acceptance of the craziness in her life, she uses humor to cope; but when the home Dan bought for them is about to be foreclosed, her only answer is his having him declared legally dead and using his life insurance policy. Her home is safe—that is, until she receives a blackmail note. Equal parts mystery and humor, this novel is sure to keep readers guessing—and laughing—until the end.

[NightBird]

September Fair (The Murder-By-Month Mysteries) by Jess Lourey is free from Midnight Ink at Amazon.

The Minnesota State Fair-the beloved home of 4H exhibits, Midway rides, and everything on a stick. The festival fun is riding high until the recently crowned Milkfed Mary, Queen of the Dairy, a Battle Lake native, is brutally murdered while her regal likeness is carved in butter. Can Mira James, covering the fair for the Battle Lake Recall, expose a deadly State Fair secret and win a blue ribbon for caging a killer? You bet your last deep-fried Nut Goodie!

[NightBird]

Another freebie from Medallion Press: A Foreign Policy by Richard Graham-Yooll.

Guy Sinclair is an insurance agent. But not just any agent. When the company director invites him to a restaurant to talk about his doubts concerning the firm's world renowned business partners, the last thing he expects to be is the target of a suicide bomber. Miraculously surviving, he flies to Saudi Arabia to investigate a routine claim that turns out to be anything but routine. Accepting yet another invitation he should have turned down, Sinclair attends a party turned surreal. Witnessing a brutal murder, he finds himself the suspect. The penalty under Saudi law? Beheading. The only person who can possibly help him? The sister of the woman who blew herself, and his boss, to smithereens. Can it get worse? Yes. It can. When the trail he follows leads close to home. And Sinclair's family becomes involved with him in a deadly foreign policy.

Three more from R.D. Zimmerman's backlist:

Blood Trance

When a former patient calls Maddy, a brilliant forensic hypnotherapist, for help, she must rely on her brother, Alex, to be her eyes and legs. What Alex witnesses is murder...and Maddy must extract the buried clues and bloody truth from his unconscious mind in order to catch a killer, now a threat to them both.

This is #2 in the Alex & Maddy Phillips series.

Tribe #2 in Todd Mills series

All he remembered was the furtive encounter, the terror of discovery, the burning cigarette. . . and the voyeur on the fire escape plummeting to his death. For twenty years, Todd Mills was safe, closeted, building his career as a two-time Emmy Award-winning TV reporter. He had it all--until his double life became front-page news. Since his lover's murder, Todd hadn't worked. It was the first pause in his professional life.

Now he's out, warily beginning a romance with police detective Steve Rawlins, when an old friend, an ex-girlfriend, calls for help. The son she gave up for adoption years before has found her--but as Todd steps in to help, he's forced to face the nightmare of his own buried past, as murderous secrets return to kill again. . . .

Hostage #3 in Todd Mills series

It's the coup of his career--until the unthinkable happens.Todd Mills, Minneapolis's only openly gay journalist, is getting ready for what promises to be an explosive television event: an exclusive interview with Congressman Johnny Clariton, a conservative whose vehement opposition to gay rights and AIDS research has fueled his rapid political ascent.But coup turns to chaos when Todd's interview is abruptly ended by three gun-wielding kidnappers--an unlikely trio of domestic terrorists in the final stages of AIDS. With Todd as their conduit to a global audience, the abductors are willing to risk what's left of their lives to give violent expression to their AIDS rage.Their goal: to make the world know what it's like to live--and die--with AIDS.Their weapons: a video camera, a hostage, and a syringe full of blood.While the increasingly desperate events play out on television for the world to see, Todd's relationship with homicide investigator Steve Rawlins is dragged into the fray, throwing the unsuspecting Rawlins--still grieving over the recent end of his closest friend's long struggle with AIDS--on a collision course with the kidnappers. And as television reporter, cop, and the FBI all continue their hunt for the terrorists, the tension builds to a heart-wrenching, tragic climax.Unsettling, unpredictable and unapologetic, Hostage is Zimmerman's darkest and most suspenseful tale yet, a bold step forward for this acclaimed and widely popular series.

[kyteflyer]

Thanks, Nightbird, you're worth your weight in gold

[rhadin]

It would be nice if it was made clear with each book cited where it was available for free, that is, Amazon or B&N, or Kobo, or Sony, or some combination.

[mitford13]

Good point, rhadin, will try to remember.

This title is free on both Amazon US & UK (previously published by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK):

Hunted by Joe McNally - Amazon US
Hunted by Joe McNally - Amazon UK

Eddie Malloy, trying to get his career back on track, finds himself in the gunsights of a cunning killer who is maiming and murdering racing personalities with a zeal and purpose which terrifies the racing world and mystifies the police.

Eddie is convinced the killer has a definitive hit list for these ritual slayings and when he discovers he is high on that list, Eddie knows he has to become the hunter not the hunted.

Written by ex-top jockey and BBC commentator Richard Pitman and racing journalist Joe McNally, Hunted is the second of the Eddie Malloy series. Eddie features in five of Richard and Joe's novels. Hunted has been rewritten and moves along at an even faster pace now.

[mitford13]

Another IJ Parker books is free on Amazon (last free on July 20.) Her Akitada mysteries were previously published by St Martin's & Penguin.

The Sword Master

In the streets of twelfth-century Kyoto, a homeless child is brutalized and left to die. Even the selfless physician who saves him cannot soften the boy’s hardened spirit. Angry at the world and those who killed his parents, Hachiro rejects kindness and resolves to become the most famous swordsman in the city in order to avenge his parents. But with fame comes trouble: every young fighter challenges him, three beautiful women want to own him, and the war between two powerful clans draws him onto the battlefield. He survives by his wits and skill, only to face a secret enemy, the man who caused his parents’ deaths and who now wants Hachiro’s life.

[NightBird]

Aw thanks, kyteflyer.

The books I post are from Amazon US unless otherwise indicated. I have added that to the first post.

Ambush at Dry Bone Gulch by Sid Davis from Sunbury Press is free - a Western mystery.

The harsh winter stock kill-off of 1878-79 forces many ranchers to lay off cowhands. Walsh Patrick is one of them and drifts south from Montana looking for work. He hears the Circle C ranch may be hiring in Henry Valley and takes a shortcut through Dry Bone Gulch. Walsh's horse is shot out from under him while riding through the gulch. In a scuffle that follows, Walsh kills his unknown assailant who had mistaken him for someone else. He takes the body to the nearest town, Henryville only to find out he had killed the biggest rancher in the area, Randal Crawley who owns the Circle C. Why did Crawley ambush Walsh? Who was the intended victim? And what happens when the rancher's vengeful widow doesn't believe Walsh's story and unleashes her ranch hands and hires gunmen to track down Walsh?

Also free at Amazon UK.

[dreams]

Thanks, mitford13
IJ Parker Sugawara Akitada Mysteries books - Titles Order I added in # 9 found in the Wikipedia list.

Spoiler:

1. The Dragon Scroll by I.J. Parker
2. Rashomon Gate by I.J. Parker
3. Black Arrow by I.J. Parker
4. Island of Exiles by I.J. Parker
5. The Hell Screen by I.J. Parker
6. The Convict's Sword by I.J. Parker
7. The Masuda Affair by I.J. Parker
8. The Fires of the Gods by I.J. Parker
9. Death on an Autumn River by I.J. Parker
10. The O-Ban Cat [short story] by I.J. Parker short story

[Carmelreader]

Don't know if this has been posted here, there are four of Deborah Crombie's novels priced at $2.99. Not sure how to do links. They are Now May You Weep, In a Dark Time, Water Like Stone, Where Memories Lie. They are also the only ones not available on Audible, and the rest of her ebooks are priced higher, 7.99 to 9.99. Oh Necessary as Blood is also 2.99.

[NightBird]

Originally Posted by Carmelreader

Don't know if this has been posted here, there are four of Deborah Crombie's novels priced at $2.99. Not sure how to do links. They are Now May You Weep, In a Dark Time, Water Like Stone, Where Memories Lie. They are also the only ones not available on Audible, and the rest of her ebooks are priced higher, 7.99 to 9.99. Oh Necessary as Blood is also 2.99.

How to post links:

Copy the link to the book.
Click on the blue ball above.
Paste the link in the form that pops up.
Click okay.
If you want to add a title type over the section that is highlighted.

These are part of her
Duncan Kincaid / Gemma James series.

New York Times Notable Book of the Year author Deborah Crombie has garnered tremendous praise -- and has been nominated for virtually every major mystery award -- for her piercing police procedurals featuring Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James, who are personally and professionally entwined.

1. A Share in Death (1993)
2. All Shall Be Well (1994)
3. Leave the Grave Green (1995)
4. Mourn Not Your Dead (1996)
5. Dreaming of the Bones (1997)
6. Kissed A Sad Goodbye (1999)
7. A Finer End (2001)
8. And Justice There Is None (2002)
**9. Now May You Weep (2003)
**10. In a Dark House (2004)
**11. Water Like a Stone (2006)
**12. Where Memories Lie (2008)
**13. Necessary as Blood (2009)
14. No Mark Upon Her (2011)

From HarperCollins so the same price everywhere.


Now May You Weep

Newly appointed Detective Inspector Gemma James has never thought to question her friend Hazel Cavendish about her past. So it is quite a shock when Gemma learns that their holiday retreat to a hotel in the Scottish Highlands is, in fact, Hazel's homecoming -- and that fellow guest Donald Brodie was once Hazel's lover, despite a vicious, long-standing feud between their rival, fine whiskey distilling families. And the fires of a fierce and passionate affair may not have burned out completely -- on Brodie's part at least, since he's prepared to destroy Hazel's marriage to win back his "Juliet." But when a sudden, brutal murder unleashes a slew of sinister secrets and long-seething hatreds, putting Hazel's life in peril, Gemma knows she will need help unraveling this very bloody knot -- and calls for the one man she trusts more than any other, Duncan Kincaid, to join her far from home ... and in harm's way.

In a Dark House

An abandoned Southwark warehouse burns next door to a women's shelter for victims of spousal abuse. Within it lies the charred corpse of a female body burned beyond all recognition. At the same time, workers at Guy's Hospital anxiously discuss the disappearance of a hospital administrator -- a beautiful, emotionally fragile young woman who's vanished without a trace.

And in an old, dark, rambling London house, nine-year-old
Harriet's awful fears won't be silenced -- as she worries about her
feuding parents, her schoolwork . . . and the strange woman who
is her only companion in this scary, unfamiliar place.

Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid -- lovers and former partners -- have their own pressing concerns. But they must put aside private matters to investigate these disturbing cases. Yet neither Gemma nor Duncan realize how closely the cases are connected -- or how important their resolutions will be for an abducted young child who is frightened, alone . . . and in serious peril.

Water Like a Stone

When Scotland Yard superintendent Duncan Kincaid takes Gemma, Kit, and Toby for a holiday visit to his family in Cheshire, Gemma is soon entranced with Nantwich's pretty buildings and the historic winding canal, and young Kit is instantly smitten with his cousin Lally.

But their visit is marred by family tensions exacerbated by the unraveling of Duncan's sister Juliet's marriage. And tensions are brought to the breaking point on Christmas Eve with Juliet's discovery of a mummified infant's body interred in the wall of an old dairy barn—a tragedy hauntingly echoed by the recent drowning of Peter Llewellyn, a schoolmate of Lally's.

Meanwhile, on her narrowboat, former social worker Annie Lebow is living a life of self-imposed isolation and preparing for a lonely Christmas, made more troubling by her meeting earlier in the day with the Wains, a traditional boating family whose case precipitated Annie's leaving her job.

As the police make their inquiries into the infant's death, Kincaid discovers that life in the lovely market town of his childhood is far from idyllic and that the dreaming reaches of the Shropshire Union Canal hold dark and deadly secrets . . . secrets that may threaten everything and everyone he holds most dear.

Necessary As Blood

In this dazzling addition to Deborah Crombie's acclaimed mystery series, a disappearance, a murder, and a child in danger lead Scotland Yard detectives Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid into London's legendary East End—a neighborhood where the rich and the poor, the ambitious and the dangerous, collide—to solve one of the most challenging and disturbing cases they've ever faced. . . .

Necessary as Blood

Once the haunt of Jack the Ripper, London's East End is a vibrant mix of history and the avant-garde, a place where elegant Georgian town houses exist side by side with colorful street markets and the hippest clubs. But here races and cultures still clash, and the trendy galleries and glamorous nightlife of Whitechapel disguise a violent and seedy underside, where unthinkable crimes bring terror to the innocent.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in mid May, a young mother, Sandra Gilles, leaves her daughter with a friend at the Columbia Road Flower Market and disappears. Shortly thereafter, her husband, a Pakistani lawyer, is killed. Scotland Yard detective Gemma James happens upon the scene in time to witness the investigator making a mistake.

When Duncan and his trusted sergeant, Doug Cullen, see Gemma's name in the report, they decide to take the case. Working together again, Gemma, Duncan, Doug, and Melody Talbot must solve it before the murderer can get his hands on the real prize, Naz and Sandra's daughter.

But just as the case grows more dangerous, a personal issue threatens to throw Gemma and Duncan off the trail. In the end, it is up to them to stop a vicious killer and protect the child whose fate hangs in the balance.

Where Memories Lie

A lifetime ago, Erika Rosenthal and her late husband, David, fled to England to escape the Nazis—which is all Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Gemma James truly knows about her secretive friend's past. But Erika needs Gemma's help now. A family heirloom, stolen during their flight, is being sold at a prestigious London auction house. Who has had it all these years? And was Erika's husband's death more sinister than it appeared?

Hidden somewhere in the shadowy, exclusive world of London's monied society are answers to these questions, and to a shocking new murder—one which kicks the enquiries into high gear and brings Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid, Gemma's partner and colleague, into the case. Their investigation could exact justice for Erika, and lead them both to shocking revelations and repercussions that echo across the years.

Kobo

Sony

BOB

B&N

Great find! Thanks for posting.

[NightBird]

Free Serial Killers Incorporated by Andy Remic from Anarchy Books. Also free at Amazon UK.

Meet Callaghan, a hard-drinking, drug-fuelled, womanising no-good son-of-a-bitch. He's the amoral hardcore photographer for Black & White, the tabloid rag that tells it as it is. Or at least, how it should be.

Callaghan's in way too deep with Mia, his Mexican stripper girlfriend... and even deeper with Sophie, estranged wife to Vladimir "Vodka" Katchevsy, infamous Romanian gun-runner and self-eulogising expert at human problem solving. People start to die. And Callaghan's caught in the middle. A situation even his Porsche GT3, Canary Wharf Penthouse suite and corrupt politician contacts can't solve.

At the nadir of his downward spiral, Callaghan is approached by a man: a serial killer who brings him a very unique and dangerous proposition...

[NightBird]

Free Taxed to Death by Debra Purdy Kong from Bristlecone Pine Press. Also free at Amazon UK.

Police, lawyers, federal agents, politicians…the stuff of mystery novels. But when money is stolen from individuals and businesses through fraud, who better to find the villains than the number crunchers, and when fraud turns to murder, how does a chartered accountant cope? TAXED TO DEATH immerses readers in the meticulous world of government tax auditor, Alex Bellamy. Alex’s dreams of adventure become all too real when, during a field audit, he finds evidence of fraud involving someone inside Canada Revenue Agency itself. When Alex’s colleague is murdered during the investigation, Alex is forced to turn to Jillian Scott for help; a lady he’s never met, and who has her own frightening reasons for refusing to cooperate. Soon, Jillian’s fears and Alex’s search for a killer embroil them in a bizarre and disturbing nightmare that not everyone will survive.

[NightBird]

The White League by Thomas Zigal from Thomas & Mercer is $.99.

Blackmail, a secret organization hiding within the elite society of New Orleans, a white supremacist running for governor of Louisiana; these are the key ingredients in this fine Southern crawfish boil of a novel about guilt, privilege and racism in one of America's most exotic cities.

[kg3]

FREE at Amazon US:

A Deadly Change of Course--Plan B (Devonie Lace Mysteries #1) - Gina Cresse

-Originally published by Avalon in 1998.

Description:
After suffering a minor heart attack at the tender age of thirty-five, Devonie Lace decides to get out of the rat race before she becomes road kill on the corporate highway. She quits her high-paying, high-stress job, sells her house, and buys a sailboat to live on. She has named her new home Plan B, to symbolize her newly simplified life.

To earn a living, Devonie buys and sells trinkets she picks up at probate sales and auctions of unclaimed storage units. But her latest treasure trove happens to include the belongings of an international hired assassin, and this means that Devonie is in big, big trouble.

After she discovers the true cause of an airline crash that killed two DEA agents, Devonie finds herself running for her life. It seems her new lifestyle has turned out to be not so relaxing after all.

Reviews:
"A Deadly Change of Course-Plan B is a fun, light mystery from first-time author Gina Cresse." -- Pasadena Star-News

"Cresse's first novel is well written, offers full-bodied main characters, and contains good background information on plane crashes, sailing, and the computer business. Congenial, low-key Devonie is the draw here." -- Booklist

"Techno-crime thriller headed for Hollywood.-Hollywood already has its hooks into the first-time author's work. California native Gina Cresse has produced a fast-moving techno crime thriller." -- Inland Valley - Daily Bulletin