Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120726)

Here is today's list of the Bestselling Free Kindle Crime Fiction: the top nine mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is updated hourly, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can click on the image to the right or use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

C.M. Albrecht, Author of Crime Fiction

We are delighted to welcome novelist C.M. Albrecht to Omnimystery News.

C.M. is the author of many crime novels, the most recent to be published being The Albemarle Affair (Cambridge Books, April 2012 trade paperback).

Today, though, C.M. is going to tell us about his next mystery, The Sand Bluff Murders.

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My tenth mystery novel, The Sand Bluff Murders, was a long time coming. I began to sketch it out in my mind and made a few notes on the computer, but before I got very far I came to a dead end.

Nice setup, I thought, but now what? That "now what" sank into murky depths of my subconscious and wallowed there for nearly a year. Several times I almost deleted what little I had saved in the computer. Can't waste those kilobytes or whatever they are. I thought I'd do better to start all over.

But after all those months, a funny thing happened. Some of the characters began to talk to me. They were coming alive in my mind and despite my lack of enthusiasm, their voices grew more and more persistent. They were saying, "Hey, what's the holdup? We can't run around here killing people forever." I realized then I wasn't going to get any peace until I let them get back to work.

There's the transvestite "little person", Jessica, who with her giant boyfriend, Terrence, runs a small trailer court and trains dogs. Terrence would do anything for Jessica. Anything? Anything!

There's Larry Peters, über jealous (and with good reason) insurance broker. Every male in town would love to get his paws on Larry's hot little wife, Twyla. And maybe most of them have. Boy, would we like to read her diary.

Pop Jenkins prints the weekly paper, The Sand Bluff Banner. The paper may not be special, but Pop's daughter, and the town's only reporter, Roxie sure is. In fact she may just be Miss Right. But she does have that kid. Maybe he'd be all right if he could just stop talking Yodaspeak.

Sand Bluff is a drowsy little California town where the last homicide occurred over twenty years ago.

When Chief Raymond Castillo hires a new cop, Jonas McCleary feels very lucky indeed. He just landed an easy job in a quiet little town. Maybe he can settle down and with any luck he may just find Miss Right. After all he's almost thirty.

But on McCleary's third day in Sand Bluff, Officer Harold Ackers stumbles over a corpse in the alley behind the Blu Lite Lounge. To give you an idea of the caliber of Sand Bluff's police department, Officer Ackers didn't realize the man was dead. He thought the man was dead drunk. He manhandled him into his patrol car and took him to headquarters where somebody noticed blood stains on Acker's uniform and bullet holes in the back of the man's head. When Jonas is sent to the scene to investigate he learns the town doesn't even have yellow tape to secure the scene. What scene? It's already been hopelessly compromised.

Less than a week later, while Jonas is still pretty clueless and still without any yellow tape, the infamous Twyla Peters is found lying in a pool of blood. No panties. Rape? Maybe, but if rape was involved, — according to town gossip — she would have been the rapist. Anybody in town may have wanted to see her dead. She was pregnant. Luckily Larry Peters didn't know that, or did he? What he does know is that he's sterile. Whatever; he still makes a prime suspect. But what does that have, if anything, to do with the body in the alley?

And then a body turns up in the Sacramento River.

That's when coincidences, confusion, and false leads give Jonas a murky idea of which path to take, but is that a path he really wants to follow? It's a path that leads all over town and out to horse ranch Oak Park, back to the Blu Lite Lounge and finally, where everything goes in the end, to Weaver's Funeral Home.

Sand Bluff may be a sleepy village, but even sleepy little villages can have their crime waves.

The Sand Bluff Murders coming soon from WriteWordsInc.com (Cambridge Books) Make an author's day. Order an advance copy now! My publisher will love you too. For more about me, my books and famous detectives and criminals (with photos), check my blog at CMAlbrecht.wordpress.com.

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C.M. Albrecht is a mild-mannered fellow who loves mysteries and detectives (public and private alike). He tells us, "I sit at my desk and drink coffee and daydream. I've never shot anybody and nobody's ever shot me. I've been happily married to the beautiful Irma since 1967. She helps me keep my feet on the ground."

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About The Albemarle Affair:

When Corky Middleton thinks she may have found her birth mother, she hires Foster & Hall to investigate. Wow, does she open a can of worms! Instead of finding Corky's mother, the shamuses trip over a corpse, and that's just the humble beginning of an escalating case that climbs to the top of society in this twisted tale. Can Foster & Hall Investigations go back eighteen years to unravel this tangled web of deception and bring a murderer to justice?

Bite Me by Parker Blue is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Bite Me by Parker Blue as today's second free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Bite Me
Parker Blue
A "Demon Underground" Thriller
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books

This is the first book in this series.

Barely eighteen-year-old heroine Valentine Shapiro got a raw deal in the parent lottery. Her father was part incubus demon, and her mother's never forgiven her for that.

Life after high school is tough enough without having to go 15 rounds with your inner demon. Thrown out of the house by her mother, Val puts one foot in front of the other and does the only thing that seems to make any sense--she takes aim at the town vampires. A stake a day, keeps the demon at bay. (But don't call her Buffy. That makes Lola, her demon, very cranky.) Her dark side makes everyday life a roller coaster, but means she's perfect for her night job as a bounty hunter.

San Antonio's vampires are out of control, and it's up to Val, her faithful hellhound Fang, and her new partner, a handsome San Antonio police detective, to get the deadly fangbangers off the city streets. Soon enough she finds herself deep in the underbelly of the city, discovering the secrets of the Demon Underground and fighting to save those she loves. Whether they love her back or not.

  

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Crescent City Connection by Julie Smith is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Crescent City Connection by Julie Smith as today's free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Crescent City Connection
Julie Smith
A Skip Langdon Mystery
Publisher: booksBnimble

This is the seventh mystery in this series.

The Jury is a national vigilante organization out to get the bad guys "who escaped prosecution" — and there’s a Crescent City Connection. From across the South, the players in the unfolding drama come together — a pretty college student on the run, a monk who's packed a lifetime's worth of misery into a few years, a mother widowed by a shot Detective Skip Langdon fired in self-defense, and a madman with a murderous agenda.

Sure, New Orleans is known for corruption, but suddenly the good guys get a break—an honest police chief. And then someone guns him down. When The Jury takes out the cop-killer, Detective Skip Langdon’s on the case. But no one cares! After all, the guy was a cop-killer.

Skip cares really a lot — because she suspects The Jury’s the brainchild of her old nemesis, self-described preacher Errol Jacomine. As an added complication, Jacomine’s sent his crazy son Daniel to kidnap his own daughter, Jacomine’s granddaughter Lovelace, who escapes and runs to her Uncle Isaac, an artist known as The White Monk. Isaac’s taken a vow of silence, but uncle and niece manage to communicate and form a bond that could save both their lives. And Langdon comes up with a plan so clever even the FBI can’t shout her down.

  

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

The Dead of Summer by Mari Jungstedt is Today's Nook Daily Find

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Dead of Summer by Mari Jungstedt as today's Barnes & Noble Nook Daily Find.

The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Thursday, July 26, 2012.

Note: The price has been matched by Amazon.com for today only.

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The Dead of Summer
Mari Jungstedt
A "Gotland" Mystery
Publisher: Mainly Murder

Originally published in 2007 as I denna ljuva sommartid, this is the fifth mystery in this series featuring Detective Superintendent Anders Knutas and the journalist Johan Berg.

A husband and father of two is mysteriously murdered taking a morning jog while on holiday on Gotska Sandön, an isolated island in the Baltic Sea, north of Gotland. With no evidence of a motive or suspect, assistant commissioner Karin Jacobsson is assigned to her first major case to lead the investigation while her boss, Superintendent Anders Knutas is away on holiday. Meanwhile, TV reporter Johan Berg keeps pace with the police team, while at the same time distracted in trying to win back his former love and the mother of his child, Emma Winarve, who resides on the island.

 

Important Note: This book was listed at the price mentioned above on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

This Week's Bestselling Mystery and Suspense Television and Film on DVD (120725)

Here is this week's list of the top bestselling mystery and suspense television and film Blu-ray discs available from Amazon.com.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is frequently updated, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

New UK Quad Poster for House at the End of the Street

A new UK quad poster for the thriller House at the End of the Street has been released by the studio (right; click for larger image). The poster's tagline: "Fear its secret."

Seeking a fresh start, newly divorced Sarah (Elisabeth Shue) and her daughter Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) find the house of their dreams in a small, upscale, rural town. But when startling and unexplainable events begin to happen, Sarah and Elissa learn the town is in the shadows of a chilling secret.

Years earlier, in the house next door, a daughter killed her parents in their beds, and disappeared — leaving only a brother, Ryan (Max Thieriot), as the sole survivor. Against Sarah's wishes, Elissa begins a relationship with the reclusive Ryan — and the closer they get, the deeper they're all pulled into a mystery more dangerous than they ever imagined.

Directed by Mark Tonderai from an original screenplay by David Loucka, House at the End of the Street opens in theaters September 21st, 2012. Watch a trailer below.

New Poster for Major Crimes

A promotional poster for Major Crimes has been released by TNT (right; click for larger image). The crime drama is a spin-off from The Closer, which is ending its seven year run next month.

The series premiere, which follows the final episode of The Closer on August 13th, has the detectives in the Los Angeles Police Department's Major Crimes division still reeling from the departure of Brenda Leigh Johnson and the realization that Captain Sharon Raydor (Mary McDonnell) is now in charge. Unlike their previous chief, Raydor is determined to lead the department with a more team-oriented approach, sharing the credit with the people with whom she works. Raydor's hardest job, however, will be gaining the full trust and confidence of her detectives, who aren't quick to forget her long history of internal investigations targeting them and their previous boss. Especially troublesome is Provenza (G. W. Bailey), who has a difficult time taking orders from someone he doesn't think knows as much as he does.

Watch an video introduction to Major Crimes below.

Ridley Pearson's The Risk Agent Optioned for Film

Vince Vaughn has optioned the film rights to, and intends to star in, an adaptation of The Risk Agent, the first in a new series by Ridley Pearson. Michael Lerner will write the screenplay.

In the book, a Chinese National working for an American-owned construction company is grabbed off the streets of Shanghai in broad daylight. His one-man security detail goes missing as well.

Rutherford Risk is a firm specializing in extraction: the negotiation for, and the recovery of hostages. Private investigation is illegal in today's China. Operating within her borders will be difficult at best.

The security company recruits two unique outsiders to do their bidding. Grace Chu is a forensic accountant hired to follow the money; John Knox is a civilian with unparalleled training in both combat and culture. Grace's top-notch American education and Chinese military service make her an unassuming, but effective, operative, while Knox&'s take-no-prisoners attitude brings them perilously close to harm. Following the money leads to more complex — and dangerous — consequences than either anticipated. Who is actually behind the kidnapping? And more important, can Knox and Grace locate the two hostages ahead of the deadline?

(Related article: Deadline.)

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120725)

Here is today's list of the Bestselling Free Kindle Crime Fiction: the top nine mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is updated hourly, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can click on the image to the right or use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

Two Crime Novels, Now Discounted by Mysterious Press

Mysterious Press announced yesterday that they have temporarily discounted the ebook price for two of its crime novels to just $3.99. (Actually, when we checked, they were $3.79 at Amazon.com and $3.49 at Kobo.)

No end date is mentioned, so we encourage you to take advantage of this offer soon!

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Green for Danger
Christianna Brand
An Inspector Cockrill Mystery (2nd in series)
Mysterious Press, October 2011 ebook

As German V-1 rockets rain down on the English countryside, the men and women of the military hospitals fight to stay calm. The morning after a raid, Doctor Barnes prepares for a routine surgery to repair a postman’s broken leg. But with general anesthesia, there is always danger. Before the first incision is made, the postman turns purple. Barnes and his nurses do what they can, but the patient is dead in minutes.

The coroner calls for an inquest. Barnes has a history of lost patients, and cannot afford more trouble. Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Cockrill is unimpressed by the staff at the hospital, which he finds a nest of jealousy, indiscretion, and bitterness. One of them, doctor or nurse, murdered the postman—and it won’t be long before they kill again.

      

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Lonely Hearts
John Harvey
A Charlie Resnick Mystery (1st in series)
Mysterious Press, February 2012 ebook

Shirley Peters was murdered in her own home. A directionless young woman with a fondness for cheap red wine and a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend, her death is just another in the files of the Nottingham detective’s bureau. The police round up her ex-lover without much fuss, and are preparing to try him when another body surfaces. The method, the target, and the extreme violence are all a match for the killing of Shirley Peters. Nottingham is facing a serial killer.

Detective Inspector Charlie Resnick is the first to see the connection. Both victims placed ads in a citywide Lonely Hearts column, and the rumpled detective suspects that their killer found them by preying on their isolation. He has little time to find the killer before more women die and Nottingham erupts into panic.

      

Important Note: Any prices mentioned above were correct as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

Review: Death in a Wine Dark Sea by Lisa King

We've just published our Review of Death in a Wine Dark Sea by Lisa King. A Jean Applequist Mystery. Permanent Press Hardcover, June 2012.

Our rating:

Available to purchase from …

Please Welcome Suspense Novelist Heather Gudenkauf

We are delighted to welcome novelist Heather Gudenkauf as our guest on her BookTrib blog tour. We encourage you to follow along!

Heather's new book is the suspense novel One Breath Away (Mira Books, June 2012 trade paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats).

We are pleased to provide an excerpt from the book as well as offer one of our readers a chance to win a copy courtesy of the tour coordinators; details below.

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One Breath Away
Heather Gudenkauf
Mira Books, June 2012

Excerpt …

 "Looks like someone broke a window at the end of the hallway. I’m going to go check. You guys stay in your seats. I'll be right back."
 Before he can even leave the classroom the shaky voice of Mrs. Lowell, the school secretary, comes on the intercom. "Teachers, this is a Code Red Lockdown. Go to your safe place."

Synopsis: In the midst of a sudden spring snowstorm, an unknown man armed with a gun walks into an elementary school classroom. Outside the school, the town of Broken Branch watches and waits.

Officer Meg Barrett holds the responsibility for the town's children in her hands. Will Thwaite, reluctantly entrusted with the care of his two grandchildren by the daughter who left home years earlier, stands by helplessly and wonders if he has failed his child again. Trapped in her classroom, Evelyn Oliver watches for an opportunity to rescue the children in her care. And thirteen-year-old Augie Baker, already struggling with the aftermath of a terrible accident that has brought her to Broken Branch, will risk her own safety to protect her little brother.

As tension mounts with each passing minute, the hidden fears and grudges of the small town are revealed as the people of Broken Branch race to uncover the identity of the stranger who holds their children hostage.

      

— ◊ —

Photo provided courtesy of
Heather Gudenkauf; Photo credit Weber Portrait Design

Heather Gudenkauf was born in Wagner, South Dakota, the youngest of six children. At one month of age, her family returned to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota where her father was employed as a guidance counselor and her mother as a school nurse. At the age of three, her family moved to Iowa, where she grew up. Having been born with a profound unilateral hearing impairment (there were many evenings when Heather and her father made a trip to the bus barn to look around the school bus for her hearing aids that she often conveniently would forget on the seat beside her), Heather tended to use books as a retreat, would climb into the toy box that her father's students from Rosebud made for the family with a pillow, blanket, and flashlight, close the lid, and escape the world around her. Heather became a voracious reader and the seed of becoming a writer was planted.

She graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in elementary education and has spent her career working with students of all ages and continues to work in education as a Title I Reading Coordinator.

Heather lives in Iowa with her husband, three children, and a very spoiled German Shorthaired Pointer named Maxine. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, hiking, and running. She is currently working on her next novel.

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For a chance to win a copy of One Breath Away, courtesy of the BookTrib, visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the "Heather Gudenkauf: One Breath Away" contest link, enter your name, e-mail address, and this code — 5012 — for a chance to win! (One entry per person; contest ends August 1st, 2012.)

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And that's not all! Tomorrow, Thursday July 26th at 3 PM ET, Heather will be live chatting with readers! Use this link or click on the banner below to learn more.

Crazy in Paradise by Deborah Brown is Today's Fourth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Crazy in Paradise by Deborah Brown as today's fourth free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Crazy in Paradise
Deborah Brown
Publisher: Paradise Books

Dying in the middle of the summer in the Florida Keys is sweaty business.

Welcome to Tarpon Cove. Madison Westin inherits her aunt’s beachfront motel along with a variety of colorful tenant’s — drunks, ex-cons and fugitives. Only one problem: First she has to wrestle control from her lawyer and conniving motel manager.

She enlists the help of her new best friend whose motto is never leave home without your Glock. Only in South Florida … land of hot tan lines, drugs on demand — not to mention blackmail and murder.

  

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

North Slope by Michael Parker is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature North Slope by Michael Parker as today's third free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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North Slope
Michael Parker
Publisher: Acclaimed Books

North Slope is a barren desert of ice in Alaska that stretches from the Brooks Mountains to the Beaufort Sea, frozen during the winter clear to the North Pole. It is in this wilderness that the Fyffe Oil Company struggles in its search for oil. Andrew Fyffe, owner of the company, finds time and money are running out.

On the rig a man has been killed; suspicion and fear are rampant among the drilling crews as they continue their superhuman efforts before Fyffe goes bust. The one man who (Fyffe believes) can save the company is McKinnon, once a famous wildcat oil man, but now a drunk, a drop-out. Fyffe kidnaps McKinnon from a drinking spree and flies him up to the oil rig, Fyffe One. When McKinnon sobers up he quickly sees he will need all his old resourcefulness, skill and courage to save the rig from catastrophe.

  

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.