Here is today's list of the top bestselling free Kindle mysteries, suspense novels 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 use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120606)
Review: Flat Spin by David Freed
We've just published our Review of Flat Spin by David Freed. A Cordell Logan Mystery. The Permanent Press Hardcover, May 2012.
Our rating:
Available to purchase from …
Singer/Songwriter Beth Rudetsky Interviews Author/Musician Robert Gregory Browne
Last month we were delighted to welcome singer/songwriter Beth Rudetsky, who contributed a guest post on her experience writing an original song for Zoë Sharp's new thriller Fifth Victim.
In a follow-up conversation with her, she mentioned she had recently interviewed crime novelist and fellow musician Robert Gregory Browne and would we be interested in publishing it. We enthusiastically agreed!
Robert's latest book, Trial Junkies (Penname Press, May 2012 ebook edition), is the first of a new series introducing amateur sleuth Ethan "Hutch" Hutchinson.
Here is Beth chatting with Robert about music and mystery.
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Beth Rudetsky: Did you learn how to play an instrument when you were a child? If so, did this then naturally lead to a desire to write a song?
Photo provided courtesy of
Robert Gregory Browne
Robert Gregory Browne: I was introduced to the baritone ukulele by my uncle when I was nine years old. He came to a family function one year—probably Thanksgiving—with his ukulele in tow and showed me how to play a few chords. I caught on immediately, and he was so impressed he left the ukulele with me and told me to practice. I didn't give it back to him until I graduated to guitar three years later.
My first desire to write a song came, of course, from a crush I had on a girl at school. It was love from afar—I never got up the nerve to speak to her—but I was hopelessly smitten. I can still remember the tune I wrote and the words that went with it, as ridiculously bad as they were. But hey I was only twelve:
Stephanie … You're the only girl for me …
BR: When did you discover you had a talent as a musician and songwriter?
RGB: I'd say that I discovered I had a talent for music the moment my uncle put that ukulele in my hands. It just felt so natural to me, as if I had miraculously regained a limb. I don't really remember writing songs that young, but I did dive into learning chord progressions and fingerpicking. And I vaguely recall playing old standards like Ebb Tide and Moon River. The stuff my parents listened to.
BR: Do the lyrics come to you first or the melody and the chords? Was there anything going on in your life specifically that moved you to write a song about it?
RGB: With songwriting the music usually comes first, but not necessarily the whole tune. I'll hear a snippet in my head and put words to it, then everything seems to grow organically from there. As for anything going on in my life, as I said with the first song, it was love. And that pretty much defined my songwriting in those days. Most of the music came from pain—trouble I was having in a relationship. Or sometimes the LACK of a relationship. My mother always worried that my songs were sad, but that's usually the emotion they came from.
BR: Did the songs you wrote reflect the emotions you were feeling at that time?
RGB: Every song I wrote in the early days came from my emotional turmoil. And if I ever felt anxious or depressed or heartbroken, I could turn to my guitar and my songwriting to help myself heal.
BR: What music and artists are you drawn to listening to? What emotions stir up for you in music?
RGB: I grew up in the late sixties, early seventies, so I leaned toward singer-songwriters like James Taylor, Carole King, Dan Fogelberg and, especially, Joni Mitchell. A friend of mine introduced me to her music through the album Blue and I just couldn't believe how much that album spoke to me. Not necessarily the content, because I was still too young to be having the experiences Joni was having, but the raw emotion. Even today, I listen to a song like River and I get tears in my eyes.
And, truthfully, that's the emotion I'm seeking when I listen to most music. I really enjoy music that can make me cry. Either through the beauty of its melody, the artist's voice, or through the words that are conveying a sad story. I find that just a simple combination of minor keys on a piano can make my chest seize up. I'm such a wimp.
BR: Do you feel that there is something in common with writing about a character/s in a song and writing about a character/s in your writing for a screenplay or a novel? When writing a song that is not about you and written for a character/s, how does it come to you?
RGB: When I was younger, I always tried to tell a story based on my own pain, but in my later years, because I was happily married and no longer an emotional mess, I found myself writing songs about other people and making up stories about them. The songs still sounded like confessionals, but they were largely fiction. I had to draw from my imagination because my own life had leveled off.
I began writing screenplays around the same time I got serious about songwriting, but I thought of them as two completely different disciplines. Yes, they had similarities, but I was using different muscles to write a screenplay. Songs always came fairly easy to me. Songs could be incomplete to some degree. But with screenplays I needed a full story with fleshed out characters and dialogue, so it was an entirely different process.
I got into writing novels at a later age and found that songwriting and screenwriting came together. Song lyrics are all about meter and being able to tell a story within that meter and I found that my prose work came from an internal rhythm I had created that became what writers call their "voice." If the rhythm is off just by a word or the misplacement of a few words, I have to move them around until they feel comfortable to me. Until they fit the rhythm in my head.
Screenplays, on the other hand, are all about story structure, character development and dialogue, and all those screenplays I wrote helped me tremendously when it was time to write that first novel.
All those years of "training" in music and screenwriting came together in a pretty glorious way when I sat down to write that first novel. So I wasn't surprised that it was fairly successful and sold within a few months of completion. I'd had years of practice—even if it WAS in different disciplines—something a lot of young writers don't want to spend time doing. It's too often "publish now or die" with them. I understand that impatience, but it's a mistake. Unless you're a wunderkind, you need to learn and grow and experience life a little before you'll be writing publishable material.
BR: Is there a difference in what compels you to write a song as opposed to writing a novel? Do you think that some thoughts need to be expressed just musically or can only be expressed through a novel?
RGB: To be honest, I've never really analyzed what compels me to write either one. Novels, because I make my living at writing them, are often the product of a looming mortgage payment. That may sound a little mercenary, but great inspiration comes from having to pay the bills. But even before I made my living doing this I was always coming up with stories in my head, based on things I'd see on the news or experienced myself. It's like a faucet that can't be turned off. I have more stories floating in my head than I'll ever be able to write. Which is why I kind of laugh whenever someone says to me, "Hey, I've got a great idea for a novel you can write."
As for songwriting, I do a lot less of it than I used to and think of it as more of a recreational pursuit these days. Writing songs is a way to unwind. A different type of challenge that alleviates stress. Writing a song is much like doing a crossword puzzle. Trying to make the words fit in the little squares. A fun pursuit that gives me a different kind of satisfaction.
BR: A lot of writer's have a pet by their side as they write. Do you have a pet by your side?
RGB: I have two cats and a dog and our dog is usually laying around in the room somewhere when I write. The cats come and go, sometimes jumping onto my desk for a little love before heading back out the door.
BR: You have also written about your passion for great coffee. Do you like to drink coffee as you write?
My passion for coffee is fairly new, so of course I'm pretty obnoxious about it. I actually drink a cup of coffee in the morning when I'm cruising the web, but not while I'm writing. Then I often have another cup later in the day when I'm either done writing or taking a break.
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Robert Gregory Browne is an AMPAS Nicholl Award-winning screenwriter who ran screaming from the movie industry and jumped into writing novels.
His first novel, Kiss Her Goodbye, was recently produced in Chicago as a pilot for a CBS Television series tentatively titled The Line, by Sony Pictures and Timberman/Beverly Productions, with a script written and directed by Michael Dinner.
Before the jump, he developed screenplays for Showtime, Viacom, Saban/Fox Kids, Krost-Chapin, and Marvel. He was also staff writer for Fox Kids’ Diabolik, and a contributing screenwriter for Spider-Man Unlimited.
You can learn more about this multi-talented author on his website, RobertGregoryBrowne.com.
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About Trial Junkies:
Ethan "Hutch" Hutchinson hasn't seen his old college pals in nearly ten years. Now fate has brought them together again as one of the gang is put on trial for a brutal, senseless murder.
The Chicago police and prosecutor think they have their perp, but Hutch isn't about to sit silently in a courtroom as someone he cares about is wrongfully convicted.
When Hutch and his friends join forces to search for the real killer, what they find shatters every notion they have about friendship, loss and redemption … and may very well cost Hutch — and the woman he loves — their lives.
Bad to the Bone by Katy Munger is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Bad to the Bone by Katy Munger 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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Bad to the Bone by Katy Munger
A Casey Jones Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Thalia Press
This is the fourth mystery to feature the unlicensed private investigator in North Carolina.
About Bad to the Bone (from the publisher): At first, Casey proves a sucker for the fragile blonde who claims her estranged husband has disappeared with their child. But when Casey locates the fugitive spouse a little too easily, she begins to suspect that the lovely Tawny Bledsoe has played her for a fool. Especially when Casey gets stiffed on the fee, then finds herself embroiled in a murder case with Tawny's name written all over it. Bad check in hand and a bad taste in her mouth, Casey resolves to stop Tawny once and for all, but the battle quickly turns personal with Tawny proves more than a match for the the irrepressible Casey. Ego rattled, Casey laces up her high-tops to track her nemesis to Florida for a Saturday night cat fight. Casey must leave her sweet-and-sour southern ways far behind in order to prove that Tawny Bledsoe is one bad to the bone babe who belongs behind bars — no matter what it takes to bring 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.
Download Link(s):
For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.
Closet by R. D. Zimmerman is Today's Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Closet by R. D. Zimmerman 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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Closet by R. D. Zimmerman
A Todd Mills Mystery
Publisher: ScribblePub
This first in a series of five mysteries to feature the television reporter was originally published in 1995.
About Closet (from the publisher): It began with a brutal attack in a posh Minneapolis neighborhood. And from the first killing to the next, Todd Mills was at the center of the story. The son of Polish immigrants, Todd had changed his name and risen to the top of his field as a TV news reporter, winning two Emmy Awards along the way. Then his world came crashing down. Suddenly, the double life he'd hidden for so long was brutally uncovered: he was the secret lover of the first man to die. When Michael was murdered, Todd lost everything, including a life lived as a lie. Now he's out of the closet and under suspicion, desperately investigating the killings himself, moving through a world of gay bars, steamy nightclubs, and double identities?where the one secret that matters most belongs to a killer who will strike again … and again.
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.
Download Link(s):
For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.
A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin is Today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal
MystereBooks is pleased to feature A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal. The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Wednesday, June 06, 2012.
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A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin
Publisher: Pegasus Books
In 1954, Ira Levin was presented with the Edgar Award for Best First Novel for this thriller.
About A Kiss Before Dying (from the publisher): This is the shocking tale of a young man who will stop at nothing — not even murder — to get where he wants to go. For he has dreams, plans. He also has charm, good looks, intelligence. And he has a problem. Her name is Dorothy; she loves him, and she’s pregnant. The solution may demand desperate measures. But, then, he looks like the kind of guy who could get away with murder.
Important Note: Amazon.com updates its Kindle book deal every day at approximately midnight PT. The title referenced above is available at a discounted price for Wednesday, June 06, 2012 only.
Download Link(s):
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Inspector John Rebus to Return in New Mystery by Ian Rankin
Despite popular opinion to the contrary, Detective Inspector John Rebus has not retired.
Crime novelist Ian Rankin revealed today on his website that Rebus will return in a new mystery this fall, Standing in Another Man's Grave. It will be his first appearance in more than five years.
"I felt there was unfinished business between the two of us," said Rankin. "He had never really gone away but was working for Edinburgh's cold case unit. And I knew I had a story that would be a perfect fit for him."
Orion, the book's UK publisher, released this synopsis: Rebus may be about to derail the career of his ex-colleague Siobhan Clarke, while himself being permanently derailed by mob boss and old adversary Big Ger Cafferty. But all Rebus wants to do is discover the truth about a series of seemingly unconnected disappearances stretching back to the millennium. The problem being, no one else wants to go there — and that includes Rebus's fellow officers. Not that any of that is going to stop Rebus. Not even when his own life and the careers of those around him are on the line.
Rankin said the title of his new book "is inspired by a song by the late Jackie Leven." Standing in Another Man's Grave is dedicated to his memory.
The Saxon Mysteries by Les Roberts, Newly Reissued as eBooks, Now at a Special Price
After more than a decade out of print, the six mysteries in the "Saxon" series by Les Roberts have been newly reissued as ebooks. And here's some more good news: Until June 30th, 2012, they're available at half-price.
Saxon was introduced in An Infinite Number of Monkeys, the winner of the very first St. Martin's Press Best Private Eye Novel Contest in 1986. (All six books in the series were originally published in hardcover by St. Martin's Press, from 1987 through 1994.) A transplanted Easterner trying to make it as an actor, Saxon tries to stay solvent between roles by running an investigating agency in Los Angeles. Roberts describes Saxon as "sophisticated and prematurely gray, a guy with a quick wit, who loves jazz, beautiful women, and single-malt Scotch."
For more information about Les Roberts and his mysteries — he is also the author of the "Milan Jacovich" series — visit his website at LesRoberts.com.
We've listed below all six ebooks in the "Saxon" series below, with links to purchase them from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the Apple iBookstore (iTunes). They will be available for a special price of $4.99 through the end of the month (June 30th, 2012) only.
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Les Roberts
Series: A Saxon Mystery (1st)
Les Roberts
Series: A Saxon Mystery (2nd)
Les Roberts
Series: A Saxon Mystery (3rd)
Les Roberts
Series: A Saxon Mystery (4th)
Les Roberts
Series: A Saxon Mystery (5th)
Les Roberts
Series: A Saxon Mystery (6th)
The Mystery Bookshelf: Extended Family by Patrick Kendrick
The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a world of mystery and suspense, is pleased to feature a new crime novel we recently received from the publisher.
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Extended Family by Patrick Kendrick
Thomas & Mercer (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: June 2012
ISBN-13: 978-1-61218-310-7
About Extended Family (from the publisher): Dr. Harmon Gettys is the perfect man: tall, dark, handsome, and brilliant. He’d seemingly be a catch for any woman—especially those who desire an apparently charmed offspring. But Gettys uses his seed for murder, to create a legacy of violence.
For Fire Marshal Greymon Gift, gruesome burn-related murders are nothing new. But a sudden spike in his jurisdiction has Gift on high alert. When an FBI investigation links multiple arson scenes to the deceased Dr. Gettys, Gift is pulled even deeper into a case that’s hot enough to start a conflagration. He knows that even if Gettys were alive, such an assortment of violent crimes could never be committed by just one man. So who is spreading these horrors from coast to coast?
Gift and FBI Agent Rose Cleary partner up to stop the growing number of savagely murdered victims, but can they uncover the truth before they wind up on the list of the dead?
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About the author: Patrick Kendrick spent thirty years in the fire service, working every rank from firefighter to chief fire officer, before retiring to burn up the pages as a full-time mystery writer. He lives in South Florida, where he enjoys the ocean and spending time with his family. Visit his website at TalesOfPatrickKendrick.com.
Purchase Options for Extended Family:
Winners of the 2011 Lambda Literary Awards Announced
The 24th Annual Lambda Literary Award Winners were announced last night by the Lambda Literary Foundation in a gala ceremony in New York City.
Many categories were honored, but the two of most interest to us are …
Best Gay Mystery: Red White Black and Blue by Richard Stevenson (MLR Press); and
Best Lesbian Mystery: Dying to Live by Kim Baldwin & Xenia Alexiou (Bold Strokes Books).
Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120605)
Here is today's list of the top bestselling free Kindle mysteries, suspense novels 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 use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.
New Israeli Poster for Paranormal Thriller Red Lights
A new Israeli poster for the paranormal thriller Red Lights has been released (right; click for slightly larger version). We think this poster is far more illustrative of, and representative of, the film than any of the US posters we've seen to date (here and here). The tagline reads something like "How much do you believe?" or "How much do you want to believe?" (Google Translate is a little iffy here; someone can correct us in the comments.)
Written and directed by Rodrigo Cortés, Red Lights stars Robert De Niro as Simon Silver, a world-renown psychic, who returns after thirty years of mysterious absence to become the world's greatest challenge to orthodox science and professional skeptics. Margaret Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) and Tom Buckley (Cillian Murphy) are rationalist scientists, who dissect phenomena from the metaphysical world, exposing it as fraud, and see Silver as both dangerous and a challenge. But Buckley begins to develop a dense obsession for Silver, whose magnetism is enhanced dangerously with each new manifestation of inexplicable phenomena.
Red Lights premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and has already opened theatrically in Spain (as Luces rojas). It opens in limited released here in the US on July 13th, but will likely be direct to DVD for most of us.
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