Winners of the 2013 Ned Kelly Awards Announced

The winners of the 2013 Ned Kelly Awards have been announced by Australian Crime Writers Association at the conclusion of the Brisbane Writers Festival recognizing the best crime books — mysteries, thrillers, suspense novels and spy fiction — in Australia.

The winners are …

• Best Novel: Blackwattle Creek by Geoffrey McGeachin

• Best First Novel: The Midnight Promise by Zane Lovitt

• Best True Crime: The People Smuggler by Robin de Crespigny

In addition, the Sandra Harvey Short Story Award was given to Roger Vickery for "Echoes from the Dolphin".

Ten Times Guilty by Brenda Hill is Today's Fifth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Ten Times Guilty by Brenda Hill as today's fifth free mystery ebook (A Novel of Psychological Suspense; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, September 08, 2013 at 7:50 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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Ten Times Guilty
Brenda Hill
A Novel of Psychological Suspense
Publisher: L. Cooper Press

Single mother Tracy Michaels works as a tour guide in one of Denver's old Victorian museums barely making enough to survive. After a late shift, she hurries home, but she's attacked, beaten and raped. She survives, but he's watching her, threatening her baby's life if she talks.

Sergeant Reese Sanders, Denver PD, struggles through his own recovery, tormented by memories of another young victim. When his sister was attacked the year previously, she'd expected sympathy and comfort. But hardened on the job, he couldn't offer anything beyond the standard platitudes.

His sister slashed her wrists.

Reese tried to drown his guilt with bourbon. Now, back on the job, he discovers his true redemption lies in finding the man responsible for his sister's attack, the same man he believes attacked Tracy. His very sanity depends on convincing her to help him bring the perpetrator to justice.

Meanwhile, the perp watches. And threatens. Tracy's forced to run, seeking shelter for Ritchie and herself in a hidden safe house With her counselor's guidance, Tracy discovers inner strength and courage, qualities she must test when her assailant finds her and demands she meet him.

  

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.

Body Wave by R. V. Doon is Today's Fourth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Body Wave by R. V. Doon as today's fourth free mystery ebook (A Text-a-Nurse Mystery; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, September 08, 2013 at 7:40 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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Body Wave
R. V. Doon
A Text-a-Nurse Mystery
Publisher: BRY Publishing

Reece Carson is trying to get her fledgling business, Text-A-Nurse, off to a successful start when her beloved aunt coughs up a deathbed confession. She admits to helping cover up the murder of a young girl in her youth. Reece promises to identify the dead girl and notify her family of the unmarked grave. After all, finding missing people or things has been her forte since grade school. As she approaches friends of her aunt to nail down the truth, she encounters a charismatic fireman, a temperamental policeman, and the return of her ex-best friend who served a prison stint for drug diversion.

But she doesn't count on a wave of bodies to throw her off track or an incoming hurricane to conceal the killer's escape.

To make matters worse, the man she's falling in love with may be a murderer.

  

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.

China Blue by Kat Attalla is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature China Blue by Kat Attalla as today's third free mystery ebook (A Novel of Romantic Suspense; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, September 08, 2013 at 7:30 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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China Blue
Kat Attalla
A Novel of Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Books We Love Ltd.

In Ryan McKenna's rookie year on the police force, he made an error in judgment that nearly cost a teenaged girl her life. He quit the force, spent half a decade living life from the bottom of a bottle and trying to forget the past. Eventually he sobered up, became a private investigator and worked to build a successful security business. But through the years he never forgot the girl with the China Blue eyes.

She is haunted by a past she can't remember.

When she was fifteen, Kayla woke from a coma with no recollection of the brutal attack that had landed her in the hospital. After three years in a state orphanage, she went to a community college in Upstate New York and never returned to the City. She supports herself as an artist but her troubling images reflect the awful memories locked in her mind.

Together, they must work to unlock the past.

When the man who attacked Kayla is released from prison, Ryan tracks her down to warn her. But Kayla still suffers from amnesia. To keep her safe, he insinuates himself into her life. But he didn't count on the passionate attraction between them.

  

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.

Murder in Adland by Bruce Beckham is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Murder in Adland by Bruce Beckham as today's second free mystery ebook (A DI Skelgill Investigates Mystery; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, September 08, 2013 at 7:20 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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Murder in Adland
Bruce Beckham
A DI Skelgill Investigates Mystery
Publisher: Lucius

When a high-flying ad agency boss is brutally murdered on a company weekend in the English Lake District, Detective Inspector Dan Skelgill finds himself wrenched from his rural Cumbrian comfort zone.

As the investigation unfolds, DI Skelgill is led a merry dance between London and Edinburgh, at every turn confronted by uncooperative suspects – colleagues, wife and lovers of the deceased – each of whom are possessed of motive and opportunity.

Was this a crime of passion, a professional hit, or a cleverly calculated killing borne of out greed and jealousy? In this traditional whodunit, the case can only be solved by carefully piecing together the essential clues — but Skelgill is running out of time. The patience of his superiors wears thin, while the actions of an anonymous agent provocateur serve only to advance the moment when the killer must strike 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.

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

To Free a Spy by Nick Ganaway is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature To Free a Spy by Nick Ganaway as today's free mystery ebook (A Suspense Thriller; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, September 08, 2013 at 7:10 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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To Free a Spy
Nick Ganaway
A Suspense Thriller
Publisher: Nick Ganaway

United States National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden rocks the White House to its foundation when he provides secret NSA documents to the Washington Post alleging that the U.S. gathers telephone and email records of its citizens and electronically spies on its international neighbors. President Garrison Cross and the U.S. face unyielding condemnation from leaders around the world and Democrats and Republicans alike at home. If Cross needs any more heat it comes when he learns that a CIA mole has outmaneuvered the FBI and a Russian scientist has escaped from a closed Soviet weapons factory known as Kremlyov with a cache of weapons-grade nuclear material, whereabouts unknown.

The besieged President jerks the FBI out of the loop and brings in Cam Warfield, a darkside intel veteran who runs a counterterrorism training center for the Army and lives with the beautiful Dr. Fleming DeGrande on her ranch in suburban Virginia. But the vengeful FBI director pulls the rug from under Warfield and the nukes end up in treacherous hands.

Then just crucial minutes off the coast of Los Angeles a duplicate of the Hiroshima atom bomb sits in the belly of a Boeing 747 traveling at 500 miles an hour. With minutes left before disaster Warfield believes he can convince the pilot to abort but it is then that he confronts his biggest and most unexpected challenge yet: the very man who commissioned him, who’s sitting in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C.

  

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.

Today's Mystery and Suspense Update from Big Fish Games (130908)

Here is today's mystery and suspense update from Big Fish Games …

• The New Release is Royal Envoy: Campaign for the Crown (Collector's Edition).

• The Daily Deal is Alchemy Mysteries: Prague Legends, just $2.99 today only!

• The current Catch of the Week is Rite of Passage: The Perfect Show, just $2.99 through Sunday, September 08, 2013 only.

• Today's Special Deal — This weekend only: Buy one standard edition game and get a second for just 99 cents! Use coupon code 99CENTS at check-out and your second standard PC or Mac game will be discounted. Use as many times as you'd like! Offer valid through Sunday, September 8th, 2013 until 11:59 PM PT.

Visit the Omnimystery Entertainment Network for more games of mystery and suspense!

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Today's New Release is Royal Envoy: Campaign for the Crown (Collector's Edition)

Breaking news! The monarchy is at risk! Someone wearing a black cloak broke into the royal palace. The stranger was fearful and grim, and challenged the King's right to the throne. He accused the King of being unable to manage the kingdom, and demanded to be elected King himself! Help the King win the elections and defend the truth and justice in the kingdom.

This is a special Collector's Edition release full of exclusive extras you won't find in the standard version, including: 30 bonus levels; Integrated Strategy Guide; Beautiful wallpapers; and an Original soundtrack.

A sample version is available to download and play for free for one hour.

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Today's Daily Deal is Alchemy Mysteries: Prague Legends

Follow orphan Eva on a trip to mystical Prague. After a relative's mysterious death, Eva inherits an ancient house in Prague. Knowing nothing about her past, she goes looking for answers. There she uncovers secrets about the house, her family and an insidious plan of the black alchemist. A wonderful and dangerous adventure is about to begin. Are you ready?

A sample version is available to download and play for free for one hour. You can purchase this game today only — Sunday, September 08, 2013 — for $2.99.

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The current Catch of the Week is Rite of Passage: The Perfect Show

You are a teacher in Everlake, a small town recently struck by a series of unexplained child abductions. When your student goes missing, it is up to you to take up the role of a detective and save the children. On your quest you will uncover secrets, solve challenging problems and encounter enigmatic characters with unclear motives. In the town of Everlake nothing is at it seems, as the story of crime, mystery and supernatural events unfolds before your eyes. At the center of it all stands the old puppet theater and its elusive patron. The Perfect Show is coming.

A sample version is available to download and play for free for one hour. You can purchase this game at the special price of $2.99 through Sunday, September 08, 2013.

A New MystereBook: Stein, Stoned by Hal Ackerman

Here is a mystery, suspense, or thriller ebook that we recently found by sleuthing (as it were) through new or recently reissued titles from independent publishers …

Stein, Stoned by Hal Ackerman introduces Southern California PI Harry Stein. This book was first published by Tyrus Books in hardcover in July 2010.

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Stein, Stoned by Hal Ackerman
A Harry Stein Murder Mystery
Publisher: Hal Ackerman

In the sixties, Harry Stein was the foremost authority on cannabis, writing a book on indoor cultivation and inventing thirteen different hybrids. Nowadays, he stays straight to keep joint custody of his daughter.

But when a crop of "orchids" goes missing, Stein must re-enter the haze he thought he'd left behind.

  

Review: A Killing at Cotton Hill by Terry Shames

A Mysterious Review of A Killing at Cotton Hill by Terry Shames. A Samuel Craddock Mystery.

Review summary: As good as this mystery is — and make no mistake, it is a very good one — it is the characters that are so appealing here, fitting in perfectly with the creatively drawn small town Texas setting. A very strong start to this new series, one worth seeking out. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

A Killing at Cotton Hill
Terry Shames
A Samuel Craddock Mystery
Seventh Street Books (July 2013)

Publisher synopsis: The chief of police of Jarrett Creek, Texas, doubles as the town drunk. So when Dora Lee Parjeter is murdered, her old friend and former police chief Samuel Craddock steps in. He discovers that a lot of people had it in for Dora Lee. The conniving rascals on the farm next door want her land for nefarious purposes; her estranged daughter could be seeking vengeance; her grandson wants money for art school; and then there's that stranger Dora Lee claimed was spying on her. Does Craddock still have what it takes to find the killer?

      

The Blue Dolphin, A Desert Heat Novel of Romantic Suspense by Robena Grant, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Blue Dolphin by Robena Grant, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Crimson Rose.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $0.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (09/07/2013 at 3:00 PM ET). 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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The Blue Dolphin by Robena Grant
A Desert Heat Novel of Romantic Suspense (2nd in series)
Publisher: Crimson Rose

When Debbie Williams discovers a dismembered body in the dumpster behind her health spa, she's determined to find out what happened. As a single parent, she must be sure the town she loves is safe for her daughter. Debbie won't be deterred by anyone — not even the ruggedly handsome agent on the case who doesn't appreciate her amateur sleuthing.

After his partner's body is uncovered, DEA agent Jack Davis vows revenge. But three words shouted over the phone before his partner died — azul, delfin, Almagro — are Jack's only clues. Even worse, a sexy blonde spa owner refuses to stay out of his investigation, and the chemistry between them is difficult to ignore.

As danger strikes ever closer, Jack and Debbie must figure out what blue dolphins and a small California desert town have to do with a dangerous drug cartel … all while protecting their hearts from an attraction neither can resist.

    

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price 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.

Detroit Shuffle by D. E. Johnson, New in Bookstores This Week

Today's new hardcover mystery title, scheduled to be published this week by Minotaur Books, is Detroit Shuffle by D. E. Johnson.

For a list of more new hardcover mysteries published this month, visit our New Mysteries page for September 2013. For new paperback mysteries, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where a selection of September 2013 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers are shelved.

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Detroit Shuffle
D. E. Johnson
Series: Will Anderson (4th)

Will Anderson inadvertently breaks up a key suffrage rally when he thwarts a gunman set on killing his lover, Elizabeth Hume. No one else saw the man, and Elizabeth believes he hallucinated the entire incident, a side effect of the radium "treatment" he received at Eloise Hospital. She asks him to sit on the sidelines while she and her companions try to get the women's suffrage amendment passed by Michigan voters.

Instead, Will sets out to protect Elizabeth and prove his sanity. Will's nemesis, Sapphira Xanakis, contacts him with news of a conspiracy to defeat the amendment, led by Andrew Murphy, head of the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association. Against his better judgment, Will believes she is trying to help. The man she directs him to dies under suspicious circumstances. An old acquaintance of Will's, who is working for the MLBA, is shot and killed in front of him. Still, no one believes Will, including his former ally, Detective Riordan, who not only is unwilling to help, but seems to have secrets of his own.

With new death threats against Elizabeth and the next rally only a few days away, Will has to unravel a complicated tapestry of blackmail, double-dealing, conspiracy, and murder — before the killer has his next chance to strike.

      

MystereBooks: Bad Lawyer by Stephen Solomita writing as David Cray, Available this Month at a Special Price

Every month Amazon releases a new selection of Kindle books priced $3.99 or less.

Today's featured title from the Mystery & Thrillers category is Bad Lawyer by Stephen Solomita writing as David Cray. This Kindle book was listed at $1.99 as of the date and time of this post, Saturday, September 07, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET, and should be available at this price through the end of the month.

More information about the book is below; if other vendors have priced-matched this title, links to their sites are also shown.

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Bad Lawyer by Stephen Solomita writing as David Cray
Publisher: Mysterious Press

To keep his practice alive, a desperate lawyer takes a case defending a battered wife …

Just seven years after he left law school, Sid Kaplan was one of New York's top defense attorneys. With a glittering style and a hunger for competition, he was as fierce as they come. He was the go-to lawyer for Manhattan's toughest, flashiest criminals — until his mother's death wrecked his confidence. Suddenly, the only way to sustain his sixteen-hour days was a ceaseless stream of cocaine and scotch, a combination that ruined his life's work in a matter of months.

His only remaining employees are Caleb and Julia — a pair of ex-clients who don't mind working for irregular pay. Sid's latest bum case is Priscilla Sweet, a drug addict with priors, violent tendencies, and a dead husband whom she may or may not have killed in self-defense. She also has dangerous friends, which means that defending Prissy will make Sid famous again — either on the front page, or in the obituaries.

      

Important Note: 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.

Privileged Witness, The Witness Series by Rebecca Forster, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Privileged Witness by Rebecca Forster, now available at a special price, courtesy of the author.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $2.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (09/07/2013 at 1:00 PM ET). 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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Privileged Witness by Rebecca Forster
The Witness Series (3rd in series)
Publisher: Rebecca Forster

An old flame … A new fear …

Grace McCreary swears she tried to stop her sister-in-law from jumping from her penthouse balcony but the police have a different take on the situation. They arrest Grace for murder which puts her brother, Senatorial candidate Matthew McCreary, in a spotlight he doesn't relish. Nor is he thrilled when Grace seeks out his former lover, Josie Baylor-Bates, to act as her defense attorney. Josie, who has sworn off rich clients, agrees to defend Grace but even she isn't sure why. She swears she believes in the woman innocence but in her heart she wants to prove that Matthew made a mistake letting her go.

Stepping back into the world of privilege and power, forced to face her feelings for a man she once loved, Josie is determined to win this case — even if she looses everything she holds dear.

First published in paperback in February 2006 by Signet.

  

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price 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.

A New MystereBook: Kill Order by Charlie Flowers

Here is a mystery, suspense, or thriller ebook that we recently found by sleuthing (as it were) through new or recently reissued titles from independent publishers …

Kill Order by Charlie Flowers is the third book in the "Riz" trilogy featuring operative Rizwan Sabir … and this time it's personal.

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Kill Order by Charlie Flowers
A Riz Sabir Thriller
Publisher: Endeavour Press

An ex al-Qaeda jihadi, Riz is now a fixer for a shadowy branch of the Ministry of Defence. He has teamed up professionally and romantically with Holly "Bang-Bang" Kirpachi — a hard-bitten girl gang leader. Their marriage was set to be the social event of the season.

Until the wedding celebrations were interrupted by a series of murders in the East End of London. Someone is copying the Jack the Ripper with a new spate of gruesome killings in Whitechapel.

Riz and Bang-Bang are assigned to the case — but this is no easy mystery to crack. Can they catch the killer before he strikes again? Or are there other, darker forces at work?

  

Today's Amazon Local Deal is 40 Kindle Books for $1 Each

Today's Amazon Local Deal is a free voucher to purchase up to 40 select Kindle books for $1 each.

How to Get the Deal:

• Download the Amazon Local app on your iPhone, Android, or Kindle Fire;

• Click to see Today's Deals (you may need to set your location);

• Click on the deal (you may need to scroll down), claim the voucher, and enjoy!

(Note: This deal is available first on the Amazon Local app. It will presumably be available within the next day or two on the Amazon Local website if you don't want, or have no need, to download the app.)

There are plenty of mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers from which to choose, including titles by Max Allan Collins, J. R. Rain, L. J. Sellers, Ed McBain, Simon Wood, and many more. Use this link to see the complete list.

You have until September 12th, 2013 to obtain your voucher, and you must use it toward a qualifying purchase of up to 40 selected Kindle books by 11:59 P.M. PST on October 6th, 2013.