The $1.99 specials at Amazon have been updated for the month, bringing us another backlist volume from Donald Westlake and from Joseph Wambaugh, amongst others. All are mystery/suspense/thrillers of one type or another, while the two from Susan Crandall also have a romance theme. Rounding out today's list is one from an indie author and another that is $2.99.
Bad News (
$1.99), by Donald E. Westlake
Book DescriptionDortmunder doesnt like manual labor. So when Andy Kelp relays the offer of a grand to help dig up a grave in a far-flung cemetery, he balks... until he begins to wonder just why Fitzroy Guilderpost, criminal mastermind, wants to pull a switcheroo of two 70-years-dead Indians. Central to the plan is Little Feather Redcorn, the ex-Vegas showgirl and great-granddaughter of the newly-switched stiff. She will pose as the last remaining member of the Pottaknobbee tribe, one-third owners of the largest casino in the east. When the remains of the last known Pottaknobbee are dug up, down there in Queens, the DNA will prove that its her ancestor. But when the scam goes into play, its Dortmunder and his band who must step in to make sure everything runs smoothly. Whats the Worst That Could Happen? (Mysterious Press, 1996), the most recent Dortmunder book, sold over 34,000 copies in hardcover and paperback combined. It will soon be a major motion picture starring Martin Lawrence and Danny DeVito. The first book in the Dortmunder series.
Pitch Black (
$1.99), by Susan Crandall
Book DescriptionJournalist Madison Wade decides to move to Philadelphia when one of her articles on violence in the city hits too close to home. Madison and her fourteen-year-old adopted son, Ethan, take refuge in Buckeye, a small town in eastern Tennessee where her father had grown up. Despite the tranquility, Madison and Ethan feel like outsiders. But Gabe Wyatt, the local sheriff, is determined to welcome them to the town. He immediately falls for this beautiful journalist from the city. Madison resists Gabe's advances, but he's persistent and unlike anyone she's ever met before. As a romance develops between them, Madison becomes comfortable in the rural setting, and when Ethan becomes friends with Jordan, a fellow outsider at school, Buckeye begins to feel like home. But a tragic death changes everything for them. When Jordan's father is murdered during a weekend camping trip, Ethan becomes the prime suspect. Gabe's investigation of the murder causes a rift in his relationship with Madison. As small town gossip builds a damaging case against Ethan, Madison races to discover the truth. Heartbroken and lost, she struggles to find anyone who will believe in her and Ethan, despite their past.
Seeing Red (
$1.99), by Susan Crandall
Book DescriptionEllis Greene remembers very little about the night of her cousin Laura's murder, but she does recall the face of the murderer. Ellis was the key witness to the crime, and her testimony helped put Hollis Alexander in jail for a long time. With Hollis behind bars, Ellis should feel safe, but the memory of that awful night still haunts her. Determined to free herself from the fear of being attacked like her cousin, Ellis has become an expert in self defense. However, when Ellis hears that Hollis has been paroled, she feels like a helpless teenager again--and she isn't the only one who notices that he's free.
Laura's boyfriend Nate was one of the prime suspects for her murder. After the court case, many still believed that Nate was guilty and he left town to reinvent himself. Now, fifteen years later, he has returned to protect Ellis from suffering the same fate as her cousin. As soon as Ellis and Nate see one another, sparks fly. But Ellis hasn't let herself fall for a man in a long time, and she isn't sure whether she can trust Nate. As Laura's murderer zeroes in on Ellis as his next target, she must fight to stay alive while she finally discovers her true feelings about Nate.
The New Centurions (
$1.99), by Joseph Wambaugh
Book DescriptionEx-cop turned #1 New York Times bestselling writer Joseph Wambaugh forged a new kind of literature with his great early police procedurals. Here in his classic debut novel, Wambaugh presents a stunning, raw, and unforgettable depiction of life behind the thin blue line.
In a class of new police recruits, Augustus Plebesly is fast and scared. Roy Fehler is full of ideals. And Serge Duran is an ex-marine running away from his Chicano childhood. In a few weeks they'll put on the blue uniform of the LAPD. In months they'll know how to interpret the mad babble of the car radio, smell danger, trap a drug dealer, hide a secret, and-most of all-live with the understanding that cops are different from everyone else. But for these men, these new centurions, time is an enemy. The year is 1960. The streets are burning with rage. And before they can grow old on this job, they'll have to fight for their lives...
Dark Harbor (
$1.99), by David Hosp
Book DescriptionScott Finn, rising star at a Boston law firm, has worked hard to pull himself out of the Charlestown projects. When the body of his co-worker and old flame, Natalie Caldwell, floats to the surface of Boston Harbor, Finn is grief stricken. But almost immediately, he’s tapped by the firm to replace her in the defense of a high-profile client. As he retraces Natalie’s footsteps, Finn begins to unravel the awful mystery of her murder. But police lieutenant Linda Flaherty is also hot on the trail. What neither Finn nor Flaherty realize is what’s at stake if the truth is uncovered: billions of dollars, the careers of the Massachusetts elite, and their own survival.
Tea is for Terror (
$1.49), by Gayle Wigglesworth
Book DescriptionThe first book in the Claire Gulliver Mystery series, Tea is for Terror, finds Claire co-sponsoring a tour of England with her friend and travel book author, Lucy Springer. Lucy’s latest book, An Armchair Traveler’s Adventure, and the tour, are aimed at wannabe travelers who haven’t yet ventured out of the United States. The “untour,” as they call it, follows the book’s agenda, testing the itinerary while verifying the data contained in the manuscript for the final edit.
Before the trip even begins, it becomes apparent that someone has a hidden agenda. A freak accident renders Lucy unable to travel, and Claire reluctantly agrees to lead the “untour.” She is relying on the professional tour guide who will meet them in London.
The reader joins this “untour” as it wends through the countryside of England and Wales. But they are plagued with strange events, accidents, and a “misadventure.” Oddly enough, despite all the problems encountered, the remaining members are thrilled with the trip and eager to travel again now that they’ve completed their virgin journey. But the “untour” isn’t over yet.
Lucy never said it could be like this!
Deception (
$2.99), by Denise Mina
Book DescriptionThings like this don't happen to people like us. That's what Lachlan Harriot thinks as he watches his wife, Susie, led to jail in handcuffs. Yes, Susie, a psychologist, was found covered in blood near the spot where one of her clients appears to have been murdered. But Susie is not a killer, Lachlan thinks. She's my wife. She's our child's mother. Secrets lurk behind closed doors, however, a dark truth made chillingly clear as Lachlan's efforts to prove Susie's innocence uncover an entire secret history--illicit affairs, false identities, unimaginable deception--and this brilliantly acclaimed, page-turning novel speeds toward a conclusion as shocking as it is ingenious.If you have a Sony Reader instead of a Kindle, you can get all but the one by Gayle Wigglesworth at the same price - just search on the book title in the Store part of the Sony Library software.
Update 12/4: Fictionwise has matched the price on
Deception,
Bad News and
The New Centurions. Combined with their membership and rewards, you end up paying even less. All three are available in either Microsoft Reader or Secure eReader format; the latter will work on the B&N nook.
Digging around on
the Barnes and Noble site, I found these three, plus the two from Susan Crandall and
Dark Harbor, all at prices matching the Amazon and Sony stores. Currently, you can get these only in eReader format.
Harper Collins is currently allowing you to read invisible i ($9.99 Kindle), by Stella Lennon, online at no charge (no downloading). This is the first book in her The Amanda Project series and is a mystery aimed at young adults.
from December 1 to December 25. These usually remain free even after the day they are featured, but I'll put up a link to this deal in the top banner, for those that want to check every day.
by Thea Gilmore
by House Of Heroes
, currently 
from Pi Records there, as well as a few others that should work well when reading or entertaining.