A trio of free ebooks

These three ebooks (two novellas and one novel) are currently free on both UK Kindle and UK Kobo:

The 45% Hangover by Stuart MacBride: free for UK Kobo and UK Kindle

A brilliantly twisty, 80-page novella from the No. 1 bestselling author of the Logan McRae series. Including an extract from his new Logan novel, THE MISSING AND THE DEAD.

It’s the night of the big Referendum, and all Acting Detective Inspector Logan McRae has to do is find a missing ‘No’ campaigner. Should be easy enough…

But, as usual, DCI Steel has plans of her own. As the votes are counted there’s trouble brewing in the pubs and on the streets of Aberdeen.

Logan’s picked up a promising lead, but all is not quite what it seems, and things are about to go very, very wrong…

The Secret Dead by S J Parris: free for UK Kobo and UK Kindle

A short story featuring Giordano Bruno: heretic, philosopher and spy. Perfect for fans of C.J. Sansom. Even the dead have a story to tell… Naples, 1566. During a sweltering summer, eighteen-year-old Giordano Bruno takes his final vows at San Domenico Maggiore and is admitted to the Dominican Order – despite doubts over his tendency to ask difficult questions. Assisting in the infirmary, Bruno witnesses an illicit autopsy performed on the body of a young woman. Her corpse reveals a dark secret, and Bruno suspects that hers may not have been an accidental death. His investigation leads him to a powerful figure who wants to keep the truth buried – and Bruno is forced to make a choice between his future in the Order, and justice for an innocent victim and her grieving family…

The One You Love by Paul Pilkington: free for UK Kobo and UK Kindle

Days before their wedding, during their last separate nights of hard-partying singledom, Emma Holden's fiance has gone missing. Not only has Dan disappeared without a trace, his brother is found beaten and left for dead, and may not wake up from a coma. Without any evidence, suspicion for the attempted murder falls on Dan - but Emma refuses to believe his guilt. When crime scene photos get splashed across the pages of London tabloids, Emma knows that someone is following her. Watching her. It is an old, familiar feeling, though no less terrifying. A long-hidden family secret seems to unite Emma's troubled past with her dangerous present. As time runs out her trust in her family, her friends -- and Dan -- faces an ultimate test.

UK Kindle Bargains

Whilst we eagerly await parts 4 and 5 in Thomas Enger's Henning Juul series - coming 2017 from Orenda Books, if you haven't read the first three parts then they are currently 66p each on UK Kindle!

Also a bargain are the first 4 books in Leena Lehtolainen's Maria Kallio series which are 99p each during July on UK Kindle.

And finally, BritCrime have put together a handy page of British crime titles that are currently free or at a reduced price on UK Kindle.

Free & Cheap Scandi Ebooks

Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo tr. Reg Keeland is currently free on UK Kindle and UK Kobo.


(The Girl Who Played with Fire is 99p on UK Kindle.)

Jorn Lier Horst's Ordeal tr. Anne Bruce, released today, is currently £1.00 on UK Kindle.

(Dregs and Closed for Winter are currently 98p each on UK Kindle.)

Broadchurch Series Two - e-shorts news

E-reading fans of Broadchurch will be able to get added value as Little, Brown have announced that there will be 8 e-book short stories to accompany the second series, written by Erin Kelly and Chris Chibnall:

Little, Brown Book Group is delighted to announce the planned publication of eight short stories alongside the second series of ITV’s Kudos-produced smash hit, BAFTA-award-winning show, Broadchurch.

This groundbreaking cross-media collection of stories will be published exclusively as ebooks. A creative first, they will be released at midnight following the broadcast of each episode. The stories, written by bestselling author Erin Kelly in close collaboration with Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall, will consist of 100% original material that is tied closely to that evening’s episode. 

The stories will offer an unrivalled opportunity for Broadchurch fans to spend more time with the cast of fantastic characters, allowing them to delve deeper into the different characters’ lives, histories and secrets. The stories are designed to be watched with specific episodes of the show, expanding on the viewer’s enjoyment of the TV series in a completely innovative fashion. They will retail at 99p each.

ERIN KELLY wrote the official Broadchurch novel, published August 2014. Broadchurch was selected as a prestigious Novel of the Year (2014) by Kirkus Reviews in the USA and has been translated into eleven languages around the world, garnering international critical acclaim and bestseller status.

Review: Now That You're Gone by Julie Corbin

Now That You're Gone by Julie Corbin, June 2014, Hodder & Stoughton, ebook

Reviewed by Michelle Peckham.
(Read more of Michelle's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

Set in Scotland, Isla’s life is turned upside down when her twin brother Dougie is found drowned in the Clyde in Glasgow. Isla can’t accept that her brother, an ex-marine, could have died in such a banal way. He’d only had 4 pints to drink in a local pub and he should have been able to swim to safety after falling in the river. As he worked as a private investigator, she is sure that he must have put himself in danger possibly as a result of his investigation into the disappearance of a young girl called Lucy. She thinks that his death was more than simply an accident as the police have concluded and is determined to prove it.

While the novel focuses on Isla’s attempts to get to the bottom of what caused Dougie’s death, the real story is about her life, her relationship with Dougie, her sister Marie, her parents, and her own children and ex-husband, and how she starts to re-evaluate aspects of those relationships. It’s also about her coming to terms with the shock of Dougie’s death and its unexpectedness. It was such a stupid and avoidable death, and she has to discover that there was something more to it as a way of giving his death more meaning. Her investigations lead to her making discoveries about Dougie, uncovering some of his secrets and learning things about him and his life that she didn’t know or realize. A short, excellent read that manages to capture the sense of loss when someone close dies, and the sense of desperation to make sense of it all.

Michelle Peckham, September 2014

Liz Evans's Grace Smith series becoming available digitally

The first three books of Liz Evans's well regarded Grace Smith series are now available as ebooks. The first book in the series, Who Killed Marilyn Monroe? is available on amazon and kobo however the next two appear to be Kindle only at the moment.

Book Two, formerly titled JFK is Missing is now called Blindsided and is currently free on UK Kindle.

Book Three, Don't Mess with Mrs In-Between, is now called Heir Apparent.

The six-book series, set on the South Coast, was first published between 1997 and 2005.

Remembering Petrona: In a Word: Murder

One of several ways in which Maxine Clarke aka Petrona is being remembered is through Margot Kinberg's fabulous idea to put together an anthology with all proceeds going to the Princess Alice Hospice.

She's announced today that the anthology, In a Word: Murder is now available to buy.

Contributors are: Martin Edwards (Author), Pamela Griffiths (Author), Paula K. Randall (Author), Jane Risdon (Author), Elizabeth S. Craig (Author), Sarah Ward (Author), Margot Kinberg (Editor).

Read more about it at Margot's blog.

Buy from:
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

Mini Review: Bones in Her Pocket by Kathy Reichs

Bones in Her Pocket by Kathy Reichs, ebook, July 2013, Cornerstone Digital

Though I have been a great fan of Bones the tv series (until the latest series where I gave up) I have never read any of Kathy Reichs's books. So when this short story was offered on Netgalley I decided here was my way in to the Temperance Brennan series which now numbers sixteen.

Bones in Her Pocket is set in North Carolina and Dr Temperance Brennan is called in when some bones are found washed up on a lakeside. This is the second discovery of bones in this area and could be related to the disappearance of a female student. It is Brennan's job to determine cause of death and an identity of the owner of the bones. Also near the lake are a power station, an environmental activist and a bird rescue centre all of which play a part in solving the murder enquiry which ensues.

This is a short story, hard to say exactly how many pages (I read it on a Kindle) but at least 50, and so it is a proper tale with several characters, some interrogations and a dramatic reveal at the end. I enjoyed it once I got used to the author's very clipped style. And in fact I've downloaded the latest book in the series, Bones of the Lost. I would recommend Bones in Her Pocket as a good way to sample the Brennan series.

Free Teresa Solana Short Story

Crazy Tales of Blood and Guts, an ebook collection of short stories by Teresa Solana, translated by Peter Bush, has recently been released by Bitter Lemon Press:

Official Blurb: Fascinating short stories that include a rather bloody satire on installation art (“Still Life No.41”, shortlisted for the 2012 short story Edgar award), a wonderful story of gruesome revenge involving a wayward son-in-law, a surprising and hilarious tale of a pre-historic serial killer who invents God and psychoanalysis, and, inevitably, a vampire story told with venom and humor.

One of the stories, The First (Pre) Historic Serial Killer, can be read for free online here.

Free Ebook: The Third Pig Detective Agency

Bob Burke's The Third Pig Detective Agency is a short, humorous crime novel which should appeal to all ages and is currently free on UK Kindle and Kobo.

My review is here.

Free Short Story Collection (ebook)

The following collection of short stories is available for free at amazon.co.uk (kindle) and Kobo (epub) and contains stories by Parker Bilal, Conor Fitzgerald, Thomas Mogford, James Runcie and Anne Zouroudi


From Obsession and Payback to Secrets and Lies, Deception and Bad Judgement, these thrilling tales will shock and surprise you with their cunning. Short Sentence was launched in 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing, in association with the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook. Following a short story written by one of Bloomsbury’s brilliant crime authors, competitors were challenged to take up the same theme and write of a dastardly deed using 1000 words or less. This is Bloomsbury’s collection of the winning entries in parallel with the five brilliant authors, Parker Bilal, Conor Fitzgerald, Anne Zouroudi, Thomas Mogford and James Runcie.

Free Kindle Ebook - The Bluejay Shaman

Lise McClendon's The Bluejay Shaman is currently free on UK Kindle. It's the first in the Alix Thorssen series. (The Euro Crime connection is that Alix is part Norwegian and the third book in the series is called Nordic Nights!)

Traveling the back roads of Montana, not-quite-fearless art gallery owner Alix Thorssen is far from home and up to her Ray-bans in shaman’s secrets, mysterious deaths, madness, and – ah yes – passion among the pine needles. Whoever killed Shiloh Merkin hated her and wanted her dead. But did Wade Fraser, Alix’s brother-in-law and University of Montana anthropology professor, do the deed? What happened to the petroglyph of the bluejay shaman? Alix follows a trail of sex, moonlit rituals, and legendary artifacts as another murder leads her to a chilling confrontation with the killer.

Two Free Kindle Ebooks by Geraldine Evans

Two of Geraldine Evans' Rafferty and Llewellyn series are currently available for free on UK Kindle. I've read and reviewed both of them on their original release in 2004/5: Dying for You, sixth in the series, and Love Lies Bleeding, the eighth.

Buy Dying for You here.

Buy Love Lies Bleeding here.

A Kindle Freebie & a Bargain

Currently free in both UK and US Kindle, is Tony Black's Gus Dury novella, Last Orders:

Official blurb:
When he receives a mysterious letter on expensively embossed paper, reluctant investigator Gus Dury decides to take the case, if for no other reason than he needs the cash. But there's something about his well-heeled client, Callum Urquhart, that doesn't sit right with Dury.

Urquhart has travelled across the country to find his missing teenage daughter -- who definitely doesn't want to be found. As Dury gets closer to locating Caroline, what he uncovers is a web of lies and deceit and some painful realisations that lead back to his own tangled past.

Last Orders is a 14,000 word novella, first published in the Edinburgh Evening News, from the author of the Random House UK Gus Dury series: Paying for It, Gutted, Loss, and Long Time Dead - which is soon to be brought to the big screen by Richard Jobson.




I was tipped off by MrsPeabody that Norwegian by Night by Derek B Miller is currently selling on UK Kindle for £1.59.

Official blurb:

He will not admit it to Rhea and Lars - never, of course not - but Sheldon can't help but wonder what it is he's doing here...


Eighty-two years old, and recently widowed, Sheldon Horowitz has grudgingly moved to Oslo, with his grand-daughter and her Norwegian husband. An ex-Marine, he talks often to the ghosts of his past - the friends he lost in the Pacific and the son who followed him into the US Army, and to his death in Vietnam.

When Sheldon witnesses the murder of a woman in his apartment complex, he rescues her six-year-old son and decides to run. Pursued by both the Balkan gang responsible for the murder, and the Norwegian police, he has to rely on training from over half a century before to try and keep the boy safe. Against a strange and foreign landscape, this unlikely couple, who can't speak the same language, start to form a bond that may just save them both.

An extraordinary debut, featuring a memorable hero, Norwegian by Night is the last adventure of a man still trying to come to terms with the tragedies of his life. Compelling and sophisticated, it is both a chase through the woods thriller and an emotionally haunting novel about ageing and regret.

Free Ebook - The Complete Sherlock Holmes

Released today, The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle is available to download for free from Amazon.co.uk and Kobo.

The complete collection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes tales, both long and short, compiled together for the first time by Simon & Schuster for free!

This fantastic collection is accompanied by an exciting new introduction from Robert Ryan, a writer who's own book has been fully endorsed by the Conan Doyle Estate. A big Holmes fan himself, he will undoubtedly provide a fascinating new look at the detective and his bizarre ability to read both people and objects, in order to discover who dunnit.

Free Short Story - Bruno and le Pere Noel (Martin Walker)

Quercus continue to spoil us with this, their third free short story after ones by Alex Connor and Elly Griffiths.

Martin Walker's Bruno and le Pere Noel can be downloaded at amazon.co.uk and is also available free at Kobo.

It's the last market day before Christmas and Bruno, Chief of Police is preparing for a traditional gastronomic feast. But, never off duty for long, Bruno is called to action when he receives information that a prisoner on parole has gone missing, last seen heading for St Denis, where his ex-wife and son live.

The goose, the oysters, his English girlfriend's Christmas pudding and Bruno's famous mulled wine will just have to wait... .

And if Martin Walker’s ‘Bruno’ novels have inspired you to visit this beautiful part of France yourself, keep reading for the author’s own guide to ‘A Perfect Week in Perigord’.

Free Short Story - Ruth's first Christmas Tree (Elly Griffiths)

A seasonal short story, Ruth's first Christmas Tree, by [Euro Crime favourite] Elly Griffiths is available for free.

Ruth's first Christmas Tree is available on US Amazon and also as a pdf via when you sign up at the Quercus website.

It is three days before Christmas and a bitter wind is blowing across Norfolk.

Until her daughter was born, forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway didn’t do Christmas, but now that Kate is a year old, she wants it to be special.

She must get a tree, shop for food, clean the house, buy presents, including one for her new boyfriend—who she isn’t even sure is her boyfriend—and remember to get the turkey out of the freezer.

But time is rushing by and the best-laid plans don’t always work out …

Free Kindle Short Story (UK) - Unearthing the Bones (Alex Connor)

Unearthing the Bones, a short story by Alex Connor is currently free on UK Amazon (Kindle):

Blurb on Amazon:

A human skull is discovered in Madrid.

A serial killer takes a life in London..

The race is on, to own the most notorious relic of all time..

A scorching short story and an enticing prequel to Alex Connor’s MEMORY OF BONES. 

Free Kindle Short Story (UK) - Edie Kiglatuk's Christmas

This short story by M J McGrath has recently become available for free on UK Kindle:

Blurb from Amazon: An exclusive free edition of this stunning short mystery set in the frozen high Arctic and featuring the most compelling new heroine in crime fiction: ex polar bear hunter Edie Kiglatuk. Also includes the opening chapters of M. J. McGrath's new book The Boy in the Snow.

The shortest day of the year didn’t count for much up on Ellesmere Island. By the time 21 December arrived, the sun hadn’t come up for two months and it would be another two before it managed to scramble over the High Arctic horizon. Objects, animals and even people could disappear during the Great Dark without anyone much noticing. Which was why no one reported Tommy Qataq missing . . . Christmas is fast approaching on Ellesmere Island, in the vast frozen landscape of the High Arctic, and half Inuit ex polar bear hunter Edie Kiglatuk is drawn into a mystery when a young man dies in suspicious circumstances. A stunning short mystery with a magical and heart-wrenching twist, Edie Kiglatuk's Christmas is from the CWA Dagger Award nominated author of White Heat and The Boy In the Snow and will be enjoyed by fans of Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow by Peter Hoeg and Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie series.

Free Kindle Book (UK) - The Storm Without

Tony Black's The Storm Without is currently free on UK Kindle. I'm not sure how long the offer will last.
Update 21/11/12, it's now 99p.

Still recovering from the harrowing case that ended his police career, Doug Michie returns to his boyhood home of Ayr on Scotland’s wind-scarred west coast. He hopes to rebuild his shattered life, get over the recent failure of his marriage and shed his demons, but the years have changed the birthplace of the poet Robert Burns.

When Doug meets an old school-days flame, Lyn, he feels his past may offer the salvation of a future. But Lyn’s son has been accused of murder and she begs Doug to find the truth.

Soon Doug is tangled in a complicated crimeweb of corrupt politicians, frightened journalists and a police force in cahoots with criminals. As he uncovers illicit smuggling activities at the town’s port and falls firmly on the wrong side of eastern European ganglords, the problems he left behind in Ulster are now the least of his worries. Only Burns’ philosophical musings offer Doug some shelter as he wanders the streets of Auld Ayr battling The Storm Without.

THE STORM WITHOUT is a 43,000-word novella, first serialised in the Ayrshire Post.