Jul 10 2012
Daily Deals: Mystery and Classic Historical Romance
Final Price (A Paul Chang Mystery) by J. Gregory Smith. $ 2.99
From the Jacket Copy:
Wilmington, Delaware is one of those cities that feels more like a small town. Neighbors know one another, and businesses cater to the needs of the citizenry. But what happens when the local car salesman suffers one lost sale too many, when one more customer decides to buy from the competition because the price is too high, interest rates aren’t friendly, or that shade of blue just won’t work? In J. Gregory Smith’s electrifying thriller, Final Price, Shamus Ryan’s frustration works like a thorn under his skin until psychotic urges take over and he commits murder—serial murders, in fact—his victims chosen from prospective clients who dared to walk away. With Smith’s chilling scenes of massacre, readers are pulled into the vortex of a warped mind, one man justifying heinous acts, and two detectives running a race against time, trying to solve seemingly random killings. Paul Chang, a Chinese-American homicide detective, is struggling to understand why these murders are taking place. Assisted by his neurotic partner, Nelson Rogers, Chang goes after the killer with logic, tenacity, and no small measure of fear.
Written from the perspectives of Detective Chang and Shamus Ryan, readers quickly find themselves seeing the world in unique—and often disturbing—ways they never expected. With dark humor and gritty suspense, Smith has crafted a refreshing and surprising thriller.
Immortal with Bonus Material by Gillian Shields. $ .99
From the Jacket Copy:
For a limited time, this special edition of Immortal includes a teaser to the final book in the series, Destiny, as well as never-before-seen extras from author Gillian Shields, including a playlist and early notes from the beginning of the series.
Welcome to Wyldcliffe, the place that haunts my present, my past, and my future.
Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies is elite, expensive, and unwelcoming. When Evie Johnson is torn from her home near the sea to become the newest scholarship student, strict teachers, snobbish students, and the oppressive atmosphere of Wyldcliffe leave her drowning in loneliness.
Evie’s only lifeline is Sebastian, a mysterious and attractive young man she meets by chance. As Evie’s feelings for Sebastian blaze with each secret meeting, she begins to fear that he is hiding something about his past. And she is haunted by glimpses of a strange, ghostly girl—a girl who is so eerily like Evie she could be a sister. Evie is slowly drawn into a tangled web of past and present that she cannot control. As the extraordinary, elemental forces of Wyldcliffe rise up like the mighty sea, Evie is faced with an astounding truth about Sebastian, and her own incredible fate.
An Invitation to Seduction by Lorraine Heath. $1.99.
From Jacket Copy:
Kitty Robertson has grown up wealthy and influential, and she’s never more at home than when in an English parlour displaying her social graces.
When she looks for a husband, of course she seeks a man just as home in his position—hopefully a lofty one—as she is. Nicholas Glenville, Marquess of Greystone, is just such a man. He is so attentive and gentlemanly that she can’t help but accept his proposal of marriage, and is now looking forward to this Season being her last one as a single woman.
But at the very first ball of the year she meets an enigmatic, gorgeous duke who asks her for a dance. That duke is Trevor Nicholson, a man who knows the marquess well enough to know that he would not make her any kind of husband at all. Instead he nominates himself for the position, but as he soon finds, convincing the beautiful Miss Robertson to marry him instead will be the trickiest—and most worthwhile—task of his life.
Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale. $2.99.
From Jacket Copy:
The Duke of Jervaulx was brilliant and dangerous. Considered dissolute, reckless, and extravagant, he was transparently referred to as the ?D of J? in scandal sheets, where he and his various exploits featured with frequency. But sometimes the most womanising rake can be irresistible, and even his most casual attentions fascinated the sheltered Maddy Timms, quiet daughter of a simple mathematician.
Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K Hamilton. $2.99. This may be a today only deal.
From Jacket Copy:
Published over ten years ago by Ace, Guilty Pleasures marked the debut of a series that was destined to grow from cult favorite to a major New York Times bestseller. Now, for long-time Anita Blake junkies and newfound fans, Guilty Pleasures makes its trade paperback debut. Readers will learn how Anita Blake started raising the dead-and killing the undead. And how she met Jean Claude, the master vampire destined to become not only her biggest nemesis, but her greatest lover…
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Jul 10, 2012 @ 14:07:08
if you are looking for an asian detective series you might want to check out the Lydia Chin series by S.J. Rozan.
Jul 10, 2012 @ 14:11:35
That’s an odd blurb for Flowers from the Storm. It doesn’t mention any of the things that make that book unique — that Maddy is devoutly religious, a member of the Society of Friends (aka Quakers) or that Jervaulx suffers from aphasia due to a stroke which causes him to be mistakenly labeled a madman and locked in an asylum.
Ridley recently recommended FFTS in her If You Like…Books About Characters with Disabilities.
Jul 10, 2012 @ 15:14:06
I second Ruth’s recommendation. I love the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith mysteries! Rozan alternates the two of them as first person narrators from book to book. I believe the first book in the series China Trade, is on $2.99 on the Kindle. The later books are on the Nook, too, but I don’t think the first one is.
Jul 10, 2012 @ 17:55:21
John Burdett’s own books, featuring Thai-American police officer Sonchai Jitpleecheep and set in Bangkok, are one of my favorite (incredibly brutal) series. I know nothing about Thailand, but between Burdett and Colin Cotterill (crime series about Jimm Juree, frustrated and unemployed investigative journalist near the Gulf of Siam), I feel as though I have a front row seat.
I’ll have to take a look at the Paul Chang books. Thanks.
Jul 10, 2012 @ 17:58:49
Unlocked [Kindle Edition] by Courtney Milan is currently free. It’s #1.5 (novella) in The Turners series.
Jul 11, 2012 @ 05:55:22
@Janine: I agree; that blurb makes a rather remarkable story sound like thousands of undistinguished romances with stereotypical characters. I often find that the blurb does a book no justice at all (or at least I find that to be the case with trusted authors whose books I try anyway; if I haven’t read the author before, I’m going to assume the book is not worth my time and pass completely).
A couple of other random thoughts:
1. It may be sacrilege, but Unlocked is by far my favourite Milan novella.
2. Whichever publisher/editor strongarmed Lorraine Heath into abandoning Americana and writing English historicals should be shot. Heath has no feel for 19th century England at all, and after several deeply disappointing and exasperating attempts at reading her English historicals I have resolved never to waste any more time or money on them. Such a shame; I used to enjoy her books aeons ago.
(Mind you, her American western historicals may not have been particularly accurate either, but not being American, I could never tell. Reading her English historicals I always got the feeling that she didn’t really know what she was doing and was groping her way though that world.)
Jul 11, 2012 @ 14:51:40
@Nicole:
1. Why sacrilege? I thought Unlocked was very, very good. Ditto The Governess Affair, though.
2. I’m not a fan of Heath in either incarnation but the one Western I read (Sweet Lullaby) was better than the one English one (Waking Up with the Duke).
Jul 13, 2012 @ 07:25:08
@Janine: I probably didn’t make myself clear enough; while I loved Unlocked I didn’t find Milan’s other novellas that memorable. I certainly wouldn’t reread them. But many people have commented on here that they love them all. Good thing we’re all different, I guess.
Daily Deals: Chasing Sunset by Sami Lee
Jul 15, 2012 @ 14:02:28
[...] reading our comments!! Last week, I picked a deal featuring an asian detective and two commenters: Ruth and Carmen Webster Buxton recommended a series featuring Lydia Chin and Bill Smith by SJ Rozan. [...]