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Showing posts with label short stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label short stories. Show all posts

Monday, July 24, 2017

HUGE Berkley Prime Crime Sale!!! 7/24/17

Penguin/Random House has just put a bunch of bestselling cozy mysteries on sale for $1.99 or $2.99 for Kindle from the Berkley Prime Crime imprint.  The vast majority of the sale books are first in series titles.  These prices are unlikely to last long, so grab them while you can! Below we have summarized the books in sale alphabetically by author and title.  Be sure to scroll ALL THE WAY down...it is a long list, and we have some additional daily specials below the Berkley list:




Other Daily Deals
  • Libby Howard's The Tell-All, the debut of her Locust Point series 
  • Kathi Daley's Camp Carter, the 25th in her bestselling Zoe Donovan series
  • Holly Plum's Winning the Batchelor, the seventh in her popular Patty Cakes Bake Shop series. The first 2 in the series are also on sale for 99c
  • Zara Keane's To Hatch a Thief, book 1.5 in her Movie Club Mysteries series
  • Rita Mae Brown's Sour Puss, the 14th in her Mrs. Murphy series 
  • Nancy McGovern's Death at a B & B, the ninth in her popular Murder in Milburn series. On sale for pre-order for 99c for Kindle 
  • Each of the 3 books in GM Malliet's Agatha Award winning St. Just traditional British mystery series are on sale for $3.82 for Kindle: Death of a Cozy Writer, Death and the Lit Chick, and Death at the Alma Mater 
  



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    Thursday, April 20, 2017

    MRM Deals of the Day 4/20/17 and the Huge Open Road/Mysterious Press 99c Mystery Sale

    It was Mrs. MRMs birthday yesterday, so please forgive us if we were too busy celebrating to get up our daily blog post! To make it up to you today we have a super-sized daily deals post, including the usual new mystery releases and discounted Kindle mysteries, but also featuring a massive 99c ebook sale from Open Road/Mysterious Press. This 99c sale of hundreds of mysteries is unlikely to last long, so grab them while you can! If you missed Tuesday's deals, you can find them here. As always, be aware that when we include prices, they may not last and are subject to change. Please double-check before you buy.

     Today's new mystery releases include:

    Today's discounted Kindle mysteries include:

    Books included in Open Road/Mysterious Press' 99c Kindle mystery sale include:


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    Thursday, January 8, 2015

    In the Spotlight: Gemma Halliday Publishing

    Today we are introducing a new blog series, "In the Spotlight," in which we will highlight publishing houses that specialize in delivering digital format mysteries.  In many cases, these books are available at a much lower cost than traditional books or e-books from large publishing houses.  We are pleased to begin the series by featuring one of Mrs. MRM's favorite imprints, Gemma Halliday Publishing.

    I first discovered Gemma Halliday through her High Heels cozy mystery series featuring Maddie Springer, a high fashion shoe designer who finds herself unexpectedly embroiled in murder investigations with a handsome LAPD officer. Halliday crafts a fun, quirky character that is a perfect fit for a chick-lit cozy.  Overall, the series is enjoyable in that it offers romantic cozy mysteries that don't take themselves too seriously.

     I was pleased to see Halliday venture into the boutique publishing arena, lending her name and publishing expertise to some talented upcoming authors of cozy mysteries and women's fiction. My enjoyment of the High Heels series encouraged me to try some of the other series bearing her name, including the Jamie Bond (co-written with National Bestselling author Jennifer Fischetto) and Hollywood Headlines series.

    Some of the gems from this imprint have come from the talented author of the Bodies of Art and Organized cozy series, Ritter Ames.  Organized for Murder, the first book in the Organized Mystery series featuring professional organizer protagonist Kate McKenzie, is a fast-paced thriller that pulls you in and keeps you holding your breath until the last page.  Ames has a talent for keeping the tension high and your interest piqued.  Halliday clearly hit a home run when she brought Ames into the GHP fold.


    Ames' work is just the tip of the GHP iceberg.  As of this writing, the Halliday press represents 32 authors including:
    • Sibel Hodge, author of the Amber Fox mystery series featuring the insurance investigator/amateur sleuth of the same name
    • Stephanie Caffrey, author of the Vegas mystery series featuring quirky PI Raven McShane
    • Leslie Langtry, author of the Greatest Hits mystery series featuring the Bombay family, a motley bunch of assassins whose "talents" run in the family.  Merit Badge Murder is first in a new series from Langtry, the Merry Wrath mysteries.
    • Kelly Rey, author of Motion for Murder, featuring secretary/amateur sleuth Jamie Winters
    • Christina Burke, author of the Queenie Baby romantic mystery series, featuring wannabe rockstar Diana Hudson
    • Traci Andrighetti, author of the Franki Amato mystery series, complete with romance, suspense, and a marriage-minded Sicilian grandma
    • Janel Gradowski, author of the Culinary Competition cozy mystery series featuring competitive chef Amy Ridley (Book #2 of the series, Chicken Soup and Homicide, is due out February 23rd!)
    • Ellie Ashe, author of Chasing the Dollar, a relatively new mystery featuring former investment banker Miranda Vaughn as she attempts to clear her name and rebuild her life after being set up in a fraud scheme
    • Jennifer L. Hart, author of the Southern Pasta Shop series featuring chef Andy Buckland
    • Maria Grazia Swan, award-winning author of the Italian-inspired Lella York series

     Overall, the GHP roster offers a list of authors who provide fun, quality work for a more than reasonable price.  You could fill up your "to-be-read" list quickly and inexpensively just by sticking with this press, and if you are looking for cozy mysteries with a modern twist, start here.

    If you would like to sample the delights of Gemma Halliday Press, the recently-released short story collection, Cozy Christmas Capers, is a perfect place to start.  The collection includes 19 stories from 19 different GHP authors, allowing you a little taste of each series.
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    Wednesday, December 3, 2014

    Christmas Mysteries on Sale for Kindle, 12/3/14

    Several of the major publishers have dropped the prices on Christmas mysteries and thrillers from popular authors.  As of today, 12/3/14, the following Christmas mysteries are on sale for Kindle:

     Let me know if there are any Christmas mystery sales that I am missing!
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    Tuesday, March 27, 2012

    My Mystery/Crime Short Story Collection TBR List


    In my last post I mentioned some of my favorite recent short story collections.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, if I really think about it), I also happen to have a TBR pile that is even longer than that list.  Some of the books that I am eagerly looking forward to include:





    On top of that I have a bunch of back issues of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine to go through.  The March issue, which I am still working my way through, starts off with terrific stories from Joyce Carol Oates and Doug Allyn.  Where am I going to find the time for all these?


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    Monday, March 26, 2012

    Must Read Monday: Favorite Mystery/Crime Short Story Collections

    One of the great things about e-books is the way they have made short fiction much more easily and inexpensively available.  In particular, there has been a boon over the past year or two in hardboiled short story collections, but there have been some excellent classic/cozy ones as well.  I have previously mentioned some of the best titles in my blog posts on favorite freebie finds and 99 cent bargains, including Nigel Bird's "Dirty Old Town", Edward Grainger/David Cranmer's pair of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles short story collections, and Loren Estelman's "Amos Walker: the Complete Short Story Collection".  Among my other favorites are:

    Beat to a Pulp: Hardboiled, a lean, mean collection of 13 noir short stories edited by David Cranmer and Scott D.Parker. While all are quite dark, the collection varies in tone and voice. There isn't a dud in the bunch. My particular favorites were Thomas Pluck's succinct and distinct little revenge tale "Black-Eyed Susan" and Patricia Abbott's "Ric With No K", a story told in the voice of a 15 year old girl that invites comparison to daughter Megan's masterful novel "The End of Everything".




    Keith Rawson's The Chaos We Know, a (yes) raw collection of slices of life on the edge.  I especially enjoyed "The Anniversary Weekend", which had me laughing (inappropriately, some might say) before an ending that was a punch to the gut.








    Chris Holm's 8 Pounds: 8 Tales of Crime, Horror, and Suspense is an eclectic collection book-ended by a pair of wonderful stories about the long reach of the past, "Seven Days of Rain" and "The World Behind".







    Dave Zeltserman's Julius Katz Mysteries collects a pair of award winning stories that originally appeared in EQMM. These are clever modern updates of the Nero Wolfe tradition. While the mysteries are excellent traditional mysteries, it is the "relationship" between Katz and his AI assistant Archie that is the star of the show. Once you read these 2 stories you will want to get the full length Julius Katz and Archie.






    Lyvia J. Washburn's Hallam Collection includes 4 strong historical mysteries following the exploits of former cowboy turned early Hollywood stuntman/PI Lucas Hallam.  Of particular note is the change of pace "Hollywood Flesh", in which Lucas deals with zombies.








    Patti Abbott's "Monkey Justice" is a masterful set of 23 dark psychological/crime tales.  It is hard to choose a favorite from this eclectic bunch of stories , but if a gun were put to my head I would go with "Catnap", told from the point of view of a baby snatcher.






    Off the Record is a literacy charity anthology of 38 stories based on classic song titles edited by Luca Veste and including many of the best US and UK hard boiled short story writers.  As with any collection with this large there are going to be some duds, but there aren't many of them, and at 99 cents for 38 stories it is a great buy.  (Full disclosure:  when I bought this collection I sent in my receipt to enter a contest and won second prize)






    The "Top Suspense" group of authors, including such luminaries as Lee Goldberg, Dave Zeltserman, Ed Gorman, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Bill Crider, Joel Goldman etc. has two topnotch collections:  Top Suspense: Favorite Kills and Top Suspense: 13 Classic Stories.


    Lawrence Block's The Night and the Music compiles all of his Matt Scudder short fiction.  All the stories are good, but a few stand out. In "A Moment of Wrong Thinking", which gives a glimpse into the heart of Scudder's old partner Mahaffey, the story is left unresolved but is all the better for it. "Mick Ballou Looks at the Blank Screen" is a short vignette that has Mick musing on the final scene of the Sopranos (and I probably like it because Mick's interpretation matches my own -- Tony dies). Finally, there is the sad but sweet "One Last Night at Grogans" which puts a nice bow on the series as a whole.




    N.C. Hyzy's Mystery Short Stories Volume 1 includes a pair of deftly plotted but not quite cozy stories from the alter ego of Julie Hyzy, author of the White House Chef cozy mystery series.  "Panic", in which a mother and daughter become the targets of a serial killer, is every bit as good as the Derringer award winning mob tale "Strictly Business".





    And this is just the tip of the iceberg, as I have a bunch of short story collections in my TBR pile to look forward to!
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