[Free eBook] Merridrew Follows The Trail by John Russell Fearn [Western Historical Murder Mystery]

Merridrew Follows The Trail by the late British author John Russell Fearn is is a standalone western historical investigative action mystery novel, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press’ Frontier imprint.

This was originally published in 1953 by World’s Work Ltd, and was later reprinted by Linford as part of their Linford Western Library line.

The story is a hybrid action adventure and murder mystery, where a sheriff and mayor must team up to solve the case when troubles come to town as a new saloon singer and a stranger with a gang of outlaws on his trail arrive, even as local ranch owners start to be mysteriously murdered and their properties burned to hide some sort of possibly-related secret.

Offered worldwide, available at Amazon.

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[Free eBook] Lessons in Trust by Charlie Cochrane [LGBT Historical Mystery with Romance]

Lessons in Trust by British author Charlie Cochrane is the 7th novel in the Cambridge Fellows series of historical murder mysteries with strong m/m romantic elements, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press.

This was originally published in 2009 by Samhain. The series takes place at the turn of the 20th century in England, and stars an amateur sleuthing gay couple solving crimes, mostly in and around the university-going set.

This is set in London in 1908, pitting the sleuthing couple against both a suspicious Inspector who refuses to let them help in the case of the murder of an unidentified man for whom they’ve uncovered clues, as well as a family mystery which leads one of the pair to abruptly disappear.

Offered worldwide, available at Amazon.

[Free eBook] Lessons in Temptation by Charlie Cochrane [LGBT Historical Mystery with Romance]

Lessons in Temptation by British author Charlie Cochrane is the 5th novel in the Cambridge Fellows series of historical murder mysteries with strong m/m romantic elements, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press’ Endeavour Media imprint.

This was originally published in 2009 by the now-defunct Samhain Publishing. The series is set in England at the turn of the 20th century and stars an amateur sleuthing gay couple solving crimes, mostly in and around the university-going set.

This story takes place during a visit to Bath in 1907, where one partner starts looking into the mysterious death of a local prostitute, while the other gets distractingly drawn into a theatrical drama produced by an overly flirtatious old friend set on doing Shakespeare’s Macbeth and possibly more if he can help it.

Offered worldwide, available at Amazon.

[Free eBook] With Our Blessing by Jo Spain [Police Procedural Mystery]

With Our Blessing by Irish author Jo Spain is the 1st novel in her Inspector Tom Reynolds of series of police procedural mysteries, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Quercus.

The series stars a Detective Inspector in Ireland. This story sees him investigating the murder of an elderly woman, which he suspects is linked to Ireland’s notorious historical Magdalene Laundries which forcibly housed “fallen” women as a source of free labour under extremely harsh conditions, only to find out that the killer is not content with burying grievances with the past.

Offered in the UK and other selected countries worldwide (excluding North America), available at multiple retailers.

[Free eBook] Code of Conduct by Kristine Smith [Science Fiction Thriller]

Code of Conduct by Kristine Smith, the 2001 recipient of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, is the 1st novel in her Jani Kilian Chronicles of far-future science fiction thrillers, free for a limited time courtesy of the author herself via the backlist author re-publishing consortium Book View Café.

This was originally published in 1999 by Avon’s Eos imprint. The series contains space opera, MilSF, and political intrigue elements, and stars a disgraced former captain turned fugitive cyborg, The Six Million Dollar Man-style. This installment has a touch of murder mystery in it, as a former lover who managed to track her down asks her to help him find his wife’s killer, and she must secretly return to the Commonwealth she once fled in order to do so.

Offered DRM-free worldwide through the month of March, available directly from the publisher as well as via several other retailers.

[Free eBook] The Actress by Elizabeth Sims [Murder Mystery]

The Actress by Elizabeth Sims, a Lamdba Literary Award-winning author and regular contributor to Writer’s Digest, is the 1st novel in her Rita Farmer series of contemporary murder mysteries, free for a limited time courtesy of the author herself via her self-publishing imprint Spruce Park Press.

This was originally published in 2008 by St. Martin’s Press’s Minotaur imprint. The series is a humorous one which stars a part-time actress and single mother who is saving up for law school and in the meantime puts her acting skills to unusual use. This installment has a celebrity defense lawyer hiring her to coach his client to give a greater appearance of innocence at an upcoming murder trial, and Rita finds herself getting involved with more than just the optics of yet another Hollywood tabloid case.

Offered DRM-free worldwide, available at Amazon.

[Free eBook] Signatures by James A. Hetley [Urban Fantasy Murder Mystery]

Signatures by James A. Hetley is his standalone contemporary urban fantasy murder mystery novel, free for a limited time courtesy of the author himself via the Book View Café backlist author re-publishing consortium.

This is a police procedural set in a magical version of our world, starring a retired police forensic wizard tracking down the culprit behind the mysterious dreams of an old, dead criminal whose magical signature is now adorning new murder victims.

Offered DRM-free worldwide, available through the month of February directly from the publisher.

[Free eBook] The Lying Game by Sara Shepard [YA Teen Murder Mystery Drama]

The Lying Game by bestselling YA author Sara Shepard is the 1st novel in her The Lying Game series of YA high school drama novels with supernatural murder mystery elements, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher HarperCollins’ HarperTeen imprint.

This series, which is the basis of the eponymous ABC TV show, is centred around the mystery of who killed a popular teen girl, narrated by the ghost of the murder victim as her secret twin sister takes her place in an attempt to flush out the killer. This installment sets up the series by having the surviving twin apparently witness the murder of her heretofore unknown sister, and proceed to invisibly step into and publicly live her sister’s life as a decoy, attempting to keep up appearances with friends and family even as she tries to find and outwit the murderer.

Offered in the US only, available at multiple retailers.

[Free eBook] Mesopotamia by Arthur Nersesian [Literary Thriller Satire]

Mesopotamia by Armenian-American author Arthur Nersesian, a recipient of the Anahid Literary Prize for Armenian literature, is his standalone contemporary literary mystery/thriller satire, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Akashic Books.

This is a satirical literary fiction novel which skewers the modern prediliction towards celebrity-oriented news media via a murder mystery thriller setup. The story stars a down-and-out journalist who takes a freelance assignment near her childhood small hometown in Tennessee, which in a roundabout way results in her amateur-sleuthing an impromptu investigation into the murders of Elvis impersonators at a local festival, in the process uncovering a fantastic story which she can never reveal.

Offered DRM-free through midnight December 15th, available worldwide directly from the publisher as part of their holiday advent calendar promotion.

[Free eBook] The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson [Historical Murder Mystery]

The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson is the 1st novel in her Thomas Hawkins series of historical murder mysteries, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Hodder & Stoughton.

This won the CWA’s 2014 Historical Dagger Award and was also a finalist for their John Creasy New Blood Dagger Award for best UK-debut crime novel. The series is set in London, England, in the 1720s, and this installment lands the protagonist in the titular debtors’ prison, where he must solve a murder whose chief suspect is his cellmate.

Offered in many worlwide regions outside of North America, including Europe, Oceania, South America, and and Japan, available at multiple retailers.