Monday, December 10, 2012

Blatant Promotion, Part I — Holiday Sales Pitch? How About Nook And Kindle Stuffers?


Around the holidays, my mother used to search for small, inexpensive items to put in the kids’ Christmas stockings along with hard candy my grandfather made, walnuts, almonds and tangerines.

So, as we are besieged by advertising about Christmas gifts, black Fridays, Cyber Mondays, flat-screen TVs, Hondas and new blockbuster movies, I realized I’ve done nothing to market my books.  Inspired by the stockings that were “hung by the chimney with care,” it occurred to me that many of my books could provide tiny, inexpensive gifts — Kindle, Nook and iPad stuffers. Great last minute gifts for the mystery lovers in your life.

Quick and easy and just in time! Even some of my more expensive e-books have been reduced to a price less than a Hallmark Card and doesn’t even require postage.  And there’s even a place for a message.  All of the books below are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and can be sent, along with a message, as gifts to friends and family. All of them can be found, at this moment, for less than $4.  All you need is the email address your friends or relations use to download books and the source of that download:

The e-book prices below are current as of this posting and are based on Amazon prices, though the books are available elsewhere as well. Buy here or check in with your favorite bookstore or ebook provider.

Death in the Haight, Dutton, $2.99. Fifteen-year-old Michael appears to have been kidnapped, but he is also implicated in the murder of a prostitute. Noah Lang is hired by Michael’s parents to get to the bottom of the situation. Lang wrestles with the moral implications of rescuing Michael, only to have to turn him in for murder; and an increasingly volatile homicide inspector’s behavior may just put Lang’s life in as much grave danger as Michael’s.  This just released, original novella is among the first books released in Penguin’s re-launch of the famous Dutton Guilt Edged Mysteries imprint.

Mascara, Death in the Haight, LDF Books, $3.99. From the very beginning, things just aren’t what they seem. On a late, lonely night, San Francisco private investigator Noah Lang’s eyes deceive him. He makes a mistake. But what should have been simply an embarrassing moment becomes a deadly walk on the wild side. Unfortunately for Lang, before this nightmare is over, he puts his life on the line a second time for a new client who may or may not have a missing husband, who might or might not live on a boat in Tiburon and who seems to have an odd way to settle the bill for services rendered.  Also available in trade paperback.

Good to the Last Kiss, Severn House, $2.99. An Inspector Vincent Gratelli mystery — San Francisco Inspector Vincent Gratelli is charged with finding the killer of young women — all murdered in the same way, all left with an intimate mark. The most recent victim was beaten and raped in her weekend cabin. There appears to be only one difference — she is still alive.  This leaves Gratelli with two questions: how can these murders be stopped . . . and how does the killer feel about unfinished business?

A dark, twisty, little gem.”— Kirkus Reviews


Bullet Beach, Severn House, $2.99. PI Deets Shanahan takes on the search of his lifetime.  When seventy-one-year-old private investigator Deets Shanahan learns from a snippet of news on the Internet that his brother, who disappeared when they were kids, could be somewhere in Thailand, he immediately sets out, accompanied by his lover, Maureen, to find his errant sibling. But it turns out that this is much more than finding a missing person who wants to stay missing. Treasure, deceit and murder soon interrupt their search on the streets of Bangkok and on the beaches of Phuket.  This is the most recent Shanahan mystery.  Order on-line or go through your local bookstore.

“Engaging and entertaining.” — Booklist


Death in North Beach, Severn House, $2.99. The second book in the new Paladino and Lang mystery series.  Sweet William, a professional companion to the wealthy, needs help. A famous, but not beloved, novelist is found dead, and William is the prime suspect. His only recourse is for the real murderer to be found. Working from an impressive list of suspects, all whose secrets were to be revealed in the victim's unpublished tell-all memoir, Carly Paladino and Noah Lang stir up serious trouble on their hunt for the missing manuscript — and the murderer.  Also available in trade paperback. Order on-line or go through your local bookstore.

“…. the makings of a superior series. Tierney, author of the Deets Shanahan series, has a winner here.” — Library Journal


The Early Shanahans, Books 1 through 4, LDF Books, $3.99 each.  These are the first books in the popular “Deets” Shanahan series.  An aging private investigator gets a new lease on life and he along with a host of colorful characters sort out some serious murders in Indianapolis.  The Stone Veil, Steel Web, Iron Glove and Concrete Pillow are also available in trade paperback.

"Tierney's 'Deets' Shanahan series offers characters of depth and sensuality, and well-placed swipes of razor-sharp humor." — Publishers Weekly

I’ll make one more sales pitch next Monday, then I’ll give it a rest for a while.






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