British Book Bargains + the Author Who Drove for Uber Before His Breakthrough

Avid readers are always on the hunt for new voices to love, but the truth is sobering: for every writer who breaks through, many more give up long before their talent reaches us. Financial realities, lack of publisher support, or simple bad luck can silence even the most gifted storytellers.

Adrian McKinty came close to being one of them. Despite awards and critical acclaim for his Belfast-set Sean Duffy mysteries, he was broke, evicted from his home, and driving an Uber to make ends meet. Ready to give up writing altogether, McKinty got a midnight phone call that changed everything, pushing him to finish The Chain, a novel that went on to land a six-figure book deal and a seven-figure film deal.

For readers who discovered him through The Chain, it’s worth going back to the books that made his name: the Sean Duffy series, with its sharp, witty Northern Irish detective navigating the Troubles, or his debut Dead I May Well Be, which drew on his own roots in Carrickfergus. Together they show not only his talent, but how close we came to losing a major voice in crime fiction to circumstance - and it’s enough to make you wonder just how many other authors never broke through.

Start learning AI in 2025

Keeping up with AI is hard – we get it!

That’s why over 1M professionals read Superhuman AI to stay ahead.

• Get daily AI news, tools, and tutorials

• Learn new AI skills you can use at work in 3 mins a day

• Become 10X more productive

Sign up and start mastering AI

British eBooks on Sale: September 1st

As always, a short disclaimer on the sale listings - the overwhelming majority of our readers are US-based, so sale availability may vary outside of the US (it’s up to the publisher/author if they wish to coordinate sales internationally). Deals can disappear at any time, but all e-books were $2.99 or less at time of writing.

• Wartime Farm by Peter Ginn, Ruth Goodman, & Alexander Langlands - Based on the BBC series, this book explores life on a recreated World War II farm in Britain, showing how people adapted to food shortages with homegrown produce, backyard chickens, and a culture of “make do and mend.”

• Out of Bounds by Val McDermid - In Scotland, Inspector Karen Pirie investigates a cold case uncovered by a teenager’s DNA test, while secretly pursuing another mystery tied to a decades-old terrorist bombing.

• The Mystery of the Crooked Man by Tom Spencer - When a “lost” Golden Age manuscript makes Agatha Dorn a literary star before being exposed as a hoax, the sharp-tongued archivist must clear her name and solve a murder linked to the forgery.

• Nine Lives: My Time as MI6’s Top Spy Inside al-Qaeda by Aimen Dean - This memoir follows Aimen Dean, once al-Qaeda’s top bomb-maker who later became a double agent, exposing plots and saving lives while operating undercover inside the global jihad.

• The Man With No Face by Peter May - In 1979, Edinburgh journalist Neil Bannerman investigates the double murder of a Cabinet Minister and a fellow reporter in Europe, uncovering a deadly conspiracy while protecting the young girl who witnessed the crime.

• The Little Village Bakery by Tilly Tennant - After heartbreak, Millie moves to the village of Honeybourne to revive a rundown bakery, but as she finds friendship and romance, an unwelcome figure from her past threatens her fresh start.

• The Toll House by Carley Reagon - When Kelda moves with her son into an old toll house, they uncover a hidden death mask that unleashes a terrifying presence, forcing her to confront the home’s dark past before it consumes them both.

• The Little Christmas Library by David M. Barnett - ChatGPT said:

  When Molly returns home to the Northern town of Merry-le-Moors for Christmas, she joins her father on his mobile library rounds, where books, tea, and companionship bring together the town’s lonely residents—until the library itself comes under threat.

• A Dark Matter by Doug Johnstone - In Edinburgh, three generations of the Skelf family inherit their funeral home and private investigation businesses after the patriarch’s death, uncovering hidden affairs, a missing friend, and dark secrets that threaten to upend everything they thought they knew.

A Few Print Book Deals…

• The Last Train to London by Meg Waite Clayton - Set in pre–World War II Europe, this novel follows Austrian teenagers Stephan and Žofie as the Nazis rise to power, and Dutch resistance member Truus Wijsmuller, who risks everything to smuggle Jewish children to safety on the Kindertransport.

• The Body in the Dales by JR Ellis - In the Yorkshire Dales, DCI Jim Oldroyd and DS Carter investigate the murder of a disliked villager whose body is found deep in a cave, only to uncover further deaths and secrets buried within the close-knit community.

• The Manor House Murder by Faith Martin - When a female cleric dies during a church conference dinner at a manor house hotel, vicar’s wife Monica Noble must uncover the killer to clear her husband’s name after he becomes the prime suspect.

• The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell - In Victorian England, newly widowed Elsie moves into her late husband’s estate, where she discovers a locked room containing a wooden figure resembling herself—one that seems to watch her as fear and superstition grip the house.

“Imprisonment was never the real punishment: it was the people you were stuck with.”

Laura Purcell, The Silent Companions

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. When referencing products, we use affiliate links where possible to help offset the time and costs of running this newsletter.