British Book Bargains + The Author Whose Career Started On a Dare

August 14, 2025

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These days, Lisa Jewell is one of the most popular British authors in the psychological thriller genre. Her books like The Night She Disappeared, The Family Upstairs, None of This is True, and Then She Was Gone have tens - or even hundreds - of thousands of largely positive reviews.

What a lot of people don’t know is that her career in writing began with a challenge from a friend. She’d been let go from her marketing job at Thomas Pink (a luxury shirt maker in Mayfair), and she was devastated. Her friend knew she wanted to write, and challenged her to give it a try. They shook hands and she vowed to write three chapters…and that turned into her debut novel, Ralph’s Party.

You can find the full podcast interview where she talks about it HERE - and no worries if you’re not a podcast person, as they’ve also provided a text transcript.

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British eBooks on Sale: August 14th

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.

  • The Queen & the Countess by Anne O’Brien - In 1450s England, as King Henry’s health fails and the Wars of the Roses rage, Queen Margaret forges an uneasy alliance with Anne, Countess of Warwick—her husband’s enemy’s wife—only to find their fragile friendship tested by treachery, shifting loyalties, and the looming threat of betrayal.

  • Dark Crimes by Michael Hambling - On the Dorset coast, Detective Sophie Allen’s first major case as head of the Violent Crime Unit turns deadly when a young woman is stabbed to death and her mother is found strangled the next morning, leading Sophie into a tangle of hidden histories, brutal violence, and a hunt for a killer driven by twisted revenge.

  • Dangerous Waters by Anne Allen - In the series opener of The Guernsey Novels, Jeanne Le Page returns to the island after her grandmother’s death, intending only to sell the family cottage, but as wartime secrets from the German Occupation emerge and long-buried memories of a tragic boating accident resurface, she’s drawn into danger for the second time in her life.

  • (BOX SET) The Complete Tarnfield Cozy Mysteries by Lis Howell - This Cumbrian village mystery collection follows sharp-tongued single mum and former London TV producer Suzy Spencer, who stumbles into amateur sleuthing amid Tarnfield’s gossip, rivalries, and simmering secrets, uncovering murder and scandal behind its postcard-perfect charm across six witty, twist-filled novels.

  • Murder in Norfolk by Sadie Norman - While on extended leave after a near-fatal stabbing, DC Anna McArthur discovers a mutilated body in King’s Lynn’s historic park, pulling her back into West Norfolk’s Serious Crimes team to hunt a killer leaving the word “catfish” carved into his victims.

  • Black Summer by MW Craven - When a woman claiming to be the murdered daughter of celebrity chef Jared Keaton appears in a remote Cumbria police station, Detective Sergeant Washington Poe—whose testimony put Keaton behind bars—must race with analyst Tilly Bradshaw to uncover how she can be alive before she vanishes again and all evidence points back to him. (It’s also worth noting that book 7 in this series, The Final Vow, just came out yesterday.)

  • Good Material by Dolly Alderton - When his long-term girlfriend Jen ends their relationship without explanation, struggling comedian Andy is left homeless, heartbroken, and desperate to piece together what went wrong—only to discover her side of the story may change everything.

  • (FREE) Murder at the Mayfair Hotel by CJ Archer - In December 1899, newly arrived at her uncle’s opulent London hotel, Cleopatra Fox’s fresh start is shattered when a guest is poisoned on Christmas Eve, forcing her to navigate family tensions, suspicious staff, and high society intrigue to catch the killer before the New Year’s Eve ball.

  • (FREE) An Inconvenient Letter by Julie Wright - In 1828, when Marietta Stone’s secret love letters to Frederick Finch are accidentally delivered to his home, she strikes a risky bargain with his cousin Gerard Hartwell—help him woo her wealthy sister in exchange for the letters’ return—only to find their pretend courtship turning dangerously real.

  • (FREE) Ice Blue by Emma Jameson - In this London-set mystery, almost-sixty-year-old Lord Anthony Hetheridge, Chief Superintendent at Scotland Yard, investigates the murder of a wealthy financier while navigating an age, wealth, and class gap with DS Kate Wakefield — a partnership that stirs both romantic tension and dangerous secrets from his past.

  • The Invincible Miss Cust by Penny Haw - In 1868 Ireland, Aleen Cust defies her aristocratic English family and societal norms to study at Edinburgh’s New Veterinary College under a false name, determined to become Britain and Ireland’s first woman veterinary surgeon despite the legal and personal obstacles ahead.

A Few Print Book Deals…

Print books aren’t sold as cheaply as ebooks (and Amazon has recently announced plans to take larger fees on books priced under $9.99, causing publishers/authors to increase prices), so for these we look for books priced at $10-12 or less at time of writing.

  • (IRISH) The Lost Letters of Aisling by Cynthia Ellingsen - When Rainey brings her grandmother back to her childhood estate on Ireland’s southern coast, a trunk of 1945 letters reveals a long-hidden story of friendship, love, and dangerous secrets between two girls in postwar Dublin—truths that could finally bring healing across generations.

  • Making the Cut by Veronica Peartree - At the Women’s Scottish Open, a perfectionist Canadian pro golfer is forced to team up with a cheeky local caddie—sparks, insults, and attraction flying with every round.

  • The Tapes by Kerry Wilkinson - While clearing her father’s house, Eve finds a tape from her long-missing mother saying she’s been murdered—sparking a search for the truth that could make Eve the next target.

  • Three Mothers by Hannah Beckerman - When a teenager is killed in a hit-and-run, three mothers—each guarding secrets about their own family—are drawn together in grief, only to risk having the truth tear them apart.

“There is nothing more sensuous than a rich fast car driven by a rich slow man through a Highland evening.”

MC Beaton, Death of a Gossip

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