# FREE! P.B. Ryan's STILL LIFE WITH MURDER



## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

Recently I got the rights back to the sixth and final book in my popular 19th century mystery series featuring Boston governess Nell Sweeney and opium-smoking former battle surgeon Will Hewitt, which Berkley Prime Crime published as the Gilded Age Mysteries. I was really jazzed about this, because ever since the earlier titles in the series started going out of print, I've been inundated with emails from readers who'd read Book #4 or 5 or 6 and wanted to know how they could get their hands on the rest. Book #1 has been especially coveted and hard to come by--as you can tell from the insane prices being asked for the paperback edition of _Still Life With Murder_.Anyway, as soon as I had the rights for all six books back in my hot little hands, I republished them, along with my six medieval romances (more about them in a future post), on Kindle and Smashwords, at $2.99 (although all twelve titles are on sale for 26% off at Smashwords until the end of July). So far, the only titles being sold as Kindle Books are the six mysteries and one of the medievals, _Heaven's Fire_







, but they should all be available within the next couple of weeks, and of course you can download books from Smashwords in Kindle's .mobi format.

_Still Life With Murder,_ which I'm proud to say was nominated for the prestigious Mary Higgins Clark Award, contains my all-time favorite scene out of the two dozen or so novels and novellas I've published over the past 15 years. Set in the winter of 1868 in a Boston police station holding cell, it introduces the wounded, roguish, complicated, dangerously charming Will Hewitt. The scene begins in Chapter 2 and spills over into Chapter 3, and you can read the first half in this excerpt from my website.

















































Here's the back cover copy for the paperback edition of _Still Life,_ which I think sets up the series pretty well:

_Boston, 1868: The wealthy are enjoying the height of the Gilded Age, a time of opulence for many...but not all. Nell Sweeney, a young Irish immigrant, knows what it is to have nothing. But when she earns a coveted position as governess to the wealthy Hewitts, Nell discovers that deadly secrets often lurk beneath society's gilded surface.
The two eldest Hewitt boys were thought to have been killed in the Civil War some three years ago. But one winter's day, the family hears word that their William is, in fact, alive and in jail for having killed a man...

Enraged at his son's deception and convinced of his guilt, August Hewitt is determined to see William hang and thus forbids his wife from aiding Will in any way. But Viola Hewitt believes her son is innocent and begs Nell to help her exonerate him. With few leads and even less time, Nell must rely on her wits and her knowledge of the city's dark underbelly to uncover the truth...before the hangman's noose tightens around William Hewitt's throat..._

"Nell is one of the strongest, most honorable, and dearest heroines to grace the pages of an amateur sleuth novel....P.B. Ryan knows how to write a tale that will grip and keep readers' interest throughout the novel." _Midwest Book Reviews_

****PLEASE BE AWARE:* If you browse on Amazon or other online stores for my ebooks, you should know that there's another author who has started writing romance ebooks for Extasy Books under the name "Patricia Ryan," which is my legal name and claimed trademark. If a book was published by Extasy, I did not write it. Only the books listed on the "All Titles" page of my website were written by me.***

Happy Reading!

Pat


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Welcome to KindleBoards, Patricia, and congratulations on your books! (I already clicked for the first one.  )

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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Wow. Nice covers, Patricia!

Good luck with ALL your books  

Sandy


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

Sandra Edwards said:


> Wow. Nice covers, Patricia!
> 
> Good luck with ALL your books
> 
> Sandy


Thanks, Sandy. I've been getting a lot of compliments on the covers, which feels great because I did them myself. I have a BFA in painting, but I don't have much time to pursue it anymore. This kind of thing gives me that visually creative outlet.

Pat


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## AlexJouJou (May 16, 2010)

I totally agree. Gorgeous covers. I picked up the first one! It looks quite fascinating!


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## Pamela Burford (Jul 25, 2010)

Pat's Evil Twin here, chiming in about the covers. I personally think the ones she designed herself are so much nicer than the ones generated by her publishers' art departments. Pat also designed my e-book covers, and I love them! Great to have an artist in the family.

Pam


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

AlexJouJou said:


> I totally agree. Gorgeous covers. I picked up the first one! It looks quite fascinating!


Alex, thanks for the compliment, and for buying the book. I appreciate it!


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

Pamela Burford said:


> Pat's Evil Twin here, chiming in about the covers. I personally think the ones she designed herself are so much nicer than the ones generated by her publishers' art departments. Pat also designed my e-book covers, and I love them! Great to have an artist in the family.
> 
> Pam


See, everybody? There really is a Pamela Burford. My "Evil Twin" isn't just the way I refer to my own contemporary writing persona, as (at least) one reader believed until I set her straight recently. BTW, anyone who likes witty, sexy romance must check out Pam's books. She's a two-time RITA finalist, and like me, she's publishing her backlist on Amazon and Smashwords as she gets the rights back from her former publishers.


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## Pamela Burford (Jul 25, 2010)

Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan said:


> See, everybody? There really is a Pamela Burford. My "Evil Twin" isn't just the way I refer to my own contemporary writing persona, as (at least) one reader believed until I set her straight recently. BTW, anyone who likes witty, sexy romance must check out Pam's books. She's a two-time RITA finalist, and like me, she's publishing her backlist on Amazon and Smashwords as she gets the rights back from her former publishers.


Someone actually thought I was your contemporary-romance alter ego? How Fight Club! Well, it would be Fight Clubby if you thought there were two of us when there was only one. Wait, my head's getting all woo-woo.


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

(I cross-posted this on the thread about my medieval romances.)

At long last, I've set up Facebook & Twitter accounts, and started a blog, in honor of my newly e-published backlist. Come visit me!

Blog - Facebook - Twitter​


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

My books are now being sold in Apple's iBookstore in addition to the Kindle Store and Smashwords, so if you've got an iPhone, iPad, or iPod, check them out!

Pat


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

Two pieces of news:

1) My books are now available in Sony's Reader Store.

2) BACKLIST EBOOKS is a brand new venture by print-published authors who have released our out-of-print backlist titles as reasonably priced ebooks. In a few months, we'll have an ambitious web site online. For now, check out our Facebook page http://facebook.com/backlistebooks with links to ebooks by our authors (13 authors of all genres, and counting), info about ebooks, and more!

Pat


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

Still Life With Murder is #1 on Amazon's Historical Mystery bestseller list!









​


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

My newest blog, based on my experience as an editor, promotion manager, and published author: Everything you always wanted to know about the publishing business, but were afraid to ask


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

* Halloween Sale! *​
Get 25% OFF Smashwords coupon codes for ebooks by 14 authors, including NYT and USA Today bestsellers and major award-winners! And these are already-low-priced digital reprints of out-of-print titles from major publishers, so it's an opportunity to stock up on some fabulous reads by terrific authors! All genres and ebook formats *(including MOBI for the Kindle). *

You can get the coupon codes either at the Backlist eBooks Facebook page  or our interim website (click on the "Specials" page). The sale ends Oct. 31, so don't delay--and don't keep it a secret from your friends who love bargain books!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Just finished _Still Life with Murder_ and found it to be an excellent book. . . .have already bought the second in the series. . . . . .


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## hwest (Jun 21, 2010)

I devoured this series. Found out about it and read them all within a week. Such a deal.


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

*Just reduced to 99 cents!*

Book #1 of my Berkley historical mystery series, STILL LIFE WITH MURDER, a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award and a true book of my heart. Post-Civil War Boston: An Irish-born governess must try to clear her employer's son, an opium-addicted former battle surgeon, of a murder charge.

Regularly $2.99--not sure how long I'll keep it at this price. 

​


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

Before long (sometime this month), STILL LIFE WITH MURDER will go back to $2.99, so if you're a mystery fan, you might want to snag it now for 99 cents!


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

STILL LIFE WITH MURDER, Book #1 of my Berkley historical mystery series, was a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award and has held the #1 spot on Amazon's Historical Mystery Bestseller list; it's currently #3, with the other books in the series all in the top 13. STILL LIFE has 29 Amazon reader reviews, 20 of them 5-stars.

Mini-synopsis: In post-Civil War Boston, an Irish-born governess must try to clear her employer's son, an opium-addicted former battle surgeon, of a murder charge. Avail. from Amazon, Sony, Kobo, Diesel, Smashwords, etc.

STILL LIFE is regularly $3.99. I'm not sure how long this promotion will last (am I crazy like a fox, or just plain crazy?), so get it while it's FREE!

Pat


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

I'm reeling! Since it went free yesterday morning, STILL LIFE WITH MURDER has been downloaded 20,000 times! It's #1 on the Kindle free ebook bestseller list, #1 on the free mystery bestseller list, and #1 on the free women sleuths bestseller list. And the second book in the series, MURDER IN A MILL TOWN, is currently #3 on the paid historical mystery list for all Amazon books.

Amazon doesn't let Kindle books stay free indefinitely. At some point in the next few days, they'll return it to its regular price, so if you're curious as to what all the fuss is about, download your free copy of STILL LIFE  and let me know what you think!


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Thanks for the heads up. Just downloaded it. I've been noticing your books in the top 20 for historical mysteries for awhile now and there'll never be a better time for me to check them out.


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

Dara England said:


> Thanks for the heads up. Just downloaded it. I've been noticing your books in the top 20 for historical mysteries for awhile now and there'll never be a better time for me to check them out.


Dara, thanks for downloading the book! I look forward to hearing what you think of it. I've been admiring the cover of ACCOMPLISHED IN MURDER for some time--checked it out just now and bought it. You designed the cover, I take it? You do beautiful work. I design covers also, but I've had to stop taking on new clients because I'm overloaded. I'll be dropping you an email.


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

My freebie campaign is going great guns! So far, there have been 52,000 free downloads of STILL LIFE WITH MURDER, and the other books in the series are flying off the virtual shelves. If you haven't snagged a copy yet, I wouldn't wait much longer, because Amazon will only let so many free copies get downloaded before they put on the brakes.

In fact, I've been loading my Kindle up with freebies of anything that catches my eye. It's just as easy as downloading a sample, and if it ends up I like the book, I don't want to go back for it only to find it's no longer free.


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## Shellybean (Apr 22, 2009)

I was one of the 52,000 and I just finished it yesterday. I enjoyed it very much and will be reading the others. I really loved Nell and Will. I would love to know more of her past!


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## nicholasdenmon (Jun 9, 2011)

I love these book!


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

Shellybean said:


> I was one of the 52,000 and I just finished it yesterday. I enjoyed it very much and will be reading the others. I really loved Nell and Will. I would love to know more of her past!


Never fear--more of Nell's past will be revealed in the next book.  One thing I hate when I'm reading a novel is info-dumping right up front, where you find out everything there is to know about your protagonist and then move on from there. The process of discovery adds another level of interest to the storytelling, IMO.


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## Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan (Jul 15, 2010)

nicholasdenmon said:


> I love these book!


Thank you so much! I've never enjoyed writing anything as much as I enjoyed writing these books. Nell and Will are incredibly real and special to me.


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