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 Get stuck into this bunch of Free books. I'm sure you'll find something here to keep you awake until the last page.

 

 Looking for your next KU read. You'll find it among this list of mystery/thrillers.

 

 We all like something for free, here's a list of free mystery/thrillers to keep you reading for months.

 

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Murder on the Murray 

When duty and death collide, The Devil takes the field.

Detective Mark Bannon earned his nickname the hard way as a crack shot in the South Australian outback who could track anything and never missed. Now confined to desk duty in Mildura after a misconduct inquiry, he’s meant to stay behind a computer screen and away from fieldwork.

When a fitness instructor is found bludgeoned to death by the river, Detective Inspector Gerske needs Bannon’s tracking skills and investigative instincts. As Bannon reads footprints in the dust and follows the evidence through the mallee scrub, he hunts a man who won’t let go. A man willing to kill to keep what he’s already lost.

With a dangerous suspect in his sights, and Professional Standards watching his every move. Bannon must prove he’s more than the cold-blooded killer the rumours claim.

But when a call from Geelong shatters everything, Bannon discovers some fights can’t be won with a rifle and some losses leave wounds no amount of justice can heal.

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R. Bownds Author News 

Merry Christmas 2025

 When I was a child there were three important days at the end of the year and beginning of the next. Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day.
Christmas day was the highlight, presents wrapped under the tree not to be opened until after all chores and breakfast was finished. The youngest would have the honour of handing out the presents while everyone sat around.
The Christmas tree was always a pine Dad sourced, cut down and brought home, we'd decorate it with glass baubles, ornaments, tinsel, an angel for the top and these little birds with wire claws that we'd clamp to the branches. Tinsel garlands would stretch across our ceiling from corner to corner and along the walls.
Santa came early sometime through the night, we'd try to stay awake but unfortunately drop off to sleep before the big man arrived and left presents on the foot of our beds. He'd eat the slice of Christmas cake and drink the milk left out for him and be gone without us knowing.
My mother always baked the Christmas cake and iced it with white icing and green coloured icing piped around the edges. The words Merry Christmas piped using icing of either green or red colouring. There was a small nativity scene and pieces of holly for decorations.
She also made the Christmas pudding, boiled in a cloth in the old traditional way. She'd make this two or three months before the big day, I remember it hanging from the kitchen rafters wishing Christmas would come earlier so we didn't have to wait. It contained sixpence and threepence which were considered good luck if you found one in your slice. Not so good for your teeth if you bit into one as my brother found out once.
Christmas dinner was always a big roast meal despite the summer heat in Australia. Duck or Chicken sometimes we'd have roast pork with crackling, accompanied by roast potatoes, roast pumpkin and green peas or beans.
Boxing day, we always referred to as picnic day because that's what it was, Christmas leftovers, packed up and we'd trundle off in the car to some picturesque spot, spread out the blankets and enjoy a cold picnic lunch.
Come New Year it started again, another cake, another pudding in the cloth and the big roast meal.
After all this my mother would take a photo of us children around the tree as a memory before the decorations were removed and the tree taken away.
In later years, the old fashioned values of these days and the trimmings that went with them changed and my mother began serving salads although still with the roast meat. Boxing day became just another day the same as New Year without celebrations although Dad still insisted on sitting up to see the old year out and the new year in.

On that note.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays or however you say it in your neck of the woods for 2025.
Also a happy and prosperous New Year for 2026.

 

Tracking Jacky

Ever wondered about Detective Bannon's tracking skills? This short story will help to solve the mystery.

Young Mark Bannon and his girlfriend Rita return to the homestead after a successful hunt to get a kangaroo for Rita's pop and nan. Rita informs him she is going quondonging with her cousin Jacky and they can practice tracking. Jacky is good at hiding his tracks and has a secret hidden in his backpack he is sure will prevent Mark from finding him.

For those of you who don't know what a quondong is, it's an Australian native fruit tree that grows throughout the outback of South Australia. The fruit when ripe is ruby red, luscious and tart.

This would be one of the first stories I wrote many years ago now. I'm surprised it survived the many house moves on paper and eventually on floppy disk then transferred to computer to again survive crashes, until I found it in a dusty archive on an external hard drive while sorting out some files.

Well here it is, tidied up, polished and fit for publication.

Get it for FREE here now
 

 

The Lion’s Den

First the Goats. Then the Women. It Started with a Big Cat. It Ends with The Devil.

In the remote Australian outback of north-west Victoria, a farmer dies confronting a predator stalking his livestock. Constable Madeline Kerne calls it in to Sergeant Michael Ryan, who along with homicide detective Mark ‘The Devil’ Bannon are enjoying a quiet weekend gathering at local farmer Joe Cooke’s property.

What starts as a routine stock theft investigation turns sinister when women vanish from the community. Then Constable Kerne herself disappears, and journalist Condamine Baxter … Detective Bannon’s love interest.

Rural whispers of conspiracy harden into grim reality.

Bannon assembles an unlikely team: methodical Sergeant Ryan, stoic Senior Constable Scott Jackson, and eager rookie PC Caleb Jones. Together they hunt a predator who knows the mallee scrub around Mara better than they do … one who understands that out here, people disappear and questions go unanswered.

To catch a predator this cunning, Bannon must become what the outback already believes him to be. The man behind the legend. The monster they whisper about when darkness falls.

The Devil is coming.

And he doesn’t play by the rules.

Some hunters become the hunted.
Some crimes require a monster to catch a monster.
In this forgotten corner of Australia, a killer is about to meet their match.

This is the third book in the Mara Mysteries Series.

Pre-order Ebook now available. 

 Five days to go to ebook pre-order day. Excitment's growing. 😀

 

 Pre-order release day for The Lion's Den is getting closer. Just over three weeks away. 😱
Am I ready? Almost, I hope. All edits going well, I'm not up to the final read through and a few small touch ups that could be needed.

If you haven't started reading The Mara Mysteries yet why not start now with book one, Enter The Devil available through Amazon as ebook, paperback or Kindle Unlimited.

 

 If you've read Enter The Devil and Skeletons In The Closet you'd know who this is.
If you guessed Constable Richard Parry you're correct.

Parry left at the end of Skeletons In The Closet. Will we see him again?

No spoilers here! What happens to Parry you'll have to wait and see.

 

 A Weekend At Joe's

In between Skeletons In The Closet and The Lion's Den is this little gem. 
Joe's much anticipated doo. If you can't get enough of Mark Bannon, Mick Ryan and all the colourful characters from the fictional town of Mara you can join them for a weekend of fun and laughter at Joe's with a spot of shooting, a barbeque and an old fashioned outback country dance.
While this is not a necessary part of the Mara Mysteries who can't resist a little fun in between the serious stuff? 

You can download this little short story from Amazon Here. 

 

 A sneak peek at the opening paragraphs for The Lion's Den. 

Editing is coming along and on track for an early December release. Chapters will begin drifting into my proof-readers inboxes within the next two weeks. 

Meanwhile enjoy this tantilising, spine chilling excerpt.

 

 

Betrayal In The Dust - Jack Smith Series Raw … Outback … Action When ex-detective Jack Smith discovers the body of missing backpacker Grace Wilson during a hunting trip, he faces an impossible choice: walk away and return to his quiet exile, or risk everything to uncover the truth behind her death. Jack can't let it go. His discovery haunts him, driving him from isolation to investigate—and he quickly realises Grace’s murder is connected to something far more sinister than a random killing. Her death pulls him into the grim underworld of Ethan Kelly’s human trafficking empire. A brutal network shielded by corrupt officials at every level. Jack can't take on Kelly alone. He reaches out to his former partner, ex-Detective Senior Constable Alice Saunders, and the morally questionable drifter ex-Detective Sergeant Jasper Mitchell—a man whose past makes him as dangerous as the criminals they're hunting. Together, this unlikely team of damaged ex-cops must navigate a web of corruption, betrayal, and violence to bring down Kelly's network. But in a game where the rules are written by criminals and the system itself is compromised, can three flawed heroes deliver justice—or will they become the next victims? A gripping thriller about redemption, justice, and the price of doing what's right when the system has failed.

This raw, outback thriller is available from Amazon Here

 Jack Smith is off to the proof readers. All looking good so far. 😊

 

 

In case your wondering what's happening with Jack Smith. I'm currently close to final edits and almost ready to send off to my proof readers. As this is a shorter story they will receive the full book in one file instead of chapter by chapter.

So far this accidental novel is looking good. 😃

 

 

Book three in the Mara Mysteries - The Lions Den is up to the first editing stages. Expected release is currently early-December 2025 just in time for Christmas.

If you haven't already read the first two books in the series you can find them on Amazon.

 

 Skeletons In The Closet.

*Now Available in Ebook and Paperback*

Amazon Ebook       Amazon Paperback

These links will take you to Amazon Australia if you live outside Australia go to your country's Amazon website and search for the ASIN numbers B0FBS5XX7J for Ebook or 1763849511for paperback.

 

 

 

Signed Paperbacks now available.

Price $25 each for local pickup or delivery or $40 each includes postage Australia wide.

Overseas shipping available contact with your address for price.

Contact me if your interested in purchasing one.