Hello Reader,
Welcome to the newsletter to all readers, old and new. Let's get straight to the monthly giveaway. For those who don't know, this is a monthly giveaway run by author Stephen Bentley with a single prize of any one of his digital (eBooks) books delivered electronically to the winner for free.
The December giveaway will be also one winner with an Amazon £50 GBP/$50 USD gift card as the prize plus any one of his eBooks.
Click the image below to enter.
One-Off Special Offer
My chart-topping book about my undercover days is now reduced in price at Amazon.
It is now only £2.99 in the UK and $3.99 in the United States. That price will remain until the new Penguin Books edition is published later this year.
Click the cover to grab that price while it lasts.
Book Promos
As usual, click the images/covers to see all the books in the promos. Some are free and some not.
Free Books - Thrill a Minute
KU First in Series
More Kindle Unlimited First in Series Reads
Author Swaps
Please click the covers of the books written by authors good enough to swap mentions in their newsletters with me.
Olivia Barrett believes in destiny. In determinism. In the certainty that her life’s path is already set.
But when a deadly explosion destroys her university lab—and kills the very professors she accused of misconduct—Olivia becomes the FBI’s prime suspect.
Teaming up with Rachel Quinn, an FBI bomb specialist who believes in free will above all else, Olivia must navigate a growing body count, a relentless investigation, and a series of disturbing events that suggest time itself may be slipping.
As the past and future tangle around them, Olivia and Rachel must unravel a killer’s plan before fate seals their own.
A mind-bending thriller of fate, obsession, and how far one person will go to rewrite the past.
Can You Change a Future That's Already Set?
Some women bury their dead. Others bury their secrets.
Irma Willoughby has always been fiercely independent. But as winter closes in, the silence of her isolated farmhouse grows heavier. A stark reminder of her recent widowhood and years of estrangement from her children. The house she refuses to leave holds more than just memories. It holds secrets.
Then her daughter Hilary returns, unannounced and full of questions. She says she’s worried, but Irma can feel the tension. The way she asks about Irma’s late husband. About the brother who died so long ago. About things better left unspoken.
As the temperature drops, strange disturbances begin to stir. A cellar door left open. Family photographs moved. Her husband’s old pipe reappearing without explanation. The past isn’t just haunting Irma. It’s clawing its way to the surface.
With trust fraying and danger circling, Irma must face the one truth she’s never dared admit: the greatest threat may not come from outside, but from within her own family.
In a home filled with ghosts, the most dangerous thing of all might be the truth.
Alone is a haunting psychological suspense novel about fractured families, buried guilt, and the chilling consequences of truth. It’s the first book in the Breaking Point Series, perfect for fans of The Push, We Need to Talk About Kevin, and Sharp Objects.
Audiobooks
You may wonder why I now promote Spotify over Audible. Part of the answer lies in this Spotify mission statement:
Spotify's mission is to "unlock the potential of human creativity". This involves giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and providing billions of fans with access to a wide range of music and audio content, while also aiming to revolutionize all of audio. Spotify strives to be the world's number one global audio platform, offering a space where different forms of artistic expression, ideas, perspectives, and voices are welcomed.
Put more simply, I earn more in royalties from Spotify than from Audible. The latter's royalty payment structure is shrouded in mystery but more to the point, it pays peanuts to the audiobook creators.
I have free Spotify codes for you to listen to some of my audiobooks. You can do that by opening a free Spotify account and requesting redemption codes for the following books:
Click the images to see more details.
Please note these codes are for review purposes only but Spotify only permits you to leave a rating so easy peasy if you want to add audiobooks to your device and/or try them out.
I also have codes for Spotify for other audiobooks all shown below Just ask me for codes for any books you fancy listening to and then leave a rating on Spotify as well as a review on Amazon and perhaps Google Books.
Click on the images for full details of each audiobook.
Who The F*ck Am I? was Book One in the Steve Regan Undercover Cop Thrillers but was replaced by Duplicity.
Many of you will have read my free book Rogue Agent which is Who The F*ck Am I? in an updated guise.
I still have some Audible free codes but don't shout about it because Audible sucks! I really do believe they rip off subscribers and their audiobook creators. Long Live Spotify!
Crime Reads Article: 9 Crime Novels with true crime vibes
"I’m a true crime buff and always have been. My generation grew up in an era without podcasts, Dateline, or Hulu, though we had Anne Rule and Unsolved Mysteries to get us through. But if we wanted the deep dirt on a notorious crime (and didn’t care about validity), we hit the supermarket tabloids. As a kid, I bought them with spare change along with my Pop Rocks and bubble gum, and the tabloid stories about devil-worshipping teachers and rampant child sacrifices planted the seeds that eventually grew into my latest book, Bald-Faced Liar..." writes Victoria Helen Stone
Click the image above to read the full piece.
All Stephen Bentley and Pen Names' Books on Pre-order
They include Shadows Over Middleclere, Book One in the new Middleclere Mystery series set in 1960s rural England. It is penned by KJ Cornwall but at one time it was to be an addition to the Stephen Bentley catalogue.
It ended up as a KJ Cornwall book because the primary genre is that of a cosy mystery mimicking the golden age of British detective mysteries. This era is characterised by the popularity of "whodunit" mysteries, often featuring closed settings like country houses and a focus on puzzle-solving.
The closed setting in my book is the fictional and quintessential English village of Middleclere.
Unlike the Jessie Harper and Khan books, there are no paranormal aspects to the book nor the series.
The book seemed a better fit for KJ than Stephen because as I think you will agree, my Stephen Bentley books are primarily no holds-barred thrillers.
However, because it is a good read, I think many of my thrillers fans will enjoy Shadows Over Middleclere.
Give it a try and pre-order it for only 99 cents/pence.
The Other Pre-Orders
As a full time writer, these books are in the pipeline and in various stages of development. They are staggered for release from September this year through to March 2026. All pre-orders are now priced at 99 cents/pence.
Two things are worth mentioning: (a) the chapter-by-chapter serialisation in my Ko-Fi store enables members to have early access to the books in draft form with a free personalised eBook of the final version on release day; and (b) if you wish to review these books as a new member of the ARC team, reply to this email and let me know.
- Merciless, Book 7 and finale to the Matt Deal series. (October 30)
- Shadows Over Middleclere (KJ Cornwall), Book 1 in the Middleclere Mysteries. (September 25)
- Bloodline Vendetta, Book 5 in the Steve Regan Undercover Cop Thrillers.(November 20)
- Dark Web, Book 2, L.A. Cyber Noir Mysteries.(December 16)
- A Ship Full of Secrets, (KJ Cornwall), Book 6 in the Jessie Harper Paranormal Cozy Mysteries. (January 15 2026)
- Still Waters (Yvette Caron), A Domestic Thriller. (January 15 2026)
- The Final Betrayal, Book 6 in the Steve Regan Undercover Cop Thrillers. (March 26 2026)
That's it for today. See you on the 15th.
Keep smiling, it's good for you!
Best wishes, Stephen
I hope you have enjoyed this newsletter. If you did, a small tip for a cup of coffee would be appreciated.
