When I was compiling my list of Mysteries Which Would Appeal to Romance Fans, a few people mentioned P.B. Ryan’s Gilded Age mysteries featuring the governess Nell Sweeney, and the opium-addicted former battle surgeon, William Hewitt. At the time, the books were all out-of-print.
P.B. Ryan – who also writes medieval romances as Patricia Ryan – has now released her backlist digitally. The books are available at Smashwords and also from the Amazon Kindle store. I’ve already bought a bunch of them as they’re included in Smashwords’ summer sale. At $2.24 each, I couldn’t resist. I want to start the first P.B. Ryan mystery, Still Life With Murder, this evening. Yay!
Please, pretty please, let more authors release their backlists digitally. I far prefer buying ebooks from their authors rather than paying crazy amounts for used books which only profit the seller.
Edited to Add: AztecLady recently reviewed one of Patricia Ryan’s Harlequin Temptation books, All of Me. Hopefully her Harlequin books will be reissued digitally at some point. Thanks to Sunita for the heads up.
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6 new books–just what I need! At this point, I’d have to be going on vacation for waaaay more than a week to get through all the “holiday” reads stored up on my Sony. Thanks for the tip; what a great deal.
Have you seen Nicola Upson’s mysteries with Josephine Tey as a character? I’ve got the first, An Expert in Murder, but haven’t read it yet. They seem right up your alley.
Oh, good! I can’t wait to see what you think of them.
@Liz: It is a good deal. And I’m a sucker for books on sale.
@heidenkind: I stayed up late last night finishing Still Life With Murder. I really enjoyed it. It was a good book in its own right and set the scene nicely for the continuing series.
Sarah, thanks for blogging about the Nell Sweeney books! So glad you like the series. The first book, Still Life With Murder, has my favorite scene of all that I’ve ever written–the one where Nell first meets Will in that police station holding cell, when he’s in opium withdrawal. The first half of that scene (it gets cut off at a chapter break) is here, if anyone’s interested: http://www.patricia-ryan.com/stilllifeexcerpt.html
I also think more authors would get their backlist out there as reasonably priced ebooks. What more perfect way could there be of introducing new readers to your work?
You said you hoped my Harlequins would be reissued. They tend to hold onto the rights to books a loooooong time, but as it happens, I just found out I’ll be getting a couple of my early Temptations back. As soon as I know for sure which ones they’re reverting, I’ll set about publishing them as ebooks.
Oh, and my Evil Twin, Pamela Burford, has also republished two of her sexy, funny romances digitally, and she’s posted excerpts on her blog: http://pamelaburford.wordpress.com/
Happy trails!
Pat
@Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan: Thanks for commenting! I really enjoyed Still Life With Murder and I’m delighted there are five more books in the series to look forward to.
I looked for the Nell Sweeney series just a couple of months ago after a few readers recommended them to me. The only copies I could find were used and ridiculously overpriced, plus I’d have had to pay postage to Switzerland.
I discovered your digital reissues by chance yesterday when I was browsing Smashwords. When I saw you’d also written medieval romances, I was in book heaven.
You mentioned on your website that you’re currently working on a new book. Is it a mystery or a romance?
Oi! No dissing the secondhand book sellers!
Everyone has to make a crust.
@Edie: Edie, I stand corrected.
Besides which, I’ve found many a great book in secondhand book shops.
Oh, Sarah, I love it when people stay up all night reading my books! That’s the best comment I can hear from a reader. That, and “You made me cry.”
I buy used books, too, when I can’t them any other way. But you’re right, Sarah, the prices they’ve been asking for Still Life With Murder are INSANE! It was up to $145 recently. Now I think it’s $112. What happened was, Berkley Prime Crime decided to start letting titles in their various mystery series go out of print when the sales started slowing, just as if they were single title books. Problem was, they instituted this policy about the time Book #2 of the Nell Sweeney series was coming out, so people who discovered the series with the later books couldn’t get the earlier ones! It was as frustrating for me as it was for my readers, because it crippled the momentum of the series. Still Life became this rare, valuable commodity. Even I only have 3 or 4 copies, and with some of my books I have whole unopened cartons in the basement.
As for what I’m writing now, well, it’s actually back-burnered for the summer, because I have so much else on my plate–most of it good, like my daughter’s upcoming wedding. I hesitate to say too much about the current book because it’s in the early stages and I’m not 100% sure it’s going to work out. But it’s actually a romance, my first straight romance in years.
Pat
@Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan: The Nell Sweeney series is definitely a winner for me. It’s 1 am my time, and I’ve just finished Murder in a Mill Town. It’s so much fun finding a series I like, and knowing there are still a few books to look forward to.
Best of luck with your WIP & I hope your daughter has a wonderful wedding day.
@Liz: Sorry, I just noticed your reference to the Upson books now. No, I haven’t tried her Josephine Tey mysteries yet, but I have them on my ever-growing wish list!
Thanks, Sarah! Hope you enjoy Death on Beacon Hill just as much. Now, get some sleep!
XOXO,
Pat
Thank you kindly for the linkage, SarahT!