Past Kindle Book Deals but Still Must Read Books!
Looking for must read books you missed the first time around? You’re in the right place. This is where all of our past Kindle book deals live—the ones good enough to click, even if the discount’s gone. Every book here was hand-picked by our team, featured in a daily deal, and still earns a spot on your TBR.
No filler. No bots. Just actually good books at prices that might still be suspiciously low.
Why Check Out Past Deals?
Didn’t grab it when you should have? These past picks are still worth your time.
Still discounted? Some deals stick around longer than you'd think.
Fuel your TBR guilt-free. Add more, regret nothing.
Browse Past Deals
These Books Earned Our Seal of Approval—Snag Them Before They Vanish (Again)
Looking for spicy fantasy? Cozy mystery? A nonfiction rabbit hole? Use the filters below to search by genre, mood, or chaotic book-buying impulse.
Each book comes with retailer links. Just tap “Get Deal” and you’re off.
*Apropos Books is an affiliate marketer, which means we may earn advertising fees from qualifying purchases. These fees are paid by the retailer or affiliate partner, not added to your purchase price, so there’s no extra cost to you.*
Browse by genre
65 past books matching Historical Thriller
Best for readers who like detailed medieval warfare, political rivalries, and the complicated lives of professional soldiers.
The Captain of Venice
Historical Fiction · Historical Thriller
Our take
Praised as “The master of historical fiction” by the Sunday Times, Christian Cameron continues William Gold's story as the knight considers retirement after a campaign without pay. The prospect of a truce between France and England, an uprising in Florence, and an offer of captaincy draw him back into military life, along with the chance to reunite with a noblewoman. Best for readers who like detailed medieval warfare, political rivalries, and the complicated lives of professional soldiers.
Choose your retailer
About the book
The next instalment in the Chivalry series from a master of historical fiction.
The Chivalry series follows William Gold, who runs away from London to follow the Black Prince, from the killing fields of France, through life as a routier and criminal, and to redemption with the Knights of Saint John, further disillusion and an eventual career as a professional soldier and knight. Rich in the details of life in the High Middle Ages, the series also deals with modern issues about the role of violence in society, rules of conflict and war, and the price that people pay for using violence.
After a hard campaign without pay for the Pope and as a pawn in the games between Venice and Genoa, William Gold had considered retiring from military life. But letters intimating the truce between France and England, and the potential uprising of the state of Florence draw him back into the fray. An offer of captaincy from his old commander, and the chance of reuniting with the beautiful noblewoman he had travelled with on his last campaign, bring him back into action.
'One of the finest historical fiction writers in the world' BEN KANE
'The master of historical fiction' SUNDAY TIMES
'A storyteller at the height of his powers' HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
A strong match for readers drawn to bleak historical fiction, family tragedy, and stories of revenge.
The Kept
Historical Fiction · Historical Thriller · Western
Our take
Called “Dark and mysterious” by The New York Times, The Kept follows midwife Elspeth Howell and her twelve-year-old son Caleb after killers murder her husband and four children on their isolated upstate New York farm in 1897. After Caleb nurses his wounded mother back to health, the two venture into the frozen wilderness to find the men responsible. A strong match for readers drawn to bleak historical fiction, family tragedy, and stories of revenge.
Choose your retailer
About the book
“Dark and mysterious. . . . A novel whose daring is found in its bleakness. . . . The plot unfolds with a weighty languor reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy. . . sparse, elegant. . . haunting.” — New York Times
Set in rural New York state at the turn of the twentieth century, superb new talent James Scott makes his literary debut with The Kept—a propulsive novel reminiscent of the works of Michael Ondaatje, Cormac McCarthy, and Bonnie Jo Campbell, in which a mother and her young son embark on a quest to avenge a terrible and violent tragedy that has shattered their secluded family.
In the winter of 1897, a trio of killers descends upon an isolated farm in upstate New York. Midwife Elspeth Howell returns home to the carnage: her husband, and four of her children, murdered. Before she can discover her remaining son Caleb, alive and hiding in the kitchen pantry, another shot rings out over the snow-covered valley. Twelve-year-old Caleb must tend to his mother until she recovers enough for them to take to the frozen wilderness in search of the men responsible.
A scorching portrait of a merciless world—of guilt and lost innocence, atonement and retribution, resilience and sacrifice, pregnant obsession and primal adolescence—The Kept introduces an old-beyond-his-years protagonist as indelible and heartbreaking as Mattie Ross of True Grit or Jimmy Blevins of All the Pretty Horses, as well as a shape-shifting mother as enigmatic and mysterious as a character drawn by Russell Banks or Marilynne Robinson.
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
A strong match for readers who enjoy psychological suspense, childhood mysteries, and emotionally complex thrillers.
Sorry Isn’t Good Enough
Thriller · Historical Thriller · Psychological Thriller
Our take
Called “Gripping and surprising, and at turns chilling and heartbreaking” by Melanie Golding, Sorry Isn't Good Enough follows nine-year-old Stephanie in 1966, when a friendship with the mysterious Mr Man offers comfort amid a difficult childhood. But when her friend disappears in the woods, unanswered questions haunt her for years. In 1977, a man following Stephanie on her train journey home raises fears that the truth about that summer is catching up with her. A strong match for readers who enjoy psychological suspense, childhood mysteries, and emotionally complex thrillers.
Choose your retailer
About the book
1966. Nine-year-old Stephanie has an emotionally absent mum, a limp, and a manipulative friend who walks all over her. But everything changes when Stephanie strikes up a relationship with Mr Man, who always seems pleased to see her. Finally, it seems she has a genuine friend.
When Stephanie's friend goes missing in the woods, no one in the neighbourhood appears to know what has happened to her, but someone is lying...
1977. Stephanie has spent her life trying to bury the events of that terrible summer. When a man starts following her on the train home from London, she suspects the dark truth of what happened may have finally caught up with her.
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
A strong match for readers who enjoy atmospheric historical mysteries, early forensic investigations, and unconventional detective partnerships.
The Gravedigger’s Almanac
Historical Fiction · Mystery · Historical Mystery · Historical Thriller
Our take
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Hangman's Daughter comes a historical mystery set in 1893 Vienna, where young inspector Leopold von Herzfeldt teams up with eccentric gravedigger Augustin Rothmayer to investigate a series of ritualistic murders. With help from telephone operator Julia Wolf, they follow the killer into the city's underworld as modern criminology begins to take shape. A strong match for readers who enjoy atmospheric historical mysteries, early forensic investigations, and unconventional detective partnerships.
Choose your retailer
About the book
The New York Times bestselling author of The Hangman's Daughter returns with the first volume in a brand-new historical mystery series which introduces a gravedigger and young inspector who must stop a serial killer in fin de siecle Vienna—the period during which modern criminology was born.
Vienna, 1893. A gravedigger at the city’s famous Central Cemetery, Augustin Rothmayer is an unorthodox yet highly educated oddball who finds solace amongst the dead as well as in the writing the pages of the first almanac of his profession. But his fragile peace is abruptly disturbed when young inspector Leopold von Herzfeldt, an ambitious young transfer from Graz, arrives in need of help from someone expert in death. No one knows the subject better than Augustin Rothmeyer.
A superstitious killer is on the loose in this gripping historical thriller. His victims include several maids, each brutally staked. Recognizing the killer is using an ancient ritual for keeping the undead buried, the gravedigger joins the inspector on a journey that will take them deep into the underworld of their glamorous cosmopolitan city. In their search for a depraved monster, they receive unexpected help from telephone operator Julia Wolf, who impresses them with her unusual insight even as she fights her own personal demons.
Oliver Pötzsch’s inventive historical crime series delivers the thrills and historical detail modern international mystery fans crave: a grippingly plotted mystery rooted in early forensic investigation, a rich and painstakingly researched setting, a fascinating look into the beginnings of modern criminology, and an unlikely and unforgettable trio of characters.
- A great read for spooky-season nights
- A perfect addition to any Halloween reading list
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
A good pick for readers who like historical spy thrillers built around wartime intelligence, pursuit, and undercover intrigue.
Prince of Spies
Historical Fiction · Thriller · Historical Thriller · Political Thriller · War Fiction · World War 2
Our take
Young detective Richard Prince hunts a German spy who comes ashore on a Lincolnshire beach in 1942, pulling him into a WWII espionage case, with a 4.4-star rating from more than 4,000 Amazon reviewers. A good pick for readers who like historical spy thrillers built around wartime intelligence, pursuit, and undercover intrigue.
Choose your retailer
About the book
Find the truth; risk everything. A gripping WWII spy novel full of intrigue and peril from a modern master.
1942: A German spy comes ashore on a desolate stretch of Lincolnshire beach. But he is hunted down by a young detective, Richard Prince. The secret services have need of a man like him...
In occupied Europe, Denmark is a hotbed of problems for British intelligence. Rumours of a war-ending weapon being developed by the Germans are rife.
Sent to Copenhagen, Prince is soon caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Dodging Gestapo agents, SS muscle and the danger of betrayal, his survival and the war effort hangs in the balance.
Gripping and intense, Prince of Spies is the first in a new espionage series that will delight fans of Alan Furst, Philip Kerr and John le Carr.
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
Good for readers who want literary climate fiction with survival stakes, family, and questions of what we save.
All the Water in the World
Dystopian · Historical Thriller · Post-Apocalyptic
Our take
A 2026 Gotham Book Prize finalist called “Gripping...tense, delightful and rich with resonance” by Scientific American, All the Water in the World follows a family surviving on the Museum of Natural History’s roof in flooded New York, preserving artifacts while navigating dangerous waters to find safety up north, with a 4.2-star rating from more than 1,100 Amazon reviewers. Good for readers who want literary climate fiction with survival stakes, family, and questions of what we save.
Choose your retailer
About the book
FINALIST FOR THE 2026 GOTHAM BOOK PRIZE
In the tradition of Station Eleven, a literary thriller set partly on the roof of New York’s Museum of Natural History in a flooded future.
"Gripping...tense, delightful and rich with resonance." —Scientific American
"Captivating...The setting, the detailed emotive descriptions, and nail-biting adventure are incandescent." —Library Journal (starred)
All the Water in the World is told in the voice of a girl gifted with a deep feeling for water. In the years after the glaciers melt, Nonie, her older sister and her parents and their researcher friends have stayed behind in an almost deserted New York City, creating a settlement on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History. The rule: Take from the exhibits only in dire need. They hunt and grow their food in Central Park as they work to save the collections of human history and science. When a superstorm breaches the city’s flood walls, Nonie and her family must escape north on the Hudson. They carry with them a book that holds their records of the lost collections. Racing on the swollen river towards what may be safety, they encounter communities that have adapted in very different and sometimes frightening ways to the new reality. But they are determined to find a way to make a new world that honors all they've saved.
Inspired by the stories of the curators in Iraq and Leningrad who worked to protect their collections from war, All the Water in the World is both a meditation on what we save from collapse and an adventure story—with danger, storms, and a fight for survival. In the spirit of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and Parable of the Sower, this wild journey offers the hope that what matters most – love and work, community and knowledge – will survive.
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
For readers who like literary historical mysteries with famous figures, metafictional questions, and conspiracy-driven suspense.
The Fifth Heart
Historical Fiction · Mystery · Historical Mystery · Historical Thriller
Our take
Suicidal Henry James and doubting Sherlock Holmes team up to investigate a suspicious death and vast conspiracy in Gilded Age America, with a 4.1-star rating from more than 900 Amazon reviewers. For readers who like literary historical mysteries with famous figures, metafictional questions, and conspiracy-driven suspense.
Choose your retailer
About the book
In 1893, Sherlock Holmes and Henry James come to America together to solve the mystery of the 1885 death of Clover Adams, wife of the esteemed historian Henry Adams -- member of the Adams family that has given the United States two Presidents. Clover's suicide appears to be more than it at first seemed; the suspected foul play may involve matters of national importance.
Holmes is currently on his Great Hiatus -- his three-year absence after Reichenbach Falls during which time the people of London believe him to be deceased. Holmes has faked his own death because, through his powers of ratiocination, the great detective has come to the conclusion that he is a fictional character.
This leads to serious complications for James -- for if his esteemed fellow investigator is merely a work of fiction, what does that make him? And what can the master storyteller do to fight against the sinister power -- possibly named Moriarty -- that may or may not be controlling them from the shadows?
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
Good for readers who like dual-timeline mysteries, missing-child cases, long-buried secrets, and emotional suspense.
The Vanished Girl
Thriller · Historical Thriller
Our take
Called “hugely enjoyable and compelling” by Louise Douglas, Jo Salway confronts the mystery of Pippa Jenkins' disappearance in 1976 from her childhood home, unraveling secrets that changed her life forever, with a 4.2-star rating from more than 400 Amazon reviewers. Good for readers who like dual-timeline mysteries, missing-child cases, long-buried secrets, and emotional suspense.
Choose your retailer
About the book
'I absolutely loved it and spent several nights sitting up until late, unable to put it down'
The memories of that summer won’t stay buried forever…
1976. It’s a long, hot summer, and all teenager Jo Salway wants is to bask in the freedom of the holidays with her life-long friends. But when little Pippa Jenkins suddenly vanishes without a trace, the friends must close ranks to protect themselves. And in doing so, change the course of their futures forever …
2024. Haunted by the events of fifty years ago, Jo has never returned to her childhood home of Hareton Wick. But in the aftermath of trauma and with her only respite found at the bottom of a bottle, Jo knows that the only way to start afresh is to unravel the secrets of her past. But when the tangled web of Pippa’s disappearance starts to lead closer to home, who will Jo be able to trust, and who will she betray …
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
One prisoner holds knowledge that could change the war, but reaching him means entering one of the most guarded places on earth.
The One Man
Historical Fiction · Thriller · Historical Thriller · War Fiction · World War 2
Our take
One prisoner holds knowledge that could change the war, but reaching him means entering one of the most guarded places on earth. The One Man follows Nathan Blum, a Jewish intelligence officer and ghetto survivor, as he takes on a near-impossible mission to break into a Nazi concentration camp and rescue a physicist the Allies desperately need. It is historical thriller fiction built on wartime stakes, moral urgency, and rescue under impossible conditions.
Choose your retailer
About the book
“As moving as it is gripping. A winner on all fronts.”—Booklist (starred review)
“Heart-pounding…This is Gross’s best work yet, with his heart and soul imprinted on every page.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Poland. 1944. Alfred Mendl and his family are brought on a crowded train to a Nazi concentration camp after being caught trying to flee Paris with forged papers. His family is torn away from him on arrival, his life’s work burned before his eyes. To the guards, he is just another prisoner, but in fact Mendl—a renowned physicist—holds knowledge that only two people in the world possess. And the other is already at work for the Nazi war machine.
Four thousand miles away, in Washington, DC, Intelligence lieutenant Nathan Blum routinely decodes messages from occupied Poland. Having escaped the Krakow ghetto as a teenager after the Nazis executed his family, Nathan longs to do more for his new country in the war. But never did he expect the proposal he receives from “Wild” Bill Donovan, head of the OSS: to sneak into the most guarded place on earth, a living hell, on a mission to find and escape with one man, the one man the Allies believe can ensure them victory in the war.
Bursting with compelling characters and tense story lines, this historical thriller from New York Times bestseller Andrew Gross is a deeply affecting, unputdownable series of twists and turns through a landscape at times horrifyingly familiar but still completely new and compelling.
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
After Chloe’s husband is killed and her stepson becomes a suspect, she must rely on Nicky, her estranged sister and the boy’s biological mother, making this a fit…
The Better Sister
Mystery · Thriller · Historical Thriller
Our take
The Better Sister turns a family murder into a domestic thriller shaped by resentment, loyalty, and long-buried secrets. After Chloe’s husband is killed and her stepson becomes a suspect, she must rely on Nicky, her estranged sister and the boy’s biological mother, making this a fit for readers who like morally tangled suspense where family history cuts as sharply as the crime.
Choose your retailer
About the book
Now a Prime Video TV series starring Elizabeth Banks and Jessica Biel
A Washington Post and Sun Sentinel Best Book of the Year
“Cunning. . . . Get ready to be led down the garden path to a conclusion so morally ambiguous a professional ethicist might have to be called in.” — Washington Post
From Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of the runaway hit The Wife, comes another twisty suspense novel of domestic noir. When a prominent Manhattan lawyer is murdered, two estranged sisters—one the dead man’s widow, the other his ex—must set aside mistrust and old resentments. . . but can they escape their past?
Keep your enemies close and your sister closer.
Though Chloe was the younger of the two Taylor sisters, she always seemed to be the one in charge. She was the honor roll student with big dreams and an even bigger work ethic. Nicky—always restless and more than a little reckless—was the opposite of her ambitious little sister. She floated from job to job and man to man, and stayed close to home in Cleveland.
For a while, it seemed that both sisters had found happiness. Chloe earned a scholarship to an Ivy League school and moved to New York City, where she landed a coveted publishing job. Nicky married promising young attorney Adam Macintosh and gave birth to a baby boy they named Ethan. The Taylor sisters became virtual strangers.
Now, more than fifteen years later, their lives are drastically different—and Chloe is married to Adam. When he’s murdered by an intruder at the couple’s East Hampton beach house, what starts as a tragic crime quickly becomes a complex murder mystery, and Chloe reluctantly allows her teenage stepson’s biological mother—her estranged sister, Nicky—back into her life. But when the police begin to treat Ethan as a suspect in his father’s death, the two sisters are forced to unite in this gripping domestic thriller . . . and to confront the truth behind family secrets they have tried to bury in the past.
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
This espionage thriller fits readers who want Arctic atmosphere, political danger, personal stakes, and conspiracies built on silence.
Arctic Sun
Historical Fiction · Thriller · Historical Thriller · War Fiction
Our take
Arctic Sun turns a remote Soviet investigation into a frozen Cold War trap where secrets carry lethal consequences. When Dr. Amelia Blackburn uncovers signs of a hidden disaster near the Norway-Russia border, British intelligence pulls reluctant spy Tom Fox back into the field. This espionage thriller fits readers who want Arctic atmosphere, political danger, personal stakes, and conspiracies built on silence.
Choose your retailer
About the book
THE TIMES THRILLER OF THE MONTH
‘Strange alliances, personal vendettas and Cold War conspiracies build to a bloody climax in the snow’ - The Times Thriller of the Month
‘This is a proper page-turning high-stakes thriller’ Crime Time
From the award-winning author of Moskva and Nightfall Berlin, a gripping suspense-filled thriller in the frozen North . . .
Kola Peninsula, 1987. High in the Soviet Arctic, a tiny village houses an apocalyptic secret . . .
When research zoologist Dr Amelia Blackburn ventures north to investigate the ravages of the Chernobyl reactor meltdown, she stumbles on the evidence of another sinister disaster on the Norway-Russia border - one that appears far from innocent. Mother Russia will stop at nothing to prevent this information from being revealed, putting Amelia and her team in grave danger from the moment they leave the site.
When the news reaches London, the eyes of British intelligence turn to the one man with the knowledge and skills to bring her back to safety - and find out what has really happened in the frozen North.
Major Tom Fox thought he'd put his intelligence career behind him, but wrapped in a custody battle for his young son, Charlie, a request from his high-ranking father-in-law forces his hand. When the reluctant spy reaches Russia, it quickly becomes clear that this is no ordinary mission.
As Fox and Amelia fight for their lives - and their country - in Russia, Charlie is lead into dangers of his own in England. Three lives are about to be embroiled in the darkest secrets of the Cold War conflict - and a plot that, if left unchecked, will echo through history . . .
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
A parolee looking for a second chance finds a small town ready to turn one bad night into a life sentence.
One Good Deed
Historical Fiction · Thriller · Historical Thriller
Our take
A parolee looking for a second chance finds a small town ready to turn one bad night into a life sentence. In One Good Deed, WWII veteran Aloysius Archer takes a debt-collection job in 1949 Poca City, only to become tangled in grudges, desire, suspicion, and murder. This historical thriller blends noir atmosphere with an ex-con’s fight to stay free by finding the real killer.
Choose your retailer
About the book
In this fast-paced historical thriller, a #1 New York Times bestselling author introduces Archer, a WWII veteran forced to investigate a small-town murder—or risk returning to prison.
It's 1949. When war veteran Aloysius Archer is released from Carderock Prison, he is sent to Poca City on parole with a short list of do's and a much longer list of don'ts: do report regularly to his parole officer, don't go to bars, certainly don't drink alcohol, do get a job—and don't ever associate with loose women.
The small town quickly proves more complicated and dangerous than Archer's years serving in the war or his time in jail. Within a single night, his search for gainful employment—and a stiff drink—leads him to a local bar, where he is hired for what seems like a simple job: to collect a debt owed to a powerful local businessman, Hank Pittleman.
Soon Archer discovers that recovering the debt won't be so easy. The indebted man has a furious grudge against Hank and refuses to pay; Hank's clever mistress has her own designs on Archer; and both Hank and Archer's stern parole officer, Miss Crabtree, are keeping a sharp eye on him.
When a murder takes place right under Archer's nose, police suspicions rise against the ex-convict, and Archer realizes that the crime could send him right back to prison ... if he doesn't use every skill in his arsenal to track down the real killer.
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
Don’t Want to Miss Another Deal?
Get the best Kindle book deals delivered straight to your inbox. We feature new must read books every day—always hand-picked, never random—with links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Kobo. Some discounts disappear fast, others linger (or come back around), so it’s worth keeping an eye out.