Defy a Pirate's Curse in Mystery Case Files: 13th Skull (Collector's Edition), New from BFG

Games of Mystery is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual game from Big Fish Games released today and available to BFG Club members. You can find out more about these games by visiting our Mystery Games: Big Fish Download Games page or by clicking on the links provided below.

— ◊ —

Shortly after moving into a creepy mansion in Louisiana, Sara Lawson is struck with tragedy when her husband mysteriously disappears. Sara’s daughter, Magnolia, believes her father was kidnapped by the ghost of a vengeful pirate seeking to protect his lost fortune. With the locals terrified of the pirate’s curse, you are the family’s last hope. Only a Master Detective with incredible hidden object skills can locate Marcus Lawson in the seventh entry of this popular series!

This is a special Collector's Edition that includes features you won't find in the standard edition, such as bonus gameplay, an integrated strategy guide, concept art, and more.

See also the other games in the Mystery Case Files Series.

Mystery Case Files: 13th Skull (Collector's Edition) may be downloaded and purchased for $13.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (294.75 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour; the full version is 669.46 MB.

Watch a preview video below:

Get any standard game for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Other benefits include the $2.99 Daily Deal, Tomorrow's Game Today, and special member rewards. And if you purchase any 6 games within a single month, you earn a free game with the Big Fish Game Club Monthly Punch Card! (Collector's Editions earn 3 punches each, half-way towards your free game!)

Read Ms. Terri's reviews of the adventure and casual mystery games featured on this site, including Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy, Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses!, Enlightenus, and many more!

Big Fish Games: Bestsellers

Big Fish Games: New releases

— ◊ —

Games of Mystery is your source for mystery-themed video, electronic, and board games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations!

Harry Potter: Years 1 to 6 Giftset, Blu-ray and DVD, 60% Off Today Only!

Amazon's Gold Box Deal of the Day (November 23rd) is a truly remarkable one: the Harry Potter: Years 1 to 6 Giftset (Blu-ray) for 60% off list price!

The first six films are bundled together in a single box set and include Harry Potter and the ...

... Sorcerer's Stone;
... Chamber of Secrets;
... Prisoner of Azkaban;
... Goblet of Fire;
... Order of the Phoenix;
... Half-Blood Prince.

If you have a new Blu-ray player (or are expecting one from Santa) and want to upgrade your existing library of Harry Potter films, this is a cost-effective way of doing so.

Also available: Harry Potter: Years 1 to 6 Giftset (DVD), also 60% off list.

These deals are available today only from Amazon.com and while supplies last.

Watch Director Jon Favreau's Commentary to the Trailer for Cowboys & Aliens

Just last week the first trailer for the sci-fi western action thriller Cowboys & Aliens was released.

Today, MTV asked director Jon Favreau to provide a commentary to the trailer! You can watch this entertaining video below. Additional related videos are provided on the MTV post.

Favreau said he cast the film as he would any Western — assuming no sci-fi element. He added that the idea for the alien technology shackled to Craig's character's wrist was producer Steven Spielberg's idea. The first scene in the trailer (which you can see here) is also the opening scene in the film.

Cowboys & Aliens is adapted from the 2006 graphic novel of the same name created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.

New Screenshots for Upcoming Interactive Crime Novel Game L.A. Noire

Last week, we reported on the first trailer L. A. Noire, a new video game scheduled for release on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 early next year. Now the developer, Rockstar Games, has released a few new screenshots and media previews for the game.

An interactive crime novel featuring LAPD homicide detective Cole Phelps (voiced by Aaron Staton) and set in the late 1940s, L.A. Noire blends action, detection and complex storytelling into an open-ended challenge to solve a series of gruesome murders. Set in a perfectly recreated Los Angeles before freeways, with a post-war backdrop of corruption, drugs and jazz, L.A. Noire attempts to blend cinema and gaming.

See a few of the images below; if you missed the trailer, it is embedded at the bottom of this post.

A meticulously detailed 1947 Los Angeles is the backdrop for L.A. Noire's dark story, with incredible attention invested in recreating the scene of each crime.

L.A. Noire is the story of Cole Phelps and his rise -- with each successfully completed case -- from beat cop up through the ranks of the LAPD.

Set in the Golden Age of Hollywood, 1947 Los Angeles was also among the most violent and corrupt years in the city's history.

Messages by Weyman Jones (Book Review)

Messages by Weyman Jones. Non-series. Five Star Hardcover, October 2010.

A well-developed, character-driven plot that leads readers in multiple directions is at the core of this solid thriller, one that will keep readers guessing as to the identity of culprit right up to the very end.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Messages by Weyman Jones.

— ◊ —

Mysterious Reviews is your source for the latest mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime novel reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

The Pillars of the Earth, a Mini-Series Adaptation of the Ken Follett Novel, New on DVD and Blu-ray Disc

Cinemystery, your source for information on TV series, made-for-television movies, and films adapted from novels of mystery and suspense, which are now available on DVD or Blu-ray disc, is profiling a mini-series scheduled for release this week.

— ◊ —

Adapted from the novel The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan.

More adventure than thriller or suspense, this eight-part mini-series is an enduring love story masterfully entwined with political turmoil, set against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles in 12th century England.

Emerging from the war-torn shadows of England's Dark Ages, an idealistic mason, Tom Builder (Rufus Sewell) sets out on a quest of erecting a glorious Cathedral bathed in light. But when that light threatens to illuminate the dark secrets of ambitious Bishop Waleran Bigod (Ian McShane) and the battling progeny of King Henry, Queen Maud (Alison Pill) and King Stephen (Tony Curran), they'll stop at nothing to keep those secrets safe.

The mini-series also stars Matthew Macfadyen as Prior Philip and Donald Sutherland as Earl Bartholomew.

The Pillars of the Earth runs 421 minutes and is Not Rated.

Also available: The Pillars of the Earth (Blu-ray disc).

— ◊ —

Visit the Cinemystery website to discover more TV and film adaptations currently available on DVD and Blu-ray disc.

Solve 5 New Murder Mysteries in CSI: Unsolved! for Nintendo DS

Team up with the cast of CSI to solve Sin City’s murder mysteries in CSI: Unsolved!, which is scheduled for release tomorrow, November 23rd, for Nintendo DS. (Note: some sites have the release date as November 30th; the game can be pre-ordered, though.)

You're presented with 5 original cases, such as the death of a young pop star on stage or the discovery of a mummified body in the desert, written by the writers of the acclaimed CSI TV series. Investigate the scene, collect evidence, question witnesses, and bring suspects to justice!

Specifically designed with DS users in mind, CSI: Unsolved! makes the most of the DS Touch Screen for an improved pick-up-and-play experience. Thanks to stylish visuals, heart-pounding interrogations, and unique touch gameplay, be prepared to feel like a real CSI. Progress through each case on your Nintendo DS, and do everything CSIs do on the hit show.

CSI: Unsolved! is ESRB rated T for Teen.

See also the previous games in this series: CSI: Dark Motives and CSI: Deadly Intent.

— ◊ —

Games of Mystery is your source for mystery-themed video, electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, and more mysterious fun!

Durham County, Luther, and Murder She Wrote, New This Week on DVD

Telemystery, your source for one of the most comprehensive selections of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series, mini-series and made-for-television movies, now available or coming soon to DVD or Blu-ray disc, is profiling two series being released this week.

— ◊ —

Durham County stars Hugh Dillon as Mike Sweeney, a homicide detective who, after his partner is killed, moves his family from Toronto to rural Durham County.

In the second season of the series, Dillon has fallen for Penelope Verrity (Michelle Forbes), a forensic psychiatrist that he begins to suspect may have murdered her daughter.

The Durham County: Season Two DVD set of 2 discs contain the 6 episodes that originally aired during the summer of 2009.

A third season of 6 episodes began airing on CTV in Canada in October 2010.

— ◊ —

Idris Elba stars as Detective Chief Inspector John Luther, a self-destructive near-genius, who might just be as dangerous as the depraved criminals he hunts in the BBC series Luther.

The series uses an inverted story format (a plot device most commonly employed by Columbo) in which the identity of the killer is known at the start of the episode.

The Luther: Series One DVD set of 2 discs contain the 6 episodes that originally aired during May and June 2010. The series began airing in the US on BBC America last month.

The network has ordered a second season of 6 episodes.

— ◊ —

The classic series Murder, She Wrote comes to a close with its twelfth season. Starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer Jessica Fletcher, the series aired on CBS from 1984 through 1996.

From the shadowy nooks of hometown Cabot Cove (Maine) to crime scenes as far away as Ireland and Australia, Jessica’s hot on the trail of some of the most deliberate criminals yet. With danger at every turn, Jessica will need all her wits and ingenuity to get safely to the final page.

The Murder, She Wrote: Season Twelve DVD set of 5 discs contain the 24 episodes that originally aired from September 1995 through May 1996.

This is not, however, the last we'll see of the beloved amateur sleuth: four made-for-television movies were produced and aired subsequent to the close of the series.

— ◊ —

Visit the Telemystery website to discover more television mystery series currently available on DVD and Blu-ray disc.

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for November 22, 2010

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle has been created by the editors of the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is now available on our website.

Godoku is similar to Sudoku, but uses letters instead of numbers. To give you a headstart, we provide you a mystery clue to fill in a complete row or column (if you choose to use it!).

— ◊ —

This week's letters and mystery clue:

A G H L K O S T W

This 2008 thriller by Brian Keene features haunted attraction designer Ken Ripple.

We now have two weeks of our puzzles on one page in PDF format for easier printing. Print this week's puzzle here.

Previous puzzles are stored in the Mystery Godoku Archives.

Enjoy the weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle from the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, and Thanks for visiting our website!

Additional Adaptations of Agatha Christie's Poirot Planned for David Suchet

For most of this year, David Suchet's future as Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot has been in doubt. The Belgian private detective appeared in 33 novels and 51 short stories by Agatha Christie from 1920 to 1975, and Suchet has starred in television adaptations since 1989 of all but six.

In January, ITV neglected to mention the series in its future plans. At the time, Suchet said, "I'm pragmatic and accept that things get cancelled. Of course there are cutbacks in TV drama and if it is not to be, it is not to be. I will have to be a big boy and accept it."

In April, Suchet said, "I only have six more stories to do and that will be the complete works of Hercule Poirot. I'm desperate to do it, while God gives me life."

And yet, no word from ITV.

Until now.

The Sunday Express is reporting that the producers have confirmed a 13th season of the series will air sometime in 2011. Left unstated is how many of the six remaining stories will be adapted. (There are four novels: The Big Four, Dead Man's Folly, Elephants Can Remember, and Curtain; a short story collection, The Labours of Hercules; and the play Black Coffee. What becomes of an early short story, "The Lemesurier Inheritance", is unclear as Suchet never refers to it.) The 12th season of Agatha Christie's Poirot included four episodes.