Weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle for 01/23/2006

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle has been created by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is 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!)

Previous puzzles will be stored in the Mystery Godoku Archives.

Enjoy this new feature from the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, and Thanks for visiting our website!

Technorati tags: mystery books blogs, mystery, mystery books, mystery godoku, sudoku, godoku.

Best-Selling Mystery Writer to Keynote Conference

If you dream of writing the great American novel or seeing your byline in newspapers and magazines, you’ll find advice, inspiration and empathy at the "Write on the Beach" conference Jan. 27-29, 2006, in Ocean Shores (WA).

The Daily World reports that renowned mystery writer J. A. Jance is headlining the fifth annual conference and will deliver the keynote address at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2006. Consequently, for the first time ever, "Write on the Beach" is opening the keynote lunch to the general public. Tickets are $30 each, while conference registration, including the keynote lunch, costs $175. Students under 18 can attend for $35.

For more information on the conference, read the complete Daily World article here or visit the Write on the Beach website.

Technorati tags: mystery books blogs, mystery, mystery books, j. a. jance, write on the beach.

New Hardcover Mystery Books for February 2006

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books has prepared a list of new hardcover mystery books for February 2006. This is the first of three anticipated updates to this list.

As usual, there are too many to choose from!

• Amanda Pepper returns in A Hole in Juan (Gillian Roberts);
• Foolish Undertaking (Mark de Castrique) is the third in the excellent Barry Clayton series;
• More Dutch Pennsylvania recipes are featured in Grape Expectations (Tamar Myers);
• The Old Wine Shades (Martha Grimes) is the latest Richard Jury mystery;

and many, many more.

Visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books often to keep current on your favorite mystery authors and series.

Technorati tags: mystery books blogs, mystery, mystery books, new mystery books, new mystery titles, amanda pepper, gillian roberts, mark de castrique, barry clayton, dutch pennsylvania, tamar myers, martha grimes, richard jury.

Mystery Hardcover Bestsellers (01/20/2006)

A list of the top ten mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending January 20, 2006 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

Linda Fairstein's latest Alexandra Cooper legal mystery, Death Dance, debuts on the bestseller lists of Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com. Booklist states, "The latest Cooper delivers what has made this series so good: solid legal, procedural, and forensic detail surrounding an intriguing case."

Technorati tags: mystery books blogs, mystery, mystery books, mystery bestsellers, linda fairstein, alexandra cooper, death dance.

P. D. James Offers Clues to Complex Plots

The Associated Press recently ran a profile on P. D. James, whose latest Adam Dalgleish mystery, The Lighthouse, has been a solid bestseller for several months.

When asked, what comes first, murder or motive, the answer is like the plots of her whodunits - never the obvious. "What usually comes first is the setting," James says. "I can have what I think is a strong response to the spirit of a place. I can be perhaps in an old house or a community of a people, a lonely stretch of beach and say this is where it happened."

This fascinating and informative profile has run in several online newspapers, and is available here from HeraldToday (Bradenton FL).

Technorati tags: mystery books blogs, mystery, mystery books, p. d. james, adam dalgleish.

A Novel Idea is Just Right for this Activist

The TimesUnion (Albany NY) recently reported on local resident Kirby White who has written a mystery in an effort to help low-income families who can't afford to rent or buy a house. What prompted the publication of his book was a parking garage being built in the shadow of the state capitol building.

The author, who is 69 and a longtime housing advocate and writer, toiled for years as an underpaid community developer in downtown Albany. He began the mystery in 1998, but decided to publish last year when the state launched a real parking garage on Sheridan Avenue. The state's goal: Park cars for 1,500 state workers in one of Albany's most neglected neighborhoods. White's goal: Raise cash to help locals get decent housing.

Read more about Kirby White and his mystery book here.

Technorati tags: mystery books blogs, mystery, mystery books, kirby white, albany ny.

Court TV Enlists the Masters of Crime Fiction for America's Crime Writers: Murder They Wrote

Press Release: In the world of literary fiction, there is nothing more compelling than a mystery novel. Now, Court TV is partnering with the best-known, best-selling authors of the genre to tell some of the most compelling true crime stories of the recent past in Americas Crime Writers: Murder They Wrote. Award-winning authors Michael Connelly, James Ellroy, Faye Kellerman, Jonathan Kellerman and Lisa Scottoline have each selected a case that has long captivated or touched them in some way, and in each episode, the featured author will take viewers through the facts of that case. Through interviews with key players and commentary from the authors themselves, armchair detectives will have the opportunity to experience the story through the author's thoughts and insights. And the network is expanding on its relationship with leading bookseller Barnes & Noble with a planned multi-platform co-promotion, anticipated to include on-air, online and in-store elements.

Read the entire press release here in which each of the authors discusses their case.

Technorati tags: mystery books blogs, mystery, mystery books, michael connelly, james ellroy, faye kellerman, jonathan kellerman, lisa scottoline.

Weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle for 01/16/2006

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle has been created by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is 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!)

Previous puzzles will be stored in the Mystery Godoku Archives.

Enjoy this new feature from the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, and Thanks for visiting our website!

Technorati tags: mystery books blogs, mystery, mystery books, mystery godoku, sudoku, godoku.

Sleuthing Out Bay Area Mystery Novels

The UCBerkeleyNews recently ran an interesting article describing the efforts of Bancroft Library cataloger Randal Brandt, a mystery aficionado with a passion for following book-related leads and sharing his discoveries.

With its storied history, signature landmarks, and abundant atmospheric fog, San Francisco has long been a favored stomping ground of literary sleuths. Just how much crime has bloodied this ground is apparent by visiting Golden Gate Mysteries, an annotated bibliography found on the Berkeley Library website and compiled by Brandt. There mystery fans will find the titles of hundreds of novels set in San Francisco and environs, featuring gumshoes as diverse as the names in a Frisco phone book and plots as twisted as Lombard Street.

Read the rest of the article here and take the time to visit Golden Gate Mysteries; it's time well spent.

Technorati tags: mystery books blogs, mystery, mystery books, san francisco mysteries, golden gate mysteries.

Robert Goldsborough Hits a Home Run with New Novel

Press Release: Three Strikes You're Dead (June 2005), a Golden Age mystery written by Chicago author Robert Goldsborough of the famed Nero Wolfe novels, has reached a level of excellence within Echelon Press Publishing as it's overall best selling novel for 2005.

Three Strikes You're Dead takes fans back to 1938 Chicago, to a time when politics were king and baseball ruled. Dizzy Dean sat in the driver's seat of the Cubs' World Series ride, while scandal rocked the tight political community of the Windy City.

Goldsborough's trademark style of gritty detectives and vivid description are at a definite high in this novel of murder and mayhem. Deftly written dialogue and a unique and colorful cast of characters bring this classic-style mystery to life.

Read the entire press release here.

Technorati tags: mystery books blogs, mystery, mystery books, robert goldsborough, golden age mystery, nero wolfe.

Mystery Hardcover Bestsellers (01/13/2006)

A list of the top ten mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending January 13, 2006 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

Lilian Jackson Braun's latest Jim Qwilleran mystery, The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell, has debuted at the top of the Barnes & Noble's mystery bestseller list and in third place at Amazon.com. Despite tepid reviews for this 28th entry in the series, her fans keep buying her books.

Technorati tags: mystery books blogs, mystery, mystery books, mystery bestsellers, lilian jackson braun, jim qwilleran, the cat who dropped a bombshell.

Whodunit Book Channels Spirit of Stanford Mystery

Here's a decidedly odd news item from the Mercury News.

Stanford's late matriarch has inspired yet another whodunit book - Poisoned Palms, the Murder of Mrs. Jane Lathrop Stanford by Hawaiian author Dorothea N. Buckingham.

From the book's "About the Author" page, it states: "After reading countless pages, interviewing scholars and sitting and 'listening' to Mrs. Stanford speak to (the author), when asked if Mrs. Stanford was murdered, her response is long, circuitous and changes each time.'' So, does that mean Buckingham was chatting with Stanford's spirit? After all, Stanford herself was known to consort with mediums.

Read the entire article here.


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New Mystery Hardcovers for January 2006 (updated)

Eighteen additional mystery book titles have been added to the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books list of new mystery hardcovers for January 2006. This is the first of two updates expected this month.

There is a lot to choose from, including the latest Arly Hanks mystery (Malpractice in Maggody by Joan Hess) and a new Charlotte La Rue mystery (Married to the Mop by Barbara Colley). Dana Stabenow has written a non-series thriller (Blindfold Game) and Jesse Kellerman, the son of mystery writers Faye and Jonathan Kellerman, has written his first mystery, Sunstroke.

Technorati tags:
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faye kellerman,
jonathan kellerman.

Other Mystery Book Reviews Online

Roberta Alexander, who write the It's a Mystery column, recently reviewed four mysteries (published in the Contra Costa Times online edition). Her opening comments are so very true: "A sense of place roots a character and a story in a way that strengthen them so that the reader can get the benefit of travel without the jet lag. Some mystery authors have a particular knack for creating characters and situations that you cannot imagine taking place anywhere else."

The four books she reviewed are:

"Wildcat Wine," by Claire Matturro (William Morrow, $23.95, 295 pages);

"Last to Leave," by Clare Curzon (St. Martin's, $23.95, 256 pages);

"Over Her Dead Body," by Kate White (Warner Books, $24.95, 384 pages);

"The Cradle Robbers," by Ayelet Waldman (Berkley Prime Crime, $23.95, 218 pages).

Read her reviews here.

Technorati tags: mystery books blogs, mystery, mystery books, mystery book review.

Weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle for 01/09/2006

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle has been created by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is 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!)

Previous puzzles will be stored in the Mystery Godoku Archives.

Enjoy this new feature from the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, and Thanks for visiting our website!

Technorati tags: mystery books blogs, mystery, mystery books, mystery godoku, sudoku, godoku, puzzle.