News: Nancy Drew Movie Trailer Available

The trailer for the Warner Bros. movie, Nancy Drew, is now available online. The movie is scheduled for release June 15, 2007.

Available in two formats and at 4 different resolutions, the trailer can be viewed by clicking one of the links below:

Super High-Resolution (480x204): QuickTime, Windows Media Player
High-Resolution (320x132): QuickTime, Windows Media Player
Medium-Resolution (240x104): QuickTime, Windows Media Player
Low-Resolution (176x76): QuickTime, Windows Media Player

Based on characters created by Carolyn Keene, Nancy Drew follows Nancy (Emma Roberts) as she accompanies her father Carson (Tate Donovan) to Los Angeles on one of his business trips and stumbles across evidence about a long-unsolved crime involving the mysterious death of a beautiful movie star. Nancy's resourcefulness and personal responsibility are put to the test when she finds herself in the middle of the fast-living, self-indulgent world of Hollywood.

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Mystery Godoku: Weekly Puzzle for December 25, 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!).

This week's letters and mystery clue: E H I J L M N O S. The “Tenoclock” mysteries featuring Johnnie Baker were written by this author (9 letters).

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!

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News: Christie Novels to be Published in China

UPI is reporting that the People's Literature Publishing House (PLPH) is set to publish the first "legal" Agatha Christie novels in China. PLPH, China's largest publisher of literature, bought the copyright for Christie's novels from her agent in Britain. The release in Chinese will also mark the 30th anniversary of her death.

A total of 14 stories, including Death on the Nile, will be part of the first collection. Next year, another 32 books, including The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Murder on the Orient Express, will be translated into Chinese and published.

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Mystery Bestsellers for December 22, 2006

A list of the top ten mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending December 22, 2006 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

The 9th mystery in the Kathleen Mallory series, Find Me by Carol O'Connell, is the only new book to appear this week on the bestseller lists. A mutilated body is found lying on the ground in Chicago, a dead hand pointing down Adams Street, also known as Route 66, a road of many names. And now of many deaths.A silent caravan of cars, dozens of them, drives down that road, each passenger bearing a photograph, but none of them the same. They are the parents of missing children, some recently disappeared, some gone a decade or more-all brought together by word that childrens' grave sites are being discovered along the Mother Road. Kathy Mallory drives with them. The child she seeks, though, is not like the others'. It is herself-the feral child adopted off the streets, her father a blank, her mother dead and full of mysteries. During the next few extraordinary days, Mallory will find herself hunting a killer like none she has ever known, and will undergo a series of revelations not only of stunning intensity- but stunning effect. Publishers Weekly states, "Stylish prose and a magnetic lead character more than compensate for an overly complicated plot that drags in spots ..." while Kirkus Reviews adds, "Very smart murder fare complete with a rain-swept mood and psychological heat."

Be sure to check out our new, updated Mystery Bestsellers aStore to purchase any of the bestselling mysteries featured on our website!

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Mystery Book Review: High Heels and Holidays by Kasey Michaels

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written our review of High Heels and Holidays by Kasey Michaels. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

High Heels and Holidays by Kasey Michaels
A Maggie Kelly Mystery

Kensington Books (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-7582-0882-0 (0758208820)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-0882-8 (9780758208828)
Publication Date: October 2006
List Price: $14.00

Synopsis (from the publisher): Mystery author Maggie Kelly is getting ready to celebrate her first Christmas with Alexandre, Viscount Saint Just -- her once-fictional, but now all too-real sexy hero and boyfriend. But her romantic Christmas plans go haywire when murder decides to deck the halls ...

Bad Tidings We Bring! There’s nothing I’d rather be doing this time of year then singing Christmas carols while I trim my tree, and snuggling next to my man Alex while we watch It’s a Wonderful Life for the umpteenth time. But this season, it seems some Grinch with a really bad sense of humor is delivering packages of rotting rats and death threats to me and the other authors who contributed to the mystery collection No Secret Anymore.

To You and Your Kin! Sure, even I’ll admit the book was terrible. But why can’t this sicko just go to the bookstore and get a refund? It’s Christmas, buddy -- not Halloween! But then Jonathan West -- the brainchild of No Secret Anymore -- turns up dead, and me and Alex aren’t so sure anymore that the murderer is a just a disgruntled reader... Bad tidings for Christmas—and a Murderous New Year! Jonathan had finally completed a new novel, which his agent claimed to be his best. This leads us to think maybe a jealous rival is the killer—that is, until two of Jonathan’s obsessed fans surface. So now the we’re scrambling to solve this mystery before eight writers—including yours truly—don’t live to see the New Year ...

Review: High Heels and Holidays is the fifth mystery in this series by Kasey Michaels to feature mystery author Maggie Kelly and her fictional, but now real, Regency-era hero, the aristocrat-detective Alexandre Blake, the Viscount Saint Just.

This disappointing entry in the series takes place immediately after the gang returns from England, the site of the previous book, the delightful and entertaining High Heels and Homicide. A colleague, Francis Oakes, has died under mysterious circumstances, and though Maggie would rather be preparing for the holidays and sharing an intimate moment with her fictional-but-real creation, she is drawn into the mystery when another celebrity author is found dead.

This series has a unique twist to it, and Michaels uses a prologue in the form of a letter from Maggie to "Fred" to describe just how the the character of Alexandre Blake came to be. But readers new to the series are likely to be confused by the whole premise, and are better served to read one of the previous books to appreciate the situation in which Maggie finds herself with Saint Just.

There's an astonishing amount of dialog in High Heels and Holidays, but very little of substance is ever said. At one point Saint Just notes, facetiously but accurately, "... you fascinate us with this story, although you've said very little so far, haven't you?" And Maggie herself says that "... if anyone sane ever eavesdropped on any of our conversations, we'd all be locked up."

It's probably not giving away too much to say that Maggie and Alex get romantically involved in this book, and that is frequently a problem for a romantic mystery series. And a serious problem in this one. Maggie, for all practical purposes, admits as much in another letter to "Fred" in the epilogue. "So I give him this independent woman, see. They battle—right off the bat. Two strong personalities, going at it ... but slowly, against their will, they're drawn to each other. Big-time. Physically. They keep dancing around each other; advancing, retreating, keeping the readers happy. And all the while she helps him solve crimes. It could work."

Or not.

If the series is drawing to a close, this might be a way to end it. But if Michaels intends to continue the adventures of Maggie and Saint Just, a rapid retreat to their pre-Holiday relationship is definitely in order.

Special thanks to Book Trends for providing a copy of High Heels and Holidays for this review.

Review Copyright © 2006 Hidden Staircase Mystery Books

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News: Hardy Boys Author's Estate Donates Papers to Library

Michael Posner of the Globe and Mail reports that personal archive of Canadian author Leslie McFarlane -- much better known as Franklin W. Dixon, the pseudonym affixed to the best-selling mystery series, the Hardy Boys -- has been given by his heirs to Hamilton's McMaster University.

In the mid-1920s, McFarlane worked as a staff reporter for a Springfield (MA) newspaper before seeing an advertisement for a children's book ghostwriter, placed by the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Under the pen name Roy Rockwood, McFarlane produced seven novels in the Dave Fearless series for the syndicate before moving on to write more than 20 Hardy Boys novels, including the first 16 in the series. For most of these, he was paid a flat fee of $100 per book and, although the novels sold many millions of copies and were translated into 50 languages, he earned no royalties.

It was only a year before his death in 1977 that McFarlane announced his role in their creation. The Stratemeyer Syndicate had insisted that their ghostwriters never reveal authorship.

"He left a wonderful legacy," says son Brian McFarlane. "He got millions of kids hooked on reading."

Read the entire article on GlobeAndMail.com here.

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Mystery Godoku: Weekly Puzzle for December 18, 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!).

This week's letters and mystery clue: D E H K N O R T Y. This doctor is featured in the classic English mystery series written by R. Austin Freeman (9 letters).

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!

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Mystery Book Review: The Only Pure Thing by Patrick Hyde

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written our review of The Only Pure Thing by Patrick Hyde. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Only Pure Thing by Patrick Hyde
A Stuart Clay Mystery

Beckham Publications Group (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-931761-61-1 (0931761611)
ISBN-13: 978-0-931761-61-4 (9780931761614)
Publication Date: January 2007
List Price: $14.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): When Benny Batiste's head winds up on a Georgetown parking meter, defense attorney Stuart Clay inherits his problems. Police discover Cleveland Barnes wearing a green army raincoat, a battered top hat, and bloodied Bally loafers. As Benny was found both headless and shoeless, Cleveland is charged with murder and Stuart is appointed to represent him.

Stuart thinks Cleveland is a hapless street person who filched some shoes. The police insist that things are not so simple. Pursuit of the case leads to clues that connect a band of homeless living under the Key Bridge, the Bronx mob, the urban renaissance of Washington, D.C., and a malignant evil so dark that it threatens to consume Stuart's very existence.

Review: Patrick Hyde's debut mystery, The Only Pure Thing, introduces Washington DC criminal attorney Stuart Clay who is assigned to defend Cleveland Barnes, a homeless man accused of the murder of a man whose head was found on a parking meter and whose shoes were found on Barnes' feet.

The Only Pure Thing is not a typical legal mystery ... and the better for it. It's virtually impossible to predict where the plot of this book is heading, the result being the reader enjoys the journey almost as much as Stuart Clay in taking it. The ending is a bit over the top, but that's a minor flaw.

Hyde has a deft style of writing, and he vividly portrays the nation's capital from an insider perspective. In describing Barnes and the other homeless people in his sphere, he writes, "I [Stuart Clay] concluded that Cleveland didn't even know the people under the bridge. He and the others coexisted in a psychic half light, stranger to each other in a shared reality. They clung to a subterranean world the way the oppressed poor and sick cling to flawed ideas the world over. They huddled from a distance not of geography but of mind." This is powerful and perceptive prose. And in a clever nod towards the O. J. Simpson trial, he crafts the sound bite, "Bloody Ballys don't prove murder", that becomes a rallying cry for Barnes' supporters.

The Only Pure Thing is a strong start for Stuart Clay. If subsequent books share the same strength in plot and characterization, it will definitely be a series worth reading.

Special thanks to Maryglenn McCombs Book Publicity for providing a copy of The Only Pure Thing for this review.

Review Copyright © 2006 Hidden Staircase Mystery Books

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News: Best Mysteries of 2006 from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

As we approach the end of the year, several publications produce their "best" lists. At the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, they have published their list of the best mysteries of 2006.

In order ...

1. The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos.

2 (tie). The Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais.

2 (tie). Echo Park by Michael Connelly.

3. No Good Deeds by Laura Lippman.

4. Promise Me by Harlan Coben.

5. Kidnapped by Jan Burke.

6. Piece of My Heart by Peter Robinson.

7. Prisoner of Memory by Denise Hamilton.

8. Stripped by Brian Freeman.

9. Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason.

10. A Garden of Vipers by Jack Kerley.

11. Killer Instinct by Joseph Finder.

12. A Long Shadow by Charles Todd.

13. White Shadow by Ace Atkins.

On their website, they also list their choices of the best debuts of the year, and the best short story collection (A Merry Band of Murderers, a review of which can be read at Mysterious Reviews.)

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Mystery Book Review: The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written our review of The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen
A Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles Mystery

Ballantine Books (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-345-47699-9 (0345476999)
ISBN-13: 978-0-345-47699-9 (9780345476999)
Publication Date: September 2006
List Price: $25.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): PECCAVI. The Latin is scrawled in blood at the scene of a young woman's brutal murder: I HAVE SINNED. It's a chilling Christmas greeting for Boston medical examiner Maura Isles and Detective Jane Rizzoli, who swiftly link the victim to controversial celebrity psychiatrist Joyce O'Donnell—Jane's professional nemesis and member of a sinister cabal called the Mephisto Club.

On tony Beacon Hill, the club's acolytes devote themselves to the analysis of evil: Can it be explained by science? Does it have a physical presence? Do demons walk the earth? Drawing on a wealth of dark historical data and mysterious religious symbolism, the Mephisto scholars aim to prove a startling theory: that Satan himself exists among us. With the grisly appearance of a corpse on their doorstep, it's clear that someone-or something-is indeed prowling the city. Soon, the members of the club begin to fear the very subject of their study. Could this maniacal killer be one of their own-or have they inadvertently summoned an evil entity from the darkness?

Delving deep into the most baffling and unusual case of their careers, Maura and Jane embark on a terrifying journey to the very heart of evil, where they encounter a malevolent foe more dangerous than any they have ever faced . . . one whose work is only just beginning.

Review: The Mephisto Club is the sixth mystery in this series featuring Boston detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles, this time on the case of the brutal murder of a young woman on Christmas Eve. Though both women participate in the investigation, Jane plays a much larger role than Maura in the book.

The crime, and a subsequent murder, is quickly linked to an unusual group of wealthy individuals who are members of the Mephisto Club, an organization that seeks out evil in the world. The group is headed by a mysterious and powerful man with the highest level connections, giving him access to confidential information on the victims and the crimes. Though apparently working on the same side as the officials investigating the murder, it's not clear his objectives are the same. Is he part of the solution or part of the problem?

The Mephisto Club has a solid, effective, fast-paced plot with a number of unusual features that make it an above average thriller. The incorporation of obscure symbolism and the inclusion of arcane biblical references make the, at times, implausible storyline quite credible.

There are a few problems, however, that prevent The Mephisto Club from being first rate. In an effort to show the familial side of both Jane and Maura, Gerritsen includes two side stories that seem incongruous. For Jane, there are the droll scenes with her parents that seem to be present solely for comic relief. For Maura, it's her troubled relationship with Father Brophy. Neither seems terribly important for this book, but may simply have been included for the purpose of continuity of the series.

A more serious problem is the motivation of the culprit and the purpose for the murders. Though it appears to be personal, in the end, the implication is that there was an ulterior motive to the crimes that is at odds with the events that took place. It's rather convenient how it all turns out, and just a bit illogical.

Despite these few shortcomings, The Mephisto Club is definitely worth adding to your library.

Special thanks to The Book Report Network for providing a copy of The Mephisto Club for this review.

Review Copyright © 2006 Hidden Staircase Mystery Books

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Press Release: Unlock the Secrets of a Haunted Manor in Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Big Fish Games, a leading developer and distributor of casual games, today announced the launch of Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst, a thrilling game that puts game players in the role of Master Detective to solve the mystery surrounding the Ravenhearst manor.

This is the third episode in Big Fish Games’ top-selling franchise, Mystery Case Files. The two previous episodes, Mystery Case Files: Huntsville and Mystery Case Files: Prime Suspects, set online sales records in 2005 and 2006. Mystery Case Files: Prime Suspects currently remains the top-selling casual game, a position it has held since it launched in April 2006, according to Logler.com, a site which tracks the top 10 global casual games based on data from major download portals.

Unlock the Secrets of a Century Old Mystery ...

Rumors surrounding the history of stately Ravenhearst Manor have circulated for decades. The recently acquired diary of Emma Ravenhearst may hold the key to unraveling the history of this unsettling place, yet all the pages are missing. Players assume the role of Master Detective to unlock secrets held within Ravenhearst, scouring 32 rooms in the manor for cleverly hidden clues. Locating and assembling diary pages help tell the history of the house and, ultimately, unlock the mystery. The game includes hundreds of items to find, which are new and different each time the game is played.

Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst also includes a hidden “easter egg” in the game that gives players a chance to enter a contest that will award them with the opportunity to have a photograph or character of their likeness embedded in a scene in the next Mystery Case Files episode after Ravenhearst.

Read the entire press release here.

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News: Murder the Write Way

Tess Gerritsen, bestselling author of the Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles mysteries, writes in the Washington Post that as an author of mystery novels and medical thrillers, she inhabits a world in which killers are ruthlessly efficient and assassins seldom make mistakes. So when she considers the recent death of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned with radioactive polonium in London, the sheer clumsiness of the crime astonishes her.

She adds, Litvinenko's killer chose a poison that is rare and easily tracked: polonium-210. Extremely toxic, polonium is difficult to handle and it leaves a telltale trail of radioactive contamination, which British police have used to trace the poison's spread -- and presumably the killer's footsteps -- throughout London. The villain may as well have left a trail of breadcrumbs. The poison allowed the victim to live for days, during which he was able to provide police with vital information.

Had this been a fictional account, Gerritsen suggests alternative methods of murder that would have been more efficient. And, if she were writing this story, the plot suggests a specific villain as the mastermind behind the murder. Or does it?

Read her entire analysis on WashingtonPost.com here.

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Mystery Bestsellers for December 15, 2006

A list of the top ten mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending December 15, 2006 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

New this week: The time has come for Meredith Gentry to put aside her detective work and fulfill her ultimate obligation to the world of Faerie - where her efforts to conceive an heir to the throne of the Unseelie Court are crucial to restoring magic, and life itself, to the fey kingdom in Mistral's Kiss, the 5th book in this series by Laurell K. Hamilton. As plots and counterplots are hatched, and strategies and subterfuges played out, the destiny of an entire world turns upon the fortunes of Merry Gentry: object of obsession, target of treachery, pawn of uncertain fate. Publishers Weekly states that "Lots of earth-shattering, supernatural sex and a rousing climactic battle will have Hamilton's fans panting for more."

Also new this week, the latest thriller from Greg Iles: True Evil. If you wanted to kill your spouse and get away with it, you had to do something truly ingenious: something that wouldn't even be perceived as murder. And that was the service that Andrew Rusk had found a way to provide. Like any quality product, it did not come cheap. Nor did it come quickly. Who is this merciless assassin? Why is murder an art form for him? And what clues could exist to lead them to a man of such twisted talents? Not even the clients who hire him know his identity, and the lawyer who works with him fears him above all else. Most terrifying, those who choose murder over divorce soon learn a terrible truth: once set in motion, the instrument of their anger cannot be stopped. The Washington Post says, "True Evil will be too dark for some readers, but for those who enjoy lush, full-tilt thrillers, it will be engrossing and fun."

Be sure to check out our new, updated Mystery Bestsellers aStore to purchase any of the bestselling mysteries featured on our website!

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Press Release: The Moon Affects the Stock Market

El Dorado Hills, CA (PRWEB) December 14, 2006 -- A research paper discussed in the November issue of Harvard Business Review adds credence to the theory that author Robert Taylor developed years ago and set forth in his groundbreaking recent book Paradigm: the macro movement of the stock market can be predicted by gravitational fluctuations.

According to Taylor, who has worked with leading academicians and research scientists, the macro movement of the stock market is predictable. Gravitational fluctuations, such as those caused by the moon and other celestial bodies, influence masses of humans to feel simultaneously bullish or bearish about the stock market.

An article from the June 5, 2006 issue of BusinessWeek titled "The Sun, the Moon, and the Market," details Taylor's conclusions. Reporter Adrienne Carter called Paradigm "The Da Vinci Code for the Wall Street set."

Taylor packaged his research into the fiction mystery thriller Paradigm in order to reach a wider audience than a scientific journal. At the end of the book is a lengthy academic presentation of his science called "The Taylor Effect," and information on how readers can prove it to their own satisfaction. The recent Harvard published peer-reviewed study supports Taylor's findings.

Read the entire press release here.

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News: Stephen King to win MWA Grand Master Award

Stephen King has been announced as the recipient of the most prestigious honor the Mystery Writers of America bestow: The Grand Master Award given for lifetime achievement, writes Otto Penzler in The New York Sun.

He adds, although mainly famous as the author of the most terrifying horror fiction published during the past half-century or more, the multitalented Mr. King has also produced a strong body of work in the mystery/crime/suspense genre.

A long-time aficionado of mystery fiction, King stated: "I'm delighted to be getting the Grand Master Award and to be joining the likes of some of my greatest idols and teachers — people like John D. MacDonald, Ed McBain and Donald E. Westlake. The award means a great deal to me personally because it's an award from people who understand two things: the importance of good writing and the importance of telling stories."

Read the rest of the story here.

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