Leverage Renewed for a 4th Season

Timothy Hutton (@timhutton) tweeted a few hours ago that Leverage, one of our "can't miss" shows on television, has been renewed for a fourth season on TNT!

The Mystery Bookshelf: A New Omnibus of Crime, Tony Hillerman and Rosemary Herbert, editors

The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a library of new mysteries, is pleased to feature an anthology of short stories we recently received from the publisher.

— ◊ —

A New Omnibus of Crime by Tony Hillerman and Rosemary Herbert, editors
Oxford University Press (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: May 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-537071-3

In 1929, Dorothy L. Sayers published her landmark anthology, The Omnibus of Crime. In 2005, Tony Hillerman and Rosemary Herbert decided it was time to produce a definitive new anthology representing the best of the genre since then, the result being A New Omnibus of Crime. This summer, the trade paperback edition of this updated anthology was published by Oxford University Press.

In an introduction, co-editor Rosemary Herbert outlines the process by which this anthology came into being: (1) Selecting stories from the 1930s to the 1970s that were groundbreaking in their day and influential on later writers; (2) Selecting stories published since 1980 that show the range of crime writing in our time; (3) Culling the stories to pick out the best, with the assistance of Sue Grafton and Jeffery Deaver; and (4) Using the omnibus format to present them.

Fittingly, first up is a 1932 short story written by Dorothy L. Sayers. Like all the other stories included here, it is preceded by an introduction to the author and their body of work. Most of the stories can be broadly categorized as either suspense novels (in short story format) or detective fiction (including amateur sleuth), though there are clearly some exceptions. The benefit most readers will get from this fine anthology is to experience in a relatively short time frame the wide range of writing styles of many authors whose books were (and for many, still are) bestsellers in their day.

The Amateur Historian by Julian Cole (Book Review)

The Amateur Historian by Julian Cole. A Rounder Brothers Mystery. Minotaur Books Hardcover, June 2010.

Julian Cole introduces the Rounder brothers, Rick an ex-Yorkshire police officer now a private investigator and Sam, a Detective Chief Inspector with the York Police Department, investigating a case that may be linked to the death of a young girl that occurred over a century ago in The Amateur Historian.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: The Amateur Historian by Julian Cole.

— ◊ —

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

Redemption Cemetery: Curse of the Raven Collector's Edition, a New Game of Mystery 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.

— ◊ —

After getting into a car accident, you wander into a mysterious graveyard while searching for help. The doors slam shut behind you and you realize that you are trapped! Escape from the eerie Redemption Cemetery by helping trapped spirits save their loved ones, and free their souls! Use your hidden object skills to help these ghosts and escape!

This special Collector's Edition release is full of exclusive extras you won’t find in the standard version, including bonus gameplay, an integrated strategy guide, original soundtrack, concept art, and more.

Redemption Cemetery: Curse of the Raven Collector's Edition may be downloaded and purchased for $19.95 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (157.74 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour; the full version is 441.47 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!

Mystery Bestsellers for July 30, 2010

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending July 30th, 2010 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

No change in the order for the top three bestselling mysteries this week, with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson still at number 1, but last week's featured title, The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva, moves into the 4th spot. One new title enters the list this week.

— ◊ —

The latest south Florida comic thriller by Carl Hiaasen, Star Island, debuts in 11th position.

Meet twenty-two-year-old Cherry Pye (née Cheryl Bunterman), a pop star since she was fourteen—and about to attempt a comeback from her latest drug-and-alcohol disaster.

Now meet Cherry again: in the person of her “undercover stunt double,” Ann DeLusia. Ann portrays Cherry whenever the singer is too “indisposed”—meaning wasted—to go out in public. And it is Ann-mistaken-for-Cherry who is kidnapped from a South Beach hotel by obsessed paparazzo Bang Abbott.

Now the challenge for Cherry’s handlers (über–stage mother; horndog record producer; nipped, tucked, and Botoxed twin publicists; weed whacker–wielding bodyguard) is to rescue Ann while keeping her existence a secret from Cherry’s public—and from Cherry herself.

The situation is more complicated than they know. Ann has had a bewitching encounter with Skink—the unhinged former governor of Florida living wild in a mangrove swamp—and now he’s heading for Miami to find her ...

Will Bang Abbott achieve his fantasy of a lucrative private photo session with Cherry Pye? Will Cherry sober up in time to lip-synch her way through her concert tour? Will Skink track down Ann DeLusia before Cherry’s motley posse does?

— ◊ —

The top four mystery bestsellers this week are shown below:

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

Columbia Moves Forward with New, Contemporized Adaptation of Total Recall

In a press release today (read it on /Film), Columbia Pictures announced that Len Wiseman is in negotiations to direct the Kurt Wimmer-written film adaptation of the short story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick, effectively moving the project forward after being somewhat in limbo for 16 months or so now. A classic sci-fi thriller, it was originally made into the 1990 film Total Recall starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Studios today are loathe to use the word "remake", so Columbia is calling this "a new, contemporized adaptation" based on the film, but, somewhat oddly, not on the source material.

For more information about the original adaptation, visit Cinemystery: Total Recall.

Troublemaker Book One by Janet Evanovich and Alex Evanovich (Book Review)

Troublemaker Book One by Janet Evanovich and Alex Evanovich. A Barnaby and Hooker Graphic Mystery. Dark Horse Books Hardcover, July 2010.

Janet Evanovich introduced racecar spotter Alexandra "Barney" Barnaby in 2004 in Metro Girl, a mystery heavy on action and adventure. A second book followed in 2006 (Motor Mouth) and now the series continues in graphic novel format with the first volume in Troublemaker, co-written with her daughter Alex Evanovich, with artwork by Joelle Jones.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Troublemaker Book One by Janet Evanovich and Alex Evanovich.

— ◊ —

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

Mr. E. Reviews Poirot Set 5: The Movie Collection

Review of Poirot Set 5: The Movie Collection.

Three episodes comprise Series X of Agatha Christie's Poirot, which are included in this movie collection DVD set. "Murder on the Orient Express" is one of four new episodes filmed for the 12th series (season) of Poirot to air on ITV in the UK, with "Third Girl" and "Appointment with Death" having originally aired in September 2008 and December 2009, respectively, as part of the 11th series (season) for the network. All three episodes aired over successive weeks earlier this month on PBS Masterpiece Mystery!

Read the full text of our review at Mr. E. Reviews.

— ◊ —

Mr. E. Reviews is your source for mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime drama reviews of television and film.

Amazon.com Announces Kindle Wi-Fi

Amazon.com announced this morning its latest Kindle, a Wi-Fi only version of the standard Kindle that retains all of the features of the original (except, of course, 3G wireless) and weighs slightly less.

The Kindle Wi-Fi, available only in graphite (as shown), is currently priced at $139 and will begin shipping August 27, 2010; it may be pre-ordered now.

Far Cry by John Harvey (Book Review)

Far Cry by John Harvey. A Will Grayson and Helen Walker Mystery. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Hardcover, June 2010.

Cambridge police officers Helen Walker and Will Grayson investigate the disappearance of a 10-year-old girl in a case eerily similar to one that took place 13 years earlier -- and involving the same family -- in Far Cry, the second mystery in this series by John Harvey.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Far Cry by John Harvey.

— ◊ —

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

Nightfall Mysteries: Asylum Conspiracy, a Mysterious New Game 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.

— ◊ —

Christine, a young orphan, decides to go to travel to a desolute island, the location of the Ashburg Asylum, in order to find her missing grandfather, who is her only living relative. When Christine arrives and starts to explore the place, she begins to understand that something strange and foreboding is going on here. Your objective is to help Christie explore the island and seek numerous hidden items that will help you to solve some challenging puzzles. Step by step you will unravel the mystery and find out terrible secrets of asylum's past.

See also the previous game in this series, Nightfall Mysteries: Curse of the Opera.

Also available for this game: Nightfall Mysteries: Asylum Conspiracy Strategy Guide and Nightfall Mysteries: Asylum Conspiracy Game Walkthrough.

Nightfall Mysteries: Asylum Conspiracy may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (176.59 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.

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!

Bones of Contention by Jeanne Matthews (Book Review)

Bones of Contention by Jeanne Matthews. A Dinah Pelerin Mystery. Poisoned Pen Press Hardcover, June 2010.

Jeanne Matthews introduces 30-year-old underemployed Dinah Pelerin, who is unexpectedly summoned to the home of a distant (in more ways than one) and dying uncle -- "a chain-puller extraordinaire and a master of manipulation" -- in Bones of Contention.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Bones of Contention by Jeanne Matthews.

— ◊ —

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

First Clues, Mysteries for Kids: New Titles for August 2010

First Clues: Mysteries for Kids is pleased to announce a selection of new mystery, suspense and thriller books (including series books) scheduled for publication during August 2010.

The titles are listed in (approximate) order of appropriate age groups, from early readers to books for young adults.

— ◊ —

Hilda Hippo's Big Surprise
Natalie Shaw
Series: The Busytown Mysteries

Two Busytown Mysteries are being published this month.

In the first, it's a special day in Busytown: It's Hilda Hippo’s birthday! She received a really amazing gift from her father, and she invites her friends to meet her at the Busytown Park that evening so she can share her mystery gift with them. What is it? Hilda won’t tell! But she does give her friends clues that day… and Huckle figures out what Hilda’s mystery gift is. It's an actual star that her father had named after her! Together, the friends find the 'Hilda' star in the night sky and celebrate Hilda's birthday!

In the second, A Busy Day in Busytown, it's an extra busy day and Huckle Cat notices there’s a big traffic jam. He and his sister, Sally, wonder why it’s so busy! Whenever Huckle wants to find out the answer to a mystery, he investigates. Huckle and Sally walk around Busytown, asking their friends where they are rushing off to. Mouse explains he’s late for a movie. Hilda is out and about buying plants for her garden. Huckle realizes maybe it’s not a mystery after all … Busytown is just a busy place, full of busy friends with lots to do. And when everyone is out doing their errands at the same time, a traffic jam happens!

— ◊ —

Mystery Map
Franklin W. Dixon
Series: The Hardy Boys: Secret Files

Brothers Frank and Joe Hardy are 9- and 8-years old in this series featuring the amateur sleuths in stories for younger readers.

No synopsis is available for this is the third book in the series.

— ◊ —

The Burglar Who Bit the Big Apple
Steve Brezenoff
Series: A Field Trip Mystery

They solve crimes, catch crooks, crack codes … and ride the bus back to school afterward. Meet Egg, Gum, Sam, and Cat. Four sixth-grade detectives and best friends. Wherever field trips take them, mysteries aren’t far behind …

While in New York City on a field trip, Sam Archer and her friends find themselves immersed in a run of crimes at sightseeing locations.

Three other books in the series are being published this month: The Crook Who Crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, The Zombie Who Visited New Orleans, and The Ghost Who Haunted the Capitol.

— ◊ —

Misty Gordon and the Mystery of the Ghost Pirates
Kim Kennedy

Things in the New England town of Ashcrumb are getting weird. Or just weirder. Misty Gordon, whose antique-dealing parents drive a van that says “D.E.A.D.” on the side (for “Deceased’s Estate and Antique Dealer”), is accustomed to weird.

One day, when accompanying her father to the estate of a recently departed clairvoyant, Misty discovers a notebook and a pair of eyeglasses that enable her to see ghosts! And solve mysteries. With the help of her new powers and her best friend, Yoshi, Misty learns that her hometown was settled not by respectable colonists but by pirates! And the ghosts of the pirates are returning to reclaim a dangerous, powerful treasure they lost centuries ago. Who will find it first, Misty or the pirates?

— ◊ —

The Case of the Rock 'n' Roll Dog
Martha Freeman
Series: A First Kids Mystery

Most days Cammie is tired of being the daughter of the first female president of the United States and just wants her real life back. She's feeling the stress of having to be on display so often. Plus, her oversized and over enthusiastic dog Hooligan keeps getting into trouble. That's why she's thrilled when her very favorite group, the famous teenage sensation called the Song Boys, is scheduled to perform at a literacy event at the White House. But when White House objects disappear, the events is in jeopardy. With some help from her younger sister Tessa and Hooligan, Cammie tackles the mystery -- and helps save the concert.

The is the first book in this series.

— ◊ —

The Vanishing Violin
Michael D. Beil
Series: A Red Blazer Girls Mystery

When there are mysteries to be solved, the Red Blazer Girls are on the case! In the first mystery of the series, the discovery of the Ring of Rocamadour has secured the girls' reputation as Upper East Side super-sleuths, bringing many sundry job requests (no mystery too small, right?) and some unwanted attention from crooks.

In this second mystery, the girls must follow a trail of cryptic clues, involving everything from logic to literature, to trace a rare violin gone missing. But nothing is as it appears, and just as a solution seems imminent, the girls find themselves scrambling to save the man who was once their prime suspect.

— ◊ —

High School Musical Mystery II: The Lost Verse
Stefan Petrucha and Sarah Kinney
Series: Nancy Drew Graphic Novels

In this 21st entry in the graphic novel series, Nancy’s car is stolen! A rare copy of Edgar Allen Poe’s first story has vanished! A girl has been kidnapped! All before this story even begins! To set things right and satisfy a crazed Poe fan, Nancy Drew must solve a sixty-year-old mystery that’s daunted millions and discover the true identity of the person who visits Poe’s grave every year, toasting the writer and leaving three roses. Fortunately, she has plenty of help as her two new pals, the Dana Girls, accompany her on her quest to discover Poe’s Lost Verse!

— ◊ —

Conspiracy 365: August
Gabrielle Lord
Series: The Conspiracy 365 Series

The 8th thrilling novel in this 12 volume series.

On New Year's Eve, Callum Ormond is chased down the street by a crazed man with a deadly warning: They killed your father. They'll kill you. You must survive the next 365 days. Cal is fighting for his sister's life. But nobody believes the "psycho kid" and he's running out of people he can trust. He doesn't even know which of his enemies he's facing. How many hard-won treasures will he have to relinquish in return for his sister's safety?

— ◊ —

The Madman of Venice
Sophie Masson

Venice in 1602 is a vibrant and charming city. Yet beneath this splendor lies a sinister underworld in which murderous pirates and conniving noblemen have woven a tangled network.

Along with his daughter, Celia; his clerk, Ned; and his sister, Mistress Bess Quickly, Master Ashby, a prosperous merchant, sets forth from London to Venice to investigate the pirate attacks that have been plaguing English ships. But the group's mission turns out to be far more than they bargained for when Ashby is beseeched to find Sarah Tedeschi, a Jewish girl who has vanished from the Venetian Ghetto after being accused of witchcraft by the powerful Countess of Montemoro.

Is Sarah's disapperance somehow connected to the pirate attacks? Nothing is what it seems as Ned and Celia uncover secrets that have been hidden for far too long.

Inspired by Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.

— ◊ —

The Body at the Tower
Y. S. Lee
Series: A Mary Quinn Agency Mystery

Mary Quinn is back in this second mystery in the series, now a trusted member of the Agency, the all-female detective unit operating out of Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls. Her new assignment sends her into the grimy underbelly of Victorian London dressed as a poor boy, evoking her own childhood memories of fear, hunger, and constant want. As she insinuates herself into the confidence of several persons of interest, she encounters others in desperate situations and struggles to make a difference without exposing —or losing —her identity.

Mary’s adventure, which takes place on the building site of the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament, offers a fictional window into a fascinating historical time and place.

— ◊ —

The Interrogation of Gabriel James
Charlie Price

Eyewitness to two killings, fourteen-year-old Gabriel James relates the shocking story behind the murders in a police interrogation interspersed with flashbacks. Step by step, this Montana teenager traces his discovery of a link between a troubled classmate's disturbing home life and an outbreak of local crime. In the process, however, Gabriel becomes increasingly confused about his own culpability for the explosive events that have unfolded.

— ◊ —

Dead Is Just a Rumor
Marlene Perez
Series: A Giordano Sisters Thriller

In this fourth entry in the series, the creepy little town of Nightshade prepares to celebrate its 200th anniversary—on Halloween, of course—just as many of its paranormal residents are receiving mysterious blackmail letters. Psychic teen Daisy Giordano and her sisters set out to find out who is behind the threats. But launching an investigation isn’t easy for Daisy with her overprotective father watching her every move. Though she’s is happy to have him back after the years he spent being held captive by an anti-paranormal group called the Scourge, Dad is having difficult time adjusting to home life—and the fact that his little girl is now a senior in high school. He even disapproves of Daisy’s boyfriend, Ryan. Can their relationship take the strain?

And Daisy’s got even more on her plate: A talented amateur chef, she has won cooking lessons with celebrity chef Circe Silvertongue. After nosing around (with a little help from Circe’s pet pig), Daisy begins to suspect the temperamental chef’s secrets aren’t only in her ingredients.

— ◊ —

First Clues: Mysteries for Kids is your source for information on over 200 mystery series for children and young adults, where each series is conveniently listed under four different age categories (New Sleuths, ages 4 to 6; Future Sleuths, ages 7 to 9; Sleuths in Training, ages 10 to 12; and Apprentice Sleuths, ages 13 and older).