Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Every Bitter Thing by Leighton Gage (Book Review)

Mysterious Reviews: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller and Crime Novel Reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books

Every Bitter Thing by Leighton Gage. A Mario Silva Investigation. Soho Crime Hardcover, December 2010.

This creative and quite clever variation on the typical manor house mystery, where a group of apparent strangers come together only to have one of them start killing off the others, is highly entertaining, marred only slightly when the motive for the murders -- and hence the identity of the killer -- is revealed early on.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Every Bitter Thing by Leighton Gage.

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Read the first chapters of Every Bitter Thing below.

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

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

George Clooney to Star in Film Adaptation of The Monster of Florence

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston
More information about the book

Deadline|New York is reporting that Fox 2000 has acquired the film rights to the true crime book The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Italian crime reporter Mario Spezi.

George Clooney is on board to play Preston, who is probably best known to mystery readers as the co-author with Lincoln Child of the Pendergast series of thrillers.

The Monster of Florence describes the efforts of Preston and Spezi, who together set out to solve a series of unsolved murders that took place between 1974 and 1985 outside the Italian city. Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects, The Tourist) and Nathan Alexander (Valkyrie) will write the screenplay.

One Deadly Sister by Rod Hoisington is Today's Featured Free NookBook Mystery

MystereBooks: Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller eBooks

MystereBooks is pleased to feature a mystery title that is currently available as a NookBook for free from Barnes&Noble. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically only until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so download it today!

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One Deadly Sister by Rod Hoisington
More Information About One Deadly Sister by Rod Hoisington

One Deadly Sister by Rod Hoisington
A Raymond and Sandy Reid Mystery (1st in series)
EnteraBooks (NookBook)
Download Link

About One Deadly Sister (from the publisher): Ray Reid doesn't come looking for trouble, he simply wants to get past his Philadelphia divorce and start a new life, but woman-trouble comes looking for him.

Unfortunately, he arrives in the small Florida oceanside town just as someone decides to murder the local gubernatorial candidate. Reid doesn’t have a clue about women and gets seduced and framed—by a 70-year-old in a thong. He’s the perfect target for the local prosecutor who figures he has the ideal trial that’ll propel him to the US Senate.

Ray hasn’t bothered with his estranged sister up north for years but now, as a stranger in a hostile town, she’s his only hope. She holds an old grudge and resents having her life interrupted. After first telling him to go to hell, she reluctantly decides to at least check out her brother’s predicament.

This small step leads to an ever-increasing entanglement of deceit, double-cross, and danger, as she can’t leave well-enough alone and goes after the real killer.

Mysterious Reviews: Mysteries Reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery BooksRead our Review of One Deadly Sister by Rod Hoisington at Mysterious Reviews.

Mr. E. Reviews The Guilty

Mr. E. reviews mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime drama television and film for Omnimystery

More drama than suspense thriller, the plot of ITV's 1992 two-part made-for-television movie The Guilty, especially during its first half, is utterly predictable, though credibly played out. The performances, however, are first rate, and Michael Kitchen, as the arrogant barrister trapped in a maelstrom of his own making, is particularly noteworthy.

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

The Guilty is new on DVD today.

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

Damages to Air on DIRECTV Starting January 5th

Telemystery: Mystery and Suspense on Television

DIRECTV customers are in for a real treat: Starting tomorrow, Wednesday January 5th, the satellite television provider will begin airing weekly episodes from the first season of Damages. Episodes from the second season begin on April 6th, from the third season on May 25th, with new episodes from the fourth season premiering exclusively on DIRECTV this summer.

The fourth season will consist of ten new episodes and will star Glenn Close and Rose Byrne as well as other principal cast members from previous seasons.

Get more information about the series on the DIRECTV: Damages website. Watch a short promo video below:

OMN Welcomes Carol K. Carr, Author of India Black

Omnimystery News: Authors on Tour

Omnimystery News is pleased to welcome Carol K. Carr as our guest today. Carol's debut mystery, also published today, is India Black (Berkley, January 2011 Trade Paperback, 978-0-425-23866-0), introduces "Madam of Espionage" India Black.

We're delighted that Carol sat down with us to answer a few questions about her new book.

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Carol K. Carr
Photo provided courtesy of
Carol K. Carr

What can you tell us about India Black?

India is the young and beautiful madam of a brothel in Victorian London. When a government minister dies in her establishment and the portfolio of War Office documents he was carrying goes missing, India finds herself blackmailed into helping the British government recover the case from the Russian agents who have stolen it. She is joined in the pursuit by a handsome British agent named French, and an odiferous street urchin called Vincent. The chase leads from the Russian embassy to one of London’s grand hotels, and finally across the English Channel to France.

From the synopsis, it seems this book could be classifed under several genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Mystery. How would you describe your book?

It has elements of all those genres. I think of it as an old-fashioned adventure story, with some comic interludes and episodes of derring-do, and a few interesting historical facts tossed in for good measure.

How much of the story is historical fact? Was the plot inspired by actual events?

The historical events described in the book did indeed take place. The Turks did massacre Christian peasants who refused to pay their taxes to the Ottoman Empire, which led to reprisals against Muslim peasants by Christians. The Prime Minister of Great Britain, Benjamin Disraeli, did engage in a public debate with William Gladstone about the wisdom of invading the Ottoman Empire to prevent the massacres, while the Russians were anxious to invade in order to secure a warm water port on the Black Sea. It’s also true that Disraeli publicly committed the British army to fight the Russians, without realizing that the military was hopelessly undermanned. I don’t believe that information was ever stolen from a dead body in a brothel, but India is convinced it was.

If you had to pick just one sentence from the book as your favorite, which would it be?

My description of William Gladstone: “He was an impressive old bird, with a slab of a face roughly hewn into a hawk-like visage, enormous tufts of white side-whiskers, and a mouth like an Old Testament prophet who’d just gotten wind of the goings-on in Sodom and Gomorrah.” For some reason, it tickles me.

What prompted you to tell this story, to write this book?

India demanded that I tell it. I’m not kidding. She just appeared in my life one day and I knew I had to write her out of my head or she’d never leave me alone.

We're fans of series characters, that we get to know them within the context of more than one adventure. What's next for India Black?

I've signed a two-book contract with Berkley, and I’ve delivered the second in the series to my editor. I don’t have a fixed date for publication yet, but I’d anticipate that it will be sometime in 2012. On her next outing, India must protect the life of a Very Important Person at the castle at Balmoral (subtle hint as to the identity of said VIP), with assistance from Vincent and French.

Now that you've completed your first mystery (two if we count your completed manuscript for the second in the series), if you ventured off into another genre, what would it be?

I’d stick to espionage, but this time I’d set the book in South Africa during World War II. It would be much darker and grittier than the India series. I'm planning to write that novel one of these days, but right now I am concentrating on India.

If you could have written any crime novel already published, what would it be?

There are hundreds of books I wish I’d written. Maybe the Jackson Brodie series by Kate Atkinson, or any of the novels of Sarah Caudwell. Or some genre-changing work like The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

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For more information about Carol, visit her website at CarolKCarr.com.

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India Black by Carol K. Carr
More information about the book

About India Black: When Sir Archibald Latham of the War Office dies from a heart attack while visiting her brothel, Madam India Black is unexpectedly thrust into a deadly game between Russian and British agents who are seeking the military secrets Latham carried.

Blackmailed into recovering the missing documents by the British spy known as French, India finds herself dodging Russian agents-and the attraction she starts to feel for the handsome conspirator.

Also available: India Black (Kindle edition).

Monday, January 03, 2011

New Red Band Trailer for The Mechanic Starring Jason Statham

The Mechanic (2011)

A week or so ago we posted a short clip from the upcoming remake of The Mechanic from CBS Films, starring Jason Statham as an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talen for cleanly eliminating targets.

Now, IGN has posted a new red band trailer for the film, which you can see below. Note: This trailer is rated R for violence, language and brief nudity.

More information about the film can be found on The Mechanic movie website. The Mechanic will be in theaters January 28th.

Strangers by Mary Anna Evans (Book Review)

Mysterious Reviews: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller and Crime Novel Reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books

Strangers by Mary Anna Evans. A Faye Longchamp Mystery. Poisoned Pen Press Hardcover, October 2010.

Several elements that have made this series so compelling to date are present here as well, but newly married and newly pregnant Faye Longchamp seems to have lost some of her vulnerability and ambition, a slightly disappointing development in an otherwise intricately crafted, historically and richly detailed -- and in the end, quite enjoyable -- mystery.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Strangers by Mary Anna Evans.

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

Southland Season Three Premieres Tuesday, January 4th, on TNT

Telemystery: Mystery and Suspense on Television

Southland, the series TNT rescued after abruptly being canceled by NBC, returns for its third season tomorrow, Tuesday January 4th, at 10 PM (ET/PT).

From the beaches of Malibu to the streets of East Los Angeles, Southland is a fast-moving drama that takes a raw and authentic look at a police unit in Los Angeles, inside the lives of cops, criminals, victims and their families.

The ensemble cast is led by Michael Cudlitz who plays John Cooper, a seasoned cop assigned to train young rookie Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie). Cooper's honest, no-nonsense approach to the job leaves Sherman questioning whether or not he has what it takes to become a police officer.

In the Season 3 opener, titled "Let In Snow", Detective Lydia Adams (Regina King) and her new partner hunt a cleaning lady's killer. John and Ben rescue an officer during a bank robbery shoot-out. Nate and Sammy investigate the murder of a gang member.

Watch a "behind-the-scenes" preview from the series below:

Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House, New This Week on Nintendo DS

Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House (Nintendo DS)
More Information about the Game

In Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House, a brand new adventure especially designed for the Nintendo DS, you play as the famous consulting detective Sherlock Holmes and you will have to shed some light on curious events.

When Queen Victoria's genealogical records are stolen, the Royal Family decides to put you in charge of the case and asks you to solve this strange mystery. And why does the Royal Family want to keep the robbery secret?

As always, followed by your wise and faithful friend, Doctor Watson, you will have to use your logic and observation senses through dozens of riddles, puzzles and brain teasers of all sorts. You will travel throughout London, visiting such prestigious places such as Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and the British Museum. Sometimes appearances are not what they seem and you will have to use all your wisdom to confound the culprit finally discover the truth to the Mystery of Osborne House!

Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House is scheduled to be released on January 4th, 2011, and may be pre-ordered. It is ESRB rated E-10+ for Everyone, 10 and older.

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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!

Mystery and Suspense Films, New This Week on DVD (110104)

Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller Films on DVD and/or Blu-ray Disc

Checking through our list of films currently scheduled for release this week on DVD and/or Blu-ray disc, shown below are those that fall into the mystery, suspense, and thriller categories.

Available on DVD Available on DVD
Available on Blu-ray Disc Available on Blu-ray Disc
Available on VOD Available on Video on Demand (via Amazon.com)

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Case 39

Case 39 (2009) Case 39 on DVDCase 39 on Blu-ray Disc

A terrifying, supernatural thriller about a social worker who has been assigned the unusual and disturbing case of Lillith Sullivan (Jodelle Ferland) … a girl with a strange and mysterious past.

When Emily Jenkins (Renee Zellweger) opens her home in an attempt to help Lillith, an abused 10-year-old girl, it turns into a deadly nightmare she may not survive.

Bradley Cooper plays psychiatrist and Emily's boyfriend Douglas Ames and Ian McShane plays Detective Mike Barron. (1:49)

Purchase Options: DVD | Blu-ray

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The Guilty

The Guilty (1991) The Guilty on DVD

London attorney Steven Vey (Michael Kitchen) has a brilliant career, a beautiful wife, and money to burn. To top it off, he’s about to be named Britain’s youngest-ever judge. But one night, a celebration with his pretty secretary, Nicky (Caroline Catz), goes too far. He calls it a drunken indiscretion; she calls it rape.

Meanwhile, Birmingham punk Eddy Doyle (Sean Gallagher) is fresh out of prison with no prospects. After learning that the stuffy vicar who raised him isn’t his real dad, Eddie goes in search of his father. When they meet, Doyle is lured into a conspiracy with horrific results.

Lives intertwine and tension builds in this provocative psychological thriller where everyone is guilty of something -- and justice isn’t always served. (3:21)

Purchase Options: DVD

Mannix, New This Week on DVD

Telemystery, the most complete selection of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series now available or coming soon to 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 one series being released this week.

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Mannix: Season Four, a Mystery TV Series
Information on Mannix: Season Four

Mike Connors stars as Los Angeles private investigator Joseph R. "Joe" Mannix in the CBS crime drama Mannix, which aired for 8 seasons from 1967 through 1975. The series also stars Gail Fisher as his secretary/assistant Peggy Fair and Ward Wood in a recurring role as police lieutenant Art Malcolm.

Mannix spends a lot of time in every episode driving around LA, and each season featured a different (sometimes several) cars driven by the character. Trivia fans will want to note that Season Four's car is a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda 340 convertible.

Mannix was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, the creative team behind other popular crime series such as Columbo and Murder, She Wrote.

The Mannix: Season Four DVD set of 6 discs contain the 24 episodes that aired during its fourth season, from September 1970 through March 1971.

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

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for January 03, 2011

A new 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!).

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Mystery Godoku Puzzle for January 03, 2011

This week's letters and mystery clue:

A E F G L O R T W

The 2nd Ghost Hunters thriller by Jayne Castle has this title (9 letters).

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!

Sunday, January 02, 2011

Medicus by Ruth Downie is Today's Featured Free Kindle Mystery

MystereBooks: Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller eBooks

MystereBooks is pleased to feature a mystery title that is currently available in Kindle eBook format for free from Amazon.com. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically only until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so download it today!

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Medicus by Ruth Downie
More Information About Medicus by Ruth Downie

Medicus by Ruth Downie
A Gaius Petreius Ruso Mystery (1st in series)
Bloomsbury (Kindle eBook)
Download Link

About Medicus (from the publisher): Divorced and down on his luck, Gaius Petreius Ruso has made the rash decision to seek his fortune in an inclement outpost of the Roman Empire, namely Britannia. In a moment of weakness, after a straight 36-hour shift at the army hospital, he succumbs to compassion and rescues an injured slave girl, Tilla, from the hands of her abusive owner.

Now he has a new problem: a slave who won't talk and can't cook, and drags trouble in her wake. Before he knows it, Ruso is caught in the middle of an investigation into the deaths of prostitutes working out of the local bar. Now Ruso must summon all his forensic knowledge to find a killer who may be after him next.

Read the first chapters of Medicus below.

Deadly Sanctuary by Sylvia Nobel is Today's Featured Free NookBook Mystery

MystereBooks: Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller eBooks

MystereBooks is pleased to feature a mystery title that is currently available as a NookBook for free from Barnes&Noble. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically only until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so download it today!

— ◊ —

Deadly Sanctuary by Sylvia Nobel
More Information About Deadly Sanctuary by Sylvia Nobel

Deadly Sanctuary by Sylvia Nobel
A Kendall O'Dell Mystery (1st in series)
Nite Owl Books (NookBook)
Download Link

About Deadly Sanctuary (from the publisher): Beautiful, strong-willed reporter, Kendall O'Dell, is drawn into an evil web of conspiracy beyond anything she could have ever imagined when she accepts a position at a small newspaper in isolated Castle Valley, Arizona. Her assignment: Find out why her predecessor mysteriously vanished while working on a story concerning the unsolved deaths of two teenage girls. Why is the sheriff so hostile to her inquiries? Why is the woman operating the local shelter for homeless girls so secretive? And how is attractive rancher Bradley Talverson involved?

When the body of a third girl is discovered in the desert not far from a private mental institution, Kendall's life hangs in the balance as she strives to uncover the horrifying secret.

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