Firsts on the 1st: New Series Characters Being Introduced in October 2010 Mysteries

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books recently updated its list of October 2010 hardcover mysteries as well shelved new October paperbacks on The Mystery Bookshelf.

In this series of monthly posts, which we call Firsts on the 1st, we're introducing readers to new series characters who will make their mysterious debut during October.

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Title: Murder at the PTA
Author: Laura Alden
Series Character: Beth Kennedy
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Beth Kennedy is a bookstore owner and the secretary for the local PTA in this series set in Wisconsin.

Her first case: After Tarver Elementary School's unpopular principal is murdered, Beth puts aside bake sales and class trip fund-raisers to catch a killer. And when members of the PTA become suspects, she realizes solving this murder will not be as easy as ABC ...

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Title: In Search of Mercy
Author: Michael Ayoob
Series Character: Dexter Bolzjak
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Dexter Bolzjak is an ex–hockey goalie.

His first case: Dexter was abducted and tortured by perverted sports fans eight years ago. Now he’s muddling along in a Pittsburgh warehouse when he meets an old, terminally ill drunk named Lou Kashon. Lou wants to see his lost love, the actress Mercy Carnahan, and offers Dexter a fortune to find her. Dexter embarks on the search, retracing Mercy’s past online and on foot, following Mercy’s trail to New York, where he finds a voyeuristic film of the actress recorded shortly before her disappearance. Once Dexter connects that film to its source, he finds himself trapped in the ultimate nightmare.

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Title: Fundraising the Dead
Author: Sheila Connolly
Series Character: Eleanor "Nell" Pratt
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Eleanor "Nell" Pratt is a fundraiser for the Pennsylvania Antiquarian Society.

Her first case: As the Society's fundraiser, Nell solicits donations -- and sometimes solves crimes. When a collection of George Washington's letters is lost on the same day that an archivist is found dead, it seems strange that the Society president isn't pushing for an investigation. Nell goes digging herself, and soon uncovers a long, rich history of crime.

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Title: The Pericles Commission
Author: Gary Corby
Series Character: Nicolaos
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Nicolaos is an agent for the politician Pericles and older brother to a young Socrates.

His first case: Nicolaos walks the mean streets of Athens, on a mission to find the assassin of the statesman Ephialtes, the man who brought democracy to the city and whose murder has thrown it into uproar. It’s a job not made any easier by the depressingly increasing number of dead witnesses.

But murder and mayhem don’t bother Nico; what’s really on his mind is how to get closer (much closer) to Diotima, the intelligent and annoyingly virgin priestess of Artemis, and how to shake off his irritating twelve year-old brother Socrates.

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Title: Swift Justice
Author: Laura A. H. DiSilverio
Series Character: Charlotte "Charlie" Swift
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Former US Air Force investigator Charlotte "Charlie" Swift is a private investigator in Colorado Springs (Colorado).

Her first case: Charlie's silent partner in Swift Investigations flees the country, leaving his wife, Gigi, with nothing but the house, the Hummer, and a half interest in the company. Charlie ends up with a heap of debt and Gigi, who has decided to be a not-so-silent partner. This change comes about while Charlie is trying to find the mother of a baby abandoned on a client’s doorstep. While following leads, she sends Gigi out on crazy assignments, hoping that the pampered socialite will be driven to quit. However, when the baby’s mother turns up dead, there’s a murderer on the loose, and Charlie will need all the help she can get.

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Title: Old World Murder
Author: Kathleen Ernst
Series Character: Chloe Ellefson
Format: Trade Paperback

What we know about the character: Chloe Ellefson is a collections curator at Old World Wisconsin.

Her first case: Chloe's first day on the job at the outdoor ethnic museum only brings misfortune when an elderly woman pleads with her to find the priceless eighteenth-century Norwegian ale bowl that she donated to the museum years ago. Minutes later, the disappointed woman dies in a mysterious car crash.

Throwing herself into a dangerous investigation, Chloe discovers that someone is desperately trying to erase all traces of the bowl's existence by any means necessary ... including murder. With the unnervingly attractive part-time cop Roelke McKenna at her side, Chloe must solve a decades-old puzzle, catch a covetous killer, and stay alive in this deadly heirloom hunt.

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Title: Three Bedrooms, Two Baths, One Very Dead Corpse
Author: David James
Series Character: Amanda Thorne
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Amanda Thorne is a realtor in Palm Springs (California).

Her first case: Amanda knows the golden rule of selling homes. Unless, of course, the prime property includes one very dead corpse ...

Amanda is pretty resilient, but she's taken a few hard knocks since she moved to plush Palm Springs. After a divorce from her husband and business partner, Alex, she's determined to make it on her own in real estate -- despite scorpions, 100-degree heat, and an encounter with a cactus en route to her first big listing. And when she finally arrives at the Mid-century modern manse, a lifeless body in the living room really ruins the ambiance. Starting her own investigation to clear her name, what's clear is that someone wants Amanda's inquiring mind off the market -- permanently. But she's tracking down this killer ... even if it leads her to death's handcrafted, Mission style door.

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Title: Yü
Author: Joy Shayne Laughter
Series Character: Ross Lamos
Format: Trade Paperback

What we know about the character: Ross Lamos is a dealer in fine art.

His first case: Lamos has built his career dealing in Asian art and antiquities by hiding his very useful psychic touch. When he holds the yü -- jade, the Stone of Heaven -- it reveals an extraordinary history, and his role in a love story that changed the course of a Dynasty ... the love between an extraordinary Concubine and a Prince, the son of her Emperor, and the Poet caught between them all ... a story hidden for two thousand years in three pieces of yü.

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Title: You Are Next
Author: Katia Lief
Series Character: Karin Schaeffer
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Karin Schaeffer is a former police detective, now studying forensic psychology.

Her first case: Karin has nothing left to live for after serial killer Martin Price destroys all she holds dear. Known as "The Domino Killer" because he leaves dominoes as a clue to his next victim, Price doesn't stop until an entire family is destroyed. Even when he's locked away in prison, the shadow he casts over Karin's life keeps her in constant darkness.

Then a policeman brings news to her door: Price has escaped. Karin knows where he's headed because of the message he left behind last time, scrawled in blood, on her bathroom mirror—

You are next.

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Title: Roman Games
Author: Bruce Macbain
Series Character: Plinius Secundus
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Plinius Secundus is a lawyer in late 1st century Rome.

His first case: When the body of Sextus Verpa, a notorious senatorial informer and libertine, is found stabbed to death in his bedroom, his slaves are suspected. Pliny is ordered by the emperor Domitian to investigate. However, the Ludi Romani, the Roman Games, have just begun and for the next fifteen days the law courts are in recess. If Pliny can't identify the murderer in that time, Verpa's entire slave household will be burned alive in the arena.

Teaming up with Martial, a starving author of bawdy verses and denizen of the Roman demimonde, they pool their respective talents, and unravel a plot that involves Jewish and Christian "atheists," exotic Egyptian cultists, and a missing horoscope that forecasts the emperor's death.

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Title: Collusion
Author: Stuart Neville
Series Character: Jack Lennon
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Jack Lennon is a Detective Inspector in Belfast (Northern Ireland).

His first case: When Lennon tries to track down his former lover Marie McKenna and their daughter, his superiors tell him to back off. But now an assassin stalks Belfast, tying up loose ends for a vengeance-driven old man. As Lennon unravels a conspiracy that links his daughter to a killer named Fegan, the line between friend and enemy blurs.

(Note: Though we're characterizing this novel as the first in a series, many of the characters were introduced in Neville's previous book, The Ghosts of Belfast.)

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Title: A Brisket, a Casket
Author: Delia Rosen
Series Character: Gwen Silver (Deadly Deli)
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Native New Yorker Gwen Silver runs a deli in Nashville (Tennessee).

Her first case: When Gwen inherits her uncle's deli, Murray the Pastrami Swami, the venture seems doomed from the start. Murray has taken his recipes and secret list of food suppliers to the grave with him, and ruthless real estate developer Royce Sinclair will stop at nothing to try and sandwich Murray’s into his already overstuffed portfolio. Then, on Kosher Karaoke Night, longtime customer Buster Sergeant bites into his brisket … and bites the dust. With the help of hunky police detective Beau McClintock, “Nashville Katz”—as Gwen is quickly nicknamed—finds herself adding “private investigator” to her resume—and a new love to her life.

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Title: To the Manor Dead
Author: Sebastian Stuart
Series Character: Janet Petrocelli (Janet's Planet)
Format: Trade Paperback

What we know about the character: Janet Petrocelli is a former therapist from New York City who relocates to the Catskills and opens a used-stuff shop.

Her first case: Janet has made a new, low-stress life for herself as a collectibles shop owner in the quiet Hudson Valley river town of Sawyersville. Unfortunately, Janet is a magnet for nut jobs. In this case, it's the Livingstons, an aristocratic family that has gone to seed in a disturbingly seedy way. When the elderly estate co-owner, Daphne Livingston, offers her prized heirlooms to Janet for a hasty sale, the seemingly simple deal morphs into a tangled web of insanity, greed, and murder. Despite her resolve to steer clear of the murky depths of degeneracy and deceit, Janet becomes obsessed with finding justice for the dead ... if the killer doesn't find her first.

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For a list of more mysteries scheduled for publication during October, please visit our New Mysteries home page. If you're interested in new paperbacks, visit The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a library of new mysteries, also updated with October 2010 releases.

Please also 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.

Harlequin Mira Mystery and Suspense Titles for October 2010

eHarlequin.com has announced the October 2010 titles for their Mira imprint, the brightest stars in women's fiction. From all titles available, we've only listed those that are mystery, thriller, or suspense on this page. For more information or to purchase any of the books below, click on the book title or book cover. (Previous months titles can be found on the backlist page.)

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The Immortals by J. T. Ellison
A Taylor Jackson Mystery (5th in series)

It is Samhain—the Blood Harvest. Nonbelievers call it Hallowe'en. The night when eight Nashville teenagers are found dead, with occult symbols carved into their naked bodies. It's a ritual the killers believe was blessed by Death himself.

When children are victimized, emotions always run high, and this case has the public both outraged and terrified: a dangerous combination. Recently reinstated homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson knows she has to act quickly, but tread carefully.

Exploring the baffling culture of mysticism and witchcraft, Taylor is immersed in a darkness that threatens to unbalance the order of her world, and learns how unchecked wrath can push a killer to his limits.

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Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn 
A Lady Julia Grey Mystery (4th in series)

After eight idyllic months in the Mediterranean, Lady Julia Grey and her detective husband are ready to put their investigative talents to work once more. At the urging of Julia's eccentric family, they hurry to India to aid an old friend, the newly widowed Jane Cavendish. Living on the Cavendish tea plantation with the remnants of her husband's family, Jane is consumed with the impending birth of her child—and with discovering the truth about her husband's death. Was he murdered for his estate? And if he was, could Jane and her unborn child be next?

Amid the lush foothills of the Himalayas, dark deeds are buried and malicious thoughts flourish. The Brisbanes uncover secrets and scandal, illicit affairs and twisted legacies. In this remote and exotic place, exploration is perilous and discovery, deadly. The danger is palpable and, if they are not careful, Julia and Nicholas will not live to celebrate their first anniversary.

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Killer Heat by Brenda Novak
A Department 6 Novel of Suspense (5th in series)

The bodies of seven women have been discovered in Skull Valley, Arizona. Jonah Young, a private security operative from Department 6, has been hired by the Yavapai County sheriff to assist in solving these murders. But Jonah's not prepared for the complications that arise when he's forced to work with a woman from his past, private investigator Francesca Moretti.

Jonah betrayed Francesca ten years ago. She hasn't forgiven him and she's pretty sure she never will. But the woman she was hired to find has been murdered in exactly the same way as the seven in Skull Valley, so, Francesca has to work with Jonah. They quickly zero in on the most likely suspect—but questions remain. Questions they have to answer. Because if they bet on the wrong man, it might be the last thing they ever do …

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The 2nd Lie by Tara Taylor Quinn
The Chapman Files (2nd in series)

They say big-city problems don't happen here. They're wrong. That's why psychologist Kelly Chapman is so concerned about fourteen-year-old Maggie Winston. She's a straight-A student who's developed a sudden interest in an older man. A man she knows only as Mac.

Deputy Samantha Jones, Kelly's longtime friend, is worried, too. She has been ever since a local businessman killed his wife and then himself. Since a kid was caught selling drugs. Since the discovery of a mysterious chemical dump on Kyle Evans's farm. Kyle, her former fiancé and current lover …

Are all these things connected? That's what Sam and Kelly are beginning to think. And that means someone in Chandler is lying.

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Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten
Non-Series

Max Parkman—autistic and whip-smart, emotionally fragile and aggressive—is perfect in his mother's eyes. Until he's accused of murder.

Attorney Danielle Parkman knows her teenage son Max's behavior has been getting worse—using drugs and lashing out. But she can't accept the diagnosis she receives at a top-notch adolescent psychiatric facility that her son is deeply disturbed. Dangerous.

Until she finds Max, unconscious and bloodied, beside a patient who has been brutally stabbed to death.

Trapped in a world of doubt and fear, barred from contacting Max, Danielle clings to the belief that her son is innocent. But has she, too, lost touch with reality? Is her son really a killer?

With the justice system bearing down on them, Danielle steels herself to discover the truth, no matter what it is. She'll do whatever it takes to find the killer and to save her son from being destroyed by a system that's all too eager to convict him.

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Keep up to date by subscribing to eHarlequin.com's free newsletter that contains the latest information about their series of books as well as informing you about subscriber-only special offers and new products. Click on the banner below to subscribe for free:

The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville

The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a library of new mysteries, is pleased to feature a new mystery series title we recently received from the publisher.

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The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville
Non-series
Soho Crime (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: October 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-857-8

About The Ghosts of Belfast (from the publisher): Fegan has been a “hard man,” an IRA killer in northern Ireland. Now that peace has come, he is being haunted day and night by twelve ghosts: a mother and infant, a schoolboy, a butcher, an RUC constable, and seven other of his innocent victims. In order to appease them, he’s going to have to kill the men who gave him orders.

As he’s working his way down the list he encounters a woman who may offer him redemption; she has borne a child to an RUC officer and is an outsider too. Now he has given Fate -- and his quarry -- a hostage. Is this Fegan’s ultimate mistake?

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About the author: Stuart Neville is a partner in a multimedia design business based in Armagh, Northern Ireland. This is his first novel, which was published in the UK as The Twelve.

 Mysteries by Stuart Neville reviewed by Mysterious Reviews: The Ghosts of Belfast (2009).

Read the first chapters of The Ghosts of Belfast below.

Drawn: Dark Flight, an Adventure Game of Mystery and Intrigue, New at 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.

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Iris has escaped from the Tower but she still needs your help in this exciting sequel, an adventure game of dark secrets and intrigue! Explore the Kingdom of Stonebriar and solve the mysteries of the shadows that prowl its streets. Enter magical worlds through colorful paintings and meet a host of fantastic characters that will help you on your quest. Only someone with the power of imagination can unravel the enigma of the three beacons that lay cold in the corners of a kingdom. Dark, they are a reminder of a future Queen and her kingdom, forever ruled by the night. But with their light comes hope, the dawn of a new day.

For a more in-depth playing experience, check out Drawn: Dark Flight Collector's Edition, which is full of exclusive extras you won't find in the standard version. Included are bonus gameplay, concept art and wallpapers, original soundtrack, integrated Smart Guide, and more!

Also available for this game: Drawn: Dark Flight Strategy Guide and Drawn: Dark Flight Game Walkthrough.

See also the first game in this series, Drawn: The Painted Tower.

Drawn: Dark Flight may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (409.46 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

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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 October 01, 2010

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending October 1st, 2010 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

More shuffling among the bestsellers this week, though The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson continues to dominate, for over four months now. Two new titles debut.

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Entering the list in 9th position is the second Nikki Heat mystery, Naked Heat by Richard Castle, the fictional author who appears on the ABC series Castle.

When New York's most vicious gossip columnist, Cassidy Towne, is found dead, NYPD homicide detective Nikki Heat uncovers a gallery of high profile suspects, all with compelling motives for killing the most feared muckraker in Manhattan.

Heat's murder investigation is complicated by her surprise reunion with superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook. In the wake of their recent breakup, Nikki would rather not deal with their raw emotional baggage. But the handsome, wise-cracking Pulitzer Prize-winning writer's personal involvement in the case forces her to team up with Rook anyway. The residue of their unresolved romantic conflict and crackling sexual tension fills the air as Heat and Rook embark on a search for a killer among celebrities and mobsters, singers and hookers, pro athletes and shamed politicians.

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Just one place lower on the list is Don't Blink by James Patterson and Howard Roughan.

New York's Lombardo's Steak House is famous for three reasons -- the menu, the clientele, and now, the gruesome murder of an infamous mob lawyer. Effortlessly, the assassin slips through the police's fingers, and his absence sparks a blaze of accusations about who ordered the hit.

Seated at a nearby table, reporter Nick Daniels is conducting a once-in-a-lifetime interview with a legendary baseball bad-boy. In the chaos, he accidentally captures a key piece of evidence that lands him in the middle of an all-out war between Italian and Russian mafia forces. NYPD captains, district attorneys, mayoral candidates, media kingpins, and one shockingly beautiful magazine editor are all pushing their own agendas -- on both sides of the law.

Back off -- or die -- is the clear message Nick receives as he investigates for a story of his own. Heedless, and perhaps in love with his beautiful editor, Nick endures humiliation, threats, violence, and worse.

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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.

Uncover the Deadly Truth in Women's Murder Club: Little Black Lies, a New Mystery Game from I-play

In a press release today, I-play, a division of Oberon Media, announced the release of the fourth game in the Women's Murder Club series, Little Black Lies.

Based on characters created by bestselling crime novelist James Patterson, this thrilling interactive game has more twists and turns than ever, including allowing players the option to play as the killer for the first time ever in a chilling epilogue.

"As the millions of fans who have downloaded the first three games will attest, interactive games are a great way to tell a Women's Murder Club story," says Patterson. "Seeing the characters come to life in the beautiful environments I-play creates is an ongoing thrill for me."

In Women's Murder Club: Little Black Lies, a cold case heats up when a true-crime author is put on ice. Famous for uncovering the truth, Regina Blacklock learns that sometimes the truth can be deadly. When Blacklock is discovered in her car, authorities find a strange clue leading them straight to the Women's Murder Club. Through more than 29 beautifully illustrated scenes, players must collect evidence to piece together clues in eight shocking investigations. The game offers endless re-playability, providing hours of edge-of-your-seat crime solving as players discover what this present day homicide has to do with the 1975 murder of a local teenager.

Women's Murder Club: Little Black Lies is now available on Iplay.com and includes an exclusive excerpt from James Patterson's next book in the Women's Murder Club series, 10th Anniversary, scheduled for publication next spring.

Watch a trailer for the game below.

Mysteria Film Group Options Rights to Adventure Game MYST

MYST: The Motion Picture has been in development for years. Cyan Worlds, the creator of the immensely popular adventure game, has a project summary on the film's website dating back to 2006. Now, it appears the project has taken a substantial step forward towards reality.

Deadline is reporting, and the games developer is confirming, that the Mysteria Film Group has optioned the film rights. With several games in the series as well as three tie-in novels, there is a wealth of material from which to draw.

"Our aim with this project is to stretch the genres it operated within, much like the source material did," Adrian Vanderbosch of Mysteria said. "It is such an innovative property and by utilizing the novels as our primary resource, we have the opportunity to offer audiences the essence of MYST without being limited only to the famous island of the first game. Our focus has always been on creating an entirely new visual experience driven by engaging characters and an epic narrative."

James Franco Options Film Rights to Stephen Elliott's The Adderall Diaries

Variety is reporting that actor/director/screenwriter James Franco has optioned the film rights to Stephen Elliott's The Adderall Diaries, with an eye towards directing his own adaptation.

Subtitled "A Memoir of Moods, Masochism and Murder", the book is described as a gripping account of the notorious San Francisco murder trial of Hans Reiser, accused of killing and hiding the body of his wife, Nina, who was having an affair with his best friend Sean Sturgeon. In a bizarre twist, and separate from the trial, Sturgeon confessed to killing eight people, though none were related to Reiser's case. Author Elliott knew Sturgeon from a BDSM club they both attended -- hence his connection to the whole affair.

Christopher Plummer Cast in Film Adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

More casting news for the film adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first novel in the Millennium trilogy of thrillers by Stieg Larsson.

The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog is reporting that Christopher Plummer has been cast as Henrik Vanger, patriarch of one of Sweden's wealthiest families, who hires journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) to discover what happened to his niece, who disappeared over 40 years ago. Rooney Mara will play Lisbeth Salander, who Blomkvist hires to assist him with the investigation.