Harlequin Intrigue Titles for December 2009

eHarlequin.com has released the December 2009 titles in their Intrigue, breathtaking romantic suspense series. Get these edge-of-your-seat reads today with characters who conquer everything from kidnappings to murder mysteries, only to find themselves irresistibly drawn to one another! 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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Scene of the Crime: Bridgewater, Texas by Carla Cassidy

When Sheriff Matt Buchanan discovers FBI profiler Jenna Taylor snooping around his crime scene, he isn't pleased. The last thing he needs is the FBI meddling. But Jenna is determined to find her best friend's murderer, and she won't be bullied out of town. Then the madman strikes again. His calling card? A red rose.

Realizing they're dealing with a serial killer, Matt accepts Jenna's help. But when Jenna becomes the madman's target, the danger—and their unrelenting attraction—is imminent. Will Jenna find safety in Matt's arms—or will the next rose she receives be her last?

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Secluded with the Cowboy by Cassie Miles

Colorado rancher Dylan Carlisle had eagerly awaited the safe return of his kidnapped wife. But now that Nicole was finally back home, it seemed the tension that existed before her abduction was still between them. Except now she was being more secretive than ever. Before long, Dylan discovered someone still tracked Nicole's every move, preventing her from moving past her recent trauma and sharing his joys of the holiday season. As Nicole began to let down her guard and trust her husband's protective embrace, Dylan finally felt hopeful about their previously unsettled future. Until she dropped the ultimate bombshell on him and he realized just how much he had to lose.

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First Night by Debra Webb

As far as Christmas packages went, Brandon Thomas was one tall drink of water. And at the moment he was in over his too-handsome head. He'd showed up at the Colby offices covered in blood and desperate for help unraveling a mystery of murder. Luckily for Brandon, Merri Walters was a determined investigator not about to let an innocent bystander get railroaded—especially so close to Christmas.

With careful coaxing, Merri learned that Brandon unknowingly possessed information high-level people wanted to keep secret. Now, the only challenge was keeping Brandon at arm's length in order to make sure they both stayed alive to see the New Year.

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Police Protector by Dani Sinclair

Finding three children locked in a saferoom wasn't how Lucan O'Shay planned to spend the holidays. Taking the children and their feisty aunt into his home … well, if that's what it took to serve and protect, that's what he would do. Never mind that the aunt, Kyra Wolfstead, was making him crazy. But someone was trying to kill her and take the children. Not on Lucan's watch.

It would take all of Lucan's expertise and self-control to give Kyra and the kids a safe Christmas under his own personal house arrest. But what scared this tough Irish cop the most was his growing hope that this sentence was for life …

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Beauty and the Badge by Julie Miller

When girl next door Beth Rogers pounded on Detective Kevin Grove's door in the middle of the night, she awakened not only the cop, but also the die-hard protector. His spunky neighbor had uncovered scandalous secrets about a murder and someone was threatening to silence her … permanently.

After one heartbreak too many, Kevin was ready to call it quits. With his brawn and tough-guy looks, no woman had been able to see the caring soul that lurked beneath. But with one look into Beth's frightened eyes, the true-blue hero couldn't turn her away. Now, with every step leading them closer to danger, the safest place was in each other's arms.

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His Secret Christmas Baby by Rita Herron

Investigator Derrick McKinney's quiet bachelor life was shattered when the son he just learned existed was abducted right out from under the watchful eye of his beautiful guardian. And although she was left unconscious and heartbroken, someone feared Brianna Honeycutt saw more than she claimed, placing her life in danger. Working together, Derrick now had to push aside the long-buried attraction he'd always felt for Brianna. More determined than ever to end this nightmare and put a smile back on Brianna's face, Derrick vowed he'd stop at nothing to bring his baby home in time for Christmas …

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If you enjoy the romantic suspense books in this series, you can get 2 free Harlequin Intrigue books plus 2 free gifts just for giving the automatic program a try. Accepting your two free Intrigue books and mystery gifts places you under no obligation to buy anything. You may keep the books and gifts and return the shipping statement marked cancel. If you do not cancel, about two months later, and then every other month, eHarlequin will send you four additional Intrigue books.

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:

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Games of Mystery: Alabama Smith, Three Cards to Midnight, and Valerie Porter, New from PlayFirst Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, and more mysterious fun, is pleased to announce a list of new mystery and suspense games available for immediate download from PlayFirst Games.

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Alabama Smith in the Quest of Fate

Alabama Smith is back in an all-new time-twisting adventure involving powerful relics that could alter the destiny of mankind! Join him as he hunts for the elusive Crystals of Fortune using the Amulet of Time.

Windows Vista / XP (129.9 MB download).

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Three Cards to Midnight

Unlock your hidden memories! Something is causing you to block out events that has happened in the past few days. Use the Tarot cards to take a chilling journey into the past and recover them in this hidden object adventure!

Windows Vista / XP (218.4 MB download).

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Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal

Murder, scandal and your first big break! You're a young, aspiring reporter in the 1920's looking for a scoop. When you stumble upon a scandalous celebrity murder and the framing of an innocent man, it is up to you to search for hidden clues, locate missing objects and uncover enough evidence to solve the murder. Can you crack the story and finally be recognized as a top investigative reporter?

Windows Vista / XP (81.1 MB download).

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All games are available to purchase for $9.95 with the PlayFirst PlayPass program. Trial versions for most games may be downloaded and played for one hour for free.

A complete list of downloadable mystery games is available on our Games of Mystery: PlayFirst Game Download page.

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Mystery Book Review: The Test by Patricia Gussin

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of The Test by Patricia Gussin. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Test by Patricia Gussin
Non-series

Oceanview Publishing (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-933515-19-8 (1933515198)
ISBN-13: 978-1-933515-19-9 (9781933515199)
Publication Date: October 2009
List Price: $25.95

Review: Captivating in its own way, but not a suspense novel or thriller by any conventional definition, Patricia Gussin's The Test will likely be the cause of many lamps burning the midnight oil.

Paul Parnell lived a full life. Head of a major pharmaceutical company, whose life-saving technology won him a Nobel Prize, he amassed a vast fortune during his 75 years. Married twice, with both his wives predeceasing him, he had five children with them ... and a sixth out of wedlock. With only months to live, and convinced that he had spent too little time with his children for them to develop a "code of values", one that includes God, family, community, and profession, he has his lawyers draw up his will such that they will have one year to pass a "test", one administered by the executor of his estate, in order to inherit any of his money. If they fail, their portion will be donated to the Parnell Foundation. The reactions of the siblings -- Frank, a U.S. Senator representing Pennsylvania; Dan, palm tree farmer estranged from the family; Rory, a mother with eight children; Monica Monroe, an entertainment superstar; Ashley, a medical student; and Carla, a design school dropout -- vary dramatically depending on their current circumstances and future plans, and dictate how they go about passing the "test", if indeed they plan on taking it at all.

Though largely a family saga, a literary soap opera if you will, there are some sinister elements in the plot of The Test that add an edge to the story. Not unexpectedly, given some $2 billion is on the table and it isn't clear how one should go about passing an ill-defined test. As Frank says at one point, are Number 2 pencils required, or does proof of good deeds need be submitted? The possibility of one acquiring a serious quantity of money doesn't necessarily bring out the best in people.

The story spans an entire year, and setting it during 2001 -- the year of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington DC -- adds an interesting twist to the actions of the characters. But what really keeps the reader's attention, and the pages turning late into the night, is the crisp writing, deft handling of the relationships between the family members (and there are a lot; it will help to bookmark the family tree page thoughtfully provided at the beginning), and evolution of the characters from self-centered individuals with single-minded goals to ones that, yes, embrace a family "code of values". The ending of The Test might be a little too pat, but the path there is one worth taking.

Special thanks to Oceanview Publishing for providing a copy of The Test for this review.

Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

If you are interested in purchasing The Test from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right. The Test (Kindle edition) is also available. Learn more about the Kindle, Amazon's Wireless Reading Device.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Renowned philanthropist and billionaire Paul Parnell had reached the pinnacle of monetary success, but not without cost. Had he put too much emphasis on work and spent too little time with his family?

Determined to leave something far more valuable than money to his six children, Paul instructs his lawyers to create an unusual last will and testament. This unorthodox will, which stipulates that the lion's share of Paul's two billion dollar estate be given to the heirs who pass "the test", was Paul's last hope of creating an enduring legacy by inspiring his children to give back to society and embrace a code of moral values.

The six children -- Rory, Frank, Dan, Monica, Carla and Ashley -- have only one year to make a difference. But what a difference one year will make. Before these six very different siblings can complete the test, they'll be forced to face their personal demons and the incredibly evil influence that could claim one of their own.

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Press Release: 2010, Year of the Children's Mystery Book

(CHARLOTTE, NC) - At the American Association of School Librarians, to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina in early November, Carole Marsh, Founder and CEO of Gallopade International, will announce 2010 as the Year of the Children's Mystery Book. Marsh was a longtime North Carolina resident and is the most popular children's book author in the state, with almost a dozen NC-based mysteries. She founded Gallopade in Rocky Mount in 1979 and the company is now one of the top producers of children's mystery books in the world.

"The children's mystery book has a long and distinguished history in literature for young people," says Marsh, originator and spokesperson for 2010: Year of the Children's Mystery Book. "Today, mystery books for readers ages 7-14 serve a more important purpose than ever," says Marsh. "Often, even for reluctant readers, the short, chapter, mystery-based book is the key that turns the lock of turning children on to reading!"

Marsh should know. As long ago as the mid-1970s, while living in Bath, the author was encouraged to write a mystery so compelling that it would lure children back to reading from television. "Uh, that was black and white TV," the author reminds. The then unpublished author responded by spending a year researching the pirate history of the colonial port town of Bath, former home and haunt of the infamous Blackbeard, so-called "Fiercest Pirate of Them All!" "I had grown up reading Nancy Drew and even Hardy Boys," Marsh explains. "But they seemed tame and old-fashioned compared to television. So I created a new mystery series using real children as characters and real places as settings. Something about that real life combo captured the imagination of young readers and I found that I had created a monster: an instantly successful children's mystery series!"

The Mystery of Blackbeard the Pirate, Marsh's first "Real Kids/Real Places" mystery, was widely hailed by readers, booksellers, school and public librarians, parents, and critics as a great new wrinkle in children's mysteries. The author actually had to create a small press, recruit family and other employees, and instantly gain numerous new skills to keep up with the demand for books which at that time focused exclusively on Tarheel locations such as the Biltmore House, Kill Devil Hills, the Graveyard of the Atlantic, and others.

Soon, locales across the nation begged to be included in the series and Marsh expanded her growing list of books to include locations across America, ranging from New York City to the Grand Canyon to the Space Center in Houston and on Alaska's Iditarod Trail. Simultaneously, she created an opportunity for children to "apply" to become characters in future books. After her own children (now adults active in the publishing company) outgrew real character roles, she used the children of family and friends as well as eager applicants for the roles from around the U.S. Today, her grandchildren, Christina and Grant, are the key characters, with other real children filling slots in mysteries as diverse as new ones for 2010 such as The Mystery at Fort Sumter and The Mystery at Yellowstone National Park.

"The goal of the 2010: Year of the Children's Mystery Book is to revive further interest in this amazing genre," says Michele Yother, president of Gallopade International, today a global publisher of educational fiction and non-fiction for the children's market. "The competition for kids' time is tough: video games, computer time, and yes, as always, television. From our 30 years in this specific industry, our experience with Carole Marsh Mysteries has emphasized how crucial the role of a well-written, entertaining, and even educational mystery can be in both transforming good readers into avid readers, but also reluctant readers into reading more and at much improved capabilities."

While 2010: Year of the Children's Mystery Book will launch at the AASL biennial conference, the coming year will include many special events, including those tied to National Reading Week and other such literary times. Marsh will complete a major new history on the children's mystery book, which will be released early in the year. Contests, tie-ins, and other creative opportunities will be announced in a calendar to be sent out closer to year-end.

"We continue to gather sponsors and other alliances," says Sherry Moss, head of Gallopade's New Product Development department. "For 30 years, we have had the strong support of teachers, parents, librarians, homeschoolers, booksellers, Accelerated Reader, school supply and teacher stores, and so many others in the wide and varied community who help match young readers with good books they really will read, and that is, now more than ever ... a children's mystery book!"

For more information visit ChildrensMysteryBooks.org.

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The Prisoner Debuts This Sunday on AMC

This weekend, AMC debuts a reinterpretation of the British 1960s cult hit series The Prisoner. The miniseries starts on Sunday, November 15, at 8 PM and airs its 6 episodes, each based on an episode from the original series, over three consecutive nights (2 per night).

The Premise: A man, known as Six (played by Jim Caviezel), finds himself inexplicably trapped in The Village with no memory of how he arrived. As he explores his environment, he discovers that his fellow inhabitants are identified by number instead of name, have no memory of any prior existence, and are under constant surveillance. Not knowing whom to trust, Six is driven by the need to discover the truth behind The Village, the reason for his being there, and most importantly -- how he can escape. Ian McKellen co-stars as Two.

Watch a trailer for The Prisoner below; previews of each night's episode, as well as an online graphic novel, can be found on the The Prisoner website:

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Collision Airs This Sunday on PBS Masterpiece Contemporary

This Sunday, PBS Masterpiece Contemporary airs the first part in the two part drama Collision. Written by Anthony Horowitz (Foyle's War), Collision stars Douglas Henshall as Detective Inspector John Tolin and Kate Ashfield as Senior Investigating Officer Ann Stallwood, who are assigned to investigate a six car collision on England's busy A12 highway, which leaves two dead.

Cries of racism come from the family of one of the victims, but a methodical investigation only scratches the surface of the ten strangers involved, and the surprising and touching ways they are transformed after the accident. As the investigation continues, allegations of corporate crime, infidelity, shameful secrets and murder slowly rise from the wreckage.

A video preview and detailed synopsis of each episode is available on the PBS: Collision website.

The Collision DVD will be released on December 15th.

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ABC Reportedly Close to Ordering Pilot for Updated Charlie's Angels

Variety is reporting that ABC is close to ordering a pilot for an updated version of its classic series Charlie's Angels. Leonard Goldberg, who launched the series with Aaron Spelling, is expected to produce together with Drew Barrymore, who starred in and produced the theatrical films based on the series.

The crime drama ran on the network for 5 seasons, from 1976 through 1981, and originally starred Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith, and Farrah Fawcett as private investigators working for The Townsend Agency. Charlie Townsend (voice of John Forsythe) was never seen on screen. There were frequent cast changes, though Smith stayed with the series through its entire run.

Two popular theatrical films based on the series were made (one in 2000, the other in 2003), both starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu as the angels.

Several attempts to revive the series for television have failed. A version called Angels 88 was proposed to Fox in 1988, but never got off the ground. Another version was pitched to ABC in 2004 but didn't go to pilot. The new Charlie’s Angels is expected to be geared toward a new generation while paying homage to the past.

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Games of Mystery: Murder, She Wrote, New from Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery game from Big Fish Games released today. 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.

Based on the beloved TV show, join Jessica Fletcher to solve 5 murder mysteries in sleepy (but lethal) Cabot Cove, Maine. The police of the town are always willing to arrest the most likely suspect, but as fans of the series know, the culprit is never who you think it is. Explore crime scenes and use Jessica’s curiosity and wits to discover the identity of the true culprit. Each case is enriched with twists and turns that create a fun and surprising gameplay experience.

Also available: Murder, She Wrote Strategy Guide and Murder, She Wrote Game Walkthrough.

Murder, She Wrote, a Big Fish Game Club Exclusive, may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (107.46 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour; the full unlimited version is 331.16 MB.

Watch a preview video below:

Other popular games on our download Big Fish Mystery Games page include several Agatha Christie and Nancy Drew games, games in the Mystery Case Files series and in particular the latest, Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, Adventure Chronicles: The Search for Lost Treasure, Enlightenus, Cate West: The Vanishing Files, Return to Mysterious Island 2: Mina's Fate, and Nick Chase: A Detective Story.

Read our new game reviews by Ms. Terri: Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses! (Review), The Hardy Boys: The Perfect Crime (Review), Enlightenus (Review), and Nick Chase: A Detective Story (Review).

Big Fish Games: Bestsellers

Big Fish Games: New releases

And don't forget to visit Games of Mystery for all kinds of mysterious fun!

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Mystery Bestsellers for November 13, 2009

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending November 13, 2009 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

After a quiet week last week, two new books enter the top 15.

Though debuting at 23 last week, Kindred in Death, the 35th futuristic thriller featuring NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas by J. D. Robb, moves up sharply this week into the 6th spot.

When the newly promoted captain of the department and his wife return a day early from their vacation, they were looking forward to spending time with their bright and vivacious sixteen-year-old daughter who had stayed behind. Not even their worst nightmares could have prepared them for the crime scene that awaited them instead. Brutally murdered in her bedroom, Deena's body showed signs of trauma that horrified even the toughest of cops; including Dallas, who was specifically requested by the captain to investigate. When the evidence starts to pile up, Dallas and her team think they are about to arrest their perpetrator; little do they know yet that someone has gone to great lengths to tease and taunt them by using a variety of identities. Overconfidence can lead to careless mistakes. But for Dallas, one mistake might be all she needs to bring justice.

Coming in at number 12 is the 4th mystery in the Harper Connelly series, Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris.

Lightning-struck sleuth Harper and her stepbrother Tolliver take a break from looking for the dead to visit the two little girls they both think of as sisters. But, as always happens when they travel to Texas, memories of their horrible childhood resurface. To make matters worse, Tolliver learns from his older brother that their father is out of jail and trying to reestablish contact with other family members. Tolliver wants no part of the man- but he may not have a choice in the matter. Soon, family secrets ensnare them both, as Harper finally discovers what happened to her missing sister, Cameron, so many years before. And what she finds out will change her world forever.

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.

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Mystery Book Review: Holidays Can Be Murder by Connie Shelton

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Holidays Can Be Murder by Connie Shelton. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Holidays Can Be Murder by Connie Shelton
A Charlie Parker Mystery

CreateSpace (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-4495-1973-3 (1449519733)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4495-1973-5 (9781449519735)
Publication Date: October 2009
List Price: $12.00

Review: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in New Mexico, but murder spoils the festivities for Charlie Parker in Holidays Can Be Murder, the 11th mystery in this series by Connie Shelton.

In the old Albuquerque Country Club neighborhood where Charlie and her husband Drake live, there is a tradition that residents decorate their homes and lawns to the max. During the holidays there are actually buses filled with people that tour the area. As with every Christmas season, Charlie has a demanding schedule: decorating, baking cookies for the neighborhood cookie exchange, shopping, and wrapping presents. And to top it off this year, Drake has invited his mother to spend the holidays with them. Charlie has only met Catherine once in the fourteen months she and Drake have been married. When Catherine arrives, Charlie is delighted to find her to be pleasant and congenial. But isn't the only mother-in-law making a visit to the neighborhood this year: Wilbur’s mother, Paula, has dropped in – uninvited. Judy, Wilbur’s wife, is in the early stage of her pregnancy and isn’t all that well on the best of days. One evening after Christmas, Paula stayed home allowing Judy and Wilbur to dine with friends and play a game or two. When they came home, they found Paula sprawled out on the living room sofa – dead.

When the police learn that Judy had complained to some that her mother-in-law was a cruel woman who drank too much and probably was on drugs, a woman who continually brow beat her son and had done so throughout his life, and that she wished she were dead, they immediately see Judy as the prime suspect. Charlie knew this was Judy’s anxieties talking and is positive she is not a murderer. Charlie remembers there had been a dark car that she had seen driving slowly past their houses for a few days, one for which she had written down the license plate number. Following up on this lead takes her to California and the home of Paula’s ex-husband. He leads her to Paula’s drug dealer who reveals that Paula had left town owing him money. As Charlie comes closer to finding the real murderer, her own life is put in peril.

Holidays Can Be Murder is a crisply written, briskly paced mystery, and befitting the season, filled with vibrant colorful characters. Though relatively short in length, the fully developed whodunit plot is quite entertaining. And if this holiday treat of a mystery weren't enough, two New Mexican Christmas recipes are included for readers to try at home. Consider Holidays Can Be Murder as a fun stocking stuffer, or to include in a holiday basket to give this season.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Holidays Can Be Murder and to Connie Shelton for providing a copy of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

If you are interested in purchasing Holidays Can Be Murder from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): It's a New Mexico Christmas. The lights are strung, the luminarias are set along the sidewalks. Treats are abundant and Charlie Parker is getting ready for her mother-in-law's holiday visit.

But there is trouble in the neighborhood and when death shows up -- right next door -- Charlie's bright, festive plans suddenly take a turn for the dark.

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Mystery Book Review: The Price of Malice by Archer Mayor

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of The Price of Malice by Archer Mayor. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Price of Malice by Archer Mayor
A Joe Gunther Mystery

St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-38192-1 (0312381921)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-38192-9 (9780312381929)
Publication Date: September 2009
List Price: $24.99

Review: Vermont Bureau of Investigation agent Joe Gunther is called in to investigate the brutal murder of a suspected child predator, while also helping his girlfriend deal with her grief over the deaths of her father and brother, in The Price of Malice, the 20th mystery in this series by Archer Mayor.

The murder of Wayne Castine comes as little surprise to the authorities in Brattleboro. Though he was suspected of being a child predator, and he had a long juvenile record, there was never enough evidence to arrest him as an adult. "It looks like he learned not to get caught after he reached maturity," one of Joe's team tells him. But Joe's investigation of the murder suggests there may be more to the case than the police originally thought. Meanwhile, Lyn Silva, owner of a local bar and Joe's girlfriend, has returned to Boston to care for her ill mother, who has been virtually catatonic since her husband and son, Lyn's father and brother, were lost at sea. In an unexpected twist, however, their boat has been found, housed and undamaged (though repainted) on a private island near the Canadian border. How it got there, however, remains a mystery.

Many mysteries frequently have substantial subplots that play out in tandem with the main story, but there seems to be a recent trend in series mysteries to combine two, generally unrelated principal plots, into a single novel; The Price of Malice is an example of this type of book. It's almost as if the author is unsure that one plotline can be sufficiently developed into a full-length novel and thus adds a second one to take up the slack. The result is often disjointed, as it is here. Joe's colleagues are a little miffed that he's spending so much time and effort on what is clearly a personal matter while there's a murder to be solved, and that reaction extends, to some degree, to the reader as well. It is somewhat ironic, then, that the storyline involving Lyn is the more interesting of the two presented, but the least challenging for Joe. Still, as is typical of the series, The Price of Malice is well written with interesting characters, but the concept of merging, or interweaving, what are essentially two independent novellas into one cohesive novel is one that rarely turns out well.

Special thanks to St. Martin's Minotaur for providing a copy of The Price of Malice for this review.

Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

If you are interested in purchasing The Price of Malice from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Wayne Castine was found brutally murdered and the murderer remains at large. Castine, a suspected child predator, was killed in Brattleboro where he was involved with a tangled network of an extended family living in a local trailer park. Any member of the clan would have had the opportunity to kill him, and, as he was involved with both the mother and her 12 year old daughter, reason to commit the murder. At the same time, Joe Gunther has learned that his girlfriend Lyn Silva’s fisherman father and brother, believed lost at sea off the coast of Maine, might have actually been murdered.

Without enough solid information to warrant law enforce ment involvement, Lyn returns to Maine to try and investigate Gunther’s findings. Gunther periodically puts his on-going murder investigation on hold -- irritating his colleagues and angering his bosses -- to go and help Lyn in Maine. It appears increasingly possible that her father and brother weren’t the good guys that Lyn always believed them to be and that they might have been involved with vicious smugglers who murdered them -- and might do the same to Lyn if she keeps pushing.

Torn between his conscience and his heart, a murder investigation and a personal search for the truth, Gunther finds that betrayal and loyalty are often a matter of viewpoint.

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Games of Mystery: Alabama Smith in the Quest of Fate, New from Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery game from Big Fish Games released today. 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.

Ever since Alabama Smith barely escaped with his life after going back in time to witness the destruction of Pompeii, he's been living a scholarly life. Now it's time for him to toss aside his books and head to Peru for an all-new time-twisting adventure involving powerful relics that could alter the destiny of mankind in Alabama Smith in the Quest of Fate!

Join Alabama and his girlfriend, Anastasia, as they hunt for the elusive Crystals of Fortune using the Amulet of Time. Jump back and forth between the past and the present to solve mind-bending puzzles, search for cleverly hidden objects and stop a shadowy nemesis from finding the Crystals first!

See also the first game in this series, Alabama Smith and the Escape from Pompeii.

Also available: Alabama Smith in the Quest of Fate Game Walkthrough.

Alabama Smith in the Quest of Fate may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (131.11 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.

Watch a preview video below:

Other popular games on our download Big Fish Mystery Games page include several Agatha Christie and Nancy Drew games, games in the Mystery Case Files series and in particular the latest, Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, Adventure Chronicles: The Search for Lost Treasure, Enlightenus, Cate West: The Vanishing Files, Return to Mysterious Island 2: Mina's Fate, and Nick Chase: A Detective Story.

Read our new game reviews by Ms. Terri: Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses! (Review), The Hardy Boys: The Perfect Crime (Review), Enlightenus (Review), and Nick Chase: A Detective Story (Review).

Big Fish Games: Bestsellers

Big Fish Games: New releases

And don't forget to visit Games of Mystery for all kinds of mysterious fun!

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The Mystery Bookshelf: Once Were Cops by Ken Bruen

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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Once Were Cops by Ken Bruen
Non-series
St. Martin's Minotaur (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: November 2009
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-54017-3

About Once Were Cops (from the publisher): Michael O'Shea is a member of Ireland's police force, known as The Guards. He's also a sociopath who walks a knife edge between sanity and all-out mayhem. When an exchange program is initiated and twenty Guards come to America and twenty cops from the States go to Ireland, Shay, as he's known, has his lifelong dream come true--he becomes a member of the NYPD. But Shay's dream is about to become New York's nightmare.

Paired with an unstable cop nicknamed Kebar for his liberal use of a short, lethal metal stick called a K-bar, the two unlikely partners become a devastatingly effective force in the war against crime.

But Kebar harbors a dangerous secret: he's sold out to the mob to help his sister. Her rape and beating leaves her in a coma and pushes an already unstable Kebar over the edge just as Shea’s dark secrets threaten boil over and into the streets of New York.

— ◊ —

About Ken Bruen: An English teacher in Africa, Japan, Southeast Asia, and South America, he has won the Macavity Award, the Shamus Award, the Barry Award, and the Lovey Award for books in his Jack Taylor series. He lives in Galway, Ireland. Visit his website at KenBruen.com.

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Strand Magazine to Publish New Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot Murder Mystery

In the What's New? section on the Strand Magazine website, a "surprise" for the 10th anniversary issue is casually mentioned. Specifically, it states (as of the date of this post) "We have something else up our sleeve for our holiday issue that will surprise and intrigue our readers ... stay tuned."

Well, in an article by Reuters today, that "surprise" was revealed: The Strand Magazine said it will publish a lost Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot murder mystery, a 5,000-word story called the "Incident of the Dog's Ball", which was found in the attic of the author's daughter in 2004, in the next issue of the magazine.

"It's a typical Agatha Christie whodunnit," Andrew Gulli, the editor of the Strand, said in a telephone interview, adding that it contains lots of surprises. Gulli also noted the story would be the first new appearance since 1975 by Hercule Poirot in fiction in the United States.

The Strand Magazine, which considers itself to be the reincarnation of the journal that started in the late 19th century in England and published the first Sherlock Holmes short stories, publishes quarterly in the US. For more information, visit the magazine website.

Mystery Book Review: One Deadly Sister by Rod Hoisington

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of One Deadly Sister by Rod Hoisington. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

One Deadly Sister by Rod Hoisington
A Raymond and Sandy Reid Mystery

EnteraBooks (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-615-29852-4 (0615298524)
ISBN-13: 978-0-615-29852-8 (9780615298528)
Publication Date: September 2009
List Price: $16.99

Review: Rod Hoisington introduces Raymond and Sandy Reid, estranged brother and sister who now need each other when Ray is arrested for murder, in One Deadly Sister.

Sandy hasn't forgiven her brother for neglecting her as a teenager after the death of their parents. Working for a criminal law firm in Philadelphia until she can earn enough money to go to law school, she hasn't spoken to Ray even though he lives in the same city. But then Ray calls her, in part to apologize but mostly because he needs her help: he's in jail, in Florida, arrested for murder.

Following his divorce, Ray moved to Florida to work as a securities broker. While attending a party for the local gubernatorial candidate, Ray is seduced by an elderly femme fatale. He subsequently gets involved with other prominent women, all of whom support the political candidate. When the candidate is murdered, Ray was placed in his apartment by one of the women. Arrested and jailed without bail, Ray has no one else to turn to but his sister Sandy. At first she ignores his plea, but finally agrees to go to Florida for a few days to see what she can do -- if anything. She has no authority to question anyone, or see any of the official police documents, so she takes on the role of private investigator for Ray's defense attorney. She quickly zeroes in on the women Ray was involved with, not sure what their motive might have been, but certain that though her brother may be guilty of poor judgment, he is innocent of murder.

One Deadly Sister is a light murder mystery, full of comedic elements. It's hard to believe, for example, that anyone could characterize a 75-year-old woman in a thong bikini as a femme fatale; just the mental image brings on a chuckle. The contrast between Ray and Sandy, brother and sister, is nicely characterized; they see the same situation differently, bicker and disagree, but are unified in proving Ray innocent and freed from prison (even though Sandy, who was once left in a detention center because Ray didn't show up to release her, might want to see him left there for a while). The mystery plot is well developed, there are an ample number of colorfully drawn suspects, and the secondary characters are delightful. No doubt the first in a series, One Deadly Sister is a terrific opening chapter for this pair of amateur sleuths.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of One Deadly Sister and to Rod Hoisington for providing a copy of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

If you are interested in purchasing One Deadly Sister from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right. One Deadly Sister (Kindle edition) is also available. Learn more about the Kindle, Amazon's Wireless Reading Device.

Synopsis (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

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