Mystery Book Review: Bowled Over by Kasey Michaels

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

Bowled Over by Kasey Michaels
A Maggie Kelly Mystery

Kensington Books (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-7582-0884-7 (0758208847)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-0884-2 (9780758208842)
Publication Date: November 2007
List Price: $14.00

Synopsis (from the publisher): Mystery author Maggie Kelly had enough on her mind wondering how she was going to keep her fictional Regency Era creation from dropping to one knee with a marriage proposal. Then a murderer crosses the foul line—way too close to home …

Another day, another crime scene.

Maggie wouldn’t mind putting a little distance between herself and the hunky Regency hero of her novels, Alexandre Blake, the Viscount Saint Just, who has miraculously come to life with talk of sweeping her straight down the aisle. But now that her parents have split up, Maggie is having trouble resisting Alex’s tender loving care. So she invites him along to visit her family. Unfortunately, they arrive just in time to watch her father being taken away in handcuffs as a murder suspect!

Thank goodness she has her very own romance hero.

The local police are convinced Evan Kelly has killed his bowling buddy, who happened to be having an affair with Maggie’s mom. It doesn’t help that Evan’s bowling ball was found next to the dead body. Her dad may have had motive, but Maggie knows he’s definitely no killer. Luckily, she has Alex riding to the rescue—and making her wonder if a happily ever after might not be out of her league after all …

Review: Bowled Over is the sixth (and according to the author, the last) romantic - comedy - mystery in the Maggie Kelly series by Kasey Michaels. This time the crime hits close to home when Maggie's father is accused of murder!

New readers of this series are likely to be confused by the relationships between the principal characters, so the author tries to provide an introduction. Maggie Kelly is the author of historical mysteries featuring the dashing Regency-era aristocratic detective Alexandre Blake, the Viscount Saint Just. Although originally just a character on the pages of her books, Alexandre (Alex) has come to life and brought with him his faithful friend and assistant Sterling Balder. Alex and Sterling live in a condo adjacent to Maggie's in Manhattan and share in her adventures. In Bowled Over, the trio travel to New Jersey for the Christmas holidays with Maggie's family only to find her father, Evan, arrested for killing a bowling buddy, Walter, Evan's bowling ball being the murder weapon. Naturally it falls to Maggie and Alex to find out who really killed Walter.

This series has (had) a clever gimmick but the author (or maybe the publisher or editor) allowed it, the gimmick, to become more important than the characters or the plots. When Alex was new to the 20th, and later 21st, century, it was a treat to watch him get acquainted with the modern world in which he was living and his new-found knowledge was often incorporated directly into the plots. When he and Maggie were sparring with each other, there was a romantic tension that enhanced the storyline but never became the story. But in Bowled Over and the previous book in this series, Alex no longer sees the world through Regency eyes, and as a result he's become rather tedious. Worse still is the relationship between Alex and Maggie which now lacks the spark evident in the earliest books and seems strained and contrived.

Are Maggie's adventures real? Or are they imagined, and is each book in the series merely Maggie's previously written fictional book within an idea for another book to be written? An intriguing possibility. But readers late to the series will no doubt find Bowled Over perplexing and not only for the gimmick for it's all a bit overwhelming. Better yet, start with Maggie Needs an Alibi (the "A" book in what was clearly intended to be an alphabet sequence until the fourth book was inexplicably renamed) before judging this one.

Special thanks to Book Trends for providing an ARC of Bowled Over for this review.

Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

For more mystery book reviews visit Mysterious Reviews, a partner with the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books which is 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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Compendium of Mystery News 080122

A compendium of recently published mystery news articles:

• Reporting for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Regis Behe talks to Steve Berry about his latest novel, The Venetian Betrayal. Berry, a practicing attorney who doesn't outline books before writing them, admits, "The problem with doing it this way is you can write yourself into corners you've got to be prepared to write yourself out. ... In the course of a trial, if things aren't going right with Plan A, you go to Plan B."

• A new television series debuted this week in Canada, Murdoch Mysteries. Set in 1895 Toronto, Murdoch Mysteries explores the world of William Murdoch, a dashing young detective who uses then-radical forensic techniques, such as fingerprinting and trace evidence, to solve the city's most gruesome murders. Call it a 19th-century version of CSI. (MBN note: Visit Mysteries on TV for a list of television mystery series available on DVD.)

• Here's a site we'll be checking out in the near future: GoodReads.com. Jim Washington of The Virginian-Pilot reported on the website this week, noting that is has almost 1 million members who have recommended (or not) more than 10 million books. The site was mentioned as one of Time magazine's 10 top sites of 2007.

• Several Australian news organizations have reported that non-fiction crime writer Sandra Harvey has died of cancer. She was only 49. Last year Harvey was awarded the Ned Kelly Award for her body of work in the genre.

• In a press release, Borders Books has announced it will launch an internet television channel in collaboration with Simply Media, owner of BookZone.tv which will be rebranded as Borders Book Zone. Borders Book Zone will feature interviews with authors and have other original content. (MBN note: The press release specifically refers to the Borders UK site; it isn't clear if it extends to the US or not, but it's hard to believe it won't. Borders has previously announced it is launching its own website which to date has been managed by Amazon.com.)

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: Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn
A Lady Julia Grey Mystery

Mira Books (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-7783-2492-3 (0778324923)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7783-2492-8 (9780778324928)
Publication Date: January 2008
List Price: $13.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): Fresh from a six-month sojourn in Italy, Lady Julia Grey returns home to Sussex to find her father's estate crowded with family and friends— but dark deeds are afoot at the deconsecrated abbey, and a murderer roams the ancient cloisters.

Much to her surprise, the one man she had hoped to forget—the enigmatic and compelling Nicholas Brisbane—is among her father's houseguests … and he is not alone. Not to be outdone, Julia shows him that two can play at flirtation and promptly introduces him to her devoted, younger, titled Italian count.

But the homecoming celebrations quickly take a ghastly turn when one of the guests is found brutally murdered in the chapel, and a member of Lady Julia's own family confesses to the crime. Certain of her cousin's innocence, Lady Julia resumes her unlikely and deliciously intriguing partnership with Nicholas Brisbane, setting out to unravel a tangle of deceit before the killer can strike again. When a sudden snowstorm blankets the abbey like a shroud, it falls to Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane to answer the shriek of murder most foul.

Review: Lady Julia Grey returns home to Sussex during the winter of 1887 from an extended stay in Florence only to find mystery and intrigue in Deanna Raybourn's second book in this series, Silent in the Sanctuary.

Following the unexpected marriage of Lady Julia's brother, Lysander, to a young, beautiful, and hot-tempered Italian woman, Lord March, Lady Julia's father, summons the family together at his home, an abbey in Sussex. The abbey is a very large, luxurious, and ancient structure, with acres of grounds. There are an abundance of rooms, including kitchens, dining halls, massive suites and not so massive bedrooms (none of which have electricity). There are dark and hidden hallways, and secret passageways to the outside. Some who have stayed there tell of seeing ghosts roaming the hallways at night. But Lysander’s wedding was not the cause of the order from Lord March for Lady Julia and her brother to return to the abbey. It seems Lord March has invited the entire clan to stay there: other relatives, aunts and cousins and more, greeted them on their arrival. Also staying at the abbey, at the request of Lord March, is Nicholas Brisbane, a private investigator who worked with Lady Julia in solving her own husband’s murder six months earlier. And Brisbane is accompanied by his fiancée. With this many people together, it was inevitable that conversations would turn from pleasantries to those including love, hate, jealousy, and even more sinister topics, such as deceit, theft, and murder. When a local member of the clergy is found murdered in the abbey's sanctuary, Lady Julia's cousin confesses to the crime. But she doesn't believe it to be true, and joins Brisbane in an investigation to discover the truth.

Mesmerizing and atmospheric, Silent in the Sanctuary is a beautifully written period piece mystery with an intricate plot and populated with richly drawn characters and settings in which the author provides an interesting and detailed window into the privileged life of the aristocracy of 19th century England. It is also a poignant love story with a mystery of its own. The interplay between Lady Julia and Brisbane is delightful making this series one that promises to be most enjoyable.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Silent in the Sanctuary and to Nancy Berland Public Relations for providing an ARC of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

For more mystery book reviews visit Mysterious Reviews, a partner with the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books which is 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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Mysteries on TV: Banacek, Barney Miller, and Hawaii Five-O

Three new DVD sets of mystery and suspense television series are being released this week.

George Peppard played the suave, ever so sure of himself, Boston-based freelance insurance investigator Banacek for two seasons on NBC. Banacek was one of the rotating series that comprised the NBC Mystery Movie; the others were McMillan and Wife, Columbo, and McCloud (each of which is available from the Mysteries on TV website).

Banacek solved "impossible crimes", usually the theft of a very expensive item that was heavily insured, and collecting a 10% fee for finding it. The missing items in the second season include a computer system the size of a small building (this was the 70s, remember) that disappears and a crippled commercial airplane that vanishes after landing in the desert.

The second and final season of Banacek is being released on 3 disks and consists of 8 episodes that aired during the 1973-1974 television season plus the pilot (which was inexplicably omitted from the first season DVD set).

Hal Linden starred as the captain of a New York City police precinct in the sitcom Barney Miller, which aired for 8 seasons on ABC. Originally titled The Life and Times of Barney Miller with episodes that depicted Barney's personal as well as professional life, by the second season the focus was firmly on the detectives in the police station.

There were no significant cast changes during the second season, but that would change for the third. Season 2 was the last to feature Gregory Sierra as Det. Chano Amenguale, and guest stars Steve Landesburg and Ron Carey would join the cast the following year as Det. Arthur Dietrich and Off. Carl Levitt, respectively.

The Barney Miller Season 2 DVD set is being released on 3 disks and consists of all 22 episodes that aired during the 1976-1977 television season.

Almost certainly among the best theme song and opening credits (which featured a montage of terrific visuals including a giant north shore wave) was that of Hawaii Five-O. The series, which starred Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett, head of an elite (and fictional) state police force, aired on CBS for 12 seasons. The series was filmed entirely in Hawaii.

This season also shows the return of McGarrett’s arch nemesis, Wo Fat, played by Khigh Dhiegh, who shows up twice this season as he does throughout the run of the series and, of course, in the final episode of the 12th season.

Hawaii Five-O Season 3 is being released as a 6 disk DVD set that contains all 22 episodes (including 2 2-part episodes) that aired during the 1970-1971 television season. This was a great television show and a DVD series worth owning. Until Season 4 arrives ... Be there ... Aloha!

Visit the Mysteries on TV website to discover more television mystery series currently available on DVD.

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Mystery Godoku Puzzle for January 21, 2008

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle 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!).

This week's letters and mystery clue: E F I L N O R S T. This is the title of the 3rd mystery in the Ben Abbott series by Justin Scott (9 letters).

New! We now have our puzzles 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!

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Mystery Book Review: The Mortal Groove by Ellen Hart

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of The Mortal Groove by Ellen Hart. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Mortal Groove by Ellen Hart
A Jane Lawless Mystery

St. Martin's MInotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-34945-9 (0312349459)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-34945-5 (9780312349455)
Publication Date: December 2007
List Price: $25.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): Minneapolis restaurateur and amateur sleuth Jane Lawless is in the middle of ringing in the New Year the best way she knows how-with her family, friends, and some excellent champagne-when the biggest financial backers in Minnesota politics break up the party with a little backroom proposition for her father: How'd he like to be the state's next governor? Flattered, Ray Lawless, a retired defense attorney, agrees to run, and the latecomer's sprint to the state capital is going great until reporters and opponents start digging up the kind of dirt that is more valuable than gold out on the campaign trail. He and his family are fair game, but worse than that, so are the men running his campaign. Their secrets, involving the mysterious death of a young woman, have been buried since the summer they all came home from Vietnam. Unfortunately for Jane and her father, those secrets won't stay that way for long.

Review: Jane Lawless investigates a 35-year-old murder in The Mortal Groove, the intriguing 15th mystery in this series by Ellen Hart featuring the Minneapolis restaurant owner.

Jane's father has been asked to run to be Governor of Minnesota following a stroke by the Party's original nominee. Though less than a year remains until the election, he agrees. A longtime associate of the family, Randy Turk, joins the campaign as a legal advisor who recommends a friend he's known since the Vietnam War, Del Green, as campaign manager. All seems to be going well until another Vietnam buddy shows up, Larry Wilton, broke and acting suspiciously. When a newspaper reporter, a former lover of Jane's close friend Cordelia, is brutally attacked, Jane begins to look into the story she was investigating and finds a link to her father's campaign staff: the murder of a young woman in the early 1970s in which Randy Turk's brother was accused, and then acquitted.

Some of the best mysteries have multiple, and often intricate, plot threads that weave in and out of each other until the very end when a complete picture is formed. The Mortal Groove is one such mystery. There are a number of instances where a subplot seems to arrive to a satisfactory conclusion only to have another one intersect with it and render the first active again. When done well, as it is here, it's really quite a remarkable reading experience. In terms of characters, Jane and Cordelia play off one another very well and make a terrific amateur sleuthing team.

The only discordant note in the book is the thriller action sequence that takes place in northern Minnesota. There's nothing necessarily wrong with the way it is written nor is it inappropriate to the story; it just seems out of place and somewhat inconsistent with the way the rest of the book is constructed. This minor point aside, The Mortal Groove is an outstanding example of amateur detective fiction.

Special thanks to Breakthrough Promotions for providing an ARC of The Mortal Groove for this review.

Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

For more mystery book reviews visit Mysterious Reviews, a partner with the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books which is 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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Compendium of Mystery News 080119

A compendium of recently published mystery news articles:

• In a press release, the Mystery Writers of America have announced the nominees for the 2008 Edgar Awards honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television and film published or produced in 2007. The Edgar Awards will be presented at a banquet on May 01, 2008, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. (MBN note: See a list of previous winners in major categories at the Mystery Awards website.

• Sue Grafton has been awarded the Crime Writers' Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger for her Kinsey Millhone series of mysteries. Grafton wins the Cartier Diamond Dagger in its twenty-third year. Previous winners include John Harvey, Elmore Leonard, Ruth Rendell, Dick Francis, John Le Carré and P. D. James. The award presentation will take place in London on May 07, 2008.

• Reuters is reporting that the web yields deadly tricks for crime writers, such as street layouts, building locations, or the latest in guns, poisons and nuclear bombs. They can also learn how victims would react to acid or bullets or being pushed from a helicopter. Seasoned or aspiring writers also track blogs run by police officers where they can read tales and learn jargon -- something that was not possible a few years back.

• Adventure Gamers is reporting that two Japanese mystery adventures may be headed for the Nintendo DS. According to gaming magazine Famitsu, Flower, Sun, and Rain, an adventure game first released for the Playstation 2 in 2001, is being remade for the DS. In Flower, Sun, and Rain, players take the role of an assassin who relives the same day over and over again. Only when he can find a way to stop a bomb from exploding at an airport, the day will stop repeating. And The Silver Case, a detective adventure game originally released for Playstation in 1999, is being remade for Nintendo DS with a targeted release date sometime this year. (MBN note: Find more mystery games for the Nintendo DS at Games of Mystery.)

• Here's something we'd never thought we'd hear (and aren't quite sure what to make of it now that we've heard it): Comedienne Joan Rivers wants to fulfill a life-long ambition to write crime stories. She says, "I want to write mystery stories. There's a series of books I want to write. There's so much work to do. That's what gets me up every morning and makes me crazy when I have more than two days off at a time." (MBN note: while this story was widely reported outside the US, we cannot find any local source to confirm this information. Here's the link from Metro.co.uk with all the details.)

• Nathalie Atkinson, writing in the National Post, reports on a new crop of Canadian mystery writers who've traded in gimmicks and gadgets for character-driven tension and sense of place.

• The Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle is reporting that mystery writer Edward D. Hoch has died. He was 77. Hoch's first published story appeared in 1955 in Famous Detective Stories. Though he wrote several novels, short stories were Hoch's passion. In 2001, Hoch received the Grand Master Award, the highest honor given annually by the Mystery Writers of America.

• Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg of the Wall Street Journal talks to Walter Mosley on book publishing, mysteries, and Yiddish.

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 Bestsellers for January 18, 2008

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending January 18, 2008 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

Assuming the top spot on our list this week is Plum Lucky, the second "between the numbers" mystery (after last year's Plum Lovin') in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. Last week's top 4 get shifted down a notch as a result.

Entering this week in the 8th position is the second book in the Rick Barron series by Stuart Woods, Beverly Hills Dead. Set in the 1940s, Rick is a former Beverly Hills cop who's now head of production at a major Hollywood studio. When Rick's friend Sidney Brooks, a successful screenwriter, receives a subpoena from the House Un-American Activities Committee, Rick isn't surprised. The witch hunt is spreading, and those under investigation are Rick's closest friends-even his wife, the glamorous starlet Glenna Gleason. Kirkus Reviews states, "Precious little mystery or suspense, but the book's momentum and the blacklist plot line will keep the pages turning."

Moving up into the top 15 this week is the 10th atmospheric mystery in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series by mother and son writing team Charles Todd, A Pale Horse. In the ruins of Yorkshire's Fountains Abbey lies the body of a man wrapped in a cloak, the face covered by a gas mask. Next to him is a book on alchemy. Who is this man, and is the investigation into his death being manipulated by a thirst for revenge? Meanwhile, the British War Office is searching for a missing man of their own, someone whose war work was so secret that even Rutledge isn't told his real name or what he did. Here is a puzzle requiring all of Rutledge's daring and skill, for there are layers of lies and deception, while a ruthless killer is determined to hold on to freedom at any cost. Mysterious Reviews states, "A Pale Horse is a brilliantly written mystery, carefully and meticulously plotted. It is highly recommended."

On our bestseller page, we've added an icon next to every title that is available for immediate download onto the Amazon Kindle. To learn about this wireless reading device, visit the Amazon Kindle page for more information.

The top four mystery bestsellers this week are depicted 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: The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies by Kathleen Hills

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies by Kathleen Hills. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies by Kathleen Hills
A John McIntire Mystery

Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-476-7 (1590584767)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-476-7 (9781590584767)
Publication Date: December 2007
List Price: $24.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): On a stifling mid-summer day in 1951, eleven-year-old Claire Hofer descends from her perch in a pine tree and sets out to take lunch to her father, who's raking hay. As she nears the field, she hears no rumbling tractor and sees only an unfriendly-looking stranger scuffling through the stubble toward her. She turns and runs, but there is no escaping the troubles to come. The man is Township Constable John McIntire, and Claire's father is dead.

McIntire finds the crime baffling. Reuben Hofer had only lived in the old St. Adele Schoolhouse since early May; hardly long enough to make enemies. His family had little contact with anyone in the community save the Catholic priest and Doctor Mark Guibard, who'd been attending Hofer's chronically ill, morbidly obese wife. But Hofer was not exactly the newcomer McIntire had believed. During the war, he'd been incarcerated only a few miles away in a CPS camp---a camp for the rebellious conscientious objectors that the church-run institutions couldn't handle. The spotlight of a murder investigation causes greater misery for already devastated by misfortune and poverty. And McIntire confronts a fumbling nemesis in the bewildered and frightened, but determined, Claire.

Review: The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies is the fourth mystery in this series by Kathleen Hills, featuring Upper Peninsula Township Constable John McIntire. The series is set in the early 1950s.

Reuben Hofer didn't have a friend in the world. Though new to the community, he was disliked to the point of being hated by everyone who knew him, including his own family. When he was found dead, shot in the back while on a tractor in his fields, no one mourned his death. McIntire and local sheriff Pete Koski begin an investigation into the man's life and find he's not the newcomer they originally thought. During the war, Hofer had been confined as a rebellious conscientious objector in a nearby facility. On the rare occasions when men were allowed to leave, they frequented a local bar and poker room. Those who remembered him, including a former camp guard and saloon owner, recalled he couldn't hold his liquor but was very adroit at playing poker, but ill-tempered and unlikeable. McIntire and Kosky have a difficult time sorting out fact from fiction in determining who wanted to kill Hofer, and why.

Though the plot of The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies in intriguing and has its moments, particularly when it incorporates sometimes obscure historical facts into the story, it pales in comparison to the book's rich character development and setting. As in previous books in the series, McIntire is an exceptionally well drawn, complex character that fits perfectly into his remote, mid-20th century environment. But in this novel, the character of Claire, the dead man's daughter, stands apart from the rest. She's really quite special, with deep emotions and a story unto herself.

Readers who live in, or are familiar with, Michigan's Upper Peninsula will take special delight in reading The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies. Everyone else will simply take pleasure in a remarkably well written book.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

For more mystery book reviews visit Mysterious Reviews, a partner with the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books which is 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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Compendium of Mystery News 080116

A compendium of recently published mystery news articles:

• Brunonia Barry, the Salem (MA) author of The Lace Reader, a self-published mystery, recently signed a $2 million deal with William Morrow for world English publishing rights. The original trade paperback version was published by Flap Jacket Press in September 2007 and may be hard to find; an updated version with editing changes will be published in hardcover this fall by Morrow. As for the process of self-publishing and marketing her book, her husband stated, "It's not for the faint of heart." (MBN note: Visit Self-Publish Mysteries to find resources that will help you write and publish your mystery novel.)

• Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened was awarded GameSpot's "Best of 2007" award for "Best Use of a Creative License." The game blends the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and H. P. Lovecraft to create a dark and mysterious world of adventure. Find more mystery games at Games of Mystery.

• Otto Penzler profiles master of suspense writer Cornell Woolrich in his column on NYSun.com.

• Anna Mundow of the Irish Times interviews Ray Banks whose second novel, Saturday's Child, published this month in the US by Harcourt, introduces private investigator Cal Innes. Publishers Weekly said of Saturday's Child, "Banks is updating the noir novel with an utterly original sensibility." Ray Banks is currently working on his fourth title in the series, the second of which, Donkey Punch, was published last year in the UK and the third of which, No More Heroes, is scheduled for publication next month in the UK. The interview appears on Boston.com, the online version of The Boston Globe.

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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